2 august 2011- i made chicken mousse, which was a first for me, it needs to be raw and in strips, put through a robo-coop with cream and spices and then wrapped into rolls and poached, after poaching removed and cut into 1cm slices and then placed onto the milfoy, which is puff pastry that has been cut into two, the hollandaise sauce is then added on top and leek strands are used as garnish, it was very creative and chef told me the idea was the most classical french out of them all, i was with Chanel, so it was easy to take leadership and all the plates were warm when served, all sauces on the plate were perfect, and the food was delightful, we got positive feedback and i enjoyed the whole idea.
3 August 2011-today we made cheese cakes again, but i was told to make the Swiss rolls, the cheese cake wasn't one you bake, but is prepared from a commercial mix, where as the Swiss roll was a fresh batter that needed to be made, we used a genoese sponge recipe thinly made, and after baking it, we rolled it with a tirimisu and mixed berry filling, which made it taste magnificent
4 August 2011- today we prepared for vleis vreters, its basically the same every Friday, roasted butternut and sweet potato, par-roasted the beef roll, and De-boned the leg of pork as well as cut off the skin and excess fat, cold kitchen made salads, we prepared rice, sauces, and the usual spatchcock chicken and lemon and herb chicken
5 August 2011- today i made milfoy for the first time, it is pretty easy, you cut up squares with puff pastry, egg wash them, and place another square piece on top of it that is also egg washed and caraway seeds, this is then baked until golden brown, i also cleaned mussels and prawns and cut up and cleaned butter fish, i also carved beef roll, when i came back from my split, i had to make bread for the next day, i used normal white bread dough and i stuffed it with different types of ingredients like mozzarella, Parmesan, cheddar, bacon, salami, biltong and assorted fresh herbs
6 August 2011-me and Alon build a small demo kitchen outside, where we had to advertise a "build your own stir fry" deal, where there is all cut vegetables, chicken, beef, mussels, butter fish and tiger prawns, that the guests choose what they want, and we cook it in front of them, using the ingredients they want as well as spices
7 August 2011-today i was working for ecolife, i made a braai for them, i was the only one working outside, Francois was inside cleaning, i made them spatchcock chicken, boerewors, pork rashers and a few other dishes, but the one lady cant eat nuts, so i had to prepare different types of food for her, it was a hard function, because they were french and it was hard to get the to understand, but in the end it went well and they were all happy with the foods made
8 August 2011 - went to do my license and passed, when i came back, i worked for an hour at reception, and when i closed up, i had to run the Monday buffet alone, it was a really fun experience, just kept on running around, and used the food and beverage students to fetch and help me with taking care of the foods in the bain-maries when they started getting low, it was hard work, but so worth it.
9 August 2011-worked the first half of the day in hot-prep area, making pizzas and flat breads, and the last half in the cold kitchen, but while there was nothing to do, me and Tarine started cleaning all the storage areas and fridges
10 August 2011-today we went to china town, binuns and the food lovers market, found out very weird and wonderful factors, great knife sets from wusthof, which was R1200 a set, and it was unfortunately not my best money month, i even found out you can eat jelly fish and there is such thing as a Jews ear in pork rashers, which was weird for me, we even went to a book store and got a few books, one of Gordan Ramsey, to study plating, and a bread makers book, where i saw a very interesting recipe for a Russian potato bread that bugged me
11 August 2011- today chef surprised us with a practical test, and he took out the bread makers book, i jumped straight through it to look for my Russian potato bread recipe, found it and we had just over 2 hours to make it and another dish, Tarine was working with me and she wanted to make a sweet and sour all bran muffin, which i approved and let her do on her own, the test was intense, but bread baking is not that hard, i mixed everything to a great consistency, kneaded it until it had a elastic effect, let it prove in a warm space, knocked it back when it was double its size and kneaded for a few minutes, plaited it and let it set for a while and baked it, it was a fun experience and i came second in the competition, so i was overwhelmed
12 August 2011-everything was prepared for vleis vreters when we were baking bread, so the kitchen just ran by doing orders, i worked in hot prep area, doing mise on place and doing orders, but normally on a Friday the hard work starts at lunch, but that's when i was going on my off weekend
12 - 15 August 2011 - off weekend
Monday, August 22, 2011
25 july 2011 - 29 july 2011 moselesele, carrot cakes and stock taking
25 July 2011- it was a theory day, chef wanted us to catch up on a bit of our logbooks, recipes and modules
26 July 2011-today me and Alon were put together to make a carrot cake that we suggested, and Natalie and Lilandi made cheesecake, our carrot cake was a success and because we had so much time, we started making chocolate sauces to go over the cake, we used one recipe to make 2 cakes that were put on top of each other
27 July 2011- i was sent to Moselesele, there was no one to work there, so i offered, i came there and on the board it was written that they want an omelet each for 9 o'clock, i heated up the plated, set up there table, cutlery and glasses, with all there necessary utensils in front of them, they were surprised to see a different chef in the kitchen and were surprised that i set up their table, just as they sat down, i served them with there foods and returned to the kitchen to clean, cleaned the kitchen, and just as i finished sweeping, they walked in and dropped off their plates, they were off, when i was finished i went to the kitchen where i was called aside and got a 100 rand tip, which made my day
28 July 2011-today was a full kitchen stock and equipment counting day, chef gave me the stock to count in the storage room, fridges, freezer and in the private cages, which i had to enter on the system, which needed to be committed and re-checked 2-3 times, and doing it alone wasn't easy when you aren't experienced on how to count different types of stock, it took mostly the whole day, but chef said i can use someone to help next time, so that i don't freeze to death, but next time i am striving to do better with paperwork and the stock, a kitchen cant run without orders and stock taking
29 July 2011-today i was allowed to work to 1 as it is my off weekend, me and Jay Dee had to do student lunch while doing the orders, we decided to do sweet and sour prego rolls, and for the chili lovers, we made a sweet chili prego, we got a lot of good compliments about our foods, and after student lunch we were off
26 July 2011-today me and Alon were put together to make a carrot cake that we suggested, and Natalie and Lilandi made cheesecake, our carrot cake was a success and because we had so much time, we started making chocolate sauces to go over the cake, we used one recipe to make 2 cakes that were put on top of each other
27 July 2011- i was sent to Moselesele, there was no one to work there, so i offered, i came there and on the board it was written that they want an omelet each for 9 o'clock, i heated up the plated, set up there table, cutlery and glasses, with all there necessary utensils in front of them, they were surprised to see a different chef in the kitchen and were surprised that i set up their table, just as they sat down, i served them with there foods and returned to the kitchen to clean, cleaned the kitchen, and just as i finished sweeping, they walked in and dropped off their plates, they were off, when i was finished i went to the kitchen where i was called aside and got a 100 rand tip, which made my day
28 July 2011-today was a full kitchen stock and equipment counting day, chef gave me the stock to count in the storage room, fridges, freezer and in the private cages, which i had to enter on the system, which needed to be committed and re-checked 2-3 times, and doing it alone wasn't easy when you aren't experienced on how to count different types of stock, it took mostly the whole day, but chef said i can use someone to help next time, so that i don't freeze to death, but next time i am striving to do better with paperwork and the stock, a kitchen cant run without orders and stock taking
29 July 2011-today i was allowed to work to 1 as it is my off weekend, me and Jay Dee had to do student lunch while doing the orders, we decided to do sweet and sour prego rolls, and for the chili lovers, we made a sweet chili prego, we got a lot of good compliments about our foods, and after student lunch we were off
21 july - 24 july 2011mountain bike race
21 July 2011- today i made poached pears for the first time, it was really interesting, because i have poached an egg before, but there is so much more that can be done then just eggs or pears, i poached them in red wine, raisins, capers and cinnamon, i also made a bechemel sauce, that i used for an Alfreda for the pasta being used to carbo load at the mountain bike race being held, with the bechemel, i pan fried mushrooms and ham, which was added and used as the pasta sauce, i also needed to make curry mince for the vetkoeks that were going to be sold
22 July 2011- i set up a kitchen at caravan park today, it took most of the day, but was really fun, we had to transport all the equipment, utensils, cleaning materials and tables from the kitchen, it was really fun working today, it is a change to come out of the kitchen sometimes
23 July 2011- we were still working at the mountain bike race in caravan park, where we sold hot dogs, boerewors rolls, prego rolls, pap and potjie, breakfast rolls and there was a beer garden, we even sold coffee and tea.
24 July 2011-today i went back in the kitchen after clearing up all the caravan park equipment and cleaning, Jay-Dee a proficiency student working with me in the kitchen, was getting bored of not knowing how to garnish salads, so i started showing him basic ways of garnishing by using onions(cut to the shape of a protea), cucumbers or baby marrow(cut to look like a leaf), tomatoes (peeled to look like roses) and pineapple leaves were also used, with this he couldn't stop thinking of how to garnish his next salad, which shows passion.
22 July 2011- i set up a kitchen at caravan park today, it took most of the day, but was really fun, we had to transport all the equipment, utensils, cleaning materials and tables from the kitchen, it was really fun working today, it is a change to come out of the kitchen sometimes
23 July 2011- we were still working at the mountain bike race in caravan park, where we sold hot dogs, boerewors rolls, prego rolls, pap and potjie, breakfast rolls and there was a beer garden, we even sold coffee and tea.
24 July 2011-today i went back in the kitchen after clearing up all the caravan park equipment and cleaning, Jay-Dee a proficiency student working with me in the kitchen, was getting bored of not knowing how to garnish salads, so i started showing him basic ways of garnishing by using onions(cut to the shape of a protea), cucumbers or baby marrow(cut to look like a leaf), tomatoes (peeled to look like roses) and pineapple leaves were also used, with this he couldn't stop thinking of how to garnish his next salad, which shows passion.
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