different this time

This saturday lunch was very busy again only this time I did a juggling act and and was more organized. my chef realized and complimented me on teh turnaround.

For lunch I made a cassoulet (which is a traditional french dish, that I used to lots of times at le select) so I made it with a small yehuda twist...a few of the guys said they felt the beans were undercooked and gave me a look, which kind of made me sad a bit. But my chef during service said he liked how i made the cassoulet (without pork), and felt the beans were perfectly cooked since most ofthe time people over cook them and they are mushy. He said they were perfect with gave me the pick me up of the day that i needed. But all in all things turned around for me after the way my week started. But everything is good.

on a side note: I burned the palm of my hand (only a smalll part though) and I actually felt my skin melt...never knew it was possible...before I get so many email asking if im ok...I AM FINE. in no pain at all.

anyways im thinking of having another dinner party this week.

wow!! thats all I have to say

Man was I welcomed back to work well today!

It appearently was slow the last couple days , so chef told me not to prepare so much foor dor the daily special. Me being the one that likes to be safe and prepare enough just in case (some people think im over cautious but hey it hasnt done me wrong), anyways to make things quick, It was busy very busy, but only on my station. I was like a horse with his bum on fire..!! lol. I was flying and everyone stood there and laughed as plates were literaly flying off my station..it was pretty funny. I was on a high, as things were just going..we all had a good laugh and the chef was enjoying the sight. But all in all it was a good fun day.

I also got an official contract today as well, which was good to see. The chef sat me down to explain it to me and my rights as a employee here in france. Although I dont understand all the technical lingo on the page he explained it to me so I would understand. Albeit in French..lol!!

But all in all it was good and enjoyable and a fun day. Also I learned today that if its slow and you are about to have your weekend, chef would let take an extra half day off. Doesnt happen often but he does it. Too bad for me i start my weekend when the chef is off and the sous chef doesnt do that...meh. well im heading for a nap.
yehuda

dinner last night

As I mentioned in an earlier post i met a canadian girl ( shes from quebec though, so maybe not canadian..hehe jk) who is here alone. She lives 3 blocks from me and goes to school around hte corner at the university. Anyways since she is here by herself and doesnt have many friends here i invited her over for dinner last night so she wont just eat pasta but have a real cooked meal. (and of course have wine and eat cheese afterwards). So I made a small salad to start adn dressed it with Extra virgin olive oil, white balsamic vineager and a bit of rock salt. For the main course we had braised chicken leg with coconut rice, melted leeks and a roquefort cream sauce...mmmm it was delicious thats for sure. Afterwards we had two different kinds of cheeses on fresh bread and drank wine...but I had a good time.

Tonight though I am going to a dinner party and i actually dont know anyone there which will be fun. I am making an appatizer while everyone is cooking, just bruscetta with tomato salsa and fresh goat cheese...(keyword fresh), but because i have work in the morning i wont get drunk tonight.
although i do have to clarify that i havent been getting drunk all that much, its just the wine is good and you can get it anywhere for so cheap ( i pay 2 euro max per bottle) how can you say no?

thats that though.

cool

so i bought a new phone that has free internet everywhere, so I figured out how to blog and i did tha talll the way home and then pressed the wrong key and lost everything!! haha at least it kept me busy on my walk home and i didnt spend the time singing songs...lol

Anyways today was a bit slow so I helped out a bit in Pastries, adn the guys were a bit surprised I knew what I was doing. But I explained tehm ive worked in every station in the kitchen...haha that didnt stop me from learning a few new recipes though. and some cool tricks. I also got to see a dessert ive alwasy wanted to make but is apearently too outdated for north america its called teh baked alaska in english or ouefs norwegian in french. Basically its biscuit (cake) ice Cream cover it with Merangue and then cook it in the oven for 30 seconds at a high temperature pour some brandy on it and flambee in front of the customer. Really cool, very old and just beautifull. Anyways They offered to let me help them next time the make it so I can make them as well.

otherwise everythign is going well. Tomorrow ngiht im cooking dinner with some friends hopefully watch some movies or something afterwards. and I wasinvited over to a friends house to cook dinner for all his couple friends... and him and his gf..i guess ill be the only single person there unless jessica wants to come...hehe...no date for me, especially since gary is upset at me for taking pictures with other girls!!! such a protective father gary. Anyways time for me to take a nap.

yehuda

cool

bounce back

work is going a bit better today though, and I am back on track. hope everyone is nejoying themselves doing what they do...and thanks everyone for keeping in touch

it happens

Today started out well but then went sour once service started most of the orders came off of my station and thats when it hit the fan. a few pieces of fish came back saying it was underdone but i knew they werent, but I cant argue. But when the 2nd piece came back the chef looked at mea seriously adn said thats the second one yehuda. I knew I had to turn it around. And I did. I finished service with a bang, but i still felt bad. Then dinner service started out the same way and I was getting swamped with orders, only this time i wasnt drowning and I had everything under control then about an hour into service the sous chef started laughing. I asked what was so funny and he said its interesting how this morning i could barely put out a piece of fish and tonight its totally differant. I said its past and its good to laugh about it it. The chef agreed but in the end the day ended out very well.

But the main chef came to me today and said he wanted to complkiment me on my french learning and how things were going here.