this week in class we were working with fish and shellfish. We worked with 2 of my most favourites of shell fish Mussels and Prawns, as well as Cockles. We also did a poached Hapuku (groper) with Hapuku Mousselines on top of a pea and chive risotto and provencal  sauce on the side. As for the Mussels we did them Marinara style , with white wine, cream, shallots , The Prawns we did in kebabs with a coriander and white wine sauce, and Cockle Fritters with a tangy yoghurt and parsely dressing.Yum  the Prawns were my favourite. I also learnt how to make Prawn oil, wow that was so much fun

The pot on the right hand side is the prawn oil coming up to temperature, I will post a pic of the finished oil in the next day or so

This is a sweet shortpastry crust base brushed with chocolate and topped with a ginger and apple schnapps pastry cream topped with melons, pineapple, grapes , plums, oranges and strawberries

this week we did things with eggs, now this stuff I can do in my sleep but it was still fun to do . Im officially so over eggs right now , it will be a few weeks I think before I can even think about eating eggs for breakfast, We roughly used about a dozen or so per day, doing this for 4 days , I tasted more eggs this week than I have done over a period of 5 or 6 months.

Eggs benedict . folded omelette, cigar omelette, spanish omelette, potato and spinach frittata, eggs en cocotte, french toast with orange/lemon syrup, and my personal favourite dessert omelette with a berry couli

Quiche Lorraine always a popular favourite

Let me tell you about a few of these, I have always been an eggs benedict fan when going out for a breakfast , still love them but wont be eating them for a while. Omelettes are great for a gentle dinner, Potato and spinach frittata , great for picnics, great hot , wonderful cold ,and frittatas can be flavoured in so many different ways. Eggs en cocotte seriously have to be the worst egg dish I have ever tasted . They have a base of spinach and onion cooked in cream and reduced down a little then an egg popped on top and cream floated around it and cooked in a ramekin for an individual serving.

Cooked in a water bath in the oven so that it is just poached.

the texture of the egg and the cream together just made me gag and I think its a good thing that this dish is no longer popular , people would probably die from a heart attack after eating it.

And the eternal favourite French toast , this was light and fluffy and had orange and lemon maple syrup over the top

mmm the breakfast of sweet champions )

I do volunteer work at the West Auckland Hospice and made this cake for them for Mothers Day. They just wanted a very simple cake with a single pink rose so here it is.

The colour was more pink in real life , its a rich chocolate cake with a raspberry buttercream filling and pink marbled fondant on top with a freehand made rose

My Irish roots are showing when it comes to this fabulous vege. They would be one of the most versatile foods grown. You can do so much with the humble spud and there are so many varieties. The United Nations have made 2008 the year of the potato . For developing countries this is a great food crop as the yield per plant is so much more than other kinds of starch crops and its fairly easy to grow.

This week in class we played with our potatoes and came up with some great hot stuff.

We did Gourmet potatoes, which were a baked potato stuffed with semi dried tomatoes and spring onions mixed with basil, potatoes, and a little sour cream.Fondant potatoes , brushed with melted butter and braised in the oven, hot chips, roasted wedges, creamy mash, and one of my absolute favourites, saute … Yum

There are so many different styles of salads around the world , every country has its own traditional and favourite salads. It can be just vegetables, fruits, meats, proteins such as eggs and cheese, seafood, rice, pasta, other grains its only limited by ones imagination.

This week at school we did some classic salads mmmmmmmmm yum , I love salads , I will even eat salads in winter time , I tend to prefer my veges mainly raw and there are so many ways to make salads. Some are very classical and you dont mess with the formula others you can be as creative as you want to be.

I think you cant beat a great salad that uses good quality ingrediants and is freshly made.In a restaurant a great salad is totally worth its weight in gold.

Let me present to you some great classics

green salad, rice pilaf , coleslaw,pasta salad with chorizo and sundried tomato, caeser salad , all made with fresh from scratch mayonaise or dressings,

These fabulous veges are a marriage made in heaven. They combine so well together and are such great tastes that they can stand alone in their flavours as independant veges. The people who live in the Mediterrainian , really can show us how good these veges are. This week we  made Ratatouille and Char Grilled Veges, mmmm got love those vege combos especially when combined with good olive oil and balsamic vinegar, a little fresh basil and garlic.

Ratatouille and Char Grilled Veges  served for your pleasure… happy eating