ROMANTIC FOOD IDEAS FOR VALENTINE'S DAY

It's the time of the year again when everyone is feeling romantic.  I know, I should've posted this last week to give you guys time to prepare for the ingredients but I guess, last minute grocery shopping today is not too late. If there is any time of the year to get corny, mushy, or brave, it's now so go ahead and take this opportunity! :-)

Here' are some food ideas to make your loved ones feel special on the day of hearts.

Treat a loved one to breakfast in bed... Serve this heart shaped french toast with crisp bacon and maple syrup. This is fairly easy to make. You just need a heart shaped cutter to cut the bread.  You may serve this with a side of eggs... I like mine over easy. Then, make some good coffee or tea, or hot chocolate then top with a heart shaped marshmallow or spray whipped cream -heart shape of course. 


Here's the recipe below:

FRENCH TOAST WITH BACON AND MAPLE SYRUP

Recipe By: AAA

Ingredients:

1 piece egg

3 tablespoons milk

1/2 tablespoon sugar

1-2 tablespoons

3 pieces slice bread cut into heart shape

1 tablespoon butter

3 strips bacon, cooked 'til crisp

2-3 tablespoons maple syrup

Directions:

1.  Combine eggs, milk and sugar in a dish.  Mix well until combined.

2.  On medium heat, melt about 1-2 tsps. of butter on a non-stick griddle or saute pan.

3.  Dip bread on the egg mixture making sure that all sides are coated but don't soak too long as they will become soggy.

4.  Heat the griddle to medium high heat.  Melt some butter, then add the bread. Cook for about 1 minute per side or until golden in color.

5.  Place bacon strips diagonally on a plate, then top with the french toast. Drizzle with maple syrup. Serve warm.   

 Here are some scones, use the heart shaped cookie cutter as well for this.  You may also serve this for breakfast or for tea time with friends in the afternoon.  Serve with clotted cream and an assortment of jams.  This is best eaten as soon as they're baked, though, you may always reheat them in the toaster oven.

 Ok, for this one, these are almond cookie crisps or wafer thins... I turned them into ice cream sandwiches for some lasting dessert impressions.

 For your main entree, you may make this... Easy Pork Chops with Cranberry Sauce.  This is fairly easy to make.  It cooks in less than 30 minutes. With something as easy as this, there's time to think of other more important things on this special day.  


PORK CHOPS WITH ORANGE CRANBERRY SAUCE
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Recipe By: AAA

Ingredients:

2 pieces pork chops
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
SAUCE
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 tablespoon orange marmalade
2 tablespoons cranberry sauce 
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1.  Season pork chops with salt and pepper.

2.  Heat olive oil in a saute pan on high heat.  Sear pork chops 3-5 minutes per side.

3.  Remove from heat and transfer in a plate.

4.  Meanwhile, lower the heat to medium.  On the same saute pan, gradually add the orange juice and marmalade.  Add the  cranberry sauce.  Bring to a slow simmer for 2-3 minutes or until slightly thickened.  Season with salt and pepper.

5.  Remove sauce from heat and pour over the pork chops before serving.  Serve with mashed potatoes or herbed rice.

To start off the dinner, you may serve this...Cream of Asparagus soup with heart shaped croutons. It's actually the garnish that makes this very presentable and appropriate for this occasion but here's a bit of information...Asparagus as a vegetable is in the aphrodisiac list :-)

 Other ideas that have a hint of red that you can make to eat with the family or give to a loved one is this... Raspberry Almond Meringue Bars and this next one...

Red velvet cupcakes...instead of putting the silver dragees, you may sprinkle these with heart shape candy sprinkles or pipe an XOXO on top of the cupcakes.  Both recipes may be found in the Home Cafe cookbook.


Ok, hope these ideas have been helpful.  Do let me know if you have questions.  Happy Valentine's Day to all!!!

EGGS FOR BREAKFAST

This is what I had for breakfast today, soft boiled egg with toasted bread sticks. I hardly cook eggs this way but I've been reading a lot about eggs lately so I decided to give it a try to having it this way today.

Here are a few pointers to getting it right...you can do it in two ways. The first one would be to boil water in a saucepan then turn the heat off. Using a ladle, slowly immerse the room temperature egg in the freshly boiled water. Cover with the lid and allow to steep for 4 minutes. The second way is to place room temperature eggs in a saucepan and fill the pan with water, enough to submerge the eggs. Heat on medium heat and as soon as the water boils, allow to boil for 1 1/2 minutes. The egg whites will be slightly set and the yolks will still be runny.

To serve, immediately place egg in an egg cup and tap the pointed end of the egg using a spoon to take off the top. Serve with toasted bread sliced into sticks so you can easily dip them in the silky and creamy yolks.

Have a good egg morning!

EGGS BENEDICT FOR MY BIRTHDAY BREAKFAST

I wasn't kidding when I said that I was going to have eggs benedict for breakfast on my special day. If there's one thing that I wish I could eat everyday for breakfast, this would be it!

There are several places to get eggs benedict. Most hotels would probably have it but there's this one place that I always go to for it and it's in Apartment 1B in Makati. I went there with my good friend Cathy and enjoyed the rest of the morning there. We also ordered the orange french toast which we didn't have space for anymore so we just took it home for Sabrina to try.

I read the newspaper and sipped my cappuccino while waiting for our food to arrive. Oooh I have to tell you, I had a smile on my face when I saw the waiter with our orders. The egg was perfectly poached and it really went well with the bearnaise sauce. I love the side of sauteed potatoes and the mini salad with vinaigrette.
This is my plate halfway through the dish. I was getting full already but I managed to finish it. No lunch for me that day. Next meal was tea time with my other girl friends...

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS FOR BREAKFAST

Oh what a nice and relaxing Sunday! I woke up today and craved for blueberry muffins so in my pajamas, I went down to the kitchen and prepared my ingredients for my muffins. I'm lucky because I always keep a bag of frozen blueberries in my freezer. The batter is fairly easy to make, just make sure that the proportions are correct and DO NOT OVER BEAT, mix it just until it's combined.

As soon as the muffins came out from the oven, I allowed them to cool slightly while I got my Vietnamese moka coffee ready. Mmmmm.... the muffins were very moist with a crunchy top and a blueberry in every bite. So, there's my perfect Sunday morning!!!

Tomorrow, on my special day, I already know what I want for breakfast...Eggs Benedict!!! I have a place in mind where to have it but if there's anyone there though who can give a suggestion where to have it too, let me know... I can probably give it a try :-)

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

Ingredients:

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup oil

1 1/3 cups buttermilk

1 piece egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups frozen blueberries

STREUSEL

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup light brown sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Line muffin tins with paper cups

2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.

3. In another bowl, whisk together oil, buttermilk, egg, and vanilla. Pour over the flour mixture. Mix just until combined.

4. Add the frozen blueberries.

5. Using a 2 oz. ice cream scooper, scoop the batter over the muffin cups.

6. Make the streusel. Combine the flour, butter and light brown sugar and mix until it resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle top of scooped batter with about 1 tablespoon streusel.

7. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until top is golden. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving.