i'll have my steak cooked...1, 2, 3.....4 times!

Approximate timings for grilling meat are as follows:
steak 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick (ie sirloin or rump) - 1½-2 minutes on each side for rare; 3 minutes on each side for medium; and about 4 minutes on each side for well done.
fillet steak 1½ inches (4 cm) thick - give it 5 minutes on each side for medium; 1 minute less each side for rare; and 1 minute more for well done.

always listen to Delia......

i went on a course on Tuesday, and one question we were asked was 'what changes your good mood into a bad mood' in a morning. i mumbled 'traffic...' the tip that came back was 'listen to an audio book.....learn something whilst you're in the jam!'. so, in preparation i downloaded 2 podcasts, one for the journey in, and one for the journey out.... and you know it's gonna be one of those days when you get through both podcasts on the journey in! but it's all about mindset....so keep positive thoughts!

a busy morning, met a former professional golfer, and i was very impressed!

then it was lunchtime....dum, dum, durmmmm!

off to Marco Pierre Whites for lunch with the team. really looking forward to it, but also stressing in case we overun our lunch hour.

starters arrived and were ok. £10 for a basic prawn cocktail, and i could rattle one up much better for far far less than that. main courses ordered, and 5 of us ordered the sirloin steak all done medium.

when they arrived, i should've realised something wasn't right when Rach was mashing her butter on her steak, rather than letting it melt. our steaks were cold.

this was the start of a very long hour, of steaks being warmed up again, and then returned to the wrong person, and then new steaks coming out as rarer than rare! from a service point of view, a shocking experience. from an enthusiastic cooks point of view, an eye opener that i can cook a perfect steak, and serve it perfectly!

a really disappointing experience, which also made 4 of us late back after lunch - time we made up later! discussed with the manager later, and they want us to go back for another meal.

the afternoon didn't get much better, and i'd rather not remind myself of it by documenting it here!

but that said, we all managed a smile and a laugh. must've been hysteria setting in, the only way to get us through month and quarter end weeks like this!

home and my name was written on a couple of glass of chilled soave. this has been a v long week, and am glad Friday is around the corner.

early to bed tonight and then up early tomorrow morning.

final words of today are to say Happy Birthday to Mr Pick!!! life begins at 41!