Shellfish Preparation

One of the many ways to prep seafood at a restaurant or at home is to serve the clams and oysters raw. For those who have not does this your self, be warned, it is difficult. Your first step is to clean the shells of any sand or sea grim, this is also the time to tap on all open shells. This is to check if the animal is still alive, if it does not open discard immediately. For mussels you also want to remove "the beard", a long hairy string that dangles from the side of the opening of the mussel. The second step, also the hardest, is to open them with either steaming them to cook them or prying them open to eat raw. Steaming is easy because you just heat water, aromatics and a little bit of wine, toss in the seafood and cook till they open. Just like before, do not eat any closed shellfish and discard immediately. For the raw method you are doing to need a oyster or clam knife to pry them open with. The trick is to open them when they least expect it (refrigerate before hand) and stick the knife through the opening in the back if the shellfish. if it still gives you trouble them let it rest and try another one. The last step for this is to dislocate the shellfish from the shell and clean out any shell or sand that got in.

Buffet Platters

So it is week 8 school and we did buffet style platters. We built a meat, vegetable, fruit, cracker and cheese displays and though it seems simple the concept is fairly hard. When cutting the vegetables you need to have a base plan that you want on the plate (in reality the customer would specify). A simple cut such as a large dice compared to a spear or julienne cut. The platter needs to be close and tight so that when someone takes some food that the overall presentation does not get effected.You also got to think how the person addresses the plate from their view and know exactly what would attract them. During our official presentation Chef had us look closely at what people took and how. To an odd surprise, most people do not like taking the back parts of the platters while they will strip the front area of the plate. This, to a cook, means you need to place the most expensive part of a platter in front so the costumers take that first. Another part is how customers do not like reaching over to get a specific food. Most people we saw tried everything except the two plates in the back which rarely got toughed. Overall i think i was a very fun way to make food and over was very happy with the presentation.

Pates, Terrines and Galantines

When asking people if they have ever tried some form of pate, most people will say no. This style of making meat is just not very popular but also goes unnoticed when people do make them. Almost everyone at some point in there life has made meat loaf? Well that is a form of a pate. A Pate, Terrine or a Galantine is simply ground meat, known as forcemeat in the culinary world, wrapped in some form of lining and then baked. The different styles of these pates differ in the from of what it is wrapped in, if the meat is emulsified or how it is cooked. Most pates and terrines are baked while a galantine is usually poached.
First off i want to talk about how a galantine works and differs from other pates. For example we made a chicken galantine in class. The first step is to cut one whole chicken from the back to take off all of the skin and meat off the body of the chicken. This can prove to be harder for some people because you neek to keep all of the skin in one sheet without holes.

After carefully cutting the chicken you tenderize it and place it in the fridge. Now yet another tricky part shows up, the part on emulsifying the chicken. We use the 1:1:1 rule (1 lb chicken, 1 cup cream, 1 egg) in which you place the chicken, spices and the egg in a blender or more preferably a robotcoupe and pulse till smooth. Now the tricky cream part, if the cream isn't cold enough or the robotcoupe is too warm the cream will break and you got to do it all over again. After this you just place the mousse into your flattened chicken, roll it up with cheese cloth and poach it till it hits 155 internally.  Your end result is a rolled chicken galantine:

 
  All in all it is hard work but regular pates and terrines are a bit more simple. A pate uses a dough to wrap the meat in and if you don't keep the meat cold enough before baking it turns into a hollowed piece of bread. Terrines are the same concept but wrapped in bacon, ham, and other very thin meat cuts. The difference from the galantine too is how you bake it and not poach it. You need to bake it in a water bath unless it is wrapped in dough then after it is cooked in needs to be weighed down overnight. This makes it so the meat fully binds and will not have pockets or meat that is like sausage in the middle.

(see pictures page for full presentation)

Seafood in the Mountains

So this one is for my hometown folks or anyone who happens to visit Park City, UT. Park City is very well known its skiing, movie festivals and great hiking. Hidden in a resort is a very fancy buffet that most might not know of. "Seafood Buffet" is a sitting style buffet that is both self serve and portioned servings located at the "Deer Valley" resort. The great part about eating at this buffet is they are focused on flavors. They only give you a small portion and separate it from other foods on your plate. That way you can eat each section and appreciate what each has to offer. On the flip side there is a full salad and cold (Garde Manger) section that you are free to do as you please.
The over all menu of the restaurant changes over time so every time i have been there the food changes. You have a range from salad, soups, hot-cut meats, desserts and much much more. Usually they provide a unique dish such as alligator or "odd" food items such as that. Personally i think it is a big step in what we need as to explore what food can give us. Too many buffets use the same items and use comfort foods to please the customer.
The hitter of this buffet is the price and timing to get it when it is open. The cost is about $60 a person which if you have a large group can prove to be very expensive. Due to the prime location and how high class the chefs are it does seem sensible. With all the seafood you can eat such as king crab, clams, mussels, assorted dishes with fish and more. Keep in mind Utah doesn't have a ocean near so all of the seafood has to be delivered from far distances which can rack up the price. Also a thing about this buffet is it is seasonal, only open selected times of the year but if you willing to try some exellent buffet food i would highly suggest this place.

The Reality of a Waiter

To all you food loving readers who like a good read i have a great book selection for you. The book "Waiters Rant" by Steve Dublanica is a easy read, funny and draws you in to keep reading. This book is a story of Steve's life for being a waiter at several restaurants. It shows a vivid image of how it is to be a waiter and also gives insight on how to get a good job as a waiter and how to be a great customer. These funny, yet eye opening stories are sure to please readers and make you respect the job of being a waiter.