Tim Kelley | Zoe, NYC

Last night was my first night in a professional kitchen. I mean a REAL kitchen, with REAL chefs and REAL equipment! Prior to last night, my only other kitchen experience was cooking in a pancake house next to a cinema complex in Melbourne's working class suburb of Maribrynong. This was definitely an improvement, not to mention, learning experience.

For a first timer, I managed to hold my own in the James Beard kitchen, even if I did burn myself within 5 minutes of firing up the oven. Which i figured is the stigmata of the rookie cook.

Standing beside the experienced (and nice guy) Tim Kelley from Zoe in Soho and his seriously talented staff we cooked and plated 4 different hor'dourves, 5 tasting meal courses and a dessert plate for 85 discerning diners in about 3 hours.

My responsiblilties for the night were fairly limited. I started with frying the polenta cakes. The sous chef pointed out that my first dozen were a little too brown and that I needn't prod them every second or so to prevent them sticking. This tip worked. The 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th batch were progressively better. Such is the skill of repetition.

Next I fried the bacon wrapped rabbit with much better results. After which I was put in charge of making 90 or so perfect triangles out of a wheel of crumbly blue cheese. Do you know how hard that is? Even though geometry was one of my better classes in college, my first 30 attempts were sorry excuses for triangles.

Another chef clued me in. Dipping the knife in hot water prevents the knife from sticking and voila I had perfect results. I arranged these ones nicely on top, hiding the malformed ones under several layers of parchment paper.

With triangles under my belt, I moved to plating. Chef Kelley had me saucing the squab. This time my success was inversely related to the number of tiny squab legs sauced. The first few were fine, then I started dripping sauce all over the plates. Oiy yoi yoi... Chef Kelley was livid and said "Ok. You're out of here. Matt take over on saucing."

I was fine and understood why. Actually, I was impressed that I lasted on the line as long as I did. But Chef Kelley was great and gave me another chance, this time saucing the lamb. Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to say that I completed all 85 plates with narry a misplaced drip of lamb reduction. This my friends is what excites me, ladling sauce over tiny fowls without a runaway drip...

Hor'dourves

Geoduck Nuta with Seaweed Salad and Miso
Pacific Coast Oysters with Fresh Oregon Wasabi, Shiso, and Ponzu
Dungeness Crabcakes with Golden Raisin Compote
Smoked Bacon-Wrapped Loin of Frazier Valley Rabbit with Herbed Polenta Cakes and Trevisano
- Domaine Ste. Michelle Blanc de Blancs NV
- Seven Hills Winery Pinot Gris 2000

Kohlrabi Soup with Hudson Valley Foie Gras, Medjool Dates,
Crispy Sage, and Parsnips
- Sineann Winery Celilo Vineyard Gewürztraminer 2001

Lightly Smoked Columbia River Sturgeon with Sterling Caviar,
Braised Salsify, and Lobster Nage
- Woodward Canyon Celilo Vineyard Chardonnay 2000
- DeLille Cellars Chaleur Estate Blanc 2000

Roasted Palmetto Farm Squab with Oyster Mushrooms,
Brussel Sprouts Leaves, and Sweet Potato-Apple Jus
- L'Ecole No. 41 Merlot 2000
- Tamarack Cellars Merlot 1999

Anderson Ranch Natural Lamb Chop and Osso Buco with
Butternut Squash Risotto and Black Trumpets
- Delille Cellars D-2 1999
- Woodward Canyon Artist Series Cabernet Sauvignon 1998

Bingham Hill Blue Cheese with Living Watercress,
Five-Spice Walnuts, and Blood Orange Reduction
- Château Ste. Michelle Syrah Reserve 1999

Tasting of Contemporary American Desserts
- Sineann Winery Zinfandel 2000

Posted by dvenuto at February 25, 2003 01:54 PM