Happy Easter (file under Grateful Appreciation)

First and foremost, Happy Easter everyone. I hope that it is a day filled with family, joy and of course the beautiful sun. Get out and play for a while.

Since going out with my brother a couple of weeks ago I have been without my Ipod. But this morning I took my roommates and let me tell you, the ride is much quicker when I have some go get’m music playing. I can hardly wait to have my Ipod back. Hopefully today.

It was relatively slow today at work so I took the opportunity to beef up prep for the next few days, make two different Health in a Glass and created two specials for tomorrow. The prep I took care of included par cooking linguini and penne. Cooking two different kinds of rice. Portioning off my capellini for today’s special. Veg for tomorrow’s pasta special. I also made sure we had three trays of muffins ready to go.

Today’s Health in a Glass were;

1) Banana, Pineapple, Strawberry Yoghurt, Blackberry and Orange Juice, Ice and two eggs.
2) Pineapple, Raspberry, Blueberry, Banana, plain yoghurt, ice and 650 mls of Orange Juice.

Both were absolutely delicious. Today I ended up making enough for about fifteen people. By the time I get to work my muscles have been working quite a bit and I have noticed that the smoothie really perks me up and is a great way to start a day.

Today I was so hungry that I ended up making myself a beautiful breakfast wrap. In a whole wheat tortilla I put lettuce, tomato, mayo. I then sautéed green pepper, red pepper, red onion, mushroom and spinach with a little garlic. I added a couple of over easy eggs, some bacon and Swiss cheese, wrapped it all up and then grilled it for a moment. It was a two hander for sure. I could barely hold the thing. But it was so delicious. I am still full and I ate it approximately 6 hours ago at the time of writing.

For tomorrows specials I created a Pizza Al Arrabiata with Andouille sausage, mushroom and green pepper. For the Al Arrabiata Sauce I first soaked the chili flake in water for about an hour. I took a large pot, put in olive oil and some crushed garlic. I then added some onion and sweated it down. Added some red wine to deglaze the pot. I then added grape and Roma tomatoes. I let that cook down for about ten or fifteen minutes and then added some parsley and basil. Took it off the heat and then blitzed it with an immersion blender.

The pasta is a Penne Primavera.

I would say I did about thirty or forty covers all day at work. Two of which were the Seafood Carbonara. Before it went out I asked the floor manager to do a quality check to let me know how the member enjoyed it. He came back a few moments later and said that they were thrilled and that it was absolutely delicious. I explained to him that I will be asking for quality checks everyday so that I can start to ascertain what the member likes and dislikes are.

I also prepared a fourteen ounce striploin today with a peppercorn jus served (in this case) with French fries and daily vegetables Usually I would do mash but they wanted fries. I also asked for a quality check on this item. The steak was to be cooked medium and for some reason I find this to be one of the harder temperatures to cook. About fifteen minutes later the server came back ad assured me that the member was happy as a clam.

Have I mentioned at all this week how much I love this job? How much I love waking up before the sun and serving people food that starts their day in a great and wholesome way? It is a pleasure and an honour.

So, I hope that you all have had as eventful and fabulous a day as I have. I hope it gets better. I am about to call the love of my life and send her some love on this Sunny Easter Sunday. Make sure you tell the people you love that you love them today.

Buddha once said; “Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.” Have you found your work yet?

Are you dreaming big and inspired?

A la prochaine

SDM

There’s Something to be Said (file under PURE Joy)

Goethe seems to be my guy these days. He once said; “Who is the happiest of men? He who values the merits of others, and in their pleasure takes joy, even as though t'were his own.” This quote seems to be the greatest explanation of the reawakening that I am having right now.

As a cook it is true that my greatest happiness and joy is the result of others pleasure. Some might even say that my ultimate purpose now is to revel in the pleasure that others receive from my actions. And that, to me, is both thrilling and a massive responsibility. It means that I need to forgo my emotions and feelings in order to ensure the pleasure of my patrons. That in order for me to increase their pleasure I need to allow myself to leave the outside world at the door when I get to work, leave the outside there and concentrate, in the moment, to making the best possible dish that I can. If I do this, I am certain, that I have contributed to someone else’s pleasure which thus ensures my happiness.

As I am rollerblading to work these days I have a lot of time while pushing my body to push my mind and these are some of the thoughts (outline above) that have been running through my mind. Does that sound silly to you?

I love waking up in the morning. Alive, I roll out of bed, and start the process of my day. Vitamins, shower, dress, blades on and out the door. Arrive at work, get changed, punch in, start the set up for my stations and then prep for the day. This includes, as you are all aware, creating the next days specials.

As well today I did two smoothies again and they both were delicious. So much so that I ended up making enough for about twelve people. Calls of yum and ooh and ahhs could be heard throughout the building and all I could do was smile. It would seem that Health in a Glass is making a come back and I think that I might actually start recording all the smoothie recipes too and put out a book of those someday.

Yesterdays specials went very well. Which is above all, supremely satisfying to me. Even my coworkers have noticed how I relish in creating a great special. While I was at work today we sold about four of my pizza specials and three of the pasta. AND it was relatively slow. I am sure that tonight they will sell out of the special.

Today’s specials that I created are a grilled Portobello mushroom, artichoke hearts and crispy double smoked bacon. The pasta is a seafood Carbonara with scallops, crab, shrimp and double smoked bacon. DELICIOUS.

In case any of you could not tell, creating these specials is one of my greatest joys. I get to use the freshest ingredients and can do anything I want. I am building a repertoire of dishes that are distinctly me. And I have started a recipe book. Which at this rate should be pretty full by the end of the summer. Can any one say self publish?

Not only that but I shaved another five minutes off my return trip. Not so bad if you ask me. I think that within a few weeks, perhaps a month, I should be able to get to work in fifteen minutes and back in about twenty. We’ll see and I will keep you posted.

At any rate, Happy Easter or Passover every one. I hope that you feel the same blessings and joy in your lives that I do. It really is a matter of choice you know.

Confucius once said; “Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.”

A la prochaine

SDM