Chocolate Mousse

I have been making this chocolate mousse for so many years.... It is my standard, no-fail dinner party dessert recipe, guaranteed to please any guests, small or large. I first made this for my boyfriend at the time, about 14 years ago. It must have been OK, because he married me! The recipe is based on one from David Herbert, who writes for the Australian Magazine. I really like David's recipes. He's a no-nonsense cook, who has some lovely flavour combinations.

This is not a light and fluffy mousse, rather it is velvety and rich. You only need to serve a very small portion. I usually serve it with some fresh berries, a little something to break the sweetness of the mousse. You can add alcohol to the mix, such as rum or brandy, to add some extra flavour.

I serve this mousse in individual dishes, for example tea cups, champagne flutes, wine glasses, small glass ramekins etc. It makes for a lovely presentation when you bring it to the table. 

What you'll need

Makes approximately 8 serves (half-cup measurement)

350ml Nestle condensed milk

300g dark chocolate

3 large eggs, separated

300ml mascapone or thickened cream

 

What to do

Pour the condensed milk into a small saucepan. Heat over low heat. Break the chocolate into pieces and add to the condensed milk. Stir continuously until the chocolate is melted, then remove from the heat and leave to cool for 10 minutes. Then add the three egg yolks. Stir well until incorporated.

With electric beaters, whip the egg whites in a bowl until stiff peaks form (approximately 3 minutes). Set aside.

In another bowl, pour the cream and mix for a minute with the beaters so there are soft peaks.

Pour the chocolate mixture into the cream and fold the two together until well incorporated. Then gently fold the egg whites into the cream/chocolate mixture until just combined.

Now carefully pour the mixture into whichever serving container you have, and put into the fridge to set for at least 6 hours. I use about a half-cup measure for each serving. It helps to use a ladle to pour the mixture, as there is less mess and drips to clean up afterwards.

Once set, remove from the fridge and serve with berries or a small dallop of cream on the top of the mousse.

This dessert is completely luscious and a really special treat. Sometimes I make extra, so I've got some little pots in the bottom of the fridge for afterwards. But ssshhhhh, don't tell anyone!

Pumpkin and goat's cheese ravoli

Little dinner party here on Saturday night for some special people.

I prepared the entire dinner on Friday night and Saturday morning, as I knew I would be out of the house for the whole of the afternoon before my guests' arrived. I was slightly stressed about this, but it ended up being fine and the food I'd prepared required a little heating up, cooking and serving.

I made these pumpkin ravoli on Saturday morning and stored them in an air-tight container. It then took only five minutes to cook them and serve them. These ravoli, made with wonton wrappers, are very easy to prepare, look spectacular and are so yummy to eat. If you've never made your own ravoli, give this a go. You can fill them with basically anything. I've tried the following combinations:

• Sun-dried tomatoes, goat's cheese and fresh herbs
• Bolognese sauce
• Roasted pumpkin and goat's cheese
• Left-over braised lamb shanks.

You can also make 'Asian style' gyozas or pot stickers, using a filling of scallops, or mined chicken and prawns. But I'll put a recipe up for those at another time.

What you'll need

Makes 30 ravoli. As an entree, I served three to each person.

300g packet (or 60 wrappers) gyoza wrappers, available from any Asian food shop or some supermarkets

1 cup of mashed pumpkin flesh. I roasted my pumpkin in the oven first.

100g soft goat's cheese

Salt and pepper

Fresh basil, melted butter and Parmesan cheese to serve.

What to do

Mix the pumpkin and goat's cheese in a bowl. Season well.

Lay a clean tea towel on your kitchen bench. Peel off the gyoza wrappers and lay on the tea towel. Place a heaped teaspoon of the pumpkin mixture into the centre of each wrapper.

Place a small bowl of warm water next to the tea towel. Dip one or two fingers into the water. Then run your fingers around the outside margin of the gyoza wrapper, wetting it slightly all the way around. Place another wrapper on top of the pumpkin mixture and seal it with the bottom wrapper (press it together with your fingers). You can also flatten the pumpkin mixture as you go. Repeat until all the ravoli are made. 

Transfer to an air-tight container, using baking paper in between layers of ravoli, so they don't stick together.

These ravoli stay together better if you make them before-hand and then store in the fridge or freezer for cooking later. For example, make them in the morning for cooking that evening.

To cook, place a large frying pan (I use an electric frying pan) to heat and fill with salted water. Once the water is boiling, place half of the ravoli into the water. Don't overcrowd the pan, or the ravoli will stick together. Once the ravoli 'pastry' becomes transparent, the ravoli are cooked. This will take 2 or 3 minutes. Carefully remove from the water with a slotted spoon to drain the water. (The ravoli are very delicate so be careful or they will break apart.) Place the ravoli onto warmed serving plates. Cook the remaining ravoli and spoon onto serving plates.

Drizzle with some melted butter, freshly chopped basil and some grated Parmesan cheese.

These delicate, slippery ravoli are definitely a crowd-pleaser and your guests will be very impressed.

Asian coconut soup with chicken meatballs

This was a bit of a different dinner for us on a Friday night. My inspiration came from some fresh chicken mince that I saw at the supermarket, and the very grey and misty weather. I wanted to use the chicken mince in a different way, rather than a pasta sauce or plain meatballs.

I was on the way to the local Asian food shop, which is such a fantastic place to find some cooking inspiration. So, a pack of limes, some coconut milk, fresh udon noodles and some laska paste, and wallah, an Asian coconut soup with chicken meatballs. And it was so good.

I went a bit easy on the spice in the soup, as I wanted the children to eat this without yelling ,'my mouth is burning Mum!' So I served some fresh chilli on the table for the man-of-the-house and I to add a bit of spice ourselves.

I also made the meatballs in advance and cooked them in a frying pan, so all I had to do was plop them into the soup at the end. No messy fussing about cooking them in the soup. This was a lovely, creamy soup with a little spice. The noodles and meatballs filled everyone up and the crunchy snowpeas added some lovely colour and texture. Thumbs up from everyone in the house.

What you'll need

Serves four large bowls.

For the meatballs
500g chicken mince
1 tblsp corn flour
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 thumb-sized piece fresh ginger, minced
1 tblsp soy sauce
1 tblsp fish sauce

For the soup
2 x 400ml cans of coconut milk
1 tblsp laksa paste (use more if you'd like it spicy)
Juice of one lime. If your lime is not very juicy, use two limes
1 chicken stock cube
1 tblsp fish sauce
1 can water (use the empty coconut milk can)
400g fresh udon noodles
Handful of fresh snowpeas
2 hard-boiled eggs, shelled

Serve with fresh chopped chillis, a little soy sauce and some chopped fresh mint.

What to do

Make the meatballs
In a bowl add all the meatball ingredients as above. Mix well with clean hands. Using a teaspoon, scoop out small balls of mince, and with wet hands, roll into balls. Place the balls onto a plate and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Make the soup
Heat a soup pot on medium heat. Add the laksa paste and stir until fragrant. Then add the coconut milk, lime juice, fish sauce, stock cube and water. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the soup for 15 minutes.

While the soup is cooking, heat a frying pan over medium heat. Add the meatballs and cook, turning once for approximately 10 minutes, until cooked through.

Add the udon noodles to the soup, and break apart gently with a fork. You'll only need to cook them for about 5 minutes at a gentle simmer. Just before serving, add the snowpeas and let cook in the soup for a few minutes.

Assemble the soup into the bowls. Add about 5 - 7 meatballs per bowl, use a spaghetti serving spoon to scoop some noodles and snowpeas from the soup pot. Then use a ladle to pour the soup liquid into the bowl. The liquid should cover most of the ingredients. Finally, halve the boiled eggs, and place one half in each bowl.

Eat while hot, and sprinkle with some fresh chilli, mint soy sauce and lime to squeeze. So tasty and satisfying on a cold evening.

Pumpkin Soup

Here's a warming, healthy and delicious pumpkin soup recipe. The temperatures have taken a sudden dip, so I made a huge pot of this soup during the week. I gave half to someone who's a bit sick, and the rest we ate to warm us up on a grey day.

Basically this soup is vegetable puree, which you can then make thinner with some water or milk or leave as thick as you like. Make a double batch as it freezes very well. Enjoy with a little natural yoghurt and crispy prosciutto or a sprinkle of toasted nuts on top. It is also wonderful with some curry powder added to the mix and a cup of coconut milk poured in at the end. And always eat with some crusty bread.

What you'll need

Serves many bowls - approximately 8  -10 people, with some leftover to freeze.

2kg butternut pumpkin, de-seeded, peeled and chopped into large pieces
2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped into large pieces
2 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 large onions, peeled and roughly chopped
2 chicken stock cubes
1 tlbsp vegetable oil
Water
Salt and pepper

Natural yoghurt to serve

What to do

Heat the vegetable oil in a very large soup pot, over medium heat.

Once the oil is hot, add the pumpkin and saute for approximately 10 minutes, stirring constantly, until the pumpkin starts to brown slightly. Add the garlic, potatoes, carrots and crumble in the chicken stock cubes.
Now pour in enough water to cover all the ingredients.

Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low. Place the lid on the pot and let the vegetables cook until very soft (approximately 60 to 90 minutes.) Season well towards the end of the cooking time.

Let cool, then blend the soup, either with a stick blender or food processor. I like a smooth soup, so I blend it until there are no lumps.

Return to the cooking pot to heat. If you want to make the soup a little thinner, you can add a cup or two of water or milk.

Serve with a dollop of natural yoghurt and some crusty bread.

Antipasto.... or a little snack

Here's a little something we ate last night with a cold glass of Italian prosecco. It was a little bit too early to cook dinner and too late for something heavier than a few tasty asparagus tossed in the pan, some salty cheese and beautiful fresh tomato.

This was quick and easy, and it was devoured by the little and big people. You could say it was our little weather celebration. Yesterday was hot here, but today I think that Autumn has really arrived. Time to get out the winter clothes and shoes I think!

Make this for friends. Give them each a fork, a serviette and a glass of wine and say,'Dig in!' You could call it a 'deconstructed' salad, although that is a fairly 'wanky' term. Alternatively, serve it with a bit of crusty bread for a light lunch or even dinner.

What you'll need

Serves four as a snack.

I bunch of asparagus, woody stems trimmed.
2 large, vine-ripened tomatoes, thickly sliced
1 x 200g packet haloumi cheese, sliced into fingers
Juice of one lemon
Salt and pepper
1 tsp olive oil to grease the pan

What to do

Place a pan over high heat. Add the olive oil. Add the asparagus to the pan and cook, turning frequently for about five minutes, or until the asparagus is starting the become soft and slightly browning. Remove from the pan.

Add the haloumi and cook for five minutes, turning once when it is brown on one side.

Arrange the tomato, asparagus and cheese on a plate, sprinkle with a little salt and freshly-ground pepper and squeeze over the lemon juice. Serve while the cheese and asparagus are still hot.