It was romance day on The Chew!
Guests were the Neeleys, from "Down Home with the Neelys" Food Network fame. And it was among the best of the series so far.
If you take a look at the episode breakdown showing the different clips and different recipes shown you will see plenty for me to pick from. Bacon wrapped shrimp looked fun and Daphne's pistachio crusted fish really sounded tasty. But I chose the romantic Chocolate Mousse that Carla showed.
Carla gave two hints that I have been using for years in the recipe to set hers apart. BTW, there is a clip of her making the dish that you can see by clicking HERE.
She uses just a tiny amount of Cayenne Pepper! REALLY, it works wonders. The key is restraint, just a pinch or two is all you need. It does not make a huge difference in the taste, but it does increase the number of taste buds (some buds respond to sweet, some to salty and some to HEAT Spices). Trust me (and Carla), the mousse is still plenty sweet enough! And BTW, add just a pinch of cayenne to your standard oatmeal Scotchie recipe and you will never use the bag recipe again. But I digress...
To top it all off, she adds a tiny bit of strong espresso to her chocolate. Again, just a bit, but the mixture of chocolate and coffee accents the taste of the chocolate. Makes it fuller and a stronger taste of chocolate!
It is nice to have these little extras I have found validated. LOVE this recipe!
And one more BTW tip from me... This is a make ahead dish, needing to chill in the fridge for 8 hours. Since the episode was about romance, here's my romantic tip. Use your good crystal. I mean what's the good if you just leave it in the cabinet. Are you saving it for when the Pope visits?
My wife and I got our crystal as a wedding gift. Any chance we have to use it is always a romantic occasion... Even a Tuesday night.
I made the recipe exactly as Carl posted on The Chew website (Click HERE). There is a lot of whisking. Sure helps to use a Kitchenaid stand mixer.
But the Mousse was delicious. Rich and chocolaty but also light and fluffy (from all that whisking).
Another big winner... I think I am in Love!
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