The last two weeks I was on the saute station for A La Carte. The four dishes that come off saute are:
a Shell Bowl (mussels, clams, and scallops)
Short Ribs and Chili Mac with Potlikker Greens (yes, that's spelled correctly)
A Mushroom Veloute (soup)
and Seared Scallops with Spaghetti Squash. There are two of us on the station, so we each are responsible for two dishes. I was in charge of the Veloute and the Scallops.
Prior to the first Monday, I made a list of everything that needed done and the time each would take. I also made a list of mise en place to gather. This ended up being a huge time saver, as well as helping us stay organized.
Mondays we prep everything for service. I made the Veloute, roasted the squash, and prepped all the items for the Bouillabaisse for the shell bowl. Stacy seared and braised the short ribs and prepared it's sauce, cooked the pasta, and cleaned her shellfish. The Roundswoman prepared the Bechamel for the Chili Mac.
Tuesday we have an hour prior to service to get everything ready. I, again, had made a list of everything left to do and the order we needed to do it in (IE, prepare crackers asap!), the utensils and pots I would need for service, and the plates we were going to need to gather. I realized how much I have actually learned working the line at Nippers when it came time to set up the station and get ready for service. I immediately set up a bain marie on the stove to hold all our hot items that are not prepared a la minute. I set up a sani bucket for my utensils in addition to the one for the station. I gathered our plates and put them in an oven at 175F to keep warm for service. I gathered all the pots and utensils I would need during service. Chef came by and began to tell us several items on that list we needed, and everything was already done.
We warmed our items that were prepared the day before, and I made the crackers and a buerre blanc, as well as thawed and panned the scallops. We set up the cold station and it was time for service!
Service is only two hours long and was over before I knew it. I stayed calm and my scallops came out so wonderfully. It was actually kind of fun working saute, and I enjoyed the experience. Our homework was to prepare a list of what we could do better to improve the flow of service.
The second week on the station was a little...well, absent. This quarter has just been a terrible quarter for being sick and the kids being sick. Such is life, I suppose, but I still felt guilty about leaving Stacy to manage a couple of the days with who(m?)ever Chef decided to throw on the station with her.
Next week we will be moving to Garde Manger!
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