Food Galore

My food plan for dis trip：have just enuf so tat e walking would shed pounds. Tat plan is NOT going well. Breakfast just done：Swiss Muesli & a smoked salmon dill omelette. Dinner：prawns wif mango creme fraiche, duck confit wif pomme noisettes & black pudding foie gras. Lunch：fresh seafood chowder. And e butter. Oh e butter! I plan to steal a cow home just for e butter! Perhaps I should walk to Dublin instead of e train. It's been food heaven!

The Worth Of...

Worth ~ adjective

1. Equal in value to something specified
2. Deserving of; meriting
3. Having wealth or riches amounting to

There’s this song by Frankie Valli playing in my head.. and it goes something like this ~ “Late December back in '63, What a very special time for me, 'Cause I remember what a night…” Okay, so it’s not 1963 but 2008… but hell – it could be 1963 for all I care. Cos everything that I did in the last 24 hours paid off – and NOT in the way your dirty mind is working right now.

I mean, I’ve cooked or hosted luncheons and dinners before. Yet as far back as I can recall, no one – I’ll say that again, NO ONE has ever like stared at the food on the table, wide-eyed and dropped-jaw. And it was a good stare. And no one has savoured food like I’ve just watched it being savoured.

So while there’s a load of dishes to be washed, many thanks to be given to my kitchen crew… right now – it’s all worth it.

I felt a rush like a rolling bolt of thunder
Spinnin' my head around and taking my body under.
Oh, what a night!

Barbsie’s matched the challenge to top the week before. And the smile is reward enough for her.

Gone to Town!!!

A week ago, I wrote about putting together an outstanding Ploughman's Platter. Okay, so I ain't putting together a platter per se. But in it's place is a 5-star hotel standard and styled canape platter. And as the clock ticks down to T-4 hours, I am about speechless for words.

I just had a peeped at the chiller and what I saw, blew my mind away. Quality beef being roasted and tucked into neat parcels with lightly sauteed asparagus, peppers and carrots... Smoked salmon twisted into a flower with horseradish cream and salmon row... 3 types of cheeses creams and piped onto a bed of sliced grapes and rye toast..

WOWZERS and you would agree with me, right?

I am, in a sense, quite relieved that I actually took the time to give the house a thorough cleaning. Cos food like this - deserves a clean floor and table to be laid out on. Now all I have to ensure it that my own inoki-wrapped-in-bacon and lamb sausage turns out not too shabby. If they do, I might just have to resort to dining in the dark.

My colleagues have gone to town with this one. Lord help me if this is the standard that is to be set! Can't freaking do this every week now can I?

Poison in the home

I was just reading the Electrolux Food Survey questions in today's edition of The Sun.

One of the questions listed was "What prevents you from cooking at home?" Being a "tick" type survey (which has a specific name that is not coming to mind! No wonder I got a "C" for Data Analysis), it had a list of answers. Surprisingly, one of them was worry about safety in the kitchen.

Now that is something that you would never hear being said outloud. Afterall, when someone complaints that they are suffering from food poisoning, the next to follow is where did you go and eat last night?

Food poisoning is something that happens outside. May lightening strike the devil's child who thinks that one of his / her own would attempt to compromise their food safety in the home environment! But you know what - it does happen, and the likelihood of it happening is very much higher than you think!

Having worked now in this F&B industry for 6 weeks plus, it has created a sense of awareness in me that I never really paid much attention to. Yes, I have always had 2 types of chopping boards - one for the raw food and one for veg and dried stuff. But other things, like the dish cloth, the washing up sponge, etc... it's always been one and the same.

Let's not even go to the bit on hands. The fact that washing your hands before and after handling the raw food is simply not enough. There is a reason why handlers in the restaurants wear gloves. Is it because one assumes that you know where your family / friend has been to, hence it is alright not to apply the same reasoning in the home?

To be honest, I have not cooked very much in the last 6 weeks since starting work. It's not because I've been busy. But because the level of awareness is now much heightened. And frankly, my kitchen ain't clean enough for other than throwing things in the microwave.

Have a think about it. If we really care and say that home-cooked food is the best to give our loved ones, then shouldn't we be taught food safety to be applied in the home as well?

Well, that's my rant for this morning. I really should offer to make you a nice dinner to make up for having you read this tirrade. But then again, I wouldn't want to stand guilty of poisoning you *grin*