The mini series: tiramisu popsicles

My sister was requesting my “famous better then sex” tiramisu for her 30^th birthday party and of course I can never refuse any request for tiramisu. So I got all the ingredients I needed and got started Saturday early in the morning. I believe I rolled out of bed at 8 and finished the tiramisu at 9is. I made a big tray enough to feed 16 people or 20 if you serve smaller slices and I still had enough left for 6 individual pots and 12 popsicles.    

I actually wanted to make more popsicles, but since they were so much work I thought I make 12 first.

I used some plastic wrap to cover my mini cupcake molds. I figured that this would make it easier for me to get the popsicles out.

Then I filled the molds with the mascarpone mixture and cover the top with some small pieces of lady fingers. I thought about sprinkling some amaretto on top but I didn’t want to make them soggy. I popped the whole tray in the freezer. 

It takes probably one or 2 hours to freeze it, but I went shopping and didn’t return till 2 so by then they were in the freezer for about 3 hours. They were frozen for sure.

I took them out while I was melting the chocolate and maybe I should’ve kept them in the freezer till the chocolate was ready. All I did was breaking half a bar of chocolate (about 100 gram) in a glass and melted it in the microwave.

I looked all over the place for popsicle sticks and of course every time you are looking for something you can’t find it, so I settled for toothpicks. To make sure they were able to hold I used 2.

Every popsicle got to dive in the chocolate and because they were still frozen the chocolate got solid quite fast. By the time I got to the last 3 I barely had enough chocolate left. Next time I need to use a bit more.

Here you go mini chocolate tiramisu bites!

I think next time I sprinkle some amaretto on the lady fingers before freezing them. The hubby liked it…the chocolate was very good he said. And I didn’t even make that part =)

Stir fried udon noodles

I was in the mood for an easy 3 course menu. Sometimes you can make dinner in no time. Today was that day.

On the menu:

* Roast beef with toasted sesame seeds and Vietnamese fish ginger dipping sauce

* Stir fried udon noodles with lots of veggies

* Individual tiramisu pots

The roast beef is the easiest part. Go to your butcher or supermarket and buy thinly sliced roast beef. Here they have plain roast beef or with grounded pepper. I normally buy the pepper one but they didn’t had it today. Of course you can make your own roast beef, but then you’ll need a meat cutter and normal households don’t have one. At least I don’t. So save yourself the trouble and buy it all ready to go.

Sprinkle some raw sesame seeds in a non stick pan and toast them till they are golden brown. Make the fish dipping sauce and zest some ginger right in it. Or you can smash the ginger at the same time as the garlic. What you are looking for is a nice ginger flavor in your dipping sauce.

Arrange the roast beef on a plate and sprinkle the sesame seeds between the layers. Then ground some pepper and scoop some dipping sauce over the meat. Serve and enjoy.

If you really want to make it fancy you can serve one slice of meat on a spoon, just like little hors d'oeuvres. Cuz I don't want to wash that many dishes I normally serve it all on one community plate. 

While the hubby and my sister were gobbling away I start making the stir fried udon noodles. Up to a couple of month ago we never ate udon noodles. I just didn’t like it much, because the noodles are quite thick and not much flavorful. Then one day I thought if I could make some kind of tasty sauce and soak the noodles in it, it might actually taste better. And that’s what I did. It was so good the udon noodles didn’t survive the next day. You can stir fry it with any kind of veggie you have. It’s a good way to clean out your fridge by incorporating the veggies. This is what I did tonight:

I sliced 2 onions in rings and diced 2 cloves of garlic. I sautéed them in a bit of oil till they were soft and then added about 300 grams of sliced pork tenderloin. Then I added some fresh ground pepper.

While stirring the meat I added some oyster sauce and I had some chicken marinate left so I added that as well. And of course some sprinkles of sesame oil. This would give you enough sauce to soak the udon noodles.

I used 2 packages of noodles. No need to cook them first, just add them straight in the pan. I flipped them back and forth just to make sure the sauce is on every noodle.

At first they are quite hard and will keep their shape, but as they cook they will soften so it will be easier to incorporate them. I tasted the sauce and added some more oyster sauce and a bit of salt.

While the noodles were cooking I slice some broccoli and some baby bok choy. Since the broccoli has to cook a bit longer I already cooked them in boiling water for a minute or two. Just to soften them a little so they can cook the same time as the bok choy.

Stir everything together and don’t add any water unless you don’t have any sauce at all. The bok choy will release some juice as it cooks.

Once the bok choy is cooked, make sure you taste it for the last time so you can adjust it before you plate up.

This is all that’s left of something that should be able to feed 3 people. The hubby and my sister both eat two bowls. I had some left over chicken and beans.

For dessert I had individual tiramisu pots. For Sunday's dinner at my sisters place I made my famous tiramisu and I made sure I had enough left to fill 4 crème brûlée pots. This evening right after dinner I busted one.

They looked so cute! And they were just big enough to satisfy your craving without making you feel guily for eating top much. I think pictures will say more the words can express.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok at some point I had to share some with the hubby. Cuz after all he will have to share with me once he’ll have his =)

I hope you all enjoyed your dinner as much as we did!

Better then sex Tiramisu

I don’t really remember when I started to make my own home made tiramisu. All I remember is that it was quite expensive to buy one at the supermarket and growing up my parents never actually bought it. That doesn’t mean I didn’t have any. I use to put the store bought tiramisu in the freezer so it was nice and cold. Of course it is noting compared to home made.

One time I had the best tiramisu ever! We were in Rome and were wondering around for a place to eat. Somewhere close by the Forum we found this tiny restaurant which was packed with people. If it is that busy the food can’t be bad, so we gave it a try. They squeezed us in and our table was barely big enough to hold all the food. I forgot what we ate that night, but the tiramisu was to die for. It was very light, fluffy not too sweet. I wish I remembered where the restaurant was. We tried to find it again, but unfortunately we just couldn’t remember where it was. Such a pity…

Anyway at one point I decided to try to make tiramisu and I never got to write down the receipe. Of course I never made it as good as the restaurant, but the last one I made came pretty close.

BETTER THEN SEX TIRAMISU

What you need to feed at least 8 people, who can and will eat it twice:

-          5 eggs yokes

-          1 package lady fingers

-          1 package Italian macaroons (amaretti cookies)

-          1 kilo mascarpone

-          1 cup of very strong espresso

-          ½ liter whipping cream

-          5 table spoons of sugar

-          a lot of Amaretto

-          coco powder

These were all the ingredients I used.

First I separated the egg whites from the yokes. The whites I put in the fridge and a couple days later I used it to make chocolate soufflé.

Then I added 4 table spoons of sugar, some amaretto and mixed everything together till the sugar dissolves and the eggs become pale yellow.

Since I am a little scared to work with raw eggs I like to "cook" the egg/sugar mixture a little.

I put the bowl with the mixture on a pan with boiling water. Make sure you don’t let the bowl hit the boiling water otherwise you’ll get scrambled sweet eggs. The trick is to let the steam do the cooking. It is kinda like making custard.

You’ll have to continue mixing so everything cooks evenly.

The mixing bowl is a lot bigger then the pan, which is just the way you want it to be. The bowl will get hot so be careful. 

You’ll know when it is cooked when you whip the spoon and your whip mark stays. It will take about 5 minutes to cook it. Put 2 tea spoons of coffee, stir it and set it aside to cool. 

Since I love my big mixing bowl I put the egg mixture in another bowl so I could use the same bowl again for my whipping cream.  

I added 1 table spoons of sugar and whipped it just enough so it was still a little bit runny. Then I added some more amaretto. If it isn't sweet enough you can always add a little bit extra sugar and mix it again. Make sure you don't over mix it.

In a different bowl I put the mascarpone. This time I used quite a lot, but if you see the tray I used…it wasn’t even enough to fill it.

I mixed it with a bit of amaretto and some table spoons of coffee till it was nice and smooth. Then it was time to add the egg mixture.

When everything is mixed it is time to fold it into the whipped cream.

Since it is a lot just add everything little by little. Then use the mixer to mix everything. Make sure you do a last taste test to see if it is sweet enough. Last chance to add suger if needed. 

Before I layered the lady fingers in a big backing tray, sugar side up, I put some amaretto on the bottom. This time I decided not to dip them in the coffee first, but to sprinkle the coffee on top. I also sprinkled some more amaretto.

I then dusted the lady fingers with some coco powder and used half of the mascarpone to cover them.

To enhance the almond flavor I used amaretti cookies as a middle layer. On every cookie I poured some amaretto and dust it off with coco powder.

Then I covered them with the rest of the mascarpone.

A last layer of coco powder seals the deal. The tray was so big it barely fit in my fridge.

Luckily it was very cold outside so I covered it with plastic wrap and put the whole tray went out. To bad it wasn't freezing. I think it would taste even better if it was a little bit frozen.

Nevertheless the 8 of us finished more then half a tray on Christmas Eve. There was even enough for both my sisters to take home, lucky them.

I was very happy I didn’t dip the lady fingers in the coffee. Now they were nice and cake like and not soggy at all.

The next day the 4 of us had a piece for lunch…to bad there was not enough to take home. I will have to make one soon to satisfy my tiramisu craving.