kitchen-tips-msg - 11/4/08
Practical, short kitchen tips for use in SCA feasts.
NOTE: See also the files: headcooks-msg, kitch-toolbox-msg, kitchen-clean-msg, HC-butchers-art, cutting-onions-msg, cookng-grains-msg, Fst-Managemnt-art.
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Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:32:00 -0400
From: euriol <euriol at ptd.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] kitchen tips
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
<<< Not too long ago, I published a question on the Middle Kingdom Cooks list
asking what kind of tips people had come up with for working in SCA
kitchens. I wasn't interested in the "Make sure you have a plan" sort of
suggestions, or "Use Excel" kind of tips, but things a bit more practical,
such as "If you run out of pasty bags, try using a zippered plastic bag with
the corner cut off" and "When shopping in bulk for some of your feast
supplies, wear a modern chef's jacket."
I received a few responses, but I'm sure there are more that other people
have garnered over the years. What are they? I'd love to hear them.
Iasmin >>>
I'm not sure if this is along the lines you're looking for... but here are
some that have made my kitchen management easier.
- No more than one recipe to a single piece of paper. (See second point for
pratical side of this)
- Keep all recipes in a plastic sleeve in a 3 ring binder. This allows you
to take out the recipe, hand it to someone to work upon. If there is a
spill, the plastic can be easily wiped and the ink isn't smudged. (Keep a
second binder handy with all the recipes intact).
- Create a separate serving guide for your Head Server/Butler so they know
which recipe is supposed to be served on what equipment.
- Create a separate area for staging the dishes to be served aside from
where they are being cooked. This is especially useful when dishes for a
later course are in the midst of being cooked while the immediate course is
still waiting to be served.
- Buying in bulk is not always the cheapest way to buy. Browse store adds
for sales.
Euriol
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:37:53 -0400 (EDT)
From: Gretchen Beck <grm at andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] kitchen tips
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
A coffee urn (or a glass coffeepot and burner) are good for keeping things
warm.
Rice cooker. 'nough said.
Those hot/cold thermal tote bags you get at the grocery store are a great
help, especially in keeping trays warm while staging.
Always put a lid or tinfoil over the huge pot of water on the stove, or it
will never boil (I always forget this one, and my number one always
reminds me).
toodles, margaret
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:51:27 -0600
From: "Kathleen A Roberts" <karobert at unm.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] kitchen tips
To: euriol at ptd.net, Cooks within the SCA
<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
On Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:32:00 -0400
euriol <euriol at ptd.net> wrote:
<<< I'm not sure if this is along the lines you're looking
for... but here are some that have made my kitchen management easier. >>>
post your courses on the wall on large sheets of paper so
just at just a glance anyone knows what goes out together.
post your dishes on the wall on large sheets of paper that
you can cross off as they are finished.
know where the first aid kit is.
cailte
the ever practical.
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:55:11 -0400
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] kitchen tips
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Post your menu on the wall. Post your recipes to the right of that,
with quantities and instructions.
Sideboards are a wonderful, wonderful invention. Put cold course on
sideboard before feast, serve a hot course first, then the cold
course, which leaves you more time to cook and assemble the third, hot
course (or some variation on this if you have a lot of courses).
Always buy a box of Kosher Salt (or be sure you have one). Season with
it, throw handfuls of it on the floor when someone spills grease on
the floor in the middle of service and there's no time to stop and
clean properly. Later, scour pots with it.
Sometimes it's cheaper to buy more expensive cuts of meat, if you can
cook them quickly and minimize shrinkage, rather than buying the
cheaper cuts that require boning, trimming, skinning, etc. You may
find that after you throw away half of the meat's weight, it was more
expensive.
Time _is_ money. Sometimes it's worth it to take the extra time to
save money, and sometimes it's not.
Adamantius
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:15:42 -0400
From: "Barbara Benson" <voxeight at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] kitchen tips
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Coolers keep hot things hot as well as they keep cold things cold. A
disinfected cooler filled to the brim with just off the grill meat
will keep super hot for several hours.
A cooler is also excellent for holding a large quantity of cooked
pasta - just make sure you have dressed it well with olive oil to
prevent sticking.
If you have access to an outdoor staging/cooking area "Turkey Fryers"
are great for boiling large amounts of water, cooking pasta/rice and
doing any heavy duty frying.
Turkey Roasters are excellent auxiliary cooking methods that require
little in the way of supervision. It is like having an extra oven.
Fill a plastic cup with spoons and place near the busiest cooking
area. Use one spoon per tasting and then put it to be washed - do not
double dip.
Very long wooden spoons are your best friend.
With regard to the plating of stuff - I draw pictures.
If you are serving drinks, bring a small "oriental" rug and set up a
drink service station in the hall. The rug will soak up spills and
keep drink service traffic out of your kitchen. This would go well
near your Sideboard.
Those thingies that you can buy to "Slice eggs" work beautifully on
mushrooms and strawberries too.
--
Serena da Riva
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:19:29 -0400
From: "Elaine Koogler" <kiridono at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] kitchen tips
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
More suggestions:
--Measure your spices ahead of time, but take a long an extra bit in case
you need to increase what you've added. I usually put them in small plastic
baggies.
--Have pre-cooks, doing as much as you can ahead of time. You may need to
experiment to figure out what can be prepared ahead of time and what can't.
This decreases the amount of work and tension the day of the event.
--Make sure that some of your help in the kitchen are folks that you can
simply hand a recipe to and let them go...but be sure you check on what
they're doing to make sure it's working out the way you intended.
--If you're using one of those software programs that will automatically
expand quantities, always add less seasoning than the expanded recipe calls
for...often the quantities of spices won't be accurate and it's always easy
to add more than it is to remove too much.
--If you have room in your freezer, look for sales well ahead of your feast,
particularly on meats. Often things like beef, lamb and pork can even be
frozen in their marinade (if you're using one), adding to the flavor and
tenderness of less expensive cuts.
Kiri
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:20:17 +1200
From: Antonia Calvo <ladyadele at paradise.net.nz>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] kitchen tips
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
<<< and "When shopping in bulk for some of your feast
supplies, wear a modern chef's jacket." >>>
I find that talking to people about what I'm doing has helped me connect with suppliers and sometimes even find some common ground. Many food suppliers understand about niche gourmet interests and a few even know a little about Medieval food.
Anyway, honestly, all the important stuff is the high-level stuff-- budgeting, shopping, staff management, advance prep strategies...
Anyway, some tips...
1. If you haven't already, read "Rob Peter to Feed Paul: Halving Feast Costs" http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/recipes/rprf.sca.feasts.html
2. If you haven't already, learn how to say no-- you can use it when presented with insufficient budgets or inadequate kitchens. Learning how to negotiate is also good. If your group think it's normal to make up a tiny number for the budget, pick out a venue and then look for a cook-- break them of it.
3. Get a good team together and use them. If you aren't comfortable with telling people what to do, learn. It is an essential skill in all but the smallest feast kitchens.
4. Remember the Great Chain of Being. It goes God -> Cooks and the Pope -> Stewards -> Kings -> Everybody Else.
5. Do whatever it takes to ensure that when the feast is set to begin at 6, everyone is at seated at table with spoons at the ready at 5:59.
6. Only cook food that is delicious.
7. Read, read, read-- practical catering guides, period sources, modern cookbooks, anything you can get your paws on.
8. Never hesitate to approach a restaurant/catering supplier-- they can be surprisingly helpful to small customers.
9. Unless you _really_ know what you're doing, pre-test every recipe.
and some more practical tips
10. The number of meatballs that can be eaten by any group is (x + 1)n where n is the number of people and x is any reasonable number. Fortunately, cooked meatballs freeze and reheat really well.
11. Most recipes that require simmering can be adapted to "simmer" in a low oven.
12. Never, never assume that the amount of liquid in a stewed dish will scale up exactly.
13. The amount of rice people will eat is n(x - 1)/2. Rice for a crowd is most easily cooked in an oven.
14. When roasting, one big cut of meat is nearly always better value than several small ones.
--
Antonia di Benedetto Calvo
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:25:59 +1200
From: Antonia Calvo <ladyadele at paradise.net.nz>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] kitchen tips
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Barbara Benson wrote:
> Very long wooden spoons are your best friend.
Corollory: don't try to boil pasta in a pot that's too heavy to lift
when full :-)
--
Antonia di Benedetto Calvo
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:41:36 +1200
From: Antonia Calvo <ladyadele at paradise.net.nz>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] kitchen tips
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Elaine Koogler wrote:
<<< --Have pre-cooks, doing as much as you can ahead of time. You may need to
experiment to figure out what can be prepared ahead of time and what can't.
This decreases the amount of work and tension the day of the event. >>>
Yes, yes, yes!
I know everyone isn't a fan of this method, but I like to completely
prep and freeze some things ahead and I've also been known to partially
prep and freeze. For example, blancmange is a doddle to make if you
have pre-made almond milk and frozen cooked, shredded chicken.
--
Antonia di Benedetto Calvo
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:49:24 +1200
From: Antonia Calvo <ladyadele at paradise.net.nz>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] kitchen tips
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
And another one-- fresh isn't always best.
If you want to serve fish, and you can't shop on the day or you have
specific requirements about the type of fish, look for frozen fish
steaks or fillets. They are much better than fish frozen at home and
often cheaper than fresh.
--
Antonia di Benedetto Calvo
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:51:19 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Pixel, Goddess and Queen" <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] kitchen tips
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
You can never have too many flour sack towels.
If you're responsible for plating (if you don't have a head server), write
down how each dish is to be plated and post it.
Disposable cutting boards.
Margaret FitzWilliam
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 11:05:04 +1200
From: Antonia Calvo <ladyadele at paradise.net.nz>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] kitchen tips
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Pixel, Goddess and Queen wrote:
> You can never have too many flour sack towels.
Absolutely! And clean as you go! Make sure dishes are washed as soon as
there are enough for a sinkful and clean utensils and surfaces between
tasks. No number of tea towels is too large.
--
Antonia di Benedetto Calvo
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:08:49 -0400
From: "Kerri Martinsen" <kerrimart at mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] kitchen tips
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
- It's easier (IMO) to peel an orange or lemon *before* you juice it. Say
you are making candy orange peel
- if you plan on making fresh pasta, either have an extra prep day on site
to do nothing but or make it ahead and freeze it or dry it. Trust me on
this one.
- Plan on food for lunch for your crew. something you aren't making. I
like spiral ham. Easy to pick at and no cooking required and nothing like a
protein shot to keep going.
- if you are planning a menu around something people said you *can't* do,
then make that the only thing weird in your feast. Showstopper even.
Vitha
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:37:20 -0400
From: Gretchen Beck <grm at andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] kitchen tips
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
One more, basic planning:
1. If you are going to use electric appliances (roasters, griddles,
fryers, mixers, or [god forbid] a microwave), check which outlets go to
which breakers ahead of time. Don't trust what the site says, don't trust
what the owner says -- test it yourself. A small portable fan is great for
this. It's a big help if you can lay out where to plug things in ahead of
time.
(I confess, one feast where the breaker kept blowing on the roaster, and
the oven/stovetop was full, we finished the hoochee in the microwave -- not
something I'd recommend as a general practice, but it got the job done on
time without really affecting the taste)
2. In your walkthrough, test the ovens. Turn each one on and see how (and
if) it heats. If it has a pilot, make sure you know how to light the pilot
and turn on the oven. If there is more than one oven, turn them both on
together (I've been amazed with the contortions you have to go through to
get some site ovens to work properly -- better to know ahead than to end up
experimenting the day of)
3. Measure the insides of the ovens and count the oven racks. Don't rely on
your or the sites baking sheets fitting into the oven.
4. Parchment paper is your friend. Parchment paper is your cleanup crew's
friend. As is PAM.
5. Costco sells those little rubber kitchen mats at reasonable prices. They
can be the difference between walking and limping at the end of the day.
toodles, margaret
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:36:15 -0500
From: Jennifer Carlson <talana1 at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Kitchen tips
To: <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Check the ovens! There's no fear like arriving on site and finding out two-thirds of your ovens aren't working.
Do not trust the kitchen to be clean when you arrive. Wash the pots and pans yourself before starting. Likewise, clean the prep areas and utensils and sweep and mop. Perhaps the last person in the kitchen before you was scrupulous - perhaps they weren't.
Have a contingency plan/recipe. I once unwrapped the 150 lbs of lamb roasts I had ordered from the butcher, to find I had 100 lbs of roast and 50 lbs of ground. I sacrificed a couple of loaves of bread and raided the herb supply and made meatballs. They turned out to be more popular than the roast.
Set a time in the afternoon to have a 15-20 minute break. My feast partner called it the "scream therapy session." We'd go outside, let her have a smoke, and blow off steam for a few minutes, then the serving steward would join us and we'd go over the game plan and work in any changes.
Remember to eat and stay hydrated. Better yet, designate a cook's nanny. I have diabetes and sometimes forget about the passage of time until the shakes hit, and then I'm useless for the twenty minutes it takes for a glucose tablet to do its work. I've had many a non-diabetic friend in the kitchen who has done the same thing and suddenly feels sick, or wiped, or really cranky.
Feed your workers. I generally do a stew-and-bread-with-a-dessert lunch for the kitchen crew. It makes it easier to make sure everyone does eat.
Talana
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:33:15 -0400
From: ranvaig at columbus.rr.com
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] kitchen tips
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
<<< Those thingies that you can buy to "Slice eggs" work beautifully on
mushrooms and strawberries too. >>>
My favorite way to slice strawberries is a pastry blender, the type with flat blades, not wires. They are sharp enough to cut the berries, but wont cut your fingers. Cut off the leaves and push one after another thru the blades. My mom used to put up 30 lbs of strawberries or more each spring,
http://www.kitchen-classics.com/_borders/pastryblend.jpg Like this one
Ranvaig
Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2008 09:55:38 +1200
From: Antonia Calvo <ladyadele at paradise.net.nz>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] kitchen tips
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Gretchen Beck wrote:
<<< 4. Parchment paper is your friend. Parchment paper is your cleanup
crew's friend. As is PAM. >>>
They also love it when you use foil roasting pans
<<< 5. Costco sells those little rubber kitchen mats at reasonable prices.
They can be the difference between walking and limping at the end of
the day. >>>
I make no apologies for wearing Crocs in the kitchen.
--
Antonia di Benedetto Calvo
Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:50:08 -0400
From: "Nick Sasso" <grizly at mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] kitchen tips
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
-----Original Message-----
I usually carry two or three oven thermometers in my kit to test oven
temperatures to see how well the ovens are calibrated. Three thermometers
lets you check the thermometers against each other. If you seriously need
ovens, you really want to know what the oven temperature is.
Bear > > > > > > > >
INCREDIBLY VALUABLE advice above.
- have a "second" who is intimately familiar with your menu and procedures
who can fill in when you get pneumonia or arrested for something.
- 2 gallon beverage coolers can be used effectively to hot hold and dispense
smooth sauces
- you can NEVER have enough pairs of tongs in the kitchen
- have a box of cornstarch for medical use. Chaffing from sweaty clothes is
agonizing, but the cornstarch can keep a volunteer or cook going another
couple hours.
- Freeze portions of your beverage of choice ahead of the event in gallon
bags. Use it as Ice for your bulk beverage holding without diluting . . .
can be done with short cylinders of frozen beverage and pitchers.
- consider getting an account with a foodservice vendor USFoodservice where
you can buy prepped veggies (diced, sliced) when labor is at a premium.
niccolo difrancesco
Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:45:42 -0700 (PDT)
From: Huette von Ahrens <ahrenshav at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] kitchen tips
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
A clean electric coffee maker is a good way to keep a lot of boiling water hot. Rather than having to use up valuable burners for boiling water, use an electric coffee maker to heat and keep your water hot and you will have quicker access to it when you are cooking.
Huette
Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:31:01 -0500
From: "otsisto" <otsisto at socket.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] health dept. and coolers RE: kitchen tips
To: <grizly at mindspring.com>, "Cooks within the SCA"
<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Side note/a tip: I have a box the contains 2 types of dish soap, sm. bottle
of bleach, various sponges, metal scrubber, rubber gloves and a spray bottle
with sanitizer for sanitizing surfaces, basically a washer's kit. You can
not always rely on there being these items in the kitchen.
De
Always the washer, sometimes the assisting the cook.
<the end>
