Braided Tapenade Bread Recipe

Braiding is a fancy way to present stuffed bread. To get this recipe started, I prepared the dough and let it rest for a few hours. Once it's ready to roll, the sides of the resulting long rectangle are cut into long strands, filled with tapenade (or your favorite filling) then the bread is tied into a two-strand braid. 

I used homemade tapenade made with kalamata olives, mustard and capers. I love the way the deep-purple color contrasts with the bread. The bread would also work well with hummus, guacamole, salsa or roasted bell pepper spread.

Valentine's Day Recipe Round Up

Valentine's Day is this Thursday, and I've been brainstorming ideas of how to celebrate it. I put up some recipe suggestions in case you're planning to cook as well. Naturally you'll want to pick the dishes that your sweetie likes. Here are some recipes that are sure to help get you in a romantic mood.  Joyeuse Saint-Valentin!

Valentine's Day Appetizers: Crab Wonton Recipe

Hope you had a wonderful weekend. If, like me, you were celebrating, Chúc Mừng Năm Mới (Happy New Year! in Vietnamese)! Now Valentine's Day is up in a few days, so even though my husband Lulu is a vegetarian, I thought I'd share a recipe that seafood-loving couples can enjoy together as part of a romantic meal.

I made the wonton wrappers from scratch and filled them with a mixture of freshly cracked Dungeness crab, carrots, leeks, parsley, mascarpone cheese and olive oil. I paired the crab appetizers with an apple jelly dipping sauce that was out of this world. It truly tied the dish together.

Give this a try and let me know if your Valentine appreciated it! In my opinion, Valentine's Day should be celebrated every day and it doesn't have to be about someone with whom you're in a relationship. It should be about celebrating those you love and who mean the world to you!

Pinapple Coconut Muffin Recipe

The main reason I baked these muffins is that I had leftover crushed pineapple from our recent Vietnamese beef fondue party. The more romantic reason I tell my husband Lulu is that I'm always thinking about him and I want to please him all the time. Given his sweet tooth, Lulu always enjoys a hot cup of fruity white tea and a few sweet treats, so I think he'll fall for it .

The muffins are flavored with pineapple, coconut and lemon chocolate chips.

Sweet Potato Risotto Recipe

With Valentine's Day coming up soon, I thought I'd share with you an easy gourmet potato dish. This recipe didn't make it to my "Haute Potato" cookbook, but it is one of my favorites, nonetheless.

Sweet potatoes are roasted then added to pre-cooked Arborio rice. The finishing touch fot his risotto is a dollop of truffle butter. I recently discovered Thierry Farges' Aux Délices des Bois brand of truffle butter at the Fancy Food Show, and it's amazingly flavorful. You should definitely give this a try!