White chocolate and strawberry mousse

Whenever I have people over for a meal, I almost always end up making chocolate-based desserts. Last week we had some friends over for lunch and I made this dessert using fresh summer berries with of course, some chocolate! I've been meaning to make this ever since I read the recipe in this magazine. To read the story on how I got the magazine click here. The dessert was delicious. The strawberry coulis with sliced strawberries along with creamy white chocolate and strawberry flavor melts in your mouth. Hmm! I want more!

Ingredients:

• 750g/1lb 10oz strawberries + extra
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 250g/9oz good quality white chocolate, broken into pieces
• 1tbsp white chocolate liqueur (optional - I didn't use)
• 12g sachet powdered gelatine
• 450ml/16fl oz double cream
• 25g/10z icing/confectioners sugar

Method:

Place half the strawberries in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Pass the pureed strawberries through a fine sieve into a bowl, then add the lemon juice*. Slice the rest of the fruit and add to the puree.

Place the chocolate & chocolate liqueur if using, in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, then leave for about 5 minutes, stirring from time to time, until melted. Meanwhile, sprinkle the gelatine over 50 ml water in a cup or small bowl and leave to soak for 5 minutes

Pour a quarter of the cream into a pan, add sugar, then warm gently. Add the soaked gelatine and stir for 5 minutes over a low heat until gelatine has dissolved- do not let the mixture boil.

Pour this cream mixture to the melted chocolate and stir until smooth. Add three -quarters of the strawberry puree. Pour the remaining cream into a bowl and whip until soft peaks form. Gradually fold the whipped cream into the chocolate and strawberry mixture.

Divide the mixture between 4 serving glasses**, then leave to chill for at least 2 hrs or overnight. Chill the remaining strawberry puree, too.

Spoon the remaining strawberry puree on top of each mousse and serve.

Note: *My strawberries were a little tart so I added few tbsps of icing/confectioners sugar.

**I got more then 4 serving glasses as I served them in smaller glasses.

The first picture is going to Click of Jugalbandi for their monthly food photography event. The theme is bi-color this month.

Recipe from BBC GoodFood Magazine.

Upma

Upma, pronounced Oop-ma, is usually had for breakfast in southern India. Made from semolina flour, it is a hearty dish with great nutritional value. I make mine with sautéed onions, tomatoes and some veggies (typically peas and chopped carrots but you can add other vegetables like green or red peppers (capsicum), french beans and even tiny florets of broccoli. We usually have Upma for breakfast on weekends. I use coarse semolina flour, available at most Indian grocery stores in the US.

Ingredients:

• 1-2 tsps Oil
• ¼ tsp Black Mustard seeds
• ¼ tsp Urad Dal/lentils (optional)
• ¼ tsp Chana Dal/lentils (optional)
• ¼ Onion chopped fine
• 1" Ginger chopped or grated
• 1/2 Medium size tomato
• 2-4 Green Chili (more of less depending on your spice intake)
• 1 Medium size Carrot quarted and chopped fine
• ½ cup Peas
• 1 ½ cups Coarse Semolina flour (roasted)
• 2 cups Water
• 1-2 tsps Ghee (optional)
• Salt to taste
• Few sprigs of Curry leaves
• Few sprigs of Coriander chopped fine

Method:

Heat the oil in a pot, add the mustard seeds, when it pops add the 2 dals, if using. When the dal sizzles add the chopped onions and chilies and let it sauté till the onions turn translucent (few minutes), add the chopped ginger and a few seconds later add the tomatoes. Let the tomatoes sauté for a bit.

Now, add the chopped carrots and peas. Give it a few minutes, add the curry leaves and chopped coriander. Add the water and salt, cover and let the water boil. Once the water comes to a rolling boil, lower the flame and add the roasted* semolina flour, keep stirring mixing the flour continuously till all the flour has absorbed the water. Turn off the flame and add ghee, if using at this point cover and let sit for a few minutes. Serve hot with Indian pickle or the way I like it, with a dash of lemon juice.

* It is advisable to dry roast the semolina before you add it to the water. To dry roast the semolina, simply put the semolina in a pan and let it warm through without discoloring the semolina.

Variations:

You could use other grains like quinoa or lapsi (cracked wheat) instead of semolina but you will need to cook them before adding it to the veggies.