Designing a Commercial Kitchen with Appeal (Steven Browns)

William Arango, a kitchen interior designer, states that "While style counts, emphasis on commercial kitchens largely border functionality." For a very long time, there was hardly any emphasis paid on the designing of the setup of the commercial kitchen. From the smaller to the big kitchens, there has never been any understanding or evaluation on the type or method to be adopted for the procurement of equipments or cost.

There have been multiple times when a design of the commercial kitchen's floor has lead to the complete overhaul of the kitchen. It leads to it being rebuild and finishing. New equipments need to be procured and new chefs hired. This expensive affair is time consuming and thereby hampers the overall building process. For most of the people, there is no difference between the domestic and the commercial kitchen. In reality, there are distinctive features of both these types. While the domestic ones are all about style, the commercial kitchen is more about functionality and ergonomics. Various services like the water, gas, drainage, fire safety, electricity, exhaust system, lighting, HVAC, and ventilation systems. When setting up a commercial kitchen, it is important that everything is got right.

The commercial kitchens are an expensive affair and therefore getting it right at the first go is very important. It is therefore advised that the kitchen designer or expert be consulted before one finally chooses the design and the equipments needed. The following are some of the basic principles that should be taken into account when setting up the commercial kitchen.

The first is the menu, which would enlist the type of food that one would want to cook and serve. This would help in determining the equipments that would be needed and the parameters of the design otherwise required. Depending on the cuisine served, the food preparation areas need to be fixed. The next aspect that should be taken into account is the space available. The general rule of the thumb is that there should five square feet of available floor area for every cover in the restaurant. If the place is limited, then it is time to pay importance to the equipments that are going to be used and the storage space. One can always opt for the custom-made equipments for the kitchen. The third factor that would determine the benefits of the commercial kitchen is the mobility of staff working within the kitchen. This would include the service, chefs and the apprentices that would need to rush and run. The standard rule is that a minimum of five square feet of space is available for each person working in the kitchen. The next aspect that should be seen in a commercial kitchen is designing an ergonomically sound kitchen. It would facilitate in working efficiently without much of walking, bending, turning and reaching. This would reduce the risk of accidents, injury, fatigue and mix-ups. The theory behind such a kitchen is that there are fewer steps that would be needed for the employee to move and complete the task better. Fifthly, the kitchen should be energy efficient that would help in saving critical money by saving on the utility costs. Setting up all cooking elements together would lessen the time in heating the equipments. Keeping all the refrigeration points together would help in saving in energy needed to refrigerate the food. However, the problem is that for an ergonomic kitchen, saving money becomes an issue. Lastly, it is the appeal of the kitchen and the flexibility that it would offer to the staff in working in and around the kitchen.

Once the budget has been fixed and the design settled, it is time to reinvent the commercial kitchen. With a well designed kitchen, one would be bound to save money on utility costs and save energy.

The commercial kitchen should be designed according to the cuisine that is going to be served in the restaurant. To know more about the commercial kitchen or commercial catering, contact firstdegree.com.au

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Ways to Learn How to Make Cupcakes and Get the Cupcakes Delivered DC (Buan Appetit)

There are many ways to learn the cupcakes and get the cupcakes delivered DC. Each one has their way to prepare the cup cakes and all of the taste differently. Not all the methods need money but you need to have patience and tenacity for it. There are many ways to choose on how to make the cupcakes and after that the cupcakes delivered DC and here are the ways.

Cooking classes: There will be many classes conducted on how to make the cupcakes delivered and people who are interested can attend those. This may be fastest way to learn the process of making the cupcakes. The proper and direct guidance can be achieved if one learns from the cooking classes. The cooking classes will have many experienced professionals in it and they will teach you in a proper way. So, after learning the cupcakes delivery DC will be easy. You can easily master in the cupcakes cooking if you have attended the cooking classes and do the practice at home.

Internet: Like many other things the cooking can also be learnt from the internet. For many people this is the best source for all the information. The videos are always available in the internet and one can look at the videos and do it. By looking at the videos there will be more clarity in making and one can do the work easily. This will also make the cupcakes delivery DC easy. If you get w rough idea of the process you can do many of the customized cakes in the way you like. You can go on experimenting on it once you get an idea and do the practice.

Recipe books: Not only the cooking classes and the internet there are also many of the recipe books available where the recipes are available clearly. There are many books available and the one you like can be bought and learnt from that. If you get to know about the cupcakes you can take the cupcake catering MD and can give the cupcakes delivery DC to the people who order it. The cakes will be sold out like hot cakes if you get practice in doing the cupcake catering MD. There are many of the caterers available and the one who does the market well and has honesty and taste with them will get succeeded in it. Savvy Treats knows that quality products are very important to the consumer today. We delivered Wholesale Cupcakes DC in Washington.

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Making a Perfect Sandwich - Food Tips (India Network)

"Sandwich architecture can mean the difference between a great meal and a mess that will ruin your tie," says Sisha Ortuzar, cofounder of New York City's gourmet sandwich shop,'wichcraft. The messier your ingredients, the thicker you want the bottom piece of bread to be. For a dense sandwich, like the Bistro Baguette, slice off the top third of one slice, and use the thicker piece on the bottom. Don't blast your bread in the toaster. Instead, sear it on one side in a stove-top skillet on medium-high heat until it's browned and crisp. Stack the sandwich with the toasted sides facing in--the toasty barrier will prevent sogginess and the soft outward sides won't scratch the roof of your mouth. The right sandwich can turn a bad day into a good one. Try these simple steps to the perfect sandwich. Take two slices of your favourite type of bread. Toast the bread in a toaster until the bread is slightly brown. Place three thin tomato slices, slightly overlapping, on the slice on which you spread the mayo. If you don't like tomatoes simply use ketchup. Place a lot of large romaine lettuce leaves over the tomato slices. Spread mayo on the second slice of toast, and complete the sandwich. Slice the sandwich diagonally, and use sandwich toothpicks to hold the sandwich halves together. Serve with potato chips and a dill pickle spear and a glass of milk.

How to choose the perfect fillings

Once you've picked out your bread it's time to add a great filling. Really, there are no rules when it comes to sandwich fillings, although a great melting cheese is always nice. Add to these deli meats, sliced vegetables and a range of antipasto. To make the sandwich extra tasty, add two layers of cheese. Here are a few of favourite toastie fillings:

Salami, roasted capsicum, rocket and provolone cheese
Chicken, bacon, avocado and Swiss cheese
Prosciutto, sun dried tomatoes, Gouda cheese
Roast beef, seeded mustard, sliced fresh tomatoes and mozzarella cheese
Chicken, avocado, fresh basil and Havarti cheese
Tomatoes, fresh basil and mozzarella cheese
Turkey breast, tomatoes, cress and Swiss cheese
Salami, rocket and fontina cheese

Use Perfect Combinations

There are several options to make your sandwich shine, so team up the right bread to the right heat source for an irresistible combination:

Sandwich press

This is the toasted sandwich maker of choice for delis and cafes, allowing you to successfully toast almost any type of bread. Even the biggest sandwich is no match for the sandwich press, and they are a great choice if you're watching your waistline as there's no need to add butter, oil or batter to the bread. Available either flat or griddled, the sandwich press also includes a handle so that you can apply pressure as the sandwich cooks.

Jaffle maker

The original jaffle maker was once family favourite, allowing leftovers to be transformed into a toastie treat. This handy device seals the edges of the bread, melting the cheese and heating up the goodies contained inside. This is the toasted sandwich press of choice for use with pre-sliced supermarket bread.

Grill

If you opt for an open sandwich, or you don't own a dedicated sandwich maker, you can use your grill to great effect. For an open sandwich, toast your individual slices of bread, pile up the fillings, and add a layer of cheese and then place under a preheated grill.

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Office Catering Do's And Don'ts (Jon Espinoza)

Office catering can bring in steady income but only if it's done right. It's a high stress job that requires organization and good execution as clients rely on the caterer for meals. Slip ups can leave them hungry and irritated and cost you future contracts.

As for clients, make sure you go with a caterer you know has a good reputation. If it's daily lunch catering for employees, go for wholesome home-cooked style menus. If it's clients you need to impress, a touch of gourmet is a good idea. Just be sure to find out who suffers from what allergies or is on a diet plan.

Get real about the budget

This applies to both clients and caterers. We've just come out of a recession and the going is slow but not so slow that commodities are too cheap. Clients should have a realistic view of what their budgets can buy. Caterers should too.

Cutting corners is fine as long as nobody expects gourmet cuisine at $20 a head. Menus should be simple and not consist of 7-course meals unless it's a fancy event. If a 7-course meal is being planned, the cost can be tempered by selecting decent quality fare and not exotic foods.

Give the guest list some leeway

If the catering is for 20 guests, caterers should expect another five guests. Clients who decide to invite more people after giving the list to caterers should inform them at the earliest. Doing so a day or two before the event can be disastrous as plans will go awry. Clients are also likely to pay an additional fee which will dent the budget.

Don't interfere

This is for clients eager to make the event a success that they unintentionally interfere with the catering work. Caterers understand you have qualms but they're experienced at handling different events. Leave them to their jobs and enjoy the occasion rather than fretting with the service. Caterers will also appreciate your trust and do their best to serve up a memorable event.

Hire way in advance

If a caterer is hired only three-four days prior to an event, you can't expect excellent service. There's a lot of work involved like planning, shopping, preparation etc. Small parties of 10 to 15 people require at least five days notice while large parties have to be planned a week to 10 days in advance. The more time is given for organization, the better the event will proceed without a hitch.

A perfect menu

Menu selection depends on the client and you may choose any group of items. But some foods are a bad choice because they don't sit well, dry out or become soggy. Unless they're prepared on-site, exclude them.

A perfect menu consists of soup which can't be overcooked or dried out, chicken which heats well and doesn't become soggy and braised meats and vegetables as they retain heat and water. Chilli also holds well as it doesn't lose taste and texture.

If certain items can't be excluded, caterers will have to do the following: Cook fried foods and rice on-site, chilled slightly undercooked grilled items during transport and complete the cooking on-site, and prepare fried oysters or crab cakes if seafood is demanded as fish is easily overcooked and dries out when held for too long.

Catering service can help you have a clue how much food as well as drink you must have based upon the number of people and sort of celebration. Milligans Catering specializes in offering the finest corporate and office catering service. Visit their website milliganscatering.com.au for additional details.

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Setting up a Commercial Kitchen for Making Chocolates (Steven Browns)

Different kinds of artisanal chocolates have gained popularity in the market. These chocolates have provided individuals with the opportunity to enjoy doing what they love the most. It is making various kinds of chocolate delectable and yet not having to compete with the multinational candy corporations that exist. Most of the states do not allow making any kind of food in the home. Most of the chocolate makers have their own set-up that needs to be catered to. Before beginning with the business, it is important that cooking area be set up at a viable location. The following are some of the steps that need to be taken when setting up required kitchen.

The first step in building a commercial kitchen for chocolate making is to find out from the various state governments the licenses needed to produce the required food in the area. These kitchens have to follow multiple mandates and therefore the individual should be aware of multiple licenses that would be needed to obtain the health inspection. This usually takes time and therefore needs to be properly attained as cancellation of a license would stop the production immediately.

The second step in this entire process is to build a space for the commercial kitchen. It needs stove and electric burners. However, even if the kitchen has to function properly, even for a gas connection, there has to be certain licenses that need to be met. There should be enough space for tempering of the chocolate. Associated with this place, there needs to be specific table for molding and packaging the finished chocolates. If the entrepreneur does not have sufficient capital to invest in the kitchen, it is wise to consider a lease option wherein it would act as a business incubator. The space can then be altered once the necessary capital is acquired from different investors.

The third step is finding the appropriate suppliers. Since it is an artisanal chocolatiers it is important to find fine grade suppliers of the same. More often than not, cacao bean suppliers are located in different geographical locations. It is important that the chocolate be sourced from farms that do not use forced or child labour, by employers who pay fair wages, and suppliers that adhere to the rules of industries. Depending on the requirement of the chocolates, the fine grade and superior grade cacao beans suppliers can be approached. Fine grade chocolate is made of Criolla and Trinitario cacao plants. This is grown in Antilles and since it is pricey, the entrepreneur can always opt to buy bulk chocolate as an alternative. The most easily available is the Forastero variety of cacao bean. The bulk chocolate can be bought from various candy supply retailers and baking shops.

The fourth step is in buying the equipments that are needed to make the chocolate. This can be bought in wholesale. The materials would include a tempering stone, packaging, candy molds, double boilers and quality candy thermometer. These are bought from a baking, candy or any chocolate supply company. Sometimes the chocolate need cream, fresh nuts, delicate edible decorative items, fresh fruits and sugar, all these can be bought from the local supermarket. However, storing these perishable items is sometimes difficult and there may be the need of a bigger refrigeration system. Buying locally would also be cost effective, as it would save shipping charges.

The last step is setting up the commercial kitchen for the maximum efficiency. There is the need of multiple stations. This would include stations for melting, tempering, pouring into molds, making truffles and packaging the rest. The tempering stations should be located away from all heat stations, as this would melt the chocolate. The packaging station should be placed near the molding station. The chocolates need to be packaged immediately after being removed from the molds. Handling the chocolate too much would lead to melting and eventually destruction of the taste.

The author thinks that commercial kitchens would need certain aspects that need looking into. If it were for making various artisanal chocolates, it would need certain specific things for the restaurant.

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Beetroot Kootu, Beetroot Dal, Beets With Lentils

          Whenever I buy beets, I usually make a poriyal or use it along with other vegetables in a kurma or curry. I've made kootu with it long time back, but the taste was not that amazing, so I never did it after that. I made the kootu again, couple of weeks back, cooked beets along with some dal and this time, spiced it up with black pepper and the taste was awesome. I've noted that black pepper ( instead of dried red chillies ) goes well with vegetables that have a sweetish taste like carrots and beets. And also, I have done the seasoning with coconut oil which gives a wonderful flavor to this kootu. It tastes great with some plain rice and pappads..

Need To Have

• Chopped Beets - 11/2 cups
• Moong Dal/ Split And Husked Green Gram - 1/4 cup
• Grated Coconut - 1 tablespoon, packed
• Black Pepper - 1 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Urad Dal/ Husked Black Gram - 1 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10
• Coconut Oil - 1 to 2 teaspoons
• Salt - to taste

Method

          Grind together the coconut, cumin seeds and black pepper, without adding any water, it'll be like a wet powder.

          Pressure cook the beets, moong dal along with the turmeric powder. Once all the pressure is released, open the pressure pan and add the powdered coconut mix and asafoetida and cook for a couple of minutes.

          Then heat some coconut oil in another pan, add the urad dal and mustard seeds, once it starts spluttering, add the curry leaves and remove, add this to the cooked beetroot and dal, mix well and serve it over some hot rice and enjoy.

Note
You can cook the beets and dal in a regular pan, the pressure pan or cooker saves you time.
You can do the seasoning with regular vegetable oil or canola or with ghee also, but coconut oil gives an awesome flavor.
Can make the kootu as thick or thin as you prefer, increase or decrease the pepper according to your spice level. 

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The Process by Which Commercial Catering Operates (Steven Browns)

Whether it is a gallery opening, book signing, bar mitzvah, rehearsal dinner, there would be catering involved to complete the experience. If in a wedding or in a fundraiser one would taste good food and it is mostly the catering team's effort. The term catering sounds simple. It means to cook some food and serve it. This is the basic concept, however, there is more to it. This article would try to cover the many aspects of catering. Starting from the initial customer-catering meeting to the execution of the final event, catering is a whole lot more than cooking. It involves selection, food planning, preparation, teamwork, creativity and equipments.

Let's understand what the term Commercial Catering means today. Food remains the main component in the catering world. However, it is just a part. Most companies would agree that catering involves full event planning. The focus has morphed into a full on event-planning model. The focal point has moved on to a broader mission, more aptly, towards the satisfaction of all senses like the sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. With the appropriate atmosphere, the catering agency can appease all the senses and thereby make the event memorable. Beautifully prepared food would appeal to the senses; however, it is subtle enough to not outshine the main event. This is the reason that tableware, glassware and even the decorations used would have the same impact. Everything used starting from the flatware, flowers to lighting and linen used should complement the food to create a unified experience. The key lies in continuity. It is important that each element be in sync with each other. There are certain things that matters in offering the overall experience. Like, whether the venue is apt for the occasion, season and pax. The menu should befit the occasion and taste of the group. For example, the retirement celebration would love tapas stations. Lastly, the decor should suit the venue and the event. The white linen, china and crystal stemware may not be ideal for a casual barbeque party. Whatever be the party type, the goal remains the same, to deeply satisfy the guests.

Most catering agencies come up with the mantra of "How can I make it happen for you?" but the most important thing to remember is that each caterer is actually worth his or her salt. It is duty of the caterer after being contacted to figure out what is wanted and decide how the company would accomplish this. The process starts with client-caterer meetings. The idea is to share and discuss as much information that would help in developing the proposal. As the customer, they may have to face questions on topics like the time and date of the event, the cause, budget, guests and venue. Depending on the answers, the other set of questions come into conversations. This forms the backbone of the caterer's proposal and therefore it is advised to be as explicit as possible. Most of the time the customers think only about budget, yet it is important for the caterer to understand the budget and the expectations. Most caterers are professionals and they are equipped to help you.

Once the Commercial Catering company understands the requirements of the customer, they move forward in creating the proposal. The foundation of the proposal is based on general inquiry with the prospect client. Now, armed with the information, the caterer moves to construct the main menu, beverages and itemised listing of rented equipments and other details. This greatly depends on the theme of the occasion. For example, for the cocktail party it is mainly hors d'oeuvres that are served. Other than this, the amount of food intake is less in cocktail parties. These criteria would be included in the proposal. The other considerations include are as follows:

Balanced menu: This would ensure that the menu served to the guests have a balance of two proteins, one starch and one vegetable.

Courses: There are can be multiple courses in a seated dinner and each course should complement the other. The entree can be venison, and the antipasto can be seafood, which would also give variety to the dinner.

Buffet stations: The number of buffet stations would correspond to the total number of guests attending the event.

Beverages: The wine and all other alcoholic beverages are listed in this proposal.

Once the caterer's proposal is ready, it is given to the customer to verify. This is done in the next meeting.

After the approved proposal, the caterer moves on to the next thing that is planning the event. Everything including the decor, the food, flatware, glassware, linen, and decorations, etc. is scheduled according to the requirements of the customer. The idea is to impart an overall outlook that would satisfy the senses of the invitees.

The Commercial Catering business requires thorough planning and analysis before its appropriate execution. Steven Brown thinks that the process requires seamless customer and caterer interactions.

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