Not much is new
Things are progressing with the acquisition of the building. We're still waiting on the appraisal and can't close until it is complete.
Some of my loyal readers may wonder why I'm call myself "Chef Burning Chix" so here is the story. There was a TV show on NBC and Bravo called "The Restaurant" featuring Rocco Dispirito. During the 2nd season (3rd episode to be precise) he returned to the Culinary Institute of America to give the graduation speach and to choose an outstanding student to work with him at his restaurants. Since I was in the top of my class, I was asked to particiapte in a cooking contest with 4 other students. Rocco would select the winner and invite that individual to work for him. Of all five the contestants, I was the best academically but probably the weakest from a real world cooking background.
Before I say more, I must say that the contest was held the day before our graduation. Everyone was already exhausted from our long days working in the schools restaurants, long commutes, and so on.. Anyway, with the added stress of the contest, I think that I managed to get about 4 hours sleep over 2 nights. All contestants wanted to do well, but no one really wanted to win (for various reasons).
The mystery item for the contest was chicken. The birds were a little to large to roast during the alloted 1.5 hour period, so I decided to debone the chicken and grill it. I did an excellent job in deboning the chicken while leaving the carcass intact. I marinated it in a mixture of lemon juice, rosemary and olive oil. Everything was proceeding fine. Then Rocco said that since everything was moving along fine, he was going to move up the clock. The time came to put chicken on the grill and I forgot to wipe off the excess oil. What a mistake!!! Flames and smoke on the grill!!!! It looked impressive, but it was a terrible error. As soon as it touched the grill, I remember one of my chefs telling us to always remove the excess oil on items placed on a grill so that it doesn't flame up and get a "petrol" taste. Well, I removed the chicken from the grill and decided to finish in the oven since the skin was already dark enough.
To make a long story short, I didn't win the competition and I still cringe at my "burning chicken".
Fortunately for me, I learn from my mistakes and I will NEVER repeat that mistake again.
By the way, the camera crew ate all of my chicken after the filming was over. The taste was great in spite of the spots of missing skin (from sticking to the pan in the oven). My finished dish didn't look great (and presentation means a look because "we eat with our eyes first") but it tasted great.
Some of my loyal readers may wonder why I'm call myself "Chef Burning Chix" so here is the story. There was a TV show on NBC and Bravo called "The Restaurant" featuring Rocco Dispirito. During the 2nd season (3rd episode to be precise) he returned to the Culinary Institute of America to give the graduation speach and to choose an outstanding student to work with him at his restaurants. Since I was in the top of my class, I was asked to particiapte in a cooking contest with 4 other students. Rocco would select the winner and invite that individual to work for him. Of all five the contestants, I was the best academically but probably the weakest from a real world cooking background.
Before I say more, I must say that the contest was held the day before our graduation. Everyone was already exhausted from our long days working in the schools restaurants, long commutes, and so on.. Anyway, with the added stress of the contest, I think that I managed to get about 4 hours sleep over 2 nights. All contestants wanted to do well, but no one really wanted to win (for various reasons).
The mystery item for the contest was chicken. The birds were a little to large to roast during the alloted 1.5 hour period, so I decided to debone the chicken and grill it. I did an excellent job in deboning the chicken while leaving the carcass intact. I marinated it in a mixture of lemon juice, rosemary and olive oil. Everything was proceeding fine. Then Rocco said that since everything was moving along fine, he was going to move up the clock. The time came to put chicken on the grill and I forgot to wipe off the excess oil. What a mistake!!! Flames and smoke on the grill!!!! It looked impressive, but it was a terrible error. As soon as it touched the grill, I remember one of my chefs telling us to always remove the excess oil on items placed on a grill so that it doesn't flame up and get a "petrol" taste. Well, I removed the chicken from the grill and decided to finish in the oven since the skin was already dark enough.
To make a long story short, I didn't win the competition and I still cringe at my "burning chicken".
Fortunately for me, I learn from my mistakes and I will NEVER repeat that mistake again.
By the way, the camera crew ate all of my chicken after the filming was over. The taste was great in spite of the spots of missing skin (from sticking to the pan in the oven). My finished dish didn't look great (and presentation means a look because "we eat with our eyes first") but it tasted great.
