There is a fantastic moment in Kitchen Confidential (there are so many, no?) that has Anthony Bourdain describing one of his catering exploits in Provincetown, Massachusetts during the summer of 1975. One of his adventures that summer included an attempt at making a giant Seafood Blanquette from an ancient copy of Larousse. For this particularly ambitious catering job he needed “a tasty yet structurally sound ‘coliseum’ of pastry crust” that would hold about 5 gallons of seafood stew. As there was no mold large enough in existence, Bourdain and his partner had to rely on the crust alone to keep boiling seafood stew from bursting forth and burning horrified party guests. Ultimately, Bourdain does find a successful pastry recipe stating, “In the end-as it so often does-it came down to Julia. Julia Child’s recipes have little snob appeal, but they also tend to work” (50).
I have a feeling that Julia’s recipes have saved many seemingly unsaveable situations over the years. And while I was not trying to produce gallons of seafood stew a few weeks ago, I was trying to make chocolate mousse but I actually attempted a different (non-Julia) recipe first. You see, I wanted to make mousse but I wanted something fast. At the same time, I wanted something slightly more traditional involving only egg whites for volume (so, no whipped cream). Originally, I considered the recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking but felt like there were too many steps. At the time (and pretty much all of the last month) I was just so busy and feeling frantic most every day. A couple of extra mousse steps felt like too much! I did find a very simple recipe and was wooed by the terms ‘easy’ and ‘quick.’ It did not turn out well. In fact, it ended badly with an oily mess of ‘mousse’ being thrown into the trash.
While I am being slightly flippant about the ‘quick and easy’ stuff (I do actually think most mousse recipes are both of these things) I also think there was something about the first recipe that caused my chocolate to seize. It almost seems as though it was missing a step. And if you have ever experienced seized chocolate it’s just disturbing. It’s an oily, grainy mess. There are many schools of thought on chocolate mousse ranging from how and when to add/temper the egg yolks to the addition of butter to the type of chocolate (and on…and on…).
So, while dumping 4 little pots of oily, grainy gross stuff into the trash I decided to go with my initial instinct and consult Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Because, as it so often does, it came back to Julia (and Simone! and Louisette!) and, while I did not feel the need to do endless research on why recipe #1 did not work, I did feel like going with I knew would work. In retrospect, this recipe is not even that involved (although I did adapt it down a bit). It’s funny what your brain tells you when you are stressed out.
This mousse was amazing. The texture was rich and light and the addition of pistachios and a little sea salt at the end was very nice. The nuts added some crunch (and color!!) and helped balance out this very butter heavy recipe. And luckily my stressful month and half has finally come to a close so I should be posting more recipes again–yay! I’ve missed being in the kitchen –and being able to make logical decisions about mousse making!
Chocolate Mousse
Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking
4 egg yolks
½ cup finely granulated sugar
6 ounces dark chocolate (I used 71%)
2 tablespoons espresso or strong coffee
6 ounces softened unsalted butter
4 egg whites
Pinch of seal salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
pistachios and coarse sea salt for serving
>Beat egg yolks and sugar together until mixture is thick and pale and the yolks reach the ribbon stage (when you lift a bit of the mixture with a paddle or spoon, it should form a slowly dissolving ribbon when it falls back on itself).
>Set the bowl with the egg yolks over barely simmering water and whisk for 3-4 minutes until foamy and hot to the touch. Place bowl over cold water and whisk for another 3-4 minutes until the mixture has the consistency of mayonnaise.
>Melt chocolate with coffee over simmering water. Remove from heat and beat in softened butter a little at a time until all is incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Whisk the chocolate mixture into the egg yolks and sugar and set aside for a few minutes.
>Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until slightly foamy and add tablespoon of sugar. Beat until stiff peaks are formed.
>Stir a third of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Lightly fold in the rest of the egg whites and divide into ramekins. Refrigerate overnight. Serve with pistachios and a light sprinkling of coarse sea salt. Enjoy!
