R Cooks: What a MousseP

PR Cooks! The Culinary Adventures of the Press-Republican Staff

What a By McKenzie Delisle Mousse!

24 Selecting the recipe for this month’s issue was the easy part.

It needed to have chocolate. It needed to have pink. It needed to have Valentine’s Day.

And, since I’m a lover of the Emmy award-winning television show "Queer Eye," it needed to have Antoni Porowski, too.

Th e Netfl ix original series is a remake of the early-2000s reality show, "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy."

Similar to its namesake, the updated version's fi ve gurus pool their expertise to refi ne the average man or woman's style, diet, personal care, cultural pursuits, and interior design. Th e show's experts, dubbed the Fab Five, include Bobby Bark, Karamo Brown, Tan France, Jonathan Van Ness, and Antoni himself.

Antoni, the show's cooking expert, released his cookbook "Antoni in the Kitchen" last year and, during his travel cooking show/book tour, the 35-year-old chef made an October stop just north of the North Country in his hometown of Montreal.

As an obsessed fan, I purchased meet-and-greet tickets for that stop, buying a front row seat in the Rialto Th eatre, a photo with the star, and an autographed cookbook.

And, when it was time to choose a Valentine's Day-themed recipe, I dusted off my (unused) cookbook and fl ipped straight to the desserts.

My eyes were quick to land on photos of something pink, creamy, and covered in chocolate. Antoni called it the Raspberry Mousse Dome and I called it love at fi rst sight.

Th e dish looked somewhat intimidating, but, when in doubt, I thought back to the reality TV star up on the stage of the Montreal theatre, whipping together recipes from his book right before my eyes.

So, just like how some people have eyes bigger than their stomachs, I learned I have eyes bigger than my skills in the kitchen.

To start, I followed Antoni's guidelines, but added my own fl air here and there. Like when cooking down the frozen raspberries, I tossed in a couple tablespoons of lemon juice, too.

Th at was a trick I learned from my mom and grandma. I always assumed the lemon's acid helped breakdown the other fruit, but I don't know if that's true. What I do know is lemon always adds some extra tang, so, I thought, why not?

Per Antoni's recipe, it was time to use a sieve to separate the juice from the raspberry. And, without a sieve to my name, this was the fi rst major setback.

Th anks to a stroke of genius, which was not my own, the idea to use a

North Country Foodie • February 2020 cheesecloth in its place was tried and succeeded.

Th is was my fi rst attempt at using a cheesecloth to do anything and, though it left my hands a bloody red mess, I was happy the crisis was averted.

With my one-and-a-half cups of raspberry juice, I followed Antoni's direction for adding gelatin to the mix and moved on to whipping the heavy cream. Here's where I have another tip from Mom: chill your bowl.

When using an electric mixer to beat anything whipped-cream related, she says this is very important. So, though it wasn't mentioned in Antoni's directions, I made it happen. Th anks to the cool Northeast temps, I related, she says this is very important. So, though it wasn't mentioned in Antoni's directions, I made it happen. Th anks to the cool Northeast temps, I

RASPBERRY MOUSSE Ingredients: • 6 cups frozen raspberries (24 ounces)

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice • 1/2 cup granulated sugar • 1/4 cup warm water • 2 tablespoons unfl avored, powdered gelatin (from three 1/4-ounce envelopes)

• 3 cups heavy whipping cream

1. Put frozen raspberries and lemon juice in a large saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally, until thawed and juicy.

2. Transfer to a fi ne-mesh sieve, or a cheesecloth, set over a large bowl and press on the berries to extract the juice. You should have 1 1/2 cups of juice.

3. Discard the seeds and add sugar to the juice. Whisk to combine. 4. Pour the warm water into a small saucepan and sprinkle the powered gelatin over the top. Let stand for fi ve minutes.

5. Heat the gelatin mixture over medium-low heat, stirring frequently until dissolved, about two minutes. 6. Remove gelatin from heat and stir into the raspberry mixture. Let stand, stirring occasionally, until mixture has thickened to the consistency of raw egg whites, about 20 to 25 minutes.

7. Using an electric mixer, beat the heavy whipping cream to medium p e a k s . Tip: Before this step, let your mixer’s bowl and whisk attachment chill in the fridge, freezer or — in the winter — outside for about 15 minutes. Th e cream will hold better this way.

8. Fold about one quarter of the whipped cream into the raspberry mixture and then fold in the remaining whipped cream until both are combined.

9. Refrigerate until ready to serve. MARBLED CHOCOLATE Ingredients: • 4 ounces white chocolate melting chocolate

• 1 tablespoon of coconut oil • 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt • Red food color 1. Lay one sheet of wax paper fl at on a cookie sheet.

2. Combine the chocolate, coconut oil and sea salt in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 15-second intervals, stirring well between each, until the mixture is smooth. Let stand for about 10 minutes.

3. Separate chocolate evenly into three bowls and set one aside. 4. Add 2 drops of red food color to the second bowl of chocolate, stirring to combine. Th e mixture should be light pink in color, but add additional droplets to achieve desired shade.

5. Add 4 drops of red food color to the third bowl of chocolate, stirring to combine. Th e mixture should be darker pink in color, but add additional droplets to achieve desired shade.

6. Pour the fi rst bowl of melted chocolate in a straight line on the covered cookie sheet. Th en, do the same with the light pink chocolate, allowing the two shades to overlap. Repeat with darker pink chocolate. 7. Using a fork, toothpick or other utensil, start in the darker pink line of chocolate and drag it upwards, towards the lightest shade, creating swirls as you go. Repeat until desired design is achieved.

8. Put the cookie sheet in the fridge until chocolate has hardened, about 10 to 15 minutes.

9. When ready to serve, run a large knife under hot tap water. Using the heated knife, cut the chocolate into strips. Tip: Heat a metal cookie cutter in the same manner to cut the chocolate into various shapes. p e a k s . oil and sea salt in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 15-second intervals, stirring well between each, until the mixture is smooth. Let stand for about 10 minutes.

into three bowls and set one aside. to the second bowl of chocolate, stirring to combine. Th e mixture should be light pink in color, but add additional droplets to achieve color to the third bowl of chocolate,

North Country Foodie • February 2020 let my bowl and whisk attachment sit in the snow for about 15 minutes, but the fridge or freezer would work, too. Despite my chilled bowl, I made a rookie mistake. While the mixer was mixing, I started washing dishes. At the time, this had felt responsible, but when I turned my attention back to what was supposed to be whipped cream, I found a hard, yellow substance in its place.

I had churned butter. Th ough I grew up reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House on the Prairie" books, I never thought I would make my own butter. So, while it was kind of cool, it was kind of a mess.

Aft er a rushed visit to the nearest Stewart's Shops, I bought some more heavy whipping cream, kept my eyes on the mixer and had a successful round two. Once the raspberry and whipped topping were combined, it was time to let the mousse set in the fridge. I placed it in a plastic-wrapped bowl, per Antoni's suggestion, and let it set overnight.

Th e next, and fi nal, step was covering the dome with a layer of melted chocolate. I'm not exactly sure what went wrong here, but, the process ended with less of a Chocolate Mousse Dome, and more of a Chocolate Mousse Mess.

Th e mousse itself, which was light and tart, tasted fantastic, though. And so, I repeated the earlier steps, whipped up a fresh batch of raspberry mousse, let it set, and decided I would serve it on its own.

But I wasn't ready to let go of the chocolate element just yet. Having watched my fair share of baking shows, I knew chocolate marbling was a trend and wanted to give it a go.

Like the rock, marbled chocolate has swirls of colors making patterns throughout. To get the desired eff ect, I melted down some white chocolate, divided it into thirds and colored the portions diff erent shades of pink.

Aft er swirling the chocolate colors together and letting them harden, I sliced it into strips to serve alongside the mousse with fresh berries. I don't blame Antoni, or his cookbook, for my mishaps in the kitchen, and I'm sure a more experienced baker would be up for his Raspberry Mousse Dome challenge. But, if you're less experienced like me, the solo mousse could be just enough for a quick treat on Valentine's Day, Galentine's Day, or just your average Tuesday. HOw To: Mckenzie’s Chocolate Marbling Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4

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