chefberghoff.com

As promised here is one of the Valentine’s dinner recipes. I hope you enjoy it! 

Ingredients
1 whole head garlic
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 10 oz package chopped spinach, frozen
¼ cup milk, skim
1 dash hot pepper sauce
1 8oz package cream cheese

Directions
Cut off pointed top portion of head (1/4 inch) with a knife, leaving the bulb intact. Place on double thick square of foil. Drizzle oil over garlic. Fold foil up around head to enclose. Bake in 375 oven for 20 minutes or until garlic is soft. Let cook so that removing garlic can be done quickly and without burning yourself.

Cook spinach according to package directions, omitting salt. Drain well, press out excess liquid. Squeeze pulp from garlic cloves and dice place in saucepan. Add drained spinach, milk, hot pepper sauce, and pinch of salt. Stir until well combined. Add cream cheese, process until nearly smooth. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until heated through. Serve with sliced French bread.

As always here is also a ready to print recipe as well: Roasted Garlic Spinach Dip

For Valentines Day we had not planned on doing much and then Victoria started asking everyone she worked with what they were doing. No one else was doing anything but sitting at home too. While I probably be there with them doing nothing. We both thought about having everyone over for a dinner party. After come careful negotiations with Victoria, I came up with a mini-theme Italian Valentines Day dinner. I say mini-themed because I can just be strict enough to stick to it. I had an appetizer or two that had it and both entrees had the theme too. For desert I forgot the theme entirely and brought in the Valentines Day into it. Here is what we enjoyed.

Appetizers
Homemade red and white sangrias
Bruchetta de Pomadoro
Bruchetta Grecca
Roasted garlic and spinach dip
Vegetable Crudités (aka veggie tray)
Entrées
Mediterranean Chicken and Pasta
Penne pasta with hand rolled meat balls
Desserts
Waldorf Astoria cake (aka red velvet cake) with cream cheese frosting
Chocolate fondue with marshmallows, strawberries, bananas, and pound cake
Vanilla bean ice cream

Most items I made from scratch if I had the time. The recipes I guess would give away how much work I put into it. I will say it was a ton of work and I was nervous that I would run out of time. It was a blast! There are always lessons learned but I probably couldn’t have done it better than what I had planned. I’ll be posting all the recipes that I used in a couple of days. Keep an eye out…

So you may ask why haven’t you posted in so long well… Here is some of the things I have been up to since I last posted:

1. Took a trip to Salem, MA. Saw some cool stuff enjoyed the ocean got sun burned, collect stuff from the coast and Victoria framed to remember our trip.

2. Had Dennis and family come to visit.

3. Took a trip to Charlottesville, VA to see UVA stomp on the Pirates of East Carolina. The season started with such promise and then they lost 3 in a row. As a side note the UVA touchdown song gets really annoying real quick. They need a quick cannon fire and be done with it.

4. Took a trip to Greenville, NC to see East Carolina kick some butt. Go Pirates!!! We did have a quick evacation from the hotel which gave so additional excitement.

5. Took a trip to Crownsville, MD to attend the one the only Maryland Ren Fest. Need I say more!

6. Took a trip to Greenville, OH to see the family at Thanksgiving. Ended up being sick for half the trip and made Black Friday shopping more difficult than normal. Beside the sickness the trip was great!

7. Took a trip to Roanoke Rapids, NC to Victoria’s family for Christmas. We got there on the eve and had a great weekend. 8. News Year Eve, Victoria and I enjoyed working through a box of tissues watching the ball drop. A cold attacked us earlier in the week and we weren’t feeling up for doing anything.

9. Took a trip to New York, NY for my 30th b-day. We enjoyed New York on possibly the coldest days of the year. Besides the bitter cold we headed to Little Italy for a fabulous dinner.

10. Took a trip to Ikea while it may not seem glamorous, it has cause much work since. I picked up some new lights and installed them under cabinets. I replaced the buzzing fluorescent bulb light that was original with the house. I took me two days to do it but I was worth it. We also picked up some new book cases which was inspired by the office being painted.

So now after going through some of my highlights of the past couple of months, I don’t feel as bad. The work week has been tough. I didn’t realize how much stress the extra couple miles would add. I feel lucky if I can cook a whole meal for dinner. Winter also has something to do with it too. Going to work in the dark and getting home in the dark, makes it difficult to get motivated to do anything. So there it is that’s where I’ve been for the past couple of months. Hopefully 2009 might give me some more home time but only time will tell.

I’ve been slacking as of late and had little time to keep adding to the collection. I think even the dinner menu has been looking pretty busy with eating out or doing a quick recipe. One of my resolutions is to keep with it and keep posting at least on a weekly basis.

I am working on getting pictures of each item I am cooking and sharing with you. I was trying to take pictures before but the battery died and we could find the charger for weeks. So now with the batteries charged I will be trying to post a picture along with each recipe. I know I’m more willing to try a dish that I’ve seen before versus no pictures. I will update any old recipes too so that all recipes no matter how old they are you can view a picture. Hope you enjoy!

I was wathing some random cooking show the other day and they kept adding shallots to everything so I of course wanted to at least se what the differenc was between a shallot and well an onion. So I found some reasonablly priced shallots at the grocery store. Then I didn’t want to make what the show had made. I wanted something simple and of course quick. So here is the recipe I came up with to use the shallots. Here is what you need, serves 2

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1-2 T olive oil
• 1/4 flour
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 shallot finely chopped
• 2 tsp dry parsley flakes
• 1/2 cup of chicken stock

Mix flour, salt, and pepper in shallow bowl. Coat chicken with thin layer of flour mixture. Heat oil on medium high in frying pan. Add chicken to pan and cook until golden brown.

Add chicken stock, shallots and parsley. Simmer gently about 10 minutes, cooking until light gravy forms.

Ready to print recipe: Pan Seared Chicken with Shallots

Victoria and I were talking about some of the most expensive foods in the world. Saffron came up as one of those food items. I wanted to try and see if the price meets the hype. Well I’ve tried this recipe twice and I’m here to say I will purchasing some saffron for my mom and my sister-in-law to add to their kitchens. The saffron adds a nice hint of color and a nice warm flavor that I suspect I’ve probably had this spice before.

So here is what you need for the potatoes with saffron and parsley.

• 1 lb red skinned potatoes chopped into large chunks
• 3 to 4 threads of saffron
• 1 T salt
• 2 T melted butter
• 1-2 T dry parsley flakes
• Pepper

Place potatoes in pot and add cold water to cover potatoes by 2 inches. Add saffron treads and salt. Let potatoes boil for 10 to 15 minutes or until potatoes are just tender. Drain liquid from potatoes and stir in melted butter and parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Ready to print recipe: Potatoes with Saffron and Parsley