Gilligan's Gourmet: Valentine's Day treat - three minute chocolate mousse

What could that huge red circle around February 14 on your calendar mean? Doctor's appointment? Credit card bill due? Sorry, time's up. It's Valentine's Day. Here's a quick and easy treat for you to make your lover.

I don’t want to be the one to be the bearer of bad news but you are in the dog house my friend.

So here’s what you do, go to the bodega at the end of the block and pick up some flowers, a bar of nice chocolate and a card. Get home before your other half and bang out this recipe for chocolate mousse. I timed it, it only takes three minutes and in the hour that it takes to set you should really bathe and use some mouthwash.

3 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

Serves 4

Ingredients
6 ounces chocolate chips or more expensive bittersweet chocolate broken into pieces.
1 Egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons Grand Marnier liqueur or Cognac
4 teaspoons sugar
¾ cup whole milk
Pinch of salt

Method
Place chocolate, egg, vanilla, Grand Marnier or Cognac, sugar and a pinch of salt into a blender and blend just enough to mix.
Heat the milk until just about to boiling.
Pour milk into blender and blend for 1 more minute.
Pour into 4 dessert cps and refrigerate for an hour.

Just note, the quality of the chocolate does affect the taste. More expensive chocolate is enhanced by the liqueur.

See, that was easy right? Now while you wait for it to set {I see that you aren’t bathing} here are some interesting {well I find them interesting but then again I am a food nerd} things about chocolate.
The botanical name of the chocolate plant is "Theobroma Cacao", which means "food of the Gods"
The word 'Chocolate' comes from the Aztec word "xocolatl", which means "bitter water".

Champagne and sparkling wines do not pair well with milk or dark chocolate because of their acidity, which reacts with chocolate, causing a tart taste to occur. Instead, I suggest white chocolate with champagne and dark chocolate with red wines.

In 1579, English pirates raided a Spanish ship. Upon finding its cargo of precious cocoa beans they burned the whole ship--they mistook the beans for sheep dung.
Some health experts say the purer the chocolate, the better it is for you. Chocolate with a cocoa content of more than 50% is high in magnesium and contains calcium, potassium, sodium and iron. It also has vitamins A1, B1, B2, C, D and E.

British people are second only to the Swiss when it comes to chocolate consumption. The average Briton eats 8.6kg of chocolate per year.

Although chocolate is not an aphrodisiac, as the ancient Aztecs believed, chocolate contains phenyl ethylamine (PEA), a natural substance that is reputed to stimulate the same reaction in the body as falling in love. Hence, heartbreak and loneliness are great excuses for chocolate overindulgence.

Chocolate melts at just below the temperature of the mouth, Thirty four degrees centigrade.

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Nster.com