Brazo De Mercedes

I found several recipes of this yummy dessert online. I pulled the methods I liked from those recipes and made my own version of it. Here goes.

*I made this recipe several times and also tried to roll it into a log. The cake itself tore so I had to revise the recipe as to how it worked out.

Meringue:

10 egg whites

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Beat egg whites until stiff, make sure it makes stiff peaks, about 15 - 20 minutes. Gradually add 1 cup sugar, beating continuously. Stir in vanilla.

Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper greased with butter or cooking spray and spread meringue on top. Bake until brown, about 15 - 20 minutes. Let cool, it will shrink and set while cooling.

*Beating the egg whites until smooth will help keep it whole if you are going to make a log. Cooking it until firm will also help. To test cake if it's done, lightly touch the top, if it springs back and doesn't stick to your finger's it's almost there, put back in the oven for another 5 minutes.

Filling:

10 large egg yolks

397g (1 can or 1-1/4 cup) sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

In a saucepan combine the egg yolks and condensed milk and whisk until thick, about 15 to 12 minutes. Take it off the heat and stir in the vanilla. Let cool

Assembly: (Although I made mine a stacked cake rather than a roulade.)

Place a sheet of parchment slightly bigger than the meringue sheet on the counter and dust with confectioner's sugar Remove the meringue sheet with its parchment from the sheet pan and invert it, parchment and all, onto the dusted parchment on the counter. Peel off the parchment it baked in. Pipe or spoon the warm filling on one of the long sides of the meringue. Roll up the meringue sheet away from you, compressing it as you go so the filling is compact. Brush with butter and put back in the oven to brown top some more. Place on a serving platter and cool before serving. Refrigerate until serving time. Enjoy!

PS: I do not have a well equipped kitchen at home. Thus, I used what I had, hence the stacked cake versus rolling it. In my opinion there was too much meringue on my brazo. I used 2 9x13 cake pans versus a jelly roll tray. It was still yummy though!

Note: For those using pasturized egg yolks or egg whites.

MEASURING EGGS

4 jumbo eggs = 1 cup

6 jumbo whites = 1 cup

12 jumbo yolks = 1 cup

4 Ex Lg eggs = 1 cup

6 Ex Lg whites = 1 cup

12 Ex Lg yolks = 1 cup

5 Lg eggs = 1 cup

7 Lg whites = 1 cup

14 Lg yolks = 1 cup

5 Med eggs = 1 cup

8 Med whites = 1 cup

16 Med yolks = 1 cup

6 Sm eggs = 1 cup

9 Sm whites = 1 cup

18 Sm yolks = 1 cup

Transformation.

Well...just a little!

I have decided to add a new concept to this blog, aside from all the ranting and raving I do about work. Since, I am doing this working seasonally thing and trying a lot of restaurants along the way. I will also start adding some restaurant and food blog!!! Can't wait!

Texas Petal Sauce

Description:
To accompany your Mexican feasts, used as dip, sauce for fajitas, tacos, burritos, etc.

(Please, pardon my lack of measurements because I just "eyeball" it and then taste it! Adjust accordingly! - One of these days I'll measure it.)

Ingredients:
Mayonnaise
Yogurt
Cayenne Pepper
Tabasco Sauce
Catsup
Paprika
Oregano
Salt and Pepper

Directions:
Mix all together in a bowl. Season to taste.

Too Many Cooks Spoiled The Broth.

A classic case.

I just started working at a catering company, and the owners now know that they are ready to open a restaurant. I was hired as one of the sous chefs. We are three. I thought it would be fun to be part of growing company such as this. It would be fun to be a part of the developement of a restaurant. My bosses are fun and are always open to our ideas. There is just one problem. The other sous chef.

He's okay. I believe that he has enough skills. But I do not know how far along he is to actually serving fine food. He has a mediocre complex. I've caught him so many times making that mediocre decision of "pwede na". Which I do not like. I for one am a proud cook. I'm proud of my food because I put my heart into preparing it. And I don't want my customers to say that my food is mediocre. Also, this cook is very close-minded. He never listens to my ideas, whenever I voiced any out. He always insists that his is the best idea.

Examples:
1. He wants 3 dishwashing stations for a 140 sq meter restaurant (minus the deli area so probably 100 sq meters) which only sits at most 40 people at a time. And when I objected it he said that I do not want to entertain his idea. OF COURSE! Having an architectural background I know for a fact that having 3 dishwashing sinks for the kind of establishment is ridiculous. The extra space can be more utilized.

2. He wants a bain marie for the same 140 sq meter restaurant. HILARIOUS. Does he have a hundred different kinds of soups or sauces to heat up?

3. He wants an upright freezer because he thinks it's such a pain in the ass to stoop over, organize the huge chest freezer we have and dig out the stocks. FYI, you can actually make stocks fresh everyday, if you want. You dont have to store them for days and days.

4. He ordered 3 kgs of basil, 2-3 kgs of celery. And when I told him it was too many, he said that it was okay and that we will use everything. After the saturday market we had 2-2.5 kgs of basil sitting in the chiller to rot. What did he do? Dry them. A sorry solution for what could've been prevented in the first place if only he had enough sense to listen to others. The celery was more forgivable, he was lucky we can make stocks. Come to think of it, where are those dried basil?

In every restaurant I've worked in, I always had an affinity for the place. I take pride on oour products, I take pride in my work and I am concerned for with things like food costs, return of investment and colleagues. And I know that this place can be great. But with someone like him in it. I am not as optimistic as I have been.

Sous Chef.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA. Heck yeah! I'm a Chef. :D

Back.

Well, I am having a hard time saying "home". But I am back here, where I was from. HEHE I have a few job applications under my belt. HEHE I have one I am currently working on. And I must say it is the most exciting! :) Hopefully, things pushes through. Will let you guys know. But for now I will keep mum! :)

Whiny Cook.

Been awhile. It's not that I have been busy but I have just been looking for an oppurtunity to write something interesting in this blog. So okay, I have been here in Orleans, MA for about 2 months now (yay! 3 more months and I am homebound!). I am the day prep/line cook. That means half of my day is spent preparing for the line for operations and then for night too. On some days I get to be the boss (sort of), because Debbie (the day kitchen manager) would be on her day off. Teehee. I have two jobs. I work in the kitchen in the morning and I work in the dining room on some nights as a hostess.

I am kind of irked at one of the cooks at night. He is so freakin' swear to the cook gods whiny. He just finds things to whine about all the time. Prep not done right, prep not done enough. I mean hello? We try our best man, we have to man the line to you know? Why not come early and do some prep work yourself? Geez. I have never, in my 1 year and so of working, met a cook that said too many things. We're always work work work. Get things done. Even my chef in Arizona doesnt complain as much as he does! And my chef works 12 or more hours a day! And no overtime pay! Duh.

Wish he'd shut up.