Chefs Dish It Out

The Hot Pepper

The Hot Pepper

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Are you a chef? Cooking with heat? Dish it out! Tell us your stories (good and bad), menu creations, etc.

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(This was created so TB could tell us about his new job. But all chefs, please chime in!)
 
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Yeah nobody likes to eat off of a buffet table because it's not fresh and it overcooks, but then, if this is just what's in the back it's the same thing.

If anyone here's worked at a BBQ joint I'd like to hear how you do it. Soul food too. Meat loaf, collards. Meat loaf, has to be reheated. Collards, candied yams... reheated or steam table?

I've always wondered how the good places do it. The places that get the good reviews, etc. I mean, that meat loaf that someone raved about. Was it nuked? Microwaves are a no-no. But... are they really? If one of these restaurant makeover shows came in they'd put you to shame for using it. So then tell me how it's done the right way. I've always been curious.

I used to go to a good soul food place, and they had a table with all the soul food in big metal bowls. When you placed your order they put it on a plate for you and nuked it. Right there in front of you. They actually got good reviews. Because it wasn't in a stream table it wasn't being overcooked. So they reheated. I did not like seeing my food being nuked. I'd rather it be hidden. But killer stuff.
 
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The good joints that do bbq time it so some is always coming out, especially during peak times but when its gone, its gone. Veggies and sides are held in steam tables. No big deal. And I don't mind if they use a holding oven for the meats. Joints that do prime rib well cook and hold in an Altosham oven designed specifically for slow cooking and holding large hunks of meat like prime rib. The prime rib joints usually have a big pot of au jus going and when someone requests anything over medium or worse...WELL DONE, an end cut is what they'll get. Mainly most prime rib is cooked to rare/medium rare. If the center of the rib is medium rare, the end cuts will always be medium or higher. If no end cuts are available, that medium rare cut that you requested well done is going to be a little while. Because its going to be sitting in boiling au jus for a while you FOOL!!

I never go to buffett's or buy specials. Why? Because they are moving out stuff they didn't sell and have a lot of. Why? I'll say it again. THEY COULDN'T SELL IT! Quality cooking and food don't need specials to move them. Even a lowly burger joint like In-N-Out burger doesn't do coupons, have a dollar menu, have limited offers and other sheeit the other joints do. Why? Because they don't have to. People want what they sell as is, with no BS.

And I don't do Sunday brunch's. Why? Because the guys working on Sunday are NOT THE A TEAM!

I don't eat at joints that feature menu items like Kobe Beef or Wagyu. Why? Because it doesn't exist in the US. At least not yet. Wagyu is not a breed. The word translates in Japanese simply as "cow" or "cattle". US Wagyu could be anything.

And I don't give a damn about no Certified Angus beef. There is not an FDA inspector on the planet that can tell the difference between a hanging side of beef that is angus, hereford, brangus, santa gertrudis, or charolais. Most of 'em don't even know the difference between a hereford and a holstein.

Don't even get me started on microwaves. They are the DEVIL! They are used by cooks as short cuts who don't know about good food or don't give a damn. Go ahead. Cook a ribeye in a microwave and cook one either in a hot cast iron pan or on a broiler. Enjoy your tough microwaved beef turd! Microwaves are fine for warming a baby's milk bottle, but thats about it. Get it out of my kitchen. If at THE LAST SUPPER Jesus knew they had used a microwave for his last meal, even HE would say GTFO with that noise!

One last 'thang. If you served that steak to me hot off the grill but put it on a cold plate and it hits my table, I not only will not be back but I will tell everyone I know that your place is crap and not to waste their $$$ there.

I'll be back later with more sheeit to rant on.
 
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Thanks for the secrets. I just heard that one about specials being the stuff that they are trying to get rid of. Fish about to go bad. Special! Damn, never knew that one until recently.

I know microwaves are the devil. I just saw a farm-to-table restaurant that refused to buy a freezer. That's cool! I know the microwave gets abused. I just wondered how some of these places serve all day, as in all day BBQ. Gotta be nuked! Sucks.

I guess if it's timed for lunch and dinner then yes what you say makes sense for BBQ. Show up drunk at 11 pm and you get the microwave, I am sure. That's a good tip for when to hit the BBQ joints. And if you care, then make enough to serve and sell out or set up another smoke if you have a late crowd. TB, you make good sense :)

The soul joints have a lot in steam tables and microwave stuff. TB, how would you do homemade meatloaf with gravy? It dries out so easily, and takes awhile to heat in an oven if it's a thick cut. You want it to be fresh from the oven, juices running, moist.

So much goes into running a restaurant, just the thought of how to even cook/heat the food baffles me! Not that I'm opening one, but the food I like is low and slow. Thanks!

TB, PS. The ban of Japanese wagyu was recently lifted.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolmsted/2012/09/28/kobe-beef-is-back-new-rules-allow-some-japanese-beef-in-u-s/
 
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I worked in a restaraunt when I was younger. I would add that not all specials are always evil. Some places have set specials on particular nights of the week (e.g. rib Tuesdays), and those are often not castoffs that they could not get rid of.
 
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There are exceptions, but I'll be staying away from seafood/meat cuts that are on the regular menu. This means they are moving it and just changed the recipe. Seafood and cuts not on the menu could be a real special. Something new in.
 
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True THP that the ban has been lifted. Still no one has yet to get any through customs. Its been seen listed on menus varying from high end joints to burger joints for years. Bon appetite suckah's!

True specials that are out for discovery are usually at the higher end joints. If its Meat Loaf Night at Cowboy Bubba's, I doubt that is the case.

As per the question of meatloaf in general, the way to do it is to either make smaller loaves and stagger them or hold it in a quality food warmer. If meatloaf is on a menu that also lists 50 other entree's, and there aren't lines out the door of the joint, the chances are extremely high that you will be eating meatloaf cooked off from as much as 5 days ago.

You want to keep that meatloaf moist? How about meat balls? Milk and or milk products. You can use wet or dry. Powdered milk in ground beef works great. Wet milk will need an additional binder such as bread, crumbs or my personal favorite, dried oatmeal. Unless you spied a flake of it on the outside crust, you'd never know its in there. Want super moist meatloaf? Get some shredded mozz in there too!. Want tightly packed cardboard hockey puck meatloaf? Mix it in a big mixer. Want it loose and succulent? Mix by hand and once its formed leave it alone. Cover it with plastic wrap and then foil it. Get it in the oven and 20 minutes before you think its done, remove the wrap and foil and crank it up. And forget putting ketchup all over it. Smarten up and for the last 10 minutes spread tomato paste nicely over it like spackle. When its done, take it out and let it rest. Keep it warm but don't even think about cutting into it for at least 20 minutes. The good stuff always takes longer and well worth the wait.

One last word about buffet's. In particular those $21.99 all you can eat foo foo brunch buffet's that keep the mimosa flowing. That would be frozen orange juice watered down cheap champagne, which is not even champagne but el cheapo Korbel mimosa. Then there's the brunch stuff. Lots of omelettes and egg stuff, sliced ham, maybe a dude with a scarf and a stovepipe hat carving steamship round roast beef. That would be el cheapo round and most likely Select grade. You fill up on that stuff, maybe have some cantelope slices, french toast and some pastry. All cheapo items that fill you up. It might cost them a total of $3.25 for all the crap you ate. Enjoy! You only paid $21.99 for it and the snooty waiter filling up you mimosa only came around once after your first glass for the refill. Drink up suckah'!

If you want big bang for your $$ at the buffet, you have to hit the high end respectable joints like the buffet at the Rio in Vegas. They have everythang you could ever want. And why not, they can lose a fortune in food cost on you stuffing your pie hole because they're going to get it all back and much more at the tables. Isn't it great they comp the food and the room too? You bet, and especially the drinks....while you're gambling your money away. Drunks are always so happy to give away money at the tables. You drank $47.50 their cost for rum and cokes for free! WIN! They got $749 from you playing 21.

I'll think up some more happy service industry sheeit to rant about later.
 
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texas blues said:
True THP that the ban has been lifted. Still no one has yet to get any through customs. Its been seen listed on menus varying from high end joints to burger joints for years. Bon appetite suckah's!
Click to expand...

Yes they have. http://www.nypost.co...WevLQ4OURaEAGXK

texas blues said:
If meatloaf is on a menu that also lists 50 other entree's, and there aren't lines out the door of the joint, the chances are extremely high that you will be eating meatloaf cooked off from as much as 5 days ago.
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Exactly! If the line is not out the door and there is too much on the menu you can bet it's not fresh. Case in point. There's a joint here that has a $14.50 catfish po' boy. I wanted to try it just because he was from LA and he told me he gets the catfish from Mississippi. But no one is lining up for them, like in LA. So I knew it still had to be frozen. I quizzed him on it a bit, he says he gets the fish fresh every Wednesday, packed in ice but not frozen. Then, he freezes it all stacked in air tight layers "like an old black man taught me back home" he said. At least he had his method, and it tasted better than any other I have tried around here. I tried it once, good enough for me. I don't want to pay $14.50 again.

If this joint JUST sold po' boys I could see them lowering the price and not freezing the fish. With lines out the door, for five menu items, you can serve everything fresh! That's what I would do.

I'd gladly pay $14.50 if it was fresh and piled high. Tru dat.
 
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The Hot Pepper said:
I've always wondered how the good places do it. The places that get the good reviews, etc.
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The good places I've been to don't have Meatloaf in the neighborhood, let alone on the Menu.
When there is a "Special" in a fine dining restaurant, that usually means it was planned, or there was a good run on Halibut and the chef bought it for less, therefore it's a Special. The joint that I worked at would do prime rib, once a week but it was a limited amount, and when it was gone, it was GONE. Held in a low oven to keep warm. For three hours the prime rib was never sitting there on the cutting board, A new PR every 10-15 minutes.
 
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Scoville DeVille said:
The good places I've been to don't have Meatloaf in the neighborhood, let alone on the Menu.
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It's good soul food when done right. Like TB, I also like the tomato paste glaze. Not the ketchup. A little tamarind and brown sugar in there never hurt no on either. Boom.
 
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Liking this topic a lot.

TB, if I open a joint I will gladly pay you as a consultant...

in capers.
 
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The Hot Pepper said:
It's good soul food when done right. Like TB, I also like the tomato paste glaze. Not the ketchup. A little tamarind and brown sugar in there never hurt no on either. Boom.
Click to expand...

I think NYC is different than Seattle. (well, duh). The only places that serve Meatloaf are the Ma and Pa joints that might make the review in the paper but probably not. Not even Denny's has Meatloaf. You would be hard pressed to find Meatloaf anywhere in a restaurant here. Lots of fine dining, even if it's just a hole in the wall. Not much Southern type fine dining tho. I want to go to NY.
 
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TB, brunch here is pretty good. No unlimited drinks flowing, so no cheaping out on food. Usually really good stuff, hangover portions, one drink included or none... people just like to eat and chill on sidewalk cafes Sat and Sun. My fave joints are either French or Southern. I know you hate Frenchy shit but you can't beat a croque madame with Bloody Marys. That right there is my fave. Or Southern style. Heck a joint by me has a buttermilk biscuit sammie with good ham, egg, cheddar, and homemade pepper jam. Yup, their own pepper jam. Dig. I think the rip-offs are in the touristy areas. But in the small hoods, it's all good.
 
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That's the way to go to NYC, the smaller hood hang outs.
You're making it sound really awesome THP.

Ctually, that's how we roll anywhere we go. try to find the unbeaten tourist path, and get the real flavor of wherever we're at.
Except Vegas. Way too hard to get off the strip when your drunk. Them lights are like moths to a flame.
 
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Yeah - TB is spot on. Phat Matt's in Oakland stages the meats, has some coming out all the time & when it's gone, it's gone. That is the sign of a great BBQ in my opinion. Always fresh, never thrown into a steam tray. Sauce served on the side. They're not the cheapest BBQ, but they're worth it.
 
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If anyone is in Eastern Va or Outer Banks or goes through there the one and only buffet I like is Captain George's, they do nothing else. The food turns over so rapidly you are lucky to get a serving before the next tray is out.
 
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The Hot Pepper said:
Liking this topic a lot.

TB, if I open a joint I will gladly pay you as a consultant...

in capers.
Click to expand...


That's too funny compadre.

I have never met a consultant of anything restaurant related that knew sheeit about a damn 'thang. You know the story. Those that can, do. Those that can't, teach or "consult". Never were chef's become consultants and restaurant critics.

If one wanted to open their own joint I'd tell them to first go find a job cooking in one. Anyone with any common sense working for a month in a decent joint would learn everything they need to know about running a restaurant. And then haul ass away from the idea of opening one as fast a they could.
 
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