Baked pork chops

Meanwhile, a sauce is prepared separately, a compote actually, incorporating butter with orange juice, pineapple, brown sugar, ginger, and other dry trail-mix type things that are around in bags, cherries, and cranberries raisins and such. I will consider including an alcohol, most likely Madiera.

Remoulade, celeriac, shrimp

That does it.  

))) WHAP ! (((

* looks up remoulade *

Oh, is that all? Mayonnaise with mustard and lemon. 

And scallion or chives, and capers or green peppercorn, and cornichons or gherkin, and anchovy, and parsley or possibly thyme or herbs de Provence, and cayenne, and horseradish, and possibly even catsup, or maybe Creole mustard and Tabasco.

What did I learn? Do whatever you want.  

Maybe I had just check YouTube and see what people are up to. 

Pickle relish is used here because there are no cornichons or gherkins. What do you think this is, a deli over here? Besides, I did intend to add something sweet anyway, possibly even sugar, but only sparingly, it could possibly even use more. 

I put in onion because there are no other fancier more gentle allium on hand. The diced mild white onion was rinsed to rid it of extra surface sulfur compounds. An anchovy was diced and smashed and hefty amount capers were drained but not rinsed, so those two salty ingredients, fairly awful by themselves but great in combinations, limited the need for additional salt, although a dash of salt and pepper were added at the end for correction. Parsley from the Aerogarden was used along with a pile of mint simply because there is an abundance of that. Mint is not recommended on anything I've encountered so far. Cayenne was added because it was shown on one of the videos and that gave me the nod. I have no idea how mint will pair with cayenne. See? I'm living dangerously. I opted for a hard-boiled egg squished through a ricer, because, what the heck, I've already have water brought to a boil for shrimp. 

Those are not holes on the side of the ricer ↑, but rather reflections of holes on the bottom disc. 

This holds for both hard-boiled eggs and for shrimp: water is brought to a boil, but just to a boil and then removed. The egg rises in temperature along with the water and then removed from the heat immediately upon boiling. As you know, at altitude water boils at a lower temperature. These eggs were removed before the water boiled, 190℉ / 88℃ to be precise about it. Then a timer was set for 12 minutes. The eggs were removed to cold water to halt cooking and to prevent iron from migrating to the surface of the yolk thus discoloring it unattractively. Who wants that? Nobody. 

Similarly, the water is brought to a boil for the shrimp, the same water actually, it's water conservation all the time over at Chip's place. Ah pity da foo who wastes water, and they are chided harshly. 

Resource conservation. Allow an indulgence of momentary digression, if you will. It is such great fun to make people wilt about being insufficiently green. "Do you intend to have that water run all day?" or "Will we be heating all of insert your state here? Funnier the more politically liberal the victim, because ultimately conservation is ... what? ... conservative. Think about it; The desire to conserve what one holds precious, a focus to preserve, a need to nurture and protect what is worth saving and passing on. That is the definition of conservatism, if not the definition of present-day political conservatives, or the cartoon version of conservatism that rattles inside one's head and that one imagines stands in opposition to pretty much everything one holds dear. All that is a present day distortion of the real thing that is actually personal brought about by fealty to national political parties which all have problems of their own. In the classical sense, present-day political liberals are exquisitely conservative. Wise with their own personal finances and judicial regarding their recources. To the person who is naturally conservative, especially the more politically liberal, the guilt experienced by the acute awareness of waste is unbearable, especially when pointed out and played on by someone unaffiliated or otherwise does not overtly express such concerns. It's hilarious to irreverent imps such as myself and no end of mischievous fun. It's even funnier when a connection is possible with polar bears or Harper seal pups because the imagery is immediate. And if you disagree with me, well then, you're worse than a non-recycler who doesn't xeriscape and plants invasive species.

This shrimp is still frozen so dumping it into boiling water is tantamount to dumping ice cubes in boiling water. The water is brought back to a boil and then removed from the heat. Today the shrimp sat in boiling hot water (202 ℉ / 95℃ in Denver ) for a mere three minutes. "Outrageous!" You say. Sue me, I insist that is all they are having. The internal temperature of the shrimp was 180℉ / 82℃, probed at different spots, and that is certainly cooked by anybody's measure. The water down there is cloudy ↓ because it is holding 1/2 cup of kosher salt. I am glad that I saw that video today because this is some of the best cooked shrimp I have ever had. Boy, those New Orleans guys sure do know their shrimp.

One of the video chefs said something interesting and useful. He does not salt the cooking water because it draws out whatever it is that makes shrimp good. However he tosses the cooked shrimp directly into iced brine where it abruptly halts further cooking, picks up salt, causes it to become easier to peel, and keeps the flesh tender.

One egg yolk with half a cup of olive oil appeared to be too much dressing by 100% so half of it was removed. Part of that dressing was returned as the celeriac quickly absorbed it.  

I decided on raisins for the salad for some unknowable reason.

Conclusion: insufficient shrimp. 

Solution: cook more shrimp while the water is still hot and the iced brine is still available. 

I can see right off that this is not going to last. It is so delicious I am going to keep right on this until it is gone. 

YouTube videos:

I hesitated to post these because videos have a discouraging way of disappearing. In that case, just go to YouTube and search [remoulade] or [celeriac remoulade] for presently available videos. At any rate, I did find it useful so here is my trail.

TheSeasonedCook remoulade
Anchovy, capers, h/b egg, homemade mayonnaise (yellow)


hippygourmet celeriac remoulade 
Green peppercorn, Cornichon, organic mayonnaise ? (white)

TotallyVegetarian Celeriac Remoulade
vegan mayonnaise + mustard + lemon unrefined slices: too simple : reject

OneDesignShop Best Sandwich in the World with Pipers Farm Red Ruby Beef Michael Caines, guy with prosthetic arm cuts a pain baton and makes a sandwich.
Bah. No remoulade. Okay, got a little sidetracked there. But the guy's artificial arm and hand fascinated me and forced me to watch.

SimplyMing: Celeriac 
Two dishes, one hot the other cold. Interesting hot celeriac with shrimp. His remoulade is simple flavored mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, lemon juice. For the cooked shrimp, Ming does say any vinaigrette will do but then slurs the specific vinaigrette he uses, sounds like fiber (?) while not failing to include four incidences of Foodnetwork-style vacuous catchphrases that add nothing, annoy through overuse, and regrettably render the video as good muted. I do wish they would cease that crap. Perhaps nervous. Perhaps fear of silence, even brief moments. Perhaps Network philosophy. I don't know. Good video but Ming's self-pressure gets in the way.

Foodwishes Remoulade Sauce 
Tartar sauce. dill, Dijon, capers, garlic, lemon, cayenne, Cornichon. Okay, I'm glad I came back to this. At the end of the video this guy distinguishes between mayonnaise with stuff in it VS stuff with mayonnaise in it, and yes, Sir, that does make sense.

GreatChefs Shrimp Remoulade from Chef Warren LeRuth 
New Orleans, soaks cooked shrimp in iced salted water, no salt in cooking water because it drains juices out of the shrimp, 3/4 cup Creole mustard, catsup, horseradish, chopped celery hearts, onion, sugar, paprika, corn oil or cottonseed oil, temporary emulsion, Tabasco sauce. NO sauce is different from all others, basically mustard sauce with Tabasco with a bunch of other stuff.

Celeriac salad

Also celery root. Frankly, I have no idea what it is. Saw it in the store and thought,"That looks weird. I should buy it."  

Cut these too thick. These sticks were cut again in half lengthwise, then again, so each stick became four sticks. They were soaked in sweetened acidulated water. The vinaigrette is flavored with grated ginger. The salad included apple, red bell pepper, onion, raw baby courgette, all soaked with the celeriac then black beans sprinkled only because I thought  black dots would be cool in the photograph. 

Speaking of photographs, sometimes I have a hard time making up my mind which one to use. This one seemed to me to have advantages. I like the specks of light in bokeh reflected off the background tomatoes but on second thought they do distract. The salad is the subject and those tomatoes draw away. Whada'ya think? Should I switch them out? 

Wanna hear something off topic? Okay, goes like this: Today is the last day for the Tutankhamun[hekaiunushema] exhibit that has been open for months half a block from my home. I've been through it half a dozen times, I cannot get enough. It's like the exhibition came to me directly, that's how I know God loves me, and now I am sad because it is leaving. 

Man, some times, I tell ya, I get so sick and tired of the lame excuses people make. I called a friend I haven't seen in a whole year and asked if he saw the exhibit. He goes, "Why no, as a matter of fact, I have not." I asked if he would like to see it as my guest. He goes, "Yes, I would like that very much." I told him today is the last day and then it is gone forever, so we made plans for today. The next week he called back to say, "I'm sorry but I cannot go to the exhibit ... I'm still all backed up with end-of-the-year tax accounting for three companies ... I am trying desperately to retire and I must get this out of the way ... my niece got married in Connecticut and I had to go there for the wedding ... the blizzard that coated New England messed travel nationally complicated my arrangements and caused debilitating anxiety ... then *choke* my father whom I've been caring for the last several years has died and as the oldest surviving son I have to manage all the funeral arrangements ... Through all that I've become quite ill because my resistance was lowered by grief and anxiety and because I've been sobbing throughout  the whole last two weeks ..."

and blah blahblah blah blah blahblah blah.

So I called Karen and she was thrilled with the idea. She and her son braved the snow to join me this morning, OMG, the guy has shot up an entire foot in the four months since I've seen him. He's as tall as myself but two shoe sizes larger, and he's only fifteen. Karen said she can't keep up with clothes. After the exhibit we walked over to Palette's for lunch where all three of us ate like starving animals. Karen kills me. She told her son she wanted just a taste of his lunch then proceeded to devour the whole thing. The boy sat there nonplussed as his mother savagely attacked his plate. It's a white tablecloth kind of place so that behavior is most unbecoming. Probably not as bad as my sweary stories, and our uproarious laughter, but all this is beside the point. He asked the waiter for a take-home box and in the next moment Karen goes after her son's lunch again, her stabbing-fork ready aimed,  but the whole thing had disappeared. He, the growing boy, wisely scooped it into the box out of reach of his ravenous mother.  Hahahaha. I like that kid. 

So anyway, this is tonight's salad. 

Chocolate soufflé, part 2

THAT's what I'm talk'n 'bout!  And it only took two tries. 

I did read a couple of books. I read them before and now I re-read the pertinent sections: Bittersweet by Alice Medrich, and The Chocolate Bible by Christian Teubner. As I thought I recalled, they instruct along the lines of classical technique. Their mixtures contain both couverture chocolate and powdered cocoa for a double whammy of intense chocolate. The heavy mixture is lightened with a portion of the whipped egg white with the rest of the whipped egg white folded into the lightened mixture. That is not what I am looking for. Those soufflés do not have elevation either, judging by the photos in the two books, and frankly, this is better. Unless you are un porc de chocolat, of course, then by all means go for the heavy chocolate variation. The rest of us know how to control our impulses and that is why we are thin, lithe, and svelte and you are probably not.  ))) POP ((( I make the smug Gallic popping sound with the hand in front of my mouth, for emphasis. 

The crumb of plain white bread with the crust trimmed, soaked in Mozart Chocolate Liqueur and obscenely strong espresso. 

I am glad that I saved the egg whites from the steamed dumpling fiasco here. They came in handy today. This soufflé has no egg yolk although I do not see any problem with including one or two here with the soaked bread. 

The flavored bread pieces are already light, but they are lightened further with 1/3 of the whipped egg whites, also flavored with sugar and vanilla. 

I could make twelve or twenty of these as easily as I make one. Except for preparing the baking dishes, that would be a drag. Imagine securing the admiration of my peers all at once with a stunt like that. 

BANG! Dayitiz. Who's your daddy?

The ganache is ordinary Ghiradelli chocolate chips heated with heavy cream. Nothing to write home about. 

Oh, I almost forgot -- this ↓ is what I was munching while messing around with this chocolate soufflé. It has nothing to do with it except that it says right there somewhere in the Bible, I never knew exactly where (the real Bible, not the chocolate one), that man cannot exist on chocolate egg-foam alone, or something, I forget the exact words.

Chocolate soufflé

Sidetrack Alert. There was more chocolate foam than the baking dish could hold. The surplus was fried as a pancake. It is all an experiment. Wrong, yes, I know, but it does give me a chance to taste now and begin an assessment of what there is going on in the oven. 

This is very good, but wrong. 

:-( 

So back to the drawing board for me. 

The aim is to match or surpass what was served the other night at La Central. I was taken with how light their soufflé was. This is a revelation to me. It was so light it seemed mostly meringue with very little cocoa suspended within it. That surprised me because I would have started, as one does, with a sauce, then lighten the sauce with 1/3 the meringue and then fold the remaining 2/3 meringue into that, which would have suspended chocolate sauce throughout the meringue. But La Central did not appear to do that. Instead, I think they used a vanilla meringue with few but not many areas of what appeared in the dim light to be a very light chocolate-flavored bread pudding punctuating the meringue. And then an additional chocolate ganache served on the side, so the diner controls the amount of actual chocolate poured over the whole thing, not chocolate baked within the soufflé as I expected. No chocolate couverture was harmed in the production of this dessert, of that I am certain.

Whereas theirs is etherial, mine is dense. Theirs is meringue-y, mine is spongy. Theirs is barely chocolate at all, mine is thickly chocolate. I really held back on the cocoa powder too because I did not know how it would mix with the meringue. The next one will have even less cocoa, if any at all.  

You know how you must make sure not to inhale when lifting a powdered doughnut to your lips least you asphyxiate yourself by accidentally coating your esophagus with confectioner's sugar carried in with the inhalation? That was going on here too except with cocoa powder instead of powdered sugar. There should be a warning about that. It could kill an asthmatic. 

That informed me that cocoa is the form of chocolate used. It also suggested how to prepare the bowl -- with butter and cocoa rather than with butter and grated hard cheese as usual. 

La Central also offered a Grand Marnier soufflé along with the chocolate soufflé on their Thursday menu. I am disappointed in Grand Marnier generally. I do not think it lives up to its reputation. I could be wrong, but it hasn't worked out all that well for me, so I passed on that. Actually, I passed on both, my companion handed me half of their dessert in which I had no initial interest. Perhaps both of those soufflés contain alcohol. I do no know, it was not specified on the menu. I do have a bottle of Mozart Chocolate Cream that does nothing but age in the cabinet. Maybe I should include some of that in the next attempt. 

This is the second time in a row that a soufflé failed to attain any elevation. This has me worried. Am I losing the touch? Are jumbo eggs to be avoided? Am I overlooking something basic? Maybe I had just sit down and read a few books. 

Things learned: 

*  Use milk instead of cream to soak the bread.

*  Soak the bread longer so that it nearly disintegrates

*  Less bread to meringue

*  Use almost little to no cocoa in the meringue

*  Consider a chocolate flavored alcohol.

*  Include vanilla to soak the bread and the meringue

*  Consider coffee or espresso to round out the chocolate.

update: Although this soufflé is fine, the second try successfully approximated the chocolate soufflé at La Central can be viewed  here