Romantic Recipes for Valentine’s Day

He gazed into her dark eyes, transfixed by her mesmerizing stare, melting  into pools of infinite desire. “What do you want from me?” he asked, his voice a husky murmer. “Chocolate, chocolate!” she gasped, collapsing into the sheets, burrowing her head into pillows of eiderdown and ticking, now stained with hot, wet tears…

♥♥♥

Don’t get struck by Cupid’s Bow…Here are some Valentine’s Day recipes, from main course to dessert, that will sweeten your spirit.

Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

Chocolate Truffles

Chocolate Truffles

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Chocolate Rum Mousse with Whipped Cream and Strawberries

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Classic Chocolate Soufflé

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Filet Mignon with Cranberry-Zinfandel Sauce

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Filet Mignon with Red Wine-Mushroom Sauce

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Duck Breasts with Raspberry Sauce

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Ahi Tuna with Avocado-Wasabi Purée

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Sherried Scallops over Spaghetti Squash

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Mussels with Chorizo and Fennel

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Classic Chocolate Soufflé

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Filed under: All Recipes
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Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

Love is expansive, and chocolate is dark; serving chocolate-strawberries, will surely melt a heart.

Yep. It’s that time of year again, when my cornball soul can pen a silly verse without apology, when I can send construction paper hearts glued to paper doilies the old-fashioned way — snail mail — and serve my family chocolate at every meal, for every course, if I so desire.

Flourless Chocolate Tortes, Bacon & Chocolate Truffles and luscious Chocolate Mousse are past Valentine’s Day favorites. The following recipe, however, is one I can gobble with abandon, for the chocolate is merely the accessory for a plump, juicy strawberry.

So if you’re looking for a special treat that’s easy to make and appreciated by all, look no further than Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries.

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Select the biggest strawberries – long stems a bonus – and ripen until sweet.

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Melt chocolate in microwave, stirring at 30 minute increments, until smooth and creamy.

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Dip strawberries in melted chocolate.

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Let harden on parchment or wax paper; now's the time to decorate if desired.

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This is also the time of year when many grocers stock those humongous, long-stemmed babies, so perfect for dipping; I purchased my beauties from Hiller’s.

People are under the assumption that they are difficult to make, which puzzles me. I’ve seen blogs with pages devoted to tempering the chocolate just so that the chocolate adheres to the berry just right. Granted, you must monitor the chocolate as it melts so you don’t overdo it; but that requires minimum effort. I simply purchase baker’s chocolate, break it into pieces, microwave — checking — until creamy, then dip. There’s a bit more finesse than that, particularly if you decide to decorate them, but not much.

Kate believes everything should be dipped in chocolate.

Which brings me to the next step: the accoutrements. You could forget them altogether, a strawberry dipped in one coat of chocolate is poetry unadorned. Or you could go hog wild, decorating them with assorted chopped nuts, colorful sprinkles, even caramel. Strawberries dipped in white chocolate and dressed with small candy red hearts are favorites of my kids.

For ease, I drizzled melted white chocolate over mine in the following recipe, then made a design with the prongs of a fork. You’ll have more control over your design if you put the chocolate in a squirt bottle, or trim one bottom tip of a plastic bag and use as a make-shift pastry bag.

Happy Valentine’s Day; Love and Cyber Kisses to you all!

Recipe: Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

Ingredients

  • 1 (4-ounce bar) semisweet chocolate, chopped
  • 1 (4-ounce bar) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
  • 3 ounces white chocolate, (3/4 bar) chopped
  • 1 pound strawberries* with stems (16- 20), washed and dried
  • Parchment or wax paper

Instructions

  1. Combine the semisweet and bittersweet chocolate in a microwave-safe dish. Microwave one minute then remove and stir. Return to the microwave an additional 30 seconds, then remove and stir again. Keep doing this in 30 second increments until the chocolate is smooth and melted; 1 1/2- 2 1/2 minutes, depending on size of chocolate pieces and microwave power. (Alternately, chocolate may be melted in the hot of a double-boiler over simmering water.)
  2. Line a sheet pan with parchment or wax paper. Holding strawberry by the stem, swirl each berry in chocolate, leaving a bit of red exposed beneath the stem, and allow excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl. Lay on parchment or wax paper. Repeat with remaining strawberries.
  3. Melt white chocolate, per Step 1. Dip fork prongs into chocolate, and dribble and swirl into the dark chocolate making a pattern. (For more control, use a squirt bottle or cut end of plastic bag.)
  4. Allow to harden at room temperature, then refrigerate until ready to enjoy.

*I prefer my strawberries ripe and sweet; you may need to buy them a few days in advance, and let them ripen to your desired level of sweetness.

Storage Tips: Keep refrigerated or in a cool place (uncovered or loosely covered). I’ve kept them refrigerated for several day with good results, but the texture of the berry suffers somewhat; it’s ideal serving them several hours after they’ve been made.

Active Time: 35 minutes

Time for Chocolate to Harden: 30-45 minutes

Number of servings (yield): 16-22

Copyright © Peggy Lampman’s dinnerFeed.

 

Filed under: All Desserts, All Recipes, Feed Your Party
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Steamboat Springs: Kathy’s “Thai One On” Cooking Party

I’m visiting a friend – Kathy Barker – in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, who I met at the water fountain when I was 12 years old. She was from New Orleans, the “new” girl at my Alabama junior high school, and scouting about the hall for friends. She overheard me yammering in a knot of girls discussing  my upcoming sleep-over.  When I parted the pack for a sip of water,  she made her move and asked me if she could be included. Impressed with her social chutzpa, I agreed; we’ve been friends ever since.

Steamboat Springs is a laid-back cowboy-ski town.

Her adopted city Steamboat is a laid back cowboy-ski town notorious for some of its more emboldened citizenry riding their horses into Safeway to buy a bag of Doritos, for instance, or trotting their mares into a bar for local brew.

At last year’s Winter Olympics, four Steamboat boys brought home gold and silver medals and the town has produced more Olympians than any other north American city.  It’s a town to be proud of, no doubt, and Kathy is proud of her girlfriends, as well. She wanted to introduce me to some of them and thought a cooking party would be an amusing ice-breaker.

(left to right) Cami, Molly, Kathy, Linda, Toni, Linda, Pat, Darlinda

It’s February, we’re snuggled in towering peaks of  fairyland bliss, so we decided to heat up the evening with a Thai-inspired menu of Tempura Fried Oysters with Asian Dipping Sauce, Cellophane Noodle and Peanut Salad Wraps and Spicy Thai Shrimp & Eggplant with Steamed Rice.

There were nine of us and we divided the group into three women each per recipe. Kathy and I did a bit of prep work prior to their arrival – chopping herbs and hot peppers, washing lettuce cups, and the like – leaving the cooking to the teams. Each recipe serves 8-10, but are easily divisible to serve a smaller group.

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Dipping oysters into tempura batter.

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Frying the oysters in a deep fryer (pan works great too).

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Umm...Tempura Oysters on the far right.

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Recipe: Tempura Fried Oysters with Asian Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

  • 1 recipe for Asian Dipping Sauce (below)
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 
1/2 cup cornstarch
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 3/4 cup soda water
  • 1 egg
  • 36 oysters, shucked (small to medium-sized)
  • Peanut, vegetable or canola oil for deep frying

Instructions

  1. Make the dipping sauce; see recipe below. (Can be made up to 24 hours in advance.)
  2. To make batter, whisk flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt together. Whisk in  soda water and egg.
  3. 
Add enough oil to a heavy-bottomed pan, deep-lipped skillet or a deep fryer to come up to 1 1/2 inches deep. If using a deep fryer, follow manufacturer’s directions. Heat oil until a small piece of tempura batter sizzles when put in oil.
  4.  Pat oysters dry with paper towels then dip into batter to thoroughly coat.  Deep fry 1-2 minutes or until golden brown and crispy on both sides.  Drain on paper towels and serve immediately with Asian Dipping sauce.

Number of servings (yield): 36 oysters

Copyright © Peggy Lampman’s dinnerFeed.

Recipe: Asian Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup lime juice
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 teaspoons Asian chili paste
  • 
1-2 teaspoons hot chili peppers, finely chopped
  • 
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
  • 2 teaspoons grated ginger
  • 3 teaspoons chopped green onion

Instructions

Whisk together lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, chili paste, 1 teaspoon chili peppers, cilantro, ginger and onion. Taste and add additional chili pepper to taste.

Copyright © Peggy Lampman’s dinnerFeed.

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Just soak dry rice sticks (cellophane noodles) in hot water; chop.

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You could buy pre-made Thai peanut sauce...but why?

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Slice cukes as thinly as possible; cut in half.

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Composing a cellophane noodle lettuce wrap.

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Recipe: Cellophane Noodle and Peanut Salad Wrap

Ingredients

  • 3-4 ounces rice sticks (cellophane noodles)
  • 1 recipe for Peanut Sauce (below)
  • 1/2 English cucumber, washed, sliced as thin as possible, cut in half
  • 1 cup shredded carrot
  • 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1/2 cup chopped mint
  • 1/2 cup chopped basil
  • 3 scallions, finely chopped
  • 16-24 large lettuce leaves for wrapping salad, such as bib or curly leafed romaine

Instructions

  1. Cover noodles with hot water; let stand in water at room temperature 15 minutes or until softened. Cut into 2-inch pieces. Make Peanut Sauce(recipe below.)
  2. Toss noodles with peanut sauce, then combine with cucumber, carrot, cilantro, mint, basil and scallions.
  3. Stuff salad into lettuce cups and serve.

Number of servings (yield): 16-24 hefty lettuce cups

Copyright © Peggy Lampman’s dinnerFeed.

Recipe: Peanut Sauce Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 5 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
  • 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
  • 1 tablespoon grated ginger
  • 2 tablespoons chopped peanuts
  • 1-2 tablespoons Thai or serrano chili pepper, finely chopped*

Instructions

  1. In a food processor or blender, purée peanut butter, vinegar, fish sauce, garlic and ginger.
  2. Scrape into a bowl, stir in peanuts and 1 tablespoon minced pepper; add additional chopped pepper to taste.

* Wear plastic gloves when handling hot peppers

Copyright © Peggy Lampman’s dinnerFeed.

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Salt the eggplant to release moisture, in fact, tenderizing the globes. (Asian eggplant don't require this step.)

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Eggplant creates a flavorful sauce sopping up those wonderful Thai spices.

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Sautéing eggplant; embracing oil.

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so so good.

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Spicy Thai Shrimp & Eggplant...be still, my heart.

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Recipe: Spicy Thai Shrimp and Eggplant

Ingredients

  • 3-4 large black globe eggplant, peeled, or 7-8 Asian eggplant, washed, unpeeled
  • 6-8 tablespoons peanut oil
  • 3 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined (8/12 size; 11-12 per pound)
  • 4 teaspoons garlic
  • 4 tablespoons lemon grass
  • 2 tablespoons chopped or grated ginger
  • 4 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 2-4 tablespoons red chili curry paste
  • 1-2 tablespoons Thai or other hot pepper, seeds and membranes removed and finely chopped*
  • 2 (14.5) ounce can diced fire roasted tomatoes
  • 1 cup Thai basil, washed and chopped (or combination of basil and mint)
  • 1 cup washed and chopped cilantro

Instructions

  1. If using globe eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch slices and arrange on paper towels or a clean cloth. Lightly season with kosher salt and let excess moisture drain 30-60 minutes. Cut into 1/2-inch dice. If using Asian eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch coins.
  2. In each of two large sauté pans, heat 1 tablespoon oil over high heat. When oil is hot but not smoking, quickly cook shrimp until browned but not cooked through, about 45 seconds on each side. Remove and reserve.
  3. Reduce heat to medium, add additional oil to each pan and divide and sauté garlic and eggplant; occasionally stirring, 3 minutes or until eggplant is just beginning to soften. Divide lemon grass, ginger, fish sauce, 2 tablespoons curry paste, diced tomatoes and 1 tablespoon peppers between pans. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium-low; simmer until eggplant is tender, 15-20 minutes. Taste and add additional curry paste and peppers to sauce, if desired.
  4. Return shrimp to pan and heat in eggplant sauce until just cooked through; stir in Thai basil (or basil and mint) and cilantro into mixture and serve.

*Always wear plastic gloves when handling hot chili peppers.

Number of servings (yield): 8-10 servings

Copyright © Peggy Lampman’s dinnerFeed.

Filed under: All Appetizers, All Recipes, Feed Your Party, My Projects, My Travels, Seafood
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