Para Clase de Español - Pablo Neruda Poema XX

Para Clase de Español - Pablo Neruda Poema XV

Green Tea and White Chocolate Mousse

As I was drafting this post, I thought that the pretty colors in the pictures deserve its own soundtrack. After yesterday's poem read by Andy Garcia, how about another poem by Neruda? This time "And Now You Are Mine" read by Andy Garcia and Julia Roberts. You may press play.

My easy and quick go-to dessert is Alton Brown's Moo-Less Chocolate Pie. Before you pooh-pooh the idea of tofu in your chocolate, try it first. Every time I make it for guests, which is many times, it always receives rave reviews. No one can taste the tofu, even people who hate tofu love it and have asked me for the recipe. It's convenient because I just keep a bag of chocolate chips and a box of tofu (I use Morinu's organic tofu which does not require refrigeration) in the pantry for emergency dessert (what do you mean you've never had such an emergency). It's easy because I skip the crust - just blend all the ingredients (I use expresso coffee instead of coffee liquer), pour the mixture in ramekins and let it set in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. Serve with some fruits of the season and have very happy guests.

But to avoid same dessert-fatigue, I set out to make a variation of my own. My version uses white chocolate and green tea. I've made this twice for friends we had over for dinner recently and I'm delighted that they enjoyed it. I served it with sliced strawberries and pistachios. One of my friends commented that she liked the strawberries because the slight tartness countered the sweetness of the white chocolate. So I imagine this would go well with blackberries and raspberries too. I lined the strawberries because I used glass cups. But you can easily use ramekins and put diced fruits at the base or on top of the mousse. The pistachio rounds up the mousse with the right texture and crunchy richness, so don't skip it. Use a good quality white chocolate bar - the inexpensive, chips in a packet tend to be higher in sugar and too sweet. This recipe is not vegan because white chocolate usually contains milk products. But you can get vegan white chocolate or make your own if you want to make it dairy-free.

Green Tea and White Chocolate Mousse
inspired by Alton Brown

10-12 strawberries
12 oz white chocolate
3 oz firm silken tofu
1 teaspoon matcha
⅓ cup hot water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 oz pistachios (shelled and peeled)

1. Slice the strawberries thinly and use them to line your glass cups or ramekins.

2. Use a double boiler or put a bowl over a saucepan of boiling water. Melt the white chocolate in the bowl and then stir in the vanilla.

3. Dissolve the matcha in the hot water. Pour into the blender with the tofu and liquefy. Then pour in the white chocolate and blend the mixture. Pour into the glass cups or ramekins. Refrigate until set - about 2 hours.

4. To serve, sprinkle pistachios over the mousse.

Makes 6 in 6 oz containers.

Tonight I Can Write The Saddest Line

My taste in poems is, shall we say, common? I like crowd pleasers such as Yeats' He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven and Walt Whitman's Song of Myself. Pablo Neruda? I'll take all his love poems, thank you. If you need convincing, please press play.

A poem of María Elena Walsh

What I enjoy most about my Spanish class is not the conjugation of verbs (surprise, surprise), but the part where we read about and discuss the culture of various South American countries. I love learning about their history, personalities and literature.

Today, we learnt a poem by Argentinian poet Maria Elena Walsh.



I couldn't find an English translation online, so this is mine. If I find a more accurate one in the future, I will replace it.

Nothing more
by Maria Elena Walsh

With this money
I will buy
a bouquet of sky
and one meter of sea
a point of star,
a sun of truth,
a kilo of wind,
and nothing else.