J. Allison
I attended the Julie & Julia course last Saturday I had a superb day we had the chicken en croute for tea last night fantastic. A big thank you to Simon who was extremely patient especially whilst we were trying to bone the chicken!!!
S. Anderson
Firstly and most importantly, thank you for everything on Saturday. The food was great and exactly what Josie and Will wanted but in addition we thought the staff and service were absolutley fantastic.
You and your team really delivered and it felt to run so smoothly. We'll definitely be recommending you!
Peter R.
Dear Andrew,
I hope you will forgive me writing to you by e-mail rather than by letter to say how much we enjoyed our dinner last Friday. The dinner was superb - every course was a real treat, and the three fillets were exquisite. I hope we did not disappoint (offend?) by over indulgence in your splendid wines.
Thank you also for your personal interest and involvement, which helped make the evening that much more enjoyable and special.
Many congratulations to you and all your staff, and my thanks for making such a memorable evening for the members.
Learning to Cook - a student perspective
Lisa Minor attended our 8 week General Cookery Course and publised this to her blog. Reprinted with kind permission.
Week 1 - Soup & Bread
Starting the cookery course tonight was a little daunting, especially not knowing what the expectations of me as a cook were. Coghlans is after all not only a cookery school but is also home to a professional kitchen producing some of the finest food and chocolates in the district, and headed by Simon, a master chef of Britain!
However, within minutes of starting the course I was reassured that this 8 week course was not to test or judge anyone’s cooking skills, but was to teach new techniques, boost confidence, introduce new foods and focus on home cooking.
The carrot soup was simple but brilliant. Before we were to pick up a knife Simon showed us how to chop the vegetables into small cubes, avoiding any finger ends! We were also showed how to thicken the soup by just using butter and flour, a technique I am sure will come in handy at home!
Fresh bread was next. There is no other smell as comforting as fresh bread baking, another helpful hint was to always try and use fresh yeast. I was so proud of my first attempt at bread making I took a photo!
Fresh soup & home made warm bread, could there be any better supper?!
Week 2 - Pasta
I had worried endlessly over this weeks class. Pasta had always ended up a total disaster in my kitchen at home!
The first thing we did was make the pasta dough, and then we had to be shown how to use the pasta machine, a task that Simon and Russ made look effortless!
After a few failed attempts (and a helping hand from Russ!), I finally got the hang of the pasta machine and produced some fine looking pasta sheets.
The filling for ravioli was next and it was my favourite, Spinach & Ricotta Cheese! It was at this point Simon pointed out that tasting the food was essential to get the seasoning just right.
Making the ravioli pockets was not as easy as it sounds. Simon and Russ explained that it is very important to make sure that there are no air pockets in the ravioli as they will explode when cooking!
After overcoming my fear of pasta I was finally starting to feel more competent in the kitchen!
Week 3 - Fish
Fish is another food I am not confident with and seeing a whole sea bass looking up at me from my chopping board, my new found confidence was slipping.
Simon confidently and effortlessly filleted the fish, showing us how to hold the knife and remove the fillets cleanly. He also enforced the importance of using fresh fish and I must admit, the fish looking back at me from my board was of a high quality with fresh bright eyes.
My first attempt ended up more fish finger than fish fillet, but with a little one to one tutoring from Russ the second attempt was a big improvement.
The sea bass was placed into a silver foil parcel with a selection of finely chopped vegetables and white wine and was to be steam cooked in the oven.
Next it was salmon fishcakes. A large piece of quality salmon had been pre cooked for us to add to mashed potato. We were then shown how to cover with bread crumbs with egg wash ready to oven once we got home.
Fish has never been one of my favourite foods, but after this evenings class I am converted with yet another cookery fear conquered!
Week 4 - Chicken
Chicken is my favourite meat so I was looking forward to learning how to use it for different meals, other than just adding it to cook in sauces.
Upon entering the kitchen I was faced with a whole chicken and after watching Simon portion the chicken I was not as horrified as I thought I may be.
Portioning a chicken is not as hard it may seem. The professional kitchenware and knives provided by Coghlans for the cookery school were a huge help and after a few minutes I was pleased with the job I had done.
The lion share of the chicken was for a chicken Chasseur, of course made from scratch.
As I only ever use chicken breast at home, I was reassured when Simon pointed out the different cooking times for each part of the chicken. He also pointed out that the thigh of the chicken contains more flavour than the breast!
Next was the remaining thigh. We were shown how to remove the meat from the bone. This was then stuffed and rolled ready to roast at home.
This has been my favourite part of the course so far and Simon was right, the flavour in the thigh of the chicken is much tastier than the breast. I am a convert!
Week 5 - Red Meat
On the itinerary this week was pork fillet stroganoff & beef olives.
We were shown how to prepare the pork fillet, removing the thin film membrane and cutting it into equal sized pieces.
While cooking the pork in a pan, we were told that once the pork was in the pan, not to shake or move the meat as this will result in the juices being released and the pork boiling.
Once the pork was cooked, Simon told us to remove it from the pan and leave it to rest. This would relax the pork and avoid the meat being tough.
The stroganoff sauce was made in the same pan. Once the sauce was ready the pork was added to produce by far the best stroganoff I have ever tasted.
The beef olives were made with top quality beef, & finished in a tomato sauce.
The pork stroganoff was a hit with my mother in law who was struggling to believe I had made it, and will definitely be served at my table again!
Week 6 - Vegetables
I was really looking forward to this weeks class as I am not the most adventurous of cooks when it comes to vegetables.
I was confronted with what celeriac, a vegetable I had never seen before which was to be used in a dauphinoise with potato.
Next on the menu was a roast carrot & parsnip crumble. The carrots and parsnips were peeled and the root removed from the carrots to ensure even cooking as we were told that the root part takes a little longer.
The crumble topping was made with chestnuts, an ingredient I had never thought of using in savoury crumbles, but is now an essential part of my kitchen cupboard.
We were treated to a glass of Champagne at the end of this weeks class as the owner of the cookery school Andrew Coghlan was holding a Champagne tasting evening in the Barrels & Bottles tasting room.
Week 7 - Pastry
Pastry I have to admit is a little like pasta in my kitchen at home - it always ends in disaster and I have to resort to ready made from the supermarket!
This week we were to make two of my favourite foods in the world, Bakewell Tart and Quiche!
Once we were shown by Simon how to make the sweet and savoury pastries and the Bakewell Tart was in the oven we were given a free reign on the filling for the Quiche. On the prep bench was a wonderful array of fillings for the quiche from top quality salmon to the humble tomato. The choice was difficult but in the end I opted for a very 70’s retro Quiche Lorraine!
Week 8 - Chocolate
Well, this was the class I think all of the ladies in the group were looking forward to the most!
First up was the chocolate mousse with strawberries, full of whipped cream and the finest Coghlans chocolate. This was truly to die for!
After setting the mouse in the moulds we were shown the art of tempering chocolate, which is definitely not as easy as made to look by Simon who is also Coghlans chocolatier.
Next up was quite possibly the highlight of the entire course! Making our own truffles!! This was a chance to literally get our hand full of melted chocolate and to cover the truffle balls. Delicately decorating each of the truffles was the end to the class.
Before class was dismissed for the final time, we were all presented with a discount card for the Barrels & Bottles Shop, the chocolate shop and the Le Creuset Cookware shop in the unit, which was a heart warming finish to what has been a fantastic experience.
At the start of this 8 week cookery course I lacked confidence in my ability as a cook, now thanks to Coghlans Cookery School I am more confident than ever in the kitchen, am producing more home cooked food for the family and I am no longer terrified of experimenting with new dishes.
