For all the tea in China!

Well it has been a little while since my last confession so I have quite a bit to tell you! Week three started much better than week 2 ended, my new partner Brigitte and I breezed into kitchen 1 ready to cook up a storm. I had been up walking as usual so the endorphins were flowing and I was eager to put the disappointment of Fridays cooking out of my mind and get straight back on the horse, so to speak! I was on the roast lamb and it turned out fantastically well, I also made some more bread and generally the day was a great success-Thank God for that!! That afternoon we learnt what could be done with left over lamb, we learnt about prawns and shrimps and finally we learnt how to make fluffy lemon pudding and chocolate fudge pudding.
We were in class very late on Monday so everyone was shattered by the time we made it back to the ranch, bed was early after a little masterchef on the bbc.
Tuesday was a great day again, I made Dublin bay prawns with a homemade mayo, we also made a lovely apple and tomato chutney, the only downside was that I was unable to tuck into the prawns at lunch as I am allergic, I also attempted my first real dessert and my teacher said it was fantastic!! My partner made a magnificent shepherds pie and I also tried a fantastic lamb neck moussaka.
Tuesday night was another quiet one, most of the girls went out to Ballycotten for a drink but I decided against it and stayed in. We had a visit from Auntie Flo (Darina's Aunt) who popped past for as chat, which was nice, not sure Margie (one of my flatmates) appreciated it as she talked her way through an episode of masterchef!
Wednesday began with a bang, wine tasting for 3 hours! We concentrated on France and it was very informative, I am now fairly confident on the main regions of France, however their classification system is a total mess and it is no wonder not many people have a clue about wine or have the confidence to order it!
That afternoon we had an hour long lecture from Sean Moran of Sip Tea who dazzled us with information about tea and how we should really invest as much time in choosing tea as we do with wine or coffee. Interesting, but not really for me! This complimented the afternoon lecture which focused on afternoon tea, so the tasting at the end consisted of about 10-12 different cakes and sponges.
Today was probably my best day so far in terms of getting it right, although to be fair it was fairly easy stuff. Today I made Strawberry sorbet with a strawberry sauce, crunchy orange and chocolate scones with an orange butter, homemade flour tortillas, Totopos (tortilla chips), nachos and quesadillas with chorizo, mozzarella and chilli! Phew, I was knackered by the end of it.
It has been another long week and I am very much looking forward to the weekend, still loving it and finally feeling like I might be OK in the kitchen by the end of the 12 weeks!
Below are some photos of the weeks cooking!
T

P.S I had a great time at Ballymaloe House on Sunday night, the food was excellent and Myrtle Allen is just about the most amazing woman I have ever met. 85 years old and still runs around the place making sure the guests are ok, checking food coming out of the kitchen at the same time telling me about the work she is doing trying to stop an incinerator being built near Ballymaloe which will be allowed to release a certain amount of chemicals everyday, just great for an organic farm!! I would love to have that energy at that age.

Dublin Bay Prawns with Homemade Mayo

Roast Lamb with Garlic and Corriander, mint sauce and vichy carrots