Take Her Around the World for Valentine’s Day…Without Ever Leaving the Kitchen
The following dishes from around the world taste fantastic and are simple to prepare. Whether you make part or all of this sampler-style menu, you’ll have plenty to talk about and create tons of romance as you rub elbows in the kitchen. Staying in this Valentine’s Day could just be the best trip you’ve ever been on.
Let’s get continent-hopping.
First Stop: South America
Start off your date with a Bolivian Avocado Salad. Made with ingredients readily available in Bolivia. Simply split the avocado in half, remove the pit, and fill with a mixture of tomatoes, red onion, parsley and vinaigrette. The creamy avocado and acidic tomatoes will really get your taste buds moving. The best part? You can assemble the filling ahead of time. When she shows up just pull the filling out of the fridge and stuff the avocado together.
Bolivian Avocado Salad
Ingredients:
1 avocado, halved and pitted
minced red onion, to taste
1 small tomato, chopped
1 sprigs fresh parsley, minced
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp vinegar
salt
pepper
Method:
1. In a small bowl, combine red onion, tomato, parsley, olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.
2. Immediately before serving, scoop tomato mixture into avocado halves. Any extra can be mounded on the side, if desired. Serve cool.
Second Stop: Asia
Take her to East Timor (Timor-Lest), where whole tuna are caught fresh from the sea and sold beach-side. While local fishermen slather the entire fish with garlic, butter, and salt, you can recreate this dish by simply brushing tuna steaks with homemade garlic butter and searing on an indoor grill. Finish your Timorese Tuna off with a sprinkling of crunchy, coarse sea salt. Slice thinly and serve over rice or salad. Prep tip: mix up the garlic butter mash the day before.
Timorese Tuna
Ingredients
2 Tuna steaks
2 Tbsp butter
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
coarse sea salt, to taste
Method:
1. Preheat indoor or outdoor grill to medium high. Melt butter and garlic in a small bowl. Brush liberally on both sides of the tuna.
2. Sear 2-4 minutes per side. Serve over mixed greens or with rice.
Third Stop: Europe
Forget crossing the world via airplane – after about two minutes of prep and two hours of slow roasting in the oven you’ll have Ofto Kleftiko–Roast Lamb with cinnamon & ground coriander. This popular celebration food is made in Cyprus where they tightly seal the meat inside a ceramic casserole. You can recreate this moist environment by tightly wrapping the lamb in foil and placing in a regular casserole. This is possibly one of the tastiest ways to eat lamb, with the least amount of effort.
Ofto Kleftiko
Ingredients:
2 lamb shanks, about one pound each
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground coriander
4 bay leaves
salt
pepper
olive oil
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 375F.
2. Lay out two squares of aluminum foil and place one lamb shank on each square. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with the cinnamon, coriander, salt and pepper. Rub into the meat. Place 2 bay leaves with each lamb shank and wrap tightly in foil.
3. Place in covered casserole and bake for about 2.5 hours. Remove from oven, let rest for about 15 minutes, then unwrap from foil. Serve immediately.
Fourth Stop: Africa
Settle down after all that excitement with a plate of Iyan (Pounded Yams). Despite the name, this popular East African food either goes any soup. In fact, it closely resembles Suji, the most appropriate for Valentine’s Day is a splash of rose water (available at Indian markets). And, honestly, pounded yam with your sweetheart is about as romantic as it gets.
Iyan (Pounded Yams)
African yams are not readily available elsewhere in the world, so regular yams may be substituted.
Ingredients:
4 yams, peeled (canned yams may be substituted, if necessary)
Water
Salt, to taste
Method:
Rinse the yams in water and slice them into chunks. Place chunks in a large pot or saucepan. If substituting canned yams, pour the contents of the can into a saucepan, but do not add additional water.
Bring to a boil and cook, uncovered, about 20 minutes (10 minutes for canned yams), or until soft enough that a fork is easily inserted.
Drain the yams and place them into a blender (or mash by hand). Blend until smooth.
Season with salt and serve with soup or stew.
If you really want to go all out, put together a mix CD with music for every stop on your culinary journey. You can listen to it while you’re cooking and eating. Then, when the night is over, give her the CD as a memory of her trip around the world. She’ll be talking about this one forever.
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