Dark Chocolate Mousse with Blueberries

Whew, I'm back again - this time with desserts! I personally love dark chocolate, but you can use any kind of chocolate baking powder to make semisweet, milk chocolate, or white chocolate mousse.

Also, the fruits are exchangeable depending on season: try strawberries, pineapple, mango, or raspberries!

Recipe (makes 5 small cups of mousse):

+ 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
+ 1/4 c. cold water
+ 1/3 c. boiling water
+ 1 c. sugar
+ 2/3 c. dark chocolate cocoa/baking powder (I use Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa)
+ 2 c. (1 pt.) cold whipping cream
+ 2 tsp. vanilla extract
+ 15 washed blueberries

Pour cold water in a small bowl and sprinkle gelatin over it; let stand 2 minutes for the gelatin to soften. Add boiling water to the mixture and stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved.

Combine sugar and cocoa in a large bowl; add whipping cream and vanilla. You may use a mixer or beat by hand; but beat the mixture until it is stiff. Pour in the gelatin mixture and mix until well-blended.

Spoon into dessert dishes.

Set in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes; garnish with washed blueberries after the mousse has set. Store covered in the refrigerator when done!

(this recipe is a modified version of the Hershey's Special Dark Mousse.)

Cold Chicken Soba Noodles with Rice

A couple weeks late, but I had created cold soba with chicken and rice as a summer treat. I know what you're thinking - cold noodles sound gross, but actually, with tsuyu, the dipping sauce made for noodles in Japan, it's really delicious!



Recipe (serves four):

+ 4 c. white sushi rice
+ 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
+ 4 bundles buckwheat soba noodles (available at any asian mart)
+ 1 jar of tsuyu (soup base for Japanese noodles)**
+ 2 sheets of nori (dried seaweed)
+ sprinkle of sesame seeds

**A note about tsuyu: Some tsuyu is ready-made, while other is in a concentrated format. Know which one you're buying before you serve it! Both are fine, but you must water down the concentrated tsuyu first. If you don't, you'll be in for a nasty (and strong) surprise.

Wash your rice - put the rice in the rice cooker along with the water (follow instructions via your rice cooker), and set. Boil water, and put in the soba noodles - when they rise to the surface of the water they will be done. When the noodles are done, place them in a colander and cover the noodles with ice, as well as run cold water over them. Let the ice set.

In a frying pan, cook cut up chicken breasts in 1/2 c. olive oil. Once done (the noodles should be chilled by now), place the drained noodles in four bowls and top with equal portions of chicken. Cut the two sheets of nori into tiny squares and place equal portions on top of the chicken.

In a separate bowl, pour the tsuyu. If it is concentrated, pour 1/3 tsuyu, 2/3 water into the bowl.

Take the rice out and garnish with sesame seeds. :)

Chicken and Pineapple Curry

Last night, I decided to make a staple of my diet in college - curry. Of course, this was before Neuro Fuzzy was purchased, and I had to boil my own rice for 20-some-odd minutes before getting slightly wet rice (I always tended to put too much water in the pot). No more, I say!



Recipe (serves two):

+ 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts; thawed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
+ 2 c. white sushi rice
+ water (6 c. for the curry)
+ 2 carrots, chopped
+ 1/2 c. of onion, diced
+ 1 c. pineapple chunks (preferably fresh!)
+ 1 cube Golden Curry sauce mix

Wash your rice, and set the rice cooker timer with the correct amount of water as directed. Chop/dice all your ingredients, and in a large saucepan, stir-fry them in oil for about 5 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Add the 6 c. of water to the mix, and turn the stove down to simmer. Simmer with lid for about 20 minutes.

Break the Golden Curry sauce mix into smaller cubes and while removing the saucepan from heat, dissolve the sauce mix into the water/ingredients. Place back on heat and stir until the curry thickens.

When the rice is done, take it out of the rice cooker and arrange it as you would mashed potatoes - with an indent in the middle. Pour the curry into the indent and... viola! You have chicken and pineapple curry.

Yellowfin Maguro-don

Having spent time in Tsukiji (築地) and having fallen in love with their maguro-don (tuna over vinegared rice), I decided to re-create the experience with Neuro Fuzzy, some yellowfin tuna from the local store, vinegar and nori (dried seaweed).



Recipe (serves four):

+ 4 c. white sushi rice
+ water
+ vinegar (to taste)
+ 2 sheets of nori (dried seaweed)
+ 1/4 c. sesame seeds
+ 1 lb. 'sashimi' or regular yellowfin tuna

Wash your rice - put the rice in a rice cooker along with the water (follow instructions via your rice cooker), and set. Chill the tuna prior to cutting it, preferably in the fridge, before cutting it very carefully along the 'lines' of the tuna and then into chunks.

When the rice is done, add vinegar to taste. It should taste slightly salty, but not too much. Cut up one sheet of nori with scissors and stir them into the rice, as well as the sesame seeds. Arrange the fish on top, use the extra nori for decoration, and sprinkle with a bit more sesame seeds.

Welcome

Welcome to Cafe Chelsea!

This blog is dedicated to the delicious concoctions I make, and the recipes I used to make them! I will try to organize the recipes by course, main ingredient, and type of food to help you easily access the recipes you are looking for.

The Cafe is always a work in progress, so if you see something that you could do to improve the recipe, please let me know!