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.