This is a quickie. It's for those of you still casting about for the ideal, luscious Valentine's Day dessert. (Not that it wouldn't be just as irresistible any other day of the year.) I made it yesterday and it was an astonishing sight to behold, considering that it's a chocolate mousse made only of chocolate and a bit of water. No eggs, no cream, no fuss. Melissa Clark of the Times got the recipe from molecular gastronomist Hervé This. (Not to be confused with his colleague Henri That.) It's intense and ridiculously simple, sort of like falling in love. But with more whipping.

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I am officially obsessed with black walnuts. It may be some sort of genetic thing. As far back as I can remember, my mother was always craving black walnut ice cream. It used to make an occasional appearance at our local ice cream parlor in Santa Cruz, but since that heyday it seems to have completely fallen off their still impressive roster of flavors. Were she still alive, I could now proudly present my mom with a bowl of the stuff, made by me from walnuts gathered on a friend's land. This particular wild-crafted version may have been a one-time thing, though. Why? you ask. Well, that would be because of the incredibly labor-intensive ordeal it is to process black walnuts. After we'd endured it, we discovered that these nuts can actually be purchased at nutsonline for a mere $13 a pound. Shelled. By hand. (They must have some illegal Guatemalan children doing the work.) Anyway, G doesn't agree, but I think it was worth the effort. Full disclosure: He did most of it. But the ice cream was incredible. Divine. The best yet. Made with a recipe from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, of course.
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