Valentine's Day Menu

The first thing I made for our Valentine's Day dinner was the chocolate covered pound cake. This is pretty much the easiest, most delicious dessert ever. Its decadent, and looks impressive, but really takes about 15 minutes to make.

Chocolate Covered Pound Cake
via My Mom

1 Sara Lee Frozen All-Butter Pound Cake
3 Giant Bars Hershey's Milk Chocolate
3/4-1 c. Sour Cream

Over a double boiler, melt chocolate bars until smooth. Stir in 3/4 c (or more) sour cream until thoroughly combined.

Meanwhile, slice pound cake several times horizontally (you will be "frosting" it so the whole thing looks like a layered cake when cut). Spread chocolate mixture in between cake slices and then stack and finish frosting the outside of the cake.

Place cake in freezer for at least 1 hour before serving. Serve frozen.

Next I got the chicken in the oven to roast. I made Ina Garten's Friday Night Roasted Chicken and it was so good. This is the chicken she makes every Friday for Jeffrey, in case you were wondering. I didn't use a whole chicken, but instead used bone-in chicken thighs we already had. I also omitted the roasted veggies that she had in her pan and just made the chicken. The recipe below is how I made it. Click on the title of the recipe for the original recipe.

Perfect Roast Chicken
via Barefoot Contessa

4 bone-in chicken thighs
salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 large bunch fresh thyme
3 lemons, quartered
1 head garlic, peeled
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Liberally salt and pepper the chicken. Arrange the bunch of thyme, lemon, and all the garlic around and on top of the chicken thighs. Drizzle the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper.

Roast the chicken for 1 hour, or until the juices run clear when you cut it. Remove chicken from pan and cover with foil for about 15 minutes.

And finally, the root veggie mash, which was something that is totally out of the norm for us. It was delicious and paired perfectly with the chicken. It was wonderful!

Root Veggie Mash
via Skinny Bitch Ultimate Everyday Cookbook

2 rutabagas, peeled and cubed (I used 1)
2 parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
1 potato, peeled and cut into chunks (I used 3 red potatoes)
pinch of salt
3 tbsp Earth Balance (I used butter and way more than 3 tbsp)
1/3 c almond milk (I used about 2 tsp half and half)
1/2 tsp salt
pepper, to taste
1 tbps chives, for garnish (we didn't have chives, so I skipped this)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the rutabagas, parsnips, potato and a pinch of salt. Cook the vegetables until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and place in large bowl. Add the Earth Balance, almond milk, salt and pepper. Beat with an electric mixer and whip until fluffy (I used a potato masher and left mine lumpy). Garnish with chives and serve immediately.

And there you have it, folks! Our full Valentine's Day meal. I hope you try these recipes and enjoy them as much as we did on Monday!