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A pizza made with aphrodisiacs, roses made of BACON and don’t forget the Dirty Sherri!
Chef Jamika Pessoa brings recipes perfect for Valentine’s Day!
Easy Chocolate Mousse
Makes 4-6 individual servings
Ingredients:
½ cup sugar
½ cup coffee
1 tsp salt
1 ¼ cups heavy cream
4 eggs, room temperature
2 tbsp whiskey or rum
1 tsp vanilla extract
12 oz dark chocolate, chopped
Whipped cream, for topping (store bought or made by whipping heavy cream and powdered sugar together)
Directions:
Place the sugar, coffee, salt and cream into a medium saucepot and bring to a simmer — but do not boil.
Add the chocolate, eggs, whiskey or rum, and vanilla to the blender and blend until very smooth, about 3 minutes. Slowly stream in the hot liquid and then blend until the mixture comes to room temperature and has doubled in volume.
Immediately pour the mixture into the cups and top with whipped cream.
Dirty “Sherri” Mimosa
Makes 1 cocktail
Ingredients:
1 oz. grenadine
1 oz. vodka
6 oz. chilled champagne or prosecco, chilled
Maraschino cherries and orange slices, for garnish
Directions:
In a champagne flute, or tall glass, pour in grenadine and vodka. Top with a pour chilled champagne. Garnish with skewered cherries and an orange slice. Enjoy and drink responsibly.
Bacon Roses
Make 12 roses
Ingredients:
12 -15 strips of thick cut bacon
¼ cup Brown sugar
Toothpicks
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and place a rack on top of baking sheet.
Lay out strips of bacon on a flat surface. Top each strip with a generous sprinkle of brown sugar. Roll bacon from end to end to look like a rose. Secure bacon with 2-3 toothpicks.
Place bacon roses on baking rack. Bake for 30-45 minutes until bacon is cooked throughout and crispy on the edges.
Allow bacon roses to cool completely and remove toothpicks. Arrange on a platter to serve.
If desired serve surrounded by basil leave or remove flowers from an artificial stem of flowers and attach bacon roses to create a bacon bouquet.
Aphrodisiac Valentine’s Pizza
Serves 2 people
Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small eggplant, thinly sliced into rounds
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
1 ready-made raw pizza dough (store bought)
Flour (for dusting)
¼ cup tomato sauce
1 oz. thinly sliced prosciutto
6 oz. frozen artichoke hearts, thawed & drained
1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 ½ cup fresh arugula
Truffle oil, for light drizzling
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, toss eggplant slices with olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste.
Place slices on a baking sheet and roast for 15-20 minutes until tender. Set aside to cool slightly.
Heat 12-inch cast iron skillet over medium low heat. Do not let it smoke.
On a lightly floured surface, gently knead dough. Stretch dough using your fingers or rolling pin. If dough begins to shrink, let dough rest for 5-10 minutes. Dough should be stretched or thinly rolled to approximately 10-12 inches.
Pour olive oil into skillet. Have all pizza toppings ready for assembly.
Gently lay stretched pizza dough in skillet.
Cook dough for 2-3 minutes until it begins to bubble.
Flip the pizza.
Spoon on tomato sauce. Sprinkle a thin layer of cheese on top of sauce. Keep remaining cheese for finishing pizza toppings.
Lower temperature to low. Layer slices of prosciutto, roasted eggplant, artichokes, and cheese. Sprinkle chili flakes on top.
Cover skillet with lid and cook pizza for 7-9 minutes, until crust is cooked and cheese is melted. During cooking, check bottom of pizza to ensure crust is not browning too quickly.
For a crispier pizza, place pizza in skillet under oven broiler for 3-4 minutes.
To finish pizza, remove from pan and garnish with arugula, a drizzle of truffle oil and sprinkle of salt. Serve immediately.
