Archive for February, 2009
Diners have been munching away on our Seabass Crackers and the feed back is very good.
They look like Prawn Crackers (or Shrimp Chips) and are made in the exact same way.
When we serve these Crackers, there are never any left over from the Service, (the staff like to munch on the crunchy chips, they are highly addictive!) :) .
For our next batch will be using Salmon, which hopefully should turn out a little pinkish. :) .
***
Many people have been asking about our Pho Stock, which we use in many dishes. This is a very versatile stock and can be used to “lift up” many recipes. This is our basic recipe, which is unseasoned as it is neutral and will be further used and manipulated for other things.
Oxtail is washed and rinsed.
Before we start a working day, its meeting time.
During this short briefing we talk about what needs to be done on the particular day, and what tasks each cook has been assigned.
Everything needs to be planned ahead. (There is no use in preparing food for 100 people when we only have 70!.)
The occupancy of the hotel and the dinner reservations at the restaurant will determine what work needs to be done and what preparations need to be made.
For small groups we like to prepare Canapés for their pre-dinner drinks.
King Prawn Sushis.
Along with the usual “Mis en Place” for the evening, the Amuse Bouche also has to be decided .
Galangal Cream for our tepid Galangal Velouté.
Planning ahead saves time and takes away many of the everyday stresses that can be found in kitchens.
Talking about “planning ahead”, our Rabbits were delivered and work started on our three terrines.
Jamón and Rabbit.
The meat was removed from the rabbits and slowly poached in a Pho broth which was made with un-grilled onions to achieve a light coloured stock. When the meat was cooked, it was then cut by hand, along with some Spanish Cured Ham.
Downstairs in our Pâtisserie and Bakery, Pastry Chef Akiyama has been working with Chocolate.
White Chocolate Sculpture.
This small piece was presented to two diners who celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary at the hotel. Most times Chef Akiyama´s work looks too pretty to eat…but this is made out of chocolate… :) .
Upstairs in the main kitchens we have been busy making Crackers again.
Laying out the Crackers to dry.
These ones are made from Lubina, the Spanish name for Seabass.
In their current state, they have a “rubbery” texture.
They need to be slowly dried, so we place them in our Plate Warmer which is set at 70ºC throughout the evening.
We have added a new page on Laocook called “The Videos” (on the top right hand corner of the page).
Here you can find all of the videos, clips and recipes from LCTV on one single page.
:)