Chocolate Mousse a la Julia Child

The other day I was planning a dinner party, and I made a wonderful Braised Eye Of Round Roast from The Art of French Cooking.  It marinaded in a whole liter of Chianti, with Brandy and aromatic vegetables.  Then I braised it in the marinade and thickened it for the gravy.  It was amazing.  Long about 3ish that day, everything was cooking along and I realized that not only had I not planned a dessert, but everything else was done and I had time to make one!

I flipped through the desserts section, and kept seeing recipes that I did not have ingredients for... until I spotted Mousseline Au Chocolat.  I make it a habit to keep chocolate in my cupboard for impromptu cookies, real hot chocolate, etc.  This recipe also didn't call for any heavy whipping cream (which I never have!)  I had leftover coffee in the pot from breakfast, and orange liqueur from another recipe.  I think the orange liqueur would be the only thing that a normally well-stocked baking cupboard might not have.  I think any liqueur would work well - creme de menthe, Kahlua, even just straight vodka with a 1-2 teaspoons of vanilla or almond extract added.  I think it needs to be alcohol to make the eggs work properly but I haven't tried, so not sure - if you try it with regular coffee or something, let me know how it goes!

The recipe is made in 3 parts, but each one can sit and wait once it is complete, so if you need to make this while also doing other things it will work fine.  The yolk mixture takes the most time, so I made it first.  Then it sat there while I melted chocolate, basted my roast, got Anya up from her nap, etc, until I got around to finishing the other parts.  Worked out great.

The finished product was full of airy bubbles that made a nice popping sound when spooned into, but it melted into the smoothest cream in the mouth.  It really did not taste like orange or coffee - my guess is that no one would have thought those ingredients were in there - It just tasted like rich, creamy chocolate.  I will be making this one again, and often!!

Chocolate Mouse - from The Art of French Cooking 

by Julia Child, pg 604

The Yolks Mixture
3qt glass or stainless mixing bowl
Electric mixers or a whisk (I used a whisk - it takes a while, but you don't need to whisk fast)
4 egg yolks (save the whites for later)
3/4C powdered sugar
1/4C orange liqueur (or other liqueur)
small saucepan of barely simmering water (for double boiler - make the level of water low enough that it won't touch your mixing bowl)
a bow of cold water (I added  ice cubes) that WILL touch your bowl

The Chocolate
Small mixing bowl
same saucepan of simmering water

6 oz semi sweet chocolate (I had 4 squares of Bakers Chocolate, and I added 1/4C semisweet chocolate chips)
1/4C strong coffee (I used leftover from breakfast, espresso might have given more flavor)
1 1/2 sticks of butter, room temp (12T - yeah, its alot!)

The Whites
medium mixing bowl
electric hand mixers (unless you are super hard core... I'm not)
4 saved egg whites
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon regular sugar

1. Beat the egg yolks and powdered sugar with a whisk until the mixture is pale yellow, thick and the mixture falls in a ribbon when drizzled into the bowl.  Beat in the liqueur and place bowl over the small saucepan of hot water.  Whisk continuously (doesn't need to be super fast, just don't let it sit and cook!) until the mixture is foamy and too hot for your finger.  Then move your mixing bowl over to the cold water and mix until the yolks have cooled to room temp. and will drizzle in a ribbon again.  Set aside - it can hold for a while.
2. Place your chocolate (chop it roughly if you have baker's squares) in a small mixing bowl along with the coffee - YES you can mix chocolate and water!!  It has to do with the temperature you begin with when the water is added.  It mill melt together if you start everything at room temp, while the chocolate is still solid.  Place over your simmering water and melt - I used a rubber spatula to mix and mash as it melted - you need to keep the chocolate moving while it melts into the coffee.  
3. When it is finished melting, remove from heat and beat in the softened butter with a whisk - about 1T at a time.  When it is smooth and creamy, whisk the chocolate into the yolks - it should be room temp by now, and won't cook the eggs.
4. In another mixing bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form.  Sprinkle on the sugar and beat until stiff.  WHISK in 1/4 of the mixture - this lightened the heavy chocolate to make it easier to fold.  Then, gently fold in the rest, incorporating as much of the white as you can - a few streaks or lumps may remain.  
5. Pour into a large serving dish, or into individual serving dishes.  Serve with whipped cream if you have it, but I didn't have any and it was so rich that it didn't need any!
6. Refrigerate 2+ hours, covered.  Makes about 5C of mousse - 10 1/2C servings!

Enjoy!

Alterations -

1. You may stir in extras as you add the chocolate to the yolks - the original recipe called for candied orange peel.  Other ideas might be mini chocolate chips, nuts, crushed peppermints, espresso powder, etc.
2. Lightly oil a 6C ring mold, pour in, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 4 hours until quite firm.  Dip mold into hot water for 1 second and unmold onto chilled serving dish.  Fill center with fruit or whipped cream (or both!)
3. Line a serving dish with sliced ladyfingers, pound cake, etc.  Fill with mousse and refrigerate, then unmold onto chilled serving dish. Decorate with whipped cream and fruit.

Mini/Maxi Italian Stuffed Bell Peppers

These are wonderfully flavorful, and the whole thing can be made ahead - for the refrigerator or freezer!!  It's very healthy, with brown rice, turkey sausage, and the only other fat coming from the cheese on top (which you could leave off, I suppose) I had most of a bag of those cute mini sweet bell peppers leftover from another dish, and this was the perfect way to use them up.  But you could also just use regular large bell peppers and cut them in half (for the maxi).  I've made lots of extra stuffing in the pan for kids, or others who aren't fans of bell peppers.  These could even be healthy appetizers at a buffet - enjoy!


Mini/Maxi Italian Stuffed Bell Peppers

2C dry brown rice + 4C water (or 6C cooked leftover rice)

about 12 mini sweet bell peppers, or 6 large ones, cut in half
    note - you could probably use 3-4 doz mini peppers or more, but i wanted lots of 
    extra filling for the kiddos ;-)

1 20oz package turkey italian sausage (sweet or hot)
1 large onion, diced
1 tablespoon italian seasoning
1 tablespoon dried basil
2 teaspoons dry mustard powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon marjorum
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon salt

28 oz diced or crushed tomatoes
8ox tomato sauce

2C shredded provolone or mozzarella cheese (or about 12 slices) (or sub cheddar, but it will be less italian ;-)

1. Heat the oven to 350.
2. Start your rice - place 2C dry long grain brown rice and 4C water in a large saucepan.  Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook slowly for about 45-60 minutes, or until the rice is tender and the liquid is gone.  You can turn off the heat when there is just a small amount of liquid left, but leave the lid on to steam for about 15 more minutes.
3. Meanwhile, begin to brown the Italian turkey sausage.  If you have links, slice the skin open and remove it - cook the ground meat until it begins to brown.  Add the onions and all the spices and cook until the meat is cooked through. note - this seems like a lot of seasonings, but remember we are mixing it with all that plain rice and plain tomatoes.
4. Also meanwhile, make a long slit into the side of each mini pepper (or cut whole peppers in half, and clean out the veins).  Place the slit side down on a dinner plate, add a couple tablespoons of water, cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 5 minutes.  Remove from the microwave to cool, but leave them covered with the wrap to continue steaming.
5. Put it all together - in a large mixing bowl, place the hot cooked rice, seasoned meat and diced tomatoes.  Toss well until combined.  Stuff each pepper with filling - it's fine to have the seam a bit open. (I tried using a small spoon, but honestly, my fingers worked better)
6. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with oil.  Pour the rest of the meat/rice filling into the dish.  Arrange the peppers on top, seam side down, squishing them down into the rice a bit.  Make them in rows, or a fun pattern!  Spoon the tomato sauce over the peppers - this keeps the skins from burning, and makes a kind of caramelized sticky crust.
7. Spray a sheet of foil with oil, then cover the dish (oil side down, of course)  Bake for 45 minutes.
8. Remove from oven, uncover, and sprinkle the whole dish with cheese (or lay slices over all).  Return to the oven (do not cover) increase temp to 400, and bake about 15 more minutes, or until cheese is bubble and browned.

For buffet appetizers, use enough mini peppers to use all the stuffing, and place them slit side up with just a drizzle of tomato sauce, and uncovered on a baking sheet.  Roast at 400 for about 20-25 minutes When they are tender and beginning to blacken, sprinkle with cheese and broil.  

The whole dish can be made ahead and kept in the fridge.  Bake for 1 hour the first time, then 15 minutes with the cheese.

To freeze, instead of spraying a casserole in step 6, line it with heavy foil.  Assemble the whole dish (without cheese) and place in the freezer until hard.  Pop the foil out of the pan, then wrap well with more foil, then plastic wrap, label and place back in the freezer.  When you are ready to cook, remove the outer layers of plastic and foil, and plop the original foiled casserole into the original pan. Bake, covered at 350 for 2 hours, then 15 minutes with the cheese.

Curried Tomato Soup - with Canning directions

WARNING!!  THIS RECIPE IS NOT USDA APPROVED!  I HAVE BEEN WARNED THAT MY FOOD COULD CAUSE DEATH!  CAN AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!

There.  That's done.

Ok - so I love Heidi Swanson's recipe for Indian Spiced Tomato Soup.  It's a bit blah on it's own, but top it with the stir-ins below and it is fantastic!!!!  Seriously, you have to have the coconut milk at least, but I try to have them all on hand to serve.  But, there are a few changes that need to be made to be able to can safely. I changed the amount of onions, no water, and also no butter - hard to can.  But the spices are the same, so it still tastes about right.

Here is my altered version:

4 qts. tomatoes (skinned, seeded (if desired), crushed - I don't bother with skinning or seeding)
4C chopped onion
1.5T curry powder
1.5 teaspoon coriander
1.5 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt (more to taste)
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Sweat the onions with 1C water (do not use oil or butter) until tender.  Add tomatoes and spices and  simmer 20 minutes or until slightly thickened.  Liquify in a food processor, blender or with an immersion blender, if desired. (I crushed my tomatoes and onions in the food processor, so I didn't need to blend mine again)

Pour into hot jars, leave 1" headspace.  Process in a pressure canner: Pints - 20 minutes at 10lbs, Quarts 25min @ 10lbs..

To Serve:
Heat soup to a simmer serve over cooked brown rice, barley, etc.  Have these on hand to serve on top:

• hard boiled eggs, chopped
• cilantro, chopped
• toasted slivered/sliced almonds
• coconut cream (open a can of full-fat coconut milk without shaking it - scoop the thick cream from the top of the can)
• lemon or lime wedges

Spaghetti Sauce with Meat

Adapted from the Blue Ball Book to use less meat and more tomatoes.  This is a double batch, about 9-10 quarts, depending on how much you simmer it down.


5lbs ground meat
4C chopped onions
2C chopped green peppers
25C chopped/crushed tomatoes
24oz tomato paste
1/4C brown sugar
1/4C dried parsley
3 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons oregano
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4C apple cider vinegar

1. Brown ground beef in a 3 gal. pot.  Drain.  add onions and peppers and sautee until tender.
2. Add remaining ingredients and simmer until desired thickness (about an hour and mine was thick enough to stand up my wooden spoon)
3. Ladle into hot jars, leaving 1" head space.
4. Process in a pressure canner at 10lbs - Pints, 1 hour.  Quarts, 1 hour fifteen minutes

Kara's Blue Ball Salsa

This recipe is basically the one from the Blue Ball Canning Book - but I got it from Kara, and she and I have both made notes and changes, so here it is!


10C crushed tomatoes (peeled and seeded if you like - I don't do it)
5C chopped tomatoes
5C onions, chopped
2.5C jalapenos, seeded and chopped
6 cloves garlic
1/2C cilantro, chopped
3 teaspoons salt
1.25C apple cider vinegar

1. Combine ingredients, simmer 10 minutes.
2. Process in boiling water bath - Pints or quarts, 15 minutes.

Last year I only used 1C jalapenos, and the salsa was quite mild, but had great flavor.  I drained the juices off the vegetables to make it thicker. 

Last year I skinned & seeded the tomatoes, then drained my veggies ot make my salsa thicker.  It wasn't all that thick adn I got 3.5 quarts.

This year I did not skin or seed my tomatoes, and I did not drain the veggies.  I got 5.5 quarts.  You decide.