Two-Ingredient Chocolate Mousse

Rough week. Made this to end it on the right note.

Hervé This’ Chocolate Mousse

From Food52

Make this when you need to reassure yourself that you can work wonders—even with just two ingredients. 

Ingredients:

3/4 c. water

8 oz. bittersweet chocolate (I used bittersweet chocolate chips)

Ice cubes

Whipped cream (optional)

Procedure:

1. Pour water into a saucepan. Then, over medium-low heat, whisk in the chocolate. You should end up with a very thin, homogeneous chocolate sauce.

2. Fill a large bowl with ice and a little bit of water to let the ice move around. Set a smaller, empty bowl inside the large one. Pour the chocolate sauce into the smaller bowl.

3. Get out your electric mixer and start beating the sauce as you would cream. Watch the chocolate sauce closely to see it move through the bubble build up stage, the thickening stage, and advance to (what I call) the track stage. That’s where the sauce is getting thick enough to be considered a mousse, and the beaters are leaving their tracks behind them. Stop beating when you get to this stage.

4. Pour or spoon the mousse immediately into ramekins, jars, or, when you’ve had a rough week, cocktail glasses. Move these into the fridge and let them set for about 30 minutes.

5. Garnish with whipped cream, if using, and serve.

A Lunch Equation

Lunch Salad = G_re + G_ra + F + P + D

Where G_re = Greens, in this case, a mix of baby arugula, herbs, and spring greens
Where G_ra = Grain, in this case, leftover farro from Sunday’s dinner party
Where F = Fruit, in this case, a huge Pink Lady apple
Where P = Protein, in this case, a very healthy shaving of Parmesan cheese
Where D = Dressing, in this case, Bon Appetit’s Creamy Lemon vinaigrette, which is worth every one of the 60 seconds it takes to make.

Peas and Shells

I hated peas for a long time. My mom and grandma love telling this story: When I was a baby, they’d feed me one of those Gerber baby food jars every night. Every jar—regardless of the main food component—always had peas in it. Every night, a spoonful of baby food went in my mouth, and every night, a single pea would come back out with the spoon.

In case you’re wondering, there are seven peas in a jar of Gerber baby food.

But this is not a recipe for baby food. This is a recipe for anyone trying to give peas a chance. (#sorryimnotsorry) I hope you’ve had a chance in life to sit at your kitchen table with an empty bowl on your left side and a paper bag full of springtime peas in their pods on your right. I hope you’ve had a chance to twist off one of the pod’s ends, unzip it, and unleash a riot of peas into your bowl. And I hope you’ve learned how crunchy real peas are. If not, work on it. Immediately. They’ll be gone before you know it.

Peas and Shells
From The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman

This recipe would only be augmented if you decided to substitute mint in for the parsley as a garnish at the end. In fact, the next time I make this, I’ll do that very thing. Cook this on a glorious spring day that tricks you into thinking it’s already summer. Then take advantage of the sweet green peas that we still have to remind yourself that the season is still as fresh as they are. 

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. dried medium-sized shells (I used a mix of whole wheat and regular shells)
1 c. shelled peas (or the yield of 1 lb. peas in their shells)
1 c. heavy cream
3 T. salted butter
salt and pepper to taste
1 T. lemon zest
1 c. finely grated Parmesan cheese
2 T. parsley
Lemon olive oil, for garnish (optional)

Procedure:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. While you’re waiting on the water, start shelling your peas. Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package. Add peas to the pot during the last 60 seconds of the pasta’s cooking time. Reserve 1/2 c. of the cooking water, and set it aside for the time being. Drain the pasta and the peas together.

2. Pour the cream into the same pot that you cooked the pasta in. Bring it to a simmer and cook until slightly reduced, about 4 minutes, stirring frequently. (Remember that trick I taught you for knowing how thick is just thick enough? If you can swipe your finger along the back of a cream-coated spoon and the line holds for a second or two, you’re good.)

3. Add the butter, and stir it until it has melted. Generously season the sauce with freshly ground black pepper, a three-fingered pinch of salt, and the lemon zest.

4. Add 3/4 cup Parmesan and stir it until the sauce is smooth; then toss in the drained pasta & peas. Cook the pasta in the sauce for 2 minutes, until the sauce has slightly thickened.

5. Add the reserved pasta water by the spoonful if needed to loosen up the sauce. Add salt to taste.

6. Divide the pasta among bowls. Garnish with remaining Parmesan, chopped parsley, and lemon olive-oil.

Earl Grey Cookies

Disgusting, Disgusting Banana Bread

Bananas have a proper time and place. Maybe half of one before a workout, a bit of one in a smoothie, fried plantains, whatever. Bananas Foster? Pretty much always. But when I’m not expecting banana taste and I taste it? Like when I’d bring my packed lunch to school and my banana had, unbeknownst to me, been laying next to my sandwich all day? Gross. Terrible. Blargh. Now I have a baloney sandwich with banana-infused bread.

So. Imagine my dismay when I dragged myself out of bed one precious weekend morning, pulled myself up to the toaster, popped in some bread, spread delicious salted butter across two almost-burned pieces of toast, and tasted … bananas.

What did I see when I peered into the recesses of the fridge? A bunch of very dark brown, mushy, reeking bananas. Five of them, to be exact. Something had to be done.

I thought about exacting revenge on them by composting them immediately, but then I thought better: banana bread. It seemed to be a fitting punishment—they ruined my toast, so I’ll turn them into bread.

Intentional Banana Bread
Only very slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen’s Jacked-Up Banana Bread

I took a tip from Molly’s dive into the world of coconut and cream cheese sheathed banana bread and blended the bananas instead of smashing them. I liked it—no hidden chunks of bananas lurking here. I threw cut up pieces of peeled banana into the cup that came with my immersion blender and was ready to go in no time.

Enjoy this on a cloudy afternoon when Daylight Savings Time ends and you find you have an extra hour on your hands.

Ingredients:

5 medium very brown and fragrant (some might say reeking) bananas, pureed
1/3 c. melted salted butter
3/4 c. light brown sugar
1 t. vanilla
1 T. bourbon
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
Pinch of ground cloves
1 t. baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 c. flour

Procedure:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a loaf pan.

Whisk the melted butter into the pureed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar, egg, vanilla, and bourbon and then the spices. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and whisk some more.

Add the flour, switch to a spatula or a wooden spoon, and stir until just combined.

Pour mixture into the prepped loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes to one hour, or until a tester comes out clean.

Cool on a rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Perfect Macaroni and Cheese

Barely adapted from Martha Stewart’s Perfect Macaroni and Cheese

Serves 6 very, very hungry folks, or 12 with more petite appetites

So I’ve been thinking about this mac and cheese for three days now.

It was worth it.

I meant to serve it with some broccoli to score some points for vitamins and minerals, but…oh well. Martha suggests making the cheese sauce first and then starting the pasta, but I figured that the sauce would cool too much and become grainy, so I switched around some of the steps. My trick for knowing when the bechamel is ready to come off the heat: coat a spoon with the sauce, turn it over, and swipe your finger across the back. If the line remains for a second or two, it’s ready.

Enjoy this on a night when you can no longer deny that the days are getting shorter and fall is here.

Ingredients:

6 T. butter, plus more for dish
5 1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
2 t. kosher salt
1/8 t. nutmeg
1/4 t. ground black pepper
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
4 1/2 c. (about 18 ounces) grated sharp white cheddar
1 1/4 cups (about 5 ounces) grated pecorino Romano
1 pound elbow macaroni

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven to 375. Butter a 3-quart casserole dish; set aside.

2. Fill a large pot with water and season it liberally with salt. Bring to a boil. (While you’re waiting for the water to boil and later when the pasta is cooking and cooling, get your mise en place set up and grate your cheeses.) Add macaroni and cook 2 to 3 fewer minutes than manufacturer’s directions. Transfer the macaroni to a colander and drain well.

3. Rinse out the pasta pot reuse it for making your cheese sauce. Melt the butter in it over medium heat. When butter bubbles, add flour. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute. We’re making a roux!

4. Pour milk into the roux while whisking. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick, about 8-10 minutes. 

5. Remove the pot from the heat. Stir in salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, 3 cups cheddar, and 1 cup pecorino Romano.

6. Stir macaroni into the cheese sauce.

7. Pour the mac and cheese into your prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle remaining 1 1/2 cups cheddar and 1/4 cup pecorino Romano. Bake until browned on top, about 35 minutes. Transfer dish to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes; serve.

Dutch Baby Pancake with Lemon and Strawberries

Adapted from Saveur’s Dutch Baby Pancake

Serves 2-4

A dramatic breakfast for a lazy weekend. A cast iron pan is great for this—the edges of the pancake end up salty and brown butter-y. The original recipe calls for milk, but I subbed in half and half since we have it on hand. My pancake got very brown about 5 minutes before the timer was set to go off, so I took it out a little early. Just keep an eye on it after 10 minutes.

Make sure you’ve got the lemon ready for squeezing and the strawberries at hand for the final step. After the pancake comes out of the oven, it’ll begin to deflate quickly—even quicker after you sprinkle the lemon juice on it. If you’re serving this to a group of folks, completing the last step tableside would be gorgeous.

Ingredients:

2 eggs
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. half and half
dash of nutmeg
4 T. salted butter
Juice of half a lemon
1 c. hulled, sliced strawberries

Procedure:

1. Heat oven to 425. Whisk together the eggs, flour, half and half, and nutmeg. Leave it a little lumpy.

2. Over medium high heat, melt the butter in a 12-inch cast iron pan. When the foam subsides, pour the batter into the the pan. Move the pan to the oven and bake until the pancake is puffy and golden brown—about 15 minutes.

3. Take the pan from the oven. Squeeze the lemon juice over the top of the pancake and garnish with the strawberries. 

Vanilla Maple French Toast with Raspberry Compote and Rosemary

Adapted from Bon Appetit’s Vanilla-Maple French Toast with Warm Berry Preserves

Serves 3

People will tell you that challah is the bread to use when it comes to French toast, and in general, I agree. But when I’m using straight up half and half in the custard, I’ll use a heartier bread like Alvarado Street’s California Style Complete Protein Bread to even out the exchange. (It has sprouted lentils in it!) I experimented with a combination of nonstick cooking spray and butter this time around, and I found that it helped the butter not brown as quickly. (Even though I do love me some browned butter.) Make sure your pan is thoroughly preheated before setting the soaked bread in it—otherwise, you’ll see the custard start to pool around the bottom of the bread and you’ll get an eggy foot at the edges of your French toast. Since there’s already maple syrup in the custard, I liked this served with a raspberry compote and garnished with fresh rosemary for a bracing finish.

Ingredients:

3 eggs
3/4 c. half and half
2 T. maple syrup
1 1/2 T. granulated sugar
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1/4 t. kosher salt
6 slices of whole wheat bread
3 T. salted butter
Nonstick cooking spray
Fresh rosemary, for garnish

Procedure:

1. Whisk eggs in medium bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in milk. Add the maple syrup, sugar, vanilla, and salt; whisk to blend. Pour the custard into a small glass baking dish. Arrange two slices of bread in single layer in the dish. Let soak for at least 1 minute on each side.

2. While the first batch of bread is soaking, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray some nonstick cooking spray on the pan and then add 1 T. butter. Heat until the butter is foamy and the pan is hot.

3. Add soaked bread; cook until brown on bottom, about 3 minutes. (This would be a good time to add two fresh pieces of bread to the custard to begin soaking for the next batch.) Turn French toast over; cook until bottoms are brown, about 3 minutes. Transfer to plate.

4. Wipe out remaining debris from the skillet with a paper towel. Start at Step 2 for the next batch. 

5. Serve French toast with additional maple syrup or raspberry compote (recipe follows). Garnish with fresh rosemary.

Raspberry Compote

The less you stir the raspberries once they’re in the pot, the more they’ll hold their shape. A chunkier compote is better than a smoother one for the French toast. 

Ingredients:

3/4 c. frozen raspberries
1.5 T. granulated sugar
Pinch of kosher salt

Procedure:

1. Heat a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add frozen raspberries, sugar, and salt. Mix gently, and then leave the whole thing alone for 3-5 minutes.

2. When the compote is warmed through and the sauce covers the back of a spoon, serve it over the french toast or divide it into individual cups to go alongside the French toast.

“That shiny red bell pepper, man, it wants you to check out its curves. That butter when it hits the warm skillet says, ‘Listen!’ If I crumble Gorgonzola cheese, my nose hairs are called to attention. And have you ever massaged a steak instead of, you know, hitting it with a mallet? Or kale? Because when you do, you can feel every fiber start to relax. And I swear, if you go over and taste your pot of soup, and you pause, and you decide if it needs more seasoning or not, the soup notices.”

— Cynthia Lair, “How to Cut an Onion: Cynthia Lair at TEDxRainier”