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 

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.

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.