Every summer, the kitchen team participates in sending off our interns with a very special gathering and dinner. This year, the theme was grad night. We were asked to do some portable familiar foods, and fancy it up a little. Here's our contribution:

grilled cheese & tomato soup
panorama pan de mie - holy cow cheese - brandywine tomato bisque

lobster & corn cup o'noodles
lobster tail & lobster tare - black garlic oil - corn 'kotsu' broth

We made a ramen stock in the same way we would do our tonkotsu broth, except we used corn. One, because it was in season, and two, because we wanted to provide a vegetarian option, too. We made a tare from the lobster shells and a lobster demi that we added only to the non-vegetarian cups to emphasize the lobster flavor. Black mayu oil tops off the noodles. We served it coffee cups dressed in a sleeve to make a portable bowl of ramen.

carribean pork belly sliders
with habanero & lime aioli

halaal cart - chicken over rice
spiced basmatti pilaf - red sauce - yogurt sauce

The hit of the night on the savory side. This station got attacked.

We tried fancifying this by packaging it into a neat 'hand-roll' where lavosh is used instead of nori. It was good, but not nearly as good serving it sloppy as it's shown above. We also tried adding a garnish, or heirloom tomatoes, to make it at least a little bit more presentable. Nope. This dish is meant to be left the way it is.

jenna & anita's petite ice cream sandwich bar
peanut butter cookie - strawberry oatmeal cookie - double chocolate chip - vanilla ice cream

Originally, I had the idea of doing a made-to-order It's It station. Then I came to my senses and realized dipping ice cream sandwiches into coating chocolate a la minute was a really stupid idea, logistically speaking. Instead, we went with a much simpler mix-n-match ice cream sandwich bar. It went over very well. That strawberry oatmeal cookie is where it's at.

Can't have a graduation party without spiked punch! Unfortunately, this wasn't spiked since some of the interns were still under drinking age...but that was the original idea. Yes, I'm aware of the photo-bomb.

Here are the intern's enjoying their meal at KitchenHouse our great dining hall.

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