Wow you partner or guests with these Deliciously Creative Recipes and skip the dinner reservation stress! Make it homemade with Love💖
Three Tempting Menus:
Global Flavors 💝 Elevated Elegance 💝 Modern Vegetarian
Each chosen with Seasonal Ingredients; Menus include:
- Appetizer
- Salad
- Main Course
- Dessert
Global Flavors:
MIDDLE EASTERN
A Hearty and Healthy Beet Dip with a Rich Roasted Flavor. Add Homemade Seasoned Flatbread for the Perfect Mezze Starter!
Can also serve with Pita Bread Triangles or Crackers.
Has an earthy yet sweet taste – you can control the flavor… with garlic, lemon or heat using Aleppo pepper (mildly spicy and playfully sweet.)
AMERICAN
A simple Salad with lots of crunch with a Zesty Preserved Lemon Vinaigrette
Shaving vegetables brings a nice look and texture to a salad. Shave with a sharp, wide vegetable peeler… so easy and fun.
See RECIPE: Preserved Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette and How to Use It
OR try: Karen’s Grainy Mustard Vinaigrette with Shallots and Garlic
GREEK
A wonderful shrimp sauté with a harmonious balance of flavors. Marvelous topped with Greek Feta Cheese, lots of Dill and Roasted Cherry Tomatoes on the Vine.
Garnish if you like with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes on the Vine and Blackened Lemon Slices
PERSIAN
There is a lot to LOVE about this cake! Rose water (my recipe) adds a bloom of floral notes to this super-moist cake with orange and cardamom flavors adorned with dried rose petals and pistachio nuts.
Gluten free – you would never know!
Elevated Elegance:
Bronzed, Grilled Halloumi teams with Asparagus and Shallots – in this easy preparation. Dazzle with a Balsamic Reduction with Ripe Strawberries.
You can use your favorite vegetable here too.
Crispy, Crunchy & Sweet ~ a brilliant, colorful, healthy salad… textures and flavors abound! Make the dressing ahead and adorn with my Nut and Seed Crunch. Raspberry Vinaigrette is crave worthy.
An elegant way to prepare fish – try my foolproof recipe to cook this classic dish. Paul Bocuse, the father of French gastronomy inspired the dish… I have added a wonderful Brown Butter-Garlic Drizzle with Parsley Oil
Serve with a green vegetable, such as Haricot Vert beans
A lightened-up recipe with creamy deliciousness – a crackled sugar top is complemented with a fruity roasted sauce.
These small sized Crème Brûlées are the perfect indulgent dessert with less fat than traditional recipes… and no heavy cream!
Modern Vegetarian Menu:
Crispy, light & flavorful – these chips are quite easy to make. The ultimate healthy snack! Recipe: Baked and RAW
Make a flavor paste~seasoned topping and simply massage into leaves and bake. An explosion of flavor – you can’t just eat one!
Keeping it simple – Crunch, Color and Flavor! A wonderful and refreshing salad.
Such an easy salad to put together – a lovelyl salad ~ Shaved Fresh Coconut is a must!
I’m finding watermelon and fresh coconut available year-round at grocery shops.
Can use sliced strawberries as an alternative.
RECIPE: Karen’s Zesty Coconut Thai Dressing
A light and zesty dressing with a secret ingredient… Coconut Cream.
Replaces some oil in the recipe for a creamy finish.
Tangy Lime Juice with Garlic, Ginger, Fresh Basil & Mint and Coconut Cream are the key flavors. Add a few pinches of Thai Chiles for a little heat.
Dan Dan Noodles are a traditional street food from Sichuan, China and can easily be recreated in your home kitchen!
I’m lightening them up with Tofu & Mushrooms in place of pork, and adding vibrant greens.
Dan Dan noodles are intensely flavorful—rich in all sorts of umami goodness!
A flavor explosion with beautiful color and texture. This simple Sherbet has just the right sweetness and is so refreshing!
I’m totally loving the white chocolate shavings mixed-into the sherbet.
End With a Bite of Chocolate!
It’s considered a symbol of love an affection, and contains chemicals that can improve the mood
These delectable, creamy truffles are truly all-natural with Fresh Mint from my garden. Coconut Milk swaps in for heavy cream for a lighter, vegan treat. Cacao nibs adds a little crunch.
These can be made days ahead!
HINTS for Making a Special Dinner at home:
If you are going for a Romantic Setting:
- Turn down the overhead lights. Light candles of various heights.
- Set a pretty table! Use you “better” china, or better yet, mix with some vintage pieces.
- Set the mood with an interesting tablecloth or table mats and use fabric (linen) napkins!
- Include your favorite flowers, miniature plants … could be a collection of succulents
- Pop some bubbly!
- Add your favorite playlist, some I love: ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’ by Paul McCartney, ‘At Last’ by Etta James, ‘I Will Always Love You’ by Whitney Houston and ‘All of Me’ by John Legend
Also SEE:
Karen’s Valentine’s Day Delicious Desserts – 20 of them to suit all tastes!
Love is in the air with tempting recipes you can successfully make at home!
Happy Valentine’s Day to All,
Karen
Potato Scaled Fish – Inspired by Paul Bocuse
Ingredients
- 1 pound Black Sea Bass Fillets, use the freshest fish you can buy; about 3 fillets
- 1 tablespoons clarified butter*, (see recipe)
- 4 large fingerling potatoes, scrubbed, I use 5" ones
- few pinches salt & pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon Parsley Oil*, (see recipe)
- 2 large lemon wedges
Instructions
- The recipe: The method is simple – just needs a little time to get it right! Here is the recipe step-by-step so you can achieve great results.
- Make the Clarified Butter, Easy Browned Butter Garlic Sauce and Parsley Oil. If not making Parsley Oil, add a few teaspoons of fresh chopped herbs to the Browned Butter Garlic Sauce (recipe below.)
- On a large plate or cutting board – arrange 3 pieces of parchment paper, a little larger than the fish. (For three fillets.) Place a fillet on each piece. This makes it super-easy to invert each fillet into the pan! Season with salt & pepper all over.
Fingerling Potatoes:
- Set a steamer basket in a pot to fit, add water, and bring to a boil. Slice the fingerling potatoes very thinly using a mandoline, then scatter them in the steamer and cover.Steam for just 3 minutes until partially cooked and sticky. Sticky is good… that will help them stick to the fish. Remove the cover – place next to the fish on the counter.
- Brush the fillets with a smear of clarified butter. Add the potatoes in tight rows to mimic the scales of fish. (See photo.) Brush all over the potato scales with a little clarified butter. (Use a total of 1 T. clarified butter in this step.) Refrigerate for 30 minutes until cold and firm.
To Cook:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon of clarified butter into a large non-stick skillet or seasoned cast iron skillet. Heat to medium – high. Add fillets, potato side down one at a time, remove the parchment paper. Gently press down on each fillet with a metal spatula.
- Cook for 3 – 5 minutes until the potatoes are golden and crusty. Have a rimmed baking tray ready. Quickly remove the fish from the skillet with a large spatula – inverting, potatoes side up.
- Place fish in the oven. Finish cooking the fish throughout until done inside – this will depend on the thickness if the fish.. mine was done in 5 minutes. Remove fish to individual plates and spoon some Brown Butter Garlic Sauce on the plate, drizzle with Parsley Oil. Serve with a large wedge of lemon & enjoy!
*How to Clarify Butter:
- (Butter that has been cooked to remove any water and solids.) In a small saucepan, melt 2 T. unsalted butter over medium-low heat. As the butter melts, skim off the white foam that rises to the top. Once the butter is melted and the foam is skimmed (this will take about 5 -7 minutes), the milk solid sediment will be at the bottom of the pan with a layer of golden liquid on top. Carefully pour the top layer – the clarified butter into a bowl.
Easy Browned Butter Garlic Sauce:
- Melt 2 T. unsalted butter in a small skillet. Let the butter melt and cook, stirring often, until it’s nutty and browned, 3 to 5 minutes – stirring occasionally and skimming foam as necessary. Take off heat. Wait one minute until it has cooled slightly. Add 1/2 t. minced garlic and stir well. Add a pinch of salt and spoon around the fish. Add some Parsley Oil for a wonderful flavor.If not using Parsley Oil, you may add some fresh chopped herbs to the browned butter garlic sauce.
**Parsley Oil:
- Use 1/2 cup packed, cleaned fresh parsley leaves. Blanch in boiling water for 30 seconds, will be bright green. Add to a small bowl of ice water to totally cool. Strain and dry well in a few changes of paper towels.Add the parsley, 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt to the carafe of a blender. Blend on low speed to high for at least one minute. Strain the oil in a with a mesh strainer into a small bowl.(You can use some to the parsley (what you strained out to add more body to the oil.) Store extra in a clean glass container in the refrigerator, use within a few weeks. Makes about 1/2 cup.
Notes
The fish must be fresh! Buy from a fishmonger you trust. Don’t be embarrassed to ask “when did it come in?” I bought my fish out in eastern Connecticut at Sea Well Seafood in Mystic. They sell what comes off the boats… everyday.
If you are unsure when the fish has been filleted – purchase a whole fish and ask to fillet it for you.
~ I chose Black Sea Bass Fillets – a firm white fish with a pleasant, sweet flavor. Enough body to hold up under the potato scales without flaking. You can also try halibut (which is thicker) and remove the skin. This recipe may not be reproduced without the consent of its author, Karen Sheer
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
