Monday, September 30, 2019

A Nitro Finish (Cream Whipper Chocolate Mousse 100/100)

My first post for this project was in April of 2017. It's finishing in September of 2019. I wanted to close with dessert to celebrate the 2+ year journey. Enter the chocolate mousse, which is only the second thing I've made with the nitrogen charged cream whipper I picked up to make pancakes. This mousse is mostly melted chocolate mixed with coffee and a little sugar.
So much chocolate 

I really need to put cream in the cream whipper someday
It was delicious, though I prefer the chocolate chess pie in a dessert showdown.
Victory is Sweet
My big goal with this project was to push myself to try new things. That worked out. I wouldn't have predicted shrimp and grits would get raves, but it did. Same for a grilled squid salad. I'm hugely grateful to all the friends and family who let me feed them experiments, loaned equipment (I still have one co-workers ice cream maker, she's in no rush to have it returned) and generally cheered me on. 

For reference, this is everything that got made (though not in the same order as the list). My top 10 favorites are marked. So long, and thanks for all the fish. 
  1. Breakfast Carbonara 
  2. Always Perfect Oatmeal (Favorite)
  3. Buttermilk Lassi
  4. Blueberry Pound Cake (Favorite)
  5. Pho Bo
  6. Oatmeal Banana Bread
  7. BCLT Tacos
  8. Little Brown Biscuits 
  9. Grits with Shrimp
  10. Chilaquiles
  11. Overnight Coconut Oats
  12. Nitrous Pancakes
  13. Mr. Crunchy 
  14. Scrambled Eggs V3.0
  15. The Greens
  16. The Black-Eyed Peas
  17. The Corn Bread
  18. Seedy Date Bars
  19. Cold Brew Coffee
  20. Peach "Cobbles"
  21. Amaranth Wafers
  22. Lacquered Bacon
  23. Apple Spice Bundt Cake with Rum Glaze
  24. No-Can Tomato Soup 
  25. Grilled Cheese Grilled Sandwich
  26. BBQ Potato Chips
  27. My Big Fat Greek Chicken Salad
  28. Tossed Beet Salad
  29. Mushroom Wheat Berry Pilaf
  30. Turkey Sliders
  31. Beale Street Cheeseburger 
  32. Smokey the Meatloaf
  33. Roast Broccoli Hero (Favorite)
  34. Roasted Thanksgiving Salad 
  35. Fish Sticks and Custard
  36. Black Beans/Brown Rice (Favorite)
  37. Chicken Parmesan Balls (Favorite)
  38. "Enchilasagna" or "Lasagnalada"
  39. Oyster Po'Boy
  40. Iceberg Slaw
  41. The Final Turkey
  42. Not Just Another Kale Salad
  43. Green Grape Cobbler
  44. Butterscotch Puddin'
  45. Brown on Blonde (Favorite)
  46. Kick-In-The-Pants Smoothies
  47. Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
  48. Thai Iced Tea
  49. Savory Greek Yogurt Dip
  50. Crispy Chickpeas
  51. Red, Red Wine (Sangria)
  52. Zissou's Buffet of Underwater Delights
  53. Cucumber Lime Yogurt Pops
  54. Fiery Ginger Ale Concentrate 
  55. Onion Oxtail Soup
  56. Chicken Piccata
  57. Cocoa Nib Vinaigrette
  58. Kimchi Crab Cakes
  59. Barbecue Pork Butt
  60. Mussels-O-Miso
  61. Bourbon Bread Pudding
  62. Bad Day Bitter Martini
  63. Char-Burgers (Favorite)
  64. One Pot Chicken
  65. Heavenly Orbs of Belgian Goodness
  66. Weeknight Spaghetti
  67. Cream Whipper Chocolate Mousse
  68. Garam Masalmon Steaks
  69. Pumpkin Cheesecake
  70. Salisbury Steak
  71. Snapper-Dome (Favorite)
  72. Smokey Tequila Sour
  73. Mushroom Stroganoff
  74. Turkey Tikka Masala
  75. Totally Panini-Pressed Dinner
  76. Grilled Squid Salad
  77. Peach Punch Pops
  78. The General's Fried Chicken
  79. Preserved Lemons-ade
  80. Quick Preserved Lemons
  81. Pate de Sardine
  82. Hot Saltine Hack
  83. Salty Chocolaty Peanut Buttery Crunchy Bars
  84. Grilled Shishitos
  85. Roasted Chili Salsa
  86. The Last Pizza Dough I'll Ever Need
  87. Barley Water 
  88. Chuan'r
  89. Watermelon Campari Sorbet
  90. Cider House Fondue
  91. Chocolate Chess Pie (Favorite)
  92. Cockpit Shrimp Cocktail 
  93. St. Louis Ribs
  94. Fried Rice
  95. Midnight Mug Cake For 2
  96. Chili Glazed Wings
  97. Chocapocalpse Cookies
  98. Open Sesame Noodles
  99. Jungle Bird
  100. Tomorrow, French Fries 

Monday, September 9, 2019

Cockpit Shrimp Cocktail (99/100)

The second to last recipe on my list was a shrimp cocktail. I made it for a picnic we went to. The 1.5 lbs of shrimp gets de-veined, brined, broiled, and the peeled before serving.
After the brining and broiling.

The sauce is simpler, everything gets tossed in the food processor. Smoked almonds, tomatoes, chili paste, horseradish, Worcestershire, lime... I knew it was going to have some kick.


The shrimp came out well, but the sauce the real hit. People were spooning it onto some of the other meats and salads (especially a quinoa vegetable salad). The sauce to shrimp ratio is radically tilted towards the sauce, we didn't even eat a quarter of the sauce before the shrimp ran out. Good thing it will go with a lot stuff.

Difficult Level: Medium

Will It Get Made Again? I won't voluntarily de-vein shrimp again if I don't have to. The shrimp isn't enough better than already prepped shrimp I can get from the grocery store the prep time and effort worth it. The sauce goes well with a lot of meat and veggies though, and may get requested for a repeat.

Saturday, September 7, 2019

Grilled Cheese Grilled Sandwich (98/100)

Technically what we typically call grilled cheese sandwiches are griddled, not grilled. Alton Brown's response to this is to come up with a version that is literally grilled. This also makes it one of the labor intensive ways you could come up with to make a sandwich.
Both the cheese and the bread are grilled. To grill the cheese you'll need to take a grill spatula, wrap it in foil, pile shredded cheese on, and let it melt on the grill. Then after you've dumped the cheese onto the bread, you wrap the sandwich in more foil and grill heat the sandwich packet to finish the process.


The big question here was always going to be is it worth it? I have to go with no. I'll stick with the panini press or the griddle going forward. It's not that it was a bad sandwich, but for the amount of prep and cooking time, it would need to be amazing.

Difficulty Level: Medium
Will It Get Made Again? No, the effort to reward ratio fails.

A Nitro Finish (Cream Whipper Chocolate Mousse 100/100)

My first post for this project was in April of 2017. It's finishing in September of 2019. I wanted to close with dessert to celebrate th...