Catering/Garde Manger Week 3, Day 5. Finals and Market basket. Last day of catering. We took the final exam and then drew the assignment for the final buffet. I picked the dreaded vegetable and started rooting around the kitchen for something to make. We also had to do knife cuts, so I started on those while I pondered over the available ingredients in the kitchen. I came up with Oyster Mushrooms with Pearl Onions and Butternut squash. Last night I read a little of The Soul of a Chef - the part where Michael Ruhlman discusses the playful ideas behind Thomas Keller's cooking. I think the section about Oysters and Pearls stuck in my head and came out in a subliminal manner. I was worried about the dish the entire time I was making it. I've never made oyster mushrooms before and I didn't know if the flavors went together. I caramelized the pearl onions and put it in the hot box. Then I parboiled small dice butternut squash in chicken stock and added that to the onions. Finally I sauteed two boxes of oyster mushrooms with some garlic. I added a little white wine to deglazed it a bit. I combined it with the onions and squash with ten minutes to spare. I reduced the chicken stock I used to parboil the squash and added it to the vegetables just before bringing it out to the buffet line. It came out pretty well. Even though I despise mushrooms, oyster mushrooms have a very nice texture. All in all, it gave me back a little bit of confidence in my cooking abilities. (Most of which I lost while trying out for the ACF Junior team last Saturday.)

Catering/Garde Manger Week 3, Day 4. Grand Buffet - Hawaiian. The day to put up or shut up. The day we are tested as a team. We pass with flying colors. Lara, Bjorn, and I were responsible for aspic. We had to produce two plates each. It went very well. Bjorn did two different beach scenes. Lara did a pineapple and a beach scene. I used a fish mold to make a fish with a hula girl figurine suspended inside. And for my second plate I did a surfer riding a wave. For the wave I transposed Hokusai's The Breat Wave off Kanagawa. Eve and Jen were the dining room managers. The buffet line was well designed and the flower decorations were very picturesque. Not to mention the beverages were very good: some sort of tropical punch, along with still or sparkling water. A far cry from the usual fruit punch and lemonade. Kalei made a roast suckling pig. He was a little disappointed by how it turned out, but he's from Hawaii and has had the real stuff a lot. He only had four hours to cook the pig. I think longer slower cooking would have provided the results he was looking for. Jim, Jaime, and Rodney made canapes. Manny made an extremely flavorful Painolo Steak. JB made Crispy Summer Rolls. Chas made a tofu stir fry. Joe made a Sweet potato salad. Nelson made Mahimahi. Will made the fruit mirror and the watermelon carving.

Catering/Garde Manger Week 3, Day 3. Plated Dinner day. In lecture, Chef Groeger did an ice carving of a marlin for the Grand Buffet. He made it look so easy. First, he make a template on a piece of butcher paper. Adhered it to the surface of a 40x20x10 standard ice block. Next, he used a Rotozip to transfer the design to the ice. Then he used a chainsaw to cut away big blocks of empty space. Finally he gradually added more detail with various other tools.

For the buffet, we did a plated service which means we set out a set number of salad plates (45). We plated hot entrees and put them in two hot boxes. At the table, we had bread, canapes, and salads. The menu was simple. A mesclun mix salad in a toasted lavosh ring surrounded by a necklace of thinly sliced tomatoes. The main entree was an airline chicken breast roasted wrapped in pancetta on roasted garlic mashed potatoes and a vegetable confetti with a potato window garnish. A potato window is a leafy herb sandwiched between two sliced of potatoes and then fried. I think you can also sandwich these between two sheet pans and bake them. I was on dining room manager duty with Richie. We managed to trip the circuit breakers in the dining area by plugging in the hot boxes. Apparently we were not supposed to plug them in - six sternos provided ample heat.

Catering/Garde Manger Week 3, Day 2. Holiday. Pretty appropriate since we just came back from a three-day weekend. Chef Groeger lectured about the basic components of a meal and optional courses that we could provide. He also talked about the basics of ice carving and how to prepare the block of ice. Rodney, Molly, and I were on aspic. Apparently, we were the last three to do aspic. It pretty simple: make the gelatin. Make a base layer by mixing the gelatin with mayonnaise. This is classically known as chaud froid. Then use a sauce gun to pour the chaid froid onto an oval platter. Wait for this layer to set. Then etch out a design of choice using cookie cutters or a paring knife. Then fill in the empty spaces with colored gelatin. There are endless possibilities: spices, vegetables, and liquers. Wait for that layer to set and then top with a layer of clear gelatin. This is a very classical technique that is not used much anymore. The platter is used for serving canapes. Rodney made a snowman. Molly made a gingerbread man with a heart. I made a "green-shot" eyeball using fennel fronds for the blood shot effect. Maybe it's more of a post-holiday effect but on topic nonetheless.

Catering/Garde Manger Week 2, Day 5. Heart Healthy. Kind of on topic with Valentine's day. The menu items geared towards low sodium and butterless recipes. We had a whole poached thirty pound tuna. It was supposed to be an eight pound red snapper, but we got the tuna instead. Eve and I made Braised Belgian endive with cabbage and shiitake mushrooms. I didn't think much of it. I need to consider what would make it tastier. We tried to spruce it up with garlic, shallots, and grated lemongrass, but to no avail. Jim and Jen made grilled chicken on a bed of carrot ribbons. The carrot ribbons made the dish. Lightly salted deep-fried carrot peelings. Simple, flavorful, and goes well with chicken.

Catering/Garde Manger Week 2, Day 4. Cocktail day. In lecture, Chef told us what he expected from our buffet project. On the first day, we were assigned a project to create a proposal for buffet for 100 people. We chose the theme to be Hawaiian cuisine. The buffet consists of 11 items of our choosing: 2 hot appetizers, 2 cold appetizers, 2 vegetables, 1 salad, 1 entree, 1 starch, 1 dessert, and 1 beverage. We have to cost out each dish, write out the procedure to prepare each dish, fill in a boilerplate contract, create a labor schedule, and price out the part with a 15% profit.

Lara, Jim, and I made Coconut Shrimp with mango chutney. Jim and Lara handled the shrimp: peeling, breading, and frying while I setup the breading station and made the mango chutney. It felt good to use my knife again. I need to practice my knife cuts more. We had a huge cheese tray for the buffet. Chef said that the hotel would probably charge a grand for what we put out.

Catering/Garde Manger Week 2, Day 3. Kosher day. In lecture, we had a test review for Friday. It's basically going to be a math test. Blair and I made Latkes. One concept we've learned in catering is a firing sheet. To prepare a buffet everything is served at once, so we use a firing sheet to organized when items should be heated before holding for service. For example, all fried items are actually fried as soon as possible, put in the hot box, and reheated twenty minutes before service.

Catering/Garde Manger Week 2, Day 2. New England day. Mock clam bake, boiled dinner, baked beans, we had it all. Chas and I made Maple Glazed Chicken with Cranberry Pecan Pilaf. I made the pilaf and Chas prepared the chicken. It was a very easy dish, but the wheat berries and the rye berries that we used for the pilaf took forever to cook.

In lecture, we talked about contracts and what we should consider when drawing them up with our lawyer.

Catering/Garde Manger Week 2, Day 1. Deli Day. No hot foods just salads and a big deli tray. In lecture, we were reacquainted with cost cards. We also got into some word problems dealing with figuring out the costs of a catering situation. For production, I was dining room manager with Deborah as my assistant. We kind of overused certain tablecloths, but it came out well in the end. We were busy the enture time. It's amazing how time flies by even when you're not cooking. We set up the buffet line, put out tables and chairs, and made signs. Setting up the buffet line took the longest time. We have to map out all the dishes and come up with a design for the tables. To vary the height of dishes, we used wooden blocks wrapped in tablecloths. Deborah did a great job wrapping the blocks with the tablecloths. It's very awkward. I tried it myself, but no good came of that.

Catering/Garde Manger Week 1, Day 5. Southwest day. We had our first test. No big deal. Chef did a great job getting us ready for this one. I worked alone again and made a Romaine salad with Chipotile Dressing and Croutons. Green salad, my greatest fear. Leafy green vegetables are unwieldly and delicate. There's no fire or heat involved. Cut, wash, and go. Should be simple and it is, but I make a big deal out of it. Maybe it has something to do with raw food in general...

Catering/Garde Manger Week 1, Day 4. Heartland day. We went over in-house and off property catering. Chef gave us a lot of useful information about catering. He recommends the lifestyle of catering because unlike a restaurant owner you don't have to worry about getting customers when you have already bought the food, you don't have to own any large equipment, and you set your own hours and can take a vacation whenever you can feel like it. He makes a very convincing argument for the life of a caterer.

I worked alone today. I was responible for the five bean salad. The five beans were kidney, white, green, wax, and garbanzo. It felt like a lot of work because I'm still fairly slow in the kitchen. Basically, I had to prepare each bean, then the emulsified vinaigrette, and combine them. I've always been a bit antsy about salads. I've always skipped that section in cookbooks. I guess I should take this opportunity to deal with my weakness.

Catering/Garde Manger Week 1, Day 3. Cajun day. In lecture, we talked about cold hors d'oeuvres. Onto the buffet. Shelby and I worked on a pot roast with root vegetables. We took turns during service to man the carving station. I have trouble carving with the roast. I didn't realize until much later that I usually carve with my left hand when I'm eating a steak or something, so that might have something to do with it.

Catering/Garde Manger Week 1, Day 2. BBQ day. Eve and I made corn on the cob. We boiled it milk, water, salt, pepper, and sugar. We also made honey butter. Looks like I'll either be working with Eve or Rodney everyday. The recipes don't seem to be very special. We have to okay all tweaks and changes with the chef.

In lecture, we talked about sanitation and aspic. I'll spare the details about sanitation, but it's all on tape if anyone wants to hear it. Aspic is a more interesting topic. It's a classical technique that's not really used that much anymore. It's a gelatin substance that sets up firm at room temperature. We use it to decorate the serving platters for canapes.

Our theme for Grand Buffet is Hawaiian. Kalei was born there so maybe he'll have some good ideas. I voted for Pacific Northwest, but we only had 9 votes out of 26. During dinner, we chose our assignments for Grand Buffet. I picked Fruit Mirror, but I traded that to Nelson for Canape. Then I traded Jim for Aspic.


Catering/Garde Manger Week 1, Day 1. The way things go in this class is that we start off with lecture. Then we go over the menu with Chef. He calls out the assignments and we go over the firing sheet. The firing sheet is a list of times when all hot items are given the last amount of heat and when they go into the hot box. For example, tonight we planned to have dinner ready by 845pm. Chef wanted the garlic bread in the hot box, a device used to keep hot foods at a certain temp, at 815pm. The firing time was 8pm. This is went we put the pans of corn in water and milk on the stove to boil and simmer.into the oven. So we have 15 minutes from the time the bread is oven to get it prepared and into the hot box ready for dinner. Other items vary. All cold items are prepared as soon as possible and put in the coolers. 15 minutes before dinner, we put the food out and chef goes over the menu and other points with us. Then we eat and open the doors for other students on campus. After dinner, half the class gets to go home and the other half cleans the kitchen. We alternate each night.


Lecture was long. Chef Groeger told us all about professionalism and what the industry is all about from his viewpoint. He is another chef who suggested working while in culinary school. He also told us about our project, the Grand Buffet. One Week 3 Day 4, the class will be preparing a grand buffet that the class as a whole decided on. I'm a little worried about having the 26 kids in our class trying to agree on one theme.