Day 17 of PCA II – Buffet Prep

Wow seems like only yesterday I was posting about our buffet in PCA I when we did all the egg dishes. Yet here we are prep’ing for ours.

On the menu is – Carnitas, Sopas, Indian Fry Bread, BBQ Beans, Refried Beans, BBQ Ribs, Onion Rings, Hushpuppies, Mac n Cheese, fresh made tortillas, Spanish rice, fresh salsa, guacamole and churros. The evening went very well. We were each given a task(s) and we all got done in a good time.

I think Chef Romero was frustrated this evening because our boxes were not filled with the ingredients we needed. Granted we changed things up a bit, but there wasn’t the correct stuff in them even if we had gone with the menu in the book. But I think we’ll make him proud.

Chef Romero let Lynndy and I work on cornbread. This wasn’t on the menu but we think it’ll add a nice flavor. We decided to make Jalapeno Cheddar Cheese Cornbread. This may have been the dish that pushed Chef over the edge. We needed cheese, about 5 cups of it. Well the folks on the Mac n Cheese dish used all the cheese they were given. So when I ask for cheese I was told to go get the extra from the Mac team. Well they didn’t have any. Chef says “Are you kidding me?” I’m thinking..um no wouldn’t kid you sir. But I kept my mouth shut and he indicated he would go check. Well on prep night everything is Chef this and Chef that, they’re pulled every which way but loose. And it’s only because we want to do it right because it reflects on us as a class, but also on our instructors – who we’re very proud of. So it’s in us to do well. So as he’s making his way to check on cheese he gets stopped like 5 times and works his way back to our station. Of course I only have 3 small things to worry about so my mood is still really good and high energy and my mouth opens (now my brain is say shut the hell up and let him tell you when he’s good and ready…but my mouth..well) “Hey Chef where’s the good cheese? You can’t get too distracted from the cheese.” Well I’m glad laser beams don’t shoot out of eyes for real like they do in the movies or I’d be toast. I truly meant it to be light hearted and fun, but wow did it get taken the wrong way. I just stayed out of the way from that point on.

Chef Rorschach and I worked on the Churros. I’ve eaten them a million times at the fairs and such but have never made them. It’s a fun sticky dough. I can’t wait to fry them up and cover em with sugar.

I don’t have any guests coming I gave my tickets to Eddie. So I’m hoping the chefs put me in the back again so those with family and friends can be out front and shine and showoff.

I’ll post pictures tomorrow of our event.

Until then!...