Rainy Monday (file under wet and tired… BUT LOVING IT)

I couldn’t really sleep last night. I woke up every hour on the hour. Yet, I find myself filled with all kind of energy, so it didn’t really affect me all that much. I think I am excited for my trip to NYC.

Today was a busy day. Beyond the usual I found myself with a massive amount of prep to do. I believe the old expression goes while the cats away the mouse will play. Due to Sous Chef R being away I think that some people are just on automatic pilot. Although my 8 am partner this morning told me that if I do their work once it will always be expected. I replied that while that may be true, I am here to do a job and regardless of who does it that job is going to get done. I prefer to let my work do the talking rather than my mouth. AND MY WORK IS BEYOND REPROACH! So I just went along my merry way banging one thing after another off of my list.

Health in a Glass (H.I.A.G.) this morning was absolutely awesome. I did two of them. The first was with an egg, grapefruit juice, grapefruit, raspberries, raspberry yoghurt, honeydew melon and ice. DELICIOUS.

The second was also fabulous. Two bananas, blackberries, raspberry yoghurt, an egg, pineapple juice and ice. AWESOME!

The specials that I created for yesterday flew off the line. When I came in there was none of the prep that I had done which means they sold it all. Good to know. Mental note to self.

By the time I had left today the specials that I created were doing quite well indeed. I would love to go two days in a row with all of what I prepared gone.

As for tomorrow the specials are as follows;

Hawaii 5 – 0 pizza (I had something in mind but by the time I left the ingredient hadn’t come in so I figured I would go with H50).

The pasta on the other hand is WOW. It is cavatappi in a crab rose sauce with mushrooms and shallots finished off with some truffle oil. YUMMY! I know that will go like gangbusters.

I also got to speak with two of the members today. My regulars. They both love what I am doing and gave me a big thumbs up. In fact one of them said that he wanted to make sure that I’d stay around so he would get me a membership. I assured him that I was going nowhere quickly. Murphy’s Law, today was the first day in a week that I had not made Carrot Muffins. They wanted one, which I offered to make, but sold them on a smoothie instead. However, tomorrow morning I am going to make some mini carrot muffins and give them to him.

I love this job. I love serving people. I love being an important part of peoples day. I love the way that food can transform not only lives but also the world. One stomach at a time. IT FEELS GREAT!

Napoleon once said; “An army marches on it's stomach”

Are you dreaming big and inspired?

A la prochaine

SDM

Today’s Specials (file under Love it)

So today’s specials which I came up with yesterday are a quattro formaggio pizza and a linguini with chiffonnade smoked salmon, capers and asparagus in a garlic dill cream sauce. I am pretty certain that both will fly.

Yesterday I made two Health in a Glass;

# 1 – Blueberry Yoghurt, Pineapple, Cantaloupe, Blackberry, Orange Juice, Ice and an Egg

# 2 – Peach Yoghurt, Pineapple, Banana, Strawberry, Blueberry, Cantaloupe, Ice and 35%.

Today I am spending much of my day running around and doing errands. But I am also working on my recipe book for specials and for the summer menu. These are exciting times my friends. Exciting I say.

I have a few posts that I will be putting up in the next day so stay tuned. As well I owe a response to askachefintraining.blogspot.com related to the storage of cooking oils. I believe I will get that done in the next little while.

I also have had another question emailed to me at askachefintraining@gmail.com which I will endeavour to answer today as well.

The venerable coach Vince Lombardi once said; “The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.”

Are you all dreaming big and inspired? Get out today and enjoy the sun. Be young. Have fun and be free. Life is too short so make it count. STAND UP!

A la prochaine

SDM

8 Days a Week (file under Ain't got nothin' but love babe)

So my friends, I have completed the first stint at The Club. 8 days on and now two glorious days off. Not that I plan on changing my schedule all that much as I have so much to do.

So what has been accomplished in the last week?

I have created no less than ten distinct health in a glass.

I have created 16 specials. 8 pasta and 8 Pizza.

I have cracked two cases of eggs.

I have cooked another four cases of eggs.

I have made approximately ten omelettes.

30 orders of Eggs Benedict, Benjamin or Florentine.

20 trays of Bacon.

About 100 sausages.

108 Muffins.

24 cookies.

I have prepared approximately 20 pastas; my specials, Roasted Vegetable Linguini and kids pasta in either red or butter sauces.

I have made approximately 30 burgers.

3 steaks.

2 Frenched Veal Chops.

15 Asian style soups.

6 Crab cakes.

3 beef ragouts.

Countless orders of French fries, sweet potato fries and onion rings.

6 Asian stir fry.

I am sure that there is more and I am racking my brain trying to figure it out. But you get the idea.

I have also rollerbladed 144 Kilometers and written nine blogs posts.

Not bad for the first week if I do say so myself.

So now the question begs. What do I do with two days off? Well I am going to start putting together my recipe book, start working on the summer menu. Run some errands for my loving, talented, intelligent and beautiful fiancé. And somewhere I might actually find some time to relax a bit.

I know that there are at least three more blog posts that will be coming in the next two days so hold on to your hats.

Aristotle once said; “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

Are you dreaming big and inspired?

A la prochaine

SDM

Another Opportunity (file under heading Chef’s advice)

Thomas Edison once said; “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” Not for me though. I love to work. I love what I do and where I am going. As such today presented another opportunity that I must weigh all the options and ensure that it is exactly what I want. That said I felt pretty good at the meeting.

As I blogged a few posts ago, I had a meeting with the Executive Chef of a prominent club in Toronto. I arrived sharply at 3 and spoke with him about what he needs, wants and desires as well as what I want, need and desire. We then walked around the various facilities to give me a feel for the place.

Its operations are huge. Perhaps four times as big as Reservation and at least ten times as big as Without Reservation. There are three distinct levels of service and thus expectation. The walkins are massive and filled with the most delicious, fresh and awe inspiring ingredients. The general feel of the place was good and seemed to be something that I might like to do.

When we returned to Chef’s office we spoke for a few more minutes. By the way, it really is true that all Chef’s get a bright corner office with lots of natural light, the best computers possible, etc. True in dreamland that is. Chef’s offices I have come to learn are small, filled with endless amounts of knowledge, clipboards, prep and staff lists, etc. But the office was nice enough and clean. We spoke all in for about an hour and within a few minutes I had the feeling that this was someone I could work for. He made sure that I was willing and able to be at work for those hours at which I had to chuckle. I always show up. He liked that!

Thus, the opportunity is, to work breakfast and lunch services for the time being. I have the freedom to create specials every day which include pasta, pizza and sandwiches as well as fish, meat, etc. This sounded very good to me. He was very honest in saying that it may not be the dream job for everyone out there but it is one which has the opportunity to create, to move up and to be part of a team. All things which resonate with me greatly.

Steady work. Stable. BENEFITS. I can buy into the pension plan.

So next I need to speak with my incredible fiancé and get her opinion on the matter. Executive Chef and I are scheduled to speak again on Friday. I look forward to resolving these issues so that I can start the process of working my way up the ladder to achieve exactly what it is that I intend to achieve.

As I was typing this Executive Chef sent me some material regarding menus, etc. He also looks forward to speaking on Friday.

I guess I have some serious soul searching to do. Luckily I am good at searching and have a soul.

Arthur Rimbaud once wrote; “The first study for the man who wants to be a poet is knowledge of himself, complete: he searches for his soul, he inspects it, he puts it to the test, he learns it. As soon as he has learned it, he must cultivate it! I say that one must be a seer, make oneself a seer. The poet becomes a seer through a long, immense, and reasoned derangement of all the senses. All shapes of love suffering, madness. He searches himself, he exhausts all poisons in himself, to keep only the quintessences. Ineffable torture where he needs all his faith, all his superhuman strength, where he becomes among all men the great patient, the great criminal, the great accursed one--and the supreme Scholar! For he reaches the unknown! ....So the poet is actually a thief of Fire!”

Are you dreaming big and inspired?

WHY NOT?

A la prochaine

SDM

Specials (file under Personal Discovery and Questions)

Some of the following may seem silly but given the week I had last week with both soups and specials I started considering the following;

What makes specials work?
I.e. Penne Arrabiata (which sold extremely well) vs. Risotto (which did not) vs. Quiche (extremely well)

What factors and variables come into play?
Is there (and this is important to me) a psychology to specials?
Is there a response to words used to describe beyond the obvious?
Are those words and descriptions emotive or sensory? Both? Neither?
Are there sets of ingredients that people are sure to respond to? I.e.. Truffle? Red Pepper? Certain Proteins?
Would 1 Special sold in different wording sell differently? Other than the language used everything else would be consistent.
What drives customer response?
Servers?
Dish?
Description?
Mood?
All of the above?
Is there any such thing as a sure seller?
Are customers generally aware of regional and seasonal variety?
Does presentation on the plate affect customer’s choices. I.e. a customer seeing a plate delivered to the next table? If so is there a way that the kitchen can capitalize upon it?

These are some of the questions that I am currently trying to answer.

In A Study in Scarlet Sherlock Holmes said; "From a drop of water," said the writer, "a logician could infer the possibility of an Atlantic or a Niagara without having seen or heard of one or the other. So all life is a great chain, the nature of which is known whenever we are shown a single link of it."

Are you dreaming big and inspired?

A la prochaine

SDM

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

Specials, Soup and Breakfast (file under I Popped my Cherry)

Waking up before even birds is doing a number on my system right now. I have always been a bit of a night owl. But now I guess I am the early bird. And following the analogy specials are my worms.

Yesterday I popped my special cherry. I put the first (of what will surely be many) specials up yesterday. I did a mushroom ravioli in a tomato goat cheese sauce with sugar snap peas, shallots, roasted garlic and mushrooms. It was absolutely delicious. As my first special it sold fairly well at lunch where I sold a not unimpressive six plus my usual daily grind of tuna clubs, penne primavera, spaghettini and chicken sandwiches. At dinner I sold another four and then another was sold after I left.

To make the sauce I first sweated the shallots and roasted garlic and then deglazed with white wine and set them aside. I then adding 35% cream to the now empty pan and allowed it to reduce. I then mounted the goat cheese into the 35% cream and then added roasted diced tomato. After that I removed from the heat and blitzed with the immersion blender.

To prepare the dish during service I simply heated a pan with a slight amount of oil and added some brunoised shallots. Hit that with a touch of white wine to deglaze. Add the mushroom and shallot mixture. While this is gently heating I add the ravioli to my blanching pot. Toss the sauce a few times. Remove ravioli from the blanching pot and combine with the sauce. From beginning to end it took about four minutes. It tasted divine and I am not just saying that because I am the one who made it. It was well received by everyone that had it.

When I woke up this morning it felt as if hell had frozen over. Perhaps I was still dreaming or maybe it was real but I am sure I saw the devil with icicles dangling from his chin. Or perhaps I am just being dramatic. It was brutally cold though. Yet I greeted the day with a smile and the knowledge that today was going to be another fantastic day.

I got into work at around 6:35 am and started prepping everything that needed to be prepped for breakfast. I also started thinking right away about what we had in house that could make a great special given the abysmal temperature outside. Though I must tell you it is always a balmy 35 degrees at my station so I warmed up with the elements, salamander, oven and grill pretty quickly.

Looking around I recalled making my Mother some French Onion Soup the last time she was in Toronto. I have always been a massive fan of French Onion Soup. Done properly it tastes like ambrosia while done inappropriately it tastes, to my palate, like sweetened cardboard. I have recently started speaking with my Mother more frequently. It might sound ridiculous to you but as I have mentioned here before my Mother and Stepfather live in Malawi and are doing great things for the people there. If you want to know more about what they are doing visit www.lifelinemalawi.com . I am extremely proud of though miss my Mother. To honour her I made a French Onion Soup that she would die for. When she reads this (probably next week) I am sure she will think about how much she would love a bowl. MOM, I promise, next time you are here I will make you whatever your heart desires. As I hope it will be winter due to C and I’s impending nuptials I would be thrilled to make you the French Onion Soup I made today.

Eric Ripert in “Return to Cooking” makes mention of the fact that soup is considered in some kitchens as the red headed step child. That somehow it takes less skill and finesse than sauces. However, he also points out that soup is temperamental and requires constant care and affection because as the soup matures in the pot it is constantly changing. This is very true of French Onion Soup.

To make the soup I did the following;

First I sweated off both Bermuda and Spanish Onions. I know that this is not at all traditional but I prefer the flavour of Bermuda onions when they have been sweated to just before caramelization at which point I deglazed with some red wine. I then added a little roasted garlic to the pan and let slowly sweat for about ten minutes. At the same time I took several large onions and added them to a soup pot and sweated them for a few minutes. After they were at the desired point I added some water and started to reduce. After it had reduced to the point that I wanted I added beef broth and more water and allowed to slowly simmer (and of course I added two shots of brandy, while I might not be drinking it doesn’t mean that the soup has to suffer). After it had reduced once, I added another two litres of water and the garlic and onion mixture that I had set aside. French Onion Soup as I mentioned can be temperamental (all soups can be to some degree) and as such I left all seasoning until the very end. I allowed the soup to mature for a couple of hours and then seasoned right before lunch service. It tasted brilliant. Of course I added some crusty baguette after ladling the soup into the traditional bowl and topped it with a generous amount of Swiss cheese a la minute with each order. I believe, though I am not sure that I sold twenty or more soups today and as the orders came in it felt like a massive personal victory.

While I was working on the soup I was again thinking of the weather, the fact that it was Wednesday and that people needed to get over the hump. What better way I thought that making my version of Penne Arrabiata. To do this I did the following;

I took the remnants of yesterdays Tomato Basil Bisque and added some more body to it as well as some water. I allowed this to gently reduce while I worked the other elements. I added some garlic and shallots and a heaping amount of chili flakes to a pan and gently sweated them off then deglazing with some red wine. While these two elements were working I cooked down the sausage and then added the shallot and garlic mixture to it keeping (as opposed to discarding) the liquid remnants in the pan. I allowed this to simmer for about an hour and then took off the heat and let sit. Once cool I put it into a deep third pan.

For service, this dish was fabulous as I could get it out in four minutes. I would place a pan on the heat and get it smoking hot. I would then ladle an ounce of water into the pan to cool it so as not to scorch the Arrabiata sauce. I would the add the sauce to the pan and drop the penne into the blanching pot. Add some fresh herbs. Toss, toss, toss. Season, remove penne from blanching water and add to pan, toss, toss, toss and Pasta special on the pass.

I sold a massive amount of this on a slow day and yet again fed the owner. All day (which is a term we use in the kitchen when there are multiple of the same order. ie how many Penne do I need? Four all day) I believe when I left this evening at lunch I had done thirteen, one while I was away and three more at dinner. I know this doesn’t sounds significant or might not anyway, but today we only did around fifty covers at lunch, of which I was responsible for about two thirds and dinner maybe another seventy of which I handled thirty percent.

All in all, a great day. All in all, I have broken my Special cherry and am currently thinking about what to do tomorrow.

So is this enough. NO! This morning I served my first three breakfasts. Three Eggs Benedict. My Hollandaise was less than stellar. But I will remedy that tomorrow.

I had a great day. And my spirit is reveling in the knowledge and confirmation that baby steps to the elevator (sorry for the What About Bob? Reference but it is true). A cook is what and who I am. Gleefully so.

Todd English once said; “I think a lot of people have a misconception of what the kitchen is about, but you know the grueling part of it is also the pleasure of it. That's why I think you have to have a certain mentality to understand what that is and be able to handle it.”

Today was grueling but as you can tell from this post was beyond pleasurable. Better than any drug or drink I have ever had. Many more of these days to come. Are you as excited as I am.

Are you dreaming big and inspired? WHY NOT?

A la prochaine

SDM