All work and no … Take 2 (File under A Passionate Life)

Kahil Gibran once wrote; “Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.” No more is this true than in the (if not a constant balmy 35 C) kitchens around the world.

I love what I do. I’m sure that I have said this numerous times. And I do not tire of saying it.

This past week I had some great successes at work with soups and specials. As I mentioned in a previous post, I have, by and large, taken over the role of the house soup maker. It is one of the great joys that I have each day (almost but not quite as joyful as waking up). On my way in I visualize what is in the walk in cooler of vegetables and start composing in my mind what soup I am going to make. And again, I credit C with giving me the desire to make delicious soups and in the past year and a bit I have become quite adept at making them.

Soup is a simple thing to make. But it can also be incredibly complex. I find that the more complexity I add to it, the more I compound the flavours, the more I build layers, the more tasty and enjoyable the soup is. I wrote another interesting post about this subject (http://newbieintheweeds.blogspot.com/2009/02/specials-soup-and-breakfast-file-under.html).

Last week I made a few interesting soups. I made a stunningly complex Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Bisque which was to die for. I also made a velvety Parsnip Puree and a Truffled Forest Mushroom Bisque. All 3 sold extremely well and two of them were almost down before dinner service.

In the same post listed above I spoke about the fact that I have started constructing specials that come off my station. I do so very much in the spirit of Garde Manger. In that I construct specials which utilize things that were already used in some way. Last weeks special that I ran was a Caramelized Onion and Pink Peppercorn Crusted Brie Quiche. In what I felt was a clever name I called it a Provencal Quiche. In many ways it was. But I don’t know if I would call it Provencal in the future. I made twelve of them and had sold ten at lunch. Highly successful special.

Quiche is not overly difficult to make and with care and attention you can make them with jut about anything you want. In making this quiche my responses on quality checks from customers were that it was; “delicious,” “excellent,” and “why is this not on the menu. IT SHOULD BE.” These were all comments by regulars and it made me feel great.

Today I made a Curried Coconut and Carrot Puree. As I was done work early I got to go out and enjoy my lunch while people were eating their meals. As the regulars have gotten used to my face I got some feedback on my soups and my specials and it felt great to know that they love what I am doing. One woman asked how I come up with things that I cook and I told her that while I am a voracious reader and acquirer of knowledge most of what I cook starts first with an ingredient in my head.

From that point I then use my palate databank and create from memory dishes that I believe will taste good. If in my mind that dish does not work than I believe that it probably will not work when it is brought into the real world. This sparked a conversation that made me feel great. She said that I must have a gift for a “memory palate,” as she (who comes in every day) has loved each and every one of my soups. Moreover that she has noticed a spectacular difference between the soups made now and those of a year ago.

Felt really good. I MEAN REALLY GOOD. Further confirmation that I am on the right path.

Walter Savage Landor once said; “A good cook is the peculiar gift of the gods. He must be a perfect creature from the brain to the palate, from the palate to the finger's end.”

And tomorrow is another day as I am only as good as the last plate I put out.

Are you dreaming big and inspired?

A la prochaine

SDM

Soup, Soup, Soup (file under I’m getting good, like REAL good)

Soup is one of those things, easy to make but also easy to screw up. Obviously for anyone truly serious in becoming a Chef, along with stocks and sauces, soups is an essential element. And the beauty of soups is that the basic elements of a soup being made 100 litres at a time is the same as one being made at home.

Due to my overwhelming love for C, I started making soups and sauces. I had always been a sauce maker but had never really made sauces. Of course at Reservation I started making big batches of soups for weddings and other celebrations as well as for daily service.

Soup is something that seems really easy. You add you main feature to some water or cream and boil. However, there are, as I learned at Reservation lots of things that can go wrong with soups.

Now that I am at Without Reservation I took soups from Chef as I outlined in a previous post. Though I have witnessed a growth in the way that I am making them and what types of soups I am choosing to make. For instance, this week I have made a Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Puree, an Asian Inspired Black Bean and Ham Hock and today started a Cauliflower Veloute (one of my favorites). The roasted red pepper went over like gangbusters. The Black Bean was only half used yesterday so I bumped it up today with some orange juice, water and another ham hock. I will finish the Cauliflower Veloute when I get into work tomorrow morning.

I can almost hear you all asking; “But how do you make the actual soup?”

Well let’s answer that to demystify some of the steps in the process by using the Black Bean soup as the example.

First I started with 4 large onions which I diced and sweated down in a little oil with some garlic. This takes about five to seven minutes but be patient. The point of the sweat is to draw out the natural sugars in the onions. About four minutes into the sweat I add the carrots and celery and allow them to sweat as well. After about three minutes from that point I deglazed it with about a third to a half a bottle of white wine. The night before I had soaked some chilies in a little sweet rice wine vinegar and water. I allow the wine to reduce and then add the black beans and ham hocks stirring them in completely. Cover with water and let simmer. After about an hour and a half (and filling the water back up a little lets just say two more litres and about seven hundred and fifty milliliters of Orange Juice) I turn the heat off and let it sit for a couple of minutes. As a result of the flavours that I was after in this particular soup I juiced four limes and added the juice and a little of the pulp to the soup. I then removed the ham hocks and put them under running cold water to allow them to cool so I could handle them. While this is happening I used an immersion blender to combine all the flavours fully. Once the ham hocks were cool I then took the fat off and deposit it in the bottom of the soup terrine. I then take the meat of the ham hocks of the bone and shredded it coarsely and deposited it in the soup.

You see, there really isn’t much to it. I really enjoyed this soup because Toronto has been hit by an Artic blast that has the city beyond cold, especially when you factor in the wind chill. The heat was just enough to hit you on the back of your palate and to warm you up and it was really well balanced. Today I thought it was even better as the flavours had all come together even more. To bump it up today I added a bit more water, some more orange juice and another ham hock.

DELCICIOUS.

Abraham Maslow once said; “A first rate soup is better than a second rate painting” I couldn’t agree more.

Are you living your dream? Are you dreaming big and inspired?

A la prochaine

SDM