Friday Night and the We Used All the Pots and Pans in the Kitchen

We were pretty much done with chicken at the end of the week and opted to try our hands yet again with pork chops. Our goal was to not dry them out. That was my one condition, and we even fucked that up! Dry, chewy pork is one of my biggest pet peeves :(.We failed in that goal but the sauce, braised rice, braised carrots, and the chocolate soufflé with crème anglaise pretty much made up for the minor failure. Plus we know what to do next time.

We got everything prepped prior to getting the cooking started. I am — you mean we are — a huge fan of mise en place despite the large number of dishes that it creates. I kept up with the dishes as Rei got started on the cooking.

First up was the carrots and once those were going, we got started on the rice. We had homemade stock in the fridge and used most of it for the braised rice. It was basically the mushroom risotto we made a while ago but without mushrooms. Still pretty good, though.

The stock was heating in the back pot, the carrots were in the front pot, and Rei was stirring the rice and butter to get it milky white before adding the boiling stock. Easy squeezy lemon breezy. Rei, that’s not the phrase. The correct phrasing is down below.~Terri

We will definitely be making this rice again because it was easy, tasty, and moist.

VERY IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE: “Hey Rei, make sure to put in the post somewhere that all of the recipes in this post are from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child.” Here ya go, Mom.

Once the stock was added to the rice, we got it back to a simmer, added a bouquet garni with herbs from the garden (and bay leaves from the pantry) and popped it into the oven for 30 minutes. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Zeke picked up some pork chops from Gambrels, our local craft butcher, and at dinner Zeke informed us that Ben (the owner) said to cook his pork to 135 degrees max. Apparently his meats don’t have the garbage that needs to be cooked out at 165 degrees. Would have been good to know earlier, Zeke! Well, at least we know for next time.

We had four chops but got three started in the oil to get browned before finishing in the oven. At this point the carrots were done but the rest of the meal wasn’t (bad time planning on my part) so we set the carrots aside to hang out. Do I get to say ‘I told you so’? We started the pork way too late, which meant that the rice and carrots (while delicious) were almost completely cold by the time we sat down to eat D: Well, the sauce was warm and that helped out a bit. It was still really good.~Terri

The rice was beautiful and ready about the same time the chops were done. We had to make the sauce for the pork chops which meant the rice and carrots cooled off a bit before serving. I should really read through the entire post before adding in my comments…I just wrote that up there ^^ Yep!~Terri

I decided on a single serving platter to avoid even more serving dishes to be washed. The meal was really delicious and despite being full, we opted to finish up the soufflé that Rei had started before we sat down to dinner.

I’d enjoyed a Tahto chardonnay while we cooked and with dinner. While I am not a huge fan of California chardonnays, this one is similar to a French style and very good. They are a super small producer which means I may have to get a few more bottles before they run out. Oh yes…alcohols…I know so much about these beverages and alcohols…

I love the new napkins from Pomegranate Seeds which I picked up last month. They kind of match this tablecloth that Zeke keeps putting on the table. We might have to change that up this week.

Back to the soufflé. I got the egg whites and egg yolks separated while Rei got the chocolate into the microwave to melt. There were only, what, two or three eggs that you broke the yolk of and had to fish out of the whites bowl? Ouch! Nice way to call me out, Rei!~Terri

Rei decided not to use the double boiler method which ended up fine. The recipe called for some strong coffee which we replaced with some boiling water. I don’t like coffee and double boilers are a pain in the ass.

Rei whipped up the egg whites before adding the chocolate. Yum…meringue…

Once the chocolate was folded in, into the buttered dish it went.

I didn’t do a great job on the foil collar (oof). I hope Zeke remembers to clean the oven. Oops! We got the rise we were looking for but probably didn’t cook it long enough. (I was just scared the stuff that fell would burn even more and be impossible to clean off tbh)

Finally it was time for the crème anglaise. We opted for plain vanilla.

Since I am not a huge chocolate fan, I decided to add some fresh raspberries to the dessert. Overall pretty tasty and I think at least two of us went in for second servings. Not sure that was the best idea…

Rei? How about adding some color to this post?

I wasn’t personally a massive fan of the raspberries (the texture was kinda funky with the seeds and such) but it wasn’t bad. Mom and I both realized we are not the biggest fans of soufflés (it’s a weird combination of mousse and cake and something else and we both just want the texture to make up your mind already, goddamnit!). Yep!~Terri

Anyways, I made cupcakes yesterday and promptly forgot to take pictures, so you’ll have to take my word that they were very pretty and tasty. And easy. (I used the recipes for the white cake and meringue buttercream from Nick Malgieri’s How to Bake.)

Alright, I’m gonna go now (Mom and I are going to an unknown place today to relax and get some writing and chilling done. We both kinda need it).

Okie dokie! Until next time, ciao, and have a gronctonkular day!

Rei and Terri