Just when you think you can’t eat or drink anything else, someone has a party. That’s just how the holidays are. Yesterday, we invited a few friends who are leaving Rome today to have a low-key dinner with us. I planned to make those cabbage-wrapped pork meatballs I wrote about recently. Then, we got Nick’s invitation to join him and Rena and 15 others for a party the aim of which was to finish off the wild boar stew he’d made for Christmas dinner. We decided to move the meal to our apartment, right next door, for reasons having to do with sleeping children and baby monitors. And then, we ran into Jason, who said he’d bring down his leftover rabbit stew. Meat fest!
Sensing, perhaps, that this would be a meal of small restraint, our guests showed up with cookies, cheese, and panetone, and copious bottles of wine, Cointreau, limoncello, and scotch.
And I had decided that the dry little biscotti in the cupboard, however tasty on an abstemious day, would not stand up next to such a feast, and so I made chocolate mousse.
This is all that remains of a large bowl of the fluffy, dark, silky, luxuriant dessert:
To top it off, along with some light-as-air amaretti that Lisa and Philip brought, I whipped some Cointreau into the cream. Oh, my!
The recipe I used was a doubling of this one from Bon Appetit, May 2001. The sugar, eggs and milk were organic, and the chocolate 70% cacao.
Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse
Start this recipe six hours to one day ahead.
Yield: Makes 6 servings
2 large egg yolks
4 tablespoons sugar
6 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large egg whites
Pinch of salt
Whipped cream
Whisk milk, egg yolks, and 2 tablespoons sugar in heavy small suacepan to blend. Place over medium-low heat and stir until mixture thickens enough to coat spoon, about 7 minutes (do not boil). Remove from heat. Immediately add chocolate and whisk until smooth. Whisk in vanilla. Transfer mixture to medium bowl; cool to lukewarm, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Beat egg whites and salt in large bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, beating until stiff but not dry. Fold whites into cooled chocolate mixture in 3 additions. Divide mousse among 6 goblets or transfer to serving bowl. Refrigerate until cold and set, at least 6 hours. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated.)
(Actually, I’d recommend making it a day ahead. The texture is better the second day.)
The Roving Locavore 