Valentine's Day Recipes

"Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own."- Robert Heinlein I am sure you want to impress you valentine in every way possible and food is an integral part of being happy. So here are some of the recipes that you can try on Valentine’s Day as breakfast, or brunch and dinner.

Beer-Boiled Valentines Shrimp

Ingredients:

• 2 lb Shrimp; cleaned & deveined
• 3 ea Whole peppercorns
• 2 c Beer
• 2 Small onions; sliced
• 1 Bay leaf
• 1 Clove garlic
• 1/2 Lemon; quartered
• 2 Celery ribs
• 2 tbs of Salt

Preparation:

Take some beer in a large pot and add garlic, onion, bay leaf, celery, peppercorns, and salt. Boil the mixture then lower down the heat and simmer it for about another 10 minutes. Now add lemon and shrimp to beer and again simmer for approximately 15 minutes. Remove the shrimps and the beer from heat, let it cool, and drain. Peel off the shells of the shrimp and chill well.

Quiche (Southern Egg Pie)

Ingredients:

• 1 (12 ounce) package spicy ground pork sausage
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked deep dish pie crust
• 1/2 cup Ranch-style salad dressing
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 4 eggs
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 (8 ounce) package Cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 dash hot pepper sauce
• 1 pinch white sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter

Preparation:

An oven would be required for this dish, which has to be preheated to 425 degrees F. In the meantime the butter should be heated in a skillet over moderate heat. Saute the pieces onion until they become soft. Now add the sausage, and cook until they are evenly brown. Then drain, crumble, and set them aside. Now take a medium sized bowl, whisk some eggs and spread the dressing and milk. Stir a little amount of shredded cheese and season with hot sauce, pepper, salt and sugar. Spread the sausage mix at the bottom of crust and cover with egg mixture, and shake it lightly to remove the extra air, and also to level contents. Now bake these things in the preheated oven for about 15 to 25 minutes after which lower the temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for approximately an hour. As the filling puffs up and turns golden brown, remove it from oven and let it cool for about ten minutes.

Chicken in Champagne and Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients:

• 3 cups sliced mushrooms
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 cup champagne or any other white wine
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

Preparation:

Take a small bowl in which mix the flour, pepper and salt. Cover the chicken breasts in this mixture though do it only one at a time and place them on a plate. Then take a skillet to heat the olive oil over moderate heat and add the chicken breasts and cook them quickly until they are lightly browned on both sides. See to it that the chicken is browned but not cooked through. Remove the chicken from the skillet and put the butter into it, then put in the mushrooms. Now cook and stir these frequently until the mushrooms have released their liquid and it has evaporated. Now put in the champagne and stir, then put in the cream and boil it. Then lower the heat and let the sauce simmer for approximately 5-10 minutes. Put the chicken breasts to the skillet again, drawing them close into the mushroom sauce, lower the heat to medium and cook, until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce thickens which takes about 6 to 8 minutes. Serve this with crusty bread or steamed rice to soak up the sauce immediately