You know what's going to get me through this winter?
Butter.
This is an unhappy realization since butter sits somewhere between Muammar Gaddafi and Osama bin Laden on Weight Watcher's Axis of Evil. I'm normally an olive oil kind of girl, but it's January and a girl's gotta eat coq au vin. Paired with buttery egg noodles, haricot verts (OK, let's be honest: string beans) sauteed in butter, salt, pepper and a pinch of cayenne, a nice bottle of Burgundy, and mousse au chocolat, you've got the perfect dinner party menu for a cold night. Did I mention how good butter is?
There's been some talk about chocolate mousse on the blogosphere lately and I want to take this opportunity to say a few words:
1. CHOCOLATE MOUSSE IS TOTALLY EIGHTIES AND THAT'S WHAT MAKES IT AWESOME. You were probably born in the nineties, so I'm just telling you so you know.
2. HEAVY CREAM IN MOUSSE IS FOR SISSIES. DO YOU UNDERSTAND? DON'T MAKE ME HURT YOU.
3. THERE IS NO RECIPE GREATER THAN DIONE LUCAS'S MOUSSE. FIVE INGREDIENTS, TEN MINUTES. AND LOOK, NO BUTTER! IT'S POSITIVELY DIETETIC!
Et voilà:
* * *
Mousse au Chocolat à la Dione Lucas
(from my parents crusty recipe card)
Makes 6 servings
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (the best you can get your paws on, and not more than 60% cacao), broken up into pieces
6 tablespoons cold water
pinch of salt
5 eggs separated, at room temperature
2 tablespoons dark rum
Combine chocolate, salt and water in a double boiler; heat over simmering water until chocolate is melted. Remove from heat, allow to cool for a minute, then add egg yolks one at a time, then the rum. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Fold in the chocolate mixture, but don't overdo it or the mousse will lose its volume. Pour into ramekins or a large serving dish and chill for at least four hours. Serve with a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream.
* * *
I recently tried Julia Child's recipe (equal parts chocolate and BUTTAH) but I didn't like it quite as much - not as intensely chocolatey, but equally velvety. Do a taste test and report back at 0800 hours. You'll be a lot happier than you are now, I promise you.
Prying my ass out of my pants,
P.
Images from here, with thanks.
