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It’s the month of love once again, and there’s no better way to show how much you care than making a meal for your special someone. If you’re looking to set the mood, we recommended in our previous post some aphrodisiac foods to incorporate into your meals. These often include minerals that drive stress away and boost blood circulation and libido. For your next dinner date, consider these four aphrodisiac recipes that you can combine into a 4-course meal:
Tomato Basil Soup
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This hearty dish combines basil and tomatoes, which can help you and your partner get into a romantic mood. While roasting tomatoes isn’t necessary, a convection oven can help bring out the flavor and add depth to the soup. Models like the Frigidaire Gallery ensure even heating throughout and come with a probe, making it easier to cook at precise temperatures. The best part of this dish is that it can be prepared for vegans; you can swap out the dairy cream with coconut or cashew cream instead.
Recipe
1. Roast the tomatoes in an oven until they are just beginning to shrivel.
2. Sauté onion and garlic in a pot, then add water or vegetable broth.
3. Add basil, oregano, salt, and pepper; bring to a boil, then simmer.
4. Once cooked, add the roasted tomatoes and cream, then purée until smooth and creamy. Serve with additional basil on top.
Tikka Salmon with Jeweled Rice
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A recipe inspired by BBC Good Food, this entrée option incorporates a variety of toppings, such as apricots and pomegranate seeds, that can help excite your partner and bring a classy vibe to the table. If you’ll be making larger portions, a rice cooker is a good option for prep instead of a pan. Most modern rice cookers can easily do slow-cooking for different varieties of rice, including brown rice, so you can create an entire meal with rice and viand in one go. Rice cookers like Tiger JKT-S10U IH keep heat balanced throughout the pot, ensuring that everything within is cooked evenly.
Recipe
Jeweled rice
- Cook red onion and curry paste in a large pan or rice cooker.
- Add turmeric, apricots, and rice, then cook with the lid on.
Tikka salmon
- Marinade salmon fillets in curry paste and yogurt.
- After cooking the rice, place the salmon fillet on top to steam. Scatter pomegranate seeds and coriander before serving.
Fried Oysters with Spicy Cocktail Sauce
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Raw oysters make for a fancy showstopper and good aphrodisiac food. But you and your date may find it safer to cook oysters properly, so opt for fried oysters. The main trick to getting crispy oysters is to drain your oysters well after frying and ensure your oil temperature is consistent, so we recommend using an instant-read thermometer. Cocktail sauces are easy to buy premade, but making the sauce from scratch enables you to adjust its spiciness level according to your liking.
Recipe
Fried Oysters
1. Heat up vegetable oil for frying. Combine salt, pepper, sugar, flour, cornmeal, and eggs in a bowl.
2. Wash and dry oysters before dredging them in the wet mixture. Then fry until golden brown.
Cocktail sauce
Mix chili sauce, ketchup, lemon juice, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, and Tabasco hot sauce, salt, and pepper to taste
Chocolate Mousse
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Chocolate is possibly the most iconic dessert choice for Valentine's Day. Making mousse the traditional way typically requires raw pasteurized eggs. Still, you can pasteurize your own egg yolks using a double boiler by heating water in a saucepan and placing a metal bowl on top. For an added aphrodisiac effect, top the mousse with a chocolate-covered strawberry instead of whipped cream.
Recipe
1. Whip heavy whipping cream into soft peaks, then chill.
2. Pasteurize egg yolks, water, and sugar in a double boiler while whisking constantly.
3. Take off the heat, then melt the chocolate. Fold in the heavy whipping cream. Place in dessert cups and chill before serving.
Article written by Ruth Jesson
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