Matt Moran's Chocolate Mousse

Chocolate mousse has been an all time favourite dessert of mine since as long as I can remember. I bought my mum Matt Moran's cookbook for christmas and thought I'd give his chocolate mousse a go. I've never made any sort of dessert from scratch and I couldn't believe how much I enjoyed it!

Ingredients
450grams dark chocolate (no more than 55% cocoa)
1 litre thickened cream
4 egg yolks
whipped cream, to serve

Method
Melt the chocolate in a very dry bowl over boiling water - make sure you don't let the water come in contact with the chocolate. Once melted, remove from heat and set aside for about 3 minutes to cool slighty.

In another bowl, whisk the thickened cream until soft peaks form.

Whisk the egg yolks into the melted chocolate, then whisk in half of the cream until well combined. Using a large metal spoon carefully fold in the remaining cream working quickly to retain the airy texture. Pour the mousse into 8 individual bowls or cups and place in the fridge for about 3 hours or until set. You can make this a day in advance if you like.

Serve with a bowl of whipped cream.

Bad lighting but you get the gist

All in all the whole process went extremely well!!! The only thing I would do differently would be to whisk the melted chocolate and cream for a little bit longer so it's smoother.



B

Masterchef - Braised Pork Spare Ribs

I decided to cook my boyfriend and I a Masterchef inspired dinner last Friday night. I looked on the Masterchef website and well they don't call it Masterchef for nothing! Most of the recipes I found way too hard (for a amateur like me) or I didn't have the right cooking utensils.

I found Gary's Braised Pork Spare Ribs which he made in a Masterclass. We both love ribs so thought I'd give them a go. Here is what they are meant to look like:

From Masterchef website

Ingredients

1.5kg pork spare ribs, quartered
¼ cup olive oil
lime cheeks, to serve

Marinade
1 tbs brown sugar
1 tbs salt
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano leaves
½ brown onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

Sauce
1 cup brown sugar
250ml malt vinegar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp hot English mustard powder
2 tbs tomato sauce
2 tbs Dijon mustard
125ml bourbon
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tomato, finely chopped
2 bay leaves
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 jalapeno chilli, finely chopped
1 orange, peeled rind

Ingredients ready to go!

Method
Step 1: Preheat oven to 180°C.

Step 2: Combine rub ingredients in a large bowl. Add ribs to the bowl, using your hands, rub the mixture into the meat to coat completely. Set aside in the fridge for 2-3 hours to marinate.

Step 3: Heat a BBQ or char grill plate over high heat. Drizzle olive oil onto ribs and toss to coat. Place ribs fat-side up and cook for 3-4 minutes each side or until sealed.

Step 4: Place cooking marinade ingredients and 1 1/2 tsp of salt in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 10-15 minutes until thickened slightly.

Step 5: Transfer ribs to a large, non-stick roasting pan and pour over hot marinade. Cover with foil and cook in the oven for 1 ½ hours or until falling off the bone, turning 3-4 times throughout.

Step 6: Serve ribs with lime cheeks.

After the 1st turn

I thought I got off to a bad start because I only had half a kilo of ribs not 1.5kgs! But I was only cooking for 2 so thought it'd do.

After 3rd turn

I didn't have any limes or enough ribs to serve alone so I made up a salad and baby potatoes. The photo (way too dark!) doesn't do the ribs justice because they were really really tasty! The meat practically fell off the bone and the bone was left pretty much clean. Very proud of myself, plus my boyfriend said it was the best thing I've ever cooked - and that's saying something! :)

I'll definitely be cooking this again but with a lot more ribs.

B