I couldn’t quite put my finger on why I found Rory O’Connell from Ballymaloe Cookery School, so engaging at the Women & Agriculture conference.

Despite all his experience of cooking all over the world and learning from the grand-dame herself, Myrtle Allen, I wondered what set him apart? It’s simple really. He is a teacher and is used to imparting practical information to students. It is a particular skill. I couldn’t get enough of his tips.

Apparently, the best way to cook a steak is on a cast-iron skillet. Does that work on an induction hob I wanted to ask? Looking them up afterwards, I found that they do. I was drawn to the Le Creuset website.

Over 35 years ago, I was gifted a beautiful Le Creuset roasting dish by a student, Donal, who did his apprenticeship on our farm. I’ve always loved it and use it every week.

To my delight, I saw that it would cost me €200 today. It might be discoloured on the inside, but still does its job perfectly.

I found a rectangular skillet pan that would fit my hob plates and do the steak job nicely. It cost around €100. It’s worth measuring your hob before you purchase, because the skillets come in different shapes and sizes.

As I continued to browse, I found that the price varied for the same skillet by a whopping €30 between websites. I decided to mull my purchase over for a bit.

Rory was cooking a tomahawk steak. He recommended going to the butcher and asking for an extra thick steak, depending on how many guests would be along.

“Always dry the meat first and season it,” he said. He advised us to cook the steak on the outside on the skillet pan and finish it in the oven to retain its succulence. That gets over the thick bit.

On the day, he sliced the steak horizontally. I thought it was a great way of dividing up the meat, as a steak can be a very big portion of meat. Rory also expressed his preference for a wooden chopping board over a plastic one.

Tuscan dessert

Then it was on to the Tuscan dessert: apple, blackberry, lemon and almond cake. Dare I admit that I’ve made it six times already? In my defence, one was with my niece, as she wanted to bring a nice cake to her staffroom and two I made as gifts. I love to pick up a new recipe that is different.

Rory wasn’t terribly exact about what went into the bowl next and that gave me confidence to try it at home. The recipe is in the conference booklet and can be found in Rory’s book, Cook Well Eat Well.

There are 125g of almonds in it and so I figured it was a recipe that might work for people who are gluten intolerant.

The almonds would mask the 110g of gluten-free flour. It is so nice to be able to serve the one dessert for all the family, instead of having the boring pavlova to the side. It worked a treat with self-raising gluten-free flour.

Rory is just like any of us making dinner for a few guests. The best sight of all was seeing this perfect gentleman getting slightly dishevelled as time went on but it was all building up to a crescendo.

That feeling when you’ve pulled it all together is satisfying. The cheeks might be flaming and the hair tossed, but you’ve served an exceptional meal.

Rory’s dessert is seasonal, and I used the sweet apples from our gardens and the blackberries from our ditches.

Italian by name. Rory made it Irish, celebrating home produce and enhancing it with Kerrygold butter and cream.