Affairs of the Heart

February – is the month that we celebrate the affairs of the heart. The boom, boom, boom that holds love, and keeps us going. When filled with love, it has the ability to “rock our world”. When not cared for or mistreated, it can leave us shattered.

After the completion of a college course that Jilian had taken, she was explaining to me the theory that a broken heart is a learned emotion. Although not convinced herself, Jilian was making a pretty good case, but I just couldn’t buy it.  How is it I asked, that when any form of love leaves you, you can feel your heart literally breaking in two? When this occurs, I find that food helps.

The words that describe love often mirror those that describe food. Sweet, warm, spicy, tangy, decadent, and hot, come to mind effortlessly. It makes sense that the main muscle that keeps us going needs to be fed emotionally and nutritiously, but ironic that the adjectives used to describe those feeds are similar.

This month with the purchase of any of our fabulous specials, we are including a five course Valentine Menu, complete with recipes that are sweet, warm, spicy, tangy, decadent, and hot. It will hopefully fall in the “rock your world” category, both emotionally and nutritiously!  Below is a sneak peak at one of the dishes. Hope you enjoy. Wishing you all a happy, healthy heart. Jill

Course II: Mussels in Tomato Broth with Buffalo Chorizo (serves 2)

Note: You might be thinking that this will be too heavy for a second course, but it is light dish (as long as you don’t dip too much bread into the delicious broth). The flavors complement each other nicely and the chorizo adds a nice spice! The sauce can be made in advance, leaving the steaming of claims for the last minute.

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon olive oil +
• 4oz. Wild Idea Buffalo Chorizo
• ½ cup yellow onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• ½ teaspoon each salt & pepper
• 1 teaspoon crushed fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon chili flake *optional
• 1 15oz. can, diced tomatoes
• 1 cup white wine
• 12 to 16 mussels, washed and de-bearded

Preparation:

1. In a heavy sauté pan over medium high heat, heat 1-teaspoon olive oil. Crumble sausage into pan and cook until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Remove sausage from pan, place in bowl and cover with saran. Set aside.
2. Return pan to heat and add additional oil if needed. Add onion and garlic, sautéing until tender, about 5 minutes.
3. Add seasonings, tomatoes and wine. Stir to incorporate and bring to a boil.  *At this point you could remove from heat, cover and reheat when ready to serve.
4. Add prepared mussels, cover and allow mussels to steam for 4 minutes. Most all of the shells should have popped open. Discard un-open shells.
5. Add chorizo back to pan and stir to incorporate and heat.
6. Serve direct from pan or spoon into serving bowls.

Garnish with green leek ringlets and lemon wedge. Serve with warm artisan bread.

Wine Pairing: You could stay with a dry Prosseco for this course or switch to a Dry Riesling or light red.