Thursday and Friday Update

Hey everybody,

Yesterday was another awesome lecture from chef Herve. We talked about food and plate costing which is an essential skill. Below are my handwritten notes (if you can read them) which shows how much money you can loose on a piece of beef but how you can balance the losses with a better item such as a salad or chicken. For example, a vacuum sealed tenderloin (portioned) costs 32$ a pound. Just by putting that on the plate (8 oz.) the plate cost is already 16$. Even to get a 35% food cost you have to sell the steak for 50$ which is pretty outrageous especially at the restaurants we run. (this is without potatoes, veg, or any sauce which might accompany the steak). Now take chicken which costs 2.50$ a pound (local farmer, all organic, Free range). If your selling a 6 oz. B/S (boneless skinless not the other phrase) chicken breast the plate cost will only be around 1 $ (chicken only). Although the profit margin is considerably lower, you are more likely to sell more because the price is lower for the chicken, and you are likely to make more because your food cost is around 12%. Any way this was fascinating but moving on. Next we put together the daily racks (the food stuffs that different classes require such as all of the prep for AM line and bakeshop). And then mopped and swept and swept and mopped until the floor shined to chefs satisfaction. Inventory was next which showed us what chef talked about during the lecture (its confusing but here goes, to find monthly cost take amount of product in inventory at the beginning of the month, add it to the cost of products ordered for the month, subtract the end of the month inventory, and divide by sales total $). I got to do inventory of the protein cooler! There was 8000$ worth of meat and fish, plus 20 lbs of pure duck fat! I loved it, although i almost froze. Once we turned in the sheets we were done for the day, Here are my notes:



And on to today (sorry if im boring you). Since classes dropped on tuesday we got to make up culinary theory today. TOday we made emulsions, which include mayonnaise (Richardson's made me a pro at this), buerre blanc, buerre fondue (butter emulsified into water for cooking veg), and vinegarettes. We were supposed to make hollandaise but ran out of time so well be doing that on monday. I wasnt happy with my buerre blanc because it was a touch too salty but i learned for next time. Here are some of the heart healthy and delicious recipes:

Buerre blanc (classic)

4 oz. Shallot Brunoised
1/2 C. white wine
3 T. white wine vinegar
8 Oz. Butter
S&P

combine shallot, white wine, and ww vinegar in sauce pan. Reduce until Au sec (almost dry) slowly wisk in the butter (1/2 a pound can you believe it) and season to taste.

Buerre fondue

2 oz. H2O
8 Oz. Butter
S&P

Simmer water then wisk in butter, season to taste.
This can be used to thin gravies or to add some flavor to legumes or potatoes (for mashed potatoes)


Sauls Vinegarette

I was inspired by the honey lavendar vinegarette at Richardsons
(Emma liked it)

2 T Dijon (1 whole grain 1 regular)
1/4 C. Cider vinegar
3/4 C. Oil (vegetable)
1/8 C. honey
2 T. Lemon juice
1 T. Chopped fresh rosemary
S & White P

Wisk together dijon and cider vinegar. add honey then emulsify in the oil. add lemon juice and rest of ingredients. Add a splash of H2O to get perfect consistency if desired.

EMULSION NOTES


I will upload pictures later but right now its dinner time.
Love to all,
Saul