Christmas Items

I am working on several items for Holiday Season. I have been working to make microwave cake,  Mug cakes, drink mixes, cookies, candies, and more.

Just been trying to figure out what sells and what doesn't . Its hard with the economy and its up and downs. I don't have a real store so judging what is working has been a little difficult. Not to mention that the Private Chef job is more than a pain in the rear at the moment.

It seems like late night experimentations are working. I am currently working on re doing my display cakes and finding a design I am happy with to create. Challenge is that I am down from working the day job so the motivation train is lacking and procrastination is on a rise.

I am excited about Dec 4th . I will be on base for a tree lighting ceremony selling hot cake in a cup. I am hoping that goes like hot cakes so to speak. 

thank you all for reading over the years and I hope you will continue to read and share with me. I will be posting Holiday recipes soon

Base Store

The base store is slow.  They told me that they expected more people to be shopping but with the economy, Not so much.

It comes and goes in spirts. This past weekend it seemed ok. I got a cake order and I came up with some cranberry and orange scones, chocolate chip scones, pumpkin spice doughnuts, and a 6" birthday cake to put at the flower shop for them to sell. I hope it does. I will have to call mid week to see how it went and if I should bring more for the weekend.

Its hard to know what is going to sell and what isn't. Each day seems a bit different. I will load picture another night of what I am making for the base.

Some days I feel like loosing hope that I am crazy and going into business for myself seems like a super crazy idea.

Well if anyone reads these, encouragement is welcome. Am I crazy for writing a blog about the trials and tribulations I am doing? Is this all worth the effort?

Private Chef for the U

I am still cooking for the sorority girls of the U. I could write a whole blog about the ins and outs there.  I need to update more on the drama in the kitchen.

Well as it stands, the bosses have no confidence in my ability, even though I prove it on a daily basis. They have a caterer on speed dial. They spend way too much money on the low quality of food.

Silver spoon is the what I call these girls. Each has their own quirks and drama. There is a lot of drama. One girl doesn't eat red meat because she doesn't like the texture. Others don't eat red meat because they read in a fashion mag that its bad for you. There are the  normal allergies in the house that are easy to handle. Some girls like to eat more than others. American food girl still is a trying person because if its not Utah based its hard to get her to try it . They want healthy food and wholesome food, but when I m not there, they order pizza and junk food.

They leave glasses and plate all over. I was told to clean their bathrooms the other day because the maid wasn't coming til this week. Holy Pigs Batman! with the exception of one bathroom which was extremely clean.

Its like these girls have no house, cooking skills what so ever. They are in full expectant that some one cleans for them and cooks for them. They cry to the boss if they have to microwave their own food. They wont eat left overs. I throw out a lot of food every week because they just don't eat it. Their excuse is that they didn't know what they could have....... No, they are just too lazy to have to think about what I said  or read the board.

Sigh, its a chef nightmare to cook for these people. I know high profile clients can be difficult, these girls are worse. I would take any high profile client over this. I have suggested that they find a retired house wife to replace me one who is willing to cook bland tasteless food for them .Since that is what they complain they want.

What to Make Next?

I have been dabbling a lot lately. We just came back from Disney. One of our stops was Universal Studios Orlando and of course Harry Potter Land. I love Harry Potter. That said, I got pumpkin juice while I was there and butter beer.
I got bored the other night and started to play. I was able to recreate the Pumpkin Juice. My son said he liked it better than what was in the park. Butter Beer is going to take a little more science because of the complex level of the flavor. But that not to say I'm trying.

Then there is the Chai Tea project. Just something I am beginning with mixing. Its a fall month. So I have been working on breads and scones. Not the Utah scones, real ones. Pumpkin scones. I am toying with the idea of putting all this on Etsy or actually building a website that I can have people purchase items off of...

Its all a work in progress..

These are already on the Etys site.

These were the pumpkin scones I had made before I labeled them.

This was at the Farmers Market.

Halloween Treats

So I have been working job 1 and my business to create a bunch of things for an event I was invited to show up at. I have been doing Candy coated Oreos and Chocolate pretzels. A whole bunch of stuff. working to hopefully get my name out there and have a working business.
The jelly has been going great too. I have had a few people ask for more jelly jars. Nothing steady yet. But  Dragon Fire Jelly is on the rise.

Etsy

This is a huge learning experience for me. I am frustrated and I want nothing more than to pull down my store. There are tons of people on there that think that the shop keeper owes them everything.

I recently had a very bad experience on there.  That being said, it was my first customer. She didn't look at all the pictures and she didn't ask any specific questions about the product. I thought she wanted a variety of the cookies. Wrong, apparently me being a mind reader, I should have known it was a zombie party and that she wanted black and white eye balls and brains. So she has requested that I return all her money and shipping. If she is lucky she will get her money back and not the shipping. I have to throw out all the cookies she sends back because I have no clue what she has done to them and its  food rule policy that you cant resell food once it has left the kitchen. But according to her correspondence with me I have inconvenienced her for not putting enough information on my site. I have on the site in the description that if you want custom cookies and colors to contact me and be specific about it. I guess it wast bold enough for her to read or she just didn't bother.

Private Chef Job

I took on a Private Chef job.. I left my dearly loved Grappa because of medical issues. That being said, I took this because it would have made my medical issues much easier.

I am the Exec. Chef for Alpha Phi for U of U. 15 girls and 125 on one night a week. I love the house and the girls. Its fun to be in the kitchen and watch all their personalities swirl about. Some of them are strong personality and are skeptical of what is  to come. So far they all love the food.

When I met them, they all had foods they loved and a few have allergies but that's very fixable to work around with. My American Food girl was insistent that she will only eat American Food. I made the rule of my kitchen is: no matter what I cook, you have to try one bite of it. Doesn't matter if she doesn't like it. Its the point of having to try something new and different outside of the comfort zone.

So the challenge begins of taking these girls on a culinary journey of different food. Most of them are from the west coast so it will be fun to bring in foods from across the country and the world. I think that they  should be able to expand a little or that is the hope by the time the school year is done.

Stay tuned to see how it goes

Hunting Challenge

The week  I come back from vacation. I have one day to shop and I am gone for a week with 10 other people on a hunting excursion. No I am not killing anything . I am just the cook. These are high priority clients for the company that hired me.

My challenge is to cook 3 meals a day starting at 5 am for these people.  The company gave me a Turkey and Rib eye steaks for  two of the meals. Now I need to sit down between all the other events going on and plan out a menu so I can go shopping when I come home. Ideas are welcome. Its mainly comfort food. Theses clients are from all over the US. So trying to create something that everyone likes and hopefully get good tips from doing this.

I thought of doing some sort of Thanksgiving/ fall dinner with the turkey. Steaks I might do cowboy night and do rustic food. Still planning just need to sit down one night and commit to writing it out.

Happy Eating

Farmers Market and Beyond

Last Saturday was awesome! Only a small handful of people showed up but it was enough to sell out of jelly. I even had a lady post on the facebook page how much she loved the jelly. So its back in the kitchen lab to make more and create some new ideas. I hope that this weekend goes just as well.

On the Beyond part of the post. We are in the final stages of getting approval for the military base here to sell there. I also have a deal there with the flower shop to put product into their place along with doing cakes for them.

Also I have the Renaissance Fair account for 2014 as the Bakery. So if your in Utah come and see me. Its a very exciting and scary time. So much going on and so much to do. Thank you all for your support through the journey.  Stay tuned for more updates and information..

For those of you who want to purchase the jelly. Here is the site that it can be bought on for now. I am considering in the near future actually getting a website  for the business until now I use what I have .


Happy Eating
https://www.etsy.com/listing/163097035/dragon-fire-jelly-a-little-sweet-with

Yeah I made it

I finally made it to a Farmers Market. I will be out at one on Saturday 14, 2013 in Saratoga Springs.  I figured I would start with my home town first then spread out to other areas. I'm only doing about 6 products but I figured that it would give me a good idea of how the public took to what I am creating. I know the weather is suppose to be crappy but I can still hope that there will be people that come out anyways.

I got all my ducks in a row and are legal for business and now its time to start looking for customers, clients and what ever else comes my way. I decided it was time to do this . For medical reasons I am leaving the job I love so much in Park City. But they always say when one door closes another one opens. I am trying to keep optimistic about everything. I know being a chef and a pastry chef at that is hard and competition is stiff out here but I have faith that I can do this.  My son has challenged me for his birthday cake this year he wants a 3d stay puffed marshmallow man. So now to figure out when there is time to create it before we leave on a vacation for his birthday.  But that will be another post.

I even got my Etsy site going so all you can order across the country. Its Z Kitchen Zink Treats .

Thank you to all the readers on here who have been here from the start and who joined in along the way to taking the ride with me. Keep tuned to see what else is coming up.


Happy Eating

These are one of the items I will be selling.

Microwave Cake

I found this some where and loved it. I have been experimenting with it. The flavors don't really pop with the original recipe. So I have been doctoring it up a bit to make it much more yummy.. The original recipe is called 3,2,1 cake.  using 2 different box cake mixes. Then water and then microwaving it.
You use Angel food cake box mix and  mystery box b and mix together.

3  tbsp of mix
2 tbsp of water
1 min in the microwave.

That's great, but the flavor sucks. So you have to play with it. I had to share this it makes great little portions of  cake . I use coffee mugs to make it in. Again I really doctor the flavor. Below is the experiment pictures. One is the two test trials of the cake the lighter one is the original test with no additions, the second is with all the added extra stuff.  The other picture is the final cake is not more than probably half a coffee mug of cake.


Happy Eating

Grappa

Grappa Italian Restaurant is the place I work. Its part of an 8 restaurant group that belongs to Bill White.  I love my job. I am a trained pastry chef, but there I work the grill. Eventually I hope to be able to get to the bakery. For right now, I cook protein. Most days we have a moderate business that keeps the kitchen busy.  Kitchen has many interesting personalities. My problem is I don't speak enough Spanish to communicate well with all of them. I can say we make the best Mexican food around for an Italian restaurant. Most family meals are hot and spicy. Below are some of the dishes that go out to the public and pictures of the kitchen .

Its a great place to eat and I look forward to trying the other places that the group owns.

this is the beginnings of our Red Snapper

This is a prosciutto salad

street tacos for family meal

Cooking meat for family meal

Lobster ravioli

Seared Salmon

Demi Glaze in the making

Stuffed Mushrooms

I was able to get my hands on a couple of large portobellos a few days ago. I decided to stuff them. I first marinated them with balsamic vinegar and cooked them for about 15 minutes until they were soft. Then I came up with this mix to put in them. I used bread crumbs, red beats, onions, spinach and garlic. I had forgotten that red beats turn everything red so the mix was a bright red inside of the mushroom. I had a great flavor, just a bright color.  Below is the inspiration picture for the dish, and the actual one I made that night.

I love experimenting with what I have in the fridgerator. Some times it takes me hours to make something because I stand at my pantry with the doors open looking at everything I have and trying to figure out how to make a bunch of of work together so that  I can have something yummy to eat.

this was the inspiration

this is what actually came out.

Recipe Day

I have an extra day at home this week, so I am taking the time to post some of my recipes. I have been looking through my collection of hundreds of foods that I have collected since I started this journey and trying to narrow down my favorites to post on line for everyone to read and share.

One of my most favorite breads to make is Focaccia. I love taking the fresh Rosemary from my garden and using it in the recipe.  Here it is. I hope it works well for you and is as soft, and spongy as when I make it.

Sugar                                    1 tbsp
Active Dry Yeast                   1tbsp
All Purpose Flour                  1lb 2 oz
Water, warm                         12 fl oz
Kosher Salt                           2 tsp
Onion, fine dice                     3 oz
Olive Oil                               1/2 fl oz
Fresh Rosemary                    2 tbsp

Combine the sugar, yeast, and water. Stir to dissolve the yeast. Stir in 4 oz of flour at a time.
Stir in 1 1/2 tsp of the salt and onion. You can add some Rosemary at this time too if you wanted to
Mix well then knead on a lightly floured surface. Or in a bowl with dough hook.
Place dough in a oiled bowl cover and ferment until doubled. About an hour
Punch down the dough, then flatten it onto an oiled sheet pan. It should be no more than 1 inch thick. Brush the top with olive oil. Let dough proof until doubled about 15 min.
Sprinkle with crushed Rosemary and remaining 1/2 tsp of salt on top of dough.
Bake at 400 until lightly browned about 20 minutes.

Up date

Its been a while since I have posted to here. Just to catch up all the people of the page. I am a Professional chef now. Always still learning and growing with food. You can learn something everyday and it is always good to keep learning this way life never gets boring.

I am in the process of working to set up my own bakery in Utah. Starting small by trying to get into farmers markets and small events. I have to get a cottage license first that allows me to create home produced items. So that is a work in progress. I do have another blog page going for that which is  zkitchenzink.blogspot.com if you want to check it out.

I am a grill chef/cook at an upscale restaurant in Park City, UT. Grappa is an Italian restaurant that serves great simple food. It part of Bill White Enterprises. I love working there. I am constantly learning something and growing as a chef.

Stay tuned I will try to keep a better update as to the world of a new chef and my growing pains.