Valentines Day Eve

This year, Valentines Day is on Saturday. Most husbands, if they know what's good for them, take their wives out to dinner...so make those reservations and start the entire "Weekend of Love" Friday night with a Super Supper for your Sweetheart!

You can make both the soup and the strawberry mousse in advance and save yourself some time. He'll feel so special after this meal, you may get a new pair of earrings along with your Saturday night out! Enjoy!

Start with Renee's Shrimp Cocktail Soup:

2 bottles of Clamato Juice
1/2 cup ketchup
1 cup Valentina Picante Sauce
1 Tablespoon celery salt
Juice of 4-6 limes (about 1/3 cup)
3-5 Serrano peppers, cut into rings (be careful!)
One medium onion, diced
6 Roma tomatoes, diced
2 medium bunches cilantro, finely chopped
6 avocados cut into small pieces
2 lbs. cooked, deveined, peeled shrimp

In a large bowl, pour all of the Clamato Juice, ketchup and picante sauce; stir well. Add celery salt, lime juice, sliced peppers, onions, tomatoes and cilantro; stir well. Gently stir in avocados and shrimp. Cover and keep in fridge.

Next up? My Crispy Pancetta Chicken with Rice

2 lbs. chicken breasts
1 t. thyme
2 t. rosemary
½ t. salt
1 T. Lemon Pepper
2 cups broth
6 oz. pancetta
1 cup diced onions
1 cup chopped and seeded tomatoes
3 T. cornstarch
Shredded Mozzarella

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Toss chicken breasts in herb mixture of thyme, rosemary, salt and lemon pepper. Pour chicken broth into bottom of pan and insert steamer rack. Place prepared chicken on rack; cover and steam for 20-25 minutes or until cooked through.
While chicken is steaming, chop up pancetta and small dice onions. Sauté pancetta in large skillet until slightly crispy, add onions and continue to sauté until onions are softened and pancetta is very crispy. Remove from heat. Toss in chopped tomato last. Remove chicken from steaming rack and keep warm. Thicken remaining pan broth/juices with cornstarch; strain.
Serving Suggestions:
· Drizzle thickened pan juices over white rice
· Place steamed chicken on prepared rice
· Top with crispy pancetta mixture
· Drizzle again with thickened pan juices
· Sprinkle with shredded Mozzarella

...and for dessert? Strawberry Mousse!

1 (3 oz.) pkg. strawberry gelatin

1 cup boiling water

1 enveloped unflavored gelatin

1 tablespoon cold water

1 (16 oz.) pkg. frozen strawberries, thawed

2 tablespoons sugar

1-1/2 cups vanilla ice cream

1 cup heavy cream

Dissolve strawberry gelatin in boiling water. Dissolve unflavored gelatin in 1 tablespoon cold water. Puree frozen strawberries in blender. Add gelatin mixtures and sugar to the frozen strawberries and blend again. Add ice cream and cream, blending well. Pour into a wet 6 cup ring mold and freeze. To serve, unmold and let defrost for 15 minutes. Fill center with whipped cream if desired.

Cooking Tips #1

Welcome to the first in a series of monthly cooking tips here on my blog. You'd be surprised how many questions I get asked on a regular basis. How do I chop an onion quickly, when should I use sweet cream vs unsalted butter, how do I section out an orange..etc. Within the next 4-6 weeks I'll be doing a series of basic cooking tip webisodes. You'll be able to watch those at www.cookingwithangel.com.
In the meantime...here are some fun "Did You Know" fast facts about food:

* If you have leftover whipped cream, dollop it onto a baking sheet lined with plastic wrap and freeze. Once frozen put the dollops into a big resealable plastic bag and you'll have a quick topper for Hot Cocoa or maybe an Apple Crisp

* You can mellow out the flavor of fresh garlic cloves by peeling and simmering in a small saucepan...just for about 3-5 minutes. I store any garlic I've prepared like this in a small container drizzled with a little bit of olive oil. Don't leave it on the counter...just pop it in the refrigerator. It holds this way for about 2 weeks.

* Glass containers conduct more heat so if you can remember to reduce your oven temperature by 25 degrees it'll offset that especially when your making baked goods like cookies or cakes. Most recipes don't account for the difference between glass and metal pans

* Half the peanuts grown in the United States are used to make peanut butter

* Word has it that storing plastic wrap in the freezer will stop it from sticking to itself...however I never have enough room in my freezer to test this out!

* You'll get more volume out of egg whites if you beat them at room temperature...however heavy cream should always be as cold as possible before beating

Okay...there's half a dozen for you. Have a great weekend and on Monday, I'll be making a recipe for Shrimp Cocktail Soup on ABC4's Good Things Utah. It's from Renee...one of my Facebook Friends!

Creamy Shrimp Spaghetti

Today on ABC4's Good Things Utah, I made a delicious Creamy Shrimp Spaghetti that's delicious and inexpensive. Angie was in the kitchen with me along with a viewer guest host. We had lots of fun in the kitchen. Just go to http://www.abc4.com/ and click on Good Things Utah for the recipe. It's comfort food that begs you to take seconds.

By the way....I'd like to introduce you to my new puppy, Buddy! He's so cute and already sits, lays down and shakes. I took him for his first walk on a leash over the weekend. I think it was an "experience" for both of us! Now if I could only get him to stop chewing on my tennis shoes!