Eggless Chocolate Mousse

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I have finally managed to come say hello. How have you been? Blame it on the virus cycle doing the rounds in my house! It started with my husband and I am the last victim. You know how it can be when flu starts in a family. Chaos! Someone is sick when the other is recovering. Everybody needs different kinds of food or treatment and it is mayhem. Now, I am feeling better and once my nasty throat and running rose decides to be well too things will be okay.

But then again drafts are a boon during these times. And what can be a better way to get back with you all than a chocolate treat. So here is to compensate my absence from blogger and Facebook a decadent eggless chocolate mousse:-)

This is the best among all the eggless chocolate mousse I've tried !

Ingredients:

Mini Marshmallows- 1 cup

Unsalted Butter- 2 Tbsp

Semisweet Chocolate baking squares- 4 ounces

Boiling Water- 3 Tbsp

Heavy cream- 1/2 cup

Pure Vanilla Extract- 1 tsp

Method:

1 1 .Chop the chocolate bars coarsely.

2.Take a thick bottomed pan and throw in the marshmallows, butter, chopped chocolate, and boiling water. Stir well to mix. On medium low heat continue stirring till everything is melted and mixed together.

3. 3.Once done, keep the pan in the freezer/refrigerator to cool while you whip the cream.

4. 4.Place a bowl, chilled in the freezer for 5 minutes or chilled in the refrigerator, in a cold water bath (water mixed with ice cubes). Whip the cream with vanilla till stiff peaks form.

5. 5. .Now fold in the whipped cream into the chilled chocolate mixture.

6. 6.Spoon out into the glasses and chill again before serving.Cover them with cling wrap before chilling.

Notes:

1T 1.This serves 2 to 3.

In 2.In step 2, be careful not to overheat.

Disclaimer: There has a been a misunderstanding about "eggless" vs "vegetarian". Nowhere in the post have I suggested that this dish is vegetarian.Marshmallows generally contain gelatin which is an animal product. But if you are looking for a vegan marshmallow, you can find it in the market.

Recipe adapted from : Nigella Lawson

Contributor: Namitha

Artichoke

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Artichokes were my perennial curiosity. I would see them on shelves in stores - hold them, ponder about how the hell to cook it, see the price, and walk away. Well, if I am paying all that money, I need to know I can cook it, and what I cook will be edible. Fair enough? A couple of weeks ago I let go of reason, and picked up a few.  After all, the internet is an oasis of information. I was not wrong. I found simply recipes where she beautifully gives step-by-step version of cooking, as well as eating artichokes. I followed her method to a tee.

It is rather simple once you know how to go about it. The taste is difficult to explain, but similar to somewhere around the area of peas, avocado, etc. I think. A rich vegetable protein is the best I can do. You can read about artichokes in wikipedia here

It is described as a perennial thistle, and I couldn't help but smile. My second year in Tennessee, a friend and I drove down to Mississippi on the Natchez Trace. Fantastic times! Both of us being wild flower enthusiasts, we closely looked out for them, and sighed 'oohs and aahs' at every spotting - including dandelions and thistles too.  My friend, Marilyn, would forgive me liking dandelions, but when it came to thistles I had something else coming.  The minute I started photographing them, she would say with fervor - repeatedly, constantly "it is a weed, a farmer's nightmare!" Otherwise excited about stopping for pictures - if my target were thistles, she would not be budged.  Apparently, in her gardening days, she said she had ghastly experiences trying to weed these, and she hated it with passion.  It is kind of a joke between us - how I like thistles, and how she hates them. She now sends me birthday cards with thistle pictures on it :)

  Therefore from thistles to artichokes, it's a love that cannot be explained.  I love the way they look.  I guess it's time to send Marilyn a card picturing an artichoke!   

Ingredients:
Artichoke – 2
Bay Leaf – 1
Garlic – 2- 3 pods
Lemon – 1
Salt – to taste


Method:
1. Chop off the pointed end of artichoke globe and rub lemon juice to avoid blackening while you work on the scales
2. Snip off the pointed edge of each scale and boil it in enough water with bay leaf, garlic, lemon juice and salt
3. Once cooked you can eat the fleshy end of each leaf/scale. When you get to the heart of the globe, the base is covered with hairy choke which should be spooned off before you enjoy the fleshy base.
4. You can dip it in mayonnaise and enjoy.
5. It took me about 45 minutes to cook.

Veal Stew

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Mummy, did you know Easter falls on a Sunday this year?

Huh! My dear didn’t you really know it always does?!

This was one of the jokes my brother and his friends would pull on me. I might not have said anything like this, but they would improvise a story around the above joke and tell anybody listening for a laugh. I wonder if he or any of his friends knew Easter was a ‘moveable feast' and that is why it always falls on Sunday

      Happy Easter to you! I am sure you always knew it falls on Sunday. 

Resurrection of Jesus on the 3rd day from his crucifixion. This is the most significant festival for Christians, in fact, bigger than Christmas. Thankfully, it is not as commercialized as Christmas and the gravity and seriousness is honored.

  You must be familiar with Easter eggs as a common feature in the celebrations here in the U.S. But growing up, I do not remember it to be important. Over the summer holidays, which fall now in India, we would color egg shells and place it on plants but that was not to celebrate Easter.  We don't even consider cooking eggs on this day in a special way.  

  Then what do we do? The most important thing to do was to eat a lot of meat and fish.  It starts off with breakfast with appam and stew. Today, I will share veal stew with you which goes well with appam or white bread. Hope you enjoy it. 

   Stewing as a cooking term means to cook meat and vegetables by simmering and thickening by reducing the juices or thickening the gravy with flour or any other thickening agent.  In Kerala, most cooking is slow and on stove stop, and what we call stew is slow cooked, no doubt, but generally to mean a mildly spiced meat or vegetable in coconut milk.

Stew

Ingredients:

Veal – 1.5 Lb

Garam Masala – ½ tspn

Vinegar – ½ tsp optional

Potato – 1 cubed

Pepper corns – 10

Cloves – 10

Cinnamon stick – ½ inch piece

Elachi – 3

Onions – ½

Ginger – 1 Tbspn

Garlic – 3 pods

Green Chili – 6 or as per taste

Coriander Powder – 1 tspn

Coconut Milk – 1 Can

Tomato – 4 or 5 round pieces for garnish

Oil – 2 Tbspn

Salt  - to taste

Method:

1.       1. Make bite size pieces of veal.  Take it with 1/4 tspn salt, vinegar, garam masala and ½ cup water in a pressure cooker and cook for one whistle. 

2.       2. Heat oil in a pan, add pepper corn, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon stick and fry

3.       3. Add onions and sauté for a couple of minutes. (the onions should not be browed in this curry and hence you should not sauté it for too long before you add the following. )

4.       4. Add ginger and garlic followed by green chilies and saute.

5.       5. Slide in cooked meat with all its juices, potatoes and 1 cup of thin coconut milk.  (1/2 C coconut milk + ½ C Water) and cook on low-medium heat till the potato is cooked.

6.       6. Pour the remaining coconut milk and heat through.  Top the gravy with  4 or 5 slices of tomatoes and switch off the fire

Notes:

1.       1. I thin the coconut milk further ever before I add at the final stage because I like the gravy thin.  However, traditionally the cream of coconut milk is added at the end to keep the flavor rich and gravy thick. 

2.       2. Play with the consistency to your liking.  If you feel you should not add too much water fearing the curry will spoil.  It will be a good practice to boil about 2 cups of water and how much you need to thin the coconut milk to your liking.  

3.       3. Stew is served with appam or white bread

Contributor: Sunitha