Ashburton Cookery School - More Intermediate Cookery: Day Three

So, Day Three commenced, as usual in the briefing room. We had a change of Chef on this day, Rob Dawe was off doing other things at the School and we had Alan Stannard, who was to be with us for the rest of the week. Today the menu was as follows:

I was really excited by this menu, as for many years I have been quite intrigued by Seafood Bisque, as they look so luxury and complex too.
It was beautiful dish, served with the delicate Spring Rolls and a Crab Mayonnaise dip, served in an Oyster Shell. I placed an Oyster in the bowl first and then poured the hot bisque on top, which gently poaches the Oyster. This made the dish so luxurious, it was divine!

The main was of particular interest too, similar to a Beef Wellington really, though this time done with lamb. Quite a complex dish to prepare. You begin with a rack of lamb, but are only interested in the Cannon, so after some intricate butchery in removing the bones, fat and sinew - this leaves you with only with the lamb flesh.

You may think, like I did, that the lamb may have been greasy in this dish, but as you remove every trace of fat, this eliminates this potential problem. A delicious dish!





Finally, finishing the menu with a Lemon Dessert, which was really lovely and fresh.










I had never made sorbet before, so really enjoyed experimenting with this. A real palate cleanser! I have since made a Strawberry version at home, which was lovely and had a real intense depth of flavour. I will be doing an Ice Cream and Sorbets blog post sometime in the future, so look out for that one...