Chocolate Mousse

The other night, my friend Kendall and I decided to have a "50 Shades of Chicken" Dinner Party, using a recipe from the 50 Shades of Chicken cookbook I gave her for Christmas (it was actually delicious and I'll post that recipe another time). In the spirit of romance, I decided to test drive a dessert I'd never done before and something that Christian Grey would have just loved to feed what's-her-face in the non food oriented version of the book. We served it with a little mini brownie sundae that our friend Bambi made, so it was a chocolate lover's dream! It was so easy and good that I made it again for my charity cooking group meeting this week, and wanted to share it with you all. It can be made in advance and easily transported off site. In addition, there are so many fun ways you can serve it- by itself in a bowl or teacup, with fruit, with fresh whipped cream (always my choice), with a little cookie on the side, the list goes on. If I was going to jazz it up even further (like for a date that I was trying to impress), I'd probably serve it with raspberries, a Chambord-laced whipped cream (Chambord is a raspberry liquer- add 1-2tsp to whipped cream), and a little glass of Chambord on the side. You know, to get them nice and liquored up. Just kidding.

Ingredients:
1 cup whipping/heavy cream
4 egg yolks
1 shot of espresso or strong coffee
1 pinch of salt
4 tbs sugar
1 6 oz good semisweet chocolate bar, chopped (I used Ghiradelli)
2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
-Whip 1/2 cup of the cream in a bowl. You can use an electric mixer or a whisk. I use a whisk because if you get any fat on the electric beaters then the egg whites won't beat, and IMO using a whisk+elbow grease is easier than cleaning the electric mixer as well as you have to in order to make sure there is no cream anywhere on the beaters. Whipping the cream takes about 5-7 minutes of beating with a whisk so it's not that bad but your arm will be tired. Set the whipped cream aside for a few.

-In the top of a double boiler or glass or metal bowl (glass is risky but that's what I use and it's usually fine), whisk together the 4 egg yolks, 2 tbs of the sugar, 1 pinch of salt, and the shot of room temp coffee (make sure it's not hot or it will cook the egg. If you are fresh brewing, but the shot in an ice water bath for 5 min and it will be cool).

-Cook this coffee/egg mixture over a pot of simmering water for about 10 minutes, whisking the entire time (again, so the egg doesn't scramble but instead cooks smoothly), until it reaches a temp of about 160 degrees. The mixture should be really light in color and should have nearly doubled in size. It will look foamy and creamy.

-When the mixture reaches 160 degrees, remove it from the heat and whisk in the chopped chocolate until it is melted and blended in. Continue to whisk occasionally until it is at room temp. Set aside.

-In an electric mixer (you don't want to whisk these by hand), beat the egg whites until they are foamy and form peaks. Beat in the remaining tbs of sugar.

-Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture in 2 batches, gently. You don't want to beat the air out of the whites but get them mixed in.
-Fold in the whipped cream until it is just barely blended in.
-Pour or spoon mousse into individual ramekins, teacups, clear plastic cups, demitasse cups, or whatever you want to serve it in. You can make as few as 4 servings, or as many as 12 depending on how much you pour in. Note: it is pretty rich so you don't need a whole big bowl for each guest.

-Chill for at least 1-2 hours.
-Before serving, whip another 1/2 cup of the heavy cream. This time, add 1 tbs of sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla to it. Put a dollop on each dish of mousse before serving and enjoy!

Linguine with White Clam Sauce

In my book, there is absolutely no better night than having a nice, homemade dinner and a good bottle of wine with an old friend. Even if you ruin everything and order pizza, when you are with a great friend it doesn't matter! I am so fortunate that one of my best friends from Tulane, Jessica Blake, lives right down the street from me in Georgetown now, and we have a wonderful time trying new recipes as well as making old ones. I wish more of my college friends were close by! Right before Christmas, we were trying to decide what to make for dinner. She lamented that she was always unimpressed with linguine and clam sauce (I'm not surprised, she's from TX so I can't imagine what kind of clams they got there!), but agreed to try this recipe. We went to the fish market and got fresh clams (they are pretty reasonably priced) and then up to the grocery store for the rest of the ingredients. I made an arugula salad with a lemon vinaigrette to go with the pasta, and we had an incredible meal. We had a nice bottle of Pouilly Fuisse which we used to drink more often than any college students should, and it was a really lovely, low key evening. This particular recipe is a variation on one from Marcella Hazan's "Art of Italian Cooking" book that I received for my 23rd birthday and use very often. I cannot wait to make this again! The whole meal took about 20 minutes to prepare so it is perfect for a weeknight. 

Linguine with White Clam Sauce

Ingredients:

- 2-3 dozen littleneck clams, depending on size (these are sometimes called cherrystones and you can find them at almost any fish market or grocery)

- 6 tbs olive oil

- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced as thinly as you can

- 2 tbs chopped parsley (I used Italian flat leaf)

- 1 fresh chili pepper, seeds removed and minced

- 1 plum tomato, juice drained and seeds removed, diced

- 1/2 c dry white wine (we used a Pouilly Fuisse, any pinto grigio, chardonnay, or sauv blanc would be fine as long as it is a decent tasting bottle)

- 1/2-1 pound of long pasta (we used linguine- since it was only the two of us, we only cooked 1/2 of the box which was perfect but you can make the whole box and it would be fine)

- 6 fresh basil leaves, torn or chopped into smaller pieces 

Directions:

- Chop/slice the vegetables. Set aside.

- Boil a pot of salted water (I usually put about 3-4 tbs of salt in the water) for the pasta.

- Rinse the clams in a colander in cold water to remove any sand.

- Place the clams in a pot or skillet on the stove over medium heat until they have just barely opened. Reserve any clam juice.

-  Remove the clams once they have opened, and take the clams out of the shells. Make sure to save any juice. Pour clam juice into a cup or bowl, strain or pour the sand out, set aside.

- Chop the clams into smaller pieces. Put them in a small bowl and cover with about 3 tbs olive oil. Set aside. 

- In a pot or skillet big enough to hold the pasta later, pour 3 tbs of olive oil with the sliced garlic. Cook on medium high for about 30 seconds, without letting the garlic become colored at all. 

- To the garlic and olive oil, add the chopped parsley and chili pepper. Stir for a few seconds.

- Add the diced tomato, cook for 1-2 mins.

- Add the wine, simmer for about 30 seconds and then turn off the heat.

- Cook the pasta until it is almost done, about 1 min less than the suggested cook time on the box.

- Put the sauce heat back on high. Using a pasta fork (I don't have one) or tongs/grabbers, take the pasta out of the water and put it into the sauce mixture. Add about 1/2 cup of pasta water to the sauce mixture with the pasta. Do not throw away the pasta water, you might need more!

- Add the filtered clam juice to the pasta/sauce mixture, toss everything and cook until the liquid is evaporated. If the pasta is not cooked perfectly, or the sauce starts to look like it needs more liquid, keep adding pasta water until it is how you want it. I also added more pasta water when we reheated the dish and had seconds! The pasta water ends up making the sauce creamy and really good, so don't be afraid to use as much as you see fit.

- Add the chopped clams in olive oil, and the torn basil. Toss everything together and serve. Feel free to garnish each plate with a little piece of fresh parsley, or sprinkle chopped fresh parsley on top of each plate.

Arugula Salad with Shaved Parmesan and Lemon Vinaigrette

For the Vinaigrette:

- Whisk together 1.5 tbs of freshly squeezed lemon juice, 3-4 tbs of olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Toss dressing with salad and serve immediately.

For the Salad:

- Put about 2 handfuls of arugula per person in a salad bowl.

- Shave fresh parmesan over the salad (I used a vegetable peeler). You can also grate it with a cheese grater if you prefer.