Beet-ing heart deviled eggs for Valentine’s
Day (photo © Andrews McNeel Publishing).

A delightful cookbook was published today for lovers of deviled eggs, D’Lish Deviled Eggs: A Collection of Recipes from Creative to Classic. The 50 recipes from chef Kathy Casey prove the case that deviled eggs are not just for summer picnics; they demand their place at the table year-round.

We’ll publish a review of the book at another time, but we wanted to rush this special recipe for Valentine Deviled Eggs for your consideration.

Have you ever thought of mixing beets and eggs? It’s a delicious combination.

“I’m all for an appetizer that doubles as a fun craft project and these eggs certainly fit the bill,” says Chef Casey. “Pickled beet juice turns the whites deep pink and makes these eggs ideal for serving up on Valentine’s Day.”

Whether it’s for a party or a romantic tête-a-tête, whip up a batch of these “Beet-ing Heart” eggs. The pink color also works for Easter (but switch the garnish from beets to chopped chives for a touch of spring green).

The recipe makes 24 deviled egg halves. Check out the information at the end of the article for why it’s O.K. to enjoy your fare share (two halves a day).

RECIPE: BEET-ING HEART VALENTINE DEVILED EGGS

Ingredients

 
Filling

 
Topping

 
Preparation

2. DRAIN the eggs well, pat dry on paper towels, and discard the beet liquid. Halve the eggs lengthwise and transfer the yolks to a mixing bowl. Set the egg white halves on a platter, cover, and refrigerate.

3. FINISH THE EGGS. With a fork, mash the yolks to a smooth consistency. Add the mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, red onion, sugar, and salt; mix until smooth. (You can also do this using an electric mixer with a whip attachment.) Add salt and black pepper to taste.

4. SPOON the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain or large star tip, then pipe the mixture evenly into the egg white halves. Alternatively, fill the eggs with a spoon, dividing the filling evenly.

5. TOP each egg half with 1/2 teaspoon of pickled beets and a sprinkle of green onion.

As reported last week in The New York Times, a recent review of cholesterol studies suggests that for most people, eating one egg a day is not bad for the heart.

A review of eight prospective studies covering 263,938 subjects found no evidence that eating an egg a day increased the risk of heart disease or stroke, according to Dr. Frank B. Hu, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard University and co-author of the study. The results were the same for men and women and in all age ranges.

That means you can enjoy two halves of these delicious deviled eggs. Here’s more on the study.
 
 

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

We recently received a pitch for “an iceless and flavorless stainless steel chilling sphere,” which “helps maintain a lasting chill for a variety of drinks and party dips without compromise.”

The “compromise” is that perishable foods (those that are stored in the fridge) get warm as they sit out. If you’re concerned with food safety or simply want a dish to be chilled, you need to do something to fight the natural chemistry of things.
The USDA advises that perishable foods should not sit at room temperature for more than two hours. Internal [food] temperatures higher than 40°F provide enable bacteria to multiply.

The gel-filled stainless “chilling sphere” in the photo, called Tilt, “preserves the full flavor and texture of cold dips while preventing uneven chilling with ice and watery messes.” It is also “an enticing option for those who want to chill their drinks without diluting it [sic] with ice.”

Whether it’s for an extensive buffet or simply a bowl of dip next to the chips on the coffee table, here are some tried and true options to keep party food chilled.

1. KEEP THE FOOD IN THE FRIDGE UNTIL YOU’RE READY TO SERVE IT. Resist setting out perishables in advance of the first guests.

2. USE SMALLER BOWLS OR TRAYS. Instead of one large bowl of dip, for example, use a smaller bowl and refill from the fridge container as necessary (or keep a backup bowl in the fridge, ready to switch out). Do the same with platters/trays. Ideally, use stainless steel bowls which retain the cold longer, and keep them in the freezer until you’re ready to fill them and set them out.

3. USE ICE-NESTED BOWLS OR TRAYS. An easy chilling solution is to nest the bowl or tray with the food in a larger bowl or tray, filled with an inch or two of ice. When the ice melts, replace it. Crushed ice melts more quickly but makes nesting easier than ice cubes. To contain the melted water on a try, you can put the ice in Ziploc-type bags. Or, instead of loose ice or a bag of ice, you can use ice cube trays (filled with ice cubes, of course), and replace them when melted with backup ice cube trays from the freezer.

A stylish option we like has a stainless steel bowl that sits atop an ice-filled container. You may be able to create someting similar from dishes you already have. Here’s the platter chiller version.

For outdoor events, there’s an inflatable buffet that we’ve written about previously. Like a hollowed-out pool float, you blow it up, fill the hollow with ice and nest the food on it.

Try any of these solutions and party on!

If you really want a Tilt chilling sphere, head to SoireeHome.com.

But now that we do, what a great Valentine’s Day gift for your favorite tequila lover.

Agavero Tequila Liqueur, by the makers of Jose Cuervo, is a blend of 100% agave reposado and añejo tequilas. There’s also a touch of the damiana flower, an herb native to Mexico with a verbena-like aroma that is to have aphrodisiac properties (and if you want to believe in aphrodisiacs, that’s fine with us).

The liqueur fell out of fashion and wasn’t imported for years. Now it’s back in the U.S., and you should be able to find a bottle in the $15.00-$30.00 range (here’s a store locator). There’s also an orange-flavored version.

Agavero has the burnished copper color of an añejo tequila, with medium-full body of a liqueur. You’d think from the nose that you were about to drink añejo tequila: The liqueur has similar flavors, but with the light sweetness and silky texture of a liqueur.

It is delicious to sip, to add to coffee or to incorporate into cocktails. In a Margarita, use half tequila, half Agavero.

Here’s a cocktail perfect for Valentine’s Day, called Besame (Kiss Me). It was created by Sabina and Lorraine Belkin of DUO Restaurant & Lounge in New York City.

This cocktail combines sweet and tangy fruit flavors with a tequila bite and a Valentine-red hue. So get out the glasses and the cocktail shaker, and toast your Valentine with something special.

BESAME VALENTINE COCKTAIL

Ingredients Per Cocktail

 
Preparation

1. MUDDLE limes and raspberries in a highball glass.

2. ADD Agavero; top off with passion fruit juice. Add a splash of Chambord.

4. GARNISH as desired.

MORE VALENTINE COCKTAILS

Check out our Valentine cocktail recipes.

We adapted this tip from the original article on Care2.com.

Here are five of the most common cooking mistakes she witnesses, and how to avoid them.

MISTAKE #1: NOT FULLY READING THE RECIPE

You should never put yourself in the position of wondering, “What do I do next?” Read the recipe as many times as necessary to familiarize yourself with what you’ll actually be doing. This ensures that you have all the required ingredients and equipment; Re-read it right before you start to cook.

Cooking is chemistry: Adding ingredients in the wrong order, omitting them or using the wrong ingredient (baking powder instead of baking soda, for example) can compromise your dish, which wastes your time and money.

MISTAKE #2: USING A COLD PAN

You wouldn’t put an unbaked cake or chicken into a cold oven: Preheating is essential for a successful outcome. It’s the same with stove top cooking. Unless the recipe specifies a cold pan, give the pan and any oil (or other fat) a little time to heat up before adding the food.

Heat encourages the ingredients to release the moisture stored inside them. Adding food to a hot pan creates an instant seal around the food that locks in moisture and flavor. Added to a cool or warm pan, the food will lose moisture.

A hot pan should give off a sizzle when you add food it. If you don’t hear the sizzle, pull the food out while you wait for the temperature to rise.

Of course, you’ve got to be careful not to overheat the pan and the oil. If the oil starts to smoke, remove the pan from the heat immediately and let it cool down. A pan that’s too hot will break down the oil, which can give the food an unpleasant taste—not to mention burning them. Worse, the oil can catch fire.

How do you know if the pan is hot enough? It’s something you learn to judge over time, but here are two tricks:

Some people like to flip, re-flip and flip again…and again. This is a bad habit: Give it up! The hot pan or grill is perfectly capable of cooking the food with minimal physical intervention. You still need to watch food, but most foods don’t require constant hands-on attention.

The heat from the pan or grill is transferred to the food through direct contact. The food has to reach a certain temperature in order to reach “doneness.” Every time you flip the food, it loses contact with the pan and has to start the heating process all over again. So by over-tending, you’re actually extending your cooking time and you run the risk of altering the food’s texture and color by moving it around too much. How’s your chicken breast going to brown if you keep interrupting contact with the pan?

Some foods do require constant attention and your recipe will so indicate (“stir continuously for 5 minutes,” for example).

MISTAKE #4: NOT TASTING AS YOU COOK

Cooking without tasting is like painting a picture without looking at it. If you don’t taste the dish in progress, you may end up with unbalanced flavors or lack of seasoning. Good cooks season and taste, cook some more, then season and taste, regardless of what the recipe says.

Recipes are not infallible. There are typos and editing mistakes, and then, there are personal preferences. What is too much garlic or jalapeño for one household is barely a hint to another.
MISTAKE #5: BLINDLY FOLLOWING RECIPES

Recipes are good guidelines, but they’re not the last word. Every oven and stove cooks differently; cold ingredients cook more slowly than those at room temperature.

A recipe may instruct you to cook a piece of fish for 15 minutes; but if you don’t look at it until the timer goes off, you may have woefully overcooked fish.

Cooking is not always an exact science, unless you’re baking, which is an exact science (and requires an oven thermometer to ensure your oven is cooking at the right temperature).

With stove top cooking, you have to find a balance between your recipe and reality. Oven strengths vary. An electric cook top may not heat your sauté pan as quickly or evenly as the gas range used by the recipe writer/tester.

Check your food periodically and if the food is starting to burn after 4 minutes in the pan, lower the heat and flip it, even if the recipe says cook for 5 minutes per side.

Cooking is an art requiring practice, common sense and skill. The more you cook the better you get. And don’t hesitate to ask for help from others who cook. Or throw your question to the winds of the Internet.
  

Photo courtesy BellaBaker.com.

“I absolutely love surprises,” says Lauryn Cohen of BellaBaker.com. “Imagine a cupcake surprise…biting into an already delicious cupcake and finding a second delicious surprise inside.”

So she created Strawberry Surprise Cupcakes, a lovely treat for Valentine’s Day.

The cake is tender and light and gets its strawberry flavor puréed fresh strawberries added to the batter. The surprise is fresh, sweet strawberry jam that provides a burst of strawberry goodness. Strawberry cream cheese icing brings a bit of tang for contrast.

“So make these cupcakes and shhhh, don’t tell anyone about the jam in the middle.” says Lauryn. “Make it a surprise that’s sure to put a smile on everyone’s face.”

RECIPE: STRAWBERRY SURPRISE CUPCAKES

Ingredients

 
FOR THE ICING

A delicious surprise. Photo courtesy BellaBaker.com.

Preparation

1. PREHEAT oven to 350°F. BEAT butter at medium speed until creamy. Add sugar and beat about 3 minutes, until blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating for a minute after each addition. Add 1 1/2 cups of strawberry puree.

2. COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Stir in food coloring.

3. PLACE in mini baking cups and bake 10-12 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from pans and cool completely.

4. FILL the cupcakes: Cut cone shapes out of the top dome of each cupcake. Fill a Ziplock-type bag with fresh strawberry jam and snip the corner. Fill the hole in the cupcake to the top with jam then place the cone shape back on top.

5. MAKE THE ICING: In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and butter at medium-high speed with an electric mixer for 2 to 3 minutes, until smooth. Add strawberry preserves and vanilla, beating until well combined. Add confectioners’ sugar and salt, beating until smooth. Frost cupcakes. Garnish as desired.