Ray Cooks for His Firehouse Family

Ray sent us his blog entry about his first experience using all of the skills he learned in Turkey to prepare dinner for the firehouse. Sounds delicious!
Today is the day that I will get to show off the cooking skills I learned while on my Taste Intervention trip in Turkey. Right now I am at the firehouse awaiting the arrival of the film crew who will be following me around today throughout Philadelphia as I shop for what I need to create this incredible meal tonight.

The meal will be three courses. The first course will be a mezze tasting. Mezze is Turkish for starter. I will be making mashed fava beans, babaganoush, red pepper/pimento paste & a yogurt, dill and olive oil dip. Also, the olive oil I made in Turkey will be on the table for tasting.

The second course will be lamb kebabs with eggplant, squash & zucchini. I will be making a quick marinade of my olive oil, some fresh dill and oregano for about 20 minutes. After shaking off the excess olive oil I will be coating the lamb with Sabra Classic Hummus and then skewering the lamb and veggies and broiling.

My third and main course is chicken and vegetables cooked in a clay pot and artichoke bottoms with peas and carrots cooked in water and olive oil.

Ok, it's now time to put up or shut up. I have called in the cavalry to help me out in the kitchen to get this meal underway because there is a ton of prep work to do. Brian is here helping (I hope he remembers some of the stuff we learned in Turkey) and so is my co-worker Sharon. They are cutting & dicing veggies as I prepare the mezzes that will next go in the refrigerator to meld together as the other parts of the meal come together.

Well we are a little behind now. While the prep work was being done we received a dispatch for an activated alarm at a nearby hospital. Thankfully for all, it was an accidental activation and now we are back in the kitchen of Engine 56 working our butts off to get this meal finished. Brian has been thrown out of the kitchen because he has reached the end of his usefulness.

It's dinner time and everyone has assembled in the kitchen and I am explaining what we are having for dinner to our invited guests, Deputy Chief Robert Wilkins and his aide, Mark Royal, Battalion Chief James Renniger and his aide, Jim Kneile, firefighter Bill Mitchell and firefighter Phil Poindexter.

You know, meals at the firehouse kitchen table are like no other. There is a spirit of camaraderie, friendship and humor that you will not find anywhere else. Everyone is enjoying the meal and there is a very lighthearted atmosphere in the kitchen.

Well, the meal is now over. I received many compliments and everyone enjoyed themselves. Tonight was a turning point for me. I was able to cook a three-course meal for ten people in our tiny firehouse kitchen and bring it all together in the end. Time management is no longer a problem for me and by cooking this meal I now have a confidence that I did not have before. Also, I allowed others into the kitchen to help me out with the meal preparation which I have never done before.

When I was in Turkey, I was the student. By cooking this meal tonight for my coworkers and explaining it for the camera crew as each step was completed I feel that I am now the teacher. The circle is now complete.

Thank you Sabra. By selecting me as your Taste Intervention Contest Winner you have turned my life around.