Tasks you love doing!!

[shroomgirl]

Flaming anything with alcohol. I consider myself to be a borderline pyromaniac, so fire is always something that amuses me.

I just got a benozamatic flame torch from Home Depot...brulee is on every menu these days, it's so fun......I've not set off a fire alarm yet, but wonder what it would take to do so.....

ceramic, I love my ceramic knife.....it's a jewel, clean neat slices....no drag.

Making up shtuff on a menu then having to figure out what exactly I'm making (just seems like a stretching exercise)...ie cranberry tangerine topped brie. I took craisins, mandrian oj and passion fruit juice frozen concentrate cook, thicken and top the brie...

Having everything come together at an offsite event when you're wondering if sanity is in anyway part of the job description.

[katiebour]

Originally Posted by RAS1187

Creating perfect grill marks on any piece of meat (no mediocre marks).

I agree, this is especially satisfying.

I love cleaning up after the morning prep and buffet set-up- a place for everything and everything in its place.

I also love cooking one or two tickets at a time- not too busy but getting to do some fun stuff.

Also making pizzas and running deliveries, listening to the music in my car and relaxing during a break from the sometimes stressful kitchen.

[SGMChef]

Seeing the plates go out and come back clean!

Pairing new wines with food! (Drinking wine for free!)

Having people ask for the recipe.

Teaching others about why products turn out the way they do.

Salvaging some one else’s problem product.

Working with leftovers.

[cookie mama]

I love experimenting with recipes. I made at least seven or eight different types of cookies from one recipe. I love taking home empty dishes from the office and hearing people tell me to have my own buisiness. I had several people wanting to place orders! That is my favorite thing

[shroomgirl]

I just taught a yeast dough class and having students (these were women of a certain age) work in a hands-on environment leaving knowing that they will continue making yeast doughs now. Or the AHA moment when they get whatever I'm trying to impart. I love turning others on to something wonderful....and in turn learning new shtuff myself.
One of my last students owns about 80 grocery stores.....kinda cool when they want to put your personal favorite ing. in their stores.


I took a food writer to some of my favorite ethnic stores Sat......Italian bakery, Volpi meats, Italian grocery store, German butcher, Cuban/Spanish grocery/deli......watching her was fun.
My next prof. demo will be how to clean offal or weird critter bits.

Getting in my next piggy soon and breaking it down with another restauranteur (her husband wants nothing to do with it, she thinks it'll be a hoot)

[psyco6stringer]

I love doing anything braised ..love the time and effort it takes to get it just right .The whole cook down process to have that lovely pan in sauce and tender fall off the bone loving ...oh yea.
And for some reason love fabbing down anything fish , chickens , beef etc ..just fun to me for some reason. Maybe that for one I can take my time a bit

[the_seraphim]

it gets so hot in our kitchen on a sunday, that if the fire alarm hasnt gone of at least twice, its not actually busy


i like keeping everything clean all night so that at the end, its a quick wipe to finish

i like training the new staff, then they do things properly and cost effectively.

i like trying new things, i especially love trying things that are quick, cheap and easy

- edit oh and i like burning all the cardboard waste... and im not a borderline pyro, im just a normal pyro

[tessa]

Originally Posted by AprilB

I love using my imagination and hands to create pastries, decorating cakes, mixing, blending, dipping strawberries, sculpting, using pastry bags. I love the tactile and touching and kneeding and artwork involved.

Definitely dessert and pastrywork. <final answer... >




April

yeah im with you on that score, but anything to do with preping and then cooking the final product, serving up and making it look good, taking a real pride in what i have just done , i am also doing some volunteer teaching of cooking at the hospice a couple hours a week and it is just so much fun , im loving teaching these people how to cook, sharing my skills and knowledge with others and sharing their skills and knowledge with me is just incredible

[buonaboy]

Really, no joke, I find mirepoix incredibly therapeutic. Even after 15 years, when I have a large prep day at the restaurant, I like to pour a coffee, set up my station and do all the mirepoix I need for the whole day. I'm absolutely not O.C.D in the rest of my life, but in this one area, I just zen out. I love seeing perfect little squares of carrot, I love having a knife so razor sharp that it glides through an onion with almost no pressure... and the smell of it sauteing is familiar and comforting. It makes even the most daunting prep list go smoothly.

Butchering is another one of my fav's, but that usually creeps people out .
-ciao

[chef.ESG.73]

Not exactlly a task, but I love to sit around with other Chefs and swap all the war/battle stories of the kitchen...other than that i love to go in a cooler and just look at all the rolloing racks filled with all the prep and displays for all parties....

[Bazza]

I love filleting fish, I find it really relaxing. Does that sound odd?
Making stocks, very rewarding.

[Saltydog]

Getting to work early on Saturdays. No phone answering, no purveyors, no deliveries, no check writing, no cooks to direct. Just me and my dog doing my thing in the kitchen. (which is all of the above)

[Salliem]

Getting to work early, getting all of the prep work done. I have my own prep kitchen, the only people I ever really see are the beer delivery guys, the bar backs getting their ice and ever once in awhile the chef comes back to tell me some little tidbit. Always done by 3 p.m. and then get to relax a bit before the rush.

[stellasmomma]

cleaning the freezer gives me secret joy... don't tell my cooks!

[boar_d_laze]

any kind of knife work
sharpening the knives

steeling the knives -- making a little chef music -- "tzzzzzing, tzzzzzing"

toss turning

pan reductions

butter finishes -- love the swirling and see structure starting to appear

whisking lots of air in by hand with the big balloon (no smacking the bowl -- learned that by being yelled at in a brigade -- stupid really, but a point of pride now)

kneading dough, feeling it change in my hands

making biscuits, and "turning" them for layers without beating down the gas -- just mindless, eye-closed, finger tip sensation through the pin. I stop when the dough starts to feel stiff under the pin, or heavy when I pick up an edge to fold it. Can always get one turn (6 layers), can I get three (216)?

cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels

doorbells with sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles

wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings

these are a few of my favorite things,
BDL