[CH] Habaneros In the Air
ChefChile@aol.com
Tue, 8 Sep 1998 17:05:06 EDT
Well I hope everyone had as good a weekend as I did.
This being Labor Day Weekend here in the US, means an extra day off for most
people. Working in the restaurant business this weekend was just another
weekend. Since I work at the Rainforest Cafe in the MGM Grand here in Las
Vegas, we get quite busy on any holiday weekend, and this one was no
exception. We got slammed, and slammed hard.
I made so many items "on the fly" I had to grow wings. I even surprised
myself by making an excellent batch (32 gallons) of alfredo sauce in just 20
minutes. Let me say it was a weekend to remember.
Anyhow, since we had worked so hard this weekend, and the AKM (Sous Chef) had
just moved into a new house, he invited us over for a cookout.
His new gas grill was defective, so we cooked indoors. The menu consisted of
Corn on the cob; fresh greens tossed with cucumbers, tomatoes and serrano
chilies wirth your choice of either Italian or my own cilantro dressing;
kielbasa sauteed with peppers and onions; fresh bread with extra virgin olive
oil for dipping; and of course to finish this list off he had some steaks
rubbed with habanero powder.
Dinner was great. Except for the cooking of the steaks. Since he couldn't
cook outside we had to prepare the steaks indoors. Let me tell you. The
moment the steaks hit the heat we were suffering. The hab powder hit the air
and hit our eyes and noses. The vents weren't working right so it cleared the
house. I put a bandana around my face to finish cooking the steaks, but my
eyes were so swollen for about 15 minutes I couldn't stop tearing up.
Lesson learned. Don't cook steaks rubbed with habanero powder indoors until
after you test the vents.
John "ChefChile" Whalen