#175 Sugar-Free Chocolate Mousse Cake

I love Chocolate Mousse! When I started looking for good recipes, I found out it's made of sugar, cream, chocolates of course and egg whites , but, what I didn't know is, that I can actually make a sugar free chocolate mousse cake using this bag of chocolate chips pictured below, and omit the eggs! Ready to make it too? Find recipe below....

SUGAR-FREE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE

Ingredients: 

16 ounces or 4 cups of heavy whipping cream
12 ounces of premium baking chocolate chips stevia sweetened (I used more than 1 bag of Lilly's dark chocolate)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup of cream, vanilla extract, chocolate chips and salt. Melt chocolate with all ingredients in a double broiler. Stir. Once chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth, transfer to bowl, and let cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. 
2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat 2 cups of chilled cream. Beat until a stiff peak forms. Add in the cooled chocolate mixture.
3. Transfer mixture to a pie plate and chill for at least 6 hours.
4. Before serving, beat the remaining 1 cup of heavy whipping cream until a stiff peak forms. Serve it with pie. Enjoy!

Chocolate Mousse originated from France in the 1800s. The basic ingredients of THE  original chocolate mousse are: chocolate, egg whites and sugar.  I plan to make "mousse au chocolat" next winter holidays. For the next several months, I will skip the sugar.  

Hope you enjoyed this post! If you did, follow this blog as we will be posting 190 more recipes! 190 recipes to discover, learn to cook, take pictures and share to complete the goal of 365! 

Will I finish this task? Check back often to see my progress! xo Van

#157 France's Daube de Beouf (with rosé)

About a month ago, we had dinner at the Left Bank Brasserie in Santana Row. That night a Braised Short Ribs was the special. They cooked it in wine, we were curious and so we tried. It was nice, different and the meat was really tender. Since then, I was on search of a good beef French recipe. I found one, and tweaked it. Since I only had a rosé from the Copolla Winery, I used it instead of running to the grocery store. One thing I learned from making this dish, is this: the wine truly intensifies the flavor of the meat and herbs.  I also bought a dutch oven, which I have always procrastinated in buying. I am now a proud owner of one and a learned more about French flavors. It was delicious!

 DAUBE DE BEOUF

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds trimmed grass fed beef chuck, cut into 2 inch pieces

• salt

• white pepper

• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of olive oil

• 3 medium onions

• 12 oz. rosé wine

• 4 garlic gloves

• 4 cups organic beef broth

• 3 springs of organic fresh thyme, fresh parsley and fresh bay leaves in cheese cloth

• 10 organic potatoes

• 2 large organic carrots

• 1 tablespoon red vinegar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325°. Season the beef with salt and white pepper. In a large enameled cast-iron casserole, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add beef and cook until browned all over, about 5 minutes; reduce the heat if the meat browns too quickly. Transfer the meat to a plate. Repeat with the remaining oil and beef. 
2. Add onions for about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Add the wine, scraping up any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the casserole. Add the beef back to the casserole along with the stock and herb bundle. Bring to a boil, cover and bake for about 1 1/2 hours, or until the meat is super tender.
3. Add the potatoes and carrots carefully into the stew, cover and bake for about 25 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked according to your taste. Discard the herb bundle. Stir in the Dijon and vinegar, season with salt and white pepper and then serve.

Note: The enameled cast-iron casserole is very heavy, handle carefully to prevent burns. 

Recipe adapted from here

It was perfect!

#126 Trout en Papillote

 

We have two well-stocked, uber clean, private community lakes  for  recreation and so that  property owners and their guests can fish and eat fresh catch at 5,800 ft above sea level. It's like having a lake in the clouds filled with big fishes. Because nobody ever go fishing in the smaller lake, I assume I could sit there everyday and catch fish (If I ever will) to my heart's content. And so my fishing obsession began. Van's fishing in the mountains project, that's what I called it. Lots of free fishes to catch for our nourishment.. and for the people we love. LOL. We wished for a fishing pole for a long time, I imagined I would be able to fill the freezer with fishes, but once we finally owned one, we had no luck. I was so bad at it. LOL. It was tangled during the first day, so tangled that I had to cut it, and then also on that day, one of the cute  wild ducks got itself caught in the fishing line too, and again we had to cut it, luckily it swam out of it..what bad fishing luck we had on that day! I really wanted to catch a trout, or any fish to cook! Before we owned a fishing pole, we overheard a man who was catching fish like crazy that marshmallows are good bait. So we bought a huge bag, packed our new fishing pole, picked the spot where that man caught many fishes, and waited, I sat for a few hours, waiting for that hard tug, soon we ate most of the marshmallows, and the ones we put on the hook disappeared in minutes. No fish. We thought, better luck next time, we'll come back and fish again. Two weeks later, the fishing pole remained untouched. I almost gave up this whole "Van's fishing in the mountains project"..but then one night, we were invited to dinner, and then I learned that the Mckays (our hosts) always fish and always catch huge ones: trout, catfish, etc.  I shared our frustration, including the marshmallow bait idea, but I didn't tell them that 90% of which  ended up in our stomachs. The night went on, we played with their 3 chihuahuas, a very good dinner was served, then they told me they'll teach us how to fish..they mentioned power bait, hook, how to do this, and that...I was imagining my first catch as they were talking to me. I said I'll pay them a visit when they're fishing, they are lucky to  live across the street from the big lake. Before we went home, Sheryl gave me not one, but 3 of the big trouts that they caught. That was a really sweet gesture, and I was so thrilled to bring home the big fishes. The next day, I found myself staring at this huge trout for a long time and  had no idea know how to cook it besides grilling, which was out of the question on a very windy day. A quick search led me to a French dish called  Trout en Papillote. It had the word "trout" so I assumed it was referring to the same fish  resting on the sink, waiting to be cooked. I was excited when I found out that it simply meant, cook the trout deliciously in a foil pouch! :) I was very glad to find it, because it was an amazing way to cook fish. En papillote, means in parchment,  is a French method of cooking by placing uncooked fish, vegetables or meats inside an aluminum foil or parchment paper pouch, carefully sealed by folding and then baked, sealing it airtight will allow the  steam to cook the food. In France, they usually serve it with the fish still en papillote, and let the guests open each pouch. Great, great dish. Love the flavors of the fresh herbs and the fresh trout! Thanks to John & Sheryl Mckay.

TROUT EN PAPILLOTE

Ingredients:
 
fresh trout
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
salt
thin slices of butter
chopped fresh parsley
chopped fresh dill
white wine

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400F degrees. Butter a large piece of foil; set aside.
2. Clean trout, place in a shallow baking dish. Boil vinegar, pour over trout. Let stand, uncovered for 10 minutes.
3. Drain fish. Lightly salt inside of the fish , place trout on top of butter slices in prepared foil sheets. Stuff trout with parsley and dill. Sprinkle with white wine.
4. Fold foil around each fish, making it airtight.  Bake trout for 15-20 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with boiled potatoes, lemon slices and horseradish cream.

I always remove scales before cooking fish, except when grilling.

Before

&

After

 

 This delicious dish makes me want to learn how to properly fish..

I will, soon. Fresh catch tastes the best!

#125 Greek Yogurt Dijon Aoili

Aoili is  a Provençal traditional sauce sauce or dip. If a quick preparation is desired,  most recipes commonly use mayonnaise, because it is mayonnaise-like; to make it from scratch, garlic paste, a good amount of olive oil, lemon and egg yolks are required . We completely removed mayonnaise from our diet a long time ago, and I didn't want to put too much oil in our food that night so I looked for a substitute; my guess was right, to make a healthier aoili,   fat-free greek yogurt can be used.  I found a recipe that uses dijon mustard, which I love, so I chose it as our dip for our roasted Artichokes. It  tastes great less the fat. :)

GREEK YOGURT GARLIC & DIJON AOILI

Ingredients:

1/4 cup fat-free greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic

Directions:

1. Mix all the ingredients and let stand for 1 hour before serving.

#83 Ratatouille's Ratatouille

Have you seen Pixar's animated movie, Ratatouille? If not, oh you have to see it! It is hilarous! After watching it together for a million times several weekends ago, we were determined to make the dish featured in the movie. Ratatouille or Ratatouille Niçoise, is a spring vegetable dish that originated in Provence, France. This dish, widely popularized  by the animated movie, is very appealing to kids and kids-at-heart like me. In the movie, it looked complicated to make, but after searching, we found several recipes. It is very simple to make and nutritious! What is amazing about this recipe that I am about to share is the elegant fragrance of the cooked Ratatouille. One of the secrets: Herbes de Provence, Aha! It has a lavender, marjoram, savory, fennel, thyme, rosemary, basil, tarragon. The beautiful mix of all the ingredients. An absolute delight! Make it for yourself, your friends and family, especially the little ones.. it is guaranteed fun and a great food for every one. We made the Ratatouille by layering and baking it just like in the movie. I'm glad it turned out delicious!

 

Ratatouille


Ingredients:

1 eggplant, sliced
2 zucchini, sliced
1 yellow squash, sliced
1 red pepper, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus 1 teaspoon
1 teaspoon herbes de provence
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 yellow onions, sliced thinly
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon chopped basil
1 teaspoon flat leaf parsley

Directions:

1. Preheat oven at 400 F degrees. In a baking sheet or dish, drizzle olive oil at the bottom, then sprinkle herbes de provence. Add the tomatoes, garlic, onions, bay leaf.
2. Saute eggplant in remaining olive oil until almost done. Remove from heat.
3. Arrange the sauteed eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, and red bell pepper. (See photographs). Cover with parchment paper. Bake for 30 minutes.
4. Add the sprinkled chopped fresh basil and flat leaf parsley, bake for another 10 minutes. Salt and Pepper to taste.

I think you can do without the parchment paper. I watched the Ratatouille closely after I added the fresh herbs (step 4), because I like the taste of vegetables that are not thoroughly cooked, especially the zucchini. But you can also extend up to 55 minutes or so, depending on how done you like your vegetables to be. Just don't burn it and it will be so good!

 

I knew I was going to make this when I first started this insane blogging project we have going on right now. The drawings of places where the dish originated are replaced with so much curiosity in the kitchen and we have been cooking together a lot lately. And she does take good pictures too! Here is my final product, I worked very hard to present it the way Remy, the anthropomorphic rat who has an exceptional cooking ability, did it in the movie. :)

And Miss Little Chef and picky eater, decided it is time to try zucchini, she will try the rest next time.

Look at how she artfully made her plate:

And this one she made for me. She said, THIS is how Remy presented it. :)

In the movie, Chef  Gusteau says: "Anyone can cook!"

 "I made Ratatouille!", she said it with glee, and ate the zucchini with much gusto. 

This is one of the many reasons why I know I won't stop cooking.

#74 French Dijon Chicken

What exciting dish can you make with chicken drumsticks that are sold at a great deal, sometimes for under $5? I got mine for under $3.50, 12 pieces. :) I found a way to make a very delicious meal using this recipe by Kerry Keretsky, creator of French Revolution Food. We had a delicious French dish for under $5.

Yield: Serves 4

FRENCH DIJON CHICKEN

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons light olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon
10 chicken legs
2 cloves garlic, chopped
4 shallots, diced
3/4 cup white wine
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
6 stems of thyme, plus extra for garnish
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 cup cream


Directions:

1. In a wide, heavy-bottomed pan, heat 3 tablespoons light olive oil on medium-high heat.
2. Season the chicken legs with salt and pepper, and pat dry with paper towel. Sear in the hot oil until golden-brown on all sides. Remove to a plate.
3. Pour out the hot chicken oil, and lower the heat to low. Add 1 tablespoon fresh light olive oil to the pan. Add in the shallots, and then the garlic 1 minute later, and sauté just until translucent and fragrant- two minutes total from the time the shallots went into the pan.
4. Pour in the white wine, and raise the heat to medium-high. Reduce the wine-it will bubble the chicken bits up from the bottom of the pan, and reduce by about half. Then add the chicken stock and 6 stems of thyme. Then, nestle the chicken back into the pan in a single layer. Bring the liquid to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer. and cover the pot, simmering for 30 minutes.
5. After 30 minutes, remove the cover from the pot, and allow the chicken to simmer a further 5 to 10 minutes uncovered.
6. Take the pan off the heat. Again, remove the chicken from the pan. Whisk in the cream  and mustard until the sauce is homogenous. Then strain. Toss the chicken with the Dijon sauce, top with fresh thyme, and serve right away with crusty bread and a salad.

I've always thought they are baby onions and never buy them :) Now I know how good they are, milder than normal onions. Shallots add a sweet but pungent flavor to dishes to a lot of French dishes. In parts of France, a grey variety is grown. Probably originated in Central or Southeast Asia, and then traveled to India and the Eastern Mediterranean.

It has many names:

In India:
Hindi, Marathi, Marwari and Punjabi: kanda or gandana or pyaaz
Bengali: gundhun
Malayalam: cheriya ulli or chuvanna ulli
Tamil: chinna vengayam (or sambar vengayam in the Chennai region.
Kashmiri: praan.
Nepal: chyapi (छ्यापी).

In Southeast Asia:
Malay:  bawang merah kecil
Java:    brambang
Thai:   hom (หอม, fragrant)  
Cambodian (Khmer): katem kror hom 
Australia : eschalot

Iran:  mousir (موسیر)

 It was really delicious. What a great discovery for us.

#25 France's Poulet Rôti

 

I love the simplicity of this recipe. You only need very few  ingredients, as shown in the picture above: the chicken, bay leaves and lemon. Plus the salt and pepper of course. The result is an amazingly juicy and delicious roasted chicken! After you've tried this recipe, you will start ignoring the packaged roasted chicken in grocery stores, guaranteed. :) 

Poulet Rôti  

Ingredients:

1 roasting chicken with giblets

1 lemon, halved

2 fresh bay leaves

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 450 F. Rinse the chicken and pat it dry all over with paper towels. Remove the giblets from the cavity of the chicken, generously add salt and pepper into the cavity, and return the giblets. Squeeze the lemon in the cavity, then add the lemon itself, pushing in each half gently.
2. Slip in 1 bay leaf between the skin and the meat on each side of the breast, gradually working your fingers under the skin to gently loosen it so it does not tear. 
3. Truss the chicken and place it breast side up, on a rack if you like, in a large baking pan. Roast in the center of the oven until the bird is golden on the outside and the leg joint moves easily when you rotate it, about 1 hour.
4. Remove the chicken from the oven, add salt and pepper generously all over. Flip the  bird onto the breast side and let it rest, uncovered for at least 15 minutes and as long as 30.
5. Carve the chicken and arrange it on a warmed serving platter. Cut the giblets into thin slices and arrange them on the platter. If a substantial amount of cooking juices remain in the baking pan, place it over medium heat and bring to boil. Scrape up any browned bits, stir in 1/2 cup of water, and pour the juice over the chicken. 
6. Enjoy!

We are learning to speak French little by little and we are enjoying it . She enjoyed saying "Poulet Rôti" over and over. Good healthy food and giggles are simply the best things you can have at the end of the day  :)

Recipe adapted from Susan Herrmann Loomis, Francetoday.com 

 

#22 Basic French Crepe Recipe

FRENCH CREPE

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup water

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and the eggs. Gradually add in the milk and the water, stirring to combine. Add the salt and butter and then beat until smooth.
2. Heat a lightly oiled non-stick griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour the batter into the griddle or pan, using approximately 1/4 cup of batter for each crepe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion  so that the batter coats the surface evenly.
3. Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side. Serve hot.

Serve rolled up or folded, with your favorite fruit/s, melted chocolate, or maple syrup. And top with ice cream if you like.

I had the best crepe when I visited my friend Noreen's house a few months ago. I remember that warm afternoon so well(smiles). Noreen and her husband Lubo, as always, poured me a glass of chilled sweet wine as soon as I arrived. They have the best wine collection. They will automatically take out wine glasses and offer you what they have within seconds of you entering their dining area. As Lubo packed me a huge bunch of freshly harvested mint from their garden, he asked: "Would you like something to eat? I have crepe, have you had crepe?". I think he was expecting me to say, "why, yes of course, many times". But instead, I answered, "Yes, thanks. I'd  like a crepe, I had it once in what.. I guess year 2000? This will be the second time". Noreen was surprised and said,"Really? Oh I always eat it for breakfast. You should try it today". I love the Avgarskis. :) Soon I was enjoying a hot and delicious crepe.

The wonderful taste in my mouth that day inspired me to make my own crepe this week. After the second time of trying it in my entire life! You must be wondering how is this possible, crepe is so common. Well, when there is a family member who is highly allergic to eggs, crepe, which requires 3 eggs per 1 cup of flour,  is difficult to include in the weekly menu. And, I just did not care much for it. I am a serious rice eater, I do not care for bread nor cakes too much. Just rice, vegetables and meat dishes, 3 times a day, all-year-round for more than three decades. Thankfully my diet is slowly changing since I started this blog, it definitely curbed my insane rice consumption and there's a lot more willingness in me to work with flour. I thought Crepe is the hardest thing to make! It is definitely not, I enjoyed making it and so will you.