The quail eggs that got away at the country club brunch

Back in 2011 I was running a Sunday brunch line at a country club outside Austin, 200 covers expected. The quail egg benedict was my special, and I stupidly parcooked all 400 eggs the night before, then tried to hold them in a water bath that wasn't set right. By service they were rubbery little bullets, so I had to quick-poach fresh ones in two huge pots while also juggling the omelet station, it took me 45 minutes longer than planned but the guests never knew. I still cringe thinking about the waste, has anyone else had a par-cook plan totally backfire on a busy day?

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charlie_lane8516d ago

I mean... 400 quail eggs for a brunch special? That's a lot of prep for something that tricky. And yeah the eggs came out bad, but guests never knew? Sounds like you actually pulled it off in the end. The waste thing bugs you, sure, but that's like a normal kitchen screwup on a smaller scale, not some disaster. People par-cook stuff all the time and it goes wrong, that's just how it goes when you're feeding 200 people. Honestly the fact that you recovered in 45 minutes while running an omelet station is kind of impressive, not cringe worthy.

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