Watch us do stuff

July 20, 2023

Black Cherry Chocolate Mousse

Cooking is something I have loved to do for ages. Kicking around in the kitchen all day on a Sunday, prepping, organizing and getting something good on the table as well as ready for the week is my happy time. However, baking and making sweets is a new phenom for me. Now, my cabinet has all sorts of chocolate baking bars, a number of types of sugar, espresso powder and numerous extracts. I find myself picking up graham cracker crusts, puff pastry, and apparently, a can of black cherries that I grabbed off the sales rack when shopping. So, each week I am trying to find or create recipes to use up some of these lay-around goods. This is how I landed on this recipe for Black Cherry Chocolate Mousse.

This is yet another recipe that I need to credit Jamie Oliver for. It is a simple 5 Ingredient recipe, so no fear, sweat and tears necessary!

Separated eggs, sugar, heavy cream, chocolaet and canned cherries

Ingredients

7 ounce dark chocolate. The recipe calls for 70% cacao. I had various bars and chips on hand that were 100%, 60% and 78%, so I simply calculated the ratio of each needed to amount to the 70%
1 15oz can of dark or black cherries. For my next go at this recipe, I look forward to using fresh strawberries and perhaps macerating them a bit before adding to the dessert
3/4 cup + 5 Tbsp of heavy cream
4 eggs, separated. Be sure to not get any of the whites into the yolks and vice-versa. If you get yolk into the whites, it can typically be removed using half of a shell
2 tsp very fine sugar. If you have a small food processor, you can pulse standard white sugar until powdery and fine
Pinch of sea salt

Instruction

Simmer cherries and their juice in small saucepan on medium heat just until thickening. Remove and set aside

Setup a double boiler (sauce pan of simmering water with a bowl placed atop, without touching the water) and place chocolate into bowl. Continue to stir with silicone spatula while it melts. Once fully melted, remove bowl from simmering pan and set aside to cool

Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and egg yolks. Whisk to combine

In a medium-large bowl, add the sea salt to the egg whites and whisk until very stiff peaks have formed. Note to use a clean whisk and bowl

Once the chocolate is fully cooled, add to the cream mixture and fold in with silicone spatula

Very gently fold the chocolate/cream mixture into the stiff egg whites. Do not go rough here, as it will become very dense. This takes a little patience. Some smooth background music is never a bad thing when baking/cooking. Wink!

This recipe is indicated to be 6 servings, but this all depends on the size of your serving glass. I used a typical highball glass, so the desserts were quite generous at 3 servings. If you have a smaller container to use, I do recommend going closer to the 6 servings!

If you make this, send me a pic and/or let me know how it goes! Also, a layer of fresh whipped cream would be super before adding the fruit. YUM!

If you enjoyed this recipe, you might also like my recipe for chewy, chunky brownies!

Kristen Cooks

April 28, 2023

Easy, Amazing Pizza

I have been trying to perfect the home pizza for years. Admittedly, success has been spotty. I like pizza of all types, but sometimes, a thinner, crispy crust is perfect. I found this recipe for pizza crust on the Jamie Oliver website and I have not looked back. No waiting days for proofing and resting of the dough etc.

Making of the dough

This recipe uses the typical 00 flour, ground semolina, salt, sugar, olive oil and yeast. You can find the recipe free on the Jamie Oliver site here

Toppings

Here is where you can let your creative beast out of its cage! Do something that speaks to you. Vegetarian…go for some zucchini and peppers! Carnivore…pepperoni and sausage or, with my Portuguese husband in mind…chorizo and potato. YES! I said it…a chorizo and potato pizza can be in your future! For me, a pepperoni, red pepper and pineapple combination sounds amazing! Looking for some north African flair..? add in some harissa or Ras al Hanout to your pizza sauce. I was feeling the spinach and feta this week, but for anyone, the sky is your limit!

The sauce

Although I love a homemade sauce of any kind, I will say that there are some delicious jarred sauces that can be found, one that I used in this pizza recipe. I recommend Rao’s pizza sauce. Perfectly balanced and with very pure ingredients. Check their website and ingredient list here

Food / Kristen Cooks

April 10, 2023

Weeknight Dinner – Pork loin with sweet plantains & veg

Weeknights are for simple dinners that come together easily. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a Jamie Oliver fan, reason being that he cooks simply with great results. This meal is quick and easy, and hits all nutritional needs. I took advantage of a Jamie Oliver veggie dish that never disappoints, with a few tweaks based on what I had on hand. The original recipe can be found in his cookbook called, “Together” and the recipe is called “Spring Veg”. I absolutely recommend this book!

For the pork:

1.5 lb. pork loin is coated in the spice mix of your choice. I used a middle eastern 7 spice rub that I make and always have on hand, but you could do a BBQ mix with garlic and onion powder, paprika, salt, pepper and sugar. Equal parts of everything, with the salt and sugar at half the amount of the other spices. Pop into a 425 degree oven until inner temp is 135, roughly 30 minutes.

For the plantains:

The sweet plantains (maduros) are freezer aisle purchase. The plantains can also be bought fresh and fried once super ripe. However, I’ve had a hard time knowing when the ripeness factor is right, and the Goya product is so easy. Just reduce the oven once the pork is out and resting and pop the frozen container right in. Easy-peasy.

Goya product info can be found here: https://www.goya.com/en/products/ripe-plantains

For the veggies:

(small potatoes of any kind, asparagus, peas, mint, olive oil and lemon):

Boil a pound of small potatoes (red or white) for 15 mins, add asparagus when 13 mins have passed (spears cut into thirds), when 1 minute remains, add a cup of peas (frozen is fine). When 15 mins are up, drain and plate. Juice one lemon over mix, add a handful of chopped mint and dress with EVOO. Done!

Note that I have done this same recipe with any other veggies on hand. Perfect for a veggie drawer clean out!

Recipe for 7 Spice Blend:

I found this very simple recipe on a lovely Lebanese cooking site. Give it a go! https://plantbasedfolk.com/lebanese-7-spices-baharat/

The Jamie Oliver site has loads of free recipes, nutrition info and how-to articles. Definitely worth a gander, if you are a home cook and looking for fun ways to cook meals! https://www.jamieoliver.com/