The little blue light you see between the rocks and grates is FIRE! This was the first real piece of equipment that we prepped and got going, aside from refrigeration of course. We have been working ourselves silly like little green elves nearing Christmas Eve getting our kitchen primed and ready for some cookin'! Huge thanks goes out to Noah, who spent a good portion of a morning testing the equipment with me. In the immortal words of Joe Cocker:
"Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends. Mm, I get high with a little help from my friends. Mm, gonna try with a little help from my friends."
I digress, insomnia is slowly starting to drive me batty. Here's a great shot of Noah looking like a Chinese dude with his slippers and pony tail (before anyone gets crazy on me, know that I am Chinese, so there):
We cleaned up the charbroiler, laid out the lava rocks, sparked up the pilot light, and ceremonially lit up the burner for about three (3) hours to clean up and season the sucker:
Kai was even there to make sure Noah and I did not catch on fire (though Noah came close once). Yes, I know child labor law alarm bells are ringing right now, but rest assured, we only made him handle a jack hammer under close supervision while sipping on some coffee from across the plaza.
After making sure the burners and the charbroiler were all peachy keen, we got the fryer going:
Any impurities that may have been present before has been boiled, skimmed, washed out, boiled again, and obliterated! All that is left now is for us to bring the food in and get cranking...well, that and some last minute kitchen equipment shopping. I have got my checklist all typed up on my phone and ready to hit up Restaurant Supply 2000 early in the morning. If you happen to pass by and smell things burning, please call the fire department. Otherwise, if it smells delisheroonie, come on in, we will probably have some things for you to taste!
Smoochies, Len and Jerry