What an interesting day we had today. First, we have been waiting on the health department to come in for the past week to inspect the kitchen. Well, finally today the call came in that they were here to inspect us. A wave of panic spread over all the chefs and we all went into MAJOR clean up mode. My roommate Veronica and I always laugh because whenever a guest is about to come over, we get more cleaning done in the 5 minutes before than we do all week. Same with the inspector, Chef made Julie and I run down to the 4th floor freezer to drop off any food that we needed to “hide” or keep safe in the correct temperature on the fourth floor walk in because the department doesn’t inspect the 4th floor. The lady walked in wearing normal street clothes and had a puss face on. She was busting everyone’s balls- questioning and measuring temperatures. She was grilling the chefs on what foods were kept where and so on and so forth. Chef said that she must be a newbee because she was being SO strict about EVRYTHING. The meat we cooked- we cooked to 135, which according to her was not correct. Our meat needed to be cooked to 145! So, we served the entire school today extremely medium well meat! It was chewy, tough, and dark. After all the ball busting, we still earned an A.
Today, I made platanos maduros- sweet plantains. I was only semi happy with the way they came out because I wish we had cooked them slower instead of so fast which dried them out a little. The plantains were still yummy though, but not perfect like we get them at a Cuban restaurant. I’ll have to work on that. We also served our very well done meat thanks to the health inspection lady, and some green squash dish. So, today marks my last day on family meal because I move over to special buffet for the next two weeks of level 4!
Buffet is the second part of level 4 for me! Chef Veronica is coming back Monday and will have us for the remainder of the two weeks (well only those in buffet, those in family meal will stay with Chef John). Buffet is where we come up with a theme and each Friday put on a lovely buffet with recipes that follow our theme for the whole school to try! Today was the other group in my level’s buffet! They made everything from butternut squash soup, to rabbit in a mustard sauce, honey glazed duck, pumpkin and maple cheesecake (thank you My-Tree for making that- I had four slices), and liver platters. Here I am cutting into the HUGE piece of pork (I didn’t try it, no).
Between My-Tree and I, we took all the leftovers from the buffet home because no one else wanted them. I always bring the food to my doormen! They love it and I love it because whenever I need something fixed they are there in a heartbeat! It’s a perfect win-win scenario. Except carrying all the containers is a pain in my behind and bringing it on the subway! Oh lord, I must reek of food.
Yes, my school has a billion stairs you have to walk up and down all day because the different level classrooms are all over the place!
Love,
E