Valentine's Day dinner menu?

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
1

Inspired by the Valentines Day wine thread, what are you cooking tonight?

  1. Deviled duck eggs on a bed of salmon caviar
  2. Seared foie Gras in a blackberry puree heart
  3. Baked sea bass with miso, roast asparagus wrapped in culatello, jasmine rice with penang leaves
  4. Hot chocolate (made with Valrhona chocolate) and a piped chantilly cream heart

2012 Zilliken Rausch Auslese

2

I certainly hope you get a happy ending after that.

3

Piedmontese ribeye, grilled asparagus, sauteed shrooms and duck fat fried marble taters.

2011 Bevan Ontogeny

4

I’m solo this year…so think I am going to drown my sorrows in king crab and some big Chard- Aubert or Marcassin. And, actually- no sorrows!!

5

I do. He does the dishes [flirtysmile.gif]

6

Going to grab some sushi.

7

The french laundry last Saturday was her valentines day

8

Valentine’s Day is definitely a stay home dinner for us.

Cheeses
Oysters on the half
Maine Lobsters, Truffled potatoes, Asparagus
Sticky Toffee Pudding, Caramel Sauce, Ice Cream
Ruinart rose

9

Strong.

10

Seared scallops, then duck breast, asparagus and polenta.

11

Same. Out of town.

12

We had lunch at Osteria Francescana in Modena. Dinner wasn’t necessary.

13

If you have a chance to post that Toffee Pudding recipe I’d appreciate it. Sounds like I’d hate it but Arnold would love it (we have differing views when it comes to caramel).

Sound like a great menu, I may steal some of it for next year :slight_smile:

14

I cooked lamb chops sous vide with rosemary and sage, roasted some sweet potatoes, and roasted some brussels sprouts in a balsamic glaze. My girlfriend was supposed to arrive into town at 7 PM (and we were supposed to go out to dinner), but she was delayed and we didn’t end up getting home from the airport 'til midnight. It was a strange evening, but the food was good!

Yes, please post the sticky toffee pudding recipe, John. Sounds delicious.

15

Though we had it last night instead of Friday:

Appetizers: With 2012 Loring Wine Co. Rosella’s Vineyard Pinot Noir
Dungeness Crab Cakes over cucumber, tomato, red onion relish & sesame soy aioli.
Teriaki Skirt Steak Satay over sauteed spinach with French fried Onion Rings
Portobella Mushroom on herb soft polenta, crumbled blue cheese, marinara sauce & balsamic reduction.

Salads:
Napa Cabbage Salad with crispy pepper bacon, mushrooms, crumbled Blue Cheese, warm red wine vinaigrette.
Insalata Mista Salad with organic mixed baby greens, cherry tomatoes, crumbled blue cheese & balsamic Vinaigrette.

Dinner: With 2009 Hobel Cabernet Sauvignon
Rigatoni Con Salsiccia with oven roasted smoked Italian sausage, bell peppers, caramelized onions, Parmesan marinara cream sauce.
Braised Lamb Shank Braised served over soft polenta, grilled asparagus, veal demi-glace.
Crab and Wild Mushroom Raviola, tomatoes, fresh baby Arugula, light roasted garlic cream sauce.

Dessert:
Blackberry Cabernet Sorbet

We escaped the store and dined at Ristorante Allegria, http://www.ristoranteallegria.com/dinnermenu.htm, a place we love and haven’t been able to get to for nearly a year. Can’t wait to go back again.

16

Sorry to disappoint you and Jay, and have my culinary rep. besmirched. We did not make the sticky toffee pudding, but bought it. To add to the blasphemy, it was frozen. But I can say that it is just shockingly good for a pre-made, pre-cooked dessert. I go to a culinary store here in L.A. called Surfa’s which has a lot of really nice supplies and ingredients. Years back I noticed that this version of the Sticky Toffee was purchased by others at an incredible pace. I asked the clerk who said it was one of there best selling items and often out.

I tiried it and think it might be the best prepared food I can think of. It is made by a company here in L.A. called English Pudding Company, but sold on a limited basis nationwide now. The box serves six really big portions or eight normals. They sell a Sticky Toffee sauce to accompany it which is a kind of combo caramel and hard sauce, and a key component. We eat it with some high quality vanilla ice cream and/or whipped cream. It makes for a restaurant quality dessert. We don’t serve it for our real epicurean dinners since we like to show off the skills, but it’s good enough for that and we keep one on hand for more casual affairs. It keeps in the freezer for a couple of months with no problem and there’s something about the slightly gooey nature that makes it not suffer from being pre-cooked.

17

IIRC this is almost identical to what I cooked last year with the exception of the polenta. Good choices [welldone.gif]

18

Thanks for the direction, I see it’s available for delivery and has a list of retail outlets at
http://stickytoffeepudding.com/

Next year.

19

We’re celebrating Valentine’s Day late since Arnold was visiting his parents this weekend. Here’s the planned menu for tomorrow:


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  1. Seared Foie Gras with persimmon sauce
  2. Tarragon infused Chicken cooked sous vide w/a creamed morel sauce, roast cauliflower with garlic, duck confit fried rice
  3. Yellow Cake with Mango Buttercream, sliced rambutans
  4. Sticky Toffee Pudding, Caramel Sauce, Chantilly Cream

Marco Bianco Villa Moscato d’Asti


Your menus (also known as ideas for next year)?

20

Here was ours. No need to repost.