Romantic Valentine's Day Dinner--For Three!

The Menu

Valentine Salad

Filet Mignon

Prosciutto Wrapped Shrimp

Parmesan Truffle Mashed Potatoes

Steamed Artichokes

Chocolate Soufflé 

with Raspberry Whipped Cream

And my karma coming true: baby shrimp and English Muffins... you'll see....

Hooray for our first married Valentine's Day!!

This year we had AL, my stepdaughter, with us for the romantic dinner. Most of the day we spent playing around the house, getting all of our outside energy out before the rain came. Then M went to work and AL and I got cookin!

The idea for this menu came from a few of my lovely food magazines. All of the romantic dinner sections sounded good, so I chose my favorite parts and changed them to my tastes and convenience. I thought it would be nice to make some sort of seafood for M, because he loves it and I love him. In came the shrimp! But I'm picky, so it needed to be a "Surf and Turf" theme... and I just stuck to the turf...

Either way, I'll go through the menu step by step.... this will be a long one!! 

Valentine Salad

Ingredients:
Red Leaf Lettuce
Radishes
Rainbow Carrots--I used purple and pink
Red Onion
Red Pepper
Tomato
Beet
  
Directions: Obviously I just chopped up a certain amount of each and tossed them together. But it's so pretty I had to put it in here!  We used my favorite Barcelona Vinaigrette from Whole Foods. You could use anything you like--it will probably turn purple from the fun colors in the salad!

The Main Course

  

Filet Mignon

Ingredients: 

2 beautiful Filets

Salt

Pepper

1 cup red wine

1 cup balsamic vinegar

butter 

Directions:

Steak cooks better if it has been allowed to rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. I seasoned these filets with salt and pepper and then let them rest for an hour at room temperature (The resting helps them stay super tender).

1.  Melt 1 TB butter in a heavy bottomed pan over med-high heat.

2. Once the butter has melted,  sear the steaks for 1 minute on each side. 

3. Add the wine and the balsamic. Turn the heat down to medium. Cook for an additional 5-6 minutes per side.  This is for medium rare. If you like the steaks done more, just add a few minutes to each side. It is better to let the steak cook through instead of flipping it a million times. 

4. Once the steaks are done to your liking, remove them from the pan and let them "rest." At this point, if you want to reduce the sauce in the pan you can (keep cooking it). 

5. Put a piece of butter on the top of each steak. Or you may like to put Gorgonzola on top to melt while the rest of your food finishes. 

Prosciutto Wrapped Shrimp

This recipe is mostly from Food TV, I just changed a couple of things...

Ingredients:

6 large shelled, deveined shrimp, tails on

3 pieces of prosciutto

juice from 1/2 a lemon

2 TB chopped fresh thyme

2 TB olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat your broiler.

1. Mix together the lemon juice, olive oil, thyme, salt, and pepper.

2. Mix in the shrimp, let sit for about 3-5 minutes in the mixture.

3. As the shrimp marinates, slice each piece of prosciutto in half, lengthwise. Then wrap each piece of shrimp with one piece of prosciutto.

4. Place each piece of shrimp on a foil-lined broiler pan.

5. Broil the shrimp for two minutes per side (flip half way through), four minutes total.

Parmesan Truffle Mashed Potatoes

Okay, I don't know about you, but I am in LOVE with truffle oil. I think it tastes good with everything. So I finally caved in and bought some. It is actually safflower oil infused with white truffles. Much cheaper than the real stuff, but still a bit pricey. That said, a little goes a long way so I in no way regret this delicious purchase!!

Ingredients:

4-6 peeled and quartered large potatoes, I used red (they're my favorite--smooth texture, 

                             good flavor)

1/2 cup cream (you can substitute half and half or even sour cream... but cream makes the 

                             smoothest potatoes!!) 

1/2 stick butter

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1 tsp white truffle oil

salt

Directions:

1. In a large pot, boil the potatoes. The potatoes will boil for about 20 minutes. I always check by squeezing one with tongs. If it's hard, it's not done. If it the edges are soft you're ready to mash!

2. Drain the potatoes and return them to the pot.

3. Add the butter and cheese. Give the potatoes a stir so that these ingredients begin to melt. If the butter is room temperature you do not have to worry too much about melting. If it is coming from the fridge I would bury the butter in those potatoes!

4. Add the cream and salt. Get the potatoes to the consistency that you like. 

5. Finally, add the truffle oil and mix it in. YUM!!

Steamed Artichokes

I usually just trim the tops and bottoms of artichokes then steam them in about 2-3 inches of water until a leaf plucks off (usually around 45 minutes). It is nice to salt the water, or add other flavors like olive oil or lemon. The artichokes will absorb any flavors that are added to the water.

Dessert

Chocolate Soufflés with Raspberry Whipped Cream

This photo is courtesy of my hubby!

Okay, before I give you the details on how to make this DELICIOUS dessert, I have to tell you where it's from. For Christmas, Jeanette gave me the yummiest book ever, Bon Appétit Desserts by Barbara Fairchild. This link will help you buy it. It is basically the dessert bible. It starts with equipment and techniques, then has over 600 dessert recipes. As you read through it gives you tips to make your desserts come out perfectly. Thanks Jeanette!!!

Chocolate Soufflé

M does not usually want dessert, unless it's M&Ms or his mom's chocolate chip cookies. When I put this in front of him, however, he devoured it. It is so light and airy that even with the rich flavor you can eat lots. :)

Makes 4

Ingredients:

3 TB water

1 TB instant espresso powder or instant coffee powder

5 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (do not exceet 61% cacao), chopped

1 TB brandy

3 large egg yolks

4 large egg whites, room temperature

2 1/2 TB sugar

Powdered Sugar

Directions:

1. Butter four 2/3 cup soufflé dishes; coat with sugar.

2. Stir 3 tablespoons water and espresso powder in heavy small saucepan until espresso powder dissolves. 

3. Add chocolate and brandy. Stir over low heat until mixture is smooth. Remove from heat.

Whisk in egg yolks, cool to room temperature

4. Beat egg whites in large bowl until foamy. Gradually add 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar and beat until medium-firm peaks form.

5. Fold chocolate mixture into egg whites. 

• Before you do this, they recommend putting just a quarter of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Then, when you mix the chocolate in, you are less likely to deflate your egg whites. The fluffiness is what makes the soufflé rise. 

6. Divide among soufflé dishes. Place dishes on baking sheet.

*The cookbook says that you can do this up to 2 hours ahead of time. The soufflés may stand uncovered at room temperature. I did not believe them, but I did it, and everything still came out great! This way, you can make the dessert before dinner, then as you finish dinner, you can pop these in the oven!*


7. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake soufflés until puffed but still moist in center, about 14 minutes. 
8. Sift powdered sugar over soufflés (you will notice from my picture that I did not do this. It is because I was so excited that I forgot).
9. Serve with, in this case, raspberry whipped cream.






Raspberry Whipped Cream
This can definitely be made ahead of time and kept in the fridge. 
This is my own recipe, just thought it would taste good with the soufflés.


Ingredients:
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 TB powdered sugar (or more if you want a really sweet cream)
1/2 cup fresh raspberries


Directions:
1. Using an electric mixer, begin to mix the cream and vanilla. You may use medium or even high speed (just don't let it turn to butter!).
2. Gradually add in the powdered sugar.
3. Then add the raspberries. They should mix in and turn everything a pretty pinkish color. 
4. Whip the cream until stiff peaks form. As I said before, don't over whip it or it could turn to butter! 
5. This will make more than you need for this dessert, but you can save it and put it on fresh fruit, waffles, and whatever else you can think of.

And Finally.... My Karma

As I have said before, I spent my life as a picky eater. For a long time, I preferred things that were orange or a beigy color (think grilled cheese, mac and cheese, quesadillas, or fries, chicken nuggets, and tater tots). Now that I am a parent, my karma is coming through. My dearest AL is a picky eater. Granted, she usually likes a more colorful plate, but it is still my karma. My little picky eater. I'll give it to her though, she'll try what I make. She just wont have more than one bite. So here is her Valentine dinner:

 Pre-cooked cold shrimp from the seafood section of Whole Foods, and garlic bread English Muffins in the shape of hearts.

I do have to add in the brightest side of this karma... She also ate an artichoke. 

Happy Valentine's Day.