Day 72 - Finally...

Today was the day that we finally got to cook what we all (by which I mean 'I') really came here to cook - steaks. Since the beginning of the course many moons ago, I have eagerly been awaiting the day when I would be permitted the opportunity to completely ruin a lump of meat. Or turn it into something delicious.

I cook steak a lot at home: if I'm honest, too much. But then again, steak is tasty and reasonably healthy, so why wouldn't you eat it? In any case, my previous experience in the rarified world of steak led me to the kitchens today anxious to impress with my ability to perfectly cook one; in the end, I cooked three. The first was by far and away the most difficult - a T-bone steak: essentially the fillet and the sirloin still attached to the bone that separates them. They are large, reasonably thin in order to compensate for this fact and also composed of two slightly different meats which cook at separate rates. I would never usually touch one with a barge pole, but it was there and my partner wanted it so I felt it my duty to cook it - which I did, medium-rare to perfection.

The other two steaks were a sirloin which I cooked rare-medium-rare and a fillet. Fillets should only be served blue: no other steaks can be, but a fillet is best this way. The only problem is that it is quite difficult: the pan has to be ridiculously hot in order to only sear the outside without cooking the meat in the centre and you cannot leave the meat for even a second - it is briefly the most important thing in the world. Rather like doing creme brulee with a blow-torch, cooking a steak blue is nerve-racking, but it is good practice, so I duly did it. I left it until the very end, when the grill-pan had been on the heat for a good fifteen minutes and was properly hot: when I slapped the steak on, the whole thing briefly caught fire. Then it is merely a case of letting it sear on one side after another, putting it on a plate and getting it out as soon as is physically possible. The reward for my labours was the accolade from my teacher of 'best steak-cooker' (but worst presenter), and a delicious steak for lunch which on the whole constitutes quite a good morning.

The only other thing that I made today was a cauliflower cheese which was a bit of a disaster. The problem is that it is very easy to forget about the cauliflower whilst you're making the mornay sauce and as a result they were somewhat overcooked. I decided that the best thing to do would be to try and hide this fact by drowning them in sauce - doing things again is for wimps. Unfortunately, my teacher noticed and told me that a) I had badly overdone the cauliflower and, b) it was supposed to coated in sauce, not swimming in it. Not a great result, if I'm honest, but one can't always get things right. Especially if one is sabotaging one's self through the sort of bone-idleness and apathy that those who know me are aware is my trade-mark. No one could ever accuse me of keen-ness.

After the demo, we had a lecture from Darina on olive oil, which is apparently not just stuff that comes in a bottle and is used to grease pans.

We have our final wine-exam tomorrow which is no doubt going to be incredibly difficult, so now I shall go to revise.