Not that my job is a soap opera or anything…
Wednesday was my “proficiency exam” at work. On several occasions I have run the kitchen, but the boss was always available if I got in over my head. So he told me last week that he was not even going to come in on Wednesday – it would be my show, and he would not be there to fall back on. I felt confident that I could do it, especially since Wednesdays are typically quiet (I usually have off on Wednesdays because there is no need for a second person.)
I went in around 1:00pm to make sure everything was prepped. I had to portion out haddock, make smashed potatoes, dice up vegetables, and make salmon mousse for the amuse. Everything else was still prepped from Sunday. Monday night was a Cooking Confidential, where people come in and we show them how to cook. They made game hens with cherry sauce, and as luck would have it there were some left over, so I used those for staff meal.
At first there were no people scheduled, so I used the time to made creme brulees – the innkeeper seemed nervous about only having three on hand with people checking into the inn. So, I made 12 more and needed none of them. One less thing to do on Thursday I guess. Then the innkeeper comes in and said that we had a walk-in (meaning someone who showed up sans reservations.) Calamari and a duck, no problem. Then I am told that an inn guest is eating at 7:30, one more at 8, and someone coming in just for dessert. All told I did the duck, a venison osso buco, a chicken, and a handful of desserts. Cleaned up, went home about 9:30pm.
Thursday the chef tells me that he had been hiding out in the dining room most of the night, and he was the one who had the osso buco (and the one who wanted to know what kind of salmon we were using for the mousse – like anyone would care.) Further, the duck was ordered by the owner. Great, two out of three entrees were staff members testing me. But, there were no problems, and they were happy with the dishes, so I guess that’s okay. I still don’t know if they will keep me on for the summer, but at least I’m one step closer.
I bought an ice cream maker on Tuesday. I’ve wanted one for a while, but the price was just too high. Cuisinart came out with a new one, so the old one dropped in price, so I grabbed it. It helped that it was the same kind we use at work. 🙂 First I made chocolate frozen yogurt, then got creative and tried to make Bananas Foster ice cream. We have a flourless chocolate cake at work that we’ve been trying to sell as a special, so I thought of maybe selling the cake with the ice cream. Well, the ice cream I made was more like Banana than Bananas Foster – you just can’t taste the rum. But, I took some into work so my boss could try it; he said it was very good ice cream, and that gave him inspiration to make it better. He used a LOT more rum than I did, and it came out really good. It’s on our spring menu for this weekend. 😀 Feels pretty good that I influenced the menu in some way.