Soups, lobster guts and food snobs

Last week was soup week- I decided to volunteer for shrimp bisque because I knew it would gross me out. It did, I know me so well! After peeling and deveining a pound of shrimp and doing the other prep work for the soup we had to add lobster parts. I literally mean parts. The heads (eyes and long eye brow things) legs, and other nasty parts and the shrimp shells and legs. It was disgusting. So then after you cook it properly you grind all of those parts together to make the bisque. It was gross. I couldn't even taste it. I need to get past that. The other soups were good, but the chili was my favorite! Yum!


One of the best parts of soup week is something Chef Greg said. Each group makes their own batch of a soup and then we pour them together in a community container. Most of us tried to pour slowly to prevent splashes but Chef Greg yelled "Hard and Fast!" lol he thinks it is best to just pour it hard and fast, obviously so you get it over with. I thought it was funny though.


The AI team did not win Chef's Challenge, but we did have a blast. Chef Rob, Chef Andy and Chef Jim's team won and went on to the Iron Chef competition where they lost as well. Even still, I made some friends who are super smart and have taught me a lot already! 


The first night we had a welcome dinner where we had Michigan Beer and Wine which was lovely. The food was not good but the alcohol was. It was so good- I danced! Another reason to have other Chef friends, most of them don't have rhythm either, haha. Then we went to the main lodge and had dinner. If you ever get the opportunity to go out to dinner with a chef, or a group of them, be prepared to share your food and/or drink. It is just what happens. We all tasted each others food and discussed the problems with each dish. Most people still continued to drink but Eric and I are old married people so we stopped after the first dinner. Basically everyone got to know each other before we worked together the next day.


We had to be up and ready at breakfast by 8am. This was a difficult task considering the events of the night before, however we managed it. We ate breakfast (same routine as last night's dinner) and went to set up our table at the competition. Since there were 15 of us Chef Steve told us to ask other groups of they needed help. 


My new Jewish friend (he makes jokes about it so that's what he will be affectionately referred to, I seriously love Jewish people just in case you thought it was rude) and Dee found a group who needed us to de-bone their smoked white fish. I was a little nervous after last weeks lobster head and shrimp shell bisque, but I dug in, and with the help of the Jew, we deboned 14 white fish. I tried to wash my hands with soup and Lemon but I still smelled fishy- Eric and Chef Steve both informed me of this. 


After that it was time to start, so we again had to find groups who needed help. I offered to pour beer for Mt. Pleasant Brewery so I poured some beer for about an hour and then I took a break to try some food. I can't remember what I ate other than I tried the whitefish I de-boned and it was decent. Then I got to cook...


Well actually I sauteed some croquettes, and I learned to plate with the help of the Jew, the Champion and Wu. It was super fun...and then it was over and time to clean up. I learned a few neat tricks about plating, sauteeing and cooking in general and the trip was awesome. 


After we lost, Chef Steve said he would meet us for Burgers at a nearby bar. So we cleaned, help set up the Iron Chef Competition and then most of us went back to our room and tried to fit in a nap and a shower. Then we were out again for dinner and drinks. Eric and I talked to everyone while we ate and then our plan was to go swimming. That didn't happen...like I said we are an old married couple. We got back to our room and fell asleep at 8:00 and didn't wake up until 8:30 the next day. Awesome. 


The trip was a success and I am glad to have made new friends and connections. I definitely learned a lot.