By Stephanie Strothmann
I branched out this past week and decided to see what it was like on the consumers’ side of what a farm produces.
Now, you all know I only raise poultry (for now), but given the chance to have a farm-raised steak from time to time is one of my secret guilty pleasures.
So no wonder when I had the chance to help out Chad and Lori Keithley with their restaurant, Brewskies Downtown, on their famous Steak Night, I jumped at the chance.
I haven’t truly worked food service since I was a senior in high school and worked for the local Long John Silver’s. My memories of food service were vats of oil and battered shrimp, fish and chicken along with the crispies that everyone loves but I hated making.
I remember dipping the various meats in thick batter and then twinging when I put them into the vat, trying to avoid grease burns, which littered my hands and arms for days and weeks after. It wasn’t the most pleasant job, but it paid for gas for my car and the occasional latest CD or tape that had come out.
We did a lot of antics as teenagers at that restaurant, but the teamwork was the best, and it was why I stayed until my freshman year of college.
I’ve already had a chance to get to know the crew at Brewskies Downtown from evenings that I needed to get away from the farm and have some human interaction, so when I stepped into the kitchen on a past Wednesday night, they already knew my name.
Not wanting to make a mistake off the bat, I donned my ever-fashionable hairnet and scrubbed up in the handwashing sink like I was preparing for serious surgery. I wanted them to see how good of a job I could do, even as a chicken farmer.
My main job that evening was to pull hot, foil-wrapped potatoes out of a pan, mark the steaks with their level of doneness by a little wooden flag and place a pillowy square roll next to the potato and wait for the steak to come off of the grill. I also needed to know which plate or size of takeout container should be placed on the prep area for items other than steak.
I watched with amazement as I fumbled with the hot potatoes as the staff created beautiful creations — a taco salad, a pork threeway sandwich, cobblers and dessert brownies, all items that would take me an hour or more to create at home and they had it done in minutes.
The Brewskies Downtown staff had warned me about how crazy Wednesday night could get, especially in the kitchen, and I was prepared for Gordon Ramsay shouting, plates crashing, wildness. I’m pretty sure I was being overly dramatic.
Thankfully, my first evening as a prep assistant was slow, though I felt for the owners. The snow had caused many folks to not want to venture out. Thanks to an awesome crew, I survived my first Steak Night.
When it was time for cleanup, we needed to put the raw steaks into smaller containers, and I was offered a pair of vinyl gloves to handle the meat. Imagine my great delight in not having to touch raw meat like I usually do when preparing my own poultry.
I’m sure the staff was more than accommodating of my learning curve that evening, but it was especially fun to see what happens behind the scenes in preparing food. These steaks were direct from Darlage Custom Meats, so I had that warm feeling that another farm was celebrating their product being served beautifully in a local restaurant.
In a week or so, I’ll have to treat myself to a “steakout” at Brewskies Downtown, but until then, I’ll enjoy the memory of the evening I was able to witness the magic. Who knew a chicken farmer could serve beef with the best of them?
Until next time…
Stephanie Strothmann owns Purple Shamrock Farm LLC in rural Seymour. Read her blog at whattheclucker.blogspot.com. Send comments to [email protected].