Reward for wining a Competition

I have entered a competition on I Love Flavour, Me! the owner of that blog is Ruth, so you can see me below receiving the prize which is a really excellent 1L of Italian super nice olive oil.

Thank you Ruth for your generosity, I know it wasn't cheap...

The page announcing me as a winner is here and it talks about traditional "pasteis de Belém" one of my favourite cakes, and also contains some history ...cheers !

Super Light Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients:

• 1 egg (separated 1white, 1 yolk)
• 300mls whipping cream
• 75grs 60% cocoa dark chocolate
• 1 soup spoon of butter
• 1 handful of sliced almonds (dry roasted in a pan)
• 1 tea spoon of vanilla essence
• 2 (flat) soup spoons of icing sugar
• 1 soup spoon of cream
  

In two separate bowls whisk the egg white on one and the cream on the other, half way through to peaking add a (flat) soup spoon of icing sugar to each whip and continue to whip them till very firm.

Place a small pan with a little water and over that place a small glass bowl put the chocolate there into squares and keep stirring until this one melts completely, now add the spoon of butter, and once this one melts add the vanilla essence and the egg yolk mixed with one soup spoon of cream. Keep stirring for about 30 secs to 1 minute this will go into a rich smooth silky and glossy chocolate sauce, remove the bowl from the water and let it cool or pour it into a cold bowl to cool faster.

Add the egg white to the whipped cream and in a folding action mix the two, then add the chocolate, and again with a folding action mix it in. Then pour into ramekins top it with grated chocolate and roasted flaked almonds refrigerate for an hour or more and eat....enjoy the lightest and most rich & delicious chocolate mousse ever. Bon apetit!!!

Pumpking Mousse with Pan Roasted Pumpkin Seeds - Halloween

Ingredients: (enough for 4-5 ramekins)

• 1 thick pumpkin slice (pealed and chopped into little pieces)
• 1 orange (juice and pulp)
• 2 soup spoons of sugar
  
• 250mls whipping cream (to whip into Chantilly)
• 1 one heaped tea spoon of icing sugar
  
• 1 hand full of pumpkin seeds
  

Preparation:

Easy, put a frying pan on the stove medium heat, place the seeds of pumpkin inside and keep stirring the frying pan (as if you were doing popcorn), once hot the seeds start to pop when these to stop popping they are ready. Put them on a plate and let them cool.

Meantime in a small pan put the chopped pumpkin plus the sugar and the juice (pulp) of the orange, let it come to boiling point and reduce the heat to minimum leaving it to cook for around 20 minutes stirring occasionally. once the pumpkin is semitransparent, then crush it (for example with a fork. masher) adds two or three tablespoons of water and keep it boiling for a further 10-15 minutes, until being like a moist compote , withdraw of the heat and leave to cool completely.

In a bowl whip the cream and halfway to becoming whipped cream add the powdered sugar in and beat the rest until quite firm, then add the compote of pumpkin and and most of the pumpkin seeds (pre-crushing these with your hands, and reserve a few to decorate the top of the sweets), once done refrigerate for at least 1 hour and eat it with pleasure.

It will have amazing textures and flavours the textures are, the crunchiness of the pumpkin seeds and the puking itself has a stringy but soft texture and the velvety smooth texture of the cream are a perfect combo here, as to the flavours pumpkin and orange what a blast and bursting smooth and zingy taste smoothed out by the cream WoW..you must make these they are great will make 6 ramekins.

Curried Pumpkin and Chicken Stew - Halloween

Ingredients: (enough for 3 people) “for more add more potatoes”

• 1 small pumpkin (peeled, cut into pieces)
• 1 large potato (cut into pieces)
  
• 1 can of cooked chickpeas
  
• 1 large onion (cut in pieces)
• 2 garlic cloves (perforated)
• 4 Cardamoms (just the seeds)
  
• 2 Chicken breasts (cut into cubes)
  
• 1/2 cup tomato pulp
  
• 1 soup spoon of curry powder (not very spicy)
• 1 flat soup spoon of turmeric
  
• 1/2 soup spoon of paprika
• 6 great mushrooms (or 12 small ones)
• 1 bunch of coriander (chopped)
• a little of olive oil and coarse salt.

Preparation:

Put in a pan it a little olive oil to cover the bottom plus pinch sea salt, once hot add the onion, the garlic, the cardamoms seeds, the onion and the pumpkin, always stirring until it goes golden.

When is golden (a little caramelized) then add the chicken, stirring it regularly to seal it all around, then add the tomato pulp, the paprika, the chickpeas, the turmeric, the mushrooms (if they large cut in quarters, if small in halves), the potato and the curry powder. Now it cover the pan with a lid and as soon as it starts boiling, reduce to minimum and leave it to cook for 25 minutes (+or-) adding a little water if it needs.

After is cooked, add the coriander and cook for a further minute and then serve it.

The inspiration for me was the Halloween pumpkin , carved with the flame inside, represented in this dish, the flame heat by the spicy hot kick and its softness pumpkin flesh, this is a dish partly sweet dish and partly spicy, and the textures are soft and at the same time grainy and silky.
Excellent Halloween representation. Yum yum, one that you really need to make.
if you want a greater visual use pumpkin halves as bowls to serve this delish meal in.