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Today I made stuffed chicken legs for the first time. I boned out the chicken leg fully. I made stuffing to roll inside the meat of the chicken leg. I poached them in a pot first until they reached 70 degrees and then I pan fried them to give the skin colour. Later in the day I did a quiz on cooking methods and got most of it right 😁

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Today I also made Galantine chicken, for this I had to bone out the entire chicken but keep the skin intact so I can roll it up with stuffing inside like the chicken legs. I used the same stuffing as I used with the chicken leg. With this dish I wrapped the chicken in foil and tied the foil. Then placed it in the oven to roast.

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Today I made seafood chowder for the first time, I think I did a good job of it but maybe could have improved it by chopping veg a little bit smaller and I accidentally added flour to it.

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I made some Focaccia bread today. It was my seconds attempt at this bread, I had made it one time before in my pastry class. I think my bread turned out well and was cooked through properly. I enjoy making bread 😊

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Today I was helping plate up some desserts for service. I think the desserts look good but I could have added something else to fill the plate more or add more colour.

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Today I made some more bbq chicken. I practiced with cutting out the bones of the chicken again and then put skewers through the legs and wings. I think the chicken came out well, but my bbq sauce tasted a bit to much like tomato so I'll have to take more care with my measurements.

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Today I made sundried tomato bread. I enjoyed making this, and decided to make a it into a design. I think I maybe had my oven to high when cooking, I will keep a better check on it in future so it looks more golden brown 😊

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Today I made butternut squash soup. It was my first time making this soup. I think it turned out well for a first attempt!

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Today I made lentil soup. I enjoy making lentil soup. I've made this soup now a few times, my first attempt I made it to thick but I think this time it looked tasted and smelt much better! 😊

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Today I made ciabatta bread. I really enjoy making bread, I found this bread easy enough to make. I decided to melt cheese on top of it. I think this bread turned out well for the first time making it! 👍

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Assessment on seafood chowder and focaccia bread 

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Assessment on seafood chowder and focaccia bread 

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Today was my first assessment since i started back to level 3. I was nervous about making the sea food chowder for assessment as I had only made it once before. But I was happy that it all came out well! 😊

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Today I was helping with making mince pies in advance for Christmas dinners. We made 250 mince pies on this particular day.

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Making roulade and plating desserts for service

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Making roulade and plating desserts for service

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Today I was in the dessert section. I made some chocolate roulade, and it was hard to do. My roulade would fall apart easily and was hard to move and hold it together. Apart from that it was OK and I enjoyed plating up desserts 😊

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Finishing and plating desserts for counter service

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Finishing and plating desserts for counter service

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Today I was in the dessert section again. I really enjoy and feel very comfortable in the dessert section. I wanted to make the desserts look fancy and colourful on the plates so I practiced some designs on them. 😊

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Today was the first of the Christmas gourmet evenings. I was preping for the evening but I could not stay as I had to work. But the pictures above show the cheese cake and panna cottas that I made.

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Cheese cakes, short bread, and pannacotta 

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Cheese cakes, short bread, and pannacotta 

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Today I was making cheese cakes and short bread biscuits and Panna cotta in preparation for the next day. I enjoyed making these dishes. It was my first time making cheese cake and panna cotta. 😊

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Plating desserts for christmas dinner service 

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Plating desserts for christmas dinner service 

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Today I was in the dessert section again 😊 I enjoyed plating up these desserts. I also made the brandy sauce for the puddings. After I finished with those jobs I made a lot of scones they were in preparation for the graduation day coming up.

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Today was the graduation day for lots of people. We made up a lot of scones, biscuits and sandwiches. After we made the food we had to keep the service area tidy and rotate the food so everyone could see the food properly and reach it well. I like to do these types of events as it gets us all in the kitchen to work as a team 😊

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Guinea fowl, fondant potatoes, boiled cabbage, and sauce

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Guinea fowl, fondant potatoes, boiled cabbage, and sauce

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Today I made and plated guineafowl with billed cabbage, fondant potatoes and a sauce. I think the dish came out well, but my breast of guinea fowl was slightly over cooked as so the next time I'll make sure to take it out of the oven a bit sooner. But I'm very happy with how it all looked and everything was ready to serve at the same time. I enjoyed making this today 😊

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Hi Bernie, good worked, some nicely product and good descriptive. Michael

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Hi Bernie, good worked, some nicely product and good descriptive. Michael

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Chicken strips, garlic dip and tossed salad

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Chicken strips, garlic dip and tossed salad

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I was helping with breakfasts today, I was also taking care of the soup and the chicken dish for another group of people as well that afternoon. I think the dish looked really nice and well plated 😊

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Today I was helping with the gourmet night. I made chocolate mousse to plate up with pavlovas and fruit. My first attempt at the mousse failed as I didn' t get the temperatures correct when mixing the ingredients together so the mixture split. With help from my teacher Dermot, the second attempt went well, and I learned how best to mix it together 😊 I wasn't so happy with the plating design I think it looked a bit messy but next time I will take more time for a nice design

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Galintine of chicken, fondant potatoes, and tarragon sauce

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Galintine of chicken, fondant potatoes, and tarragon sauce

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Today was my assessment on galintine of chicken and tarragon sauce, I think it went really well today, I was happy with how the chicken finished up, there was no tarragon left for me to make the sauce so I decided that flat parsley would give it a nice taste in place of the tarragon, it worked well and I was very happy, I will next time try to cut my chicken a little thinner as they were a bit to thick

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Assessment on butternut squash soup and curry soda bread

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Assessment on butternut squash soup and curry soda bread

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Today I had my assessment on spicy butternut squash soup and curry soda bread. I think I did well on these dishes today, everything was cooked and ready to serve at the same time. I think the plating of the dish looked well. The only thing I think went slightly wrong was the soup was a little to thin. I was very happy how my bread turned out 😊

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Today was a gourmet night I was in charge of making small apple tarts, I was happy with how they turned out. They were a very popular desert that night, I also helped with finishing up the gnocchi and plating it up.

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French onion soup and garlic nan bread assessment 

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French onion soup and garlic nan bread assessment 

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Today I made French onion soup and nan bread for my assessment. I think it came out really well, I think I could have let my onions caramelise just a little bit longer though. I decided to be a bit adventurous with the nan bread and add in a little curry powder as well as the chilli powder and some herbs and garlic, I was pleased with the end result 😁

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First, try at fileting and making Plaice 

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First, try at fileting and making Plaice 

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Today I made my first attempt at filleting a fish, I regrettably picked the smallest fish and it was difficult to get good sized fillets from, then I rolled 2 of my fillets the wrong way around, I was happy with the sauce it came out very well, and at least I know now where to correct the dish to make it better

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Today I was on desserts, I made pistachio cheese cake, brownies, ganache, roasted pistachios, and pistachio brittle, I really enjoyed making these desserts and was happy with how they turned out 😁

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Today I was learning how to make fish stock from the bones of the fish

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Today I made my plaice, hasselback potatoes and sauce for my assessment. This time my fish was wrapped up the right way and I had added more spinach for presentation. I was happy with how it turned out, but my sauce was a little to thick, I'll make sure to thin it out better with cream the next time I make it

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For Wednesday's service I made the herb crusted salmon. I found skinning the salmon the most difficult thing to do, but the rest I was able to handle ok, I made 20 protions of the salmon, and had made just enough crust to go ontop. I was very happy with how it turned out and I think the presentation was really nice. I think I kept up well with the orders to 😊

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Today I made seabass with veg for a bistro evening we where having at the gallery, I was very pleased with how everything turned out, and I learned a new way to cook the fish without it sticking to the pan 😊

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I was making rubarb creme Brulee, oatmeal biscuits, and petit fours for the gourmet evening as I had to go to work on the gourmet night itself I couldn't plate the desserts, but I started to prepare them from the day before. Some of My creme brulees split so I had to remake 8 of them, but they all turned out well. I was very happy with my oat biscuits and the petit fours 😊

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Today I was making desserts for a lunchtime counter service. I made fruit pavlovas which I was very happy with, they looked really nice as they didn't crumble or break up, I also made custard, and plated up some other desserts

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Today I did my assessment on duck, I marinated the duck legs and cooked them in duck fat, and I rendered the skin of the breasts of duck then put them in the oven, I made a cranberry sauce and a selection of veg to go along with it. I think it went well and I enjoyed learning this recipe 😊

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Today I did my assessment on my Japanese noodle soup, I was happy with how it came out, but the consomé was a little bit oily

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Today I made fudge for the first time, I really enjoyed making this and would like to try it again, the fudge came out well it was smooth and tasted nicely

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Today the class was split into two groups we all made two different recipes, my group was tasked to make the spicy sticky koreanpork with noodles, we worked as a team and I think it went well

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Spicy tomato sauce with turmeric spicy battered cauliflower 

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Spicy tomato sauce with turmeric spicy battered cauliflower 

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Today I made a spicy tomato sauce and spicy battered cauliflower for a function, I think this all came out well, I was happy with the taste of both items, I think my tomato sauce could have been a little thicker though

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Today I made bread rolls and Focaccia bread, I enjoy making bread, I think I could have made the bread rolls a little bigger but I was still happy with the end result

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Today I made white chocolate scones I love making scones and experimenting with different types of scones, I think maybe I might make them a little to big though

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Orange tart with white chocolate mousse and meringue 

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Orange tart with white chocolate mousse and meringue 

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Today I had made an orange tart and white chocolate mousse, I think the white chocolate mousse came out well but the orange tart was a little to damp at the bottom of the pastry, and the pastry was to thick, but it tasted good, I rushed the cooking process and that's where the mistakes happened

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Today I learned how to make fresh pasta, and to prepare and cook shellfish, I enjoyed making the pasta it took me a few goes to use the pasta machine properly but I got the hang of it

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Today I made pot roast chicken and and stuffed roasted quail, I was happy with how the chickens and quail turned out but I didn't tie up the legs of the quail enough and it didn't keep its Shape, also the gravy looked very oily apart from that it turned out well

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Today I did my opera cake assessment, I found the assessment went well I didn't feel stressed at all making this, I enjoyed making this cake, the only thing I would do differently would be to maybe put thicker layers of filling between the layers of sponge and decorate my plate better

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Base of raspberry souffle and fruit for mince pies 

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Base of raspberry souffle and fruit for mince pies 

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Today I helped soak the fruit for the mince pies for Xmas service, and we made the base for the raspberry soufflés, I enjoy making desserts and learning new dessert recipes for desserts

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This was my first attempt at making a sachertorte cake, I found this was a nice recipe to make I enjoyed it, and I was very happy with the results, the only thing I would do differently is take the sponge out of the oven maybe 6 mins earlier than I did this time as it started to burn slightly around the edges

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Good work Bernie, but could you update on a daliy bases, Michael

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Hi Bernie, could you update with the last few months, photograph. Please

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Hi Bernie, could you update with the last few months, photograph. Please

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e

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I made this fish dish for lunch service, there was, plaice, salmon, prawns and vegetables in the parcels that I steamed, I also made herb scented rice and a curry sauce, the broccoli was battered with a spicy batter and served along side, over all I thought the dish came out well and got compliments for the presentation 😊

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Today I had my assessment on my opera cake, I wanted to male the plate decoration and presentation totally different this time so I used some fruits for colour and icing to draw patterns on the plate, over all I think the cake and the presentation looked nice and I enjoyed making it 🙂

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Preparing pheasant, and chicken livers parfait 

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Preparing pheasant, and chicken livers parfait 

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Today I was preparing and trimming pheasants and livers, the pheasant once cooked was shredded and rolled up in cling film, and the livers were pan fried then made into a parfait in advance for the next service, I enjoy preparing fowl 😊

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Dessert plating, and making white chocolate mousse and butternut squash risotto 

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Dessert plating, and making white chocolate mousse and butternut squash risotto 

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Today, I was mostly in the desert section, I was portioning and plating up some chocolate delice cakes and I made the white chocolate mousse to go along with it, I had made the mousse twice before and enjoy making it, I also made a butternut squash risotto

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This evening I was cooking fish for the gourmet evening, the fish where, salmon, red fish, prawns and muscles, I think the over all presentation and the preparation and cooking of it all went well, I was also well prepared for the orders being called out so that the food was all hot and going out at a good speed 😊

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I also managed to do my fish dish assessment on the same night as the gourmet night, I made some pasta wish I really enjoy making and made seafood tagliatelle, I used muscles shells to decorate the plate, and was very happy with how it turned out 🙂

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Today we had a trip to Barnscourt estate where we learned about the cuts of venison and also about pheasants I enjoyed this trip and learning how to cut the venison to get the correct cuts and how nothing was left to waste

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These dishes where made from the venison and pheasant we got from Barnscourt estate 😊

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Sweet pastry for mince pies and lemon tart

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Sweet pastry for mince pies and lemon tart

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Today I made a big batch of sweet pastry for the base of my lemon tart and also for mini mince pies for Christmas services, my pastry was a little over mixed and was falling apart but I managed to keep it together by rolling it out between two pieces of cling film

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Today I was making cookies and finishing of other desserts and plating them up, I think everything turned out nicely presented

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Today I was making some rolled salmon starters and plating up some other starters and soup, I think the presentation looked good

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Vegetarian mushroom pies and creamy leek sauce 

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Vegetarian mushroom pies and creamy leek sauce 

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Today I was on the vegetarian dish, which was the mushroom pies and cremy leek sauce, I enjoyed making the pies and was very happy with how they looked on the plate

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For this gourmet night I was on desserts, I enjoyed making the oranges, I made some ice cream and also plated up the desserts, i love to work on desserts for gourmet nights

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This was my first attempt at this dish, I was happy with the sauce and the Naan but the Dahl was to runny as I had to use green lentils instead of red and they took longer to cook

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Assessment on passionfruit and mango gel (roulade sponge, Italian meringue)

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Assessment on passionfruit and mango gel (roulade sponge, Italian meringue)

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Today I did my assessment on my sponge roulade and Italian meringue, I think the sponge turned out nicely, it rose well and was a light sponge, it rolled well with no breakages, the gel and Italian meringue also turned out well, but I think I should have picked a much smaller plate for serving, I'm learning a lot about the importance of presentation this year

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Assessment on butternut squash Wellington 

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Assessment on butternut squash Wellington 

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Today I did my assessment on my butternut squash Wellington today, it went very well and the food turned out really well cooked and had the right flavours, I was also happy with my presentation of the dish, I did not have a lattice cutter so I made the design on top with extra puff pastry, the pastry was nice and crispy all around, I enjoyed making this 😊

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Assessment on red lentil dahl, nann bread and onion bhaji 

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Assessment on red lentil dahl, nann bread and onion bhaji 

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Today I did my assessment on my red lentil Dahl dish, this time I think my Dahl looks so much better, also my onion bhajis had also cooked through properly I was very happy with the presentation and with the over all finished dish 😊

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Today we had to cook for the Chinese New year gourmet night, I worked on the spicy tofu, the dumplings, and helped with the ribs as well as plating foods at the counter, I enjoyed this gourmet night as we where working with different types of foods

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Today I was practicing my fish dish for the first time, I made a plaice plait and plaice goujons, I think it turned out well for the first try but my goujons where a little bit big, so I'll make them smaller for my assessment

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Today was my assessment for my plaice plait, goujons and nicoise salad, I made my goujons less thick and every thing turned out well, all but my presentation, I wasn't so happy with the presentation, I tried this way to make it look different to other plates but it didn't work out so well

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Assessment on white chocolate and citrus meringue tart (sable pastry) 

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Assessment on white chocolate and citrus meringue tart (sable pastry) 

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Today I made a white chocolate tart with a lime insert, I think the pastry and filling turned out really well but I wasn't happy with how the lime insert broke apart on me, I think it would have needed more time to set properly for it to fit in as a layer

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Assessment on coffee and date pudding, toffee sauce, rum and rasin icecream 

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Assessment on coffee and date pudding, toffee sauce, rum and rasin icecream 

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Today I made this pudding, I was very happy with the outcome but I think once again my presentation has let it down a little

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Today I was practicing my seafood dish, I was learning how to cook scallops and open oysters and cook them, I also made a hollandaise sauce, a compound butter and Aioli, I found this dish enjoyable to cook 😊

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Preparing fishcakes and trimming beef, ribs and making marinade 

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Preparing fishcakes and trimming beef, ribs and making marinade 

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Today I was trimming up silverside beef and taking bones from beef ribs, I also made some fish cakes, I was happy with the fish cakes but I think I made them to big

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Today I did my assessment on my salmon plate, I smoked my salmon then finished it in the oven, and I made my fishcakes smaller, I think I did well but maybe I over smoked the salmon a little

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Today I was put on making and plating starters for gracies head chef week, everything went smoothly, the food looked colourful and well presented

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Today I was assigned to the mains dish, which was chicken roulade, the food came out well and presented nicely

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This is what I made for one of Eimears mains for her head chef week, the food all turned out nicely, but the sauce needed to be a little thicker

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Today was my first time as head chef, I was very happy with the menu I created, and with who assigned dishes to, everyone did a fantastic job at making the dishes, I was a bit nervous of having to talk in front of everyone, but I eventually got used to it as the day went on 😊

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Today went really well, all tables were served promptly with no problems, I got excellent fed back from the customers about the food and service 😊

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Today I was preparing pork for tomorrow's gourmet night, I was preparing, pork fillets and pork belly

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Today I was preparing the oysters, and other sea foods for the gourmet night, the dish turned out well and was presented nicely on the plate

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Today I was helping with the desserts for shantells head chef week, but I also helped with plating of other dishes

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Today was the gourmet night before Easter break and I did my seafood trio assessment, I enjoyed making this dish and I think it turned out really well

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Assessment on fig and raspberry cardamom tartlet and choux buns 

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Assessment on fig and raspberry cardamom tartlet and choux buns 

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Today I did two assessments on fig and raspberry tart and choux buns, I enjoy making desserts, I think the tart looked good and the choux buns also looked good I was happy with the result

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Today I did my assessment on my pear jalouise dish, I found this dish very enjoyable to make and I was happy with how it looked on the plate once served

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My first practise of the culinary challenge 

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My first practise of the culinary challenge 

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Today was my first practise of the challenge, I did two dishes today so I chose the starter and the dessert, both dishes turned out well but I was worried about time management, and I put my meringues in later than I should have so I ended up burning them a little as the oven was to high, I'll male sure to always do them first with the ice cream in future practises

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Today I was doing a timed practice of my culinary challenge, today went a little better than the first practice I took on board any advice that my tutor gave me about presentation and garnishes, this practice I finished my food a little bit earlier than the first time, I got good feed back on the taste of the food and presentation, the only thing I have to work on is not over whipping the cream for the tiramisu and to cool my icecream mixture down completely before I add it to the icecream machine as the icecream is very soft and melts really quickly

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Today was my second time practicing my dishes, I decided to redo my starter and work on the mains this time, I've also decided to smoke the salmon, I think I did a good job of the dishes and I'm happy with the presentation of the salmon dish, but I will change my lemon miss butter sauce to a white lemon misso sauce, I think it will look better on the plate and taste better with the fish, i also have to work on the scale of the croquettes as they were a little to big I weighed them off at 20g but I think maybe 17g will work better

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Today I had my final practice of my culinary challenge, I think it went better today I was a little bit faster and got my food served 3 mins late, the only things things that went wrong this time was that my potatoes burnt so I couldn't serve them, and my icecream was melting to fast, but the rest went well but needs some adjusting for the actual challenge

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Today was the challenge, I made sure I was well prepared and set up, everything was coverd and labelled and set in my fridge ready for me to start cooking. I made my meringues, salmon crust and icecream first, then I put on the chicken and potatoes right away. I stayed focused on what I was doing and didn't pay attention to what anyone else was doing so I didn't panic, I managed to get everything made and served up 5mins earlier than the 3 hour timer which I'm so relieved about and I still payed attention to making sure the food tastes good and looks good, I was very happy with today 😊