The challenge of chocolate mousse

Chocolate mousse - ready to serve

The making of chocolate mousse this weekend was a challenge on a number of levels, although in itself chocolate mousse is not a difficult dish. The secret is ensuring the elements are not over whipped or beaten so that they combine, but retain their lightness and fluffiness when refrigerated.

Firstly, getting started again on the Cooking Class Cookbook project after a fewweeks of culinary apathy was the biggest challenge that Scott had to face.

Secondly, this was the weekend that our niece was coming to stay over - she likes to help cook and this meant Scott had to find a recipe that would work well for a 6-year old to assist with. It was thought chocolate mousse, with relatively few (4) steps and a minimum of danger (aside from melting chocolate and using an electric mixer) would be well within the capabilities of both Scott and his assistant.

So without further ado, let's get down to business!

Ingredients are simple, namely:

• 125g dark chocolate
• 1 tablespoon brandy
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1 cup of cream, extra for serving

The recipe says it will serve 4. These servings are quite large, so you can also serve 6 with slightly smaller servings.

Step 1 - melt the chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water. Once melted, take the chocolate off the heat, allow to cool slightly and stir in the brandy then the egg yolks. Beat until the mixture is smooth and thick.

Step 2 - Whip the cream, taking care not to overwhip, otherwise it will be hard to fold in the cream. Once whipped, fold the cream into the chocolate mixture.

Step 3 - Whip the egg whites until soft peaks form, making sure again not to overbeat them as this will make it hard to fold them in.

Step 4 - Fold in half the egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the second half of the egg whites. Once combined, spoon the mixture into either 4-6 individual dishes or one large dish.

Step 5 - Refrigerate the mousse until firm. To serve, whip some extra cream and place on top of the mousse and shave chocolate over the top of the cream/mousse. (Tip: Use a vegetable peeler to grate the chocolate - this gives chunkier shards of chocolate.)

Step 6 - EAT!!!!!

First, turn to Page 12, or Coq au Vin

Scott has never been one to do things in order. As his friends (and his wife) will tell you, orderly is not a word you'd normally associate with him. So rather than start on page 2 (Beggar's Chicken), he turns to Page 12 (Coq au Vin) to begin his exploration of the Cooking Class Cookbook.

The dish is, however perfect for a cold Sunday night in winter and has the advantage of being able to be refrigerated and served again for lunches and mid-week dinners. At heart, Coq au Vin is a chicken casserole that is built around bacon, shallots (or small onions), mushrooms, garlic, chicken and a sauce made with lots of butter, thickened with flour and chicken stock and flavoured with wine, brandy and herbs (thyme, bay leaves, etc).

Things were a bit touch and go for Scott as he cooked the Coq au Vin with the thickening of the sauce going a bit crazy and ending up needing to be remade. This was because out of deference to his wife's fructan intolerance, he used gluten-free flour instead of wheaten flour and the sauce went gummy and goopy, more like some sort of advanced polymer than a browned butter sauce thickened with flour and water. So the original sauce went in the bin, to be replaced by a sauce remade using cornflour (made from maize) which turned out relatively normal. Even so, it was still too thick and needed to be thinned out with more chicken stock.

Scott made the Coq au Vin early in the afternoon, which allowed him to go and do a couple of hours of work on the windows in the second bedroom before putting it in the oven. He served it on a bed of creamy mashed potatoes with steamed broccoli and carrots on the side.

There was enough time for Scott and his wife to enjoy dinner in front of the TV watching MasterChef and complain about how almost none of the contestants know how to do 'home style cooking'.

Delicious meal and not bad for the first effort. Scott asks you to stay tuned for the next installment.

Why might Scott be able to cook?

Scott is almost 40. He can cook, but not as well as his wife can. His repertoire is limited to BBQs, roasts, salads and the odd dessert. He also does a very good mashed potatoes.

Scott wishes to cook and cook well. His wife bought him a Kitchen Boot Camp course at the CAE as a Christmas present. This motivated him to be a better cook.

He is also inspired by the way Bill Granger learned to cook using Women's Weekly cookbooks.

So today marks the start of his efforts to unleash the inner culinary artiste within. From today, Scott will start cooking from the Women's Weekly Cooking Class Cookbook. There are 105 recipes and processes Scott will need to master. He will give himself a year to produce all of the culinary delights and processes within the cookbook and display them for you pleasure.

Let me be your guide as Scott learns how to cook. Itadaki masu (enjoy your meal)!