A Pretty in Pink Dinner

In honor of Valentine's Day, all the foods I made for this meal are pink.  In addition, they are all delicious.  :)
Doug and I prefer to stay in on Valentine's Day since the restaurants are usually really crowded and have a different menu for the holiday.  So, why not try it?  Stay in and cook your Valentine a pink meal!
Drink...

Strawberry Sweethearts Cocoa
*recipe adapted from: babble.com
This is perfect for a chilly valentine's evening!  It's very, very sweet, so I would serve it after dinner with dessert.  
I changed several things in the recipe because of the ingredients I had/could find in the grocery store.  Even with the changes it turned out delicious!  
It reminded me of a chocolate covered strawberry and was warm and creamy.  A great alternative to regular hot chocolate!
Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 pint strawberry ice cream *[I didn't want to buy a huge carton of ice cream because then I'd eat it all :) So, I used strawberry milk instead.  It worked well!]
• 4 cups water (I didn't add any water since I used milk instead of ice cream)
• Whipped cream
• 1 cup Mini chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon chocolate sprinkles *[I used heart sprinkles instead]

Directions:

1. In a medium-sized bowl, melt the chocolate chips and dip the top of four mugs into the chocolate. Set aside, allowing chocolate to harden. 
2. In a medium pot, whisk together the butter, sugar, and ice cream *(or milk) over medium high heat until melted.  
3. Whisk in the water *(I omitted water since I used milk), one cup at a time until your favorite texture/flavor is achieved.  Heat just until steaming.  
4. Pour into chocolate-rimmed mugs.  Garnish with a dollop of whipping cream and a sprinkling of chocolate (or heart) sprinkles.  Serve with the yummy cookies below!

Dinner...

Salmon With An Herb Caper Sauce
*recipe from America's Test Kitchen Cookbook
Pretty much the only pink thing I could think of for an entree was salmon.  I am not the biggest salmon fan, but as far as salmon goes, this was a great recipe.  The sauce is delicious!  I wanted to serve beets as a side dish for the color, but I never got around to buying them.  Oh well, maybe you'll get some for your salmon :)
Ingredients:

• 2 lemons
• 1 large shallot, minced
• 2 tbs parsley, minced
• 2 tbs tarragon, minced
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 (1 1/2 to 2 pound) skinless salmon fillet
• 2 tbs capers
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbs honey
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Cut one lemon into 8-10 slices.  Cut the other lemon into wedges and set aside.
2. Arrange the lemon slices in a single layer on the bottom of a 12 inch skillet.
3. Scatter 2 tbs of the shallots over the lemons.  Add the wine and water.
4. Cut the salmon filet into four equal pieces.  Place the filet in the pan skinned side down on top of the lemon slices.  
5. Set the pan over high heat and bring the liquid to a simmer.
6. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until the sides of the filets are opaque but the center is still translucent (11-16 minutes).
7. Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the salmon and lemon slices to a paper towel lined plate.  Tent loosely with foil.
8. Return the pan to high heat and simmer until the cooking liquid is slightly thickened and reduced to 2 tbs (4-5 min).
9. Meanwhile, combine the remaining shallots, herbs, capers, olive oil, and honey in a medium bowl.  
10. Strain the remaining cooking liquid through a fine mesh strainer into the bowl with the herb-caper mixture.  Whisk to combine and season with salt and pepper.
11. Season the salmon with salt and pepper.  Lift the salmon off the lemon slices and place on a plate or platter.  
12. Spoon the vinaigrette over the top and serve with lemon wedges.

Dessert...

Almond Cookies Topped with Raspberries and Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting
*recipe from Dwell on Joy
Ingredients:
(makes 3-4 dozen cookies) 
for the almond cookies:

• 1 package of Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp flour, plus extra for rolling out dough
• 1/2 cup crushed slivered almonds
• 1/2 tsp pure almond extract

for the brown sugar cream cheese frosting:

• 1 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 - 8oz packages 1/3 less fat cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup (8tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract 
• red food coloring if you'd like to tint it blush like me   
• 1 container of raspberries, rinsed and patted dry

 Directions: 

1. In a stand mixer, make the sugar cookies according to package directions. Add the crushed almonds and almond extract to the dough and stir until combined. Using flour first to dust your surface, roll the dough out to about 3/4 inch thick.
2. Using a small circle cookie cutter (about 2 inches) dipped in flour, cut out circles. Roll out remaining dough and cut out circles until the dough is used up. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake 10 minutes or until just starting to brown. Cool on pan 2 minutes and then, using a spatula, place on a baking rack to cool completely.
3. While you are baking the cookies, it's time to make the frosting. Using a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter in a bowl until fluffy. Add the brown sugar, cornstarch, powdered sugar, and vanilla and beat until the frosting is smooth and light. Add a few drops of red food coloring to the frosting at the end if you'd like to make yours blush like mine :) Chill the bowl in the fridge to thicken the frosting, or until the cookies are cooled completely.
4. When the cookies are cool and the frosting is chilled, it's time to assemble your treats! Rinse and pat dry your raspberries and have them handy. Place your frosting into a Ziploc bag and seal it. Clip the corner off of one side of the bottom, and pipe the frosting onto the cookies. Gently smoosh the raspberry into the frosting for the finishing touch!

A Dinner With Your Valentine

I love fondue.  And I love crème brûlée.  And for some reason, both of these foods seem romantic to me.  I know, you're thinking . . . fondue, I could never make that!  Crème brûlée, certainly I could never make that!  Well, guess what . . . you can!  These two things might seem difficult to make, but they are actually two of the easiest recipes I have blogged about so far.  Not only are they easy, but they are sure to be so delicious that they will trick your valentine into thinking you are a gourmet chef.  :)

Drink...

Kir Royale

Champagne is a great Valentine's Day drink.  This is a classic cocktail with champagne and crème de cassis, a blackcurrant liqueur.  In France, it is usually drunk as an apéritif (before dinner).  We decided to drink some before and during dinner.  It was really good and went well with the meal.
Ingredients:
(for 1 drink)

• 1/2 shot of crème de cassis
• 4-5 shots of champagne (I preferred more champagne since the crème de cassis is very sweet)

Directions (order of steps is important):

1. Pour the crème de cassis into a champagne glass.
2. Add the champagne and drink!

Dinner...

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE fondue!  What's not to love?  Coating everything you eat in melted cheese cannot be bad.  But, I not only love the taste of fondue, I also love the experience of eating fondue.  Usually our meals are so fast.  We eat quickly and then shortly thereafter leave the table.  However, fondue forces you to slow down and enjoy everything.  This is a fondue recipe from my mom and it's a classic fondue recipe.  I am sure you could use other types of cheese, but I just love the classic Swiss!

Classic Swiss Fondue (AKA "Mom's Fondue")

*recipe from Maureen K.
Ingredients:
(serves 2)

• 3/4 lb of Swiss cheese
• 2 1/4 tbs flour
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 1/2 cups of white wine (we used Chablis which works well in the fondue and is also a traditional wine for Kir [the drink we made, but with white wine instead of champagne—the champagne is what makes it "royal"]
• 3/4 tbs lemon juice
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• dash of pepper
• Dipping ingredients (We used bread, apples, and garlic chicken sausage. You could use so many different things!)

Directions:

1. Cut the cheese into cubes.
2. Toss the cheese with flour in a bag.
3. Rub the fondue pot with the garlic clove.
4. Pour the wine into a pot and set to medium heat.
5. When the wine simmers, add lemon juice and cheese, stirring constantly.
6. Bring the cheese to a bubble, then add nutmeg and pepper.
7. Put the mixture into a fondue pot if you have one.  If not, you can eat it out of the pot in which it was cooked.  It should stay hot long enough for you to eat!

Dessert...

Crème Brûlée

*recipe from Chicago Metallic 
This is one of my favorite desserts.  Before I knew how to make it, I thought it would be very complicated, but as it turns out, it is ridiculously simple!  My parents knew about my love of this dessert and gave me a crème brûlée set a few years ago.  So, I actually have a torch to caramelize the sugar on top.  However, the recipe says you can just put the ramekins no less than 5 inches under the broiler to caramelize it if you don't have a torch. It's good with fresh berries on top as well.
Ingredients:
(serves 4)

• 6 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream
• 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 6 tsp granulated sugar (for the caramelized tops)

Directions:

Before Baking

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar together until the sugar is dissolved and the egg yolk mixture is thick and light in color.
3. Add cream and vanilla extract and whisk until blended.
4. Fill a baking pan a little less than halfway with water.  
5. Pour the brûlée mixture into ramekins and place the ramekins into the water bath.
6. Bake until the edges are set, but the center is still slightly loose, about 50-55 minutes.
7. Remove the pan from the oven and cool.  
8. Remove the ramekins from the pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
9. Before serving, sprinkle 1 1/2 tsps of sugar on top of each and torch until the sugar is caramelized.

Torching - the scary part!

After a couple bites