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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…

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

Ingredients

• 1 T olive oil
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• ¼ cup chicken stock
• ¼ cup dry white wine
• 1 t dry oregano
• 7 oz roasted red sweet peppers, drained and cut into strips
• ¼ cup pitted kalamata olives
• 3 cups cooked campanelle pasta

Directions

In a large skillet heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken and garlic. Cook chicken until golden brown. Add chicken stock, white wine and dried oregano.

Bring to boil then reduce to simmer. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in peppers and olives. Heat thoroughly.

Meanwhile, cook pasta per package directions.

Arrange the chicken mixture on top of the pasta and serve immediately.

Ready to print recipe: Mediterranean Chicken & Pasta

Ingredients

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 4 T butter, melted
• 4 T mild mustard
• 2 T lemon juice
• 1 T brown sugar
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp poppy seads
• 14 oz pasta
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions

Mix together the butter, mustard, lemon juice, brown sugar, and paprika in small sauce pan. Place chicken in baking dish and pour half of mustard sauce on to chicken. Bake chicken in oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Sprinkle poppy seeds onto chicken and return to oven for 15 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked.

Meanwhile, cook pasta per package directions.

Arrange the chicken with mustard sauce on top of the pasta and serve immediately.

Ready to print recipe: Mustard Baked Chicken with Pasta

Ingredients

• 2 T olive oil
• 2 T butter
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 red, yellow or green bell peppers, cut into bite size pieces
• 8 oz fresh sliced mushrooms
• 3 plum tomatoes, skinned and quartered
• 5/8 cup dry white wine
• 10 oz pitted green olives
• 6 T heavy cream
• 14 oz dried pasta
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions

Heat the olive oil and butter in a skillet. Fry the chicken breast until golden brown. Remove from pan.

Add the onion and garlic to the pan and sauté over a medium heat until beginning to soften. Add the bell peppers and mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer vegtables to a casserole dish and arrange the chicken on top.

Add the wine to the pan and bring to a boil. Pour the wine over the chicken. Cover and cook in a preheated oven at 350 degrees fro 50 minutes.

Add the olives to the casserole and mix in until will combines. Pour in the cream, cover, and return to oven for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook pasta per package directions.

Arrange the chicken on top of the pasta, cover with sauce and serve immediately.

Ready to print recipe: Chicken with Green Olives & Pasta

This recipe is easy and I think it you’ll enjoy it.

Ingredients

• 2 chicken boneless chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
• 1 green bell pepper cut into bite size pieces
• 3/4 cup thinly sliced onion
• 3 T olive oil, divided
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 3 T soy sauce
• 2 plum tomatoes, chopped
• 2-3 cups of cooked rice

Directions

Cook chicken with 1 T olive oil until golden brown.  Set cooked chicken aside for later.

Meanwhile, cooked rice per package directions.

Saute bell pepper and onion with remaining olive oil in covered skillet over low heat until tender but not browned.  Blend cornstarch and 1/2 cup of chicken stock until smooth.  Add remaining 1 1/2 cups stock, soy sauce and cooked chicken.  Stir frequently, until sauce is clear and has thickened.  Add tomatoes and cook until heated.  Serve over cooked rice.