Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Chicken Dumplings at the Soup Kitchen

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Chicken Dumplings at the Soup Kitchen

    <html><head>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en-us">
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252"><title>Catholic Outreach Soup Kitchen, Chef Bob Ballantyne, Grand Junction, Colorado, USA</title></head>
    <body>

    <p>Well another month rolls into the third Saturday and I find myself at the
    <a href="http://www.catholicoutreach.org/SoupKitchen.html">Catholic Outreach
    Soup Kitchen</a> preparing a meal for less fortunate persons.&nbsp; Over three
    years now of doing this and I still like doing it.&nbsp; Little light on
    volunteers today as we only have five volunteers to get all the work done.&nbsp;
    Worse yet, January is one of our lowest donation months of the year!&nbsp; So we
    have almost no donations for the week.&nbsp; So to the pantry for an inspection.&nbsp;
    I have to come up with a dinner and dessert for these folks.</p>
    <p>Chef Rant On:</p>
    <p>Ok folks I have said it before but it is worth repeating, if you donated
    during the holidays to help those less fortunate but have done nothing this
    month.&nbsp; I want you to know you are not fooling the deity you worship!&nbsp;
    Whomever you worship knows if your December gesture to humanity was followed
    through into January.&nbsp; So my advice is don't piss your God off, donate
    every month! 'Nuff said!</p>
    <p>Chef Rant Off:</p>
    <p>Well I have the donations from all the restaurants that were organized to
    save their unusable stuff for us.&nbsp; So to the Boston's chickens in the
    freezer!&nbsp; Of course this means I need Chicken Pickers.&nbsp; Only job worse
    than this is Crab picking!&nbsp; But it needs to be done.&nbsp; I do get some
    complaints from some of the volunteers, to which I always respond &quot;did you think
    you were coming to the Bahamas on vacation when you said you would volunteer at
    the soup kitchen?&quot;&nbsp; Feeding those less fortunate is work, and it has to be
    done to get these people fed.&nbsp; So out come the chickens and into the
    chicken pickin' business the volunteers go!</p>
    <p>
    <img border="0" src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/chickdumpling/pickchi.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
    <p>
    <img border="0" src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/chickdumpling/chickpick.jpg" width="445" height="275"></p>
    <p>Of course what the other volunteers don't ever remember is I have already
    been working on things long before they got there.&nbsp; I have the base started
    for the chicken and dumplings meal that will be served.</p>
    <p>
    <img border="0" src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/chickdumpling/tiltstrt.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
    <p>Onions, celery, and carrots have all already been prepped.&nbsp; The
    Southwest Cream Corn is already prepped and ready to go into the convection
    oven.&nbsp; I add the carrots to the tilt skillet and we begin to have the looks
    of a decent Chicken and Dumplings meal.&nbsp; On of the things that is important
    at the soup kitchen is to get as much balanced diet type foods into these
    people.&nbsp; They already have problems, they don't need poor nutrition to add
    to the dilemma they face daily.</p>
    <p>
    <img border="0" src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/chickdumpling/carrot.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
    <p>I was told that the entire beginning of the week is going to be light on
    volunteers.&nbsp; Heck I am there anyway, only have one catering later in the
    evening, so I slam together some other starts to meals for Monday and Tuesday's
    crews.&nbsp; All the chicken carcasses will make a nice soup and a decent
    Chicken and Noodles dinner.&nbsp; So extra stockpots are started and I begin to
    render the life supporting nutrition out of the leftovers.&nbsp; Wing tips,
    bones, backs, necks, it all gives up itself to create another meal.</p>
    <p>
    <img border="0" src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/chickdumpling/stock.jpg" width="423" height="320">&nbsp;
    </p>
    <p>Finally I add the dumplings on to it and close the lid to let it steam to a
    finish!</p>
    <p>
    <img border="0" src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/chickdumpling/dumpling.jpg" width="445" height="336"></p>
    <p>Meanwhile I noticed a most unusual donation.&nbsp; 8 pounds of cut, steamed
    and instantly frozen rhubarb.&nbsp; With none of the bakeries have any leftover
    goods, I have to make a dessert.&nbsp; As usual, I will use this to sneak in
    another fruit on the clients!&nbsp; I will have to create it from scratch.&nbsp;
    So I make a heavy cream cheese cake.&nbsp; (Now this is one rich cheese cake,
    since the cream won't be used by anyone else prior to going sour, I figure it is
    a perfect use for it.)&nbsp; I then work up a rhubarb, cranberry and orange
    compote for the cheese cake.&nbsp; We do not get gram cracker donated so the
    cheese cake will be scooped like ice cream into a bowl with the Rhubarb compote
    spooned over it.</p>
    <p>
    <img border="0" src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/chickdumpling/rhubarb.jpg" width="378" height="287"></p>
    <p>In the end they ate it all.&nbsp; I like to think of that as a complement to
    the skills of the chef and the volunteers, but it may have a lot to do with not
    being able to afford food that most take for granted!</p>
    <p>
    <img border="0" src="http://www.prochefblog.com/public_pics/soupkit/chickdumpling/service.jpg" width="445" height="244"></p>
    <p>'Til we talk again, make sure you make that donation to your local soup
    kitchen!&nbsp; They need it badly, and while you are at it, post it on the
    calendar every month for the rest of the year.&nbsp; I can assure you it will
    get used to sustain a humane life!</p>
    <p>Chef Bob Ballantyne<br>
    The Cowboy and The Rose Catering<br>
    Grand Junction, Colorado, USA</p></body></html>
    Last edited by bbally; 12-20-2009, 07:13 PM.
    Tour the New Rig Here!

    Sgt. USMC '79-'85

    S-M inmate number 12

    RIP ronP


  • #2
    Its great that you donate your time and effort and probably money too.Your dedication and compassion are surely appreciated. Hats off to ya. The way the economy is these days, there will probably more and more families /people in these lines in the next few months.
    Lang 60 Mobile deluxe




    Captain-N-Smoke BBQ Team(retired)
    ____________________________________________
    Takes allot of work and an open mind to make good sense.
    Praise the Lord and pass the Cannabis.

    Comment

    Working...
    X