Friday Night Dinner

This week has been CRAZY. I got back from visiting Amanda and Alan late Sunday night and jumped right into life in the city. Wednesday night I helped prepare for a public class at school with Chef Richard. The class was making dosas, which are Indian pancakes generally filled with rich curries and thick chutneys. Leaving school around 7PM, I rushed to midtown East for bible study with a group of girls from Redeemer. The maple-frosted sweet potato cupcakes for Amanda were a huge success!

Thursday I woke up ready for a LONG day - after school I signed up to help prepare for "Friday Night Dinner" at school. Friday night dinners are the culmination of learning at school. Each "class" plans, prepares, and cooks a dinner, fitting into the realms of designated criterion, and then receive a grade for the dinner served. Each student is also required to assist with 2 dinners, in addition to their own. So there I was, ready to help! We stayed at the school until 11 PM, chopping veggies, making stock, blending ice cream, toasting spices, and then washing dishes, scrubbing floors, and cleaning the kitchen. Needless to say, when I got home, I was EXHAUSTED. When my alarm rung the next morning (a mere 5 hours later), it was a struggle to get moving.

After a long day at class preparing multitudes of tofu dishes, we hit the ground running again to finish preparing the Friday night dinner. Around 6:30, guests began to arrive, and we assumed our position "on the line". In a professional kitchen, to serve a group of people a meal, an assembly line is created and each chef is assigned a task. For the first course, I was assigned "last look" - after each item was plated, I was in charge of wiping the plate and determining if the dish was acceptable to be served. The mood in the kitchen is serious, hardly any talking, we are all focused on the task at hand.

After the first course if served, the initial adrenaline rush begins to level out, but the second course (entree) is a high pressure "line". My job this time was to plate the 'meatballs' (tempeh balls). 3:30, 7:30, and 11:30 are the exact placements of the meatballs. Really.. is it THAT important to put them in these exact spots? YES, it is... I am learning that uniformity and reliability are 2 very important concepts that distinguish a professional chef from a home cook. The placement of each item significantly changes to tone of the dish. Though the diner may not consciously notice this, they will notice if something is different or if the dish looks "off".

For the dessert course, I was in assigned to scoop pistachio ice cream. I was SO excited about this - I LOVE ice cream and scooping ice cream looks like so much fun. After scooping 40 plates worth, though, I changed my mind. My arm hurt... I was sticky... and I was sweating. But at least the plates looked fabulous.

To end the night (before cleaning), all of the chefs were presented to the diners, and we received a standing ovation. After hours of hard work, seeing the happy faces of the diners and hearing the clamor of their applause, I felt extremely proud of what we had accomplished and a fatigued satisfaction in all of our hard work.

After a HARD and LONG week, Saturday I did not leave the couch for the majority of the day - a well deserved lazy day.

The menu:
Appetizer: Rubbed kale salad with cilantro vinaigrette, carrot ginger soup with yellow onion chutney
Entree: Chickpea panelle and forbidden rice cakes, coconut curry and tamarind sauce tempeh kofta, Indian-spiced roasted cauliflower and zucchini stew
Dessert: Chocolate-date crust with a duo of pistachio cardamom and pink peppercorn saffron ice cream, chair tea creme, and a chocolate drizzle

Carrot Ginger Soup


The Entree...