intermediate cookery ~ 220 grille

 

For the Fall 2013 semester, Ryan took Intermediate Cookery for the first half.  For this class, the students prepare food for the 220 Grille on campus.  220 Grille is "a learning laboratory" and "known for its Hawaiian Regional Cuisine and efficient service."  His instructor was Chef Alan Tsuchiyama.

I got a kick out of what Ryan posted on Facebook on the first day of school.  He really loved this class.
















On September 19, he called me to tell me the dessert he created, a lilikoi banana split creme brûlée, was selected to be added to the 220 Grille menu as one of the desserts that all the Intermediate Cookery class students would learn how to make from now on.  So proud of our Chef!

On the day that my friend Jenny and I went there for lunch, Ryan had put together another special dessert ~ Banana Coconut Cream Delight.  I was lucky to get one before it sold out (see the sign that shows "Sold Out").  I'm not a sweet potato or coconut fan but I ate it all up!


















Lucky to get a photo with my Chef when he came out to say hi.

I also enjoy seeing the random photos he texts me of his creations…

September 26 special:  wasabi pea crusted calamari steak with rustic kabocha mashed potatoes, sold out in half an hour.  He sent me the photo of him cooking his special that a classmate took.




























October 4 special:  hoisin mango glazed short rib with edamame mash and grilled tomato, which sold out quick.






October 10 special:  Untraditional Caesar salad with herbed parmesan crisp, oven roasted tomato, grilled basil marinated catch of the day.  He said people thought it was a salad so it didn't sell as quickly.  I would have liked to try this (minus the calamari).













I also hi-jacked Ryan's reflection assignment on his first week of service in 220 Grille which talks about the desserts shown above (saved here for posterity):

Week four was the first week that our kitchen would be open for public service. The week before, I was placed in the Dessert station and felt a little nervous because I would be out of my element. However, my group consisting of Jariya, Nicholas, Santos and Yuri was very solid so I was able to ask them questions during the prepping process. Jariya and Yuri, both pastry majors were able to guide me through most of the recipes and show me tips on how to make our jobs easier.

On Monday, we spent the day prepping to ensure that our par would be filled for service. This meant making crusts for both the cheesecake and the vanbanna pie. I had always loved the way the Vanbanna tasted and was curious to see how they were made. Everyone in the group had their own set of tasks for our station, as well as to provide prep for the Saute, grill and Garde stations. Santos often volunteered to work on non-dessert prep such as the potatoes, garlic and parsley for the other groups.

On the first day of service, I was disappointed because I was sent to the cafeteria to assist Benji in the back. I was glad to be getting experience using my knife, but I would have liked to have been in the kitchen with group to help them for the service. Working in the café was actually very enjoyable. Robert and I spent the entire time on fruit and vegetable cuts which I felt was good practice.

Once we left the café and returned to 220, Chef told us that we would be expediting that day. Calling out orders and trying to maintain order in the kitchen was not as hard as I expected because all of the stations worked hard and got orders out relatively quickly. I was especially proud of my group, who were able to send out desserts within minutes of ordering them. This proved to me that the four of them were very strong and diligent workers who could run their station without me.

Wednesday was a slow day in the kitchen and the dessert station sold less than two dozen orders. During that time, I was able to prep the custard for the dessert special I wanted to run the next day. Using ingredients in the class, I was able to make a simple Lilikoi custard that I would later brulee for my dish. I was very excited to try this out because I had entered the dessert station feeling wary because of my lack of knowledge in this area. However, I was excited to see how others would like my special.  On Thursday, the group prepped again for our station because we had sold many of the items earlier in the week. When we were finished with our prep, Jariya helped me prep for my special. The dish was called, Apple banana split with Lilikoi Crème brulee. I was proud of the reactions I got from my classmates about the taste, but at the same time disappointed that I was one order short of selling out. In the end, I was very surprised when Chef wanted to replace a menu item with my dessert for this module. This was probably the biggest compliment I have ever received for my food.

Feeling very good from the day before, Jariya and I talked about using left over ingredients for another dessert special we could run on our last day in the dessert station. Using the leftover sweet potato, I had the idea of making a tapioca taro pudding. However, chef explained that high food cost would make that dish a bad idea. We then had the idea of making a cream using coconut milk and banana pudding, which we could layer with the sweet potatoes. Our final result was similar to the trifle on the menu. It was topped with sesame caramel brittle, an idea from chef which was a great topping.