19 Easy Recipes for Valentine’s Day - The New York Times

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19 Easy Recipes for Valentine’s Day - The New York Times

19 Easy Recipes for Valentine’s Day - The New York Times

Posted: 10 Feb 2021 06:36 AM PST

Whether you're celebrating Valentine's Day with your partner, with your pod or by yourself, these recipes will help make the day special without a full day spent in the kitchen. These dishes don't require tons of ingredients and most of them come together in under an hour.

View our full collection of Valentine's Day recipes.

Nothing says "I love you" like a grilled cheese sandwich stuffed with melty Gruyère and caramelized onions. This recipe from Ali Slagle has more than 2,000 five-star reviews, so it's a guaranteed home run. (Tip: Have breath mints handy.)

This easy no-mixer cake from Jerrelle Guy can be made with fresh or frozen strawberries (or any berry, really). Just be sure to defrost frozen berries in the microwave first. Serve it with whipped cream or the best vanilla ice cream you can get your hands on — or both.

Recipe: Strawberry Spoon Cake

This vibrant vegetarian sheet-pan dinner from Yasmin Fahr is just as beautiful as a bouquet of flowers, but infinitely more satisfying. If you like, use broccoli instead of broccolini, and serve the whole mess over a pile of chewy farro.

Recipe: Sheet-Pan Baked Feta With Broccolini, Tomatoes and Lemon

Make kiddos of all ages happy by serving hot chocolate with breakfast. If you're feeling ambitious, top it with homemade marshmallows, whipped cream, and red and pink sprinkles.

Perfect for celebrating with your Galentine pod or your family, this velvety fondue from Melissa Clark is a welcome excuse to pull out that 1970s fondue set you inherited from your Aunt Charlene. It's endlessly adaptable, too: Sub in Cheddar, raclette or Monterey Jack for the Gruyère and Emmenthaler.

Recipe: Classic Cheese Fondue

Thanks be to Genevieve Ko for coming up with this five-ingredient salty-sweet salmon. For a full-on feast, serve it with roasted potatoes, green beans or a salad.

Recipe: Maple-Baked Salmon

Readers adore Sue Li's 30-minute lemony white bean and shrimp stew for its simplicity and adaptability. If you like, add another can of beans, serve it over pasta or use shallots in place of leeks to speed up the prep.

Recipe: Lemony Shrimp and Bean Stew

A delicious meal that cooks up in one pot feels like a magic trick. This brightly flavored chicken dish from Yewande Komolafe is just that. Readers had success substituting feta for the halloumi and standard couscous or rice for the pearl couscous.

Recipe: Skillet Chicken With Couscous, Lemon and Halloumi

Mark Bittman's steak Diane — essentially seared fillets with Dijon cream sauce — is delightfully retro and undeniably delicious. Baked potatoes, crisp green salad and yacht rock make excellent accompaniments.

Recipe: Steak Diane for Two

Skip the socially distanced shopping experience at the fancy chocolate store, and make your own box-worthy treats instead. David Tanis's recipe is easy to follow and fun to customize.

A perfectly seared scallop is a fine thing, indeed, and Colu Henry's pasta with burst tomatoes and herbs is packed with them. It takes time and patience to get that golden crust, so let the pan get very hot before adding the scallops, then leave them alone for a couple of minutes before checking for doneness.

Recipe: Seared Scallop Pasta With Burst Tomatoes and Herbs

Molly O'Neill brought this recipe to the Times back in 1997, and it still holds up. It's as simple as can be: Slather both sides of some salted chops with Dijon mustard, crushed cumin seeds (or ground cumin if that's what you've got) and black pepper; sear in a hot pan; then finish in the oven. If you think of it, brine the chops a day in advance. (Sam Sifton's star anise brine is perfect for this.)

Recipes: Cumin-Baked Pork Chops | Star Anise Brine

These genius bars from Genevieve Ko strike the balance between salty and sweet, and they're ripe for improvisation. Use a mixture of bittersweet, semisweet, milk or white chocolate. Decorate with sprinkles or colorful candies. One NYT Cooking editor pressed broken Oreos into the melted chocolate and was pretty happy about it.

Recipe: Rice Krispies Treats With Chocolate and Pretzels

Champagne, bitters, lemon juice and maple syrup — that's all it takes to make this sparkly beverage from Mark Bittman. (Top with a ripe raspberry, if you like.)

Recipe: Champagne Cocktail

"BIG WIN" wrote one reader about Alexa Weibel's vegan version of the classic Italian dish. Pasta cooking water, store-bought cashew butter, nutritional yeast, white miso paste and toasted crushed peppercorns come together to make a creamy, dairy-free sauce that doesn't feel like a compromise.

Recipe: Vegan Cacio e Pepe

A Dutch baby, which is also known as a German oven pancake, is like a giant popover. This one, from Florence Fabricant, is wonderful served with maple syrup or confectioners' sugar, or topped with fresh fruit.

Recipe: Dutch Baby

Mousse has a reputation for being fussy, but this one is not. It originated in a 1980s Junior League cookbook and came to The Times through the cook Monica Stolbach, via the pastry chef Natasha Pickowicz. You don't have to separate the egg yolks and whites; instead, you pour hot sugar syrup into a blender with chocolate and whole eggs. Blend for a bit, then fold the mixture into softly whipped cream.

Fried eggs are good. Melissa Clark's fried eggs with frico edges are next level. Don't use preground Parmesan here. Grate the cheese on the largest holes of your grater, and use a nonstick skillet or well-seasoned cast-iron pan to achieve crispy perfection. Serve the eggs over a pile of fresh arugula with well-buttered toast.

Recipe: Crispy Parmesan Eggs

Valentine's Day Recipes: Spicy Thai Chicken And Coffee Mug Chocolate Cake - NPR

Posted: 12 Feb 2021 02:06 AM PST

A Valentine's Day meal for two from America's Test Kitchen: coffee mug molten chocolate cake and Thai chicken with basil. America's Test Kitchen hide caption

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America's Test Kitchen

A Valentine's Day meal for two from America's Test Kitchen: coffee mug molten chocolate cake and Thai chicken with basil.

America's Test Kitchen

Looking for a way to add some heat to your Valentine's Day?

Jack Bishop of PBS' America's Test Kitchen — playing the role on Morning Edition of kitchen cupid — offers a spicy chicken dish served with rice. Bishop has a clever way of preparing the rice that starts with rinsing and then sauteing it.

For dessert, there's a coffee mug chocolate cake cooked in the microwave — a quick, chocolatey treat for two. Its heat comes not from spice but from a molten center.

Thai Chicken with Basil

Before you begin

This spicy recipe should be served with rice. Get the rice going so it will ready when the chicken is done.

Ingredients

1 cup fresh basil leaves, divided

2 green or red Thai chiles, stemmed

1 garlic clove, peeled

2 1/2 teaspoons fish sauce, divided, plus extra for serving

1 1/2 teaspoons oyster sauce

1/2 teaspoon sugar, plus extra for serving

1/2 teaspoon distilled white vinegar, plus extra for serving

1 (8-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breast, trimmed and cut into 2‑inch pieces

1 shallot, sliced thin

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Red pepper flakes

Instructions

1. Pulse 1/2 cup basil, Thai chiles and garlic in food processor until finely chopped, 10 to 12 pulses, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Transfer 1 1/2 teaspoons of basil mixture to small bowl and stir in 1 1/2 teaspoons fish sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, and vinegar. Transfer remaining basil mixture to 10‑inch nonstick skillet.

2. Without washing food processor bowl, pulse chicken and remaining 1 teaspoon fish sauce in food processor until meat is coarsely chopped, 6 to 8 pulses; transfer to medium bowl and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

3. Stir shallot and oil into basil mixture in skillet. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until garlic and shallot are golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes. (Mixture should start to sizzle after about 1 1/2 minutes; if it doesn't, adjust heat accordingly.)

4. Stir in chopped chicken and cook over medium heat, breaking up chicken with wooden spoon, until only traces of pink remain, 2 to 4 minutes. Add reserved basil–fish sauce mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until chicken is no longer pink, about 1 minute. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup basil leaves and cook, stirring constantly, until basil is wilted, 30 to 60 seconds. Serve immediately, passing pepper flakes and extra fish sauce, sugar, and vinegar separately.

Simple White Rice for Two

Serves 2

Total Time: 45 minutes

Why this recipe works

For really great long-grain rice with distinct, separate grains that didn't clump together, we rinsed the rice of excess starch first. After simmering the rice until all of the liquid was absorbed, we placed a dish towel between the lid and pot to absorb excess moisture and ensure dry, fluffy grains. You will need a small saucepan with a tight-fitting lid for this recipe. A nonstick saucepan will help prevent the rice from sticking.

Ingredients

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

3/4 cup long-grain white, basmati, or jasmine rice, rinsed

1 1/4 cups water

1/4 teaspoon table salt

Instructions

1. Heat oil in small saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Stir in rice and cook until edges of grains begin to turn translucent, about 2 minutes. Stir in water and salt and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until all liquid is absorbed, 18 to 22 minutes.

2. Remove saucepan from heat. Remove lid, place folded clean dish towel over saucepan, then replace lid. Let rice sit.

Coffee Mug Molten Chocolate Cake for Two

Serves 2

Total Time: 20 minutes

Why this recipe works

These individual chocolate cakes are cooked in coffee mugs in the microwave for a nearly instant dessert. To keep our cakes from overflowing, we had to supplement bittersweet chocolate with cocoa powder; cocoa powder has less fat, which produces less steam, thus less chance of an overflow. Microwaving the cakes on 50 percent power was the key to cooking them gently, helping create a light, tender crumb and stirring the batter halfway through ensured even cooking. Finally, a few chunks of bittersweet chocolate added to each cake created a gooey, molten center.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 ounce bittersweet chocolate, chopped, plus 1 ounce broken into 4 equal pieces

¼ cup (1 3/4 ounces) sugar

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ cup (1 1/4 ounces) all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

Before you begin

We developed this recipe in a full-size, 1200-watt microwave. If you're using a compact microwave with 800 watts or fewer, increase the cooking time to 90 seconds for each interval. For either size microwave, reset to 50 percent power at each stage of cooking. Use a mug that holds at least 11 ounces, or the batter will overflow. The bittersweet chocolate is added at two points.

Instructions

1. Microwave butter and chopped chocolate in large bowl, stirring often, until melted, about 1 minute. Whisk sugar, eggs, cocoa, vanilla, and salt into chocolate mixture until smooth. In separate bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Whisk flour mixture into chocolate mixture until combined. Divide batter evenly between 2 (11-ounce) coffee mugs.

2. Place mugs on opposite sides of microwave turntable. Microwave at 50 percent power for 45 seconds. Stir batter and microwave at 50 percent power for 45 seconds (batter will rise to just below rim of mug). Press 2 chocolate pieces into center of each cake until chocolate is flush with top of cake. Microwave at 50 percent power for 35 seconds (cake should be slightly wet around edges of mug and somewhat drier toward center). Let cakes rest for 2 minutes. Serve.

Recipes for Thai Chicken with Basil from The Chicken Bible and Coffee Mug Molten Chocolate Cake For Two from Cook's Country were reprinted with permission by America's Test Kitchen.

Barry Gordemer and Dalia Mortada produced and edited the audio story. Heidi Glenn adapted it for the Web.

TikTok partners with Whisk to pilot a recipe-saving feature on food videos - TechCrunch

Posted: 11 Feb 2021 01:43 PM PST

TikTok is expanding its integrations with third-party services, with the launch of a test that allows creators in the food space to link directly to recipes found on the Whisk app. This is being made possible by way of a new "recipe" button overlaid on related TikTok food videos. The feature makes a TikTok cooking video more actionable as it encourages viewers to not just watch the content, but also take the next step to save the content for later use.

The new button could also potentially drive significant traffic to Whisk — especially if a particular recipe went viral — like the "TikTok Pasta" videos have in recent days.

The addition is being made available in partnership with Whisk and is currently in "alpha testing," TikTok confirmed to TechCrunch. TikTok says it has also worked with Whisk to help identify food content creators who could serve as the first adopters of the new functionality.

We found the feature in action on one of TikTok's top food creators' profiles, The Korean Vegan, aka Joanne L. Molinaro.

Image Credits: TikTok screenshot

The button was also first spotted by social media consultant Matt Navarra on the @feelgoodfoodie TikTok account.

The way the feature works, from the TikTok viewer's side, is fairly simple.

A user who's in the test group may come across a video on the app that includes the new button that reads: "See full recipe." The button appears just above the creator name and video description on the bottom left of the screen — the same spot where the "Green Screen" button would otherwise appear. When tapped, you're directed to a Whisk page where you can view recipe photos, see ingredients and choose to save the recipe to your own collection, if you're a Whisk user.

This all takes place while still inside the TikTok app.

On the creator's side, adding the recipe button to a video is done during the posting workflow via a new "add link" option.

The ability to add a "save recipe" feature to a TikTok video wouldn't necessarily have to be limited to food content creators, however. Whisk allows anyone to create a recipe community on its platform, which means people can grow their followings simply by curating their favorite recipes around some sort of category or theme — like Instant Pot meals or favorite smoothie ideas or comfort baking, for example.

Image Credits: Whisk

Whisk has also been working more recently to expand its recipe communities to serve as a home for curators and creators alike by allowing them to point to their websites, if they have one, or link out to their social media profiles, including Instagram, YouTube and, of course, TikTok.

The idea is that fans would view the content on social media and be inspired, then visit Whisk as the next step in terms of saving the recipe, creating a shopping list or actually trying the recipe at home. This sort of "actionable" content could present a challenge to Pinterest, which has been expanding into short-form video through Story Pins. The feature allows Pinterest creators to share video content in the tappable "story" format — including recipe and cooking videos.

Pinterest hoped to use Story Pins as a way to differentiate its short-form videos from rivals, noting during its earnings last week that Story Pins are "not as focused on entertainment," but rather "what the Pinner could do to enrich their own lives."

TikTok's selection of Whisk as a new partner makes sense as the recipe app has gained a rapid following since its late 2019 launch. Today, Whisk sees over 1.5 million interactions per month on its platform. It also just won a "Best of 2020″ Google Play award.

Whisk's TikTok button, however, is not the first integration of its kind.

Last month, learning platform Quizlet announced a similar TikTok feature aimed at creators in the education space. In its case, the buttons overlaid on top of videos would link directly to Quizlet's study sets, like its digital flashcards. At the time, it wasn't clear that the new Quizlet feature was a part of a larger effort to connect TikTok videos more directly with related apps and services — an addition that could lead to an expansion in TikTok content and, perhaps, influencer sponsorships, further down the road.

There's potential for TikTok to form other partnerships like this as well, given the app's ability to drive trends across a number of content categories, effectively becoming the video alternative to Pinterest's image bookmarking site.

At year-end, for example, TikTok published lists of 2020's "top trends" in cooking, music, beauty and style. On the style front, TikTok already ran a livestreamed video shopping pilot with Walmart that used influencers to drive purchases, demonstrating the potential in connecting video inspiration to consumer action in an even more timely fashion.

6 Healthy Chutney Recipes That You'd Love To Add To Your Diet - NDTV Food

Posted: 12 Feb 2021 02:05 AM PST

HighlightsChutney is a popular relish from India


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