GIRL VERSUS CRUISE FOOD BY AUTHOR DENISE SWANSON

From Denise:

Hi Everyone! I’m just back from my winter break and I had the opportunity to eat a lot of fabulous meals especially on Norwegian Cruise Line’s ship the Epic. It was a tough job, but someone had to do it. 😈

The Epic has six specialty restaurants—Chinese, French, Italian, Brazilian, Japanese, and American steakhouse—plus two main dining rooms and a special restaurant for Haven guests. We ate in all but the two main dining rooms and the food was amazing everywhere. Here are some pictures of the various dishes.

My husband's favorite the French onion soup at Le Bistro

My favorite cunard  à l'orange

Banana Cream Tartlet

Warm Espresso Chocolate Brownie

Macadamia Nut Ice Cream, Caramel Brittle

Marinated Berries and Mango

Crispy Almond Wafer

And I even persuaded the executive chef to share one of the recipes.

Mocha Mousse Coupe with Vanilla and Raspberry Cream and Hazelnut Butter Crunch

(I tried to order something different every evening, but I had this THREE times!)

Pastry Cream

Amount                                    Ingredients/Details

1 qt                                          Milk

232 gr                                       Granulated sugar

8 gr                                          Vanilla Extract

72 gr                                         Cornstarch

304 gr                                       Egg yolks Frozen

Procedure:

      1.  Combine 3/4 of the milk and 1/2 of the sugar in the saucepan and bring to a boil.

      2.  Meanwhile combine the cornstarch with the remaining sugar and the rest of the milk stirring with a wire whip

      3.  Add the egg yolks and the vanilla extract stir until the mixture is completely smooth.

      4.  Temper the egg mixture by adding about one third of the hot milk and return to the remaining milk in the saucepan continue cooking and whisk vigorously with the whip, until the pastry cream comes to a boil and the whip leaves a trail in it.

      5.  Pour the pastry cream into a large bowl and cover with a plastic wrap placed directly on the surface of the cream and cool over an ice bath.

 

Name:  Raspberry Jelly

Amount                                    Ingredients/Details

290 gr                                       Fresh Raspberry

116 gr                                       Sugar

174 gr                                       Water

1 ea                                          Gelatin Leaves

Procedure:

      1.  Place in sauce pan, raspberry, water and sugar.  Bloom the gelatin leaves and add to the warm raspberry

      2.  Blend it with mixer and strain it to avoid raspberry seed.  Mold it in petit four flexipan and place in freezer for complete set.

 

Name:  Hazelnut Crunchy (pailletée feuilletine)

Amount                                    Ingredients/Details

1590 gr                                     White Chocolate Couverture

928 gr                                       Praline Hazelnut Paste

638 gr                                       Pailletée Feuilletine

290 gr                                       Vegetable Oil

Procedure:

      1.  Melted the white chocolate in water bath, add the oil and the praline paste and mix by hand to dissolve,

      2.  Add the pailletée feuilletine and fold it until completely coated.

      3.  On sheet pan linen with parchment paper, spray the mixture to arrived a thickness of 1/4 inch; let it set in the cooler.

      4.  Cut in little cubes 1/8 inch by 1/8 inch and reserve for build up

 

Name:  Milk Chocolate Mousse

Amount                                    Ingredients/Details

1 Qt                                          Heavy cream

232 gr                                       Milk Chocolate

174 gr                                       Egg White Fresh

174 gr                                       Sugar granulated

87 gr                                         Mocha Paste

261 gr                                       Praline Crunch cut in small pieces

Procedure:

      1.  Melted in water Bath chocolate and mocha paste, set aside

      2.  On a mixer whip the egg white with sugar to a soft peak, set aside

      3.  On a mixer whip the heavy cream to a soft peak and set aside

      4.  In a bowl, mix the chocolate with half of the egg white then fold in the soft whipped cream

      5.  Finish with the rest of the soft whipped egg white

      6.  Add 174 gr of the Praline crunch cut in small pieces

Assembly: 

1.  In large Martini glass place a tsp of pastry cream in the bottom, pipe some dark chocolate mousse to one third of the glass, insert a frozen raspberry cream and with a squeeze bottle place around the glass a ring of coulis to make a ring of coulis.

2.  Pipe some more of chocolate mousse and sprinkle more hazelnut crunch on the top of it.  Finish with a spoon of soft whipped cream and a chocolate decor

 

     And speaking of chocolate delights, I’m giving away an advanced reading copy of my upcoming April book, Tart of Darkness. Just leave a comment for a chance to win. 

#Giveaway #AdvancedReadingCopy

Here's a bit about my upcoming book: Tart of Darkness.

Right when Dani thinks she's hit a dead-end in her career, she unexpectedly inherits an enormous old house in a quaint college town. This gives her the perfect opportunity to pursue her true passion—cooking! So Dani opens Chef-to-Go, preparing delicious, ready-made meals for hungry students attending the nearby university, as well as providing personal chef services and catering events for the local community. To help support her new business, she opens her home to a few students, renting them rooms and becoming almost like a big sister figure in their lives.

But just as Dani is relishing her sweet new life, the friend of one of her boarders is murdered, and Dani becomes one of the primary suspects! She'll have to scramble to clear her name and save her business before the killer reappears—perhaps to silence the new chef forever.

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