Right, I’m back again and today is the last day that I will be giving things a go as I can’t do anything this weekend, but never fear, I hopefully have the White Water Rafting covered and I’ll give you the low down on Paintballing and the trip to Blackpool’s Illuminations so don’t think the blog has gone just yet!
But, back to my updates. Last night, I went to the Cooking Masterclass held in the Atrium by Lee Nutter, Atrium Co-Ordinator. The idea was to give us ideas for good recipes and show us how easy it is to make them.
I have to say the menu was fantastic; Mussels with Chizoro sausage and a Tomatoe sauce, Wild Mushroom Risotto, Peppercorn sauce with Steak or Salmon and to finish, Chocolate Fondants!!! Delicious to say the least!
Unfortunately, Lee had to do a lot of cooking on sort of camping stove so it did take a while to cook, which was absolute torture considering I hadn’t had tea because I didn’t want to be full for this, but he showed us how best to go about making each dish and explained how to prepare things such as the mussels, though due to time he had already done most of the work.
He let us into some tips of the trade. For instance, to tell when your steak is done, if you put your thumb and forefinger together, the fleshy part below your thumb will be resemble a rare steak, if you do the same but with your middle finger instead it is like a medium rare, your wedding finger is medium and your thumb and little finger is well done.
Lee also demonstarted how to tell if a mussel is still alive. Most of the time they will be slightly open, so if you tap them and they close, it shows there is a sign of life.
Although it took a while to cook, I was suprised at how easy it was to make the meals and it was definately worth the wait because it was absolutely gorgeous!!! Most of the food I’d never tried before either, so it was great to experiment and try something new and I have a new found love of risotto and chizoro sausage, which I think may because a new staple meal in my student lifestyle as it’s cheap, quick and easy to make!
But, I have to say the best part of the night for me was the chocolate fondants, which were amazing! Lee told us how difficult it to cook them, because to get the cake effect on the outside and the gooey, chocolate centre really depends on how long you cook them for; too little and they are too gooey (I know, as if that could possibly be a bad thing!), too much and they turn out like little chocolate cakes (again, not bad at all in my eyes!).
Nevertheless, I see his point because to eat what looks like a little chocolate cake and then discovering a gorgeous gooey chocolate centre is a real treat and so I will definately be making them some time in the future, though whether my house mates get any or I eat them all is another thing!
Keep an eye out for an interview with Lee and pics of him cooking, they should be going up wither tonight or tomorrow.
I’m off to the Journalism Masterclass now, so I’ll be back in just over an hour with an update of that!
Tata. x
Giving It All A Go 2008 