so tonight, eric and i had a quiet night in. We planned to cook. We had mussels, steak and wine. We went to Polkinghornes at Albert Park to buy our 5 star steak, Remember Polkinghornes? We studies them for Supply Chain Management. It was on the cd as a case study. Haha. We also bough bread from Browns bakery to eat with our mussels.
(no time to take photo of steak)
Mussel du Jour (in a pot)
600g Mussels
1 Leek
2 Shallots
2 Garlic
1 cup White wine
Oil
Heat up oil in a pot, fry up the leek, shallots and onions till soften. Throw in the mussels, salt and pepper. Add the white wine and cover till cooked. When cooked, mussels would have opened up.
then after dinner, i got a bit restless, so i decided to make some pretty chocolate cupcakes. eric wanted fluffy icing, plus i wanted something berry.
Chocolate Cupcakes
12 regular cupcakes / 350 degree oven
100 gram bar of Valrhona 61% cocao
170g unsalted butter
1-1/8 cups sugar
4 eggs
75g flour
1/8 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 pinch of salt
1. chop chocolate and transfer into the bowl of a standing mixer.
2. add butter to the chocolate and place the bowl over a pan of simmering water. stir until chocolate melts and butter is combined.
3. remove from heat and stir in sugar. let mixture cool for 10 minutes.
4. beat in an electric mixer for 3 minutes.
5. add one egg at a time, mixing for 30 seconds between each
6. sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and a pinch of salt into the mixture and mix until blended.
7. scoop into cupcake cups and bake at 350 F for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Raspberry Mousse Frosting
2 cups fresh raspberries, rinsed
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin
2 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons sugar
1. Combine raspberries and sugar in a saucepan and cook over medium heat.
2. Stir mixture until it is basically a liquid.
3. Stir in gelatin, continue to cook until dissolved.
4. Remove from heat and transfer to a medium sized bowl. Refrigerate overnight.
5. Beat heavy cream on high until stiff peaks form. Add the three tablespoons of sugar and beat until combined.
6. Mix about a third of the whipped cream into raspberry mixture until well combined.
7. Fold in remaining whipped cream.
we had extra frosting because mr. eric got gready and ate 2 cupcakes before i could frost them. it was yummy just eating them like that tho', and i put some in the freezer, so maybe it'll make nice ice cream. =)
