Whisk It Good

This "Puddings and Creams" section of the "Everyday Dolci" chapter is my weakness. Two recipes in, and I'm in love. Chocolate Zabaglione was the final straw.

May I first point out that a pudding or cream with such a complex name seems like a daunting task. But fear not, we have Giada on our side. And her recipes are "everyday" meaning they are simple and that anyone can do them. Myself included.

I started by simmering some fat-free evaporated milk (in place of whipping cream as usual) and learned, again, that fat-free foods do not function the same as whole fat ones. Though not as big a failure as attempting to brown light butter, the evaporated milk separated a little bit and I had to whisk it to get it back together.

After removing the milk from the heat, I stirred in some chocolate chips until the mixture was completely smooth. Next, I filled a pot with about two inches of water and brought it to a simmer. As it heated, I put four egg yolks, sugar, cooking wine, and a pinch of salt into a glass bowl that I placed over the water. Next, I whisked.

I whisked for approximately four minutes. Or at least I think it was about that amount of time. When I started whisking, I realized that the clock on the microwave had not been set, and my cell phone was in my bedroom, so there was no other way to keep track of time. I could have stopped once the mixture came to 160 degrees, but yes, I do not have a thermometer. So i counted to 240-Mississippi. Like I true college kid, I always find a way to make due.

The mixture became thicker which was promising. This was the step that could really make or break it all. I removed this from the heat then folded in the chocolate mixture. It became what you see drizzled over my frozen strawberries above.

The final product was probably not as thick as it typically would be considering I used fat-free milk in place of full-fat cream, but it was still to die for. The salt in the cream gave it a sweet and salty contrast (which I LOVE!) and the tart strawberries added another dimension of taste.

Gina Neeley says that "cute girls don't lick the bowl." Well then call me a brute, because I certainly did without any hesitation. I was in the comfort of my own room though, so I didn't look like a total animal.

And there you have it, cycle EIGHT through the book! I now have an announcement to make. I will be cooking again tomorrow night starting from the first chapter, but then instead of moving on to another sauce, on Friday, I will be making the next dessert. It requires Chocolate Zabaglione so I made enough today for that recipe and don't think I should keep it refrigerated until I come around to the last chapter again. I know, I'm going against my own self-imposed rules, but I still feel weird going out of the order that I set out to accomplish this project.

Anyhow, I will see you again tomorrow night when I start cycle nine!!

Puddin's and Creams

In the words of Buddy the Elf, "I'm in love, I'm in love, and I don't care who knows it!!" What you see above is to die for. And soooooo simple. Allow me to explain.

As suggested by the title of this post, we are now in the "Everyday Creams and Puddings" section of the "Everyday Dolci" chapter. Honestly, how can you NOT be excited about that (well, maybe because YOU don't actually get to eat it, and I do). Tonight, I made Affogato. Don't be fooled by the tricky name. According to Giada, this is the Italian version of a hot fudge sundae. In my opinion, it's the adult hot fudge sundae. No, it does not contain alcohol of any sort, it contains COFFEE!!

Here it goes. Giada's recipe asks you to make your own homemade whipped cream. I opted for the healthy version and bought some Cool Whip Free (you are not surprised by this). Next, you boil some water, then dissolve one tablespoon of espresso powder in it. Considering I was only making one serving of this, I microwaved two tablespoons of water rather than boiling it. I was a little concerned about buying espresso powder (you'd be surprised about what you CAN'T find in stores around here), but luckily, my campus just got a Starbucks. A Starbucks that sells Via! Did I mention that it accepts the $1000 of declining balance that I need to use up before the end of the semester?

I dissolved the Via into the water and made it quite strong (I absolutely love strong coffee). I then poured the coffee over some chocolate ice cream. No, this was not regular chocolate ice cream or chocolate gelato as suggested (if I knew where to find gelato around here, believe me, I would've splurged), it was Perry's Fat Free No Sugar Added chocolate ice cream.

You may be thinking "that diet crap doesn't taste anything like the real stuff." Well, you are wrong. This ice cream is just as good as any full fat kind, and you know what? I can eat more of it without feeling guilty. What's not to love?

I topped this off with my Cool Whip Free and dug right in. You know that song "Just One Look" by Doris Troy? I swear that was playing as I took a bite. This. Is. AWESOME! It's like a mocha, but better especially since it's somewhat healthy. I never thought to pour coffee over ice cream. It's just so obvious. Obvious and delicious.

So that's it. That is Affogato. Easy, right? Come back tomorrow night when I take on another easy appetizer in a new section of the chapter, and start my EIGHTH cycle through the book!

Shameless plug: Check out my side project music blog! http://thesoulkitchenmusic.blogspot.com/

A Whole New Hummus

Good evening! It's time for another installment of me versus the cookbook, hooray! We're back to square (actually chapter) one with some "Everyday Antipasti." This recipe was the last one in the "Fresh from the Pantry" section of this chapter. This also marks my third time going through the book! Very exciting!

All the "Fresh from the Pantry" recipes have been pretty easy, and this one is no exception. Tonight's recipe was White Bean Dip with Pita Chips. I didn't see the point in buying pita bread for this little recipe when I still had 1/4 of a baguette in my freezer from the crostini recipe, therefore I used that instead. I sliced the bread extremely thin to make them more chip-like, sprayed each piece with some EVOO, and seasoned them with salt, pepper, and dried oregano. I then placed them on the mini baking sheet and into the toaster oven at 400 degrees.

I recently discovered that lining the mini toaster oven baking sheet with aluminum foil saves me time in clean up. I felt bad because every time I was done using it, one of my roommates needed it and they would end up cleaning my mess. Rather than have them go through that trouble just to dirty it up again, I figured it would be much easier on them (and me!) to use this method. I must say, it's been great :)

As the bread crisped up, I put half a can of cannellini beans, a small clove of garlic, lemon juice, fresh parsley, and salt and pepper into my little chopper (holy run-on sentences Batman!). Once this was coarsely chopped I added two teaspoons of olive oil, then continued to mix it till it was nice and smooth. As much as I love this little chopper, I absolutely hate the sound it makes. If you've ever seen the movie Dumb and Dumber, you'll know what the most annoying sound in the world is. Well this is that sound combined with nails on a chalkboard. At a high amplitude. It's so terrible. Needless to say, I persevered, lost some of my hearing, and got my dip to the proper consistency.

The bread chips came out exactly as i wanted them to. They weren't burned at all, just a nice brown color and EXTREMELY crunchy (my father can attest to this. I was crunching in his ear on the phone). In Giada's notes in her book, she says this dip is the Italian version of hummus. That's what I was expecting when I made it, but there are some subtle differences between the two. This dip is lighter and almost fluffier than hummus. This may be due to my decreasing the amount of oil needed. But I think I prefer the fluffier texture. It was very smooth in texture and the parsley with the raw garlic gave it some spice. I would recommend this for your next party. Maybe I'll even make it for my next family party!

My Dove chocolates have been giving me the same message lately (I eat one chocolate every night. If I didn't, I would go on a crazy chocolate spree). This recurring message is "Patience is a virtue." I do agree with this, but the fact that I keep getting this one makes me wonder, is there something I should be waiting for? Is all this work with cooking going to take me somewhere? Or maybe my bag of chocolates just didn't get mixed up enough. The world may never know.

My next day to cook is Sunday when I take on a new sauce: Checca Sauce! Check back then to see if it's a success, or if I go hungry for the night (ha, me? Hungry? Never!)!

P.S. Happy Birthday Madison!!