This One Time, at Restaurant Camp....Day Three


More prep at 10. I got a treatise on roasting bell peppers, and went through about a case. I used the Dangerous Leeks that I'd cut up (see day two) to make potato leek soup. I suppose that you could use a stick blender to puree, but Chef had me go after it with a wire whisk. The result: a sore arm and a full understanding of how vegetables' starch disintegrates in the prescence of wet heat and agitation. It was actualy smooth and creamy when I was done.
I also learned to make risotto, a task that I viewed with much fear. It could not have been easier: Alliums (garlic, onion, shallot, whatever) get sauteed in oil with the rice. Once the rice is opaque (not toasted) you add wine and stock, and stir till creamy. I've gotta make some at home soon, before all the nice spring vegetables go away.


Finally, there was the yellow tomato bisque. I learned another important lesson here: wear your chef's jacket. Even if you're roasting peppers and it's hot. Even if risotto isn't dangerous. Because if you don't put on your jacket when crossing the threshold, an hour or two later, you'll get told: "Some people will tell you that you can't add hot stock to hot roux. You can, but you have to whip it fast. Now go get a whisk." And then the stuff that cook-type people call "liquid napalm" will leap out of the pot and onto your arm, prompting a "Goddamnit!" loud enough to make your chef chuckle.


Over lunch, Richard offered to pay me if I worked Sunday night. Money? I was planning on walking away with burns and cuts, not currency. Obviously, I took it.


That night, I learned a couple of new sauces, including the "yummy", a salt-free sauce for artichokes. I also got a few minutes in behind the line, before we got busy.


Oh yes, and the Yorkshire puddings. These were by far the coolest thing I've done in a while. You make a wet batter, a cross between crepes and pancakes, with duck fat. Then you heat muffin tins with duck fat in a 500 degree oven. You fill the muffin cups as fast as you can, and pop them in the oven. You get these gorgeous brown muffin-things, that are way larger than they should be, and feel and act like a sponge. Awesome.
We got a shift drink that night, as we did more than 200 covers. When Scotty came to get me, I hadn't touched my wine, and was still in the middle of cleanup, so I got to go out with the restaurant crew. Everyone was very friendly; I'm used to big-ass corporate restaurants, and the camaraderie was refreshing and encouraging.


I don't know what to say about my last night at PLaE. I was a little exhausted, and it definitely showed. At this far date, I don't remember exactly what I did, but I seem to have done well.


When I got back home, I spent the next couple of weeks sulking and refusing to go to various classes. That means I liked it, right?