Chocolate Mousse - Cookbook Preview

What is not to like about a Chocolate Mousse?  Plus this recipe just has 4 ingredients in it!  Simple pleasures.  I first made this for my parents back when I was a teenager and started to cook full meals. I really liked having the kitchen to myself and surprising them with a meal complete with dessert. I can't remember the French meal I cooked but I do remember the Mousse. Fairly simple yet oh so delicious!

This recipe is featured in my family cookbook which will be unveiled hopefully this spring. From the Hall Family Cookbook, hand lettered and illustrated by yours truly.

Ingredients: 

12 oz. Semi-sweet chocolate drops or chips

4 eggs, separated in two different bowls

2/3 Cup water

1/2 Cup brown sugar

Tools: 

Double Boiler

Good mixer

Wooden spoon

Spatula

Large bowls

Serving dishes or goblets

Separate the yolks from the whites and set aside. Start slowly melting the chocolate over your double boiler which is gently boiling your water underneath your top pan.  

I decided to double the recipe!

Meanwhile beat the egg whites mixed with the brown sugar until it forms stiff peaks. Lovely!

Continue stirring and melting the chocolate until smooth. 

Beat the yolks and add the water. Mix thoroughly. Slowly add the yolks and water to the melted chocolate still over the heat in the double boiler. Stir continuously until the mixture combines thoroughly and becomes smooth once again. 

Remove from heat.  I moved the chocolate to a larger bowl at this stage. Slowly fold in the egg whites to the chocolate until smooth and uniform in color. 

Spoon the mousse into your serving glasses, dishes or goblets. Chill. Serve with fresh whipped cream!  

Don't count calories. Enjoy the moment. 

Cake Pops!

     I got to make cake pops the other day for a party. What I did differently than the cake balls (see earlier recipe post on the blog) is I used the popcicle sticks. After freezing the balls for twenty minutes or so before I dip them in the melted chocolate the directions are a little different. 

     Melt the chocolate before you take the balls out of the freezer.  Take one stick and dip just the tip, about a half inch, into the melted chocolate and hold it for just a few seconds, then push it into the center of the cake ball a bit past half way.  Then dip the ball in the chocolate, decorate with sprinkles if you want to, then set to dry.  I got some hard styrofoam rectangle blocks to punch them into to set and to serve. It works great, 

Liz's Easy Leek Cauliflower Soup

     I created this soup tonight from scratch. It is simple and delicious. I will give the recipe mainly in pictures with a little bit of text. Pure and simple. 

ingredients: 

2 large leeks, thinly sliced about two inches from the base up the stalk. 

1 stalk celery, sliced

1 head cauliflower, loosely chopped

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 peeled potato, cut in chunks

1 can low fat chicken broth or substitute veggie broth

1 tsp. fine Mediterranean sea salt

3 cups water

Olive oil for the pot

     In a large heavy bottom soup pot add a few tablespoons of olive oil with the sliced leeks, celery and garlic.  Saute for a few minutes until they just start to get limp.

     Add the chunks of cauliflower, sliced peeled potato, salt, broth, and water and bring to a boil. Cover and turn down the heat so it gently boils for 30 minutes. 

     Using a food processor or blender mix the soup until it is just smooth. Use all the liquid and the soft vegetables. 

     Serve immediately. Garnish with some cayenne pepper if you like the heat. Salt and pepper to your liking!  Enjoy!

Gluten-free Pancakes ~ Delicious Too!

     We absolutely adore pancakes at my house. Pancakes were a staple breakfast at my house raising 4 children and a husband who is my favorite eater to cook for; he has a great zest for eating!  I have a terrific butermilk pancake recipe as well as rcipes for crepes and traditional pancakes. I have added blueberries and banana slices to my pancakes and I have become known in my youngest son's circke of friends as the Chocolate pancake Mom. 

     So it seems fitting that I look for pancakes recipes in cookbooks and on Pinterest on a regular basis. I started experimenting with some of them and tweeked a few of them to come up with the following recipe. Enjoy!

Ingredients: 

6 egg whites (large eggs)

1 1/4 cup instant oatmeal, dry

1 1/4 cup small curd cottage cheese of your choice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1/16 teaspoon nutmeg

2 teaspoons sugar

     Start by adding the egg whites to your blender and blend on high until they start to thicken. 

     Now add the cottage cheese, oatmeal, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Blend on high until very well mixed. 

     

     Fry your pancakes on a hot skillet or griddle with a little butter. Add the batter when the pan is fairly hot and if you sprinkle a few drops of water on it the drops sizzle. Turn the pancakes over when the edges are loose from the pan and bubbles appear through out the batter. 

     

     Enjoy!  

Coffee Syrup

What to do with leftover coffee?  Make coffee syrup!  My first attempt came out pretty darn delicious and I am sure I will experiment with variations of it in the future. I took a cup of left over fresh brewed hazelnut coffee and added it to a heavy bottomed sauce pan. To this I added a teaspoon of vanilla extract, a cup of white cane sugar and a quarter cup of light corn syrup just for the heck of it. I had the stove set on medium (electric ceramic stove top) and continuously stirred it until all the sugar was dissolved. I sprinkled in some cream of tarter (not sure why, it just sounded fun) and added about another cup of cane sugar and continued to stir it on a very light boil for about ten minutes. After removing the pan from the stove and letting it cool for 30 minutes I poured it into a used and cleaned syrup bottle. 

It is great over ice cream and added to a fresh cup of hot coffee. I want to try it in Italian Cream Sodas which I will post about when I get some heavy cream and Club Soda. Another thought is to take a slice of pound cake, put it on your serving plate, add sliced fresh raspberries and/or strawberries, top with whipped cream then drizzle it with the coffee syrup. Until next time, happy cooking ~ happy tummies! 

Frittata with Tomato, zucchini, cheese and bacon

    
I absolutely love to make Frittatas.  They are very simple to make yet have a great presentation and are so delicious,  The variety of what you can put in them is endless  Today's version has fresh picked tomatoes and zucchini, crumbled fried bacon, shredded cheese and eggs.  Here is the recipe:

5 medium very ripe tomatoes, chopped.  Drain off excess juice.
1 zucchini, shredded
3 slices of thick bacon, fried and then crumbled
1/2 to 1 cup shredded cheese (I used Mexican blend)
6 eggs, beaten, with a splash of milk, salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp. coconut oil to saute the veggies in

Break the 6 eggs into a medium bowl, add a splash of milk, salt and pepper to taste and whisk until well mixed.  Set aside.

Start with a large skillet on the stove on medium high heat.  Though you do put the skillet in the oven for a little while, I used my non-stick skillet, and kept the oven door open while broiling, and had the handle facing out of the oven.  It worked fine.  You can use an oven proof skillet if you have one.

Add the coconut oil to the skillet and let it melt then spread it around the pan.  Add the tomatoes and zucchini and saute until tender.

Meanwhile, fry up the three slices of bacon and let them drain on a paper towel or cloth.

Here is what the veggies looked like when they were done.

Add the egg mixture on top of the veggies and tip the skillet a bit until the egg mixture covers all of the veggies.

Sprinkle the bacon pieces onto the top of the egg mixture.  I put the bacon on only half of the Frittata so half of it was bacon free.

As the egg mixture cooks, GENTLY push a spatula into the mixture in a few places to displace some of the cooked eggs on the bottom so a bit of the non-cooked eggs on top drip down to the bottom.  Let the entire mixture cook for several minutes until the sides start to lift away from the pan.  Shake the pan gently to feel if the mixture is set and sliding a bit in the pan.

Remove the pan from the stove top onto the counter (use a protective pot holder under it if you need to)  Sprinkle the cheese over the top of the Frittata and turn your broiler on LOW, making sure you have a rack on the highest setting.

  Place the entire skillet into the oven on the highest rack with the handle of the skillet facing out of the oven.  Leave the oven door open slightly.

Broil the Frittata for a few minutes, watching continuously.  The cheese will melt and it may start to brown ever so slightly and bubble when it is done.  I had this one in the oven for about 5 minutes.
Remove it from the oven and slide the Frittata onto a large platter or round plate and serve immediately.