New Year's Eve

For special events, the owner and Chef partner, Adam, usually comes up with an idea and then has me execute it. It's fun to have him give me an idea and then us go back and forth making it better and better until we land on something we both are really excited about. He pushes me when it comes to flavors and techniques, and I'm always learning new ways to produce cool effects.

For New Year's Eve, Adam wanted to do a stuffed french toast. I stuffed Challah Bread with an Apple and Cream Cheese filling, then dipped the thick slices into a seasoned egg mixture that I created for my very own "French Cakes" creation (combining French Toast and Pancakes) and then pan fried the slices. For service, I reheated the slices in the oven, then dipped the bottoms in butter and vanilla seasoned Corn Flakes to give it extra crunch. It was served with the most delightful Apple Cider Syrup (recipe to follow), a scoop of Maple Bourbon Ice Cream, and garnished with an edible Orchid.

Adam also had a really cool idea for a special Strawberry Shortcake. It was served with Moscato Wine macerated strawberries, a vanilla foam, and pop rocks so it simulated strawberries and champagne in your mouth. Adam taught me how to make foams using soy lethicin, which is one of the new techniques I was speaking of earlier.

The Roy's Signature Melting Chocolate Souffle is a requirement at any special event of this type, for good reason.

We also had a cheese plate on the dessert menu.

There were two of us working the station, as we expected to do over 300 covers that night. Our station was styled out to the max, and service went incredibly smoothly with no issues at all. I look forward to many more events such as this!

Apple Cider Syrup Recipe:
1 cup apple cider
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 Tbs. unsalted butter

Directions:
Whisk together all ingredients except for the butter in a medium saucepan. Bring the mixture just to a boil and then lower the heat and simmer until thickened and reduced to about 1 cup, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the butter until melted. Serve warm over stuffed French toast.

I made a HUGE batch of this so it took awhile to reduce down. This was perfectly fine, because it made the whole back area smell absolutely divine.