UK 4 - Masterchef Supergal Fails on Hollandaise

Bloody Nora.

I scrambled the hollandaise.

Twice.

Not once.

Twice.

Chanel, my fashionista sister (she's there above about to cook salmon -and no, it's not her real name!) and I choofed off last week for a spot of bonding at a cooking class right in the centre of London. We did a dinner class at L'atelier des Chefs on Wigmore Street (just behind John Lewis).

Sis and I rocked up for our hour and a half class at 6.30pm (which turned into a two and half hour class!), met our trusty Italian couple table mates, Filippo and Kiara (pic 1), then proceeded to cook our three course dinner:

Entree - Goats cheese crostini with endive salad
Main - Salmon with vanilla hollandaise and sauteed potatoes
Dessert - Chocolate pot with mint chiffonade (posh term for whipped cream)

We had a bloody ripper of a time!! There was no doubt that we were the star table of the evening, oh yes, we were the only table not to have earnt the wrath of our chef - we didn't split the hollandaise!!! And guess who was making the hollandaise??? Me!

So, floating on our grand success at the cooking school I decided to impress bro-in-law, Geeko, and sis, by presenting a replica of my learning for dinner last Wednesday evening. I was so ready to show off my obvious talent for making hollandaise, so ready to bask in the glory of those around me as they tasted my divine creation...oh-so-ready!

Yes. Well.

I've um posted the pics of my food here at home under the pics of the food we made at the cooking class - pic 6 is my Crostini, and pic 8 is my salmon. The goats cheese crostini turned out pretty ok, though I did forget about the swirly balsamic arty thing on top which would have made mine much prettier.

As for the salmon...well...you may have noticed something missing. Hmmmmm. The hollandaise. Similar to an embarrassing risotto incident last year, it seems I stuffed it up...not once, as I've mentioned, but twice.

I always like to cut myself some slack when trying something new, so always have spare for the "just in case I stuff the first one up". Which I did. I scrambled the bloody egg yolk and vinegar over the bain marie. Damn. Then I did the bloody same thing again! The excessive use of "bloody", which will no doubt get me in trouble with Chanel (sis doesn't like it, but I see it as culturally enriching for the kids, who, let's be frank, need to understand their aussie roots), shows just how um unimpressed I was about the whole thing!!

I am happy to report that dinner was still yum, even without that bugger hollandaise! But never fear sportsfans, this supergal doesn't give up that easily...I'm giving it another go tonight, this time with steak...will keep you posted!!