In my advanced stages through school levels and, therefore, naturally advanced maturity I've been able to siphon off a few key learnings from the many long and hot hours spent in the kitchen. It's been a hard path of self-realization, but I've finally come to the following conclusions.
- No one supports me in my attempt to bring back "Raise da roof!" (Or "Sike!", "Crazy Sexy Cool" or "Whoomp there it is" for that matter…apparently no one appreciates the gem that was '90s hip hop as much as I do.)
- The process of making sausages is still hilarious, regardless of how much time is spent at the sausage stuffing machine and how many times a phallic joke is told. It's the small things in life that rain joy upon the masses.
- Getting closer and closer to graduation, it's becoming very clear that I will undoubtedly miss this time at school, and my fellow classmates, so very much. I will not, however, miss giving up my Friday nights and getting home at midnight three nights a week. Those will be welcome changes; but right now we're having way too much fun.
- My classmates have judged me from day one after finding out that I was in a sorority in college. The notions of deep sisterly love, academic study groups, solidarity through tradition and endless fraternity parties with a bunch of young hotties don't translate into the culinary world. I'll refrain from wearing any item of clothing with my letters, telling stories about when we got so out of hand the national advisors had to send a security guard to sit in our foyer and gushing about the day I saw my future husband heckling freshman from the lawn of Phi Gamma Delta. "See that young, untamed mustang with the severe farmer's tan? I'm going to marry him some day." And so it was written.
Learnings aside, we've just started to finalize our menu for our buffet, which is exactly a week from Wednesday, and are getting really excited at the originality and deliciousness of our theme. Keep in mind that we must make everything we present: if we serve homemade hot dogs, we must make the buns and the relish and the ketchup. Chef sorted through the recipes we submitted and has decided on a timeline, so each class he will give the orders for who is making what, which recipes we must complete by the end of the night and how they will be stored/cooked. I submitted a recipe for Jamaican jerk chicken skewers, and chef decided to turn it into a marinade for whole chickens which we'll roast and serve on the carving board. I multiplied the recipe by six, as instructed, and got started on measuring out cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg and dicing green onions, jalapenos and white onions. Along with many other ingredients, everything was chopped further in the food processor into a spicy brown paste. We prepared the chickens (removing their wish bones and manchonnering the wing tips and drumsticks) and each chicken was placed in a sous vide plastic bag. Each bag got a proportion of the marinade and sealed in the big Cryovac machine. The benefit of this is that as all of the air is sucked out of the bag, the marinade runs in to fill in those spaces creating an instant flavor boost. The bags were frozen, but soon they'll be slow-cooked and then crisped in the oven in time for the buffet. A lot of people have wondered how it was possible for us to start our buffet two full weeks in advance, but thanks to the wonders of food technology we can take advantage of methods like sous vide and the slow cooker to preserve and prepare the food in time, regardless of when it was originally made. This ensures that we won't be frying, searing and baking 20 dishes minutes before the buffet starts.
My classmates got started on many of the condiments we'll be serving, including a spicy onion sauce for the sausages, barbecue sauce for a pork butt and ketchup and relish for sausages/hot dogs. Another classmate made Jacques Torres famous chocolate chip cookies, but I'm not sure how many it will yield considering the cookie dough was almost entirely consumed on-the-spot. (I haven't gotten salmonella yet, but I have been feeling a little irritable….hmm.)
We then stuffed a bunch of different sausages and andouille, some staples on the New York streets. We used hog casings this time, which are much bigger and thicker than the delicate veal casings and will make for a delicious dish, especially with the myriad condiments. It's a little macabre to be using someone's intestines to hold a puree of meat, vegetables and spices, but I imagine that's what was in them to begin with, though, so I'm sure they don't mind. Chef warned us that next class would be super busy and a little frantic, so I'll be sure to put in my contacts. I'm kind of tired of pushing up my glasses with meaty, slimy hands…but you probably didn't need to know that…
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