Chocolate Mousse with Cointreau

This I made for dessert last weekend. It is very easy to make, but is much more convenient if you have a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, as there is a lot of beating to be done.

Start by melting 1/2 oz butter with 3.5 oz good-quality dark chocolate in a double boiler. If you do not have an actual double boiler, you can make one with a metal bowl and a small saucepan. Put about an inch of water in the pan and set the bowl on top with the chocolate and butter in it. Bring the water almost to a simmer and stir the mixture until it melts and blends together. Once you reach this point, carefully remove the bowl from the pan (it will be hot) and set it aside to cool slightly.

Next, separate 2 eggs. Measure out 2 oz sugar. Put the 2 yolks in the bowl of your mixer. Pour in most of the sugar (reserve a small amount for the whites) and add a splash of Cointreau. Beat with the whisk attachment until light and creamy. Remove to another bowl; clean your mixer bowl and beaters. Add the melted chocolate mixture slowly to your yolks, folding it in with a spatula.

Put your 2 whites in the clean mixer bowl. Beat until they start to firm up, then stream in the remaining sugar and continue to beat until you see stiff peaks. Pour a little of the chocolate mixture onto the whites, folding it in. Next, fold the whites back into the rest of the chocolate mixture. Clean your mixer bowl and beaters.

Put 1/2 cup cold heavy or whipping cream into your mixer bowl. Beat until thickened (but do not go too far or you will make butter!). Fold the cream into the egg-chocolate mix. Pour into small glasses or bowls and chill in the refrigerator for at least 5 hours until set. Enjoy! Serves 2.

Note 1 - This is a raw egg product. Use the best freshest eggs you can get your hands on and keep them clean. The very young, the elderly and the immunocompromised should avoid this.

Note 2 - Grand Marnier or Triple Sec can be substituted for Cointreau.

Note 3 - Metric Info: 1/2 oz = 14g; 3.5 oz = 100g; 2 oz = 55g; 1/2 cup = 120 ml.

Green Tea Ice Cream

I have been wanting to make this ice cream for quite some time now, having eaten it at a Chinese restaurant (A Single Pebble, in Burlington, VT) and loved it. However, most of the recipes I found required the use of green tea powder (matcha), which I couldn't find for the longest time. Until my girlfriend took me to New York's Chinatown. So, I finally got to make it:

Pour 2 cups half-and-half into a saucepan, and bring it almost to a boil over medium heat. Keep an eye on it - do not let it boil over! Meanwhile, whisk 5 egg yolks, 7 oz sugar and 1.5 tbsp green tea powder together in a bowl until smooth and creamy. Set up a metal bowl on ice with a strainer in it.

As soon as you see bubbles forming around the edges of the pan of half-and-half, pour a little of the hot liquid into the bowl with the yolks. Whisk it into the yolk mixture and then dump everything back into the saucepan. Continue to heat the mixture, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until it coats the back of the spoon (a line drawn in the back of the spoon with your finger does not fill in). At this point, remove the pan from the heat and pour the contents through the strainer into the metal bowl. Stir to help it cool down and stop cooking. Allow the mixture to cool in the pan and then transfer to the fridge to chill.

Once chilled, churn in an ice cream maker until frozen. Store in the freezer. Enjoy!

Note 1 - If you cannot find matcha, you could try steeping green tea leaves in the half-and-half. I would suggest 4 tsp green tea, added to the 2 cups half-and-half and brought to just below the boil, removed from the heat, covered and let sit for 30 minutes. After that time, strain out the leaves, bring the half-and-half up to just below a boil again and proceed as above, omitting the green tea powder. I have not tried this yet, so if you do, let me know how it works out.

Note 2 - For those outside North America, half-and-half is half cream, half milk.

Note 3 - Metric Info: 2 cups = 480ml; 7 oz = 200g.