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Personal Chef Industry

Hi,
I have another quick question-- having come from a professional cooking background I know there are a lot of ways to do different recipes...meatloaf for instance, some do it with bbq sauce some do it with ketchup...the combinations are endless. When you first set up a menu for a client do you stay with a few standard recipes and adjust as you go for that particular client, or do you just say this is how I make it--- like it or not? (well not in that way, but you get my meaning)

I am in the process of testing recipes---and I am worried that I'm taking way to long to get my core recipes tested... how many recipes on average do you need to start with? I've been trying to go with 10 quality basic recipes of each type of meat and vegetarian option.
Any thoughts on this would be hugely appreciated.
Thank you,
Lorrie

Lorrie - every personal chef has a different approach. But one thing you will find is that testing a lot of recipes is not really necessary. Once you have joined the association and received the recipe files that we provide you will have a good start on what you need with well more than a thousand recipes at your fingertips.

I can honestly say that in the 9 years I have been working as a personal chef I have never gone to the effort of proving or testing a recipe. If I can look at it I can pretty much tell what it is going to turn out like...yea, I may need to tweak the seasonings a little, but an experienced cook can pretty much tell what to expect.

ONe of the first things I look at is number of ingredients and number of steps...rarely more than 10 or 12 ingredients and never more than two steps.

Jim

Lorrie,

I agree wholeheartedly with Jim. The only time I "test" a recipe is when I have a new ingredient I'm trying out (oh...say...tamarind, for example) or a new technique or assembly process I haven't tried before.

What you may want to test now is freezing certain items in the containers you plan to offer to clients. Almost anything can be "worked" to freeze and if it doesn't always turn out to our discriminating standards, chances are it's WAYYY better than most things our clients have been eating. I've frozen many things in my career as a PC and have registered FEW complaints.

As a professional, you know learning to read a recipe is important. If you know 1 1/2 cups of fresh unpacked breadcrumbs, 1 egg to 1 1/2 pounds ground chuck will turn out a great meatloaf, you'll know to adjust meatloaf recipes to that ratio.

Carry a "repair kit:" Extra herbs and spices, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, pick up an extra lemon or two or chicken broth at the grocery store. Some of the best recipes I have have been tweaked in this manner.

Good luck and hope you get with the APPCA! If you think this forum is great, wait until you get to the member's forum...you'll forget to blink reading everything!

Well,

That has tipped the scale for me!!! I've been pondering when to join, as I'm still working on my bus. plan but I'm signing up today.

Carol, I don't know if you remember me, but I emailed you directly some months ago.

So far, I have only told family and some very close friends, and my banker. Everyone is so excited for me...it's really great.

Unfortunately, I'll only be able to start out part time as I own a printing company (well, at least I know where I can get my materials done) but I hope to be able to sell it down the road and make this my full time career!

Wahoo!!! I'm off now to sign up.

Thanks again for everything.

Kathy

Hi, Kathy,

I sure do remember! Welcome aboard! Remember, too, there is a very active chapter where you are so I hope you'll get in touch with them.

We have a number of other part-timers that will be able to lend plenty of insight and advice. As a business owner you've already got a lot of ground covered; many of us were new to owning businesses. But there, too, the APPCA had much of that ground covered.

Look forward to seeing you "on the inside!"

"Unfortunately, I'll only be able to start out part time . . ."

Hi Kathy,

I am still part-time after three years and it has worked out well for me. I stay busy enough, have a flexible full-time job with very nuturing, supportive colleagues (lucky me!) So, don't worry about being part-time, good news for you is that you're your own boss and can schedule yourself accordingly.

I never started out thinking I had to test recipes (I am notorius with friends and family for cooking something I have never tried for an event.) Anyway, Jim and Carol are right, you can just look at a recipe and taste it and know if you want to make adjustments. But, like Carol advised, I DID freeze-test a lot of things, using myself as my own client (since I still work full-time, I needed a personal chef! ) That effort proved to be invaluable and I highly recommend it. Most of all, join us. These people are so helpful and supportive and you will not regret it.

Congratulations and best of luck getting started.

Miki Gabbard
Dinner Works
www.dinnerworks.biz

A couple of things that haven't been mentioned by others:

* Don't start testing recipes until you have your business officially "open". This doesn't mean you have to have clients, per se, but remember that all recipe testing is a tax write-off!! Groceries used for testing recipes are a tax write-off - even if your "taste-testers" end up being your family and yourself!

* Start with what you know! If you consider yourself a good enough cook to start a PC business, then you probably have a reportoire (sp?) of recipes that you've been cooking with for a long time. Use those family favorites for your clients! Some of my family favorites have also turned out to be my client's favorites, and I felt very comfortable and excited to share my recipes with them.

Freezing things has been the biggest part of my recipe testing. Otherwise, I will simply pull of recipes from the internet or cookbooks that I think my client will enjoy, and "tweak" them on-site if they need something. That is a skill that can't be matched by all the recipe testing inthe world!

Welcome and good luck!