Salmon caviar is an affordable treat for Valentine’s Day. You can use it in a variety of ways: in canapés, in pasta, in a baked potato, as garnish on grilled fish or in soup, and of course, with smoked salmon.
Don’t miss an opportunity to serve salmon caviar during your Valentine festivities. Take a look at our salmon caviar recipes, and pick one or more.
Additional caviar recipes for salmon caviar and black caviar. (You can substitute salmon caviar in the black caviar recipes.)
Learn all about the different types of caviar in our Caviar Glossary.
As hors d’oeuvres or on a dinner plate, red
jacket potatoes topped with red caviar are always a hit.
Hmm. Your Valentine doesn’t like sweets. But she does love a great cocktail or a shot of something special.
How about the “vodka of love”: ginger-flavored Yazi Ginger Vodka?
In Asia, ginger has long been considered an aphrodisiac, believed to have mystical powers that bring harmony to life and love.
Using glacier-fed spring water from Mt. Hood, Oregon’s highest peak, Hood River Distillers has infused vodka (grain spirits) with natural ginger, orange, lemon, cayenne and red pepper extracts for a complex, well-balanced flavored spirit. There’s a ginger forefront and a citrus-spiciness in the background.
The bottle is stunning: A spiraling dragon is etched on imported French glass, with a scarlet banner and cap (“yazi” refers to the Chinese dragon). Available nationwide, Yazi says “Be My Valentine” to all lovers of ginger. The suggested retail price is $30.00.
We enjoy drinking Yazi straight, but you can mix up a broad variety of cocktails. Here’s the “Love Potion,” courtesy of Typhoon on Broadway in Portland, Oregon.
1. Fill a cocktail shaker two-thirds of the way with ice. Add all ingredients.
2. Shake for 15 seconds.
3. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
4. Garnish and serve.
Find more recipes on the company website. For a retailer near you, telephone 1.503.574.3693 during business hours (Pacific Time).
February 11, 2010 at 8:35 am
· Filed under Tip Of The Day
A couple of posts down we recommended Valentine’s Day gifts for the kitchen.
But at home, you don’t have to spring for a kitchen gift. With something as inexpensive as a large, heart-shaped cookie cutter, you can make Valentine’s Day special for your family.
You can buy cookie cutters in any housewares store. But you might want to go out of your way for the fetching versions from Wilton, in pink and red colors. Wilton also has a nesting set in six different sizes.
Use the cookie cutter to cut out heart-shaped toast for breakfast (how about poached eggs on hearts?).
For lunch, use a smaller heart-shaped cutter to cut garlic toast croutons for a salad. For dinner, cut out veggies after you’ve cooked them (heart-shaped beets would be perfect, and boiled potatoes are easy).
What a cute cookie cutter! One of several pink and red heart cutters from Wilton.
And use a big cookie cutter to make a heart-ening dessert. Bake or buy your favorite loaf cake, slice and cut out hearts (this can be easier if you toast the slices), then top with ice cream and a luscious topping for a Valentine Sundae.
If you want to bake heart-shaped shortbread cookies while you’re at it, you’ll have lots of takers. Use this shortbread recipe from pastry chef Larissa Raphael.
How cute are these ganache-filled penguins?
And more delicious than most chocolate.
Photo courtesy BurdickChocolate.com.
The kids on your Valentine’s Day list will be happy with just about anything that’s chocolate. It’s easy to pick up a gift at the drug store or even the supermarket.
But if you have a discriminating child—or you’d like to cultivate one—take a look at our Valentine’s Day gifts for kids.
You’ll find the best:
Heart-shaped cookies and brownies from Eleni’s Cookies
Browniepops on a stick
Chocolate peanut butter delights from Jer’s Handmade Chocolates
Burdick Chocolate’s adorable chocolate mice and penguins (see photo)
The Valentine’s Day version of black and white cookies
They’re pink and white, of course, and inscribed with love messages (Kiss Me, Be Mine).
