Prep Kitchen has allure as well.

I spent most of the day yesterday, manufacturing sauces, vegetables, stocks, roasting pancetta, working out the finer points for the Tavern kitchen before it even goes up the Tavern.

I was working in the Downstairs basement prep kitchen at the Inn. It was nice and I really liked the slightly less demanding (and stressfull) pace of not cooking orders for waiting guests.

I love the line don't get me wrong, it was a nice change of view though.

The Beef Stock itself was the largest and nicest batch I have ever personally made, Some 35# of beef bones and trim were roasted in the oven and the added to about 15# of caramelized mirepoix, other various flavors were blended to this and then covered in water. This I set up at 11:30 am and will simmer lazily until about 11:00 the next morning when the prep cook will strain the stock into containers and cool it. Then under the fat cap of congealed beef fat will be a stock made with all natural ingriedients. Very Nice, and my personal favorite for the day.

With stock the options you have are more varied than with boullion,which I have never at the Inn by the way.

When you make a traditional, demi -glace. You take about two gallons of beef stock and reduce it into a cup of liquid. When the concentrated liquid cools it's as hard as a superball. That's demiglace. The flavor is intense and cannot be duplicated in any other way. For instance if you reduce boullion ,what do have ,boullion.
Stock is very cool, what a cool day I had yesterday while exploring the natural wonders of basic cooking.

Portland Publishing Powered by Blogger

Well Thanks to the South Portland Public Library, I am able to keep on the blog and with the blogger being a free service; the only cost to publish is my time and the ablity to pump out a blog update in less than one hout(timed sessions @ library).

The Move online is as lucrative a learning tool as most anything else that I have been doing. Hopefully I can get some insight into media transposition. I would like to be able too make this website into a fully interactive tool. Maybe offering BflickrB or weblinks. As I get into the swing, I'll be happy to expand on the project. But for now, I'm glad to be blogging, and keeping anyone out there abreast of news from the great state of Maine.

PSO Benefit Dinner

Last Monday night I was presented with a real treat.
Portland Symphony Orchestra hosted a benefit dinner for it's patrons.
The catering was done by course from a selection of the finer restuarants in Maine.

The Harraseeket Inn was present and I went as part of the delagation.
With The Maine Dining Room's chef Matt Duly, Broad Arrow Tavern Chef, Alan McGrath, and Executive Chef Lyden from the Inn

Also present were owner/chefs, executive chefs, sous chefs,pastry chefs & line cooks
from Hugo's , Cinque Terra, Five Fifty Five and Fore Street.

The army of talent in the kitchen was amazing and I was glad to meet and talk to all the talent that was present that night. I was able to find a few connections for part time work. Also a few places where I may shadow for a few hous and then eat at one the finer restuarants for my time at work. So I would get to work and learn new things and then, eat a great *(usually expensive meal) for free.

cool that would be like washing dishes , before dinner. (Not really)


More later.

South Portland Ahoy!

Wee, I 've slid into my new digs in South Portland. In frequent trips to South Portland Library will help me to maintain this log.

The area's very nice and I like it a lot , It has been a long time since I've lived in a city. I mean a reputable city anyway. It's a very cool town and It's beautiful to see it in person.

The new apartment will cost me enough, so that I will cut out drinking and smoking, as well as any dining out that might tempt me in this culinary haven of Portland.

The move is great because is allows Rob & Cat the option to do what they would like to my old space before they sell the house and maybe that will help them find a buyer..


Much thanks to the Jordans for their help in geting set up in Maine. They really put me back on my feet. Wish Good Luck to your hero as his new quest for economic solidarity begins.