Valentine's Day in America..
Good evening everyone!
First and foremost, I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of you who are visiting my new community The Russian-American Axis, started by me and my LiveJournal friend marianna_f . Tonight I would like to kick off the start of our community by telling you all a bit about the American customs that go with February 14th, known by America as well as most of the world as "Valentine's Day". Many folks, including myself a long time ago, have asked why we Americans celebrate Valentine's Day? Well, the simplest answer would have to be the Ancient Babylonians (pagans) and the Roman Catholic Church. According to National Geographic magazine, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/02/090211-valentines-day-gifts-history.html Valentine's Day has its roots in Paganism (the ancient Babylonians )as a celebration called Lupercalia, which took place on Feb. 15th each year well into the time of the Romans as well as the years of Constantine's reign as rome's emperor. Lupercalia involved public parties in which the men would get naked and then proceed to whip young ladies with whips (made of goat or dog skin) in the hopes of increasing the ladies' fertility! However, after Constantine's reign, the Roman Catholic church changed the story of Lupercalia to the "Legend of St. Valentine" which supposedly happened during the 3rd century A.D. During this time, Claudius II was emperor of the Roman empire and he forbade Roman soldiers to marry in hope to keep morale high. Well "Saint" Valentine was a man said to have performed secret marriages of some of the soldiers to their "banned" sweethearts! Well of course Claudius II found out about this and had Valentine executed on Feb. 14th , 270 A.D.
While we don't have men today running around naked in public whipping us ladies here in America, we Americans have come to know Valentine's Day as a day of love celebrated by both men and women-typically, a gift such as chocolates, flowers, poems, love letters, nice lingerie, jewelry, and/or dinner at a nice restaurant is given to a woman by the man in order to show his love and appreciation for her. And if the woman is single, she will still get a box of chocolates, flowers, spa gift certificates, or dinner from friends or relatives (male or female). Since I myself have never really been a man's object of long-term affection, I have been doted on by various relatives for quite a few Valentine's Days. One year my father came home with a bouquet of red carnations for me (my favorite flower, God love him!! :) :) A woman will also buy a gift for a man-usually tickets to a game featuring his favorite sportsteam, concert tickets, a new gadget, a nice watch, a massage from her, dinner at home if the couple does not want to go out on the night of Valentine's Day. A piece of advice for Valentine's Day in America: if you want to take your sweetheart out to dinner, book reservations to your favorite restaurants at least one week in advance-Valentine's Day is one of the busiest days for restaurants and shops! With this, I will close in wishing you all a safe and wonderful Valentine's Day as well as leave you with a great "date" dinner recipe for those of you who want to stay at home for Valentine's Day. In the meantime, feel free to share your favorite Valentine's Day recipes, traditions, experiences. Take care!
warmly,
Heather
One of my favorite meals and also a big favorite with my family:
Chicken Lyonnaise with stuffed tomatoes
for the Chicken Lyonnaise:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 minced garlic clove
1 large chopped yellow onion (about 1 cup)
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 cups (or 1 14 ounce can) chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon thyme
pinch of sugar
Thaw the chicken breasts if frozen. Crack 2 eggs into a medium-sized bowl and beat with a wire whisk and set aside. Put flour, salt, and pepper onto a plate and set aside. Dip each chicken breast into the egg mixture, then into the flour mixture-make sure the chicken is thoroughly coated. Sprinkle both sides of each coated chicken breast with a pinch of thyme and then place into a large cooking pot on the stovetop. Put 3 tablespoons olive oil into the cooking pot and cook the chicken breasts using medium heat until browned on both sides. Put cooked chicken breasts on a plate and set aside. With heat still on medium, place chopped onion and minced garlic into the cooking pot and cook onions about 6 min or until they start to turn brown. Add the white wine and cook for about 2 min and then add the chicken broth, tomato paste, remaining thyme, and sugar. Bring to a boil and add the chicken breasts to the pot. Simmer for about 10 min on low heat. Serves 2-4 people.
For the stuffed tomatoes:
4 large (beef-steak sized) tomatoes
3 minced garlic cloves
1 tablespoon basil leaves (dried or fresh; if fresh, 1/4 cup finely chopped)
1 tablespoon dried cilantro leaves (if fresh, 1/4 cup finely chopped)
1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper (or to taste)
2/3 cup cooked white rice
4 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan or romano cheese
2 tablespoons olive oil
Cook rice in salted water, rinse, drain, and set aside (this yields 1 1/2 to 2 cups cooked rice). Cut the tops off the tomatoes and scoop out tomato flesh of each into a bowl(discard the seeds) with a spoon and set the bowl aside. Place empty tomato "shells" into a glass baking dish that has been greased with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Preheat oven to 375F. Put remaining tablespoon of olive oil, basil, cilantro, salt, pepper, rice, garlic, and 3 tablespoons of the cheese into the tomato flesh mixture and stir. Using a big spoon, scoop 1-2 spoonfulls of the mixture into empty tomato shells, filling them to the top. Sprinkle remaining tablespoon of cheese onto the tops of the stuffed tomatoes and then bake for 30 min at 375F. Serve hot.
And finally, dessert, my favorite part of the meal! And for those of you who know what I like the most, nothing but CHOCOLATE will due on Valentine's Day!!
Sweetheart Chocolate Mousse
2/3 cup cocoa powder (milk or dark) or 4 melted unsweetened chocolate squares
2 egg whites
2 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla bean extract
pinch of dried red cayenne pepper
drop of almond extract
pinch of cinnamon
Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and sugar on medium speed until stiff peaks form. Slowly add the cocoa powder (or melted chocolate squares ), and whipping cream and continue to beat on medium speed until the mixture is the consistency of pudding. Add vanilla, cayenne pepper, almond extract, and cinnamon and continue to beat until thoroughly blended. Spoon mixture into small bowls or dessert dishes and chill in refrigerator for about 1 hour. Hint: make this first before making the chicken and stuffed tomatoes because then the mousse will be ready to eat by dessert time! As our French friends would say: "Bon appetit"! and again, have a wonderful Valentine's Day everyone!! HMC