Cooking: The good/The bad/The ugly

I think that most of my family and friends would consider me a good cook, but every once in awhile, I have a cooking disaster. This week, I had two... its so depressing when you want to sit down to eat and it is way below par.

It started on Wednesday when I was making an early Valentine's dinner.
Number one, the propane tank on the grill was fizzling out at the end of grilling so the steak wasn't done. We put it under the broiler in our gas oven, but the damage was done. Number two, the tasty parmesean potato wedges had lost most of the cheese to the foil on the pan. All in all, we were still able to eat the meal. So I'd call this "the ugly."

Then on Saturday, I made Bratwerst and potato pancakes. Never again will I make any shredded potato meal from scratch. I spent all this time dirtying dishes to shred, mix, and cook the potato and it just doesn't compare to fast food hashbrowns. I'm going frozen next time. Then I cooked the sausage on our indoor grill (remember, we are out of propane) and the grill marks where getting toasty on all four "sides" and it was still red inside. Then Kevin decided he doesn't like Bratwerst - Huh? I thought I was making him a treat, but it seems his opinion has changed. I call this "the bad" because we didn't even take four combined bites of this meal. Kevin got us La Madeleine while I put Caroline to bed.

But, the saving grace of Saturday's meal was the chocolate mouse that I made with the "bad" meal. It's all that we ate while Caroline had her dinner. Kevin says that it's the best chocolate dessert he's ever had... even better than the Royal Carribean cruise line flourless chocolate cake. He would eat it every night - really, he said that. I saw it on Everyday Italian and thought, mmmm, I have all the ingredients, I'll make that.

So here's the "good" recipe...

1/2 cup whole milk (I used 2% lactose free, and it worked fine)
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon instant espresso powder (I left this out b/c I didn't have it)
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (I used semisweet)
3 large egg whites

In a small saucepan over medium heat stir together the milk with the sugar and the espresso powder until the milk is hot, but not boiling, and the sugar is dissolved.

Place the chocolate chips in a blender. Pulse a few times to make smaller bits.

Pour the hot milk over the chips. Run the blender on high until combined, a few seconds. Add the egg whites and run the blender on high until light, about 1 minute. Transfer the mousse to 4 small serving cups. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until firm, about 3 hours.