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Love in a Lousy Economy
for the cook, the cheat, the wife and the lover!
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February 10th 2009
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Greetings!
Forget the lobster.
Skip the truffles.
This is a year when a single rose says more
than a dozen.
And a home cooked dinner offers more than
just comfort, nourishment and shelter.
Cooking is magic. The spell we cast
when we cook for another person is a potent one.
The meals we cook for our loved ones
nourish the feelings of nostalgia and affection
long after they've thrilled the senses.
Whether you are adding the veneer of romance
or just gathering loved ones, this
Valentine's Day do something perfectly simple;
Cook dinner.
It will be simply perfect.
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Quick Roast Chicken
Every romance needs a little schmaltz
There was a woman in Australia who claimed to
have the 'Marry Me Roast Chicken' recipe.
I get it.
Most people arriving at your door (even a few
vegans) are going to respond
to arriving at your door and smelling a
chicken roasting away in the oven.
A meal like this is easy to cook, relatively
inexpensive and with a little effort at
ambiance (candles? check. music? check.
flowers? their job), it is going to aim
cupid's arrow at the Achilles heel of even
the hardest heart.
'Can you nurture me?'
Though none of us want to admit it, I think a
lot of us subconsciously ask this of a
partner; 'If I need it, can you care for me?'
Seems the heartstrings are connected to the
wishbone!
click here for the recipe
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The Cook
For someone who loves cooking, the idea of
roasting a
chicken is not intimidating.
This recipe is great. The magic is in
salting the chicken a day or two before you
cook it. Those precious wee grains make all the
difference.
The chicken cooks over beans and zucchini.
There's a little wine and oil, meat juices
and schmaltz aplenty. The vegetables turn
into the most velvety side dish without you
doing anything more than just putting them there.
I figure that if you're going to light
the oven you might as well cook two chooks
instead
of one. As my friend, Bea, always says, 'A
chicken in the fridge is like money in the
bank' (in times like these, I think the
chicken might have a higher return on
investment).
So get two chickens. Smaller ones. They cook
faster. Serve one for dinner. Make sure your
date knows that the other one is there.
They'll be thinking, 'Chicken sandwiches,
chicken pot pie, chicken soup...'
You might not escape the house for days!
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Crispy 'taters
Whilst the chicken is roasting, get some
potatoes ready for the oven.
In my experience, a plate of piping hot,
super crispy spuds can arouse as much passion
as wine, roses and moonlight.
Just peel
Quarter
Season
And cook in very hot olive oil.
Absolutely perfect!
(or splurge and buy some goose fat)
click here for Goosey Taters
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The Cheat
No one ever accused Romeo or Juliet of being
a dab hand in the kitchen.
If cooking isn't your thing, then cheat!
Warm up a rotisserie chicken.
Turn a tray of store bought mashed potatoes
and a bag of potato chips into fancy looking
'Pommes a la Beauf'
Toss a bag of snap peas into the microwave
and douse them in salad dressing.
Hide any incriminating packaging carefully.
Have everything warmed up so the house smells
like you've been slaving away.
Splurge on a fancy gateau and the best
berries you can find for dessert.
30 minutes.
You speed daters out there will be able to
knock off half a dozen Valentines this year!
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Rosy Champagne Cocktails
A sugar cube. A champagne flute. A few drops
of bitters. A dash of brandy or cognac. Fill
with sparkling ros�.
Clink!
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The Wife
or husband. or partner. or parent...
If you are already well into a relationship
with your loved one, then Valentine's Day
isn't so much about the food, per se. Chances are
you're already serving meals for your
significant others every day of the week.
It is about saying, 'This meal was
an effort and a cost and I made that effort
because I love you'. You can make the
ordinary seem extraordinary. It's all about the
setting.
Shelve the day-to-day dishes and haul out some of
the good stuff:
Pull out the platters and dishes that you
never use.
Wipe off the crystal flutes.
Haul out a vase.
Polish up some silverware.
You might serve the same roast chicken that
you cook every Sunday, but make everyone at
the table see it for what it is; a labor of love.
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Molten Chocolate Cake
This recipe is foolproof.
Whether you're making it.
Or eating it.
I promise.
click here for the recipe
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The Lover
You might be on a date.
You might be on the precipice of a new
relationship.
You might just be wanting to put out all the
right signals to get a little action on the
big day.
Whatever your deal, this year the meal is the
same for you as everyone else. Keep it simple
but do it well.
Set up a cosy area. Turn the ottoman into a
make-shift dining table so that you can
snuggle up on the sofa.
Why not serve everything in cheeky bite size
morsels; slice up the chicken, cut the
potatoes into wedges; serve them on a platter
garnished with some greens.
Oven crispy baguette waiting to be torn into.
Build each other tiny sandwiches.
Cook the molten chocolate cake in little
ramekins. Have the cream in a side bowl and
another bowl of mixed berries. Spoon and feed
each other sticky bites.
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Cheap dates are my favourites
Growing up in Australia, I never heard much
about Valentine's Day. It sort of crept into
the 'Peanuts' comic strip. That's all.
I kept expecting to see Marcie slip a card to
Peppermint Patty.
Later, all the fuss just seemed silly,
exploitative and exclusionary.
But somehow, this year it seems sort of sweet.
When you think about it, all it really asks
is that you let someone know they're liked,
loved or adored.
By the way, there is now 'thelovebite' group
on facebook. You can join, meet each other.
Swap recipes, news and so forth.
And you can see what I get up to in between
newsletters. Just
click here to join.
cheers, Mannix
[email protected]
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