Breath

It has been a very long 2010 already.

My madness has increased out of pure necessity at this point.

I am doing my job plus the catering directors job and this week has just been the razor's edge for me. I am not actually complaining.. It isn't all that bad  except I haven't a clue what I am doing.

Plus it seems that we are just getting inundated with more and more catering plus doubling up on days which normally isn't all that bad except they are 400 people functions each....makes the head spin . And any chef who says it doesn't make theirs, is a fucking liar.

Right now all my weekends in February are full with the weekend of Valentines wiped out completely with catering.

Then there is of course my work with the two dining halls. My office is located in the newer one and the other suffers for this. I don't have a desk or even a stool to sit on when I am there. But when I am there I do enjoy the company of the staff and of my production manger ,who GOD BLESS HER...is a godsend right now.

Then there are the upcoming ,ongoing, I know they are coming events that i need to write menus for....22 in all I think right now. And these are my B&B...these make me happy. I can pretty much offer what I want and hope they go for it. 99% they do.

One thing in my life I know I am good at and which nearly no one can make me feel stupid is cooking. I am not a genius and I am not world famous or all that sort of thing. But I do make really good food and I am pretty creative when it comes to actually writing a menu.

Of late though, I have felt like people have been purposely tearing me down...to basically prove how unintelligent I am. And somehow..it has been working. And it SUCKS.

I am not a typically girl..I do process my information quick and I speak from the hip. And I am wrong...But I am also right at times. I just chose at times not to care  when people seek to prove me wrong in order to prove how smart they are.

But right now...I just don't need it or going to engage in it. It makes me cry and brings on a kind of depression that last way to long and I have no time to get into that sort of mind set.


So the bad week of chef is just that...bad week but not really.

Things are coming together for me and thank god I am anal and OCD with my organization...go me.

Tonight I am going to an Equestarian Center on Campus to grill ribeyes outside in -3 degree weather.....



yah...I do lead the glamorous life.

AUGH

I want to SCREAMMMMMMMMM right now!!!

Bitch and Moan time:

I usual don't give two hoots about my work hours cause it comes with what I have chosen to do.
But when I have to drive in for 3 dinners....3 dinners on a Sunday !! We aren't even open on Sundays!!!!!
I work long weeks and don't get any extra $$ for my troubles or extra time off(well sometimes i do...but I just take a day off if I need it.)
 But I can't do that much anymore as I am responsible for catering and my own shit.

I am tired and getting sick more often than I usually do. Plus I am losing weight...which is a plus but still . I am tired and feeling tugged in many directions. I have a family too and I like that to be considered. I can't work 74327329743284324 hours. And I am sorry , these chefs...male... that have families and do YOU ARE A FOOL!!! to think your kids wont throw that up in your face when they are teens or older.

I have been careful for a long time to make sure I had balance...hence why I am not one the cover of Food Wine New Chefs etc etc. My career suffered but fuck it..I had kids cause I like kids and wanted me to raise them.

So that's my cold induced I am tired and such rant.

cause its funny

A case of WTF???

WHO !!!!!!!!!!

that's all I am saying.

And of course......

*from seriouseats.com***

cause we are way to lazy to mix water or milk to a dry mix!!!

But it is organic and gluten free...wooohoooo"insert eye roll"

Ok this isnt exactly ....icky to me...lol Bacon and chocolate....mmmmmmmmmmmm

Then there is the weird crap McDonald's sells:

 

 

 

***

And all that Jazz

So 2010....."looks around kitchen"

Nope  Baby New Year  didnt leave important part to cusinart....bastard!!!!


Well anyway, not like i expected it.

Made a bit of sweet treat lst week at the request of son:

so step by step for

                                                                   Tiramisu(well sort of)

I used Ghirardelli chocolate chips  just for a nice touch.

And I made a doublish batch.

Basically 12 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

18 oz mascarpone cheese

1 cup espresso made super strong

2 packages of LadyFingers ...should have used like 3

2 cups heavy cream

1 tablespoon real vanillia( dont fudge and use crappy imitation...makes a difference)

1 cup Ghirardellie chips..milk chocolate.

                                              Made in a 2 inch 1/2 hotel pan i borrowed from work.

Instant Espresso...double the dose  i.e extra extra strong. Yummy.

My son duncan separating the egg yolks from the whites

Whipping the egg yolks and sugar together (till pale)then adding mascarpone cheese  and some vanilla

 

Duncan assembling....dipping lady fingers in cooled espresso

 

 Layering mascarpone cheese mixture then adding more ladyfingers

Whipping Cream for top layer

Final outcome...topped with Ghirardellie Chips...mmmm

2hrs to Chill and eat away!

Another key is to add sugar to the heavy cream as you whip it...but not to much otherwise your head with break off from rot.

Was very very good.

A follow up thing to the last rantish thingy

the *** was this..

the show I would want to do on  Food Network would be to take musicians ,take their favorite foods and do a spin on them . Either healthy , quicker and just better  and or make a meal out of ingredients they have on hand (which would be a hoot...vodka soup for ALL!!!!)....We would of course invade their homes and take stock of what they have and go for it.

Mind you this is not a show that would have Dolly Parton or Bon Jovi. Think Trent Reznor and Depeche Mode type of people.

I think people of my generation would like it. At least they like to see the inside of some of their refrigerators....yes I know at the very core I am a fangirl. 38 and a fangirl....Not stalker...fangirl there is a difference. Not like i have someones full length face tattooed on my back

I can see myself now trying to convince Dave Gahan of Depeche that there is more to life than fags (cigarettes)greek food  and diet Coke.

"goes all dreamy at the possibilities"

Xmas came early for some good little girl

Was told by the client last week that they live in fear of losing me to Food Network.

Now while it would take a shit load of money and me to be have the show as I exactly want it***
to lure me to Food Network, the sentiment was appreciated. But the reality is I have a great staff that thankfully after almost two years, they know how i like things done without me having to explain myself .
Cooks are the lest appreciated people in foodservice. Servers know right away by their tips if they have done a good job.Cooks...well the best we can hopeful is the food doesnt come back.

Complaint number 1 that drives us nuts:

Order for MR beef and it is cooked beautifully and it comes back with a request for it to be cooked more!!!


please people.....here....I will go through it for you.

Rare.....Bloody and Cold center. Barely cooked
Medium Rare........Cooked a little longer, slightly bloody warmish middle
Medium....pink center very little blood and warm center
Medium Well.....very thin strip of pink warm center
Well....Get the chicken.

It's the end of the world as we know it ...............

What is the best meal you ever had???

I have been asked this and countless other questions about my business and food by many many people , family and friends...even strangers at airports.

Easily one could say a holiday meal at their parents. My mom always made great holiday food..traditional thanksgiving was the best. I can still see the wood bowl with the cut up bread with poultry seasoning in it and sauteed celery and onions....mmmmmm I still cook her "recipes" for it to this day.


And there have been many many great meals I had in Toronto or at my brothers wedding rehersal but some of those are more the people I was with than the actual food.


But for me , the very best meal I have ever had was this past summer while vacationing in Montreal.

My best gal and I were in town on my birthday for a Depeche Mode concert. There is a placed owned but a wonderful chef named Martin Picard...Au Pied De Cochon( The Foot of the Pig). It is this sweet little place..oh sweet jesus I love the look of it. Open kitchen, wood floors, tight tables and only really the rumbling of the people rather than music drowning everyone out. Even the bathroom is cool.

But it is the food....mmmmmm so many choices. I swear Shelly either was afraid to order anything because of her tummy or just didnt want me spending money on it...lol But it was on my BF card .
I had the house ale and it was sooo good.
The bus girl dropped some fresh bread that with the beer they could have just kept coming and we would have been just fine.

Shelly had a very nice salad with pommes frites deep fried in DUCK FAT....YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY.

Now  me....I had been thinking about what I wanted for a month( I am a  food geek after all) it was a toss up for the duck in a can( I shit you not) or pied de cochon.

The trotter won.....

Shelly                                           

                                                     

   Me in the mirror.....love this bathroom!!!

We both got the little deep fry package..and after "dissecting it" decided it was best left to the unknown mind since it was soooo tasty.


the best part were the potatoes...my goodness I have never tasted anything sooo fucking GOOD.
I wrote the recipe down...so will post that later but all i can say is that I had some leftover...brought it back from Montreal in a 6 hr car drive ( in a cooler) and ate it 5 days later and it tasted just as good the first time...

I recommend it to anyone......made my brother jealous.....