Pretty to look at, these shiny chocolate hearts are filled with luscious raspberry-infused ganache. Photo courtesy Kohler.

These lovely hearts, from Kohler Chocolates, are beautifully crafted:

The dark chocolate shells are filled with a delicate raspberry-accented chocolate ganache.

The dark chocolate is then enrobed with a thin layer of red-tinted white chocolate, which is hand painted with pink dots, and glazed to a very dazzling shine.

Choose from four sizes, gift-boxed and tied with a lovely ribbon. The smallest size makes a great wedding favor.

 
Get yours at KohlerChocolates.com.

Love sashimi? Looking for a light lunch or first course? Make sashimi salad.

Pick up some of your favorite raw fish from your fishmonger—salmon, tuna and yellowtail, for example. You can also add cooked varieties, such as shrimp and squid.

Then, create a salad of choice:

 
Some Asian markets, fish markets and even supermarkets carry wakame salad. Wakame, pronounced wah-kah-MAY, is a type of seaweed; for wakame salad, it is marinated in vinegar and seasonings. If you can’t find it, you can substitute a fresh herb like cilantro.

The toughest part of making sashimi salad is slicing the fish. There’s no cooking required for this delicious, lower-calorie, healthful dish.

RECIPE: SASHIMI SALAD

Ingredients For 4 Servings

 
For The Dressing

1. MAKE the dressing: Combine the ingredients and whisk thoroughly.

2. CUT the top loin in half crosswise With a sharp knife. Place the knife at a 45° angle and slice into ¼- to-½ inch strips.

3. ARRANGE the fish on plates along with wakame salad and salmon roe. Drizzle the dressing over the fish.

 
RECIPE: HAWAIIAN POKE DRESSING

Another dressing that works with sashimi salad is poke dressing, used in Hawaii’s version of sashimi salad, called poke (POE-kuh).

Ingredients

Preparation

1. BLEND all ingredients thoroughly.

Surprise your Valentine with a beribboned box of homemade red velvet chocolate truffles with luscious raspberry flavor. The insides are the color of red velvet cake.

McCormick, which contributed this recipe, specifies baking chocolate; but these will taste so much better if you use couverture—higher quality chocolate that chocolatiers and pastry chefs use. Look for 60% to 70% couverture from Guittard, Valrhona and other brands in cbaking supply stores or specialty food stores.

RECIPE: RED VELVET RASPBERRY TRUFFLES

Ingredients For 24 Truffles

Make your own Valentine bonbons. Photo courtesy McCormick.

1. MELT 8 ounces of the chocolate as directed on package; or in a double boiler.

2. BEAT the cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, food color and raspberry extract in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended and smooth. Add the melted chocolate; beat until well mixed. Cover. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or until firm.

3. SHAPE into 24 balls (about 3/4-inch). Place on wax paper-lined tray. Refrigerate until ready to dip.

4. COAT and decorate only 12 truffles at a time (so the chocolate doesn’t harden). Melt 4 ounces of the remaining chocolate in small microwavable bowl on MEDIUM (50% power) for 1-1/2 minutes, stirring after 1 minute. Using a fork, dip 1 truffle at a time into the chocolate. Tap the back of fork 2 or 3 times against edge of dish to allow excess chocolate to drip off. Place the truffles on a wax paper-lined tray. (If there are any “bald” spots on a truffle, cover them with the melted chocolate that remains on the fork.) Repeat with the remaining 4 ounces of chocolate and the remaining truffles.

5. DECORATE: Garnish the truffles with colorful sprinkles immediately after dipping in chocolate. The sprinkles will adhere to the truffles as the chocolate coating sets in the refrigerator. Or, decorate truffles with a swirl of white chocolate. You can use a fork to drizzle white chocolate over the truffles.

6. REFRIGERATE for 1 hour or until the chocolate is set. Store the truffles between layers of wax paper in an airtight container in refrigerator for up to 1 week.

White cake with raspberry cream cheese frosting and filling. Raspberry extract is clear and won’t color the frosting by itself. Red food color was used to make the filling pink. Photo courtesy McCormick.

Some people hesitate to purchase a bottle for only one recipe. Here are other uses for that raspberry extract:

Beverages

 
Sweets

RECIPE: RASPBERRY CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. MELT the chocolate in a double boiler or a bowl placed over a pan of gently simmering water. Take care that the chocolate does not get too hot or it can scorch. Remove from the heat and cool for 5 minutes.

2. BEAT the butter and cream cheese in a large bowl on medium speed, until light and fluffy. Add the melted chocolate and raspberry extract and mix well.

3. GRADUALLY BEAT in the confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Add the food color and blend well.

February is National Fondue Month, February 5th is National Chocolate Fondue Day, November is National Fun with Fondue Month, and April 11th is National Cheese Fondue Day.

You’ve got multiple opportunities to celebrate with luscious fondue—as a family dinner, at a dinner party, or even on a party buffet.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF FONDUE

Originally a melted cheese dish, the concept evolved to cooking beef, chicken, chocolate or seafood in the fondue pot. February is National Fondue Month, so why not plan a fondue feast?

The melted cheese dish originated in the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel. The word fondue itself is the past participle of the French fondre, to melt down.

The fondue is served from a communal pot called a caquelon, using long forks to spear cubes of bread that are swirled in the melted cheese. The tradition dates to the 18th century; some say it was developed as a way to use slightly stale bread.

Each Swiss canton has its own variation on the recipe, which generally consists of at least two varieties of cheese, wine and a bit of flour or cornstarch to keep the melted cheese from separating.

 
Although it adds to the aesthetic, you don’t need a fondue pot (caquelon) to melt cheese or chocolate or to heat cooking oil. A heavy-bottomed saucepan or ideally, a double boiler, works fine.

But then, to keep the fondue heated after it has been served, you’ll need a hot plate for the table. If you don’t have one, you probably know someone who has one stashed away and will lend it.

[1] Classic cheese fondue (photo courtesy Artisanal Restaurant | NYC).

[2] What’s for dessert? Chocolate fondue. Here’s the recipe (photo courtesy Sugardaddy’s | St. Louis).

To help you decide where to begin: We recommend starting with a classic cheese fondue. Here’s the basic cheese fondue recipe plus 28 variations, from blue cheese and goat cheese variations to Nacho and Philly Cheesesteak fondue. Or consider:

 
For Valentine’s Day, how about chocolate fondue—your choice of dark, milk or white chocolate? Here’s an even richer Chocolate Fondue with Mascarpone recipe.

You can also spice things up with these Spicy Chocolate Fondue recipe variations.

[3] Surf & Turf fondue: Raw seafood and meat can be cooked in oil. This recipe, from Simple Seasonal, presents cooked shrimp and beef to dip into cheese fondue. Yum! (photo courtesy Simple Seasonal).

[4] For seafood fondue (no cheese), cocktail sauce and other traditional sauces—tartar, dill—are ideal dippers (photo courtesy Caviar Russe | NYC).

This recipe was adapted from GourmetSleuth.com.

Ingredients For 4 People

 
*Plan for at least 1/3 pound fish/seafood per person.
 
Preparation

1. CUT fish into one-inch cubes or 1/4″ w x 2″ long strips, depending on shape of filets. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

2. SET the table with plates, fondue forks and dips. You can provide individual dip portions, or have guests spoon dips onto their plates. (NOTE: Use only metal fondue forks or bamboo skewers, as wooden skewers can burn in hot oil.)

3. FILL the fondue pot with oil and heat on the stove until it reaches 350°F. Place the fondue pot on a brazier stand or hot plate on the table, over moderately high heat. Note that for beef or seafood fondue, you must use a stainless steel pot. Ceramic pots aren’t safe with the hot oil.

4. SPEAR cubes or shrimps and place in the hot oil until cooked.
 
 
SEAFOOD FONDUE DIPS

RECIPE: SPICY COCKTAIL SAUCE

Ingredients

 
1. COMBINE ingredients and refrigerate until use.

Ingredients

 
1. BLEND all ingredients in medium bowl. Season to taste with salt. Refrigerate until use.
 
 
RECIPE: DILL SAUCE

Ingredients

 
1. COMBINE clam juice and wine in a heavy small non-aluminum saucepan. Boil until reduced to 1/3 cup, about 9 minutes. Reduce heat to medium.

2. WHISK in crème fraîche. Boil until reduced to 1 cup, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in dill. Season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until use.
  

 
They join an existing line of 14 palate-pleasing and imaginative chocolate bars, including Baconluxious and Potato Chip.

The chocolate bars sell for an SRP of $6.00 (but are on sale for $4.00), and can be found online at ChuaoChocolatier.com as well as at major retailers nationwide, including Bed Bath & Beyond, REI and Whole Foods Markets.

MAKE YOUR OWN CEREAL CHOCOLATE BARS

For about the same price, you can make your own chocolate bars at Chocomize.com. This fun company utilizes a process that lets you place your choice of some 70 different ingredients—fruits, nuts, candies, spices—atop a dark, milk or white Belgian chocolate bar.

For Valentine’s Day, there are Candy Sugar Hearts, Message Hearts and LOVE plaques in white chocolate, along with Lavender Petals, 24 Karat Gold Flakes and Pink Pop Rocks.

You can create your own bar or send a gift certificate so the recipient can customize excactly what [s]he wants. (In fact, the gift certificates are one of our favorite Valentine gifts.)