Hell's Smitten (Gordon Ramsay x Reader)

Chapter 96- Breakfast Prep

Thursday, July 18th, 2013

A round woman in a hairnet approaches our group as we stand by the entrance.

"Come on down here darlins, the kitchen is this way." She takes the front, leading us through the vast amount of stainless steel tables used for prepping the airline food until we reach the back of the room. Industrial-sized stove and oven combinations are lined up against the wall with a wide section of counter between each of them. On the right, fresh and vibrant ingredients await us.

"Thirty minutes for fifty small portions, I'm setting the timer now." The woman twists a small white timer to the '30' mark then sets it on a nearby steel table.

I had been thinking about what would be best to make for early morning breakfast in the air, and coffee was the one ingredient that stuck out most. Whatever I make, I have to include coffee. It could be my tired brain that is truly the mastermind behind my coffee desire, but I know the passengers will enjoy it as well.

Due to only having thirty minutes to cook, a few things are already prepared that we otherwise would have not had time to make ourselves. I head over to the section of pre-cooked food and look over it with curiosity. Baguettes, bagels, toast, croissants... Croissants! I could do something unique and make croissant French toast sticks, caramelized in coffee. My mouth starts to water at the idea.

Fifty portions, each croissant could make about three sticks by itself. For a small portion, two sticks should do... so two sticks multiplied by fifty people, divided by three. After thinking on it for a bit, I conclude that I'll need thirty-four croissants to make enough for all fifty passengers with a little bit left over for myself to 'test'. I never would have thought that cooking involved so much math if anyone tried to tell me before I got into the profession.

So thirty-four croissants, coffee grounds, brown sugar, six cups of coconut milk, a dozen large eggs, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon, and some fresh berries to top them off. I make multiple trips back and forth from my long counter to deliver the necessary ingredients.

To my left, Abel is working at his station on something involving large muffin tins, looking deep in concentration. To my right, Taylor is cracking eggs into a big bowl. I ought to get started, I must be behind already.

Swiftly, I slice the croissants into three sections each. Once they are cut, I combine three cups of maple syrup with four tablespoons of coffee grounds and set the mixture in a saucepan over medium-high heat.

While that reaches a boil, I mix twenty-nine tablespoons of butter, twenty-five tablespoons of brown sugar, and eight teaspoons of coffee grounds in one bowl. In the second bowl, I whisk six cups of coconut milk, twelve and a half eggs, four tablespoons of vanilla extract, and six teaspoons of cinnamon in a second bowl.

The syrup has reached a boiling point by now, so I reduce the heat to low. It needs to simmer for five minutes before I'll remove it from the heat.

Now for the tough part. I'll need to cook all of these sticks in rapid succession to be sure that I get everything done on time. Six croissant sticks fit in one large skillet at a time, which means I'll need to cook seventeen skillets worth of croissant sticks. There are six burners on my stove. If I don't make any mistakes, I should finish in the next eighteen minutes. A glance at the timer shows there are only twenty-two minutes left.

Without giving myself too much time to consider the daunting task ahead of me, I set out the skillets, set the stove to medium-high, and scoop two tablespoons of the brown sugar and butter mixture into each pan. By the time the skillets are heated, my syrup concoction is done so I move it off to the side to cool and place my sixth brown sugar and butter-coated skillet in its place on the stove. I dip each croissant stick into the egg mixture before laying them down carefully into the skillet.