And now, a very special post from Adeptus

 Hallo there!
Off-season tour of my kitchen.

**Edit:  Chef corrected me afterwards, apparently it's actually a low-heat dishwasher, but even so, wow does that thing ever put out a lot of heat.**

Hey folks,
Sorry for the lack of updates a while, life kinda got in the way.  At present we are winding down for the season, so I'm not sure how many posts there will be this year.  I'm planning on cooking, if only at home, over the winter, and so I hope to continue posting musings and things I've learned during that time.  They may be few and far between, but I will still try to update.
So I hope everyone has a good winter, and I hope to see you all in the spring.

Canapés, Rainstorms, Format Changes and more!

First off, hello!  I'm sorry I haven't been around of late, but it's been crazy busy around here.  We have had functions almost every day, sometimes two.  But before I get into those, here's the finished product of those gnocchi I was making in my last post.

We served them in an oil based sauce, with fried spinach, plum tomatoes, basil and garnished it with provolone cheese.

We recently did food for a canapé party.  I haven't made food like this before, and was very happy to be learning some new techniques.

Red wine poached pears, atop walnut mascarpone served on a croustini.

Pulled pork croustini.

Rare sirloin with horseradish creme.

Cheese platter.

Veggie platter.

There were a few children in attendance though, and they wouldn't touch the canapés, which lead us to making them up some chicken fingers and fries.  Oh well.

*****

We've also done a few more plated functions.  Here are some highlights.

Strawberry shortcake.

Portabello mushroom caps, stuffed with crab, garnished with micro greens and a basil oil.

I've always been in awe that simple foods can look so good.  It's all in the presentation.

*****

I've also continued on grilling outdoors during tournaments, rain or shine....

I know it's hard to see in this picture, but it was pouring.  I was soaked to the skin in about 5 minutes.

*****

After the response I've received, I've been toying with the idea of turning this into a photoblog.  However, I still like the idea of being able to write articles and such for you guys.  So, I'd like to hear your suggestions.  Feel free to drop me a line at adeptusescoffier@gmail.com  

Hell, drop me a line if you just wanna say hi, even.  I like getting mail :)

We have a very busy few weeks ahead of us, so please don't be alarmed if you don't hear from me for a while, I promise I'll still be around, gathering more fun and interesting things to post for you all.

Hallo folks. It has occurred to me that I haven't provided an update in some time. I assure you that a complete update is in the works, and will likely be posted tomorrow or Thurs. Things have been slightly crazy of late, and I have been using my days off to sleep. I am still around, and will continue to update as often as I can.

Updates, Functions and more!!

Wow, it's been a while, eh?  Don't worry, I'm still alive, and I come bearing new pictures!!!

So we've had a few larger functions, the most recent being this afternoon at 140 people.  This was a two course, plated lunch, but, sadly I was only able to get pictures of the desserts : Apple Blossoms!

We also did a 97 person, four course, plated dinner recently.  They started with Shrimp Cocktails....

Then came a iceburg wedge salad, which sadly, I wasn't able to get a picture of.  This was followed by the main course:  striploin with garlic mashed, asparagus, mushrooms and jus.

Then came my favourite course, dessert!  This is a vanilla panna cotta with a mixed berry coulis and fresh mixed berries.

Today's function had a sweet potato mash with their main course, but, we had a lot extra left over, so we decided that tomorrow's feature is going to be sweet potato gnocchi.  Here's the process as shown by my sous chef with an appearance by yours truly....

Start with flour and eggs and your mash

Mix, adding more flour as necessary

Mix more!

And more!  Yes, that's me.

Eventually, after a lot of work, even more flour, and likely another egg or two, you've got dough, which you then roll into thin rolls and cut.

We also recently had a function that had a "grill your own steak" portion...soo many nummy steaks. (vegetarians, look away.)

Also, I have had a few folks asking me "Adeptus, what the hell are Yorkshire Puddings?"  Yorkshire Puddings, or Yorkies for short, are what's called a quickbread.   This is a bread that does not need yeast to rise and instead relies on high temperatures and steam to give them lift.  Here are some lovely Yorkies, courtesy of my sous chef.

Now, some folks have wondered why I enjoy going back to work day in and day out, when temps get to 110 or higher, and tempers can flare.  These pictures were taken at the start of my breakfast shift one morning around 7am, with views like this, wouldn't you want to go to work?

And here, as promised, is "How to Light a BBQ" as shown by my Chef.

Musings

One thing that people do not realize is, in this industry, we don't get "normal" weekends. For example, this week I have Monday and Thursday off. Very rarely do you see a cook with a Saturday or Sunday off. These are typically the two busiest days of the week for us, so its generally all hands on deck. I've had people irritated with me because I cant go out on a Saturday night, but I usually have to work at 6:30am for a breakfast shift on Sundays. Ah well, c'est la vie.

As promised...

Picture thread!!!

So, here we have our prime rib, which we do for some functions, as well as Saturday and Sunday nights for the general public.

The prime is rubbed with mustard, then dusted with rosemary and black pepper.  We cook it to a rare, and then can continue the cooking to order.  This is served with Yorkshire Puddings, mixed veg and mashed potatoes.

So, what do you do when you've got too much prime left over from the weekend?  You make BBQ steak pizza! (above) This has our BBQ sauce instead of marinara, prime rib chunks and red onion all smothered with a cheddar mozzarella cheese blend.  Or, you make steak and cheese sandwiches.  :)

Yes folks, you are reading that right.  It was 115 degrees F on the line the other day.












Okay...the following are pics from the preparation of our pulled pork,  you'll see the pork shoulders (also called pork butt), the trimming of such, and the pork after it's been rubbed with our secret dry rub.  Figured it would be easier to just give you the heads up in one block of text rather than posting beside each pic. :)

How do you make a healthy food very unhealthy?  Simple, you add bacon, cheese and a mayo based sauce, the following are pics from the making of our broccoli salad.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed my photo tour of the foods we make, I promise I will post more pictures soon, including a video of our chef lighting one of the BBQs for a function we had.  He really likes fire :)

Well here I am, enjoying a day off, getting a chance to relax and think back on the last few months. Its been a long strange trip, that's for sure.

I'm normally a very quiet and shy person, but when I'm in the kitchen I find I'm more outgoing and slightly more extroverted. Generally I work the fryers, make salads, plate and expedite. I'm learning to be more organized and how to multitask more efficiently. It can be very high stress, but I'm finding that I'm not buckling under the pressure like I would have in the past.

Being the only woman in the kitchen is definitely an interesting experience. I've found that women in this profession have to be dirtier, louder and more outgoing than our male counterparts or we just can't survive. We also have to work harder.

The past week or so, we had about six events we had to do in addition to our usual league nights. It means a bit more stress, but I find it to be a welcome break from doing the same thing every day. Once in a while during tournaments, I get to step out of the kitchen for an afternoon and work the grill outside to provide burgers and hotdogs for participants at the turn. Its a nice break, but its always nice to get back into my whites and work in the kitchen again.

Well folks, I have finally hit the wall. My culinary friends will know the wall of which I speak. The wall where you start to question why you do this job, why you keep going back to the sweltering kitchen day after day. And then you get the chance to look out into the dining room, or perhaps you see some patrons walking past the kitchen, and it hits you: people love your food. You are satisfying them on a primal level, giving them sustinence and pleasure. This is why we do what we do.

An Update...

I'm still here!  I haven't died in the sweltering heat of the kitchen, I promise.  I deeply apologize for the lack of updates over the last little while, the hours have been killing me.  Generally on my days off, all I want to do is sleep, and on the days I work, I get home and want to sleep.  I keep getting told that I'm going to adjust and get used to it, but really, it's been two months, why aren't I used to it yet?

I'm still finding that I'm learning new things every day, and I promise to post pictures soon.  I'm finally feeling like I can hold my own at my station, (fryer and salads/plating/expediting).  The guys I work with have been so very helpful in teaching me and guiding me as I learn how to become a productive member of the culinary world.

I apologize for the amount of time between this and my last post, it's been rather difficult to adjust to the crazy hours I've been working.

So we've got a few events under our belts now, and are moving quickly towards being open full time.  So far, it's been a retirement party, and the opening social for our ladies' league.  Both seem to have gone off without much grief, and the food was well received.  Tonight is the opener for the mens' league, and tomorrow is fish fry Friday. 

I've been working rather interesting hours, and it's amazing to have gone from a job where you're glued to a computer and having to work exactly 8 hrs a day, to one where you're running around like mad and working anywhere from 8-12 hr days.  I've not seen a day longer than 12 yet, but have been told by friends in the industry to expect them. 

I'm slowly but surely getting into the swing of things, and having a blast the whole time.  The folk I work with are amazing and very patient, but have the same passion for great food.  It's been fun to play with ingredients and see where the flavours can go, as well as learning new techniques on old favourites that I hadn't before considered. 

I hope to be able to update with more regularity as my schedule stabilizes and I get more used to the physical aspects of this career path. 

What do cooking and being in a Douglas Adams novel have in common?

Don't forget your towel.

Seriously, your dry, clean towel is probably one of the more important tools you have at your disposal as a cook. With it, you can wipe your hands or your knives, you can steady pots, you can take sheetpans out of the oven.  So yeah, don't forget your towel.

I've found that habits adopted at work in the kitchen seem to carry over into your personal life.  That thing with the towel for example.  I typically wear mine tucked into the pocket of my jeans so it hangs down, and recently, while at a friend's house helping with dinner, I reached down to wipe my hands and lo and behold, no towel.  It may seem silly, since I've only been doing this a few days, but it already has become habit. 

So, I guess an update on progress is in order.  I worked a Friday prep shift, then Saturday and Sunday breakfast.  Friday was fun and enlightening, and I found I learned a lot.  Saturday was pretty slow, with three of us in the kitchen.  I think we did a total of 14 covers between 8 and 1.  Sunday on the other hand...woah.  It started out relatively slow, then grew to a steady pace.  Just when we thought everything was going well, we discovered an issue with our POS system, resulting in an order being delayed.  Just as we were recovering from that, we got a table of 12.  With only two of us in the kitchen, and me working toast and plating, I didn't think we'd be able to manage, but Chef Mullet taught me how to keep cool under pressure and stay organized.  We sent out all orders for that table in no time.  Still, only 59 covers.

Monday, well Monday was a day for us to play.  We are still working on the menu, and today we got in our first order of "real food".  Experimenting with sauces and fritters and soups, it was just really fun, and very informative.  I can't wait until my next shift.  However, first, two days of rest.....

A new beginning....

After spending most of my life bouncing from part time minimum wage job, to part time minimum wage job, I have decided a change is in order, and a drastic one at that.  I have decided to become a cook.

I've always enjoyed cooking, and love making people happy, so why not combine the two?   

In this blog, I will be chronicling my time as an apprentice, and adding a restaurant review or two here and there.  Names will be changed to protect the innocent (and the guilty), but I hope to be able to provide some insight to our lives for those who are unfamiliar with the field.  I also hope to provide some entertainment for my fellow cooks.  

I'm sure there will be facepalms galore and laughs applenty, and I genuinely hope you enjoy what you read and continue to come back every now and again.  

I've had a few friends who have been instrumental in my choice to become a cook, and something tells me that they won't let me quit now that I've started.  I'm honestly very grateful to them all.