Our finished tarts were a sight to behold their bitter olives, juicy tomatoes and crunchy pastry. Each element of the tart gave a new and flavoursome taste. The vinegary olives left an after taste that left my face contorted in the bliss and the bitterness. The tomato had a slippery and juicy feel that just slid down your throat. The pastry, like all pastry had a satisfactory and fulfilling crunchiness. The tarts had a slightly glazed/oiled finish to it and the garnish completely finished the dish. However the tarts had to be left for a minute or two because the olives were rather hot and might have ruined the of the dish.
I found the dish to be rather enjoyable, enough to want to make it again a few days later. As I had never tried olives before and didn’t particularly like tomatoes, this experience has completely changed my tastes.
It worked well, we had to adjust the time slightly but otherwise the dish was finished with minimal cleaning and a sensational taste. We could have used a different plate to present but it still looked fabulous.I found that the recipe was hard to follow because i didn't know what some of the steps were.
I felt that we could have made the tarts in a larger quantity and if they were to be for another occasion, slightly bigger. A bit more seasoning might have been added for taste but was still able to taste wonderful without extra seasoning.
I would rate this dish a 5 - like very much - on the Hedonic scale.
07/04/2011Chirizo Paella The Paella was filled with a warm, whole feel that filled your mouth. The taste was bland with a spicy sharp after taste. I enjoyed the base as a base but it lacked a depth and flavour.
We used partly fresh ingredients, using fresh herbs but tin tomatoes. I thought that maybe we used too much tomatoes which gave the meal a slight pasta feel. I felt the need for a stronger stock, which might improve the flavour. The recipe was easy to follow and rather simple, however it didn’t use the traditional methods of preparing paella. I had never made Paella before and found the experience much like risotto.
The paella was not what I was expecting, I anticipated a meal much like risotto in taste and was slightly disappointed with it being so different. I also felt that the dish was too bland and next time I would use only fresh ingredients, add some more vegetables and make it more like a risotto. And if I had help from a more experienced chief I would use the traditional method of preparing the meal. I would also serve the dish in a family styled buffet where it is served in a large dish and people help themselves.
I would rate this dish as a 4 – like a little – on the hedonic scale. 19/05/2011Battered fish with wedges, Greek salad and tartar sauce. Anything that could go wrong; went wrong during the preparation of our meal.
Chrissie didn’t show up and everyone was in a panic, running around worried.
We didn’t have all our ingredients and weren’t able to make the tartar sauce.
Our batter was too dry.
Our batter came off the fish in the pan, because we didn’t know that we needed to coat the fish in flour and then batter so only a single piece of fish ended up being battered.
The lettuce for our salad tasted off.
My jumper got covered in batter, flour and god knows what else.
Our meal however did actually taste really good. The wedges were perfect temperature, the fried fish didn’t have any bones and the make sauce (mayonnaise, lemon juice and lemon rind) had the most amazing texture and diverse flavour I’ve ever known. On the other hand, I thought the partly Greek salad ruined the dish, the olives were too strong, the feta was extremely soggy and I didn’t like the smell. I have learnt a tremendous amount and would make this meal under less stressful situations because I felt very stressed and anxious whilst preparing.
I was disappointed because the fish didn’t look very professional on the newspaper. The recipes were simple and easy to follow and I have learnt how to batter and fry fish.
I rate this dish a 3 - Not sure - on the hedonic scale
01/06/2011Molten Baby Cakes We made molten baby cakes, small pudding like cakes that had melted chocolate pouring out of the middle. This was the easiest thing I've made, simply melting chocolate and whipping up an average cake mix, put into small ramekins. They smelt of rich chocolate and the bottom felt and looked like dark fudge brownies. This delicious, chocolatydessert was very heavy and creamy. The recipe was carefree and easy, allowing Hayley and I to enjoy cooking instead of rushing and worrying about finishing. When we were serving, it started to turn upside down, literately. The recipe told us to get the cakes out of the ramekins and serve them on a plate so as we turned the ramekins upside down, the sides detached and the top part of the cake ended up on the plate oozing chocolate while the bottom, fudge part stayed in the ramekin. We tried to plate four different molten cakes, all resulting in the same failure. so we ended up serving them in the ramekins. Never the less they were incredibly delicious that I will definitely make again but will serve them in the ramekins so i don't lose my molten cakes. This dish is rated 5 - like very much - on the hedonic scale.
Our finished tarts were a sight to behold their bitter olives, juicy tomatoes and crunchy pastry. Each element of the tart gave a new and flavoursome taste. The vinegary olives left an after taste that left my face contorted in the bliss and the bitterness. The tomato had a slippery and juicy feel that just slid down your throat. The pastry, like all pastry had a satisfactory and fulfilling crunchiness. The tarts had a slightly glazed/oiled finish to it and the garnish completely finished the dish. However the tarts had to be left for a minute or two because the olives were rather hot and might have ruined the of the dish.
I found the dish to be rather enjoyable, enough to want to make it again a few days later. As I had never tried olives before and didn’t particularly like tomatoes, this experience has completely changed my tastes.
It worked well, we had to adjust the time slightly but otherwise the dish was finished with minimal cleaning and a sensational taste. We could have used a different plate to present but it still looked fabulous.I found that the recipe was hard to follow because i didn't know what some of the steps were.
I felt that we could have made the tarts in a larger quantity and if they were to be for another occasion, slightly bigger. A bit more seasoning might have been added for taste but was still able to taste wonderful without extra seasoning.
I would rate this dish a 5 - like very much - on the Hedonic scale.
The Paella was filled with a warm, whole feel that filled your mouth. The taste was bland with a spicy sharp after taste. I enjoyed the base as a base but it lacked a depth and flavour.
We used partly fresh ingredients, using fresh herbs but tin tomatoes. I thought that maybe we used too much tomatoes which gave the meal a slight pasta feel. I felt the need for a stronger stock, which might improve the flavour. The recipe was easy to follow and rather simple, however it didn’t use the traditional methods of preparing paella. I had never made Paella before and found the experience much like risotto.
The paella was not what I was expecting, I anticipated a meal much like risotto in taste and was slightly disappointed with it being so different. I also felt that the dish was too bland and next time I would use only fresh ingredients, add some more vegetables and make it more like a risotto. And if I had help from a more experienced chief I would use the traditional method of preparing the meal. I would also serve the dish in a family styled buffet where it is served in a large dish and people help themselves.
I would rate this dish as a 4 – like a little – on the hedonic scale.
19/05/2011Battered fish with wedges, Greek salad and tartar sauce.
Anything that could go wrong; went wrong during the preparation of our meal.
- Chrissie didn’t show up and everyone was in a panic, running around worried.
- We didn’t have all our ingredients and weren’t able to make the tartar sauce.
- Our batter was too dry.
- Our batter came off the fish in the pan, because we didn’t know that we needed to coat the fish in flour and then batter so only a single piece of fish ended up being battered.
- The lettuce for our salad tasted off.
- My jumper got covered in batter, flour and god knows what else.
Our meal however did actually taste really good. The wedges were perfect temperature, the fried fish didn’t have any bones and the make sauce (mayonnaise, lemon juice and lemon rind) had the most amazing texture and diverse flavour I’ve ever known. On the other hand, I thought the partly Greek salad ruined the dish, the olives were too strong, the feta was extremely soggy and I didn’t like the smell. I have learnt a tremendous amount and would make this meal under less stressful situations because I felt very stressed and anxious whilst preparing.I was disappointed because the fish didn’t look very professional on the newspaper. The recipes were simple and easy to follow and I have learnt how to batter and fry fish.
I rate this dish a 3 - Not sure - on the hedonic scale
01/06/2011Molten Baby Cakes
They smelt of rich chocolate and the bottom felt and looked like dark fudge brownies. This delicious, chocolatydessert was very heavy and creamy.
The recipe was carefree and easy, allowing Hayley and I to enjoy cooking instead of rushing and worrying about finishing. When we were serving, it started to turn upside down, literately. The recipe told us to get the cakes out of the ramekins and serve them on a plate so as we turned the ramekins upside down, the sides detached and the top part of the cake ended up on the plate oozing chocolate while the bottom, fudge part stayed in the ramekin. We tried to plate four different molten cakes, all resulting in the same failure. so we ended up serving them in the ramekins. Never the less they were incredibly delicious that I will definitely make again but will serve them in the ramekins so i don't lose my molten cakes.
This dish is rated 5 - like very much - on the hedonic scale.