Well today was experimenting with recipes day. I mentioned that I made a tiramisu with babas instead of ladyfingers, simply because we generally have left over babas only being open 4 days a week. So made that a few days ago and it was meh or at least that was my opinion but everyone else loved it. I used whipped cream because it holds better in a restaurant setting and is very popular done that way. Didn't like it and I have to admit I've only ever made 1 before and it was a lifetime ago.
A more appropriate and traditional tiramisu is made from egg whites and not whipped cream, so today I made another using egg whites. Huge difference and I must say it was incredibly better. The problem with egg whites is shelf life and I'll have to load our pastry/garde chef with extra work because it will only keep for 2 days at most while the whipped cream lasts twice as long but it is what it is.
The other recipe was a twice baked cheese souffle using gouda that I smoked a few days ago. I'm quite familiar with souffles but I wanted one that I could bake, refrigerate then put back in the oven during service as an appetizer to replace the Waldorf (ish) salad. Anyway it worked out pretty well. I sauteed shallot and fresh thyme in a little butter and added that to the batter along with some nutmeg for extra flavor and that worked out very well. My mistake was after buttering the ramekins I floured them, which was a mistake. Anyway after I cooked them in a baine marie and refrigerated them I had difficulty with them sticking to the bottom of the molds, not good, nevertheless for tasting purposes and the fact that more cheese is put on the top then put back in the oven for 6 or 7 minutes and I added a cheese tuile to rest on top to the be broken up with a tap of the fork isn't the end of the world, but it still bothered me. I used mustard greens and radish sprouts along with julienned granny smith and radishes in a mustard, honey and apple cider vinaigrette and roasted hazelnuts.
Tomorrow I'm making them for service for the weekend but instead of the melted butter and brushed for the ramekins I'm going to use room temp butter and apply that way and instead of flour I'm going to use a golden crumb which is basically bread with the crusts cut off then made into a crumb in the food processor, then fried to a golden color. The souffles should release easily.
If I remember I'll take a few pictures and post them but I have a bad habit of forgetting to do things like that lol. Cheers
