Crab cakes and peach pits.

 Day 4: Saturday September 17th 2011


Today was a good day.  I really feel like taking pictures of my food is helping the quality of it.  Since I know it will be photographed I try to push it to its best.  Before I did my best to make the customer happy.  Now I do my best to make me happy too.   I feel like I am re-discovering my passion for food.  Not that it was lost, it just all feels new again.  We had a group of Indian cooks in today to do a special wedding.  The real kind of Indians not Native Americans.  They have been in before, I think we use them for special catering deals.  Their food doesn't look as amazing as it tastes, but when the flavor is that good it doesn't really matter what it looks like.  We had a lot going on today and I am really happy with the way the pictures came out.  Check em out!

"Crab cakes" made by Drew

"Grilled Peaches" made by cold-side crew

Spinach at the start of blanching

"Blached spinach" 

• Took me 3 hours to get this all the way done.  It was 100 pounds of spinach.  I had to do it in two batches.  I would fill the tilt skillet up boil the spinach drain as much water as I could and pour ice on it too stop the cooking process.  Once it was all cooked and cooled, you have to squeeze as much of the water out as you can.  We used it for our creamed spinach on our plate up for dinner.  Squeezing all the water out was the part that took the longest.  You canNOT use the electric salad spinner because the spinach is so dense it will spin out of control.  I had to use the small hand cranked one.

"Spinach" somebody call Popeye!

"Blanched and drained spinach"

•  That is all 100 pounds of spinach.  I know it looks like the same stuff you get from pre-cooked frozen spinach, but it taste so much better because we can control the salt and the amount of cooking done to it.  And it FRESH, can't beat that.

"Apple compote"

"Finished apple compote"

• I love making compotes.  This one was meant for a savory dish so I spiced it up with some cayenne and extra black pepper.  You really gotta be careful with them though because it can ruin a dish for some people if it's too spice.  Personally the more the better!

"Roasting Garlic"

• Okay... so it's not actually roasting the garlic.  It's essentially deep frying it.  This way works much better though for a number of reasons.  It is a gentle cooking method on the garlic so it is easier to control the amount of color the garlic takes on.  Also, you can save the oil after wards and it will have all of the galicly goodness in it.

Did somebody say STEAK?!

"Grilled steaks" made by Boris

"Fresh heirloom toms"

"Heirloom toms" Slice by TOM

Comin in for the close up

"Fresh mint"

SO GREEN!

"White chocolate fudge with pistachios and crasins" made by pastry team

• I ask Keith one of the pastry cooks to come get me whenever they made some cool stuff.  They really do some of the best food we have to offer at the hotel.  I'm going to learn how to do this stuff soon.

"Chocolate sponge cake layered with marscarpone cream and raspberry  jam"  All made in house by the pastry team

"Lemon tart with berries"

• This picture makes me feel like I am in a small village in the winter time.

"Salad with roasted mush, roasted toms, and some goats cheese."  Made by cold-side

"Heirloom toms vinaigrette" made by Dante

"Davina toms"

• These are store bought, but we have made them in the past.  To make them you quarter and pit a roma  tomato and toss it in some olive oil, salt and pepper, and garlic.  Then you roast them on extremely low temperature 200-225F for 6-8 hours.  They are worth the time and effort.  The sweetness of the tomato is concentrated and they stay bright red.  They can be stored for a long time, just keep them in olive oil after they are cooled.  They make a great garnish as well.

"Strip loin steak" roasted by Rodrigo

"Sliced Strip Loin" perfect med-rare

• The key to cooking steak like this is a thermometer.  Temping the steak and knowing when to pull it is crucial.  The steak will continue to cook once it is pulled.  So if want the steak to be cooked med-rare which is generally (it depends on the cut of the steak) around 125F, you will want to pull the steak when the center of the steak is temping at 115F.   Allow it to rest at room temperature before cutting it.  This will allow the juice to settle and the steak to carry over to the proper temp. 

"Rodrigo sauteing mush"

"This the strip loin plated for a buffet"

"Roasted chicken breasst with sugar snap peas and a warm heirloom vin" 

•  Weird dish.

"Veg spring rolls with shiitake mush, carrots and cabbage" made by Tom

"Rosemary potato cakes" made by Aaron

"Grilled eggplant" made by Drew for pizza

"Cooked shrimp" for cold side

Indian dude wanted me to take his picture

BACON!

•  I have yet to find something that does not taste good with bacon.  Lastest genius bacon repice: Apple bacon relish.  Made by Chef Shawn at my second job.  House cured bacon, apples, apple cider vineager, sage, and shallots.  AMAZING with a pork chop.

"Stir-fried veggies" helping Boris bang these out

Finished product with lo-main noodles

"Pork char-suie" made by Rafa

•  Chinese BBQ pork made for our cafe today.  It was a bit dry, but it looked cool.

"Pear gorg ravi with a roasted red pepper cream sauce"

"Caramelized shallots" made by Drew for pizza

"Roasted pears" made by Drew for pizza

• The trick to roasting pears is using under-ripened ones.  All the sweetness will come out when you roast them and they will maintain a crispness to them.

"Seared ahi tuna" made by Ryan on cold side

Tomorrow I am off from the hotel job, but I am working at the restaurant.  I have not brought my camera there yet.  It is a lot more chaotic and fast paced working on the line, but I will try and get some pictures of the prep.