Author: Alex

Cheat’s Mocha Mousse

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Mocha Mousse Cups

Entertaining on a weekend is always easy.  And by easy, I mean that, as a rule, I am able to get organised and spend time fiddling about with complicated, multipart recipes.  That all makes me extremely happy.

However, there are always occasions where food needs to be put together in a hurry and it’s useful to have a few familiar recipes that I know can be made without too much fuss, too many ingredients, and with very little time.

This is my standard ‘dessert in a hurry’ recipe.  Originally, the recipe comes from Gordon Ramsay’s Sunday Lunch*, where it appears as Coffee and Chocolate Mousse Cups.  This version is thanks to Almost Bourdain.

The recipe is both egg free and gluten free.

Note that it’s important to beat the mascarpone and icing sugar well.  Some mascarpone can be a little grainy (I think this might be a quality thing) and the beating helps reduce this.  Also, the (cold) mascarpone and sugar mix is very stiff.  I find my (good quality) plastic whisk is not quite up to the job.  Of course, using a mixer (such as a KitchenAid) makes this easier but adds significantly to the washing up load …

Also, this is not really a mousse in the way that I think of mousse.  It’s more a very dense, but hopefully smooth, chocolate and coffee cream.

Begin by beating 125g of mascarpone with 2 tbsp of icing sugar.  Beat well, until the mixture is smooth.

Mix in 4 tbsp of strong espresso coffee and 100g of melted, good quality dark chocolate.

Melting chocolate in a microwave is quicker than on the the stove top but I think it requires a little more attention.  Break the chocolate into pieces and microwave (I use med-high because I worry) for just a minute.  Stir.  Another minute in the microwave.  Another stir.  That should be just about done …

Finally, whisk 150mL of cream to soft peaks and fold this into the chocolate/coffee/mascarpone mixture.  Try to avoid buying ‘thickened cream’.  Almost all the cream in my local supermarket appears to have thickening agents of some type in it – you need to look out for something labelled ‘pure cream’.  If you’re in the UK, use double cream.

Spoon the mixture into small containers.  I’ve used small martini glasses and shot glasses.  You could also use espresso cups.  It won’t look like a lot but the mixture is dense and rich so no one needs a massive bowl full!

Refrigerate for as long as possible.  Overnight is ideal but you can get away with a couple of hours.

Serve with cream or icecream.

See!  I said it was easy!

*Also available from Amazon US or Amazon UK.

The Village Indian Restaurant

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date of visit: Friday 30 April 2010

We were tootling around town doing a bit of after work shopping and decided to grab something to eat. Andy nominated Indian and we headed down to The Village, on Gouger Street (close to Morphett Street).

The decision was driven by the fact that we’ve eaten at The Village once before, with a group of friends and possibly after more than one beer, but the overall impression had been positive.

At The Village there’s no specialisation in one particular area of Indian cuisine and every dish on the menu is annotated with its area of origin. There are plenty of dishes you’ll recognise (such as butter chicken and chicken vindaloo) and others that may be new (chicken 65 – chicken fried with coriander seeds and pepper which was on our list to try but was unavailable).

In typical curry eating style we over ordered …

We started with pappadums, which were served with mint and tamarind chutneys. I always say that I make my mind up about a curry house based on the mint chutney and/or the hot lime pickle. The Village’s mint chutney definitely passed muster.

For entrée, I chose, unimaginatively, the vegetable pakoras while Andy opted for the chutney chicken kebab. We were going to share but I didn’t like the sound of this … Actually, I would have been perfectly happy with the kebab but I did prefer my vegetable pakoras. They had a good heat about them and, laced with the mint chutney, they were absolutely delicious. It was a large serve, of four big patties. If you were expecting individual pieces of battered vegetable (as pakora sometimes appears) you would be disappointed but there were enough distinct pieces of vegetable in the patties to keep me happy.

For main course, with no chicken 65 available, I opted for the lamb dhansak and Andy chose the chicken kadai. The dhansak came on a large tray, with the lentils (dhal makhani) on the side, rice and even a piece of chicken tikka. I accompanied this with a really good paratha – flaky and super buttery. The sauce was tart and spicy. Andy’s kadai sauce was also reasonably spicy and very tomatoey. In both cases, the meat was tender and juicy, well sized and nicely proportioned.

As usual, after stuffing myself on entrée and pappadums, I struggled a little with my main course bit I made sure to finish the paratha!

A standout feature of The Village is the cheerful, attentive service. My water was kept topped up, after our entrées, both our waiter and front of house checked we were enjoying our food, and at no point did we feel either forgotten or suffocated.

At the end of the evening, we left feeling extremely well fed for around $80 (this included a couple of beers). And obviously, we have to go back again to check out that Chicken 65 …

The Village Indian Restaurant

Diverse Indian cuisine on Gouger Street

The Village offers dishes from across India, pairing generous portions with sensible prices and excellent, friendly service.

Rating:4.0 stars
****

The Village Indian Restaurant on Urbanspoon
The Village, 125 Gouger Street, Adelaide, SA, 5000
phone: +61 8 8212 2536

Prawn Pad Thai

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Prawn Pad Thai

date:  April 2010

Pad thai is such a staple of Thai restaurant menus that it’s something I’ve never thought of making at home.  To be honest, I very rarely even order it.  But we had some prawns in the freezer and I found a simple pad thai recipe on the UK Delicious website.

At short notice we weren’t able to pull together all the ingredients from the local supermarket, so you may want to consult the original recipe.  However, we were really impressed with our finished product so don’t panic if you can’t rustle up all the ingredients.

I started by soaking some rice vermicilli in hot water.  I suspect that I either did this for too long (or the noodles spent a little too long in the wok) because they ended up rather short and clumpy – so I advise you to read the instructions for whatever noodles you use!

Make a dressing by mixing together 1½ tbsp fish sauce, 1½ tbsp palm sugar (we found this in our small local supermarket and I really recommend seeking it out – the taste is amazing and distinctly caramel like), and 1½ tbsp of rice wine vinegar. This is the sweet/sour/salty combination that Thai food is well known for.

Heat some oil (we use peanut) in a wok and add chopped garlic (to taste) and one chopped onion. Cook for a few minutes and then add chilli flakes (also to taste – I opted for hot!) and then the drained noodles. Stir fry for a couple of minutes and then push to one side. Now, tip a lightly beaten egg into the wok and scramble, before mixing in to the noodles.

Mix through the dressing before adding your prawns (or chicken, or vegetables – no reason why you can’t turn this into a vegetarian pad thai!). Toss well to ensure prawns are cooked (if green) or warmed through (if already cooked).

Finish with chopped spring onions and serve dressed with chopped coriander.

How easy is that?

Make more than you think you’ll need – I was expecting leftovers for lunch the next day but we scoffed the whole lot in a single sitting!