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
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