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 :)