Irish Foodies March 2011 Cookalong, Traditional Irish Part 2, Bailey's Chocolate Mousse

The monthly Irish Foodies cookalong rolled around on the 4th of March.  I have already posted a recipe for the potato scones I made on the day and here is my second offering.  The theme was traditional Irish to coincide with St. Patrick's Day which falls later this week.  While I am pretty sure chocolate mousse is not traditionally Irish, no one can argue that a pint of Guinness is, so I decided to dress my mousse up as a pint of the black stuff.  Add in a splash of Bailey's Irish Cream and sure St. Patrick himself would scoff the lot, to be sure to be sure.  Right that's enough of the Irishisms.

For the purpose of the photographs in this post I served the mousse in a tumbler glass and topped it with whipped cream.  This yielded 3 portions which I'm sure would prove a little on the large side for even the most ardent chocoholic.  Trust me, I gave it a good bash but it took two sittings to finish one off.  I would suggest that you serve the mousse in a tall shot glass or alternatively espresso cups.  You should yield 6-8 servings in smaller glasses.

Bailey's Chocolate Mousse
serves 6

285ml/0.5pt Single Cream
200g/7oz Good quality Plain Chocolate, 70% Cocoa Solids
2 Large Eggs, separated
30ml/1floz Bailey's Irish Cream, or liquer of your choice

Whipped cream optional

1.  Place the cream in a saucepan and heat but do not allow to boil. 

2.  Remove from the heat and set aside for 1 minute before breaking in the chocolate.

3.  Stir until smooth and the chocolate has melted. 

4.  Beat in the egg yolks and Bailey's and stir until smooth.
5.  In a bowl whisk the egg whites with an electric whisk to form stiff peaks.

 
6.  Gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture in three stages.
7.  Pour into serving glasses and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Eggnog

Ireland has been experiencing snowy weather these past few days.  On Friday night I was witness to a lightning storm, the like of which I have not witnessed before in Ireland.  The whole night sky was illuminated with each flash and they grew progressively more frequent as the night went on.  A quick check in with the lovely @yddib over on twitter to pick the brain of her very own personal weather man explained that it was the result of hail clouds colliding.  When I woke the next morning we had the lightest dusting of snow and sure I was only delighted with life, until I phoned my sister that is.  "Oh we have a few inches here, can't even see where the kerb ends and the road begins."  Show off!  That was me on snow watch for the rest of the day, willing the clouds to empty their load so I could concur, "oh we have inches here, won't be venturing outside the door in that".  Alas it was not to happen.  I toddled off to bed to dream of snow angels and snow ball fights.

There was still quite a nip in the air on Sunday morning and imagine my delight when I stumbled down the stairs & threw open the curtains to be greeted by a pure white blanket of snow, thick on the ground.  I was up the stairs in a jiffy and before the hubs knew what was happening I had burst through the bedroom door and decided there was nothing else for it other than to bounce on the bed and scream "snnnnooooooooooooooooooooooooooowwww".  Needless to say at 8a.m. on a Sunday morning he wasn't too impressed.  We did have a little snow ball fight as we walked to the shop later that morning before we tucked ourselves up indoors for a cosy day.

I wandered into the kitchen in the afternoon with the intention of whipping up a batch of mince pies but instead emerged half an hour later with a glass of eggnog in hand much to the hubs amusement.  I'm not much of a drinker you see but the sight of the marshmallow world outside was screaming Christmas at me, so a glass of eggnog was the only man for the job.  I then spent a blissful afternoon on the sofa eggnog in one hand, large Toblerone in the other and Love Actually on the old telebox.  Bliss. 

It really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas.  Enjoy! x

Eggnog
(serves 8-10)

6 Large Eggs, separated
180g/8oz Caster Sugar
1tsp Vanilla Extract
250ml/8floz Milk
500ml/16floz Cream
100ml/3.5floz Brandy
100ml/3.5floz Rum
Nutmeg, freshly grated to serve

1.  Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until well combined, the sugar is dissolved and the mixture thickened slightly.  Gradually beat in the vanilla, milk, cream and alcohol.

2.  Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks, then thoroughly whisk into the cream mixture.  Pour into glasses and sprinkle each with a little grated nutmeg.

Vegetable Crumble - Irish Foodies Vegetarian Cookalong

Apologies for the worse than normal picture quality in

this post but crumbles are quite tricky to photograph.

The last Irish foodies cookalong theme was vegetarian.  While I love vegetables and would eat them until they come out of my ears this made me very aware that I never conciously cook an entirely vegetarian meal.  I set my little brain to thinking and settled on a vegetable crumble.  If I remember correctly the night in question was a little chilly and so I fancied something comforting.  My first attempt while nice didn't really float my boat.  It seemed quite flour heavy and lacked the lovely crunch of the traditional sweet crumbles so I decided to give it another bash this week and was very impressed with the end result. 

I found the original recipe online, I can't even remember which site now, but I knew when flour and butter and some seasoning were the only ingredients that it maybe wouldn't be up to much.  As usual I should have trusted my instincts.  So I set my brain to thinking and decided that if I reduced the flour content and added a savoury 'granola' type thingy ma bob that I could be onto a winner.  This is what I came up with.

For the 'granola'
(I just measured everything very roughly but the below worked well for me)

3 handfuls of Porridge Oats
2 Handful of chopped Mixed Nuts
1tbsp Olive Oil
Salt, Pepper and a little Brown Sugar to season

1.  Place the porridge oats and mixed nuts into a bowl and give them a little mix.
2.  Add the oil and mix again.  If you feel the mix is too dry add a little more oil.  You really just want to lightly coat the mix in the oil.
3.  Season with the salt, pepper and sugar and place on a baking sheet and spread them out evenly.

Vegetable Crumble
Serves 4-6 as a side dish

1 Sweet Potato, peeled and diced
1 small Butternut Squash, peeled, deseeded and diced
1 large Onion, peeled and diced
2 cloves of Garlic, thinly sliced
2-3tbsp of Olive Oil
1tsp ground Cumin
1tsp ground Coriander
1tsp ground Tumeric
1tsp Brown Sugar
A pinch of Sea Salt
A pinch of freshly ground Black Pepper
229ml/7.5floz Single Cream
100g/3.5oz Plain Flour
75g/2.5oz Butter, diced
Savoury 'Granola' (see above)
2 handfuls of Grated Cheese (optional)

1.  Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4
2.  Place the diced vegetables and garlic in an oven proof dish.
3.  In a bowl mix the olive oil, ground cumin, ground coriander, ground tumeric and brown sugar.  Pour over the vegetables and mix to ensure they are evenly coated.
4.  Place into the preheated oven and roast for 45 mins, mixing occasionally to stop the tops caramelising too much.

5.  Place the butter and flour into a seperate bowl and rub together to form a coarse, bread crumb like consistency.

6.  Add the granola and mix well with your hands to distribute evenly.
7.  Remove the vegetables from the oven and add in the cream.  Give it a little stir to coat them all.

8.  Pour over the crumble mixture and spread evenly over the vegetables.  Scatter with the grated cheese if you are using.  Return to the oven for 30 - 40 minutes until the top is golden brown and the cream is bubbling around the edges.

9.  Serve and enjoy.