A Valentine's Day Dinner Guide: My Stimulus Package for Romance

I'm really looking forward to Valentine's Day this year, it'll be nice to think of something other than the economy and big bailouts when I hear the words 'stimulus' and 'package.' At least for one day, and night, stimulation will be aided by food and lead to the recovery of romance.

Although a romantic Valentine's dinner should always include one or two items deemed aphrodisiacs, to serve course after course of aphrodisiacs could send the wrong message—if you need all those special foods to get excited, what's that say about your date? Valentine's dinners, like Valentine's dates, should be a reflection of personal taste, not a reflection of what others say you should like, and they should always stimulate romance.

For these reasons, when I was thinking about a menu for Valentine's Day to share with my readers, it hit me that no one menu could possibly work for all the lovers out there. So instead, I've chosen to provide guidance rather than a strict menu, a stimulus package—so to speak--for a romantic evening.

Appetizer Course

Valentine's is a special occasion dinner, so don't skip the appetizer course. It takes a bit more effort, but isn't your honey worth it?

Besides the famed aphrodisiac oysters, other great foods for amorous appetizers are baked Brie, caviar, smoked salmon, Prosciutto, steamed artichokes, dips, olives and other similar savories that pair well with bread or crackers. The point being to eat your appetizer with your hands, thus inducing the need to lick your fingers with each bite. My advice for this course is to go with the bread / cracker accompaniments you both love, serve the course on the coffee-table and seat yourselves on the couch, then keep the flatware and napkins on hold.

First Course

Depending on the size of your appetite, you may choose to skip a first course and move straight from the appetizer to the main course. The advantage of adding a first course is that it gives you some extra wiggle room time-wise—and otherwise—in case you're delayed getting yourselves to the table.

For this reason, I like soup for a first course. Soup's a pretty independent food, you can make it days in advance, and it can sit and wait on your stove until you want to serve it—it won't get overcooked or cold waiting for you. Any soup you love enough to say "Mmmm" and "Ahhh" while you eat it will do the trick. To up the Valentine's factor, find some heart-shaped bowls or ramekins and serve the soup in them, or make heart-shaped croutons using a small cookie-cutter.

Main Course

For Valentine's dinner, you want something absolutely delicious and not normal weeknight fare, but maybe you don't want something too fussy or requiring too much work à la minute. In this case, a Braise is a perfect main. Braises cook slowly, don't need basting, and the longer they simmer in the oven, the better they get. While I love veal Osso Buco, there's hundreds of braises made with all kinds of meats (and vegetables), so just choose your favorite and let it take care of itself while you take care of your date.

Some couples truly enjoy cooking with each other, even on romantic occasions—perhaps especially on romantic occasions. If you're in this category, you may want to get yourselves in the kitchen together, wear sexy aprons (or scant little under your normal aprons), then make a mess and have some fun. In this case, just choose a main course you both love, one that evokes those Mmmms and Ahhhhs—sounds similar to those we make when... well, you know— then turn up the heat and get creative.

Dessert



There's no skipping dessert on Valentine's Day. As with everything else you choose to make, dessert ought to be something you both love. Perhaps one of the most romantic (and easy) desserts to share at home is a Chocolate Fondue, complete with a bowl of Chantilly (melted chocolate and whipped cream, you catch my drift). Chocolate is another famed aphrodisiac, and Fondue can be accompanied by long-stemmed strawberries, cherries, amoretti, biscotti, meringues, ice cream, and whatever else your hearts desire. You can make the accompaniments yourself in advance, or just buy them if you're short on time.

Me personally, I love cake, so of course my Valentine's dinners are followed by a heart-shaped cake made with love by my man. You can make almost any cake in advance, or simply go out and buy one from your favorite bakery or patisserie. I also want a box of chocolates at dessert, my favorites being Recchiuti Confections, La Maison du Chocolat and Jacques Torres Chocolates. My man and I also like to make our own confections, our favorite for this Valentine's Day being salted chocolate caramels.


Drinks

What would Valentine's Day be without Champagne? I don't remember, and I don't want to be reminded! As I recently wrote a feature on Champagne, I'll just refer you to this article for more on real French bubbly.

Valentine's Day coming in winter, I love to end the evening with a steamy cup of spiked hot chocolate. But my idea of hot chocolate doesn't involve powder, it involves real chocolate. It's simple enough, just heat your milk almost (but not all the way) to boiling, remove it from the heat, and drop your chopped chocolate straight into the milk. Wait a minute for it to melt a bit then whisk it, then add the liqueur of your choice. I use about 2oz of dark chocolate per 8oz of milk, my favorite being El Rey of Venezuela, followed by Scharffen Berger of Berkeley, California. Then, of course, I top the cup with fresh whipped cream and a sprinkle of cocoa powder or chocolate shavings (cut a heart shape out of some paper and sprinkle the cocoa/chocolate through it).

Whatever you choose to make for Valentine's Day, remember it's all about the love. Loving the person, loving the process of cooking and baking, and loving to eat. While aphrodisiacs have their place in a Valentine's dinner, they shouldn't be the only thing that stimulates romance, the entire evening, and every course served, should be planned and carried out with love in your heart, and lovin' on your mind.


All of the heart-shaped cakes featured in this article were made for me by Chef Patissier Damien Herrgott, Executive Pastry Chef at soon-to-open Bosie Tea Parlor. The pink cake is Pierre Hermé's famed Ispahan, which Damien fell in love with during his four years as Chef Adjoint at Pierre Hermé in Paris, the other two are his own creations.
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Quick and Juicy "Weeknight" Roast Chicken

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It seems there are as many ways to roast a chicken as there are feathers on the same. Having spent a few years experimenting with myriad different methods, flavors and birds, I've finally settled on my favorite recipe. I call it my "weeknight" roast chicken, so dubbed for its ease and brevity of preparation, though I often serve it on weekends too.

After being asked by so many friends for this recipe, I've decided to share it with all of them, and with you, because really good recipes should never stay a secret.

The first thing I tell anyone wanting to reproduce my weeknight roast chicken is that they simply must start with a good bird. My favorite fowl comes from Bell & Evans, but if you can't find Bell & Evans (as I sometimes can't), then any free-range chicken raised organically--without animal-based feed, and without hormones/antibiotics—will do just fine. I insist on this for any meat I would actually eat, sticking to my philosophy that a happy animal in life is a tasty animal in death.

Another thing I tell my friends is that they must pull their bird out of the oven when it registers 160-165 degrees(F). All harmful bacteria dies at 160-165(F), so there's absolutely no need to cook the bird beyond that point, it will only serve to dry out the meat, not kill any bacteria. This is another reason why my roast chicken is so popular, I manage to keep it glisteningly moist firstly by not overcooking it. I go so far as to use two different meat thermometers when checking the temperature, to be sure they're still reading correctly. If I had only one thermometer, how would I know it was always precise?

Another important technique for keeping roast chicken moist is to baste it. After about 30 minutes in the oven without basting, you should start to baste it as often as is practical for you—but the more the better if you want not only a moist bird, but fabulously crispy skin.

Those important tips aside, here's a rough recipe for my weeknight roast chicken, au jus.

One Roasting Chicken
Fresh Rosemary and Thyme
3+ Shallots (depending on the size of the bird and its cavity)
Olive Oil
Coarse Kosher Salt, Freshly Ground Black Pepper, and Dried Parsley flakes.

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees(F). Rinse the Rosemary and Thyme and set aside. Skin and halve the shallots and set aside with the herbs.

Rinse chicken thoroughly, then move it to a plate lined with a bed of paper towels and dry the inside and outside of the bird completely with more paper towels (the drier the skin of the bird, the better—think Peking duck and the fanning method).

When the bird is bone dry, discard the paper towels and dress the bird on the same plate. If you're working alone, you will want to make sure your coarse salt and freshly ground pepper are at-the-ready. Don't use your raw chicken-covered hands to grab the salt or grind the pepper, have these set along side the herbs to avoid cross-contamination. If you're working with a helper in the kitchen, just have one of you hold the bird while the other uses their clean hands to dress it.

Start by salting and peppering the cavity. Don't hold back, a bird can take a lot of seasoning because it has little innate flavor. Next, fill the cavity with the herbs and shallots (you can vary the herbs or use different kinds of onions, I do when I'm out of my first choices, but shallots do have a more refined flavor than other onions). Finally, pour some olive oil directly on the outside of the bird and rub it all over the chicken. Then generously salt and pepper the bird. At this point, I also sprinkle on some dried parsley flakes—they add no flavor, but they help to crisp the skin and they add to the bird's aesthetic appeal. Rub the salt, pepper, and parsley evenly all over the bird.

A four pound chicken will take just over an hour in a 425 oven. I begin by setting my timer for 20 minutes, and I don't open the oven during this time (the high heat seals the bird and keeps its natural juices inside). After the first 20 minutes, I open the oven, turn the bird, and set my timer for another 20 minutes. Because I don't have a convection oven, I turn the bird several times during roasting, always at the 20 minute mark, to ensure it roasts evenly.

After about 30 minutes in the oven, start basting the bird. If you baste it before about 30 minutes, the salt, pepper and parsley aren't completely stuck to the skin yet and basting can rinse them completely off the bird, and we don't want that.

With a 4 pound chicken, I start taking the bird's temperature after an hour, and I test it frequently (the more cooked a chicken gets, the more quickly its temperature rises—it takes less time for a bird to go from 150-160 than it does for it to go from, say, 90-100).

When the bird reaches 160 to 165, take it out of the oven and move it, rack and all, to a resting plate, and let it rest while you do the quick pan sauce. I never tent a bird in aluminum foil, this creates steam, and steam kills crispy skin.

For the simple pan sauce, just put your roasting pan directly on a burner at high heat. Add a liquid to the pan to deglaze it, and, ideally using a wood spatula, scrape all the lovely brown goodness from the pan. I use my home-made chicken stock for the liquid, but you can use water, wine, port, cream, etc. Let the sauce boil for a minute or two, then pour it through a fine sieve. If you don't want too much oil, you can spoon a lot off the top of the sauce, or just use a fat separator.



You don't actually need the sauce, if you do things according to these tips, your bird won't be dependant on any sauce to hide its dryness. I just like the sauce for the potatoes I always eat with my roast chicken. Plus, this method can be used to make a quick, yummy sauce from any pan-cooked meats (whether on the stove or in the oven).

I can't go a full week without roasting a chicken this time of year. Not only do I love to eat it, but I adore making stock from it, as well as using any left-over meat for risotto, soup, crepes or sandwiches. So next time you find yourself singing "Baby It's Cold Outside," grab yourself a good chicken and warm up with some roasting. The prep time is minimal, the flavors are anything but.
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Champagne: A Few Facts on Real French Bubbly

We all love Champagne this time of year, but nobody loves Champagne—anytime of year, in fact— like the French. My first holiday season with a French man brought this fact home, literally, with more Champagne than I could have imagined. With cousins visiting from France, cousins who produce Champagne for Moët et Chandon, there was an obscene amount of bubbly, most of it unlabeled, from the private family reserve.

It would be hard to describe with any clarity just what that first French-infused Christmas and New Year's Eve were like. After all, with so much Champagne flowing, that particular week from Christmas to New Year is pretty much one big, bubbly blur. Since that holiday, we haven't had his cousins to visit, but we still go for the Champagne big time, as you can see by my Fridge.



Shopping for Champagne

First things first, even if you already know this—I'm always surprised how many people don't know—Champagne comes from only one place in the world, the region of Champagne, France. Anything else must be labeled "Sparkling Wine" or "Champenoise." While there are a few Sparkling Wines out there that I have heard are pretty decent (mostly from California, Australia and New Zealand), I don't really drink the stuff. If it's not real Champagne, it's not usually on my table. The only sparkling wine I genuinely like is Lambrusco, a sparkling Rosé produced in my home town of Reggio nell'Emilia, Italy (Trader Joe's has a very nice one for a super bargain price).

If you're planning to drink a lot of Champagne in one night, and you don't have family bringing you cases from France, then you should consider buying a Magnum (= 2 bottles), a Jeroboam (= 4 bottles), a Rihoboam (= 6 bottles), or a Methuselah (=8 bottles). The sizes go all the way up to the ludicrously large Melchizedek, which holds 40 bottles. Thing is, you will save some dough by getting these larger bottles rather than buying their volume equivalent in normal, 750ml bottles. Plus, it is a fact that the Champagne in a Magnum and a Jeroboam actually taste better and are more bubbly than the standard size, and the Jeroboam is the best. But, this isn't the case as the bottles get larger than the Jeroboam.



Champagne Brands and Labels

While all real Champagne is better than Sparkling Wine, the best of the best are Louis Roederer's Cristal Champagne, Laurent-Perrier's Grand Siècle, Krug Cuvée, and any Moët et Chandon Vintage Dom Perignon. Of course Louis Roederer and Laurent-Perrier have other Champagnes that won't cost nearly as much and will be pretty darn fabulous even if they're not the top label. I never shell out the big bucks for a bottle (I let others do that for me), but if I stick to buying real Champagne—even a $40-$80 bottle like a Perrier-Jouët or Veuve-Cliquot—I'm never disappointed.

When it comes to reading labels, there's way more to know than I can tell you here, but I'll just give a few basics that will help you navigate. First, it's good to know that most all Champagnes are a blend of the Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes. Any single grape Champagnes will be labeled "Blanc de Blanc" when it's pure Chardonnay, and "Blanc de Noir" when it's a pure Pinot Noir or Meunier.

The label designations that let you know how much alcohol is in the Champagne (it varies), are Extra Brut, Brut, Sec, Demi-Sec, Doux and Extra Doux, with Extra Brut being the most alcohol and Extra Doux being the least. You may be surprised to know that a Vintage or Reserve designation is actually given by the producer, according to what they deem is a particularly good year, but there are no regulations there to follow, it's basically just the producer's opinion. However, a Cuvée class Champagne does have regulatory standards to meet, so it's generally better than a Vintage or a Reserve. In any case, a Vintage, Reserve, or Cuvée are all best drunk about five-ten years from the year on the label.



Pouring and Preservation

My last tips are to always pour your Champagne against the side of a tilted flute, to control the bubble overflow. Also, pour Champagne into glasses that weren't washed in a dishwasher, but hand-washed. Even the slightest film left from a dishwasher isn't great when mixed with Champagne. If, for some unknown reason, you should have an unfinished bottle you want to save, get a proper Champagne stopper and it'll last one extra day. A wine stopper just doesn't work on Champagne.

While Champagne is never super cheap, really, who wants to drink something super cheap for a celebration? But, if you're on a tight budget, supplement just one bottle of Champagne with however many bottles of Lambrusco from Reggio nell'Emilia because it's a good, inexpensive companion.

As I gear up for that time of year when the Champagne flows freely, I can take comfort that one other wonderful thing about Champagne is the fact that the good stuff doesn't leave you with a terrible hang-over, however blurry your bubbly evening (or brunch) gets. When it comes to celebrations, I follow the French, and if you do too, your guests—not to mention your taste buds, head and tummy—will thank you.

The Vanilla Bean

Most home cooks experience the flavor of vanilla through the commonly-found vanilla extract. While admittedly fresh vanilla beans aren't cheap, like with quality chocolate, they're worth the cost for better flavor. Having been lucky enough to order fresh, plump vanilla beans through restaurant distributors, I'm nevertheless aware that the vanilla beans you find in your market's spice or baking isle can be dried out and hard. Just shake the little glass bottle containing the vanilla bean and if you hear a clinking sound instead of a thudding sound, then that bean in the bottle has seen better days.

Though I find that Whole Foods 365-brand has consistently good vanilla beans, I appreciate we don't all live near a Whole Foods Market. So you may have to buy that dry bean and bring it home with you. But all hope isn't lost, just about 10 second in the microwave, wrapped in a damp paper towel, can refresh your dry vanilla bean, allowing you to scrape out the insides with ease.

My personal favorite vanilla beans are the rare Tahitians. But ample vanilla is grown in other Rainforest-rich countries like Mexico, Indonesia, Madagascar, and the Philippines. I once got hold of some premium Mexican vanilla beans, and although I still favor Tahitian, when I cut into one of these moist and plump pods, the scent of vanilla filled my entire apartment and the insides were so large and shiny that they resembled caviar.

Adding Vanilla Bean to Any Recipe

Whether your vanilla bean is a bit dry or whether it's sent to you fresh from friends living in Tahiti, it's never a bad idea to wrap the bean in a damp paper towel and pop it in the microwave for 3-5 seconds, up to 10 if your bean is dry.

When you pull your warm, wonderful bean from the microwave, you then slit the bean in two lengthwise with a small paring knife. Once the bean is split, you scrape the insides out with the back of your knife by opening the split bean, pressing your knife down to hold it open, and running the back of your knife all the way down the inside of the bean in one motion. If you had a dry bean to begin with, you can use the cutting-edge of your knife to scrape the insides.

You can add real vanilla bean to any recipe. If you're making a recipe that calls for you to cream the butter and sugar together, add the insides of the vanilla bean to the butter and sugar before creaming. For any recipe that calls for heated milk or cream, add the vanilla to the milk/cream before heating, and also toss in the hollowed out pod and keep it in the milk/cream while you heat it—this will add even more real vanilla flavor to your dessert. You can also add the vanilla to eggs in any recipe, whisking it into the eggs before adding the eggs to the rest of your batter or dough. For obvious reasons, never add vanilla to dry ingredients.

When you're done with your bean, don't throw it out! A scraped vanilla bean can be dried out overnight just by sitting on your counter, and then you can take that shell of a bean and stick it in your sugar jar where it will infuse your sugar with the rich scent and flavor of real vanilla. If you pulled your emptied bean out of heated milk or cream, just rinse it under water before drying it.

Like I said before, I love vanilla—it's my favorite flavor, but it's also an understated and often neglected flavor in its own right. Thing is, if you want to make anything where vanilla is the star, you basically have no option other than the real vanilla bean. With everything from cupcakes, ice cream, pastry cream, and sugar cookies, without those little specs of real vanilla in the mix, you just won't get the flavor of real vanilla in the end product—and that's where you're missing out. The lack of real vanilla beans in stores and the dawn of imitation vanilla extract hasn't helped the humble vanilla bean much, but the truth is there's nothing humble about a product that costs nearly $100 per pound, tastes like heaven, and is born of delicate Orchids.

Christmas Yule Log: How to Create A Beautiful Bûche de Noël

Of all the goodies I bake for the holidays, I'd have to say that the most fun, and the one that gets the most "Oohs and Aahs" is the classic French Bûche de Noël, know here as a Christmas Yule Log. The cake is super simple, and all the real work goes into decorating. Call me silly, but I don't mind spending a couple of hours decorating a Christmas cake, it's what makes the holidays so special for me and my friends, who love to come over and help (yours will too).

I use a recipe from Jacques Pépin, for his Chocolate Roll. On his website he also has a recipe for a Bûche de Noël, but I've found that his Chocolate Roll is quicker, easier, and yummier, and the filling is a simple Chantilly (whipped heavy cream) to which you can add whatever flavoring agents you like (almond extract, Brandy, orange liquor, etc.).

Make the Cake

You'll find pretty much all of the information you need to make the chocolate roll at Jacques Pépin's website. But there's a few things I'd like to mention that aren't in his recipe. First, his "cake" is really a recipe for a chocolate soufflé, but spread into a jelly-roll pan (a cookie sheet with edges), instead of being baked in a ramekin. So while it's a quick batter, it's a very delicate one, so just go easy on it, and if you need further help, read my Baking Tips & Techniques article here at Rollick that explains the ins and outs of folding delicate batters.

When you've baked the cake, let it cool completely on a cooling rack out of the pan—in the pan the edges will continue to dry out, but leave the parchment (not waxed) paper, it's going to be important when it comes time to roll it. You can cover the sheet of cake in plastic wrap and refrigerate it overnight before filling and rolling. It should be cool or cold when you spread the Chantilly.

I actually whip the Chantilly just to the point at which it looks like I've gone a bit too far—it starts to get a tiny bit lumpy—then I stop. The reason I whip the cream this extra little bit is because it won't ooze out under the weight of the cake when you roll it, and it produces a Chantilly that is somewhat like a buttercream in that it's smooth and buttery. In Jacques Pépin's recipe, he uses confectioners sugar, vanilla extract and Kirsch, but like I said above, you can use whatever flavoring agents you like, but stick to confectioners sugar and his measurements.

Let it roll

For making the Bûche de Noël, once you've spread the cream evenly, roll—don't fold—the cake along its long side. Grab the parchment and use that as your rolling aid, removing it from the cake as you roll it by pulling it gently away with one hand while the other helps roll the cake. When it's rolled, you'll see that you can then, in the same movement, wrap the cake back into the parchment. Then wrap the whole thing in plastic wrap to chill.

You'll create the shape of the Bûche de Noël by cutting off small slices of the chocolate roll and placing them on and side-long to the main "trunk." That's why you roll it along the long edge so you get a long, thin log. But, if you want to just serve the chocolate roll as a dessert without decorating, you can roll the cake along the short side so you'll have a shorter, fatter log. This cake is so good that even without all the decorations you've got a fabulous dessert that lasts for 4 days in your fridge (well, if you don't gobble it up sooner).

Whether you turn the chocolate roll into a Bûche de Noël or serve it as is, you still need to refrigerate the completed roll overnight so it can set up well before decorating or serving.

The best part: Decorating!

A traditional Bûche de Noël is covered in a chocolate ganache, meringue mushrooms, and chocolate leaves. A thick, dark ganache, spread or poured over the log and "branches" covers everything and hides the messy "stumps" underneath. Then you just run a fork over it to make the ganache have the appearance of bark.

The mushrooms are made from a Swiss meringue, and get piped in two parts: the stem and the button top. First pipe the tops onto parchment, leaving space on the sheet pan. Bake just until they set, then pull them out of the oven and pipe the stems. Then carefully lift the tops, place them on the just-piped stems, and continue baking. I sprinkle some cocoa powder on them when cooled so they have a brown appearance. I also like to make meringue Christmas trees. With a star-shaped piping tip, pipe the meringue in the same manner as the mushrooms, starting with the smallest tree tier.

For the chocolate leaves, the easiest thing to do is to grab some Holly leaves, wash and dry them completely, and simply spread the melted white chocolate on the leaves in a (not too) thick layer and let them set in the fridge. Once the chocolate is set, you carefully peel away the leaf from the chocolate and you're left with a white chocolate leaf that has the shape, texture, and veins of the real Holly. You can always mix green food color into your melted white chocolate if you want green leaves.

When you've got your mushrooms and leaves (any maybe trees), then you just place them on and around the Bûche however you like. You can also use marzipan for mushrooms and red Holly berries, or just get creative and do your own thing!

When I do my Bûche de Noël, I never make it alone. Friends are always happy to help, and as you'll make way more mushrooms, trees and leaves than you can use on the Bûche, you all can nibble on them as you decorate. The holidays are all about getting together with the people we love, and for me, they're also about making the food I love. Having a Bûche decorating party is a unique way to bring people and food together for a holiday tradition that goes way beyond cookies.
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