thank you so much for the book!  I am thrilled!  :0)  I will email you my snail mail addy.

And look: chocolate mousse for Feb.!  It IS my lucky day.

I would never eat anything with row eggs, yolks or white. Would be nice  from chefs to be aver of that and use Pasterused yolks,, egg whites  and so on I am still looking for mousse from Jef Smith with 3 ingredients  , silken tofu, chocolate and I think sugar but can not find. it. That is recopies for me, light and healthy. Eggs are so terrible polluted, don't understand why anybody would recommend eating any part of it.

I'm not sure that I would say that eggs are terribly polluted, but Senna's right in pointing out that raw eggs are not recommended for many people, including pregnant women, the elderly, or the infirm; that's because eggs which aren't fully cooked can pass on salmonella. That means that traditional mousse recipes, soft-boiled eggs, and genuine (freshly made) Caesar salads are a no-no for those groups. While I know in the US it's possible to get eggs which are pasteurized in-shell to eliminate the salmonella risk, I've never seen them in Canada.

Senna: I don't know that it's identical to Jeff Smith's recipe, but if you go to the address below you'll find a video (with transcript) of a recipe that sounds a lot like it:

video.about.com/vegetarian/Mousse.htm

I think it's difficult to chose a recipe for CCC that is going to appeal to everyone. Yes, eggs are recommended for certain groups so members of those groups can't participate this month, but last month, it was a difficult challenge for vegetarians to participate in. If you don't want to/can't eat raw eggs, then look at the post in which the options for cooking club were presented and have your own challenge for yourself with a different valentine recipe. :)

I am excited to learn of the ownership change of FoodNetwork Canada. I hope Canwest will address some issues that Alliance ignored, notably paying attention to programming. At times it seemed Alliance was insulting it's loyal viewers with incessant rerun after rerun . I know it can be tough to satisfy CRTC requirements with CDN content etc , but other "networks" in Canada seem to be getting it without rerunning shows several times a month.

I hope they shake up the bushes and bring some new attitude to the table. We deserve it.

Meg, I do agree that it's impossible to please everyone when trying to pick a recipe for the CCC... and those who can't/don't eat an ingredient in the monthly recipe do have a number of options, from making substitutions and reporting their results, to trying a similar recipe, to sitting it out for one month.

However: According to the CFIA, public health experts estimate that there are 11 to 13 million cases of foodborne illness in Canada every year. The US Food TV website gives a health warning with their recipes when raw eggs (or other ingredients with health risks) are involved - and the Canadian site doesn't. I'm not sure why that would be the case (maybe because of liability issues being more pronounced in the US), but thought it might be worthwhile for the health of CCC members to mention this in the comments.

i also have my concerns with raw eggs - however i recall seeing in recipes that you can heat the eggs up to a certain temperature that will diminish the risk of salmonella and other diseases.

has anyone done this or heard of this and if so, what exactly are we supposed to do and would it work for a recipe like this? are there different rules for egg whites vs. egg yolks?

It is the same rule for whole egg. Codling or heating egg do not destroy salmonella bacteria. Just make egg yolk little bet thicker for Cesar salad, just a trick ( Don't believe is deliberately deceiving)

I am not elderly, not a child or person with low immunity system, not mY family and we all got very sick, eating soft boiled egg in one nice restaurant on a golf coarse. Took a two weeks to get better, we all lost lot of weight, and is not forgettable what we went thrue in whole month. After I did lot of searching on egg, and yes they are really bad if are not cooked to death.

Canadian living recipes are free of raw eggs. If recepies call for eggs whites, nicely beaten they use pasteurized stuff available in all stores in Canada, also whole eggs, but they are out from shell. We still enjoy eggs, but from pasurised boxes. Be careful, to be sorry is to let, believe me.

You all bring up a very good point. I think Meg is right on when she said to use your personal variations for the Cooking Club Challenge. Thing of it as an added challenge? I'm also not crazy about the idea of raw eggs either. I'm planning to just leave out the egg yolks and just use the egg whites.

According to The Culinary Review:

Most eggs are perfectly fine to eat raw, although there is always a very small risk that one egg might be contaminated by bacteria.To avoid the risk of illness, there are a few things to consider.

Make sure to only utilize fresh, whole, grade A or AA eggs. If the egg smells strange or if it's discolored, then throw it away.

Secondly, you can pasteurize raw eggs before making dishes with them. When you pasteurize eggs you bring them up to about 140-150 degrees for 3-5 minutes depending on the age and the size of the eggs. If the temperature goes any higher you start to cook the egg. Pasteurizing eggs won’t completely eliminate the risks that eating raw eggs bring, it will however drastically reduce the chance of infection. You can purchase pasteurized eggs at the grocery store, but it’s really easy to do yourself.

How To Pasteurize Raw Eggs

Place the eggs in a pot with cold water. Put the water on medium heat and stand by to watch as the temperature rises. You don’t want the temperature of the water to exceed 150 degrees. If you want to be exact, you can keep a thermometer probe in the water, if not 140-150 degrees is the stage before bubbles start to form. At that temperature, you can just about keep your finger in the water for a few seconds before you burn yourself. When you reach this temperature, try to keep it. So lower the heat, and watch so the temperature doesn’t rise, then keep the eggs in the water for about 3-5 minutes.

If you want to be even more careful, you can soft boil the eggs as this will work for some recipes. Some dressings for example that call for a raw egg yolk, will taste fine if you utilize a soft-boiled egg yolk, or even better sometimes. If however, you’re making chocolate mousse or parfait, then you’re better off pasteurizing the egg and not soft boiling it.

I hope that helps. 

The recipe for chocolate mousse using silken tofu is Michael Smith's.

That is all fine, but I have never seen eggs with bitrh certificate, also soft boiled eggs are not safe. I an not trying to be difficult, just I have bad experience, also eggs whites are the same thing, like yolk., and is true if you get some good eggs, they are safe, but unfortunately we can not see, if they are good or not. We wash our hands with antiseptic, after dealing with chicken, so I don need no more to know something is really wrong. Most of the poultry must be cooked well, no pink parts just duck breast only and some quail, Now I have Wright a lot about eggs, chickens, and is all up to us to look after our health, get informed, educated, and if cooks continue to use raw eggs, well we don't have to.

It is good not to forget that this is a culinary website, devoted to exploring a wide variety of cooking methods and preparations.  Raw eggs have been used in a variety of ways for centuries by excellent chefs around the globe.  It is up to the individual to determine whether or not they are comfortable with their preparation and consumption, but this shouldn't be a forum for saying the host is ill informed for choosing the challenge.

The Canadian Egg Board gives the following recommendations for dealing with raw eggs:

"Is it okay to use raw or partially-cooked eggs in recipes?

When preparing raw or lightly cooked eggs, for example in eggnog or Caesar salad you must use proper food handling methods.

Use only Grade A eggs that have been refrigerated. Grade A eggs must have clean, uncracked shells. Wash hands in hot, soapy water before and after handling the eggs. Eat the dish immediately after preparation or immediately refrigerate the product until served, keep it cold during serving and consume it the same day it is prepared. Discard leftovers."

I'd like to thank the host for consistently being fair, giving us great recipes to try, and encouraging us to explore the wonderful world of culinary delights in all of its seasonal splendour!

Okay now for something not related to using Raw eggs:

what is Cointreau ?????

And now for my bit on the whole raw egg thing:

first senna, your whole bad experience with the soft boiled egg could have been for many reasons other than it just being soft boiled. I have worked in many kinds of resaurants from greasy spoons to "nice" resaurants in fancy hotels and such, and I have seen poor food handling practices at any level of "Quality" of establishments, it all depends on the staff in them (how well educated they are, how much they care about what they are doing, how well trained they and the managers are,....) I have also seen great food handling practies at every level. Yes it may have been the egg itself, it may have been something on the cook's/cooks's hands that was transfered to the egg (and therefore your hands) when they plated your order, it may have been something on the plates (like if the dishwashing mashine wasn't getting one of the soaps/sanitisers....or something was transfered to the plates between the dishwasher and your table) heck it could have been anything else you ate around the same time that was contaminated (my mother went through food poisioning because the green salad with balsamic vinigret was contaminated with something....docs figured it had to be eggs that caused it, but as she was on a doctor defined diet that had excluded all egg products it could not have been eggs).

second yes eggs can pose a danger, but so can a lot of other food stuffs

third, yes people should be aware of what they are eating, and they should be educated/informed

and like so may others have said: you don't have to make it if you don't want to, you can try subsitutions (and add to the challange) and report on the results, and people have been using raw and soft cooked eggs for a long time.

Also senna, yes eggs can be  "terrible polluted" but so can/are A LOT of other food products that people buy everyday including store bought beef (go tour a feedlot and decide for yourself....that is if you can stand the stench), store bought pork/chicken and most of your veggies and frouts that you buy in the stores too, people have demanded of the producers to make tons of nice looking, big, uniform product for as little money as they have to spend and the only way for producers to do it has been throught the use of growth horemones, pesticides, herbicides, proactive antibiotics (using antibiotics to prevent rather than treat illness) and all sorts of other "chemical" tools for lack of better decription. So do a little research on all the food you are eating and how it is produced and where, if you want cleaner/safer/healthier food deal with the produces directly (community shared/supported agriculture is an awsome way to do this), produce your own.... you will know how and where it is produced and what is used in producing it. basically I am saying to you don't just focus on this one food, look at it all and get educated.

I agree with last sentence, get educated and I did. I did no writhe this little comment to be questioned about my life stile,  this is going off the topic.

Working in the restaurant is not certificate of good health. I personally have grown up on the farm and consumed many raw eggs. They was delicious, still remember toast

dipping in the

soft boiled eggs, but those time are gone. I do not experimented with  pasteurized eggs, I use them on regular base. Canadian Living magazine would never recommend any part of egg to be used if is not cooked or pasteurized. We still get some time farm eggs form grandma, but is not the same filling,  filling of security, which farm people agree with me, I don't think egg industry would.

Cointreau (pronounced ) is a brand of triple sec liqueur, and produced in Saint-Barthélemy-d'Anjou, a suburb of Angers, France. Cointreau sources its oranges from all over the world, usually Spain, Brazil and Haïti.

In addition to being imbibed as an apéritif, Cointreau is sometimes used as a digestif. Cointreau is considered to be either a premium brand triple sec or a unique category of liqueur. With a 40% alcohol content, Cointreau is strong for a triple sec which usually has an alcohol content around 23%.<1

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cointreau

I just received a submission from Elaine who substituted coconut milk for the egg yolks and it looks amazing.

Wow, a lot of fuss and hullabaloo over this egg stuff. I suggest getting creative and ending the complaints. This is supposed to be something fun and it's getting a little tense.

I'm with you Victoria.  Gees, if you have concerns, don't make the recipe.  And if I'm not mistaken, we can get pasturized egg yolks (only yolks) in Canada.  Just as we can for egg whites.

My substitution's going to be orange juice instead of Cointreau.  If I need orange zest, I must have an orange so why not use the juice.  Or I might leave it out entirely since it's not my favourite chocolate combo.

Heck, at this moment, I might just whip some cream and melt some chocolate.  There's your mousse!!  It won't even make it to a serving dish either!

I'm with Cisco and Victoria...get over the egg problem! Don't eat it if it is a problem for you..find something else...big deal! I actually make choc mousse all the time and have never even given this 'raw' egg thing a thought. My choc mousse is sensational...the bowls get licked clean each time! I cant keep up with making it.

I think that with any cooking, cleanliness is the main factor. Using fresh ingredients. Using clean implements. If the egg thing is a real issue do as I do - break the egg into a glass, one at a time, look at it and smell it before you start using it.

Viva La Choc mousse!

man you people dont get it they arnt forcing you to make it so dont make a big deal out of it its not like someone is going to kill you if you dont make the recipe so get over it like geez cook the if you dont want it raw dont get all hay wire.....from:kim

and yes i agree with everyone who say STOP WITH THE COMPLAINTS AND GET OVER IT ITS JUST EGGS BIG DEAL! GEEZ

ooops i messed up on the first one i made on the last sentence i ment to put eggs srry lol byebye

Also what if kid want to eat it dont tell them it has raw egg in it that would ruin their appitite! so stop the B.S. ok? ok!

how about this for the raw egg discussion.. my family and i (and i guess some of the other families too) have cracked a whole egg (raw) on top of a steaming rice and ate it as it is! no heating, no cooking! we never have any problems with our health..

i guess it is always about the food preparation... not about the egg..

there goes my piece..

No comment

... But you just did comment then....

I think it's a shame that people are so scared of food these days.  Remember when Rocky drank all those raw eggs?  One time I got sick from eating a rotton egg at easter.  That didn't stop me from eating hard boiled eggs.  What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.  If you avoid all sorts of disease how will you build up your immune system?  Eat the chocolate mousse, enjoy the chocolate mousse, and maybe some time the cooking club recipe challenge will be cooked eggs.  Then you can really show your stuff.

Yes I do have to agree about the egg thing... not a big fan of raw eggs.. I have never made a mouse and that is the reason.. its not healthy and of course now I have grand children and I would never make ths recipe for them

Wow silly me as I thought just heating the egg in the chocolate over the boiling water would take care of the thing..I haven't died yet though.

Yes is silly of you, get educated before you show your ignorance and ridicule other people. How disappointed to join blog and read mostly rubbish. Eggs are dangerous, amazes me to know people don't know that, Whatever............

cooking the egg does reduce the chance of salmonella .. and only 1 in 1000 eggs are contaminated .. heres is a recipe without eggs ...

Chocolate Mousse

• 5 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

• 1 tbsp rum

• 1 cup whipping (35%) cream

• 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese, at room temperature

Combine the chocolate, rum and 1/2 cup cream in a medium stainless steel bowl over a medium saucepan of barely simmering water.

Heat, stirring occasionally, until melted.

Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.

In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the mascarpone until soft and creamy.

Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup cream with a rubber spatula to loosen.

Fold the mascarpone mixture into the melted chocolate mixture.

Cover and let sit in a cool place for about 30 minutes

Good job