Cooking for a Crew...
traveling_storm asked a few questions about what it takes to feed a shipful of people. I love my job. It's a captive audience who usually appreciate my efforts. I have my "days" where things don't go well. This is the start of my 4th season. On the tankers I was cooking by myself, but on the bulk ships I also had a 2nd cook as we had a crew of about 23 (including the cooks!) The second cook is responsible for breakfast, salads and desserts (as well as cleaning and dishes among other things) and the chief cook handles lunch and supper, grocery ordering, cleaning, menu planning and more. There are many cooks that make some bread and rolls from scratch. For some reason yeast and I don't get along, so I usually don't make bread. I make my soups from scratch with the help of boullion, and plan ahead with leftovers.
The crew gets a couple of entree choices and a sandwich, veggies, rice and potatoes or pasta. I keep a journal of everything I make, for a couple of reasons. 1) I'd like to get my Red Seal designation one day, and as I don't work under a Red Seal chef, the documentation helps show the work I do, and 2) it helps me keep track of what I've made and hopefully not repeat things too often. Here's a sample menu, not including salads or desserts:
Soup of the day: Vegetable
Lunch: Farmer's sausage and home made baked beans, braised beef ribs, egg salad sandwich, rice, boiled potatoes, mixed vegetables (the rib recipe is awesome!)
Supper: Whole roast pork leg with orange sauce, braised beef ribs, chicken and vegetable curry (from leftovers), basmati rice, boiled potatoes, mixed veg, fresh broccoli
I had a much longer post but Livejournal seems to have eaten it. I will discuss menu planning on another day. Let me know if you have any questions!
The crew gets a couple of entree choices and a sandwich, veggies, rice and potatoes or pasta. I keep a journal of everything I make, for a couple of reasons. 1) I'd like to get my Red Seal designation one day, and as I don't work under a Red Seal chef, the documentation helps show the work I do, and 2) it helps me keep track of what I've made and hopefully not repeat things too often. Here's a sample menu, not including salads or desserts:
Soup of the day: Vegetable
Lunch: Farmer's sausage and home made baked beans, braised beef ribs, egg salad sandwich, rice, boiled potatoes, mixed vegetables (the rib recipe is awesome!)
Supper: Whole roast pork leg with orange sauce, braised beef ribs, chicken and vegetable curry (from leftovers), basmati rice, boiled potatoes, mixed veg, fresh broccoli
I had a much longer post but Livejournal seems to have eaten it. I will discuss menu planning on another day. Let me know if you have any questions!