How to Make Valentine’s Day Super Special (and Easy)
Hey, don’t forget Valentine’s Day is coming up this week. If you haven’t made that reservation to a fancy restaurant yet, wait! Family First with the help of YouTube sensation Laura Vitale can help.
Vitale, the host of YouTube’s “Laura in the Kitchen” and The Cooking Channel’s “Simply Laura” has some fantastic ideas for you to make Valentine’s Day, or really any date night dinner, truly special and SUPER easy.
Watch the video below for the interview she did with Family First’s Marijo Tinlin that gives you simply and easy ideas for a romantic but casual night in. Don’t worry about parking or getting a sitter – just enjoy each other at home with these great ideas (and the recipes follow the video below). For more information, visit forkful.com.
Lemon Roasted Chicken Thighs
Serves 4
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp of Vegetable Oil
Seasoned Salt and Black Pepper, to taste
8 Skin-On Bone-In Chicken Thighs, a little less than 2lb total
2 Tbsp of Unsalted Butter
4 Cloves of Garlic, minced
1/4 cup of White Wine, I use Pinot Grigio
3/4 cup of Chicken Stock
1 3” Sprig of Rosemary, needles stripped from the stem and roughly chopped
Juice of 1/2 of a Lemon
1/2 of a 32 oz bag of Alexia Roasted Tri-Cut Potatoes with Sea Salt
1 Tbsp of Chopped Rosemary
Process:
1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Position one oven rack in the lower third of the oven and the other in the center.
2) Season both sides of the chicken well with seasoned salt and black pepper and set aside.
3) Preheat an oven proof skillet over medium high heat, add the oil and allow it to get nice and hot, add the chicken, skin side down and cook for about 3 minutes on each side or until it develops some good deep golden brown color. Discard any oil from the pan.
4) To the same skillet over medium heat, add the butter and allow it to melt, add the garlic and saute for about 1 minute.
5) Add the wine, allow it to reduce by half, this will take about 30 seconds, add the lemon juice, chicken stock and rosemary and bring mixture to a boil.
6) Add the chicken back into the sauce (skin side up) and pop it all in the oven on the middle rack. Roast for about 25 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked through.
7) Scatter the potatoes on a baking sheet in a single layer, and pop them in the oven on the lower rack. Roast alongside the chicken giving them a toss every 10 minutes to insure even cooking. Ten minutes after you put them in, sprinkle some rosemary over top (doing this at this point helps the rosemary adhere to the potatoes) and continue roasting.
8) Remove the chicken from the oven, scatter over some parsley and serve alongside the roasted potatoes.
Pasta with Pancetta and Cherry Peppers
Serves 4
Ingredients:
12oz Penne Pasta or any pasta shape of your choice
1 Tbsp of Olive Oil
4oz of Pancetta, diced into 1/4” pieces
4 Cloves of Garlic, sliced
2 14.5oz can of Hunts Tomato Sauce
1 tsp of Granulated Sugar
1/2 tsp of Italian Seasoning
1/3 cup of Pickled Cherry Peppers (about 3 peppers) seeds removed and peppers torn or chopped into bite size pieces
2 Tbsp of Freshly Chopped Parsley
1/4 cup of Freshly Grated Parmigiano to taste
Process:
1) Fill a large pot with water, add a pinch of salt and bring to a boil.
2) In a large skillet with high sides, add the olive oil and preheat it over medium heat, add the pancetta and cook until the pancetta renderers it’s fat and crisps up a bit, this will take around 5 minutes.
3) Add the garlic, saute for an additional 2 minutes or until the garlic lightly browns.
4) Add the tomato sauce, the italian seasoning and sugar, give everything a nice stir bring the mixture up to a boil, reduce the heat to medium low. Partially cover the skillet with a lid and simmer for 25 minutes.
5) About 10 minutes before the sauce is done cooking, the pasta water should be boiling, add the pasta, cook according to package instructions and drain well.
6) Add the cherry peppers to the sauce along with a good pinch of salt and pepper, stir in the pasta, parsley and parmigiano.
Serve right away!
Enjoy your sweetheart and enjoy the day!
