Dylan Garofalo is a senior at Yorktown High School. He’s an aspiring journalist, and an amateur chef. While not the best chef, he spends his down time watching all the food programming he can find. He’s an especially big fan of any dish that involves bacon.

For Valentine’s Day, my family always makes a big spread and invites people over for brunch. One of the staples of this annual event is a savory biscuit, cut in the shape of a heart. They’re always a big hit, because they’re salty and delicious. We have Bobby Flay to thank for them.

These biscuits are what you definitely think of when you think of biscuits. They’re warm, layered, and dense in a very pleasant way. They’re salty, buttery, and taste good even a few days after they’ve been made—which is not something you can say of many biscuits. They even make great conduits for peanut butter and jelly.

This recipe from Bobby Flay’s Bar Americain Cookbook (Clarkson Potter, 2011) has a smattering of melted butter on top, as well as salt and pepper cracked on the biscuit prior to baking. As such, they have a great peppery punch when you bite into them. These biscuits are always my favorite, and they make every Valentine’s Day, regardless of relationship status, a delicious day.

Step 1: Cutting dough into heart-shaped biscuits.

Step 2: Biscuits on tray get melted butter brush and cracks of salt and black pepper.

Step 3: Finished biscuits cooling on a board.

This dish from Bobby Flay’s Bar Americain Cookbook (Clarkson Potter, 2011) is a great way to stretch an expensive ingredient without sacrificing any of its luxurious appeal. Sharp pickled horseradish, savory Worcestershire sauce, anise-flavored tarragon, and peppery watercress bring a kick to creamy cubes of avocado and rich lobster. At Bar Americain, Bobby Flay and his team serve this and their other seafood cocktails in glasses so that they can be appreciated from every angle.

Lobster-Avocado Cocktail
Recipe from Bobby Flay’s Bar Americain Cookbook:
Serves 4

1?3 cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish, drained
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (2 1?2- to 3-pound) lobster, steamed and meat removed and diced
1?2 cup chopped watercress
1 ripe avocado, halved, pitted, and diced

Whisk together the lime juice, horseradish, Worcestershire, honey, Tabasco, and tarragon in a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Gently fold in the lobster and watercress. Scoop the avocado from its shell and fold it into the lobster mixture. Divide among 4 martini glasses.