Wasted Continuum

My family just asked me today to help cook for a catering job this Saturday morning. My dad and I will be cooking food for a wedding party of, I think, two hundred guests. That’s roughly 20 trays of food. This will be my first time in three years cooking in a commercial kitchen. It will be interesting. I’ll probably tire my arms out. Sad. My arms used to be in such great shape when I was working the wok all the time.I guess I’ll get to see if I still have what it takes to work in the kitchen.

Holy frick! This new recipe blow my last roast turkey straight out of the water. Hands down, this is a superior recipe. This was an amalgamation of four different recipes that I found. I need to write up a final recipe of what I actually did so that I can use it again. It was just ridiculously good. I only messed up the skin a little bit. Nothing I can’t change next year. Damn. I think I may have finished a third of it by myself. The last two roast chickens I made recently definitely gave me some ideas in this recipe. I’m glad it worked out. I ate a lot today and I think I’m going to pass out now.

A few things that I am thankful for:

• My family
• My friends
• My mind
• My cooking experience
• New music, like Sara Barielles
• Old music, like Green Day and Chopin
• My bed
• My health

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving 2007 Photos

Thanksgiving 2007 Photos

The turkey is stuffed and rubbed down and ready to roast.

Thanksgiving 2007 Photos

Here’s a photo I took yesterday before I started my whole cooking process. This year, I’m trying a new recipe. Not that the old recipe sucked — it’s amazing — I just wanted to improve on it. I changed the brine recipe to include a bunch of different herbs and wine. The roasting portion of the recipe is about the same. I added a few slice of citrus fruit in the cavity for a little flavor. I also used homemade herb butter to rub down the turkey. It smells good so far.

Thanksgiving 2007 Photos

Boeuf Bourguignon
Originally uploaded by JavaJunky

Boeuf Bourguignon, otherwise known as beef burgundy, served with a side of pommes puree. This is my second attempt at a Les Halles Cookbook recipe. The meat really sucked. It needed an extra hour or so of cooking at low heat, but I didn’t have time. The flavor was amazing though. Next time I definitely need a better cut of meat. The recipe is much more suited for a lazy Sunday afternoon.