Friday’s are usually my busiest days because on top of the normal two meals that I cook for them, I also make some food for them to enjoy over the weekend. But today, is even busier because my clients are having guests tonight for dinner haha. first top of the day is the joint in sherman oaks to grab some dry aged ora king salmon. they give you ice for the trip home which is nice of them. stop #2 is gelsons, just a quick stop grab a prime filet because one of the guests are having steak. I got a lot of prep to squeeze into one day so I start off by writing up my prep list. she requested pavlova for dessert tonight, so that’s the first thing I got on. it needs to bake for an hour so I wanted to get it out of the way. pavlova is such an easy dessert and it still impresses people. it’s literally just baked meringue with fresh whipped cream, fresh fruit and sometimes curd. Also, did you know that it originated in either australia or new zealand and is named after a russian ballerina? me neither. you learn something new everyday While those baked, I served them their lunch, which was just some eggs and toast. they like to eat light when they know theyre going to have a heavy meal for dinner. which is fine by me! for the weekend, they asked me to make them my caramelized zucchini soup, a piece of grilled salmon for him to enjoy with steamed vegetables, salmon salad with cleaned little gem lettuce, and two frittatas with caramelized onions, roasted tomatoes, chopped spinach, and goat cheese that I bake low and slow. oh yeah, and a few grilled chicken breasts for them to make sandwiches with or eat with vegetables. nothing crazy but still takes a good portion of my day to prep. Spring is here, so i got some asparagus and english peas from the farmers market to go with their mains. I kinda hate shucking peas, but you cant beat the flavor of freshly shucked peas. 3 of the guests will be having branzino, which i broke down into filets, and the 4th guest will be having a filet. just. a filet. i believe she is on the carnivore diet. i blanched my asparagus tips and peas in heavily salted water and saved the stems of the asparagus to make a puree. guests are arriving soon so I cube up the ora king salmon and toss with my yuzu-sesame soy vinaigrette. then cube up avocados and toss with olive oil, lemon juice, and salt. while those are marinating, I jump on the crispy fried shallots that i just shave, toss in a mix of cornstarch and flour and fry at a low temperature to get them nice and crisp without burning them. if you ever fry your own shallots or even garlic. here’s a tip. pull them out before theyre the color that you’re looking for. they continue to brown even after theyre out of the oil. if theyre golden brown while you’re take them out, congratulations, theyre burnt. the guests have arrived, so i build my tartare with the cubed avocado on the bottom, marinated salmon on topof that, the crispy shallots, the dollop of caviar and some more of the yuzu soy before it went out. for their mains, the carnivore lady got herself a 14 oz portion of filet to herself, while the rest got asparagus puree, charred orange cauliflower, buttered english peas and asparagus tips and grilled branzino. I also usually serve them wine, so i cracked open this bottle for them and played server for a bit before coming back to get dessert ready. plated the pavlovas with fresh vanilla whipped cream, harry’s strawberries and mixed berries with edible flowers and off they go. finally did the dishes, took out the trash, cleaned up, and headed home for the weekend! I’m tired. #privatechef #personalchef #cooking #food