Keeping My Kitchen Like a Pro
My only restaurant experience was back in high school (see how I avoided the whole "when I was a kid" cliche). The first job was as a dishwasher in a steakhouse. The second job was as a dishwasher in a B-B-Q place. I say B-B-Q because the actual barbeque was made in a factory of some sort down in Wichita Falls and then reheated in our kitchen.
While my title at the steakhouse was dishwasher, my duties included cutting steaks, cutting up chickens, cutting up sides of beef into chunks and grinding those into ground beef, making salads, cutting french fries, fetching supplies from the storeroom for the cook, and of course washing dishes.
Around here I do a lot of the meal planning, shopping and cooking. I would say "most," but then someone would prove me wrong and make me start keeping a time sheet. The thing is, I really like working in the kitchen. Oh, and cutting up onions is entirely my job. I enjoy doing it and onions don't make me tear up, so Patrick always asks me to do it for him and Kathy will do it but doesn't mind if I volunteer.
When I work in the kitchen, I run it just like in a real restaurant. Except, of course, it's nothing like that in the least. For one thing, I'm only cooking for three most of the time and when that's done, I'm done. For another thing, I'm not under any huge time constraint. I try to get dinner ready before my "patrons" give up and eat a bowl of cereal, but other than that, what are they going to do? Take their business elsewhere? So, yeah, it's like a completely no-pressure restaurant job that I don't even have to show up to if I don't want.
When I fix breakfast, I start the bacon first. When it is almost done, I drop some bread into the toaster and start the eggs. I do one plate at a time, buttering toast, adding a few strips of bacon and then dishing up the eggs. I keep a little bell like cooks in diners use. When a plate is ready, I hit the bell and yell "order up!" Then I start eggs for the second plate. We mostly have eggs over easy, but I can make a mean omelet.
Kathy is great at kitchen organization, so all I have to do is put things back where she had them and I'll be able to find them again. Most of the time, I clean as I go, washing mixing bowls and cooking pots and putting them away. I don't like my knives and cutting boards ending up in the sink, so I always wash them and put them away--almost always. Sometimes I'm feeling lazy, fix a half-assed dinner and leave a big mess, but I try not to do that.
One thing I used to be terrible at is having all the dishes ready at the same time. I've made great strides in that area and I can now have a main course and four sides ready all at once. More often I make one-pot meals, but hey, they are some of our favorites. Casseroles, soups, stews.
Once in a while I get on a roll and have a clean kitchen and the dishwasher running when I go to bed at night--for a week straight!
Oh who am I kidding? I suck at this running a kitchen stuff. I mean well, but it takes so much work. I do okay for a day or meal, but then I slack off and spend more time reading recipes than preparing them. I want to run the kitchen like a pro. I keep the salt and pepper shakers filled. It's just so hard.
Okay. Time to turn over a new leaf. I'm going to go wash last nights dinner dishes.
Stephen P.
While my title at the steakhouse was dishwasher, my duties included cutting steaks, cutting up chickens, cutting up sides of beef into chunks and grinding those into ground beef, making salads, cutting french fries, fetching supplies from the storeroom for the cook, and of course washing dishes.
Around here I do a lot of the meal planning, shopping and cooking. I would say "most," but then someone would prove me wrong and make me start keeping a time sheet. The thing is, I really like working in the kitchen. Oh, and cutting up onions is entirely my job. I enjoy doing it and onions don't make me tear up, so Patrick always asks me to do it for him and Kathy will do it but doesn't mind if I volunteer.
When I work in the kitchen, I run it just like in a real restaurant. Except, of course, it's nothing like that in the least. For one thing, I'm only cooking for three most of the time and when that's done, I'm done. For another thing, I'm not under any huge time constraint. I try to get dinner ready before my "patrons" give up and eat a bowl of cereal, but other than that, what are they going to do? Take their business elsewhere? So, yeah, it's like a completely no-pressure restaurant job that I don't even have to show up to if I don't want.
When I fix breakfast, I start the bacon first. When it is almost done, I drop some bread into the toaster and start the eggs. I do one plate at a time, buttering toast, adding a few strips of bacon and then dishing up the eggs. I keep a little bell like cooks in diners use. When a plate is ready, I hit the bell and yell "order up!" Then I start eggs for the second plate. We mostly have eggs over easy, but I can make a mean omelet.
Kathy is great at kitchen organization, so all I have to do is put things back where she had them and I'll be able to find them again. Most of the time, I clean as I go, washing mixing bowls and cooking pots and putting them away. I don't like my knives and cutting boards ending up in the sink, so I always wash them and put them away--almost always. Sometimes I'm feeling lazy, fix a half-assed dinner and leave a big mess, but I try not to do that.
One thing I used to be terrible at is having all the dishes ready at the same time. I've made great strides in that area and I can now have a main course and four sides ready all at once. More often I make one-pot meals, but hey, they are some of our favorites. Casseroles, soups, stews.
Once in a while I get on a roll and have a clean kitchen and the dishwasher running when I go to bed at night--for a week straight!
Oh who am I kidding? I suck at this running a kitchen stuff. I mean well, but it takes so much work. I do okay for a day or meal, but then I slack off and spend more time reading recipes than preparing them. I want to run the kitchen like a pro. I keep the salt and pepper shakers filled. It's just so hard.
Okay. Time to turn over a new leaf. I'm going to go wash last nights dinner dishes.
Stephen P.
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