A Soft Touch...

Cauliflower Mouse with Lumpfish Roe (caviar).
Served in a cup and the lumpfish roe highlighted by some "olive oil pearls", a jar of which I discovered during my cupboard-decluttering phase. The "pearls" didn't catch on, I expect, because  I haven't seen them around lately. (Recipe below)
                                                              ooooooooooo
Planning a meal is like working a play. There's the story, the cast (of ingredients), the audience and the props.
​
One feels privileged to sit at Liz's table.  She is an artist and has an eye for an eccentric, dramatic but beautiful and comfortable table setting. She and her partner/husband are generous and funny. But darling Liz has been facing a dental challenge. 
To be blunt, the new dentures look marvellous, but they are not fully "acclimatised". That's the story.
We ate together and the challenge was to prepare a dinner with no hard surfaces, no snapping, no crunching, no chewing. Four courses had to be delicious, unctuous, nourishing to mind and body -  and soft.
We had...
A few chilled oysters with a glass of fizz, then sat down to...

• Chilled pea soup with mint
• Cauliflower mousse with lumpfish roe
• Prawn "soufflé" on creamed spinach with beurre blanc
• Chocolate mousse with frozen raspberries

Later, I pondered for a long time on how much I rely on cream and eggs. Can't get enough of them.

Images and recipes follow. We won't always be faced with  dental challenges but each dish would fit nicely amongst others with crunch. (Ideas for pea soup and cauliflower mousse from Yves Camdeborde of the Relais du Comptoir, place de l'Odéon, Paris.)

​Chilled Pea Soup with Mint.  
(Recipe - See post "Dinner Without a Stove" 17/1/2018)    
For 6 people, I use 750gm of frozen peas and reserve 600ml of cooking liquid
​The "hook" in this recipe is that it contains only peas and water (if you don't count the mint and olive oil). I repeat, it's just peas and water and amazing. 
Why do I use frozen peas? Next post.

Cauliflower Mousse with Lumpfish Roe  (image above)
For 4-6 small pots
300 gm cauliflower
200-220 ml of whipped cream
150 gm (approx) of lumpfish roe, about 2 small pots
Seasoning and a little olive oil.

• Cook the cauliflower in lightly salted water for about 20 minutes or until very soft.  Drain well and cool.
• Mash the cauliflower to a very smooth purée. Season with salt and ground white pepper.
• Fold in the whipped cream.
• Fill six small pots (or tea/coffee cups) with cauliflower mousse and chill until needed.
• To serve, top generously with lumpfish roe and a light slurp of good olive oil.

These days a good lumpfish roe will go "pop" in the mouth, have a nice sharp saltiness and not drop ugly navy blue dye.  Salmon roe of course is even better. And there's ginger infused Tobiko. You'll think of other garnishes. Look at a sharp and lively salsa - mango, chilli & red onion, perhaps?  Let me know.
Note:  Feel free to top the mousse with Beluga caviar if you wish!  LOL!

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Prawns on Creamed Spinach with Beurre Blanc.
For 8 small ramekins
500gm uncooked, peeled prawn meat
500 ml single cream
2 egg whites

• Puré the prawns in a food processor until smooth.
• Add the egg whites and process.
• Add the cream and process.
• The prawn mix will probably not need seasoning.
• Work quickly as this mixture needs to remain cold.
• Divide the mixture into 8 lightly buttered ramekins.  Set aside.  You with cook them 25 minutes before serving.
• Cook some finely chopped spinach with a chopped clove of garlic, a knob of butter and a few tablespoons of cream until soft and totally collapsed.
• Prepare a beurre blanc at the last minute if you wish. (Recipe -see post "Sauce & Fish", 7/12/2018) 
• Allow 25 minutes before serving. Place ramekins in a bain marie and cook in the oven at 175˚ (fan forced) for about 25 minutes or until just firm.
• Tip each ramekin onto a small bed of warmed spinach and pour a little beurre blanc around.

(Any cooked, unused prawn mousses can we served the next day, cold, with a salad.)

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Chocolate Mousse with Frozen Raspberries
The legendary Elizabeth David offered a recipe that couldn't be simpler. It was originally measured in ounces, of course.
For each person...
1 ounce of chocolate (dark, no more than 70%, please)
1 egg
1 tbsp flavouring e.g.coffee, rum etc.

Metric, this translates as...
For each person...
30gm chocolate (dark, no more than 70%, please)
1 egg
​1 tbsp flavouring e.g.coffee, rum etc.

• Break up chocolate and place in a stainless steel bowl over simmering water.
• In the meantime, separate the eggs.  Whip the egg whites until stiff.  At this stage, you may wish to incorporate a tsp. (per person) of castor sugar if the chocolate is 70% or more.
• Have ready the egg yolks and either some cold espresso coffee, or rum, or brandy.
• When the chocolate is fully melted (don't "bother" it until it is melted), remove from the heat, stir in the egg yolks and the chosen liquid.
• Incorporate the egg whites into the chocolate mixture.
• Pour into small containers and chill until needed.  Allow the mousse to come to room temperature before serving.

I served the mousse in tiny, shallow demitasse cups - barely 7cm across. Arzberg, porcelain, mid 1950s, they are in harlequin colours, as was popular at the time.
Tiny, because the mousse is rich and we like "pudding" but we don't need much.

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