Weekend Decadence: Toblerone Chocolate Mousse

Jeez it’s freezing outside today! Tell me something: why is it that summer always seems to go away abruptly? From one day to the next it gets cold and there’s never a warning, a nice and easy transition to help us accept the fact that summer will only be back next year. Anyways, I refuse to take out my fall boots just yet. I do appreciate them a lot but I’m just not comfortable with putting my sandals away just yet.

So it’s Friday and the weekend is just a few hours away. What’s your plan for the weekend? If you’ve got nothing specific to do (or you just don’t know what to cook), maybe you should try this decadent desert I made up for last weekend’s baptism: a Toblerone chocolate mousse. Now, not to brag but this desert was a huuuuge success. I don’t know how I did it since I sort of mixed up different techniques but it worked and people loved it. If you like Toblerone, I don’t see why you wouldn’t appreciate this fluffy mousse. I made little portions since we had a buffet style serving but you could make full portions if you’re having guests over for a sit down dinner. I’m sure no one will mind having a bigger portion anyways.

TOBLERONE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

Makes about 20 small servings or 6 full size servings

 

INGREDIENTS

6oz Toblerone chocolate
2 tbsp butter

2 eggs, seperated

3/4 cups + 2 tbsp 35% cream

3 tbsp sugar

1 cup plain chocolate cookies

PREPARATION

Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites.

In a small saucepan, over low heat, melt the chocolate, the butter and 2 tbsp of cream. Let cool. 

In a large bowl, whip the egg whites until they become fluffy and stiff. Set aside.

In another bowl, whip the cream and sugar until it becomes stiff. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk well the chocolate with the egg yolks. With a spatula, delicately fold in the egg whites. Incorporate the whipped cream. 

In a food processor, put the cookies with the melted butter. Slightly crush the cookies. Set aside.

Separate in serving bowls, cover and refrigerate for a few hours before serving. Just before serving, decorate with the chocolate crumbles.

The Aftermath: Stuffed Eggs With Matane Shrimps

Well, the tornado has passed and the quiet wind of September is settling in again. No, I’m not talking about Irene, I’m talking about my son’s baptism. An event like that can really take over a household for a few days, or even a full week! I got so absorbed into the eye of the tornado that I quite frankly had to put aside my urge to write a new page in my blog. There was simply not time to write; but there was time to cook!

But the page has been turned and I can move on with my normal life. One where cooking is enjoyable and not just a matter of success. Thanks to a few of you, I got some great ideas for my fancy buffet. I made a delectable menu and had raving reviews for the food. I know this might sound a little cocky but I even impressed myself with a few things. You see, I tried quite a bit of new recipes and even took a new angle to my style. I usually make a lot of fish and raw foods. This time, I added a lot of meat and cooked foods!! Not an easy challenge for me, and it was hard to get around to creating my menu but in the end the challenge was great and I ended up making one of my best buffets yet. To top it all off, I believe I have regained my love for cooking, which had been lost along the way this summer. Too much vacationing can really get to your head. Now I really feel like trying some new stuff and taking things a notch higher. That’s what fall should be about.

If you don’t mind, I’ll present to you what I made in my next few blog entries. You can recreate the whole thing after if you like, or make 1 recipe at a time when necessary. The first recipe was a mad success. A modern twist on a classic recipe: stuffed eggs. Only when you make them chic and fancy, no one can resist a good egg. Simple to make ahead, finish them just before the guests arrive. Perfect as an appetizer, you can’t go wrong with this one.  

HARD BOILED EGGS STUFFED WITH MATANE SHRIMP

Makes 24 half eggs

 

INGREDIENTS

12 eggs

1/3 pound Matane shrimps, cooked

2-3 tbsp mayonnaise (home made is ideal)

½ tsp Dijon mustard

1 green shallot, finely chopped

1 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped

Salt & pepper.

Cilantro for decoration

Salmon roe for decoration

PREPARATION

In a saucepot, put the eggs in cold water. Bring the water to a boil. Once it’s boiling, take off the heat and let the eggs cook for 15 minutes. Put the eggs in cold water to stop the cooking. When they are cold, peel and wash the eggs. Cut the in half and, with a small spoon, take out the egg yolk.

In a bowl, mix together half of the egg yolks with the shrimps, mayo, Dijon, shallot and cilantro. Add salt and pepper. Adjust taste if necessary.

Cut a tiny piece off the bottom of each egg half so that they stand upright. Fill them with the egg and shrimp mixture. Decorate with a piece of cilantro and salmon roe.

Whisky Shrimp Sauce Made For The Lazy

Is it me, or do we cook less during summer? I mean, I cook, but very differently than during winter time. Putting a piece of meat or fish on the grill, grilling vegetables sprinkled with olive oil, having a fresh salad, all of this is so much easier than cooking behind the stove for hours. For this reason, I realize I don’t have as many interesting and fun recipes to present to you. It’s not because I like to cook that I’m purposely going make complicated recipes. Shame on me! In the next few weeks, I think I’m going to try to make “inspired summer food”. Simple and easy yet maybe a level above simply grilling my food!

Cold food during the summer is very much accepted by all. On the contrary, winter calls for hot, steaming food. Which is why you’re aloud to make cold, boiled shrimps, for your dinner tonight... if you feel like it! Just make sure you make a killer sauce to go along with them. The following sauce is sure damn good and makes the shrimp shine, showing off its great flavor. Because summer is for the lazy and whisky is for the happy!

WHISKY SHRIMP SAUCE

 

Ingredients

1 cup mayonnaise

3 tbsp ketchup

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp Whisky

2 tsp Cajun spices (optinal)

Preparation

In a small bowl, mix all of the ingredients.

Serve with big cooked shrimps. They can even be cold!  

A Cool Crab Dip For Canada Day

Ok, I have to admit it: I don’t celebrate our National day. Sorry for those who do. But what I do enjoy on our National celebration day is a nice day off, usually spent with a bunch of friends. Isn’t that what long weekends should be about?

Big parties on a day off usually equal pot luck, which means you might have to bring something along to your friends’ house (if the party isn’t being held at your place). I’m personally always impressed with what some people bring at these sorts of parties (forget about those who buy prepared foods…no comments on that). I mean, some people can get really creative. A friend of mine, who’s almost a local version of Martha Stewart, always brings these really cool dishes that seem to be made for entertainment. Where does she get such cool ideas? She’s probably hooked on the Martha Stewart website… I’m not sure I want to go that way. Still… I, on the other hand, with my not so bad cooking skills, never seem to find a cool idea for what to bring at these gatherings.

This time though, I decided to think out of the box. Lately, I wanted to try out for the “Women of Philly” contest, a cooking contest organized by Philadelphia (the cheese, not the city!). I bought some big jugs of Philadelphia cheese at Costco, only to realize that the contest was closed to the residents of Quebec (what the heck?). Anyways. The cheese has been in my fridge forever so I decided to put it to use. I found a great recipe for entertainment: a cool and easy to make and carry around crab dip. Finally! I believe I made a Martha Stewart out of myself and am ready for those parties coming up in the weekend. Bring it on! Are you ready?

CRAB DIP

INGREDIENTS

250g Philadelphia cheese, softened

1 ½ cup grated Swiss or Cheddar cheese

1/3 cup Hellman’s mayonnaise

1 can (120g) crab, drained

2 green onion, chopped

Hot sauce (optional)

PREPARATION

In a bowl, mix all of the ingredients. Lay the mixture in a pie plate.

When ready to serve, place in the over at 350˚F and cook for 15 minutes stirring once during the baking.

Serve in a dipping bowl. Accompany with bread stick or nachos.

Note: tastes even better if you have along with a nice Rosé wine! 

Hockey Night Fever With Fried Calamari

While I’m waiting in vain to have my little baby, hockey fever in Montreal is full on. I’m personally a Habs fan (Montreal Canadians, for those who don’t know the term) and despise the Boston Bruins… No offense to anybody who is. Tonight is the 7^th game, which means either winning team will go on to the next round.

Now, here’s my little secret. As much as I love hockey, when it starts to be nice outside, there isn’t any point in watching a hockey game every 2 nights. I’d much rather go out and enjoy drinks on a nice terrace. Still, right now, I’m really hoping my team will go on to the next round. Not only because it would be absolutely great, but also because I know that in the next few weeks, I will not be going out to have drinks on a terrace… but will be staying very quietly at home, taking care of the newborn. With the Montreal Canadians on TV, I know I’m guaranteed to have a few good nights of TV a week. Otherwise I can easily get bored, not being a big TV fan.

Anyways, hockey night fever is always fun in our house. And it’s also a good challenge for me in terms of food since we almost always have our diner in front of the TV. Tonight will be no exception and I’m ready to serve some good stuff to anyone who’ll be watching the game with us. Junk food it will be… but good junk food! I’m going to make some nice fried calamari, which I looooove! They’re quite easy to make and only take a big 2 minutes to cook. Their only flaw: they can stink up your house if you don’t have a good fryer! So make sure the air is circulating well in your kitchen, and get your hands dirty with this amazing party food!

FRIED CALAMARI

Makes 4 servings

INGREDIENTS

1-pound calamari

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp sweet paprika

1 tbsp cayenne pepper

Salt & freshly ground pepper

3 eggs

PREPARATION

In a deep fryer, preheat the oil at 350˚F.

In a bowl, blend together the flour, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs.

Rinse and pat the calamari dry. Cut the bodies into 1-cm thick rings. Dip the calamari rings in the eggs. Toss lightly, a few pieces at a time, in the flour mix. Shake off any excess.

Fry the calamari for 1 to 2 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Serve hot.

Note: You can serve the calamari with a simple tartar sauce or make a nice aioli mayonnaise with smoke paprika.

Creating Hello Kitty With A Million Dollar Cake

There’s nothing like a good sugar rush. But what about your first ever sugar rush? Who remembers that? I certainly don’t but I did witness someone else’s first sugar rush just a few days ago. My little girl turned one (yep, she’s a big girl now) and with her first birthday came her first birthday cake. Chocolate cake on top of it, designed by her mom, aka me (!), into her favorite character: Hello Kitty. Seriously, it was the best feeling ever to see her discover the sweet taste of the icing as she slowly licked her little fingers. It was an even better feeling when she started digging into the cake, with her little hands, putting handfuls of cake into her tiny mouth. She got so excited she was kicking her feet at the same time. With her face dirty with cake, I knew I was a good mom and that she would thank me later for the initiation… as, I have no doubt, there will be many other sugar rushes in the future. If you’ve ever been the witness to such a moment, you know what a priceless moment this has been for me!

For the big event I wanted to make a chocolate cake, there was no compromise on that. I certainly wasn’t going to buy a commercial cake or cake mixture, and I didn’t necessarily want a cake filled with rich chocolate, as this was a first. Which is why I turned to a recipe I’ve been using for a few years now. My sister’s best friend’s Italian grandmother has handed it down to me; it’s one of those secret recipes that you just don’t find in cookbooks. It almost tastes like a Duncan Hines, but 100 times better… and healthier. Super easy to make, it also has the perfect texture if you want to ice your cake or if, like me, you want to make a design out of your cake. This is the recipe that everyone will want to steal from you.

As for my Hello Kitty cake, I searched the Internet for an easy image to reproduce. Once I found it, I outlined my cake pan on a piece of paper and drew inside of it the Hello Kitty image. I cut out the paper and then cut the cake in the right shape. I finished off with the icing – which, I have to admit, I bought premade – and gave life to the cake. It’s really easy to do with any simple shape. If you want to try it with another image, go ahead and get creative. Whoever you’ll be serving the cake too will be delighted by your effort (or talent!). If you don’t want to make a shape, simply make a 2-layer cake and add the icing. Decorate the top of the cake the way you feel like or, even simpler, leave it naked!

MILLION DOLLAR CAKE

Makes about 10 servings

INGREDIENTS

Cake

2 cups flour

4 tbsp cocoa powder

1 cup white sugar

1 ½ tsp baking soda

1 ½ baking powder

1 cup mayonnaise (Hellman’s)

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup water

Icing

3 cups icing sugar

½ cup butter

¼ cup cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

PREPARATION

Cake

Preheat your over at 350˚F. Butter 2 8-inch cake pans.

In a large bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda and baking powder.

In another bowl, add water to the mayonnaise and mix well. Add the dry ingredients while mixing well.

Split the mixture between the 2 cake pans and bake in the middle of the oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until à toothpick comes out clean.

 

Icing

In a small bowl, melt the butter in the microwave.

In a larger bowl, slowly add the butter to the icing sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla extract.

Note: Although this recipe is much better with the original icing, you can buy store ready icing if you’re looking for a color in particular, which can often be hard to make.

For the Food Geek In You: Foodies

What is a Foodie, really? According to Wikipedia, a foodie is an informal term for a particular class of aficionado of food  and drink . What’s an aficionado? It’s basically a fan; one who has a liking and enthusiasm for something. A BIG enthusiasm! Digging deeper into my research, I question myself on the difference between a Gourmet and a Foodie. Still according to Wikipedia, although the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably, foodies differ from gourmets  in that gourmets are epicures of refined taste who may or may not be professionals in the food industry, whereas foodies are amateurs who simply love food for consumption, study, preparation, and news. Gourmets simply want to eat the best food, whereas foodies want to learn everything about food, both the best and the ordinary, and about the science, industry, and personalities surrounding food.

Now. Where do you stand? What are you?

I think I’m a foodie… And as a foodie, I have to admit we can sometimes be real geeks. A true boredom for people who are not interested in food; a true snobs to the ones who simply eat for survival purposes. Whether you’re a foodie or not, and if you can laugh a little and be sarcastic about things, there’s a new show coming to the web. I’ve only seen the trailer but it looks intriguing. I’m curious to see how this web series will be. If you’re curious like me, go to the following website and watch it!

Watch the trailer and get teased!! Foodies Trailer

FOODIES. PREMIERES MARCH 9^TH: FOODIES