This is a continuing guest series by Ines, of the forthcoming blog Whisked & Whipped.

For most, the best part of Valentine’s day is the romance. The flowers. The gift. But for me it’s the chocolate. In honor of this special day I am sharing a decadent and as always easy recipe for Chocolate Fondue. This recipe serves two and enough leftover for the other “dessert” you might be having. You will need:

• 10 ounces of dark semi-sweet, good quality chocolate
• 1 cup of heavy cream
• Your favorite things to dip, such as strawberries, bananas, pound cake, or your date (more about that later)
• Fondue skewers or small wooden kabob skewers (forks work just as well)
• Small crock pot, fondue pot, or deep bowl
• A soft paintbrush (optional)

Before heating chocolate, cut all dipping items to bite size pieces.

1. Chop chocolate into 1/2 inch pieces.
2. In a microwave safe bowl add chopped chocolate and 1/2 cup of heavy cream.
3. Place in microwave and cook for 20 second intervals stirring in between each interval adding small amounts of remaining heavy cream until chocolate is melted and smooth.
4. Transfer chocolate to a fondue pot or a small crock pot set to Warm. If you don’t own one it can be served in a deep bowl. Remember, chocolate cools quickly, so have everything set up to serve immediately. If chocolate cools just microwave for 10 seconds and stir.

Some of my favorites for dipping:

• Plain or graham cracker encrusted marshmallows (Just moisten the marshmallows and roll in graham cracker crumbs.)
• Cheesecake cut into bite size pieces (refrigerate until ready to serve)
• Mini brownies or brownie bites
• Pound cake
  * You can get crafty and use a small heart shaped cookie cutter on any of the cakes.

After you’ve had your fill of delicious treats and the chocolate has cooled slightly, grab your date and remaining chocolate for some painting. I am sure you can figure out what to use as a canvas…

Note: I used a mixture of dark semisweet chocolate and Valrhona bittersweet chocolate. Though Valrhona bittersweet is my favorite, its robust flavor easily overpowers the fruits and cakes, so I prefer a mixture.

Happy Valentines Day!

photo ᔥ dalboz via flickr edited by ms. jenn

This is a continuing guest series by Ines, of the forthcoming blog Whisked & Whipped.

Valentine’s Day is a day known for romance and indulgence. On one of my first Valentine’s dates we went to a little Italian restaurant in Manhattan. So romantic. The food wonderful. So sweet! I fell in love…with the Chicken Marsala. I have been trying to capture the magic of my first time and have searched for a delicious, traditional, yet easy recipe. One that would showcase the true, unadultered taste of my sweet love: Marsala wine.

Imported Marsala wine is created from 3 grape varietals Cataratto, Grillo, and the highly aromatic Inzolia grape which are indigenous to Italy’s sunny southern region. It comes in a few different style designations, however two are used for cooking this dish: Dolce (sweet) and Semi-secco (semi-sweet). I used Dolce. You also want to look for Fine or Superiore on the label this refers to aging time. Fine is aged about one year; Superiore has spent up to three years in oak.

Imported Marsala wine (like Columbo) has a deeper richer flavor and for the taste of a TRUE chicken Marsala it is a must.

Simple Chicken Marsala

• 4 chicken cutlets or 2 boneless breast split and pounded out
• 12 oz white button mushrooms
• 2 shallots finely chopped
• 1/4 cup of flour
• 1 1/2 cups of imported Marsala wine
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil, divided
• 3 1/2 tablespoons of butter
• 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon of garlic sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground sage
• 1 tablespoon of finely chopped fresh italian parsley

1. Add flour to a shallow pan. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan on medium-high until oil is shimmering.
3.  Add chicken to pan and cook until golden brown on both sides, turning once approximately 4 minutes on each side. Transfer to plate. Keep warm.
4.  In the same pan, add remaining olive oil, 1 tablespoon of butter, and mushrooms. Sauté about 2 to 3 minutes. Lower to medium heat.
5. Add shallots combined salts, pepper and sage. Cook until shallots are translucent and mushrooms are browned.
6. Add Marsala wine and simmer until liquid is reduced by half.
7. Return chicken to pan. Reduce heat to low.
8. Stir in remaining butter, spooning sauce over chicken to coat. Add parsley and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes, turning once.

Serve over buttered noodles or rice pilaf with mushrooms and sauce over chicken. Enjoy!

It’s 3 pm on Super Bowl Sunday, and some of us have done nothing to prepare. It happens to everyone; at some point in your life, you will have unexpected guests for some sporting event. My sister, Ms. Ines whipped up some last-minute chicken wings, for those inevitable times where you end up screaming “You invited WHO over for the game?!”

Ms. Ines’s Last-Minute “You Invited Who Over?” Wings

• 8 wings
• 2 (12 oz) bottles of dark beer
• 1 cup Honey Barbecue Sauce (Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey BBQ Sauce)
• 1/8 cup Hot Wing Sauce (Frank’s Red Hot Wing Sauce)

1. Place wings in large pot in one layer so that wings are just touching. Pour in beer and enough water to cover the wings.
2. Bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat to Medium-High. Let cook so that there is no visible pink, turning frequently, about 20 minutes.
4. Transfer wings to plate, cover, and set aside.
5. Pre-heat broiler on High.
6. In a container with lid, combine BBQ and wing sauce.
7. Lightly brush wings with 1/4 cup of sauce.
8. Broil on High for 8 minutes, turning half way through.
9. Place wings in lidded container and shake to coat thoroughly. Serve hot with your choice of garnish. Ms Ines recommends pineapple slices (grilled is best) and plantain chips.

Tips: For hotter wings, add a 1/8 cup more of wing sauce. Also, you can boil the wings ahead of time and keep refrigerated or frozen and begin at Step 5 with thawed wings for spur of the moment entertaining.