February 23, 2014

Eva Bee

Ballymaloe, Winter, Recipes

Ballymaloe Week 6 / Thai Moules et Frites

February 23, 2014

Eva Bee

Ballymaloe, Winter, Recipes

I love using up leftovers. We get loads to take home from cooking at school so I invented a Thai Red Curry Moules et Frites with Blood Orange Slaw. Check out the recipe below!

Charles Fort, Kinsale. Or is it Game of Thrones..??

Scallops with Spinach Risotto & Cheese Crisp

But first.. my time here is over the hump.. as in I have a little over one month left of the course. We had our midterm exams and I'm feeling more and more confident in my cooking abilities.

Trying to make a Gluten Free Sourdough starter.. wish me luck! It needs a few days to ferment.

I'm also fully into playing music again. I had my first gig in 3 years - not singing originals (unlike before when I was adamant about it). There is so much to say about the parallels between cooking and music when creating the two.

All of your apprehensions need to be suspended just for the moment in order to gain your own trust in intuition to create something beautiful. Like taste in food and music.. it is also all relative, but there is a certain foundation that one could use to make the process more enjoyable and less frustrating.

Wood-fired pizza made every Saturday at the school.

Every week we have a new teacher and each of them have taught me some essential tips:

1. Have a 'garbage can' for vegetable peelings, meat scraps, etc while you're cooking. It clears space on your cutting board. 2. Sharpen your knife every time before using. A sharp knife is actually safer to use and makes prepping way easier. 3. As you cook, clean up around you - the clean area helps you focus and a zen environment makes cooking less stressful. etc.

Moules et Frites with
Thai Red Curry Mayo & Blood Orange Slaw (serves 2)

Make Moules et Frites with home made mayo as below:

Mussels

1 lb mussels (making sure they're still alive - refer to the video above)

Add them to an empty pan and turn on the heat. Cover and steam for 3-4 min until they open up. Allow to cool. You can reserve the juices from the pan for a fish stock or sauce.

Frites

2 medium waxy potatoes, sliced in 5mm x 5mm strips
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 475. Toss fries in about 2 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Bake in an oven for 20min, flipping them once after 10min.

Thai Red Curry Mayo

250mL mayo
1-2 tbsp Thai Red Curry paste (to taste)
dash of lemon

Mix ingredients in a bowl and add more or less curry paste to taste.

Blood Orange Slaw

2 cups shredded purple cabbage
1/4 finely chopped red onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
zest of 1/2 blood orange and 1 tbsp of its juice
1/3 cup mayo
salt and pepper to taste

Shred cabbage. Mix the rest of the ingredients together to make a dressing. And combine with shredded cabbage adding more or less mayo to taste.

Been missing home lately. Was kind enough to be surprised with this little gem at a convenience store. 4 weeks left!!

January 28, 2014

Eva Bee

Ballymaloe, Recipes

Ballymaloe Week 3 / How to make Hard Aged Cheese

January 28, 2014

Eva Bee

Ballymaloe, Recipes

I ride my borrowed bicycle every chance I get when I'm not in school and it's sunny.. turns out that day is Sunday.

At school this week we learned how to make sourdough and cheese!

Mix at a certain temperature to encourage whey to escape.

The most amazing part is getting to sample all the local goodies and just completely immerse myself in the culture where food is concerned. I'm really starting to get an idea of what true Irish food is. Cured fish, breads, THE CHEESE IS AMAZING. Irish cheese and butter is widely sought out around the world since the cows just have so much darned grass to eat. It makes their milk more yellow.

You get locally made chocolate chips with your coffee.. amazing.

My goodies. Eggs, blue cheese, chive goat cheese, ginger dark chocolate, seaweed pickle, hot smoked salmon with chili.

Meringue heart with spiced plumb and whipped cream centre.

My creation!! Smoked salmon rosette with quick cucumber pickle.

Dressing a cutting board for roast beef.

beautiful raw vegetables for an appetizer

Helen and Mary Pat. Music promoter and Irish mom.

There was a talent competition at the local pub.

January 6, 2014

Eva Bee

Ballymaloe, Recipes, Winter

Potatoes & Mushrooms with Fried Egg | First Day at Ballymaloe Cookery School

January 6, 2014

Eva Bee

Ballymaloe, Recipes, Winter

I landed. I was tired. I was the first to arrive at cooking school and was welcomed by...

So I was hungry and made the following.

Golden Potato Coins with
Fried Onions, Mushrooms and A Sunny Side Egg

gluten free, primal | serves 1

2 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced
1/2 cm width-wise
1/2 cup sliced white mushrooms
1 small onion sliced thin
2 tbsp butter
1 farm fresh egg
salt and pepper to taste

Heat 1 tbsp butter in a heavy bottomed frying pan on medium high heat. Add in your potatoes (they should look like coins) and fry until golden brown on one side (5min) then flip and fry until cooked through (5-7min). Toss in salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.

Remove potatoes to a plate with paper towel (warmed, ideally) and melt in the rest of the butter (1 tbsp) until melted. Add in mushrooms and onions and sautee until cooked through (about 3min).

When cooked, move the onions and mushrooms to the side of the pan and add the egg. Cook until the white part of the egg is opaque (about 3min). Add salt to taste.

Add Potatoes in a large bowl, add mushrooms and onions, then top with the egg. Add salt and pepper to taste.