Just what I needed

Today at work was interesting in a good and bad way.

My morning sucked, like totally blew chunks really hard everywhere. Aggravating co-worker and tedious/monotonous/completely disinteresting tasks.

Boring has been the theme of most of my days at the Palace of late. I like my job, but the boring monotony is really getting under my skin. I want something more active. I used to learn something new every time I walked into work, but lately I haven't done anything new or exciting in quite some time. No learning experiences, no adventures to write home about.

But today ended on a high note, thankfully. It was the sort of burst I needed to revitalize my desire to work at the Palace. I got to work with my bosses boss. The executive sous chef to be more accurate, Chef Jeff. He kept calling me General Patton, I guess it's a play on my last name. I liked it though.

Tomorrow night is the employee of the year recognition dinner and for it they are having braised short ribs=yummy. I had the pleasure of preparing the short ribs for their two hour hot bath. I seared four sheet trays worth of short ribs in a large tilt skillet with mireapoix (that's a 1:1:2 ratio of carrots, celery, and onion), garlic, bay leaves, and thyme. Then I added tomato paste and deglazed with merlot and beef stock. Smelled fantastic.

It was the perfect ending, I got to something new and exciting with great product (not to mention I finally got a great hot cooking experience) and Chef Jeff taught me quite a few things about braising. Tis good.

I only wish I could taste those short ribs once their done.