I love making edible items for Valentine’s Day. I have wonderful memories of Valentine craft parties that I would have a week or two before Valentine’s Day, every year, for my youngest daughter and her friends. We’d make cards, frost cupcakes, eat, and play games. Fun times, now she is too old to want to do that 🙁 . Not sure why, cause I still would love to do it 😉 .

I use heart shaped cookie cutters since this is for Valentine’s Day but you can use any shape (a football for a Super Bowl party, perhaps?), or just cut squares, or other shapes, using a knife. Also, you want one of the cutters, if using, to be slightly smaller than the other, to create a pastry border around the fruit that puffs up nicely.

I use strawberry jelly, or any red jelly, in the mixture to brush over the tarts when they are done but, really, you can use anything that compliments strawberries…orange marmalade, apricot, etc. You can even change up the fruit, if you prefer. If you use a jam or preserve, that have pieces of fruit in it, just make sure you strain the pieces out before brushing over tarts…and add those pieces to a piece of toast with butter 🙂 .

Another variation is mixing 4 ounces softened cream cheese with 2-3 tablespoons of powdered sugar (mixture you would use in a danish, for example) and putting a dollop in the middle of the tart before laying down the strawberry pieces…or even some homemade frangipane instead, ummm.

You will need:

• 1 package puff pastry (such as Pepperidge Farm), defrosted
• 1 pint fresh strawberries (give or take)
• 1/4-1/3 cup granulated sugar (depending how sweet you want it)
• 4 tablespoons of butter, diced small
• 1/4 cup strawberry or raspberry jelly
• 2 tablespoons orange liquor, orange juice, or water
• Ground cinnamon, optional
• Powdered sugar, optional
• 2 heart shaped cookie cutters, different sizes, optional

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and line 2 sheet pans with parchment or silicon baking mats.
2. Rinse and clean strawberries, removing the stem by cutting deeper in the middle so when you slice the strawberry it looks like a heart (slice into 1/4 inch slices), and set aside.
3. Using the larger heart shaped cookie cutter, unfold the puff pastry and cut as many hearts out of each sheet (there should be two), no need to roll out any further, as you can, and lay on sheet pan, about 1 inch apart.
4. Take the smaller cookie cutter and press it gently in center of bigger heart to create a ridge. Refrigerate one sheet pan while you cut for the second.
5. Take cut strawberries (try using inner slices first) and layer into inner part of the pastry (trying not to cross the ridge you created with the smaller cookie cutter too much).
6. Sprinkle about 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar on top of each of the tarts and then dot with 3 small cubes of butter. Add a sprinkle of cinnamon, if you like.
7. Bake for about 30-32 minutes on middle rack, until pastry has puffed and is golden brown on the edges. Don’t worry if you see burnt sugar around the tarts, that is normal. Just pull it off after the tart cools.
8. Five minutes before the tarts are done, heat the jelly with liquor, orange juice, or water and brush over the whole tart once they come out.
9. Loosen tarts with a firm spatula, so they don’t stick more as they cool, and let cool to room temperature.
10. Serve on plate and dust with powdered sugar, if you like.

Kali Orexi!

This casserole is so creamy and cheesy you will make it all the time. A wonderful low carb substitution for cheesy potatoes or Mac and cheese if your looking to lower your carb intake.

You can use a mixture of your favorite cheeses in this casserole, just make sure you also use a couple of ounces of cream cheese or block processed cheese, like Velveeta, it gives it that perfect creaminess without being grainy. For the milk you can use skim, 1% or 2%, as well, but it’s a lot richer, creamier, and more flavorful with half and half or whole.

Some substitutions you can make for the cauliflower is the equivalent of peeled, diced, and parboiled potato or cooked short cut pasta…won’t be as low carb but obviously still delicious 🙂 !

You will need:

• 1 medium head cauliflower
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups half and half or whole milk
• 4 ounces cheddar (or a mixture of your favorites), shredded
• 2 ounces cream cheese or processed cheese
• 2 tablespoons panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Wash cauliflower then remove leaves for other use.
3. Cut cauliflower into medium sized pieces/chunks and cook in boiling water for 10 minutes then drain.
4. In the meantime, melt butter in a pot on medium low heat. Once completely melted add flour, salt, and pepper and stir well to make a roux. Cook for a minute as you continue to stir.
5. Pour in half of the milk as you stir well until all lumps are gone, then add the rest and stir until smooth.
6. Bring sauce (called bechamel) to a simmer on medium low heat and when you see it popping bubbles then it has also thickened as much as it will so turn off the heat and add your cheeses. Stir well until melted and creamy.
7. Add drained cauliflower to cheese sauce mixture, and gently fold everything together with a rubber spatula and pour into a lightly greased or cooking sprayed casserole dish.
8. Mix panko bread crumbs with olive oil and a dash of freshly grated pepper and sprinkle onto the casserole.
9. Bake, uncovered, for 25 to 30 minutes. If the bread crumbs aren’t as golden as you would like then broil for a minute or two, but keep an eye on it cause broiling can burn the crumbs in the blink of an eye 🙂 .

Kali Orexi!

These are one of my favorite snacks/side dishes to eat and the sister to spanakopita, another one of my favorites 🙂 . A nice creamy and perfectly salty bite with a crunchy exterior. You can’t only eat one piece of this savory pastry, so go ahead and indulge!

There are a few different ways to make tiropita. One way is easier than another, it just has feta, olive oil, eggs, spices and some fresh dill (or other herbs), and cottage cheese, ricotta or some other shredded cheeses. I tend to like the way my mother used to make them, with a béchamel base. It makes the inside a creamier texture and not as salty as the other way…although the béchamel may be tricky to make, if it’s your first time…it’s imperative that you make sure you stir well and get all the lumps out, no one wants a clumpy sauce 🙂 .

You can make this in a pita style (meaning one large pan) or can wrap them individual so you have single servings. The latter is the best way if you are making them as appetizers, if you are making it as a pita then add a salad and make it a meal! Either way, these are delicious!

You will need:

• 5 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 cups warm whole milk (you can use a lower fat milk, if you prefer)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper, divided
• 16-22 ounces crumbled Greek feta cheese (depending on how cheesy you want it)
• 7 whole eggs
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
• 14 sheets of filo/phyllo dough
• 1 stick of butter, melted and slightly cooled

Steps:

1. To make the béchamel, melt the butter, then add the flour and stir well until combined, it will be chunky (this is called a roux).
2. Pour in the warm milk (you can warm in in the microwave in a glass container or on the stove in a pan), and start stirring quickly until the milk is incorporated into the roux with no lumps…keep stirring if it looks lumpy and try to break up the lumps. Make sure you get into the edges of the pan.
3. Once your béchamel is smooth continue to simmer for a minute as you stir then remove from heat, add salt and half of the pepper, stir, and cool.
4. Make sure you stir the béchamel every few minutes while it’s cooling, you don’t want it to form a skin on top.
5. While your béchamel is cooling, lightly beat the eggs and add into a mixing bowl with the crumbled feta and the rest of the pepper, gently fold everything together.
6. Once sauce is cool to touch, add it into the feta and egg mixture and combine everything well.
7. Add the dill and combine one more time…now you are ready to assemble.
8. To assemble, find a pan that is about a couple inches smaller, on each side, than your filo dough sheets, if you can. Using a pastry brush, brush some butter on the bottom of the pan, then add a filo sheet to the center and butter the top of the filo with some more butter, keep layering the filo and buttering for a total of 8 sheets on the bottom.
9. Next, add the feta mixture and spread evenly on the filo sheets in the pan. You want the feta mixture to come up about 1 to 1 1/4 inch, so if you have extra filling you can make some additional individual pastries or another small pan. If you have any filo overhanging the pan bring it in to lay on top of the filling.
10. Now, start layering the final 6 sheets of filo, the same way, and buttering in between. Once you’ve layered them all, generously apply some more butter to the top then cut any excess filo that is around the perimeter of the pan with a sharp knife.
11. Lightly score the top (about 3 filo down) of the filo into servings. Do not cut deep enough where it exposes the filling.
12. Wet your hand with water and shake it on top of the pita.
13. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes or until lightly golden on top.
14. Slightly cool and then cut into the pita all the way to the bottom where you had originally scored the top.

Note: For individual tiropita, cut filo in half on the long side and then butter each piece, one at a time, fold in each long end slightly and butter again, then add a tablespoon of the feta mixture to the top and fold into a triangle by bringing one edge to the other side and then again until its all folded up,. Butter generously on both sides and lay on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper and then cover with plastic wrap and freeze for later use or bake immediately at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. If baking from frozen, bake at same temperature for about 35 minutes, or until lightly golden brown.

Kali Orexi!