Make and serve a meal at home to celebrate with your special someone
By Amy Rognlie | Photos by Brandy Cruz and courtesy of the Fountain Avenue Kitchen
Show some love this Valentine’s Day by cooking up a special dinner to share with your loved one, or double the fun and cook these easy but elegant dishes together. It will be a meal to remember!
Sweetheart Soup
What other kind of soup would you eat on Valentine’s Day except Heart of Artichoke soup? This creamy concoction will start your dinner off in style.
Ingredients
6 Tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter
2 cups coarsely chopped leeks, white part only, first split open lengthwise and well washed
2 boxes (10 ounces each) frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and coarsely chopped
5 cups chicken or well-flavored vegetable stock
1/3 cup julienned leek greens
1 cup heavy (whipping) cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Minced parsley for garnish, if desired
Instructions
Melt the butter in a heavy soup pot, over medium heat. Add the chopped leeks and sauté until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the artichoke hearts and cook another 2 minutes. Stir in the stock and let simmer uncovered until the leeks and artichokes are tender, about 25 minutes.
Place the leek greens in a fine-mesh sieve and, dipping the sieve into the stock, blanch the leeks until bright green, about 1 minute. Drain and set aside. These are for the garnish.
Puree the soup in a food processor in batches. If desired, you can press the puree through a sieve to remove any fibers.
Return the soup to the pot, stir in the cream, and reheat. Stir in the cheese, a bit at a time, over medium-low heat, then season with salt and pepper. Ladle the hot soup into bowls and garnish each serving with the leek greens and a sprinkle finely minced parsley.
— Recipe from the “Dairy Hollow House Soup and Bread: A Country Cookbook” by Crescent Dragonwagon
Rosemary Chicken
Rosemary is an herb that symbolizes love and loyalty and has traditionally been included in wedding bouquets. It is equally lovely on chicken, perhaps accompanied by a crisp salad or roasted asparagus and a baked potato.
Ingredients
1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, about 3 chicken breasts
Kosher salt
Black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
2 lemons, divided
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 medium yellow onion, halved and sliced (half-moons) or diced
Instructions
Prep the oven: Preheat the oven to 400°F and position a rack in the middle.
Slice the breasts into cutlets: Place the chicken breast flat on a cutting board and position your non-dominant hand on top to hold it firmly. Using a sharp knife, in your dominant hand, carefully slice the chicken breast horizontally starting with the thicker end and all the way through to the thin end. You should end up with two thinner cutlets for each chicken breast half. If the cutlets still need to flatten a bit, cover with plastic wrap and pound with a kitchen mallet (optional). Optionally, you could use chicken strips.
Dry and season the chicken: Pat the chicken breast cutlets dry and season with kosher salt and black pepper on both sides.
Cooking: Sauté the chicken in a skillet for about five minutes per side with olive oil. Remove and set aside. Add diced or sliced onion and garlic to the skillet and sauté until onion is cooked. Squeeze the juice of one lemon over the top and add the chicken broth and rosemary to the skillet to incorporate everything.
Prepare the baking dish: In a 9×13 baking dish, place the chicken in the dish and then pour the sauce over the chicken. Cover the dish with foil.
Bake: Place the covered dish on the middle rack of your heated oven for 10 minutes, then carefully remove the foil and return the baking dish back to the oven for another 10 to 15 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked and is no longer pink in the middle. Remove the chicken from the oven when the internal temperature reaches 160°F. Cover and let rest for another 5 minutes and the chicken will come up to 165°F.
Cut half of the remaining lemon into slices to garnish. Squeeze the juice from the other half over the chicken and it’s ready to eat!
Flourless Chocolate Cake
What is Valentine’s Day without chocolate? This creamy, fudgy concoction tastes like you spent hours in the kitchen, yet is simple to make and uses only one bowl. Make it a day ahead of time and keep it in the fridge until it is time to indulge.
Ingredients
For the cake:
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs slightly beaten
1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
For the chocolate ganache:
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease an 8-inch round cake pan with nonstick cooking spray. Cut a piece of parchment to fit the bottom of the pan.
Place it in the bottom of the pan and spray it with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
To make the cake: Put the chocolate and butter in a large microwave-safe bowl, and heat until the butter is melted and the chips are soft, about one minute. Stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. If you need to reheat, do for 10 seconds at a time and stir.
Add the sugar, salt, and vanilla extract and stir to combine.
Add the eggs and stir until smooth. Add the cocoa powder and stir until just combined. Don’t over mix.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake the cake for 25 minutes or until the cake has a thin crust on the top and the center registers 200°F on an instant-read thermometer.
Let the cake cool on a wire cooling rack for 10 minutes. Loosen the edges of the pan with a butter knife and carefully turn it upside down onto a cake plate or serving plate. The bottom of the cake will now be the top of the cake. Let the cake cool completely.
While the cake is cooling, make the chocolate ganache. Combine the chocolate and cream in a medium microwave-safe bowl, and heat until the cream is very hot so it will melt the chocolate. Start with 30 seconds and check it. It might take longer; it just depends on your microwave.
Remove from the microwave, and stir until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth.
Spread the chocolate ganache glaze evenly over the cooled cake. Let the glaze set up for a few hours before cutting and serving the cake. You can put it in the refrigerator to speed up the process.
Cut the cake into slices and serve with powdered sugar and raspberries or strawberries, if desired. This cake is also great with whipped cream or ice cream.
— Recipe from King Arthur Flour
