Creamy & smooth
SILKY CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
METHOD:
1. Pat dry the tofu and then puree in a food-processor or blender for a few seconds until smooth.
2. Add the vanilla, sift in the cocoa (to avoid lumps) and blend briefly.
3. Melt the chocolate on low power in a microwave until runny. (If the chocolate cools too fast the texture might become grainy instead of mixing in smoothly.) Add to the tofu mixture in the food-processor. Pulse until smooth.
4. Divide between two little serving dishes, such as ramekins, and pop in the fridge to chill until ready to serve.
NUTRITION TIPS: Serving with a few cherries or raspberries on the side will add some useful fibre. Dark chocolate with a high cocoa content (70% or more) is a good source of iron, magnesium, copper, manganese, potassium, phosphorus, zinc and selenium.
ENERGY 75kcals PROTEIN 6.3g
FAT 4g SATURATED FAT 1.1g CARBOHYDRATE 3.7g TOTAL SUGARS 1.6g SALT 0g SODIUM 0mg FIBRE 1g
PHIL VICKERY is rather enjoying the pause lockdown has inadvertently offered us. “It’s like an enforced holiday,” says the chef and telly presenter, noting how, alongside the stresses, traumas and sadness, it’s also meant we’ve been able to hear the birds sing. “You know that frenetic pace of life? Everything seems to have calmed down.”
Throughout, he’s presented his cookery segments for ITV’s This Morning from his back garden in Buckinghamshire – which has been both “good fun” and “a bit odd” – while being intermittently interrupted by his farming neighbours blasting their horns as they go past. “I have to give them a bit of a ticking off,” he says wryly.
Meanwhile, he’s found himself intrigued by people’s changing shopping habits and been surprised by what he’s developed a taste for himself (“Petit pois in a tin, the sort of thing as a Michelin star chef, you’d think, ‘Nah’ – but do you know what? They’re actually all right”).
Now 59, (he’ll turn 60 next May) Phil has also been “eating healthier than I ever have in my life. I have the time now,” he explains. “All my kids have grown up and gone, I’m a single man now, so it’s a lot easier I think.”
Phil and Fern Britton, his wife of 20 years, split in January. They share their daughter Winnie, who lives in Cornwall with Fern, and Fern’s grown-up children – twins Jack and Harry and daughter Grace – from her first marriage to TV executive Clive Jones.
“It’s been an adjustment,” says Phil on this newfound world of cooking for one, “but I rather like it. I quite like the fact I can cook what I want, when I want.
“I do eat some obscure things sometimes,” he admits jovially. “I had lamb hearts the other night, which I love, and I like things like chitterlings (pig intestines). I boiled a pig’s head and made brawn, which is lovely, and the snout I chop up. I’m constantly trying new stuff. I love what I call ‘old style’ cooking.
“I tell you what I bought the
Exquisite Lyme Block Sparkling Brut Reserve
(£14.99, Aldi, below) which is golden and rich. It is great value and full of excited bubbles which give the aromas of ripe apples, dried apples, toast and citrus a helping hand out of the glass.
Follow #EnglishWineWeek on social media or go to winegb.co.uk I was interested to discover an award-winning calvados Avallen. Calvados is an apple brandy from Normandy, and the label on Avallen perfectly states its credentials: “Made using nothing but red apples, water and time.”
The English founders of Avallen (RRP £35, from Ocado, Master of Malt, The Whisky Exchange and avallenspirits. com) make a donation to the
BumbleBee Conservation Trust with each bottle sold.
Wow, it packs a warming punch of caramelised, toffee-dipped apples. By contrast, it still retains a clean freshness. Lovely.
Now to a couple of cream liqueurs which are ideal for rainy day snuggles, but also perfect for summer days and nights.
Disaronno Velvet (RRP £15, Tesco, Morrisons, Ocado, Amazon, right) glugs into the glass like a Baileys.
It oozes with almondy, marzipan-like aromas, and has a toasty bite of creamy nuts and fruits.
WIth ice, it is incredibly moreish.
Disaronno is gluten free, but contains milk,
whereas my second offering is dairy-free and vegan.
Licor 43 Horchata (RRP £18, Tesco) has Licor 43 as its base, which I discovered enthusiastically a few weeks ago. Licor 43, with its hints of coffee, spice, vanilla and honey, has been partnered with a horchata drink.
This is a traditional Spanish drink which blends the ‘milk’ of tiger nuts with spice and citrus. With ice, it’s a sip to ring the changes on a summertime evening. Cinnamon comes through, as does that distinct nuttiness. If you like cream liqueurs give it a try. ■ Jane is a member of the Circle of Wine Writers. Find her on social media and online as One Foot in the Grapes.