Doing something you have a passion for, can be a very rewarding experience. Last Sunday, I got the chance to cook a small banquet at my current workplace for others that I take care of. That day I got to cook for 13 people it was a healthy mixture of proteins and vegetables.
What was on the menu?
For protein, we got:
- Sous vide Camel burger patty - Halal
- Chicken kebab - Halal
- Vegetarian Patty
- Chicken zagers (chicken sausages)
- Sous vide Kangaroo strips in Lime and Pepper
- Sous vide eggs
For vegs, we got:
- Rocket, baby lettuce and oakleaf lettuce salad
- Baby cucumbers
- Baby capsicums
- Coleslaw salad
- Vegetarian dim sim
- Dressings - Coleslaw and French salad
Refreshments:
- Diet Coke for others
- Diet Sprite for myself
- H2O
09:30hr - We prep the cooking stations, 1x sous vide machine and x2 pantry cookers. The vegs were laid out and I dove straight to washing them. While washing them, the sous vide machine was heating up the water. The chefs (me and 1 other) started marinating the meat and kept it cool for maximum absorption. The marinate was in olive oil, some in Mexican seasoning and some in mixed cracked peppers.
10:30hr - As the sous vide was heating to tempt, I decided to cook the Vegetarian Dim Sim as starters in the machine. Later, the steam was coming off the sous vide station, the machine reading 70C, it was ready for some eggs. Before lowering the eggs, we served the Dim Sim with Sweet and Sour sauce. Eggs was then cooked for 30 mins and it was heavenly. The white was still soft while the yolk was runny thick. At the same time, we started cooking the Camel and Kangaroo for 45 and 60 minutes in those orders.
11:30hr - The heat was on the cookers, we started separating the Halal station and the non-Halal station. I was manning the Halal station to make sure food was not cross-contaminated. We cooked and served in order, Halal Camel burger patty, Vegetarian patty, chicken kebabs, chicken zagers and salads.
11:45hr - The Karaoke machine came out, many people were showing off their talents and celebrating a good start of the new journey.
12:15hr - It was time to eat our food, just for chefs specials as a reward for cooking all day, I cooked and served the sous vide Kangaroo for myself and the other chef. It was heavenly, the tendon just snap when biten into and the meat was still perfectly moist.
13:00hr - Cleaning time
14:00hr - The cooking day was finished
This encapsulated my Sunday, it was meaningful to me. It was also a good reward for the people to start life in a new chapter, one with a bit less burden.