Be Mine: A Valentine's Day Menu

May we suggest a blueprint on which to build a tender feast for your beloved?

Photography by Adam Milliron. Styling by Ana Kelly.

Appetizer

Chef Palak and longtime Table Magazine contributor Ana Kelly, a nationally sought after food stylist, joined forces with another esteemed Table veteran, photographer Adam Milliron, to create this delicious dish and capture its beauty. It’s simple enough: a handful of winter’s most beautiful crop slathered with a warm, aromatic vinaigrette dressing. The tang of the dressing makes the fruit surprisingly rich, while its warmth brings out a robust note within the citrus. Eat as a starter with a glass of sparkling wine.

Ingredients

1 Ruby grapefruit

1 Pink grapefruit

2 Cara Cara oranges

2 Blood oranges (one juiced, one whole)

A few kumquats

2 tsp Fresh thyme leaves, and more for garnish

2 tsp Fresh parsley leaves, chopped

1 tsp Ground cumin

1 tsp Black pepper

Salt, to taste

3 T Chopped red onion, plus more for garnish

1/3 c White balsamic vinegar

1/2 c Olive oil

Method

Juice one of the blood oranges and set the juice aside.

With a sharp knife, cut away the peel and pith from the rest of the fruit, except for the kumquats. Slice the fruit (including the kumquats) into 1/4” thick slices. Arrange on a plate and sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves and, if you like, a little bit of chopped red onion.

In a clean saucepan, bring vinegar, blood orange juice, red onion, thyme, salt, pepper and cumin to a boil for 2 or 3 minutes. Strain the liquid through a sieve. While still warm, whisk the liquid together with the olive. When the mixture completely emulsifies, slather it over the citrus slices and eat immediately.

Serves 2 to 4 people.

Photography by Dave Bryce. Styling by Rafael Vencio.

Main Course

Justin Severino, the culinary force behind Morcilla and Salty Pork Bits, shares this cider-braised chicken paella with TABLE readers. It is a specialty of Asturias, the autonomous region in Spain whose cuisine inspired Morcilla’s menu, and it makes a terrific part of a tapas-style family meal..

Serves 4

Ingredients
4 chicken legs, bone-in, skin-on, separated into leg and thigh pieces
3 tbsp salt
1 ½ tbsp sugar
10 sprigs thyme
1 garlic head, cut in half
2 bay leaves
2 cups chicken stock or broth
2 cups apple cider
2 cups Sidra (Spanish cider)
4 tbsp butter
1 cup rice flour
2 cups vegetable stock or broth
100 g Calasparra rice
Mix of soft herbs (parsley, chervil, chives, dill)

Instructions

In a shallow sauté/braising pan, season the chicken legs and thighs with the salt, sugar, thyme, garlic, and bay leaves, let sit overnight in the fridge.

The next day preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cover the chicken legs with the three liquids (chicken stock and the two ciders) and braise in the oven uncovered for about 1 hour. The chicken should be golden and caramelized on top and tender and the liquid should have reduced by about half. Let cool to room temperature.

Pull the chicken legs and thighs out of the liquid and reserve and strain the liquid through a fine-mesh strainer. Pull all the meat and skin off of the bone while reserving the thigh pieces whole for later use.

In a large sauté pan or paella pan begin browning the butter.

Dredge the chicken leg meat and skin in the rice flour, shaking off any excess, and add to the browning butter. Cook until it becomes golden brown and crispy.

Add the rice to the pan followed by the 2 cups of vegetable stock and the remaining braising liquid from the chicken.

Cook over medium heat until the rice absorbs the liquid, and the bottom layer of rice begins to stick to the pan for about 30 minutes. Taste the rice and adjust for seasoning with salt.

Place the chicken thighs reserved from earlier on top of the cooked rice in the pan and finish cooking in the oven at 350 degrees for ten minutes. Garnish with soft herbs.

Photography by Dave Bryce. Styling and recipes by Rafael Vencio.

Side

Wintery Red Slaw with Vinaigrette Dressing: This hearty, healthy, and easy winter slaw makes a great side dish for roasted meats or a substantial wintery stew. The vinaigrette dressing complements the bitter red cabbage and radicchio with magical savory notes.

*serves four to six*

Ingredients

For the salad:

1 medium-sized red cabbage, julienned

1 head radicchio, julienned

1 yellow pepper, julienned

1 red pepper, julienned

1 bunch scallions, sliced thin

For the dressing:

Juice of 1 lemon and lime each

½ cup apple cider vinegar

¼ cup rice wine vinegar

½ cup avocado seed oil

¼ cup light brown sugar

½ tsp salt

2 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp hot sauce, Sriracha, or any preference. Can be omitted.

Combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl.

Combine all dressing ingredients in a mason jar or a tightly lidded container with enough room to shake all contents vigorously. Shake!

Photography by Laura Petrilla. Styling by Keith Recker. Food and recipe by Chef Tom Shuttlesworth of Fallingwater Café.

Dessert

The Hazelnut Cake with Fig-Mascarpone balances a nutty, moist, and complex hazelnut cake with a sweet and tangy mascarpone ‘frosting’…A truly lovely way to finish lunch or just a snack after visiting Frank Lloyd Wright’s beautiful creation.

Ingredients (by weight)

3 oz Hazelnut Praline

4 oz Water, boiling

1.5 oz Cocoa powder

4.5 oz Heavy cream

4.5 oz Veggie oil

2 Eggs

1 t Vanilla extract

5 oz Sugar

5 oz Flour

1/2 t Baking soda

1 pinch Salt

1.) Whisk praline in boiling water until completely dissolved.

2.) Whisk in cocoa powder

3.) Whisk in heavy cream, then veggie oil

4.) Whisk in eggs until completely homogenized, followed by the sugar.

5.) Fold in flour, baking soda and salt until mixture is smooth.

6.) Grease and flour 10 6 oz ramekins or baking dishes, approx.. ½ C batter per dish

7.) Bake in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out dry. Allow cakes to cool before adding the Fig-Mascarpone ‘Icing’

Fig-mascarpone

2C mascarpone

1C powdered sugar

½ C fig jam or fig puree.

Cream mascarpone and sugar together with hand mixer or KitchenAid until light and fluffy. Add fig last. Pipe, scoop or spoon mascarpone on the hazelnut cakes and enjoy!

(Fig jam can be found at local specialty stores, like Penn Macaroni in the Strip. If you can’t find jam, take dried figs and run them through a Cuisinart with enough water to create a just-pourable liquid.)