I’ve been working a lot lately and doing the whole school thing as well.  5 days at work….Thursday-Monday…then school is Tuesday-Wednesday.  Where can I fit in this blog thing?  Don’t worry Mr. Blog, you’re taken care of.

I get off of work at around midnight. I race home and I’m still amped up and I want to improve my techniques that I learned at work or just reflect or answer questions I have in my own head so then I get to cooking.

I’m into my third week of cooking hot food on a line in a great kitchen and I have been rotating between saute station, fry station, and hot apps (appetizers).  Each one has its own recipes, techniques, and tricks. When I learn something new I have “aha” moments then I go home and practice them a few times to make sure the next day is better than the last…you’ve probably noticed all those damn scallops I’ve been cooking…..yeah, got those down

The dish pictured above isn’t on the menu but I learned the prep salad that goes underneath a halibut dish from Blueacre.  The vegetables and set up aren’t the same and honestly its something different but I was just working on my timing…..again, at 2AM…..I’m crazy.

The green sauce is a cilantro oil from Mindy’s farm.  The brown spots are my molasses ghost chili sauce and then I worked in Mindy’s red onion with radishes and a bunch of other things to mimic the Blueacre food.  Again, not exact but trying to bring balance and speed to the plate…..plated it 10 times….at 2AM.  The pork chop is fried in mangalitsa lard and seasoned with harissa….again, those touches that Eric brings.  Eric touches…..you like it.

Here are two things that I wanted to work on.  The Angry Crab dish needs proper caramelization of the shells and proper mix of seasoning. I didn’t have crab so I substituted some shrimp in its place. The method is the same so it translates to a crab shell…..super hot!   The sugo underneath is different but it’s still that same tomato sauce that goes under the scallop prep (I added my cherry wood smoked tomatoes and saffron).  I add garbanzo and remove the corn because at 2AM there is no such thing as fresh corn…. Questions answered, next dish!

Next up is a take on the minestrone dish and vegetable stew dish we have at work.  I had some of the vegetables that we used at work available at my house so I proceeded to find out how long I could cook the vegetables in order for them to be cooked and keep their color.  We add the majority of the vegetables and do the soup to order so its important to make sure that eat vegetable gets the respect it deserves.  It’s not just a vegetable boil…..it’s a nice clean soup……The first time I made the soup at work I boiled the hell out of it and heard the dreaded words, “Re-fire!!”.   I have it figured out now

2AM meals……pretty cool stuff.

Eric