Share the love with your significant other, family and friends with these Valetine's Day and Galentine's day DIY and recipe ideas! Plan a romantic dinner of chicken chimichurri with a side of potatoes drizzled in garlic oil. Get together with your gal pals for Galentine's Day with this tablescape and set up a photo op for a fun time. You can make some treats with the kids like cake bites, or whip up some Valentine's Day floats. Of course, don't skip that special canine in your life by making some healthy doggy treats.
Make heart templates by folding a large piece of paper in half, drawing a half heart on the fold and cut them out. PRO TIP: If you don’t have the time to create your own heart forms, you can order them online or find them at craft stores, the sizes are just more limited.
Create the large hearts first. Trace the largest template onto out of either foam core or cardboard if you want them to have structure, but you can also just use poster board or craft paper!
Trace and cut a bunch of small and medium sized hearts out of cardboard or foam core.
Arrange or hang the large plain hearts first, so you can see how many wrapped hearts you will need. If you can’t hang as you work, lay blue masking tape on the floor to the size and shape of the space your photo op will be in to arrange everything.
Grab a piece of yarn and hot glue it to the center of a heart form, this is the back. Wrap the yarn around until the form covered to your liking. You can also layer thicknesses and colors of yarn for a funky look! Tie the yarn off in the back to secure. PRO TIP: The thicker the yarn, the less wrapping you have to do!
Hang the hearts with command strips, push pins or nails and enjoy!
FOR. THE ARROW PHOTO PROP:
Print and cut out the arrow templates and use them to create the arrowhead and tail out of cardstock. Cut out two arrowheads and the three pieces of the tail.
Crease all of the pieces in half.
Cut your dowel down to size if needed.
Use hot glue to attach the two sides of the arrowhead together, leave the bottom open.
Glue the arrowhead onto one end of the dowel and the three pieces of the tail on the other end.
TO CREATE THE BOW PHOTO PROP:
About 1” inset from each end of the balsa wood, drill a hole.
Cut a strand of yarn to about 2/3 the length of the wood. The yarn being shorter will create tension, causing the straight piece of balsa to curve like a real bow!
String the bow by feeding each end of the yarn into a hole on each end of the balsa wood and tie it off to secure.
3 sticks (1 1/2 cup) unsalted butter, left out at room temp for 20 minutes to slightly soften
Pinch of salt
1 Tablespoon vanilla (or clear vanilla if you want it to be whiter)
2 Tablespoons Raspberry Emulsion (Lorann)
6-7 Cups Powdered Sugar
(Pink) White Chocolate Ganache Drip
1 Cup White Chocolate Candy Melts (I use "Very White" or "Bright White" from Wilton)
1/4 Cup Heavy Cream
Red Gel Coloring
DIRECTIONS:
Red, Pink and White Striped Cake
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prep 3 6" cake rounds with a swipe of shortening and dust of flour. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, vanilla, egg whites, and vegetable oil until thoroughly combined. Sift in cake mix and stir until just combined.
Spoon 1/3 of the batter into the first prepared cake round. Add a small drop of red gel coloring to the remaining cake batter and stir (should be pink). Spoon 1/2 the cake batter into the second prepared cake round. Add a few drops of red gel coloring to the remaining cake batter (should be red). Spoon the rest of the cake batter into the third and final prepared cake round.
Bake for 25-27 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool for 2 minutes in pan, then flip out onto a cooling rack. Cool to room temperature. Wrap in plastic wrap twice and freeze for easier frosting.
Before frosting, slice each round in half to make 6 skinny cake rounds (2 white, 2 pink, and 2 red).
TIPS: Slice cakes when cold and with a super sharp knife. Slice edges first, then slowly the inside to make an even slice. Use plenty of gel coloring - the color bakes out slightly in the oven, so go bold. Wrapping up the cake rounds before frosting them makes it infinitely easier to decorate - the cakes won't wobble around as much and the rounds hold together better at such a skinny shape.
Buttercream
In a small glass bowl, microwave white chips and 1/4 cup heavy cream for 30 seconds. Stir until creamy and no lumps. Set aside.
In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip up the butter on high speed until light and fluffy. Add in chocolate ganache mixture you made.
Add in pinch of salt, vanilla, and emulsion. Whip up to combine.
Add in the other 1/4 cup heavy cream, and then add in the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time. Add more heavy cream if needed. Turn mixer on high speed for about three minutes to expand the texture and lighten the color. Hand beat with a wooden spoon afterwards to remove any air bubbles.
TIPS: Making a white chocolate ganache to add to the buttercream is an easy way to have that signature white chocolate taste in every bite without having big chunks of white chocolate. Hand whipping the buttercream gets out any air bubbles in the buttercream to make for a cleaner buttercream on the side of your cake. The raspberry emulsion is an easy way to get the raspberry taste in the buttercream while also keeping the buttercream white. You could also use freeze dried raspberries, raspberry compote, etc, but your buttercream will be a pinkish color.
Ganache
In a medium glass bowl, stir together the white chocolate and heavy cream. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir until thoroughly combined. Add 10-20 more seconds if needed (normally you wouldn't, but just in case).
To achieve the pastel light pink color, use a tiny toothpick prick of red color to add to the ganache and stir. A little goes a long way, so go easy.
Add to your drip bottle and set aside for ganache drip.
Garnishes
Valentine's Sprinkles (mixture of different colored sprinkles and nonpareils, etc.)
Gumballs (from party store)
Red Fondant Roses (Roll out red fondant, use Wilton rose cutter, roll the two pieces together into a rose, slice off the back, let dry overnight).
White Sprinkle Chocolate Bark (made by melting chocolate candy melts and adding on sprinkles. Using a sharp knife to cut out triangle shards).
Marbled Fondant Hearts (made by loosely mixing together red and white fondant pieces, rolling it out, and using a heart cutter for the heart shape. Dry overnight. Attach white sticks to the hearts with melted chocolate as glue.
Assembly Instructions
Tape a 6" cardboard cake round to an 8" cake round for ease of decorating.
Fill a large piping bag with buttercream.
Using a cake turntable, pipe a small dab of buttercream in the center of the 6" cake round to act as glue. Use an offset icing spatula to spread it out.
Place down first red cake round, pipe on a layer of buttercream. Place down pink cake round, repeat. White cake round, repeat. Repeat again with the remaining red, pink and white rounds.
Crumb coat the entire cake. Freeze for 5 minutes.
Add on final layer of buttercream, add sprinkles to bottom rim by pressing them on gently.
Add on ganache drip, place in the freezer for 5 minutes to harden.
Add on chocolate sprinkle bark, marbled fondant hearts, fondant roses, gumballs, and more sprinkles.
Iron-on vinyl paper and cricut, stencil and paint or another desired method of adding lettering
Paper for template
Pencil
OPTIONAL:
Leather punch
Sandpaper
INSTRUCTIONS:
Use an x-acto knife to cut a slit at the top of the wooden craft plaque big enough to fit ½” wide strip of pleather through it. PRO TIP: if the wood splinters from the cutting, use a little sandpaper to smooth it out.
Use a paintbrush to apply mod podge over the photo on the craft plaque. Set aside to dry.
Fold a piece of paper in half and measure out a good size for a cover, draw a triangle on the end big enough for the snap to be set into. The template should look like a rectangle with two triangles on each end. Cut the template out. PRO TIP: you want about ¼” of material around the plaque. Making a template allows you to cut a bunch of these quickly!
Trace your template onto the material. Use a rotary cutter and ruler to cut out. Now you have your “album cover”.
Cut a ½” strip of material with the rotary cutter that is long enough to double over around the key ring and through the slit on the plaque with a ½” overlap onto itself.
With it lying flat, cut a ½” slit in the center of your album cover to feed the strip through. The slit will be at the top of your cover when folded.
Now is the time to add lettering if desired. You can use a stencil with paint, iron on letters or any other desired method!
Slide the strip through the plaque, both ends of the strip through the slit in the album cover and around the keyring.
To secure the album to the key ring, center the overlap of the strip between the keyring and the album. Punch a hole through all three layers of the strip and place the double capped rivet through, set with provided set and hammer.
To insert the snaps, line the back and front of the album cover up, mark where you want the snap in the center of the triangle and punch a hole in through both layers. Use the snap set according to instructions with a hammer.
Put on your keys and enjoy! PRO TIP: if you want the cover to have a crease in the center or lay flatter, place it under a heavy book or object while folded.
Lay your foam core out in the size of a tree. (With all pieces oriented vertically, place two side by side on the first row, one on the second, and one on the third row for the trunk.)
Tape all the seams together.
Lay a paint stick over each of the seams and tape them down. (this will give the tree support)
Sketch out your tree on the back of the foam core. Since you are doing it on the back, feel free to keep trying to draw the tree out until you are happy with the shape.
Using the x-acto blade, cut out your tree shape.
Tape a scrap piece of foam core to the top of your tree to give it “dimension” against the wall.
Stand your tree up for photos!
For Tic Tac Toe Photo Backdrop
Place one of your letters onto your foam core sheet. Measure and mark a square around your letter, leaving a bit of gap between the letter and edge of the sheet.
Cut out the foam core square. Do this 9 times total.
Line your 9 squares up in a larger square, 3 in each row. Use the double sided tape to attach this to the wall.
Tape your ribbon over the lines of the foam core, creating the tic tac toe board.
Add velcro to your squares and the letters so you can stick the letters on!
First you need to create the template. Fold your poster board in half and draw half of a heart. Cut it out then cut the heart in half.
Use your ruler to measure 3” inset from the edge of the heart all around and draw out the line, connect the point at the top and cut the bottom edge flat. Now you have your template!
Place the template onto the foam core, trace and cut out two halves of the heart.
To create the brace for each half of the heart cut a 3” wide foam core rectangle out with a slit cut halfway through the middle that is the width of your foam core. PRO TIP: Cut the top corners off of each rectangle so it’s easier to cover if just using snow.
Cut a slit out of the flat cut bottom of each heart half that is the width of your foam core and to the height of the slit in the other brace.
Slide a brace onto the bottom of each half heart and secure the intersection with hot glue.
Cut a piece of foam core for the base, ours was about 7” x 7”.
Secure one brace to the base with hot glue, position the other half heart about 2-3” in front of the other facing the opposite direction to create a full heart. Mark it before gluing to assure they line up properly.
Place in the center of the table.
BOWS AND POUFS
To create the poufs cut about 20” sections of the webbing and pull the thread in one edge of the webbing to gather one side. Tie a knot to secure. Repeat to create as many as desired.
To create the bows, tie the webbing into a bow and pull taut, trim the excess. Pull and twist the webbing to add volume.
DÉCOR
Place tablecloth and put the cake stand in the middle of the table. Place the heart on the cake stand. Secure the heart to the stand with dashes. PRO TIP: dashes are a removable gel adhesive that won’t ruin surfaces they stick to so they’re ideal for temporary set ups!
Lay the faux fur throw around the stand to create a mound shape.
Sprinkle the snow around and on the throw, especially where you need to disguise the base.
Place the bows all around the mound, if you created multiple colors cascade them from dark to light or vice versa to create an ombré effect.
Attach bows to the napkin rings with a dash or two.
Pick a tissue box that will be the “head” of the monster. Line it up with the tissuebox that will act as the “body” and cut out a hole so that it creates a connecting compartment that will hold all of the cards.
Glue head and body together 4) Cut out monster’s teeth using scissors and foam paper
Glue to the opening of the “head” tissue box
Glue on fur and/or material to body. You can also paint body (optional)
Glue on feather boa for monster’s hair (optional)
Use pipe cleaners and pom-poms to create antennas (optional)
Use pom-pom garlands and foam paper to create hands, arms, legs and feet(optional)
Cut heart shapes out of tissue paper; for easy and clean looking hearts, use a heart hole punch; you can cut heart shapes with scissors as well
Place a few sheets of wax paper into the middle of the canvas bag to protect the inside and other side of the bag from the mod podge
Pre-plan where you want to place your hearts
Use the paint brush to apply a generous amount of mod podge to the canvas and press your hearts on to the bag in the preplanned area
After all the hearts are in place, apply another layer of mod podge over the top of the hearts on the bag to secure them on
Allow to dry for a few hours minimum
TIPS:
*To make your tissue paper hearts, place the tissue paper inside a folded piece of regular paper. This ensures you’ll get an even, clean cut.
*If you do not have a heart hole punch, fold the tissue paper in half to create an even heart shape
For a Glitter Bag
Place the painter’s tape into the bag above the area where glitter is desired Place a piece of wax paper inside the bag to prevent the glue from soaking through Apply the mod podge where you would like the glitter Pour a heavy coat of glitter over the mod podge Shake off excess glitter and allow to dry completely Once dry, apply another layer of mod podge over the bag and allow it to dry completely Add additional working details of method of choice, as you see fit!
TIPS:
*Use painter’s tape to create a clean line for the glitter*
*You can also add glitter into the mod podge for extra coverage*
Place your ramekins & rounds on board to create foundation. Fill up your ramekins with smaller candies to corral them together
Make your apple heart. Using your red apple slice two sides off. Then, take one of the sides & start to thinly slice. Once sliced, mold the apple into a heart shape. Place onto your round & fill in with blueberries to make the apple pop
Move onto larger scale items (cookies, brownies, larger gummies) Start lining the edges of the board to create a barrier. One the edges are good to go, arrange them in fun ways around the board (fan out on edges, around ramekins, create rows)
Pay attention to color distribution. Spread out similar colors. I.e. chocolate browns on opposite corners, white on opposite corners and so forth. This helps to create visual interest and balance on the board
Fill in the holes with smaller candies. Like pink mints, small gummies, chocolate covered almonds, etc.
Add little clear scoops around the board to serve (optional)
1 tbs calabrian chile, cleaned, seeds removed, chopped fine
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs calabrian chile oil
1 tbs parsley, chopped
1 tbs mint, chopped
½ tsp garlic, finely minced
GARNISH:
1 cara cara orange
Mint leaves
Sea salt or fleur de sel
Serves 4 4 portions salmon, 5 ounces each
DIRECTIONS:
Toast spices and grind in spice grinder. Set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk crème fraiche with zest of 1 orange and juice of ½ orange. Season with salt. Set aside.
Cut the florets off the Romanesco. In a food processor, pulse florets until broken down into grain-like texture. Set aside in shallow pan and pour salted boiling water over to cover. Let cook for 1-2 minutes or until tender. Strain and shock in ice water to stop the cooking process. Let drain completely, squeezing out excess water if needed.
In a mixing bowl, combine 1 cup of Romanesco rice (made in Step 3) with peas, almonds, and mint. Dress with juice of ½ orange, ¼ lemon, and olive oil. Season with salt.
In a small bowl, combine finely chopped Calabrian chiles with the oils, herbs, and garlic. Season with salt and set aside.
Cut skin off whole cara cara orange and slice into wheels.
Season salmon with spice mix and salt. Grill to medium rare.
On plate, spread 1 tbs of orange crème fraiche. Top with 3 tbs of Romanesco rice salad and 2-3 orange wheels. Place fish on top and finish with chile gremolata, mint leaves, and sea salt.
Put wax chips/flakes into pour pot and place on top of boiling water.
Melt all the way down and then add wax dye chip and stir. Mix well.
Pour mixture on rimmed cookie sheet lined with parchment or wax paper.
Let the wax set. The wax should be soft but not jiggly.
Run cookie cutter under warm water to help cut shape more easily.
Cut out shapes and while the wax is still soft, poke a hole in the center with a toothpick where the wick will go.
Set dyed wax scraps aside and save for later.
Repeat process of melting white wax and instead of using a dye chip use scraps of the dyed wax. Add a small amount to start and then continue to add until desired color shade is reached.
Repeat pouring, setting, and cutting out shape. Poke hole in center with toothpick.
Use metal tabbed wick and begin stacking hearts with the largest and darkest color on bottom. Gradually go smaller and lighter.
Trim wick with scissors if necessary.
Place on dish or plate and enjoy!
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DIY Valentine's Floral Arrangement in a Chocolate Box
DIY Valentine's Floral Arrangement in a Chocolate Box
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place potatoes in foil. Gently coat potatoes in 2 Tbsp cooking oil, 2 pinches of salt, and 1 pinch of pepper. Wrap potatoes securely in the foil, place on the roasting pan and roast for 20 minutes.
While potatoes are roasting, heat 1 Tbsp cooking oil in large skillet on medium heat. Once skillet is hot, add chicken thighs laying them flat side down and sear until nicely browned, about 6 minutes.
Turn the chicken over and cover, adjusting the skillet heat to medium/low. Simmer for 3-4 minutes, until chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Remove chicken from skillet and plate. Set the skillet aside.
In a separate bowl, combine the chimichurri ingredients and lightly toss. Pour the sauce over the chicken.
For the Garlic Oil, smash, peel, and mince the 1⁄2 head of garlic. Transfer to a medium pot, add the 1⁄2 cup of grapeseed oil, and heat over medium for 3 minutes. Reduce to low and continue to cook for 10 minutes. Add salt. Remove from heat.
Remove potatoes from oven and open carefully. Use the bottom side of a cup to lightly smash the potatoes to about half an inch in thickness.
Drizzle the garlic oil over the smashed potatoes, season with a pinch of salt and pepper, and place back in oven for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Once done, remove from oven and plate.
In a separate bowl, combine the olive oil & lemon vinaigrette ingredients and stir. Set aside.
Using the same skillet that was used to cook the chicken, raise heat to medium. After the existing liquid begins to bubble, add broccolette and cook for 3 minutes, occasionally tossing.
Next, add the cherry tomatoes, and continue to toss every 30 seconds as to not burn your veggies. Finally, add the olive oil and lemon vinaigrette. Remove the broccolini and tomatoes from heat and transfer to serving dish.
Feel free to serve family style or plate individually. Enjoy!
Put one of the chicken breasts on cutting board. Keeping your knife parallel to the cutting board, cut into the thickest part of the chicken breast. Slice horizontally all the way through the chicken breast to make two thinner pieces that are about 1/2–inch thick. Repeat with the other chicken breast. Season chicken liberally with salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken in flour, shaking off any excess.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Put 2 pieces of chicken in the skillet and cook until golden brown on one side, 3 to 5 minutes. Flip the chicken and cook until cooked through, about 1 more minute. Transfer the chicken to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Pour off the remaining oil and butter and wipe out the pan. Add another 2 tablespoons each of olive oil and butter to the skillet and repeat the same steps for the 2 remaining chicken pieces. Keep all cooked chicken pieces warm under the foil.
Make pan sauce by adding the lemon juice and zest, broth, and capers to the skillet and bring to a boil. Using a wooden spoon, scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan (those bits add a lot of flavor). Cook until reduced by half, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and whisk in the remaining 4 tablespoons butter. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Return the chicken to pan and turn to coat.
To serve, put a piece of chicken on each of 4 serving plates. Spoon the sauce over chicken and garnish with the parsley.
In a bowl, combine pumpkin puree, peanut butter and coconut milk until well combined.
Gradually add 2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats at low speed, beating just until incorporated.
Roll the mixture out on a cutting board and flatten with a rolling pin. The mixture should
be pretty thick, about ¼”. (Because they will not rise.) You can use flour to make it less sticky.
Using a dog-bone shaped cookie cutter, cut out little bones and set them on a cookie sheet with wax or parchment paper. TIP: If you have small dogs, use a small bone cookie cutter. If you have big dogs like mine, use a large bone cookie cutter.
Place in the refrigerator until firm, about 1 hour.
Rinse strawberries well. Use paper towels to pat the strawberries dry.
As your strawberries are drying, it’s time to start melting your chocolate.
Use candy melt chocolate and melt it in the microwave for 30 seconds.
While the chocolate is melting, completely slice off the green stems from the strawberries.
Skewer your strawberries through the bottom side (where you removed the green stems), and place strawberry kebabs on a plate. Repeat this step until you’ve used all your strawberries.
Add sprinkles.
Arrange your strawberry skewers into a bouquet and use a rubber band to hold the skewers together.
Take brown craft wrapping paper, and cut into a square. Place bundled strawberries on the brown paper and wrap it up like a bouquet. Cut a piece of ribbon and tie it around the bouquet.
Pink and Red Food Coloring (as much as you’d like, for coloring the coconut)
~1 tablespoon Water
80-96 candy eyes
48 White Chocolate Hershey’s Kisses
1 pound Red Licorice Laces
DIRECTIONS:
Heat oven to 350°F.
Line a 9x13-inch baking pan with parchment paper or spray it with baking spray.
Combine cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, milk, oil, and eggs in a large mixing bowl.
Using an electric mixer, beat on low speed for 30 seconds.
Increase speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes.
Pour into pan.
Bake for 28-34 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Allow cake to cool completely.
Crumble cake into a large bowl, preferable the bowl of a stand mixer.
Add ⅓ cup frosting and stir or beat until well blended and smooth. If too dry, add more frosting until desired texture is achieved.
Scoop out 40-48 tablespoon size portions of the cake ball dough and roll into balls. Set aside to dry for an hour.
While cake is drying, make colored coconut. Divide coconut shreds into two plastic bags. Dissolve 10-12 drops of red food coloring in 1-2 teaspoons of water. Pour solution into one bag of coconut, shake until coconut color is even. Repeat with remaining coconut, using pink with the water instead of red.
Prepare antennae and feet: Cut licorice laces into 2-3 inch pieces (you’ll need two for every cake ball), set aside as antennae. Unwrap White Chocolate Kisses and set aside (you’ll need one chocolate kiss for every cake ball).
Dip the cake balls in melted white candy melts and immediately roll each ball in colored coconut.
Press covered cake ball onto pointy end of chocolate kiss. Insert two pieces of licorice lace for antennae at the top.
Use melted white candy melts to attach two candy eyes to each cake ball.
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Seared Wild Salmon with Fried Potato and Artichoke Hash
Seared Wild Salmon with Fried Potato and Artichoke Hash
Course:
Dinner
Cuisine:
American
Yield:
4 servings
INGREDIENTS:
Meyer Lemon
Meyer Lemon
4 T. EVOO
Meyer Lemon Caper Relish
4 ea. Meyer Lemon, Segmented and cut into 3rds
Shallot (fine diced)
2 t. Chopped Thyme Leaves
2 T. Chives (Minced)
½ C. Yellow Celery Hearts Thinly Sliced
1 C. EVOO
½ C. Blend Oil
¼ t Chili Flakes
5 Ea. Anchovy Diced
1 Ea. Small Red Bell Pepper Brunoise
3 T. Rough Chopped Capers
Black Pepper
Salmon and Potato
3 T. Grapeseed Oil or Canola
4 Ea. 7 Oz Wild Salmon Filet, Skin on, Pin Bones Removed
6 oz Artichoke Heart Lg Dice (par cooked)
8 oz Fingerling Potatoes Cut into ¼ in Rounds (par cooked)
2 oz Scallion, Sliced
6 oz Stock, Lobster, Vegetable or Chicken
8 oz Blue Lake Beans, Blanched and warmed in 1 T butter
3 T. Butter
2 ea Thyme sprig and peeled garlic clove
Juice of ½ lemon
DIRECTIONS:
Recipe Courtesy Chef Govind Armstrong – TheLobster.com Serves 4
FOR MEYER LEMON:
Cut the ends off the lemon and use a vegetable peeler to carefully peel the zest from end to end.
With a paring knife remove any remaining white pith.
Thinly slice the zest horizontally and place the zest in a small pot with the extra virgin oil and steep on low for 30 minutes until softened.
Set aside and allow to cool.
FOR MEYER LEMON CAPER RELISH:
Place all items in a mixing bowl, stir in poached zest and seasoned EVOO.
Add a few turns of a pepper mill.
Store in the refrigerator.
FOR SALMON AND POTATO:
Begin by cooking the salmon.
Season fish with salt and pepper, warm 1 ½ T oil to medium high heat and place fish flesh side down and cook for 1 minute. Gently turn salmon skin side down and cook for an additional 3 minutes. While the salmon is cooking you can start the hash.
Over a medium high heat add 1 ½ T. of the remaining oil to a large saute pan. Add potatoes, artichoke hearts and pan fry until golden about 2 minutes and lightly season with salt and pepper. Deglaze the pan with the stock reduce by half and swirl in 1 T. of butter. Adjust the seasoning with salt, pepper & lemon juice, then stir in scallion.
For the last minute of cook time for the salmon add butter, thyme sprig & garlic. Baste the salmon for 1 minute, reduce heat if your pan appears to be too hot. Turn range off and gently flip salmon to flesh side and begin to plate.
Season green beans with salt & pepper, and place at 9 o’clock on your plate. Spoon hash in the center, straddle salmon, skin side up on beans and hash. Drizzle the plate with lemon relish and serve up the smiles!
Line your edges and glue together using wood glue.
Drill three screws into the top of your wood for added reinforcement.
Pre-drill your holes on the sides for your handles.
Apply contact paper, starting from the bottom of your tray.
Using an X-Acto knife, remove any excess contact paper from the edges of the tray.
Add your handles to the sides.
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Grilled Flank Steak with Salsa Verde
INGREDIENTS:
Skirt Steak
1 strip of flank or flat iron steak
Course sea salt or Maldon salt
Fresh cracked pepper
1 teaspoon of Grapeseed oil
2 tablespoons butter
Salsa Verde (Mix together)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
1/2 lemon juiced
2 tablespoons olive oil
pinch of lemon zest
pinch of salt
pinch of chili flake
Condiments
2 tablespoons of whole grain/ whole seed mustard
2 tablespoons Hak’s Chipotle Bourbon BBQ Sauce (or BBQ sauce of your choice)
"Better for you Sweet Tea"
6oz jasmine green tea
1/2 oz honey
2-3 blackberries
Squeeze of lime juice
DIRECTIONS:
For Flank Steak
Heat a cast iron pan to high. Add oil, season steak and sear on each side for about 2 minutes on each side. Add butter and baste for the last 30 seconds. Remove from pan and allow to rest for 5-7 minutes. Slice against the grain and serve.
For Sweet Tea
To make green tea: Steep 1 tea bag of jasmine green tea in hot water. Add the honey, mix well and refrigerated until cold. Pour over crushed ice and garnish with blackberry and lime wedge.
Bring potatoes to a boil and simmer until fork tender
Strain immediately, allow to drain completely
Transfer to a potato ricer and rice into a bowl or another pot
Add chunks of room temperature butter to the hot potato mixture
*Do NOT melt butter into cream *Add remaining ingredients * Do NOT pour all the cream in all at once. You may need a little less or a little more * Mix ingredients until smooth * Taste and adjust if necessary.
For Marinade
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until finely chopped
When marinading the meat, do not put to much oil as your grill will flare up because of the oil
*We use flank steak. Cook meat on grill or heavy bottommed pan such as a cast iron. Sear meat evenly on both sides for about 4 to 5 minutes. Let meat rest before cutting. Reason is you don't want the meat to bleed out all its juice.
