Valentine's Day Recipe Competition

Hello all! I am very excited to be holding my first Valentine's Day Recipe Competition.

The Rules:

1) Post the recipe on your blog (or re-post/bump up an old recipe).
2) Add the following contest link to the body of your recipe:
The Alchemist Chef's Valentine's Day Recipe Competition
3) Add a comment below, posting the name of your blog, the name of the submitted recipe and a link to that recipe.
4) Only one recipe per day may be submitted

Recipes will be judged on:

Creativity
Presentation
Use of unusual or exciting ingredients

The Timeline:

Recipes may be submitted until Midnight, February 10th (Eastern time) and winners will be announced at Noon (Eastern Time), Friday the 13th. Prizes will be shipped the following Monday.

The Prizes:

The 1st place winner will have their choice of 1 of 2 prize options: Vanilla Beans or a KitchenAid Food Chopper. They will also be featured on my website for the month following the competition.

The runner-up will be featured on my website for the month following the competition.

Unfortunately, prizes may only be shipped to those living within the United States. If you want to enter, live outside the U.S. and your recipe is best, you will be featured on my website, but I cannot mail you a prize.

A Stress-Free Valentine's Day - Part 2

Try to plan your Valentine's Dinner Menu a week or so ahead of time. Look through circulars to see what is on sale for some inspiration/savings. Bookmark recipes found on the internet or in your cookbooks and write down your menu so that you can look them up later, once you have begun cooking.

Once you have your ingredients and menu, buy your ingredients 2 days before you plan to cook (this includes wine, champagne or booze). If you are making something like beef stew, which can sit overnight and develop further flavors, then just buy your ingredients 1 day ahead. You do not want to buy meats too early as they will go bad or need to be frozen. Vegetables should be kept in the refrigerator with the exception of tomatoes-these need to ripen outside of the fridge and turn starchy rather than sweet if refrigerated. An additional benefit to early shopping is that you may need to go to more than 1 grocery store to find your ingredients, and that extra day will cut down on your stress. Nothing worse than find out last minute that you are lacking the integral ingredient for your dish!

Clean serving dishes, silverware (especially if you are using good silver!), wine glasses etc the day before the big meal. Clean champagne flutes and rise extremely well; any leftover soap residue will inhibit bubbles from forming, making the champagne appear flat. Using a cloth napkin and a little water, you can remove residue from other glasses and silverware for a clean and shiny appearance.

The night before, prepare ingredients. Chop any onions, garlic, celery, etc and store in plastic baggies or Tupperware. If cooking with chicken, wash with cool water and cut off gristle/fat. Cut meat into desired pieces, place in bowl, cover and refrigerate. Most sauces or soups can sit in the fridge overnight until needed the next day. If you can, make you dessert the night before. Get as much "prep work" done as you can, and do all of your dirty dishes the night before!!!!!

The morning of your Valentine's meal, tidy up bedroom area and bathroom. Check to see that you have enough toilet paper, soap, a hand towel and tissues available. Make sure your or your roommate's items are not laying about the apartment, put them in their proper location.

Set your table! Clean surface of dining table and cover with tablecloth. Set table with plates, napkins, silverware and glassware. Place vase in middle of table and add flowers later. Put salt, pepper and any similar items on table. Arrange centerpieces and candles. Setting your table the morning of will decrease stress as the clock ticks down. Have red wine on the table or white, rose or sparkling wine in the fridge.

Prepare your dishes so that you can saute/bake/fry them as soon as your guest arrives. Clean and put away dishes. If preparing a salad, have this ready and covered in your fridge. Have saute pan, soup pots, stirring spoons or spatulas ready on stove top with olive oil and spices. Try to have the above done 2 hours pre-meal time.

Take a shower and get ready at a leisurely place. It might be a good idea for you to have ONE glass of wine while you are awaiting your guest. Once they arrive, take their coat and offer them a drink. You do not need to rush into the kitchen, rather this may seem hurried or even rude. Socialize for a bit then start cooking. And don't forget, smile and enjoy yourself and your company. A pleasant demeanor adds more to a meal than a perfectly cooked steak.

Have a Happy Valentine's Day!

A Stress-Free Valentine's Day-Part 1

So I love to throw and attend dinner parties, but I often see the host or hostess running around to get everything ready, stressed and unable to really relax and enjoy the evening.

As Valentine's Day is coming up in 2 weeks, many people will be cooking at home. To avoid a stressful and tiring day, plan ahead!

Music is an important part of romantic ambiance. Create a play list on your computer, or burn a mixed CD. If you have a music collection, great. If not, the public library is a great place to borrow CDs. Pick out your music a week ahead of time, if you can. Write it down and make sure to download, buy or borrow the music at least 3 days pre-meal.

Candles create soft, flattering lighting and add to the atmosphere. Be careful to choose unscented candles for your dinner table. You don't want the scents competing with your food, which can create a slightly-nauseating experience. Candles for your room, or elsewhere can and should be scented. Choose a candle with a subtle vanilla, lilac or cinnamon scent.

Rather than clean your apartment or house the day of the event, clean a few days ahead of time, touching up the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom the day of. Avoid clutter which is distracting. You don't want your date gazing at piles of dirty dishes-you want them gazing adoringly into your eyes!

Pick up your flower centerpiece the day before and keep in the refrigerator to avoid the petals from wilting.

I will post more tomorrow about the actual meal, recipe choices and presentation.

Aphrodisiacs: Grilled Peaches with Vanilla Cream

The scent of vanilla is sexy and erotic yet sweet and innocent. And tests conducted at the Institute for Smell and Taste in Chicago (really?) found that the aroma was a powerful stimulant to men.

The peach is a food that is seen to symbolize female curves. The taste, smell, touch and feel of the peach has been compared to many female attributes. Peaches also supply healthy vitamin C-which may boost fertility in men. (Note to ladies: vanilla stimulates and vitamin C increases fertility in men. Be aware. Be smart).

For Peaches:
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoons (packed) dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 medium-size ripe but firm peaches, halved, pitted

For Vanilla Cream:
1/2 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chilled heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

Scrape seeds from vanilla bean with tip of a knife into a bowl. Add cream and sugar and beat with an electric mixer until cream just holds soft peaks. Keep in freezer while preparing peaches.

Heat butter, sugar and lemon juice in small saucepan until syrupy; mix in vanilla and set aside.

Meanwhile, prepare grill to medium-high heat, or turn oven to broil. Arrange peach halves, cut side up, on baking sheet; sprinkle peaches with syrup. Place peaches on grill, sugared side down. Grill until tender and slightly charred, about 4 minutes per side.

Transfer peach halves to plates. Serve peaches pit-side up and top with vanilla cream.

I am entering this in Mele Cotte's Kitchen of Love Aphrodisiac Contest

Aphrodisiacs: White Truffle Fondue

There is something mysterious, exotic and seductive about the truffle. Trufficulteurs venture into dark forests during the beginning of dawn to search out these elusive mushrooms. But, are truffles in fact an aphrodisiac? There is some scientific backing to this claim. However, do not read the next paragraph if you are easily grossed out.

Sows instinctively seek out truffles as the mushrooms give off scents identical to a pheromone with a strong musky smell similar to that found in the sexual organs of the boar and transferred to the salivary glands during arousal. Basically, truffles smell like pig love. How romantic.

Ingredients:
6 oz. Italian Fontina, trimmed of rind and cut small chunks
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons flour
1 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 ounce Taleggio cheese, trimmed of rind
1 tablespoon white truffle oil

To serve with fondue:
1 baguette
Grape tomatoes
Small boiled potatoes
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Sauteed mushrooms
Diced chicken

Toss Fontina, garlic and flour together in a medium heat-proof bowl, stir in milk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

Stir Parmesan cheese and butter into bowl with garlic-cheese-milk mixture. Set bowl over a medium pot of gently simmering water over medium-low heat and add white wine. Cook, stirring constantly, until cheese is completely melted, 15-20 minutes. Add Taleggio and stir until it melts into Fontina, about 2 minutes. Stir in truffle oil.

Divide melted cheese between 4 soup bowls. Serve with your choice of suggested accompaniments.

Bésame Mucho

Agavero is a 100% agave tequila infused with the essence of the Damiania flower, known in Mexico for centuries as a potent aphrodisiac.

Ingredients for 2 Cocktails:
4 lime wedges
12 raspberries
4 oz Agavero
Passion fruit juice
3 oz Chambord
Cane sugar

Muddle limes and 10 raspberries in a highball glass. Add tequila and Chambord. Pour into cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well.

Run rims of chilled martini glasses in cane sugar. Strain liquor into martini glasses and top off with passion fruit juice. Place a raspberry floating in each glass and serve!

Aphrodisiacs: Oysters 3 Ways

The word "aphrodisiac" was born when Aphrodite emerged from the sea on an oyster shell. Because the goddess of love was said to be born from the sea, many types of seafood have reputations as aphrodisiacs.

Some people believe in a "law of similarity," that is, food resembling genitalia may possess sexual powers. Others state that the mere belief that oysters enhance sexual desire and performace creates a psychosomatic response and their bodies respond to the belief-due to the mind, not the oysters.

However, oysters gained their reputation at a time many people were zinc deficient-which affects sexual desire and pleasure. Oysters contain just about the most zinc of any food. Thus, the addition of oysters to a zinc-deficient diet, would definitely lead to an increased sex drive.

True or not, the belief of oysters' awesome powers continues. In honor of Aphrodite, and oysters :) I have included 3 oysters recipes in this post. The first is from MarthaStewartLiving.

Chanterelle and Parmesan Oysters:

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup minced shallots
6 ounces chanterelle mushrooms, rinsed, drained, patted dry, and cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons creme fraiche
Freshly ground black pepper
1 dozen extra-small (2 to 3 inches long) Pacific oysters, shucked and drained, bottom shells reserved
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Preheat broiler. In a small skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add shallots and cook for 1 minute.

Stir in chanterelles and lemon juice and cook, until the chanterelles release their liquid, about 1 minute. Stir in parsley and creme fraiche. Season with pepper.

Scrub reserved oyster shells and dry.

Place an oyster in each shell and spoon about 1/2 teaspoon of the chanterelle mixture onto each oyster. Sprinkle with cheese.

Place oysters in a heatproof dish and broil about 6 inches from heat source until bubbly, about 2 minutes. Serve immediately

Artichoke and Oyster Soup

Ingredients:
1 stick of butter
4 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
1/2 medium onion, minced
1/4 small green pepper, minced
1 1/4 rib celery celery, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 14 oz cans artichoke hearts, chopped
12 oysters, rinsed well, removed from shells (careful to remove any shell fragments!)
8 ounces baby bellas, chopped
1/2 cup evaporated skim milk
3 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup of dry white wine.
Salt and pepper, to taste.

Heat the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until golden. Add the onions, green pepper, celery and garlic. Saute, stirring occasionally, about 7-10 minutes.

Add the milk, whisking constantly to keep the mixture smooth.

Add the mushrooms and oysters and cook until oysters are wilted and edges curled. Remove the oysters and chop them into small pieces.

Add the quartered artichoke hearts and oysters to the soup and enough of the chicken broth to make soup consistent.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Just before serving, add Parmesan cheese and dry white wine and let the soup simmer a few minutes longer.

Oysters on the Half Shell

Ingredients:
12 oysters on the half shell
1 lemon, sliced into wedges
Piri-piri sauce
A mignonette of your choice

Pick up one of the oysters by the shell. Squeeze lemon over oyster, or spoon a little sauce over oyster.

Use a small fork, like a cocktail fork, detach the oyster from its shell.

When you are sure the oyster is no longer attached to the shell, put the edge of the shell against your bottom lip.

Slurp the oyster into your mouth.

Enjoy!