Thursday, February 11, 2010

How to Make an Easy, Romantic Valentine's Day/Anniversary Dinner

I know it's not so popular to say that I'm not into Valentine's Day because I'd rather be given flowers or candy on a random Tuesday, not because Hallmark tells you to show me you love me. For more, I wrote a review of Valentine's Day. Little did I know it would cause such an uproar, and surprisingly enough, most of my naysayers were men. But, like I told them, I'm not super anti-VD, I just don't like to get caught up in the craziness of it. I usually reserve that for Christmas LOL. Unfortunately, I missed our 3 year anniversary on Feb. 4th, so we postponed it until this weekend which happens to be V Day weekend. Luckily for me, I can combine both celebrations into one dinner at home that I had wanted to impress him with anyhow and that I can share with you guys that don't want to get caught up in the craziness of it but, still want to show your special someone that they're...er...special.

So, let me know if I'm crazy but, I'm thinking Baked Chicken with Herb Skin and Roasted Garlic Cream Gravy with Oreo truffles for dessert. He love Oreos and chocolate, so there you go for dessert. The beauty of the Baked Chicken dish, thank you very much Rachel Ray, is that you will have three meals for the price of one- absolutely perfect for these economic hard times!


Baked Chicken with Herb Skin and Roasted Garlic Cream Gravy

INGREDIENTS:
  • 6 boiling onions or 8 cipollini onions
  • 2 large heads garlic
  • Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), for liberal drizzling
  • 2 sprigs rosemary, finely chopped
  • 1 roasting chicken
  • 6 sprigs fresh tarragon
  • 6 sprigs flat leaf parsley
  • 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
  • 2 fresh bay leaves
  • 6 tablespoons butter, divided
  • 1/2 pound baby potatoes
  • 1 cup purple carrots or baby carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 1 cup cream
  • 4 cups baby spinach, packed, coarsely chopped
 PREPARATION:
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.
  2. Take out the gizzards and organs (I know, I said a huge OMGOMGOMG my first time I did this)
  3. Prepare veggies and place in a roasting pan- I would quarter potatoes and cut the carrots into smaller pieces, so that they will roast easily. 
  4. Cut the heads of garlic to expose all of the cloves. Drizzle EVOO over the exposed garlic, then press into the rosemary to coat. Wrap the garlic in foil and roast in the oven until tender, 45 minutes.
  5.  Loosen the skin of the chicken that covers the chest and thighs and legs. Arrange the tarragon and parsley sprigs, bay leaves and thyme leaves under the skin, distributing evenly around the bird. Rub 4 tablespoons of softened butter all over the bird skin, then season liberally with salt and pepper. Settle the bird over top of the potatoes and vegetables. Roast for 1 hour and 15 minutes, then switch on the broiler to crisp the skin, 5-8 minutes.
  6.  When the garlic is done, let cool until it's cool enough to handle. Squeeze the garlic cloves out of the skins and mash into a paste.
  7.  In a saucepot, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat, then stir in the flour. Cook for 1 minute, then whisk in the stock and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and whisk in the mashed garlic. Let thicken for 5 minutes, then add the cream and reduce the heat to low.
  8. Remove the chicken from oven and carve. Fold the spinach into the vegetables to wilt. Serve the vegetables and chicken with gravy on top.

Oreo Truffles: Makes: 3 1/2 dozen  Takes: 1 1/2 hours

Ingredients

  • 1 (16 ounce) package OREO Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, divided
  • 1 (8 ounce) package PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
  • 2 (8 ounce) packages BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, melted

 

 

Directions

  1. Crush 9 of the cookies to fine crumbs in food processor; reserve for later use. (Cookies can also be finely crushed in a resealable plastic bag using a rolling pin.) Crush remaining 36 cookies to fine crumbs; place in medium bowl. Add cream cheese; mix until well blended. Roll cookie mixture into 42 balls, about 1-inch in diameter.
  2. Dip balls in chocolate; place on wax paper-covered baking sheet. (Any leftover chocolate can be stored at room temperature for another use.) Sprinkle with reserved cookie crumbs.
  3. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. Store leftover truffles, covered, in refrigerator.

Footnotes

  • How to How to Easily Dip Truffles 
  • Place truffle ball in melted chocolate to coat; roll if necessary. Lift truffle from chocolate using 2 forks (this will allow excess chocolate to run off) before placing on wax paper. 

So, what do you guys think? I'll have to let you know how it turned out and how F liked it!

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