Monday, May 19, 2008

A New Hallmark Greeting?

A couple days ago, in the final hours of prepping for the huge black-tie affair Bullwinkle Ranch hosted on Saturday, I was scrambling to finish six different things and Chef was helping Keanu strain 80 quarts of venison stock. He looked up and said: "[Pirate], I would totally be in the shit without you."

Uhm, ok. I can see the greeting card... cover: pastel soft-focus flowers with gold script, "Just a Note to Say" and inside, in same font, "I would totally be in the shit without you." I can't believe Hallmark hasn't thought of that yet.


Anyway, I'm not one to need constant reassurance, but it felt really good to get some acknowledgement of how hard I worked on the dessert buffet... nine different kinds of desserts for 400 people. Plus I made 24 pounds of puff pastry (by hand, no sheeter) and baked it off in sheets for savory tarts, plus I made four pans of jalapeno-cheddar cornbread, plus I made 200 mini-cinnamon rolls for a "breakfast bites" buffet in the other restaurant...


Even though I had prepped and organized and planned for Saturday, when it came down to it, there wasn't much time for photo-taking. I was feeling a little down going into it, because, in my experience, women in fancy gowns and men in fitted tuxedos, there to see and be seen, never eat, especially a dessert. I remember in Vegas, when I worked the ice cream station at the annual board meeting for the hotel and had exactly one customer in four hours, and how the chef in charge was nearly in tears at the end of the night because no one had touched his gorgeous sushi set-up, with fish flown in that morning from all over the world.


So I was feeling kind of "I did all this work for nothing." Well, was I surprised. The people pounced on the desserts like hyenas on a downed zebra. I swear I don't know what got into them. The servers were bringing back empty platters faster than we could refill them. For a couple hours, it was madness.


Here's as much of a photo recap as I could manage:


I was happiest with my mini-tart tatins, literally bite-size. I poached the apples in cider, Calvados, cinnamon and rose water. As for "rose water?? what were you thinking??" I do believe apples are related to roses, and besides, shaddup, it worked.


Anyway, here's a shot of the platters in progress before the hyenas arrived. As a bonus, it's also a surreptitious shot of Chef, refilling the coffee machine. One of the things I really respect about him is his work ethic. He'll wash dishes, peel parsnips, take out the linen and get down on his hands and knees to clean the ovens (and refill the coffee machine) if it needs to be done.


A close-up of one of the platters. From left to right, flourless chocolate cakes with raspberries and cream, cream puffs, my freakin' adorable tart tatins, lemon bars, carrot cake with apple cumin butter and cream cheese frosting, financiers soaked in Amaretto, filled with ganache and capped with a candied pecan, more lemon bars and tart tatins and, finally, opera torte mini-slices:



And one more shot for good measure... on the far right is a row of coffee truffles. They were such a nightmare to make. The kitchen was so hot with all the ovens and burners going that my chocolate kept going out of temper and the coffee ganache balls kept liquefying. Like most of the items, I wound up finishing them in the walk-in. And I'm proud to say, 200 coffee truffles later, my chocolate Did. Not. Bloom. Hell yeah.



In addition, I also did plates with bite-size poundcake pieces layered with fresh berries and bruleed sabayon that servers brought to people sitting at tables. I didn't get a picture of that in all the chaos, but you get the idea.
Whew.

5 comments:

Tommy said...

I was at my local garden center the other day, returning a broken trowel, when I overheard the info booth guy telling someone that apple trees are a member of the rose family, as are cherry trees. So yes, you're right, they are indeed related.

As for your greeting card idea, I think it's safe to say that neither of us will ever work for Hallmark. Like we would want to live in Kansas City, anyway (although I hear Overland Park's not so bad)...

And thanks for the image of hyenas feasting on a downed zebra. Made my day!

The Pastry Pirate said...

Hey Tommy... I've been meaning to comment on your O'Reilly Meltdown post (that made my day!) but I can never comment on your blog... it takes me to a page that perpetually opens and reopens itself.

Anyway, thanks for the comments and yeah, Wiley amazes me. He can't get into the car on his own anymore (I have to boost him) but once he's on the trail he just motors. Today I'm going to try to get him to wear his new camo neoprene PFD and go swimming. We'll see how that works out.

Also meant to say, re: an earlier comment of yours... you REI people and Montrose!! When I had to retire my beloved Danner hiking boots a few years ago, the guys at REI pushed the Montrose hard. I tried several different styles/sizes and every one of them hurt. And I mean hurt. I got a blister just walking around the shoe department! When I mentioned this, the guys said "you just need to break them in." Yeah, right. When my heel is swimming in space and my toes are squeezed together and curled under, I don't think so. I went to a non-chain hiking (and saddle and tack!) store, tried on a pair of Asolos and never looked back. They fit my circus freak feet perfectly from the first moment. Aah. Those Italians know their shoes.

The Pastry Pirate said...

oops, my bad... Montrail is the brand that fits me like a Soviet Five Year Agricultural Plan... Montrose is the name of a Colorado town I've driven through many a time. Montrose is also the name of Sammy Hagar's pre-solo career band, if memory serves.

Tommy said...

Yeah, I remember that Asolos seemed to fit the narrow heeled folks better. Me, I'm built for Montrails, at least when it comes to trail running shoes. The important thing is to find what fits ya. Sounds like the salesman didn't know his stuff. Not surprising, considering the turnover at a place like REI. Stick with the independent shops for fit-critical stuff like shoes.

Sorry to hear you're having trouble commenting over on my blog. Weird stuff happens on these interwebs from time to time...

Anonymous said...

that looks amazing. I can't believe you did that all yourself. well, yes I can, but I picture you wearing your straw cowboy hat while doing it. (or santa hat depending on the season)