Whether or not you have a date this Valentines Day doesn't really matter when you have good friends, good food, and good wine. The Chalkboard, an amazing lifestyle blog by the team behind Pressed Juicery, reached out to me for some fun Valentines Day ideas, so I corralled up my favorite foodies for the ultimate dessert fest to celebrate not only the day of love, but the launch of Joy the Baker's first Cookbook as well! Whitney Adams from Brunellos Have More Fun selected the perfect wines to sip with the sweet stuff; Joy Wilson of Joy the Baker brought Chocolate Cream Pie and Homemade Toasted Coconut Donuts; and I made Chocolate Brown Butter Bread Pudding and Raspberry Rose and Pistachio Pavlova, plus captured the whole thing in this fun video. I'm getting a residual sugar high just watching!
For all of the recipes and wine pairings, check out the full article on The Chalkboard.
"GAL"-ENTINES DAY DESSERT FOR DINNER PARTY
APPLE LEMON VERBENA JELLY AND CHEDDAR GRILLED CHEESE WITH FRENCH APPLE CIDRE
Whitney Adams of Brunellos Have More Fun and I have been getting up to a lot of fun lately. She brings the drinks and I bring the food, and this time around it's a comforting bite of gooey, savory, and sweet grilled cheese paired with a bubbly French cidre.
I hadn't enjoyed an apple cider in a while (I recall a toast with Martinelli's at prom) so to savor a sip with a warm grilled cheese gave me a massive rush of delicious nostalgia.
This pairing is all about apples for apples: the robust apple flavor of the cider accentuates the apple in the jelly and the gentle carbonation keeps the savory cheddar cheese playful and not too dense. You feel like a kid again! Enjoy!
Apple Lemon Verbena Jelly Grilled Cheese
Ok, I lucked out and a farmer at my farmer's market makes this delicious jelly so I can buy it by the jar-full, but if you can't hunt some down, you can use any of the following:
-Apple jelly with a pinch of lemon zest
-Membrillo (a quince paste)
For 2
4 slices white bread
4 oz sliced English Cheddar
1 tablespoon apple jelly
2 tablespoons butter, softened
Spread the jelly on each slice of bread and stick about 1 oz of cheese to each slice. Sandwich the slices together and spread the butter on the outside of the sandwich. Place on a skillet over a medium-low flame and cook until the cheese has started to melt (about 4 minutes), flip and cook until the cheese is completely melted. Slice and serve with apple cider.