[Molly] Every day
is Valentine's Day at our house,
and we're celebrating with fast, fun recipes
and plenty of sweets...
Nick is one lucky guy.
...like my rich
chocolate chocolate halva walnut cookies.
packaged up as edible valentines,
then, a dinner of hearty salmon rice bowls
with chili crisp and mayo.
This is a dream.
Velvety, roasted red pepper white bean dip.
Putting some extra love into it.
And buttery salted chocolate chunk cherry cobbler,
served with vanilla ice cream for dessert.
Happy Valentine's Day.
Oh, yum!
Yay!
Hey!
This is me, Molly Yeh.
This is my husband, Nick.
This is our growing family.
And this is our home,
our farm on the North Dakota-
Minnesota border,
the place where I eat, sleep, and breathe food.
It's Valentine's Day,
and in our house, real romance is having
15 uninterrupted minutes at the end of the day
to do dishes and talk about rising gas prices,
so I'm putting together an easy, delicious meal
that'll allow us more time at the end of the day.
To do dishes and talk about gas prices. [chuckles]
But first, an edible valentine.
I am filling up our cookie jar
with chocolate chocolate halva walnut cookies,
which are chewy, and dark, and nutty.
It's basically a ton of good stuff
held together by some cookie dough.
It's so good.
I'm starting with my cookie dough.
I'll melt together one cup of dark chocolate chips
with a stick of butter in my double boiler,
and this is a heat safe bowl
sitting over some simmering water.
It's important to do this with chocolate,
so that you don't heat up the chocolate
too quickly and too much.
That could cause it to seize up,
and then you won't get that smooth, glossy meltiness.
One of my favorite jobs at our house
is keeping our cookie jar filled.
We have it right near Nick's coffee station,
so after lunch,
he sticks his hand into the cookie jar
and grabs whatever is in there
to take out back to the farm with him.
Roger, his dad, also likes to use the cookie jar,
but I know that he's visited
if the lid isn't fully put back on. [chuckles]
So, I'm always on the hunt for good cookie jar cookies,
which means a cookie that can last
for a good few days at room temperature,
and these fit the bill because they're big,
they lock in a lot of moisture,
and they honestly get a little chewier and better
after a day or two.
This is looking good. I'll remove it from the heat.
While I'm over here, I'll mix in my sugar.
I'll do half a cup of granulated sugar,
and half a cup of brown sugar.
Gotta have brown sugar in a chocolate chip cookie.
That molasses flavor is signature, and also,
it helps the cookie stay chewy.
Now that the sugars are mixed in,
I'll set this aside,
and allow it to cool briefly
while I mix up my dry ingredients.
I'll combine a cup of all-purpose flour
with half a cup of Dutch-process cocoa powder.
It's darker and smoother in flavor
than your standard unsweetened cocoa powder.
A teaspoon of baking powder
will help the cookies puff up as they bake.
And, a teaspoon of kosher salt.
I'll combine this,
and crack in two eggs into my cooled wet mixture,
whisking after each.
Second egg.
And a good splash of vanilla extract.
Since chocolate is such a bold, dark flavor,
I find that it takes some extra vanilla
to stand up to it.
Okay. This is smooth and glossy.
And now, the mix-ins.
I'll start with eight ounces of halva
that I've coarsely chopped.
Halva is
this completely addictive, nutty, crumbly, sesame candy.
I'll add half of it into the dough,
and then, add the other half sprinkled on top of the dough
after I scoop the cookies.
And then, eight ounces of walnuts.
These have been toasted and coarsely chopped,
and it's a lot of walnuts.
Nick and I both like a high ratio
of stuff to dough in our cookies.
We also like walnuts, because they're heart healthy,
and a frequent conversation topic
between us is how we can age with grace.
It's so embarrassing.
And now, my white chocolate.
I've got six ounces, coarsely chopped.
That'll be such a pretty contrast
against the dark chocolate base of the cookie.
I'll fold this in.
And this is a flavor trio,
the halva, and the walnut, and the chocolate,
that I have been obsessing over recently.
It's sweet, it's crunchy, it's nutty,
They just go well together.
Now that these are incorporated,
I'll dump in my dry ingredients
and fold this all together
until I can no longer see any dry bits
of the dry ingredients.
That is a rich-looking cookie dough.
So, let me grab some baking sheets,
and I'll do heaping-size scoops of this,
so about the size of plums,
to get big, honking cookies.
It's not complete with just the scoop.
It needs its toppings.
I'll stick in a couple of my reserve chocolate chunks,
some halva.
Some of the halva within the dough
will disintegrate into the dough,
which is fine for flavor, but I want to make sure
to get some halva texture, too.
And lastly, a pinch of flaky salt.
I'll keep on scooping these, and then stick them
in the freezer for two hours, so that they can firm up,
and then I'll bake them at 350 degrees
for about 20 minutes, until the top is crackly
and the cookies are just set.
I'm getting excited.
These cookies are baked and cooled.
They're looking rustically beautiful
and now, I've just got to fill up the jar.
Oh yeah, these will be just big enough for Nick.
Wow.
I'm smelling the halva.
It kind of gets toasted in the oven.
[vocalizing] Do, do, do, do. Oh, no!
They're not all gonna fit.
Whatever will I do?
Yeah, this is how I like to eat a cookie.
You break it open in half.
Oh, yeah! Look at all that stuff!
These look great.
Mmm!
Mmm, mmm!
It's chewy.
There's that crunch from the walnuts.
This is a good valentine.
Nick is one lucky guy. [chuckles]
Coming up,
why celebrate Valentine's Day with one dessert,
when you can have two?
It's Valentine's Day,
which is as good of an excuse as any
to eat a double dose of chocolate...
Not that you need an excuse.
...so I'm baking up
my chocolate chunk cherry cobbler,
which has a saucy, tart cherry filling,
and a big, buttery, cakey topping,
that channels some major chocolate chip cookie energy.
It's so good,
and it's really easy.
I just toss together the filling,
dollop all over with batter,
bake, and serve with vanilla ice cream.
To get started on the filling, I'll make a slurry,
which will help thicken it up
so that it's saucy, and not too liquidy,
and I'm using the juices from my thawed cherries.
I only want about a third of a cup,
so I'll eyeball that into my big bowl here.
You could use fresh cherries with this, and if you do that,
just sub this liquid for either water,
or cherry juice, or even orange juice.
I'll whisk in one tablespoon of corn starch.
Make sure all of the bits are dissolved.
I'll fold in my cherries. I've got four cups of them.
And sweeten with half a cup of sugar,
which will be a nice balance to the tart cherries.
Brighten this up with the zest of half a lemon.
I love a cobbler, because you've got
crisp texture on top, and then you get
the cakey, fluffy cobber texture,
and then you've got that part where
the filling meets the cobbler topping.
Mmm.
And, two tablespoons of the lemon juice,
about the juice of half a juicy lemon.
A teensy splash of almond extract enhances
the natural flavor of cherries.
And a good pinch of salt,
to bring out all these flavors.
I'll combine this.
So, our first Valentine's Day, back when
we still lived in New York,
our order got messed up at the restaurant.
It took hours.
It was a complete disaster, but in reality,
Nick and I had so much fun,
'cause we just got to hang out and talk,
and it was great.
That's the mushiest I'm getting today.
I just like hanging out with him!
Even in terrible circumstances,
he makes everything fun.
Okay, that's it.
Here's my pie plate.
It's buttered, and I've got it on a sheet pan
just to catch any drips of this juicy filling
that could overflow.
I'll pour this right in.
So, for the topping now, I'll get that going
with two cups of all-purpose flour.
This is essentially
pretty much all the same ingredients
as a chocolate chip cookie, but in different ratios,
to get more of a fluffy, cakelike texture.
A quarter cup each of granulated sugar
and brown sugar,
and a tablespoon of baking powder,
which will help this get super puffy,
and a half teaspoon of salt.
I'll combine this.
I'll grab my cold ingredients.
I've got a stick of cold, cubed butter,
and half a cup of cold heavy cream.
I'll incorporate this butter until it's roughly
the size of peas,
but a few bigger bits are totally okay.
You could do this in a food processor,
but I'm doing it by hand,
putting some extra love into it.
I figure I have
another, maybe, couple of decades
to convince him to retire down to Florida with me.
I feel like that's when Nick is gonna hit his stride,
when he's 80.
He's an inner 80-year-old.
I kind of am, too.
We're boring, [sighs]
but we're bored together.
I'm trying to work quickly, so that the butter stays cold,
because that will yield
more of a fluffy, cakelike texture.
Okay. This looks good.
I'll toss in my chocolate now.
This is six ounces of semisweet chocolate
that I've coarsely chopped.
I'll reserve a little bit of it
to sprinkle on on top,
and then, I'll bring this together
into a dough with my cold heavy cream.
I'll add an egg,
and some vanilla,
beat it up,
and pour it right in,
and fold it together.
Gotta have two desserts on Valentine's Day.
The cookies in the cookie jar,
that's an anytime dessert. [chuckles]
This one will be our dinner dessert.
It's pretty crumbly.
It'll be most efficient to get in here with my hands
to bring this dough together.
Want to make sure that
all of the floury bits are incorporated.
My nose thinks I'm making chocolate chip cookies.
I want to keep it pretty shaggy.
I don't want to overmix this
and develop that gluten to get that gummy texture.
That's one way to ruin Valentine's Day. [chuckles]
I'll scoop it into big, rustic balls
on top of this.
It won't fully cover the filling at this point,
but as it bakes,
it'll expand and get fluffy.
So, I'll get eight scoops around the perimeter,
and one scoop in the center.
It's making me happy already.
And you could bake this in any shape dish.
A square dish is fine, too,
but it's that super cheesy saying,
"Draw a circle instead of a heart,
'cause it has no end."
[rimshot]
Thank you. I'm here all day.
In fact, I live here.
[chuckles]
That's looking great.
I'll poke in my remaining chocolate.
Cobblers have gotta have a crunchy top, so I'll sprinkle this
with some more granulated sugar, too.
It'll help the top brown,
give you that textural experience,
and of course, provide more sweetness.
This looks great already.
I'll stick it in the oven at 375 degrees
for 40 minutes, and then tent it with foil,
and let it go for another 10 minutes
until the filling is bubbly
and the topping is fully cooked.
Oh, yeah!
That's gonna be good.
I think I hear those cherries bubbling.
The suspense is real.
Hubba hubba!
I love seeing all the chocolate chunks on top.
I'll be serving this with vanilla ice cream later,
but I'm sneaking a taste.
All the way to the bottom, to get the layers.
[whispering] Oh, yeah.
Mmm-mmm!
[in normal voice] That's awesome.
The combination of the tart, saucy cherries
and the sweet, cakey topping is a match for the ages.
I can feel the love with this one.
Next, the secret to making your everyday salmon rice bowl sparkle.
Nick's favorite food in the whole, wide world
is salmon and broccoli,
so for Valentine's Day,
I'm giving the guy what he wants,
and making my salmon rice bowls
with crispy roasted broccoli.
They are so dang satisfying,
especially when finished with a squiggle of mayo
and plops of chili crisp,
and this could not be easier to make.
I'll start with my favorite part,
the sushi rice.
I've got two cups of it that I've rinsed well
to eliminate any excess starches,
and I'll combine it in my pot
with two and a half cups of water.
I love sushi rice
because it's a little sweet, a little sour,
and kind of sticky. Mmm!
That sourness comes from unseasoned rice vinegar.
I'll drizzle in three tablespoons.
Two tablespoons of sugar, for that important sweetness,
and then, two teaspoons of kosher salt.
I'll stir this all together, and bring it to a boil,
and then, reduce to a simmer,
and cover, and cook for 17 minutes,
until the water has absorbed into the rice.
This is how I make sushi rice all the time.
I just pile all of the ingredients in at once,
and then, they absorb as the rice cooks.
And in that time, I'll start going
on my broccoli and salmon.
So, the rest of this comes together
on one sheet pan. It's easy peasy.
I've got florets
from two heads of broccoli here,
and I like really crispy broccoli.
Spread the broccoli out,
so that it doesn't clump together,
and steam.
I'll add a few good glugs of olive oil,
then sprinkle with a couple of pinches of kosher salt,
and toss these together, to ensure that
the oil fully coats those little floret bits.
Those are Bernie's favorite bits.
The broccoli is fully coated.
I'll get it into the oven at 450 degrees
for about 10 minutes on the bottom rack,
which will help it get extra crispy.
And then, while that roasts, I'll prep my salmon.
I have four six-ounce skinless filets here,
that have been coming to room temperature,
which is important to ensure even cooking throughout.
I'll drizzle it with olive oil,
and I'm keeping it simple
by seasoning just with some kosher salt.
It's quite on brand that salmon and broccoli,
two of the healthiest foods,
are also Nick's favorite foods,
because he's a total health nut.
I think that's why we go well together,
'cause opposites attract.
I bake cake all day.
But his enthusiasm for this has made me love it, too,
so he's a good, healthy influence on me.
I'll get the broccoli out.
It's starting to look good. It's not done yet, though.
I'll actually just scooch it to the side,
to make room for the salmon.
I'll lift up the foil wings here,
and nestle it in, and fold up this foil,
so that it can catch any juices from the salmon,
and then, stick this back in the oven
for another 10 minutes,
so that the fish can cook through,
and the broccoli can get even crispier.
And in that time, I'll get the heat
off of the rice, but keep the lid on,
so that it can steam for about 10 minutes,
so it'll all be ready at the same time.
Dinner is smelling good.
The broccoli is crisp,
the salmon is cooked,
the rice is steamed.
I'll fluff up the rice.
It looks nice and sticky.
Hmm.
Mmm!
Good sweetness level on that, too.
And I'll plate up my bowls.
I'll start with a bed of rice.
I use a shallow bowl, so you can see everything.
Top it with a piece of salmon,
and I like to break it up into chunks,
to catch the mayo and chili crisp,
and also, to make it more spoonable.
And pile on the broccoli,
and a good drizzle of mayo
to bring everything together with creaminess.
I'm using Japanese mayo. It's sweeter and richer.
And, some plops of chili crisp.
There's chilis, of course, in it,
but also, tons of aromatics,
like garlic, and scallions, and ginger.
When you add the chili crisp, that is an instant party.
You gotta dig to the bottom for the good stuff.
And you might be able to find this
in the Asian section of your local grocery store,
or definitely online.
A little flaky salt.
Then, I'll finish with some scallions.
Oh, this is a dream!
I want to taste this immediately.
Mmm-mmm!
Mmm!
That salmon is so flaky.
This is my ideal dinner.
It's gonna be even better with my ideal dinner date.
Still to come,
a flavor marriage of roasted red peppers
and white beans is a match made in heaven.
For a simple, yet super satisfying
snack time situation, I'm making
my roasted red pepper white bean dip,
which is creamy, and bright, and red,
the color of Valentine's Day.
I'm starting with some cannellini beans,
out of the can,
and a roasted red pepper.
I've drained these, and I'm patting them dry.
I love cannellini beans for their creaminess.
Also, sometimes Nick farms white beans,
so these are a nod to him.
I'll toss this into my food processor.
The hardest part about this recipe is
cleaning out the food processor.
Good thing I married a great dishes-doer.
I'll pop in two tablespoons of white miso,
which is salty, and has great umami dimension.
Spice things up with some sambal oelek,
which is an Indonesian chili paste
that's nice and bright, and not too spicy.
A little sweetness with some honey.
A clove of garlic.
Beans and garlic.
I love them together.
I'll zest in some ginger,
which will add some nice zinginess.
Well, I guess when we first started dating,
his go-to snack would be opening up a can of beans,
and rinsing them, dumping them into a bowl,
and that was it.
He wouldn't do anything to them.
He would just eat plain beans,
so,
thank goodness for me entering his life.
[chuckles]
I'll zest in a lime,
so you're getting that acidity as well as some sweetness,
and also, squeeze in the juice.
Bean dip is one of my favorite pantry snacks, or meals.
I love to make bean dip, and then put it
on the bottom of a bowl, and top it with a salad.
It's, like, one of my favorite lunches.
I'll blend this until it's combined,
and then continue blending it as I drizzle in
a third of a cup of olive oil.
That'll make it nice and rich.
That looks smooth, and great.
I'm gonna plate this up.
The rule on Valentine's Day is
your dippers have gotta be
heavy on the red, and the pink, and the purple,
so that's what I've got here.
I'll pile my dip into the bowl.
Now I'll dress this up
with a drizzle of olive oil on top,
and this adds richness, and flavor.
It also prevents the top from drying out.
And finish with a sprinkle of flaky salt.
Ta-da!
I'm gonna dunk one of these.
Mmm!
All those flavors working here so well!
That is creamy, and beany,
and it's bright.
Nick is gonna love it.
All right.
Let's eat,
and talk about some gas prices. [chuckles]
Every day is Valentine's Day.