Haven't updated this for quite some time now. I'm blaming it on work, which has been stressing me out a lot lately. The responsibilities, low pay, no medical and dental plans, long hours, and the lessening amount of time that I have for myself....that's why I went to Vegas a few days ago for 4 days.
I think I have discovered time traveling because the second day of Vegas disappeared way too quickly.
Anyway, I've entered this competition at our restaurant called "Top Apprentice". Basically, contestants in the restaurant will compete with each other by creating a plate that will fit in the Joey, Local Public Eatery and Nimby's Burger restaurants. After winning that, the 2 winners will then compete in the regional(with other Joey restaurant winners) by recreating their winning dish and by competing in the glass box competition. After that will be the dreaded black box competition.
This got me really excited as this was the only opportunity for me to be creative and showcase what I can do. Contestants are required to submit their recipes, specs, and costing of the plate together with proposed selling price. Did I mention that whoever wins might get a chance to have their food featured on the menu?
The way I tackled this was to create a plate that would at least fit in two restaurants(I went for Joey and Local as opposed to Nimby's which was a burger shack). So I decided to go with something I've been wanting to do for some time now but just didn't have enough reason to be spending that much money. I decided to make a Lobster Poutine.
Poutine? What is a Poutine? A Poutine is a dish created in Montreal. A dish that has been called by many as the "Hangover Cure". Basically, it's just french fries, with cheese curds on top and gravy. Disgusting? You'd change your mind once you've tried it.
I got the recipe from Chuck Hughes who competed in Iron Chef America. I made some changes to it by adding more of the mirepoix and aromatics to mask the lobster-y taste a bit and by using cream instead of butter to make the gravy.
Served this to judges and they loved it! Wow, it's already 11pm. I'll post the recipe tomorrow since I have to be up by 4am for work.
