Valentines and Spring

Spring is coming and Valentines is just a few days away. I have been thinking about what to make for Arielle for over a month and still can’t decide what to make for Valentines. One of our favorite dishes includes fava beans which are coming into season here in early spring. Fava beans taste sort of like peas but have a slightly different taste. I first came across them a few years ago when my mom had local produce delivered a few times a month. The produce was just a mix of what was in season. I have looked for them from time to time but I have had a hard time finding them. Anyways when we got them my mom had no idea what to do with them so I researched them a little and came up with the recipe below. I am going to look for some this week but if not I am sure I’ll come up with something.

 

 

Fava Beans (wisegeek.com)

 

 

Fava Bean Fettuccini

by Dimitri Bianco

8oz Chicken

1-2 lbs Fava beans (before husked)

1 cup Mozzarella

2.5 oz Evaporated milk (1/2 can)

1 big splash White wine

Salt and pepper to taste

2 Tbl Olive oil

2 servings Fettuccini

½ Onion (diced)

1.      Boil some water and blanch the fava beans.

2.      Strain and run under cold water. Then peel the fava beans out of their pods.

3.      Boil water for the pasta and cook as directed.

4.      Defrost and cube the chicken. Cook the chicken in olive oil for 5 minutes and then add the onions and cook for another 2 minutes.

5.      Add the fava beans and white wine and cook for another minute.

6.      Add the evaporated milk and mozzarella stirring until the cheese has melted all the way.

7.      If the sauce is too thin, stir in a little flour.

8.      Strain and plate the pasta. Pour some of the sauce over the pasta and serve.

 

As for the dessert everyone knows it must be chocolate for Arielle. I have been thinking about either chocolate cake, bonet (chocolate custard), or making cupcakes with Arielle. Whatever we decide to do I will post some pictures. 

How to stop a burn: I also wanted to post an interesting way to help stop a burn. I get burned fairly often in the kitchen and came across this method for stopping a burn. Once you get burned put mustard on the burn and leave it on for at least a few hours. The mustard will actually dry on but it does an amazing job at stopping a burn. I usually pick off the edges of the dried mustard and then later run it under cold water to help loosen the rest of the mustard. You will not want to scrub it off since your burn will still be tender.

 

 

Fun Fact: The world's largest chocolate bar weighs 12,000 pounds and is 21 feet long and 3 feet high (http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/09/15/worlds-biggest-chocolate-bar-created-to-encourage-good-nutrition/)

Fox News - 9/15/11

I hope this want an interesting read. If you have any ideas let me know.