9 March 2011

Today we started at 8am, got our report sheets back, for the 3rd time I'm on 71%!!! I do know what to do to get it higher, so I am going to work on it!!!!
Later today we are going to bake a Sponge Cake, cant wait to do that!!!

Working weekend

4 March 2011

Worked at the main kitchen today from 1pm, making pancakes for welcoming . . . was a relaxing day for me, no pressure. From 4/5pm I started at welcoming, worked till 9pm. I just love it to do welcoming, to work with the people!!!!

5 March 2011

For the first time I worked at Moselesele with Chef Dave!!! Oh my it was so fun to be there. I worked from 7am, actually started at 8am. Made breakfast for the family of 4 . . . they give you the ingredients and tell the Chef what they want to eat and then we must make it for them. Breakfast starts at 8:30am.

If you see the customers, then you go and greet them. Then you set the tables, forks on the left and knives on the right. Glasses are to be set on the left side, but before you set the table, you must wipe off the table and chairs. Then the fire place must be cleaned.

The people eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. The people decides when they want lunch and dinner is been made at 4:30pm. There is no rush for the chef that works there.

Moselesele is the tent camp; the house is a brick wall type with a tent top for the roof, also its rated 4 star. Looks so fantastic.

Poached pears

2 March 2011

Today we made Poached Pears. . .

·         Pears

·         Mint leaves

·         Cinnamon sticks

·         Bay leaves

·         Oranges

·         Ginger

·         Red wine

·         White wine

·         White sugar

·         Brown sugar

·         Water

·         Nutmeg

·         Cloves

·         Juniper berries

If you peel the pears, don’t cut of the stem

Don’t overload the pot with pears

Skin is used for stock

POE and Vegetables

POE and Vegetable cuts

On this day, we had to start with our assessment we got from Chef. The assessment has 10 questions, actually very interesting!!!  There are a lot of definitions that has to be known, but it is fun, not like school work. . . also we got our POE aka Portfolio of Evidence, now all of our work goes into that file.

We started to do a Vegetable cut, Brunoise. It’s a cut that’s 3mm by 3mm by 3mm shaped blocks.  Now that was nice to do, but we did it with an onion . . . cried only once!!! We learned how to cut Julienne and Chiffonade . . . still have to learn all the French terms!!

Meet the management part 2

25 February 2011

Making the dessert for Managers Function

First we made the Malva Pudding which came out perfect!!!

Malva Pudding

·       3 cups flour

·       4 tsp baking powder

·       4 eggs

·       4 tbs apricot jam

·       1 cup milk

·       Salt

·       1 cup sugar

·       2tsp bicarbsoda

·       4 tsp margarine

·       2 tbs vinegar

·       4 tots brandy

Cream sugar and butter – add eggs 1 by 1

Dissolve bicarsoda in vinegar – add to butter

Add all ingredients – mix well

Bake for 30 min – 180’C

Sauce

·       1 cup cream

·       1 cup sugar

·       1 tsp rum

·       0.5 cup milk

·       0.5 cup water

·       1 tsp vanilla

Cook all together – pour over hot pudding

Vegetables

Also we talked about vegetables today. . .

·       Vegetables that grow underground – boil from cold water with lid on

·       Vegetables that grow on top of the ground – boil water first, then add vegetables with lid off

·       Vegetables that grows on top of ground – green vegetables – lid off

·       Spinach does not absorb water

·       Mushrooms should be wiped off and not rinsed

Things that sticks to me. . .

§  Don’t back chat chef

§  Kitchen must stay clean

§  Stay calm and you must be able to work under pressure otherwise you won’t make it

§  Multitask

§  Listen, yes\ no chef

§  Don’t say please and thank you kitchen – it’s a professional kitchen

§  Stand a lot, no sitting

§  Get muscles, girls and boys are equal

§  Keep cleaning as you go

§  Keep your uniform on from the moment you step out of that house and till you step back in again.

§  Look neat at all times

Buffet setup

Today we also learned how to set up the Buffet for the function

23 February 2011

Wednesday, 23 February 2011

Meet the Management Function Preparations

On that day, we started preparing the food for the function that we first years held for all the managers.

In the morning I started with a big piece of lamb which was cutted into the half, which makes 2 pieces. The cooking method used for this meat was roasting.

Into that meat came the following: for the stuffing we used – rosemary, mussels, carrots and garlic.          For the seasoning we used – mustard, olive oil, paprika, pepper, coriander and salt.

After doing that the meat went into the oven to roast. Before you put it onto a baking tray, you must remember to put a little bit of oil onto the tray to prevent it from sticking to the tray.

When that was finished, I cleaned my station and started with the sausages. All we had to do was to shallow fry the sausages in oil till it was golden brown. For garnish we took green pepper and other vegetables, but you can always use fruit as well.

Most important thing to remember is our mice and place!!!!!

Cleaning and closing of kitchen

In the kitchen, there are 3 gas valves that have to be closed before you leave the kitchen at the end of the day. They are located at; the chefs table, at the one stove and the main valve is located against the wall at the back door. To open it, you must turn it upwards and to close it you must turn it downwards. Also you must check that all stoves is switched off and everything else.

The kitchen must be cleaned everywhere!!! Between the tables, at the back of the stations, the walls and under the stations to prevent the dirt from thickening. Every chef wants to walk into a clean kitchen the next day.