Friday was omelette day. You may think omelettes are easy and in some ways they are but being able to make one properly is a vital skill. I didn’t manage to snap a photo because things were pretty busy in the kitchen and there were smoking hot pans EVERYWHERE. You’ll just have to take my word for it. We all had to try again until we made one of a satisfactory standard so we ended up eating a lot of omelettes for lunch. The eggs here at Ballymaloe are of exceptional quality.  They go straight to the farm shop from the chickens every day and students get 50% off but even so, I don’t think I’ll be eating them again for a while.

I also made lemon cookies, tomato and mint salad, and baked marzipan apples (ugly but delicious, one of the best desserts here so far).

On Saturday morning my housemate Chrissy and I went to Midleton and bought an organic chicken from Frank Murphy, Darina’s butcher of choice. We brought it home and jointed it in our kitchen, to practise for our technique exam in a couple weeks. This is a life skill I am very keen to acquire. You save a lot of money buying whole chickens and get a LOT more out of them. Chrissy and I made stock with the carcass.

I learned : You should always oil ingredients before placing them on whatever they’re going to cook on to minimise waste. This allows you to buy better quality, more expensive ingredients.

Food of the Day : Blackcurrant leaf sorbet. This is exciting because it’s white in colour but has a deep dark flavour.

Line of the Day : From Rory O’Connell. ‘When dishes become mainstream they are taken less seriously.’ When everyone starts making something and trying to profit – think tiramisu, pesto, black forest gateau – it is rarely made as it should be. Consequently, people think they don’t like a certain food when really it’s just that they’ve only every had a bad version of it. Looking at you salted caramel.

Órfhlaith