Valentine’s

Three Easy Valentine’s Day Breakfasts

Feb 12, 2013 By Cheri in Breakfast, Valentine's 4 Comments Tags: breakfast, easy, eggs, pancakes, smoothie, strawberry, three, toast, valentine's day

I know some people king of have a thing against Valentine’s Day – that it’s a hallmark holiday. But, I think February would be awfully dreary without it. A day set aside to celebrate love? Why not? Count me in! Besides, I don’t go out and buy stuff for Valentine’s Day, I make it myself (it being FOOD). Which, in my opinion, is one of the best ways to show that you love someone – make something.

And what better way to kick off a day of love then with an extra special breakfast. Even if the rest of the day, you all head off in different directions, a special breakfast brings you together at the start of the day, guaranteeing some time well spent enjoying each others company.

In light of that, I’ve got three delicious recipes for you today. They’re all uber simple and easy to make. And, they’re all different enough that hopefully you’ll find one here that brings a smile to someone you love.

P.S. For more Valentine’s Day recipes head here.

Egg in a Heart

For a savory treat take a favourite – egg in a hole – and switch it up with a fun heart shape. It’s so easy to make and should satisfy any toast and egg lover.

If you don’t have a heart shaped cutter you can use a sharp knife to cut the shape. It’s probably obvious that, that’s what I did in the photo above, because for some strange reason I still have yet to buy a heart shaped cookie cutter. But, I personally like it when things look a bit rustic (and homemade) so I’m fine with it. Plus they still made my kids happy and that’s all the matters, right? :)

Egg in a Heart

1 slice bread
butter
1 egg
salt and pepper, to taste
dried parsley, optional

Cut a heart shape out of a slice of bread. Place a nob of butter into a skillet that has been preheated over medium heat. Once melted add bread, along with heart shaped cut out. Break egg into the centre of the hole, season with salt and pepper. Once the bottom is toasted and browned flip the bread, egg, and cutout. Cook until bread is toasted and egg is cooked as desired. Sprinkle with a bit of parsley, to serve.

Serves: 1

Sweetheart Smoothies

This two-layer smoothie is so luscious, it just tastes like a special treat. It’s starts with a layer of creamy strawberry smoothie and is topped with another layer of raspberry. It doesn’t make perfect layers but when you swirl them together with a straw it creates an ombre effect – so gorgeous! The taste is so decadent, the mouth-feel so smooth, it kind of feels like dessert for breakfast.

Sweetheart Smoothies

Strawberry Layer

1 cup frozen strawberries
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 cup unsweetened apple juice
1 tablespoon liquid honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Raspberry Layer

1 cup frozen raspberries
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
3/4 cup unsweetened apple juice
1 tablespoon liquid honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Place all ingredients for strawberry layer in a blender. Blend until smooth. Pour into 2 large, or 4 small, serving glasses. Immediately fill blender with raspberry layer ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour over strawberry layer. Swirl with a straw, if desired, to make an ombre effect. Serve immediately.

Makes: 2 large or 4 small servings

Strawberry Heart Pancakes

Strawberry pancakes in the shape of hearts may sound like a lot of work, but I promise, it’s not. To make the hearts you simply put the batter into a ziploc bag, snip the end and pipe heart shapes onto a preheated skillet. And, these light and tender pancakes have only one extra step to regular ones – pureeing the strawberries to put in the batter. See? What’d I say? Easy peasy.

I chose to use frozen berries since the fresh ones at the store are so expensive and bland this time of year. I also chose to puree them because I find that chunks of strawberry tend to give pancakes a still-raw texture wherever the strawberries are. Definitely not the case here. The strawberry flavour is quite subtle but they do lend the pancakes such a pretty shade of pink, and when served with a spoonful of warm strawberries on top, it tastes like strawberry pancake heaven.

Strawberry Heart Pancakes

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 heaping cup frozen strawberries, thawed
1/2 cup milk (approximately)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 large egg
thawed strawberries (warmed) and maple syrup, to serve

Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Place thawed strawberries into a blender. Blend until smooth. Pour strawberry puree into a liquid measuring cup, add milk to equal 1 cup total. Whisk in oil, egg and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until evenly moistened (lumps are fine).

Preheat a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Spoon in 1/4 cup batter. Allow to cook until edges have set and bubbles pop on top. Flip over and cook until browned on other side. Place cooked pancakes on a plate and put in an oven turned to the lowest setting, to keep warm. Continue with remaining batter.

Serve with additional thawed strawberries and maple syrup, if desired.

To make heart shaped pancakes: Pour batter into a zip top bag, push out excess air and seal the top, snip of a corner of the bag (alternately you could use a pastry bag with a round tip). Squeeze the batter into heart shapes, filling in the centres as you go. The batter will be quite runny so you will need to turn the bag upside down to stop the flow (I put mine upside down in a cup while I wasn’t using it). Cook as instructed above.

Makes approximately: 9 pancakes

Puff Pastry Pudding Hearts

Feb 14, 2012 By Cheri in Kids, Pastries, Sweets, Valentine's 9 Comments Tags: chocolate, dessert, hearts, pudding, puff pastry, quick, valentines

I couldn”t resist throwing in one last Valentine”s Day treat. This is a great last-minute dessert if you haven”t nailed anything down for tonight yet. Or, it would even be a fun after school project with the kids.

Reminiscent of éclairs, these puff pastry pillows are filled with homemade vanilla pudding and drizzled with chocolate. Don”t let the thought of homemade vanilla pudding scare you. It”s so simple to make. With this type of dessert I like to serve the pudding warm but if you want to make it ahead and serve it cold that”s possible too.

These puff pastry hearts are super simple to make, whether you have a heart-shaped cutter or not. I currently don”t have one so I just used a paring knife to cut out the shapes – this way you can get a little variances in the designs, which I think is kind of fun too.

Happy Valentine”s Day! I hope you have a fabulous day celebrating with the ones you love. xox

Puff Pastry Pudding Hearts

1 sheet puff pastry (from a 17.3 oz. box), thawed

1 recipe vanilla pudding (below)

2 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Unfold pastry onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cut out hearts using a heart shaped cookie cutter or a paring knife*. Remove excess dough (you can bake the scraps on a separate baking sheet if you like). If you feel that the pastry has warmed up too much place back in the fridge for a couple of minutes. Bake at 400ºF for 10-12 minutes or until golden. Remove to wire wracks to cool.

Once ready to serve, split puff pastry hearts in half, top bottom half with a couple spoonfuls of pudding, replace top and drizzle with chocolate. Serve immediately.

*If using a paring knife try to avoid dragging the knife through the dough as this can cause the layers to seal closed and you won”t get as much puff.

Makes approximately 9 hearts (depending on size).

Vanilla Pudding

1 1/4 cups milk, divided

2 tablespoons flour

1/4 cup sugar

pinch salt

1 egg yolk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Bring 1 cup milk to a boil in a small saucepan set over medium-high heat, stirring often.

Meanwhile mix together flour, sugar and salt. Slowly whisk in 1/4 cup milk, making sure there are no lumps. Whisk in egg yolk.

Slowly whisk flour mixture into hot milk. Bring back to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Allow to cool slightly, serve warm.

To serve cold: place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding, to avoid a skin from forming, and refrigerate.

Triple Chocolate Cupcakes

Feb 10, 2012 By Cheri in Cakes, Chocolate, Sweets, Valentine's 22 Comments Tags: chocolate, chopped, cupcake, filled, frosting, ganache, triple

I couldn’t pass up the chance to make a chocolately, decadent treat in honor of Valentine’s Day. They are pretty much best buds after all. And, can you believe there’s not a single cupcake recipe on this blog? I couldn’t. I even had to double check my archives to make sure one didn’t slip in there somewhere. But, there wasn’t a single one to be found. Craziness, I tell you. So I’m here today to share my inaugural cupcake recipe with you and what better way to start it off then with something über chocolatey.

I think cupcakes are a great project for beginning bakers. They’re less intimidating than layered cakes and much easier to decorate. And besides, they’re just plain cute.

These cupcakes start off with a moist chocolate cupcake that’s both light in flavour and texture. I prefer my cupcakes not to be too sweet because they’re going to be topped with all sorts of sugary goodness. I decided to go a bit chocolate crazy this time around. There are three layers of ganache – in the centre of the cupcakes, directly on top of the cupcakes and drizzled on the frosting. A rich chocolate frosting swirls on the top with a sprinkling of chopped chocolate. A chocolate lovers dream for sure.

The best part about these is, once they’ve been sitting in the fridge chilling out, they become even more rich and the texture of the frosting becomes almost truffle like. One cupcake is definitely enough to get your chocolate fix. At first I was worried the frosting might be too sweet but paired with this cupcake and the silky ganache, it’s pure magic.

Triple Chocolate Cupcakes

The frosting sets up very quickly so you’ll want to use it right away. Also, it’s sets up nice and firm so it’s easy to cover the cupcakes loosely with plastic wrap, once they’ve set up, without ruining the piping job.

Chocolate Sour Cream Cupcakes

1.5 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 cup boiling water

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 large eggs

Sift flour, sugars, baking soda and salt through a fine-mesh sieve. Set aside.

Place chocolate, butter and cocoa into a large bowl. Pour boiling water over. Let sit for 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Whisk in vanilla, sour cream, buttermilk and eggs until well combined. Add dry ingredients, whisking until smooth.

Spoon 1/4 cup batter into regular-sized muffin tins prepared with cupcake liners (about 15). Bake at 350ºF for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let cool 5 minutes before removing to cool on a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.

Ganache

4 oz semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped

1/2 cup whipping cream, steaming hot

Place chocolate in a bowl. Pour cream over chocolate and let sit for 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Let cool to room temperature.

Chocolate Frosting

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/3 cup whipping cream

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 pound confectioners sugar

Place butter, cream and salt in the bowl of a mixer. Sift cocoa through a fine-mesh sieve set over the mixing bowl. Mix on medium-speed until creamy. Add vanilla. Sift confectioners sugar into mixing bowl through a fine-mesh sieve. Beat on low to combine; turn speed to medium and beat for 6 minutes until creamy and fluffy. Icing will be quite stiff.

Assembly

1 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

Cut out a small cone in the centre of each cupcake. Discard scraps. Spoon ganache into each cupcake and spread a small amount over the top to smooth it out. Pipe on frosting in desired fashion (I used an Ateco 808 tip). Drizzle with remaining ganache, heating up if necessary. Garnish with chopped chocolate.

Makes: 15 + cupcakes

Cupcake recipe adapted from My Recipes. Frosting adapted from My Recipes.

A Romantic Dinner for Two – Three Easy Recipes

Feb 8, 2012 By Cheri in Simple Bites, Valentine's 2 Comments

Cheese Stuffed Roasted Red Peppers + Garlic Ham Fettuccine + Instant Strawberry Frozen Yogurt with Chocolate Shell = One quick and easy three-course meal perfect for those times when you need to squeeze in a romantic date, at home, after the kids are in bed. I”m sharing the recipes and some tips on how to get it to the table even faster on Simple Bites today.

“There haven’t been many years that my hubby and I have actually been able to go out for dinner on Valentine’s Day. Whether it be because of a new baby, lack of babysitters, sick kids or just wanting to avoid the crowds, there are many reasons to stay in and enjoy a romantic evening together at home. It may seem impossible with kids, but it’s much easier to accomplish then one might think.

It all starts with a simple meal that can be brought together quickly once the kids are tucked in their beds and quiet has settled over the home. I can’t guarantee that the kids will stay quiet or that things will go smoothly but these recipes are so quick and so simple you should be able to enjoy a romantic three-course meal in the candlelight before the craziness begins again.”

Read more and get the recipes on Simple Bites.

Nutella Love Letter Pancakes

Feb 7, 2012 By Cheri in Breakfast, Kids, Valentine's 8 Comments Tags: fluffy, light, message, nutella, pancakes, piping, soy, valentines, vanilla

Growing up my mom always did something special for us kids on Valentine”s Day. Usually a little goodie basket and a cute valentine. We knew the evening would be my parents time together but she always made sure to do something special for us during the day. My own kids don”t really know much about Valentine”s Day yet but I know they will soon and I”d like to continue that tradition.

These pancakes are a fun way to make your family (or just someone you love) feel special on Valentine”s Day. I think kids would have a blast making their own designs too. Everyone can decorate one for someone else. The nutella designs are baked right in, so there”s no smudging before they get to the table.

This time I used a new favourite – Vanilla Soy Pancakes. They”re light and fluffy and help me use up the soy milk before it goes bad in my fridge. You could use milk + vanilla in place of the soy milk if you like, or try my other favourite pancakes made with homemade baking mix. They”re eggy, rich and buttery. It all depends on what you”re in the mood for.

Now get out there and write love letters on pancakes!

Nutella Love Letter Pancakes

Vanilla Soy Pancakes

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup vanilla soy milk
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 large egg

Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Whisk together soy milk, oil and egg. Stir in dry ingredients just until evenly moistened (lumps are fine).

Pre-heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Spoon in 1/4 cup batter. Allow to cook until edges have set and bubbles pop on top. Flip over and cook until browned on other side. Place cooked pancakes on a plate and in an oven turned to the lowest setting. Continue with remaining batter.

Nutella Piping Syrup

1/4 cup nutella
3 teaspoons milk

Whisk milk into nutella one teaspoon at a time until smooth and pourable. Pour into a squeeze bottle or resealable plastic bag with one corner snipped off.

How-to Make Love Letter Pancakes

Cook pancakes according to directions but before flipping, once they are slightly set, pipe words or designs onto the pancake. Once the pancake is ready to flip, flip it over and cook until browned on the other side. Serve nutella-side up.

Use any extra nutella to pipe messages on plates or drizzle over pancakes along with syrup.

Makes: 9 pancakes

Pancake recipe adapted from Martha Stewart.

Quick Chicken Parmigiana

Sep 30, 2011 By Cheri in Fall, Main Dish, Pasta, Poultry, Valentine's 12 Comments Tags: chicken, easy, healthier, homemade, parmesan, parmigiana, quick, shake n bake, valentines

I used to not be a fan of chicken and tomatoes together. There was something about it that just seemed off to me. Give me cream with my chicken and tomatoes with my beef! That”s what I used to think. I”m not sure what changed my mind. I guess a part of growing up is that your palate begins to change and things you didn”t like before suddenly become appealing.

I”ve been making this dish for quite a few months now. It”s one of my absolute favourite things to eat. Every time I eat it, it tastes even better than I remember and I wonder why I don”t make it more often (because I”m too busy trying new recipes, that”s why!).

This Chicken Parmigiana is not authentic and to be honest I haven”t found an authentic recipe that I”ve liked… yet. But the pictures always look so tasty that I had to give it a go on my own. This version is faster, through the use of homemade shake”n bake, and healthier, since we”re baking it in the oven rather than shallow-frying it in oil.

Basil is my must-have fresh herb. If you”re going to find one potted herb hanging in my kitchen, it will be basil. The flavour is so completely different then the dried variety and you can use it in so many different dishes, that it won”t have to go to waste. We use it most often in this dish, BLT Chicken Burgers, Spaghetti Bolognese, Sun-dried Tomato, Feta and Basil Bruschetta and Basil and Prosciutto Chicken Cordon Bleu. Definitely a worthy purchase.

This meal comes together in under 30 minutes. It may be a step away from the original but what it lacks in fat it more then makes up for in flavour. It has become one of our favourite weeknight meals and I”m hoping it”s a hit with your family as well.

Quick Chicken Parmigiana

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/4 cup homemade shake”n bake

2 tablespoons grated parmesan

1 (500g) jar pasta sauce (or 1 2/3 cups)

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

250g spaghetti

sliced cheese, extra parmesan and basil

Cut chicken breasts in half widthwise to create 4 thin chicken breasts. Flatten with the heel of your hand until approximately even thickness. Mix together shake”n bake and parmesan. Coat chicken in shake”n bake mixture. Place on an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 400ºF for 10 minutes, or until cooked through.

Meanwhile, combine pasta sauce, garlic and basil in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer and keep warm. Cook spaghetti according to package directions.

Once chicken is cooked through, remove and set the oven to broil. Top each chicken breast with a large spoonful of pasta sauce, a slice of cheese, some grated parmesan and a sprinkling of basil. Place under broiler until cheese is bubbly.

Serve spaghetti topped with pasta sauce and a chicken breast.

Makes: 4 servings

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