Sorry readers I didn’t get to the computer yesterday to get the daily goss down! It was a hard slog of a day and work carried on right through the split shift and only time for a 15 minute break.

The filo cases were a hit with the group and the Groper a good follow-up! The group was supposed to be seated bang on 6pm as they had organised an evening at the Waitangi Hall with speeches etc.. They did get seated eventually but the orders came through split up and was tricky to juggle with a number of bar meals and new group of fishermen booked under an account called Porkies!! However with Whare and Elleena working hard we managed to get through the shift without a too much of a hitch…

Day seven and I’m back at work in the morning with Joan returning after two days off.. Shes in good form and we are ready to roll.. Joan’s on the blower straight away ringing for recruits as Nessy the inspector has just arrived and has announced her inspection time for thursday 2pm… Rihanna turns up to mussel into some cleaning duty’s on a cleaning schedule that was last dated… (a while back!). We drag out the paper work from her last visit and the outdoor grease trap is high on the agenda.. TIm pulls the high-powered water blaster and tackles the job on his own.. I go for the back wall behind the grill and fryers and oven. When I pulled the equipment out it was (OH MY GOD!), lets just say if I were a pig then all my christmas’s had just come at once… Joan hits the shelving..

The group arrives for lunch and I have a Chatham Brand 10kg new box from Moana.. The crew next door were slicing cod fillets in one move so fast that I could hardly see it happen from a distance (for a good interpretation of the cod filleting skill involved).

Unfortunately the group fish and chip lunch has collided with a number of bar lunch dinners and the pressure mounts as the day goes on.. Somehow we plow through 25 fillets (cut in three) for Rudy and friends fresh fish fry up lunch. The bar customers and staff meals have damaged my meson plus for the night shift. We crack onto a prep list that takes us right through to the dinner service.

On the menu for the group is yet again Seafood Chowder (this time with cray in it!), Crumbed Brie (havent got any camenbert lol), Garlic butter baked Cray Tail on rice with the house salad, Lamb Rack on creamed garlic butter deseree potatoes and fresh Veges, Chocolate moose (made with good ol Cadbury chocolate, fresh cream and whipped egg whites and the secret – whipped egg yorks) and Vanilla Cheese cake.

The shift just kept getting more and more hectic as it went on with a local group booking from Chatham Island Focus Trust, and the Porkie’s party all with large orders colliding in a true hive of restaurant activity.. Plus a few outdoor tables on the deck with hardy locals wanting Ribeye’s with eggs and Pork steak’s with plenty of chips.. By 8pm the docket rack was stacked, my back was twisting and shoes slipping after hr’s of cleaning earlier… We got there though, with a couple of hints at the clock, but we got there and we nailed the group table with a good finish and a cheers and toast from Rudy to the chef (it’ll be allright) on the night.

I head out to the bar after and have a couple of beers on the deck with Johnny Rotten and double trouble who have been gassing it all arvo..

Up again this morning and it’s another bash at a cleaning frenzy before the 2pm inspection and Rihanna and Eleena work the elbow grease in the dry stores and cupboard storage thanks to Joan (full credit for a hard yaka) for pulling the recruits to save the day.. With the group flying out and the cleaning underway I feel the pressure begin to ease and I focus on some new bar meal options, Hot Mexican beef (jalapeno, clove spice with green peppers and cayenne pepper) with yellow rice (turmeric, don’t have any saffron), Pork Spear Ribs (slow roasted and marinated with bbq black bean).

Well that’s it folks for the Last tour group of the season and blog on Whats cooking on the Chatham’s!!   I have taken a few picks, which will be added when I get them off Karens camera. Also I will post a blog on the Chatham Island Wild Food Festival, as soon as I can get the pics I took on head chef Jason (goaty) Carberry’s camera (His goat sausages and salami were definitely a highlight)….

See Yaaa….

That was just too early for me, after a couple of beers last night on the deck! The pack lunches had to be made in time for the groups departure from breakfast for another day of Chatham adventure.

We have the Groper (Hapuka) fresh in the fridge ready to be portioned! Tonight’s meal is yet again Seafood Chowder (classical white sauce style from the old school Mornay generation! Which ironically is actually new school to the even older school potato chowder. Personally I think a chowder is not chowder if it’s not somewhat thickened with the crumbling starch of well cooked potato. However I’m not one to mess with tradition of any business, I just roll with the flow). Then we have coconut creamed Paua served in filo cases (made here, slightly larger filo cases to the common brought Canapes product). The mains are Baked Groper on egg noodles with asian greens (uncommon combination for baked fish, but still effective), Ribeye steak (trimmed of sinu) with mushroom sauce on roasted Kumara and served with fresh veges. For dessert we have fresh fruit salad and cream and peach/passionfruit cheesecake.

Fortunately local housemaids Irene and colleen (double trouble!) came to my rescue this morning and help me get the lunches organised and the dishes done before the days work resumed for bar lunches and prep for tonight’s restaurant meals which includes 14 new guests eating off our restaurant menu, The bar menu will also be underway at 6pm…

Tip of the day! If you have a group booking of Asians don’t name your greens after them, they just dont dig it at all ayee! Oh yeah and wash your rice of starch several times prior to cooking for a great fluffy finish…

Freight Freight and more Freight!! The Rangitira has been parked up at the wharf over night and the food has a arrived on time yet again… Somehow we have ended up with more meat kgs than anticipated, which includes Duck Breast, Pork fillets and Lamb racks.

Joan (agent 99) has come down with the weather unfortunately (I guess the chaos got the better of her) and is signing off early. However, Rihanna (housemaid) has put her hand up to help out in the Kitchen and is tackling the technical side of Joan’s orange mandolin. Whare will be here later to help with plate up, salads and desserts.

Maiden Natasha has just informed me of the visit from liquor licensing and Health inspection, so I better scrub down the kitchen before she gets here or the Iron curtain will reign its vigilance!

To top it off this morning, I’m struggling to get Waitangi Seafoods ltd on the phone to order some Groper and Blue nose. So Natasha gets on to it for me. She comes back with the good news of a long line boat arriving for processing tomorrow and also has a great surprise of a box of secret cray stash that Val had for just an occasion…

Tonight’s meal is Seafood chowder, Paua wontons, Cod knots on creamy lemon risotto with fresh made Aioli, Pork eye fillets with deseree potatoes from Simon Norman (local grower) and fresh veges. Dessert is banoffee pie and chocberry cheese cake…

Risotto tip of the day! Forget light coating of rice in oil. Heavy seal your rice in hot olive oil, a decent amount too. This will contain your starch so you don’t get glug when you cook it off in stock. Oh yeah and add a touch of white wine to you Aioli, makes all the difference.

I couldn’t get to the office computer yesterday so I got pen on paper, the old school way lol…

Last nights meal got the thumbs up from tour organiser, Rudy the bugman, with a smile and a thumb to restaurant manageress, Karen (variable fixed cost, allocated to furniture depreciation) as the cod dish arrived at the table.

There was a small delay on the cod dish, as I had slightly underestimated the length of time it would take to cook fifteen cod knots in the heavy base steal oven tray that I had selected. I choose this tray in particular for its even heat capabilities and perfect height at the edges for covering in tin foil. The foil approach allows for a bit of steam time in the juices that flow from the cod.

The extra time gave me the chance to add some grill time to the oven baked chicken breast for a bit of extra flavour and crispy bacon exterior. The oven tray I baked the chicken in was then placed over a hot gas flame and then deglazed with white wine before ladeling in a demi glaze gravy. I returned the chicken breast to the gravy tray and left it to rest for three minutes, while the vege’s were kept warm on a low flame in two woks, with butter and seasoning.

Meanwhile Skipper Val took the opportunity to step on the soap box an explain the next days activities and the BBQ Buffet at Admiral Gardens, run by Val Snr and Lois Croone.

That means day off for me folks, and a chance to cast me fishing line out off the wharf or nearby rock fishing spot for a big Blue Moki, for smokefish sandwiches!

Before I head off for a bit of fishing however, I catch the scent of a fresh catch. Pesky (a cat) and I go for a walk up the lane (met lane) and find new deck hand Toby sorting through todays haul of Cod and Groper, caught on the Hotel Chatham charter boat. A twin-engine steel hull that plows through chop like a hot knife through butter!

After a bit of chat, he agrees to hide me under his hat (kidding lol!) at the admirals farm BBQ Buffet, so I tell him when to take a pic of tonight’s shallow fry Groper pieces and sliced Paua… a great cooking tip for a group setting!!

The buffet went down well with our guests last night despite a short power cut at 6.25pm, approximately five minutes before the start of the buffet! Power cuts are a regular phenomenon on the island which is powered by wind turbines and diesel. The group was then treated to an informative presentation on the Chatham’s nature and wildlife by Alex from the dept of conservation.

Despite the passing weather patches the group and their organiser, Rudy the bugman from a popular Gardening program are out an about exploring the islands sites and vegetation.

Skipper Val and Maiden Manageress Natasha are back to work today having just returned yesterday from a holiday in sunny Oz. Val is sporting giant jellyfish wounds in the kitchen while Joan (agent 99) and I start slowly not aware that we are about to get swarmed by local lunch dinners. I chose to work on some fresh Paua wontons this morning as opposed to topping up the bar menu supplies. The wontons are a nice quick entrée option we have in the restaurant and on the set menus. It’s a simple mix subtlely flavoured with sesame oil and fish sauce, rolled in wonton pastry with a grib that looks a bit like a bat wing.

So as a result I have run out of crispy pork belly, butter chicken and have only one steak mush an ale pie left. Guess I better start work early this arvo ayeee!!

Well the bad news is was that the group didn’t make it last night due to poor flying conditions and fog at the Chatham airport. However the weather cleared today and the group departed early this afternoon. Shaun (whitey) Poyinter headed out to the airport at 2pm with Tim the handyman who single handedly loads the bags on the Hotel Chatham luggage trailer, (the irony being that he literally does have only one hand!!).

Due to the cray season not being open at this time of year, we have to use our cooked and snap frozen supply. On the last day of the cray season we had a Big Cray Day cook off with an extra outdoor bbq grill firing with big hot pots. Jason our recently departed (still alive by the way) head chef, and I cooked dozens of cray all day long! We would drown them first in fresh cold water then select the different sized cray and batch cook them. Then from the hot-pot straight back into iced cold water tubs to cool. Then roll them in clingwrap and freeze them in boxes in the outdoor walk in deep freeze.

Now the end of tour season has come around we are short of the smaller cray for the set menu dishes. So tonight we have for our guests a Big Buck cray platter and buffet night!

The crayfish will be accompanied by smoke Hapuka (Groper) wings, Champagne ham on the bone to be carved by Skippy Val jnr, roast rolled beef, marinated raw cod, roast new pots in garlic butter, fresh vege’s, pasta salad, fresh lettuce salad and salted coleslaw tossed in saltless mayo, brandy snaps, fresh fruit salad and ambrosia with cream.

If your here tonight the buffet will be extended for non tour guests and bar patrons. Bar meals can also be ordered as per usual……

First day of the last tour group of the season at Hotel Chatham’s. We await the guests who are due to arrive on Air Chatham’s this afternoon provided the plane can land.. It’s the PLANE its the PLANE!

I rush to the Moana Fish Factory next to the hotel where Wai, Shey and others are having a smoko break and ask with a smile for some fresh fish! Cod processing has been under way all morning with a catch straight off the boats.

We take the large Cod fillets and wrap the large fillet side round the small side and back under to tie a Cod Knot. Carefully we tray up twenty-five Knots and season with salt, pepper and squeeze of lemon to be baked on tonight’s set menu!

The menu is simple fare with two entrees, Seafood Chowder and Paua Rolls made here in the kitchen. The Paua is collected fresh by our tour guide and dive instructor Shaun, this morning and Joan cranked up the mincer. The Paua is collected and sold to the Hotel through the Croone quota.

The mains are Baked Blue Cod on basmati rice with lemon butter sauce and the house salad (fancy lettuce, red onion, cucumber, shredded carrot, sango sprouts and cherry tomatoes) the meat option tonight Chicken wrapped in bacon (Mignon) with local grown Ilam hardy potatoes, fresh veges (carrot, courgette, cauli, broc, and bokchoy) and gravy.

Will the plane arrive? fingers crossed!

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