My night out at Belfast Cookery School

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a massive foodie. If you turned on my tv right now it would automatically open on The Food Network. My Pinterest is heavily decorated with recipes, Food Gawker in my go to for inspiration in finding new blogs and new recipes to fit a theme, and if I ever go to America I will be googling the nearest Triple D restaurant I can find.

So you can imagine I was delighted when my friend Sarah from The Sarah Story won two spaces on a night at Belfast Cookery School and invited me! I was doubly excited as it was my birthday week and it gave us a chance to celebrate!

I've walked down Castle Street a thousand times and never noticed this little door before. We met at the Castle Street entrance out the back of Mourne Seafood and headed up the three flights of stairs (I am not a stairs person) to find ourselves in our kitchen for the evening. Each bench, built for two, was fully kitted out with everything we needed and thanks to the hard working Commis chefs they were mysteriously cleared and restocked between each course!

Thanks to Chef Stephen I am now of the opinion that every meal should begin with dessert. Or at least the preparation of it. The theme of the evening was a Dinner Party so much like you would see on Come Dine With Me it was all about putting in the hard work early on and relaxing towards the end. We began our Sticky Toffee Pudding experience with a demonstration and then off we pottered to our stations. Chef Stephen was amazing at putting us ease and explained everything in such a way that whether you were a novice cook or a keen enthusiast (let's face it, none of us were pros) you were kept entertained and relaxed. 

Here you see Sarah starting to cream the sugar and the butter for the puddings. This was before we realised you were supposed to put it in the big bowl first. We learned quickly. 

In between each course we got a wee wine break and to enjoy our food (dessert was still eaten last though). You could hear the hustle of Mourne's Oyster Bar downstairs and it had the real sense of a bustling Friday night. 

Here Chef Stephen demonstrates our seafood starter. I was worried about this one because I've been having some issues my diet and randomly getting sick from foods I've eaten for years but I thought for the sake of this evening I would throw caution to the wind and ignore my triggers. Luckily, beyond a bit of onion and garlic, there weren't too many involved!

I'm also now obsessed with Sea Bream. That was the most delicious little critter I've ever eaten and I wish I could get it every week. 

I kinda overdid it with the watercress in the citrus salad. I really like watercress. 

Sarah takes her fish prep very seriously. 

Seriously how good do they look?! We got top marks in the class for colour on both this and the main course's Chicken which is an accolade I shall boast about for years. 

See what I mean about the colour? We rocked our main course and I was extremely chuffed with my newfound ability to trim a chicken bone. 

Sarah's expertly crumbed croquettes which were actually humongous!

Now here's a nice demo of the difference between our creations and the chefs. I wonder if you can guess which is which? I won't be winning any Michelin stars for presentation any time soon and again I really went to town with that watercress. 

Sarah also takes her cake very seriously. 

A fine way to end the evening. I thoroughly enjoyed our night at The Cookery School and would recommend to anyone looking for something different to do on a night out. We were cooking with other pairs/couple but there was also a large group of eight on a work night out. I wish my boss would treat me to that! 

Prices run between £40 - £60 per class with varying themes and, given that not only do you get to eat everything you make but you're also learning life skills, it's worth every penny. 

Www.belfastcookeryschool.com