It is 12:21 am, and we JUST got home from the restaurant 15 minutes ago! It is was a long evening, about, once again, great! I was a bit late again, which was fine (Julie! :)), but I forgot that the day before I had offered to do the baking. So, when I got there, the Garde-Manger, LJ (he's 3rd behind the Chef and the Sous-chef), mentioned that he had made the creme brulee cause he didn't know when I would be there. Well, I apologized and took over from there, starting with flourless chocolate cake. Now, as most of you know, I think I'm a pretty good baker, although, I still rely heavily on recipes. Well, the guys in the kitchen don't use recipes...well, they have them memorized. So, when I asked them what to do, they through out some not very specific instructions, which lead to my first mistake! I was told to pull out 7 duck eggs and cover them with hot water to warm them up. I then, pulled out the eggs, cracked them, and asked, "Are you sure I should cover them with water?" The answer was yes, I proceeded to add water to my eggs. LJ peeked around the corner to see what I was doing, we both realized what I was doing was wrong. I was supposed to put the WHOLE eggs, shells on, in a hot water bath to warm them. Well, I wasted 7 duck eggs, but, I did get the cake batter going (fortunately there were 8 more duck eggs!). At the end of the night, Jeremy the Sous Chef, told me that it was the best egg batter he had seen! :)
I also made the honey cakes for the evening, and tomorrow I will make the creme brulee. The rest of the evening went well. It was mostly a repeat of the night before, but I knew a little bit more. It was a good evening, and at the end of the night, I had the best whitefish dish and salad I've ever eaten...mind you, I have never had whitefish before! :) But it was oh so good!!
The night finally over, we all got into the car to come home, and Chef Eric was complimenting his staff, and mentioned that his Padawan (me) did a pretty good job tonight! For those of you who are as clueless as I was, a Padawan is Jedi Apprentice (Star Wars). It was a compliment, and I accepted it with a smile.
Off to bed...tomorrow is the farmers market, lunch service and dinner! Long day!
I am getting hungry reading all these amazing posts! I really wish I could try the honeycomb cheese plate. And the whitefish. Duck egg cake? I wonder how duck eggs taste/work differently than chicken eggs. Just random ramblings. Eat an extra piece of everything for me. Maybe you can smuggle some home in your purse.
ReplyDeleteWell you know they say...to be early is to be on time, to be on time is to be late, and to be late is unacceptable. :) This journey sounds amazing and I'm sure the catalyst to many great things ahead!
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