My Takeaways / Monday 28 September 2026

Five hours.
One great service.

Daijon’s dress rehearsal · Ten complete settings.
Start at 15:00. Cook until 19:40. Plate for 20 minutes.

Ready to serve20:00Europe/London · BST

Full prep list ↓All nine components ↓

THE FIVE-HOUR RUN15:00 → 20:00

15:00–16:00Stock +
bird prep

16:00–17:00Sausages +
dough

17:00–18:00Braise +
flavours

18:00–19:00Sides +
patty filling

19:00–19:40Finish +
cook

19:40Plate
up

15:0016:0017:0018:0019:0020:00

17:00Stock ready to strain

18:30Braised legs cooked

19:40All cooking complete

20:00Ten settings served

Rehearsal targets, not proven cook times. Based on recipe v15. The pressure-cooker cycle, filling cooling and final oven load must fit these gates. Record overruns; never shorten a safe cook or pressure release to catch up. No contingency buffer is built in.

Everything on the pass

One main-course presentation
with five serving pieces

Before the clock

Kit + ingredients only

For a true full-preparation rehearsal, start food weighing, cutting, stock, marinades and dough at 15:00. Equipment setup and ingredient checks happen beforehand; record any head start.

Cold storage: fridge, freezer / requested blast freezer, trays, labels and a safe rapid-cooling arrangement for the filling.
Stock: pressure cooker(s) with proven capacity for ten carcasses and liquid; roasting trays, stock pots, fine sieve, chinois, jug and scales.
Protein: knives, separate raw-poultry boards, mincer, KitchenAid, piping bags, clean probe and sanitiser.
Pastry + salad: pasta machine, rolling pin, cutter, baking trays, blender, juicer, pestle and mortar, vacuum machine and bags.
Heat: oven shelf plan, burners, smoking gastro/grill, pimento leaves, cartouche paper and safe ventilation.
Pass: ten of each serving piece above, carving board, sauce spoons, tea pot, clean cloths and service space for all ten settings.
Supply: all nine component trays below; cooking oil and any required twine; ten stock carcasses, ten poussin and two separate chicken legs.
Settle first: sausage meat/Cure #1 basis, cooker cycle, oven settings and durations for crowns, sausages and patties, plus rest/cooling time.

The complete prep list

Tick as you go · timings are targets

15:00–15:1500:00 elapsedC9Stock firstWeigh the stock ingredients. Start roasting the ten chicken carcasses. Prepare the stock vegetables and cut the braise vegetables for 17:00; keep these carcasses separate from the ten poussin and the two braising legs.Roasting continues while you break down the birds.

15:15–15:3500:15 elapsedC1Break down ten poussinRemove wing tips and legs; keep each bird on the crown. Reserve leg skins and meat for ten sausages. Label and refrigerate. Clean the raw-poultry station.Check the roasting bones as required.

15:35–15:5000:35 elapsedC9Load the pressure cookerCaramelise the stock vegetables separately; toast peppercorns. Load roasted bones, aromatics, water and 5 g browning. Start the tested pressure cycle, allowing natural release before the 17:00 stock gate.Capacity, minimum liquid and maximum fill must suit the full batch.

15:50–16:0500:50 elapsedC8Blend + marinateBlend mint, parsley, chilli, pimento, rosemary, shallot, ginger, blackberries, shio koji and garlic. Coat the crowns; refrigerate. Set aside the pimento leaves for smoking.Stock cooks unattended only as the cooker instructions allow.

16:05–16:3001:05 elapsedC2Prepare the sausage mixPull down the leg skins, remove bones and retain the skins. Weigh the actual meat yield; mix with the confirmed sausage formula. Partially freeze the mixture.Only use Cure #1 once its formulation and dose for the measured batch are confirmed.

16:30–16:4501:30 elapsedC5Make the patty doughWeigh and mix both flours, salt, turmeric and curry powder. Work in butter, add warm water and knead. Wrap and chill.Sausage mixture chills; stock cycle/release continues.

16:45–17:0001:45 elapsedC2Mince + fill ten sausagesMince the sufficiently chilled mixture; emulsify in the KitchenAid. Pipe into the retained poussin skins, portion ten and refrigerate. Wash and sanitise the equipment.Stock must finish its full natural pressure release before opening.

17:00–17:1502:00 elapsedC9 → C4Stock → braiseStrain and skim stock; measure and adjust to 3 L. Brown the two separate chicken legs. Sweat the prepared braise vegetables, caramelise tomato purée, deglaze with wine; add stock and 5 g browning. Cover with a cartouche; into the oven at the recipe’s 180°C.This is a tight 15-minute transition: log actual time. Braise prep/softening may push it later.

17:15–17:4502:15 elapsedC3Red-pepper gastriqueWeigh and prepare peppers, chillies, shallots, garlic and thyme. Sweat until soft; add sugar and caramelise slowly. Deglaze with vinegar, reduce, blitz, pass and adjust. Label for service.Braise cooks; monitor both pans and oven.

17:45–18:1502:45 elapsedC6Mango salad + dressingJulienne six sour mangoes; juice five ripe mangoes. Chop and pound the aromatics; mix juice, palm sugar, fish sauce and tamarind. Vacuum-compress the mangoes with dressing. Chill; reserve limes for the finish.Check braise progress. Keep salad cold until plate-up.

18:15–18:2503:15 elapsedC7Fevergrass teaCombine dried fevergrass, six fresh lemongrass and water as required. Warm and infuse, then pass. Reserve for reheating just before service.Measure actual water and yield; prepare ten cups.

18:25–18:3003:25 elapsedALLSet the passCheck ten complete settings: main plates, sauce jugs, tea cups, salad plates and patty plates. Prepare serving leaves, clean spoons, towels and carving board.Braise must be cooked and ready for the next gate.

18:30–18:5003:30 elapsedC4Sauce + patty fillingCheck the legs are cooked. Pass braising liquid and start reducing for the sauce. Cool the meat promptly using the available safe cooling setup, then shred and chop finely. Taste and portion filling for ten patties.Cooling is a real dependency: do not enclose hot filling merely to hit the clock.

18:50–19:1003:50 elapsedC5Roll + fill ten pattiesRoll the chilled dough through the pasta machine. Divide, fill, seal and shape ten even patties. Tray ready for the oven. Finish the sauce reduction as needed.Confirm oven shelves and compatible settings for the final three products.

19:10–19:2004:10 elapsedC8Smoke the crownsSmoke all ten marinated crowns over pimento leaves using the intended smoking setup. Transfer to oven trays for the final cook.Get patties and sausages cooking at their tested start times; oven plan must be settled before the run.

19:20–19:3504:20 elapsedC2 · C5 · C8Final oven cookFinish crowns, oven-cook sausages and bake patties to their verified endpoints. Probe poultry; check pastry and filling. The 19:10–19:35 oven window is a planning allowance, not a proven cooking duration.If products need different settings, extra time or more shelves, this schedule must change.

19:35–19:4004:35 elapsedALLRest + service checkRest the crowns as required; check sausage and patty doneness. Bring sauce, gastrique and tea to service condition. Finish salad with lime juice and zest. Prepare to carve.Hard gate: all components ready before plate-up begins.

Protected / final 20 minutes

19:40 → plate up.

19:40–19:45

Set the sides

Portion ten mango salads and ten patties; arrange the patty presentation with pimento leaves. Keep hot items at service condition.

19:45–19:55

Build the main plates

Carve the rested crowns. Gastrique underneath; breast and sausage on each of ten plates. Fill the ten sauce jugs.

19:55–20:00

Tea, rims, count, send

Pour ten teas, check temperatures, wipe rims and compare all ten complete settings. Serve together at 20:00.

20:00 · SERVE10 complete settings ✓

Nine component trays

Full recipe v15 quantities
Open a tray to check it

C1Poussin crowns

10 poussin → ten crowns; legs and skins reserved for C2.

C2Poussin-leg sausages

Ten sausages. Leg meat: measured yield, not specified in v15. Pork fat 333 g; salt 25 g; Cure #1 2 g listed but formulation/dose unresolved; black pepper 6 g; thyme 12 g; garlic 40 g; dextrose 5 g; 3 bird’s-eye chillies.

C3Red-pepper gastrique

6 red peppers; 15 bird’s-eye chillies; brown sugar 360 g; white-wine vinegar 360 ml; 3 shallots; 3 garlic cloves; 3 thyme pieces. Cooking oil required by method: amount not specified.

C4Braised chicken + sauce

2 separate chicken legs; 2 onions; 4 red peppers; 4 tomatoes; 10 garlic cloves; 10 thyme pieces; Caribbean browning 5 g; 3 Scotch bonnets; 3 L C9 stock; white wine 500 ml; tomato purée 100 g; pimento seeds 50 g; black pepper 50 g.

C5Chicken patties

Flour 500 g; self-raising flour 150 g; salt 15 g; butter 100 g; warm water 300 ml; turmeric 50 g; Beta Pac curry powder 50 g; cooled C4 chicken filling.

C6Compressed mango salad

6 large sour mangoes; 5 lemongrass; 3 red chillies; 2 bird’s-eye chillies; 5 ripe mangoes; ginger 50 g; 3 lime leaves; 1 retail palm-sugar block (record net weight); Tiparos fish sauce 300 ml; tamarind concentrate 300 g; 10 limes, juice and zest finish.

C7Fevergrass tea

Dried fevergrass 200 g; 6 fresh lemongrass; water as required. Record infusion time, water quantity and ten-cup yield.

C8Marinade + smoke + roast

Mint 100 g; parsley 100 g; Scotch bonnet 1 g; pimento seeds 50 g; rosemary 10 g; 3 shallots; ginger 50 g; blackberries 100 g; shio koji 50 g; garlic 50 g; pimento leaves 500 g. Salt only if needed.

C9Roasted chicken stock

10 chicken carcasses; 2 carrots; 2 onions; 1 Scotch bonnet; 3 red peppers; peppercorns 5 g; pimento 5 g; thyme 10 g; garlic 30 g; browning 5 g; salt up to 5 g; cold water initially estimated at 5 L, subject to cooker capacity. Finished strained yield 3 L.

What Monday needs to prove

Stock → braise → pattiesCan the full stock batch reach 3 L by 17:00, including pressure build and natural release? Can the legs cook by 18:30, filling cool by 18:50 and patties finish by 19:40?

One chef + one oven planThe list sequences hands-on work; passive cooking overlaps. Final oven capacity and compatible temperatures are unverified. If these fail, record the real finish and revise the next run—20:00 readiness is not yet demonstrated.

Log actual stock yield/time · braise finish · filling cooled · oven settings/core checks · cooking complete · first/last setting served · what to change.

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