So I rotated into the P.M Grill Position

[KillSwitch85]

Quote, originally posted by PhaetonChix »

Best thread in the Community forums. Keep up the great posts.

[vr6ruckus]

Yeah, keep this thread going. I'm a manager at a BBQ joint and a cook at a bar 'n grill and it's interesting seeing your perspective on the industry.

[LovetheA2s]

ok, the final word on the potato salad was small dice potato, (cooked al dente). scallions, salt, pepper, NO mayo, sour cream, wasabi, sesame oil, and a touch of sugar.

Tonight I did a currant potato salad going with duck leg confit, foie gras, and braised short rib. It was a trio or sorts. I made the potato salad and picked the confit. saute did the rest

I did however have the chef tell me this morning when I got in "well, we have some beautiful tuna left over from lastnight" think of a tuna dish to run tonight and its going on the menu .

It was an App:
So I came up with. Fennel seed (ground in a spice grinder) dusted ahi tuna (4oz piece) seared in a screaming hot pan with a bit of oil. served with a pineapple/red onion/ lime juice/zest chutney. baby pea tendrils (tossed in a rice wine,sugar, sesame oil, and canola oil dressing) fried shoestring potatoes (done on a mandolin) and drizzled with the soy caramel. We sold 6

It was "seared ahi tuna loin/pineeapple chutney/shoestring potatoes/ soy glaze" on the menu

I have to have 2 composed plates for friday dinner service for
- Flat iron steak
- 14oz Porterhouse porkchop

I know that I am using the worcestershire sauce with the flatiron steak.

For the pork i was thinking of grilled with grilled georgia peaches. sweet potato salad (room temp with sauteed shallots, scallions, julienned smithfield ham), sauteed spinach for color, sauced with a bourbon maple glaze. Opinions? I figure it will balance out nice,
saltiness from the pork, smithfield ham, will balance out with the maple bourbon glaze, sweet pots, and peaches.

maybe for the flat iron, i can do a braised short rib agnolotti with the flat iron on top and a bit of demi glace, is rappini still in season? maybe a good wok-seared swiss chard for some pepperiness.

Im always up for ideas, shoot em my way

[watanabe2k]

Awesome!

Well I tried a variation of the potato salad. I don't like mayo and my roommate can't eat it, so we dumped the mayo idea. Instead I mixed apple cider, some balsamic vinegar, and a ton of wasabi and whisked that together.

I then cut the potato into small cubes and cooked it in a large fry pan. When they were tender all the way through I added the "sauce." It was sweet with a nice kick. To end it I sprinkled some fresh chives on top. Turned out pretty well. Any ideas or suggestions to us non mayo people?

So the sauce on your flat iron steaks will be that one worcestershire sauce recipe you wrote out earlier?

[skizzott]

Good stuff man I can read your posts about this stuff for days!! Keep it coming, but just don't burn yourself out or get weeded keeping us updated

**not sure if I used 'weeded' in proper context, so if not, I apologize**

[KillSwitch85]

Quote, originally posted by LovetheA2s »

For the pork i was thinking of grilled with grilled georgia peaches. sweet potato salad (room temp with sauteed shallots, scallions, julienned smithfield ham), sauteed spinach for color, sauced with a bourbon maple glaze. Opinions?

I'd order it

[iamnotemo]

Quote, originally posted by KillSwitch85 »

I'd order it

X2, especially with the bourbon maple glaze.

[LovetheA2s]

Quote, originally posted by watanabe2k »

Awesome! Well I tried a variation of the potato salad. I don't like mayo and my roommate can't eat it, so we dumped the mayo idea. Instead I mixed apple cider, some balsamic vinegar, and a ton of wasabi and whisked that together. I then cut the potato into small cubes and cooked it in a large fry pan. When they were tender all the way through I added the "sauce." It was sweet with a nice kick. To end it I sprinkled some fresh chives on top. Turned out pretty well. Any ideas or suggestions to us non mayo people? So the sauce on your flat iron steaks will be that one worcestershire sauce recipe you wrote out earlier?

Your potato salad sounds pretty good/interesting. I might have to give it a shot. Did you use sweetened or added sugar cider? Shoot, i might have to check this idea out and try it with some woodchuck cider and aged balsamic at work . For the non mayo part, he used sour cream.

As far as the flat iron steak, im torn between demi and the worcestershire. Maybe the demi inside of the agnolotti with the braised short rib and the worcestershire around the plate

[LovetheA2s]

Quote, originally posted by skizzott »

Good stuff man I can read your posts about this stuff for days!! Keep it coming, but just don't burn yourself out or get weeded keeping us updated **not sure if I used 'weeded' in proper context, so if not, I apologize**

nice useage of our terminology

Only way Id get burned out if I was working 60+ hour weeks and not gaining experience, Right now I am holding at 42 hours a week. 2 days off a week and getting plenty of experience

Only way i would get weeded is if we have 90+ on the books (reservations) which means we will do over 130+ people . account for 40 walk-ins (people with no rezzys <reservations>) and If I make a plate that has like 12 components...... that would definitely weed us. But Ill keep it simple. Im going in at about 12:30 tomorrow

Thanks for the feedback guys


Modified by LovetheA2s at 10:36 PM 7-27-2006

[Volksless]

Great thread, highly interesting and i think ive gotten something to eat after every new post youve made haha, it all sounds sooo good.

[Danbodia]

Post up some menus mang.
and keep this thread rolling.

[KillSwitch85]

Quote, originally posted by Danbodia »

Post up some menus mang. and keep this thread rolling.

x2....any pics of the kitchen or dishes you made. Its nice to see alot of interest

BTW, i thought if this thread tonite while I was in the weeds at work, granted I was grilling up philly cheesesteaks, burgers, and cheap cuts of steak rather than gormet dishes. Just helped me put it into perspective lol

Modified by KillSwitch85 at 11:58 PM 7-27-2006

[LovetheA2s]

will do, Ill carry the camera to work tomorrow. Somehow after searching all over my hard drive i havent found my group of pics of our kitchen. Youll remember my "Look what i did @ work today" thread. or however it was labeled. Youll remember that? C'mon guys, you have to believe me when i say I work in a kitchen. I promise. Ok, fine ill tell you'll the truth, im a bagger at kroger

[LovetheA2s]

Heres a lil love for Killswitch85.

[iamnotemo]

Quote, originally posted by LovetheA2s »

Ok, fine ill tell you'll the truth, im a bagger at kroger

haha, my first job ever. Back in the pre uniform days. We had to wear collared shirts and ties. Looking forward to the pics

[LovetheA2s]

Ok, Kids, you asked for it:

The kitchen

My brainstorming on the features.......

The features brought to life: (sorry they arent prettier, i forgot to take a pic of my demo plates for the waitstaff, these plates were on the way out to a table)

Flat iron Steak with grilled asparagus, twice baked potato, house made worcestershire and bleu cheese butter

14 oz Harris Ranch Porterhouse porkchop with smoked surry sausage (yes from VA homemade.......) sweet potato salad, sauteed spinach, grilled georgia peaches,and a bourbon maple glaze:

A few other picks for kicks:

Oyster stew made to order with fresh garlic bread:

Trio of duck: (Seared foie gras, oven roasted duck breast, and duck confit, served with pea tendrils, and currant potato salad)

Jumbo Seared U-4 Prawns: (Soy glazed, coconut basmati rice, and seared julienned veggies)

Completely off topic, but my buddies 300whp a2 1.8t Jetta:

Enjoy guys


Modified by LovetheA2s at 5:02 AM 7-29-2006

[iamnotemo]

Nice, it was very similar in my head . This looks tasty

[KillSwitch85]

sweet pics man...

[Danbodia]

Nice line, makes me miss my resort days (but just for a second)
Where are you guys getting the U4's? Foley?

The food looks good too.
Nice honest presentations, with no extra foofoo BS


Modified by Danbodia at 8:43 AM 7-29-2006

[LovetheA2s]

I do believe it is foley's. Im working out at our country club instead of the town club, so they use a few different purveyors than we do. Ill find out.

Oh yeah, i forgot to mention that we did a little bit over a hundred people and sold like 15 of the flatirons and 7 of the pork porterhouses. Very good night for specials!!!!

[LovetheA2s]

well, tonight was some hell's kitchen. So im sure you guys are ready to hear this....... We werent doing a la carte service tonight, instead we were doing a buffet for our guests. Check this, we ordered in 5,000 yes $5000 dollars worth of 3lb lobsters @ 190 pieces.......... It was our "lobster bake" night and is done twice a year. Now, all day i was steaming, cracking claws, kuncles, and splitting tails (keeping the whole thing in tact) of these bad boys. The buffet included 10 lbs of littleneck clams, 10lbs of mussles, corn on the cob, jalapeno cornbread, salad bar, bbq chicken (yours truely made), ramekins of clarified butter and of course a big daddy pre-cracked lobster which stretched the length of a 12" plate. 1 per person of course. We ordered 190 pieces of lobster, I was the "lobster keeper" @ the buffet and was taking tickets per customer per lobster. At almost the end of the night, I was running out of lobsters (they capped the reservations at 181). Sure enough, i ran out with people still in line looking at me like "wheres my lobster?". It was 6 people, our last table. One member completely FREAKED OUT, and was like look "I am the member and you'll are here to serve me, you need to get me a lobster from somewhere" the chef de cuisine, as well as our front of the house manager went out to speak with him as well as the other customers and he made the biggest scene in front of all of them. He looked at them and said, I want all of your names cause i am going in front of the board of comittee members of the club and all of you will be fired. We ended up comping the meals, sending out a surf and turf dinner consisting of a crabcake and 6 oz filet, one of our waiters went out to kroger, bought 6 FRESH lobsters, we cooked them and sent them out to the table to make it right. Talk about going the extra mile huh???? The guy wqho freaked out ended up chilling out, and said that after all that we did , he was going to write a letter to the board to tell them how wonderful the meal was. Somebody had a bit too much, i think. But thats just me........... Ends up, our seafood purveyor gave us the shaft. On the invoice it clearly states "190 pieces". and we only got 170......... someone is catching hell tomorrow. But, after work tonight we all went out and had some blue moon and terapin(sp).... made things all better. Tomorrow, specials will be new, Ill let you guys know. Hows that for a night?????

[vdubjb]

Sucks that you got shorted, you guys dont count how many are in the boxes? Sounds like combat, lol.

[iamnotemo]

Damn, that sucks. At least the guest eventually calmed down. I'd hate to be the person on the recieving end at the seafood company.

[LovetheA2s]

all of us feel like asses for not counting them 1 by 1. But, we had 3 (rolling rack, uprights, Whichever you call them) full of lobsters and then some. but again, it wasnt enough . I feel sorry for the seafood comp as well, but mess with the bull (your customer) and you get the horns. They have some fessin up to do though. I mean, damn, 20 lobsters short. Especially when we spent 5g's alone on lobsters. Not to mention littleneck clams (10 lbs) as well as Jumbo lump crabmeat, and mussles........

Tonight was cool though, we had about 40 people. Ran the flat iron and pork porterhouse again. new batch of worcestershire again . and I was on the garde manger station. The universal soldier .
That concludes my week at the Country club, its back to the town club starting tuesday.

[watanabe2k]

Man that sucks! But all that lobster is making me hungry.

And those pics are great. All those dishes are making my mouth water!

[LovetheA2s]

it was busy lastnight. We had a good time though. Went in at 11 and was completely set up by service. we did probably about 70 but about 50 were within an hour. Ill have more tonight. Ill make a post tonight.

[KillSwitch85]

I just dominated a 3 pound lobster.........scrumptious

any updates

[LovetheA2s]

Nothing much is new. Today was such a smooth day. we only did about 50 people. But, I took the reins tonight with the firing and so fourth. I was calling pickups to the other cooks and was getting the plates out promptly. It felt real good to just kinda take charge and run with it. But a lil bit of confidence can push you a long way. All in all we had an easy night and I got to flex a lil "upper management" material. I gotta let these guys know I have what it takes. The Exec Sous. Was like dude "I dont know where this is coming from, but I like it bro. Keep up the good work" I was like . we did end up getting a new saute guy starting next week. Our butcher is moving onto the line. We a LOT of inside promotion with our place. Like i said our kitchen is based on a rotation process. Hence the title "so I rotated into the pm grill position". Im pretty happy of my accomplishments and can only tell anyone else that wants to go into this business. If you love it, its very rewarding.

[watanabe2k]

So where do you expect to rotate to next?

[LovetheA2s]

I hope to rotate into the Saute position.

[anothercar]

I havent had a thing to eat for more then 24 hours, prepping for surgery tomorrow at noon, and you guys are killing me with the visuals. Quick someone, get me a freaking steak!

[iamnotemo]

Quote, originally posted by LovetheA2s »

I hope to rotate into the Saute position.

Is it time frame or qualification based or both.

[LovetheA2s]

typically the rotation is a 6- 8 month process. Depending on how well you can lock down the station can also effect your tenure. I was in banquets aug-jan, then in the cold room from jan-march, breakfast guy for 2 months, and on the pm line since april.. I have been one of the lucky people who have rotated quickly. Also, certain people leaving opens up slots that you can fall into. I demonstrated the demeanor of what it took to be on the pm line. When there was a change in plans. I was hand picked to be on the grill, Ill be on through the busy season. Its getting close and there is no time for me to train someone and have them get good by the end of the month on my station. And the same for me on saute. I like the grill and figure Ill hang out till the 1st of the year and ask for a switch with saute, that will be my 8 month tenure. I am very ambitious (not eager) just ambitious to become a great chef and gain good standards/rankings at a feasable age. Dont want to be an old prep cook!

[iamnotemo]

So whats new?

[LovetheA2s]

Hey guys, Sorry I havent updated in iver a week. I have had a busy time outside of work, I have recently moved to a new apt just outside of the city. My computer died and my car has had some codes pop up. So ive been really wrapped up. But, believe me ill try and keep this up and going with our "Apartment complex business center Computer", Which is what i am on now. It has been a bad 2 weeks stressfully as well as on the wallet. When i can get a computer, car fixed and life calms down a bit I can promise nightly updates. But, for now itll be every few days or when i can get to a non busy computer. Bear with me guys. On a good note, i have been awarded the position of being in charge of closedown of the kitchen nightly. Lil bit of extra responsibility never hurts. Im still on the grill though, just a bit of extra work at the end of the night. Thanks for your support

Aaron