Valentine's Day Dinner

[Shelby]

I wanted to try this today, but I couldn't find any rubber bands.

http://www.annathered.com/2010/09/29/how-to-make-a-heart-shaped-egg/

Adorable! If I have any energy left after dinner tonight, I'm going to make those for Mr. Kim's breakfast!

DO! Let me know how it turns out.

So, get this.

When we opened the ribs a couple of days ago, I was like "UGH they STINK!" BUT, I do that with chicken, too. And, my husband knows this. He thought they smelled bad, too, but after rinsing.......well, they still smelled bad to me, but I'm weird.

Long story short, after smelling them after the brining...UGH they are ROTTEN. So, no ribs for us unless Mr. Shelby can leave work early tomorrow (which will never happen).

I'm at a loss for dinner, now.

Sigh.

Back to the drawing board.

[FauxPas]

I'm at a loss for dinner, now.

Sigh.

Back to the drawing board.

Oh that's too bad. Whatcha got to work with in the fridge/freezer/pantry?

Maybe you could make hubby a couple of heart-shaped boiled eggs, just use string instead of rubber bands.

[Kim Shook]

Happy Valentines Day, Everyone!

Shelby - got a can of Reddi Whip?

Well it turns out I had the energy, after all!

Valentines Breakfast for Mr. Kim:

Hard boiled eggs and Benton’s bacon. Thank you, Shelby - they really were cute - and a big perplexity for Mr. Kim. They look a little obscene before you cut them in half:

It’s a little like being mooned by an extremely pale person (such as myself).

[Shelby]

Kim :laugh: Diet Dew up the nose laugh!!

OMG I'm thrilled that they turned out so well! How cute!! Thank you for the pictures.

[robirdstx]

Tonight we will be having Pollo alla Calabrese. I will post photos tomorrow in the dinner topic. Many thanks to djyee100 for posting about this dish over there; very comforting dish for a couple that have been together for 37 years. Happy Valentine's Day to all.

[thirtyoneknots]

Roast bone marrow and Manhattans, followed by duck breast with kale and hash brown, 1996 Delas Hermitage Les Bessards. Key lime pie for dessert by request.

[dcarch]

"---It’s a little like being mooned by an extremely pale person (such as myself). --"

Ha-Haa! You got my visual imagination going highgear.

Everyone's dinner is wonderful and romantic. Two thumps up!

-----------------------------------------

Amazing gifts my dear friend sent me. Yesterday, I made the Venison Backstrap (tenderloin equivalent on a deer). The cut was from a young deer. I decided that the best way to enjoy it would be to do a Venison Wellington with morel mushroom sauce.

The venison was first sous vided at 125F for an hour, then put into the freezer for 30 minutes. After that, the Wellington process was put on the venison and immediately baked in the oven at 400F.

OK, the Venison was magnificently done to perfection, but part of the puff pastry was slightly undercooked. Which was not too bad. I didn’t want the venison to be over cooked.

The best venison I have ever had, extraordinary tender and flavorful with the morel mushroom sauce. Thank you my wonderful friend for this unique gastronomic extravaganza.

The Venison was served with another incredible gift from another generous friend; real wild rice (not farmed wild rice). The rice was cooked with duck liver and flavor with sauce from the venison. Need I tell you how wonderful it tasted? Thank you my generous friend, again and again!

I had “I Will Always Love You” playing in the background while dinner was served. Thank you Whitney for your wonderful gifts of music. You will always be my sweet heart.

dcarch

[Kim Shook]

dcarch – the venison looks perfect and delicious, but what really wowed me was the wild rice. I’m sure I’ve never had the real thing, just farmed and can’t imagine how much better that is – especially with duck liver. I’m swooning.

I hope that everyone is having a lovely day. Mine was great – I got to play all day in the kitchen and feed my husband of almost 30 years (next month). He’s my forever sweetheart – he puts up with a lot, supports me always and eats everything I put in front of him. Last night he even agreed to try liver sometime !

Valentines Dinner:

Shrimp rémoulade:

This was the recipe from Galatoire’s and it was fantastic.

Love Potion Salad:

This recipe came from a Diane Mott Davidson book. The salad was greens, grape tomatoes, crumbled bleu cheese and pine nuts. The dressing was garlic, shallot, mayo, Dijon, basil, balsamic vinegar, Parmesan and olive oil. We really loved this salad and it’s a good thing, because I have a full pint jar left of the dressing.

My sad, sad Pomme Souffle w/ béarnaise:

Not one single one of my Pommes soufflé-d . So we had potato chips with béarnaise. Pretty fancy, but not what I wanted. I know that they are notoriously difficult and that even seasoned chefs don’t expect any more than an 80% - 90% success rate. So I figured maybe I’d get 30%. Not zero percent. The directions that I found were, I think basically correct, but I think that I actually cut them too thin. Apparently Jacques Pepin slices them just slightly more than 1/8-inch.

Rack of lamb:

Needed to get it a little more crispy in the pan before putting it in the oven, but otherwise it was perfect.

Plate:

Lamb w/ mint pesto, cranberry, orange & almond long grain & wild rice, lobster medallions w/ lemon butter sauce.

Dessert #1:

Momofuku Milk Bar’s (via deensiebat) Sesame-Ginger Rice Krispie Treats. A really grown up treat. You really need to make these a day ahead of time, because when I made them yesterday you could hardly taste the ginger and today it comes through beautifully. These were more a gift for Mr. Kim since he loves all things gingery! The real Valentines dessert was this -

Dessert #2:

Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake from the blog Mangio Da Sola. It was incredible. It has an Oreo cooky crust, a cheesecake layer (from a Dorie Greenspan recipe), a chocolate mousse layer (from a Tyler Florence recipe) and is topped with ganache. It was so easy and turned out perfectly. I tried to be cute and put white chocolate hearts on the ganache and crapped up the look of it, but it was just delicious.

So, other than the potatoes, it was a very successful meal! I had a lot of fun over the last few days. It was exactly the kind of thing I was looking forward to when I quit work.

Edited February 15, 2012 by Kim Shook (log)

[pastameshugana]

So for Valentines - Mr's Meshugana and I are doing the 'adults only' date on Friday - the local playhouse is putting on Fiddler on the Roof.

Today was family day (5 kids 10yo and under) and the kids and I cooked all day for Mr's M.

Breakfast was eggs on toast, with mushroom, onion, serrano, sharp 'tuscan' cheddar (from Sam's, has vegetables & spices crusted around it) and fresh tomatoes.

Lunch was steamed Vegetarian Pasta, but after prep we had parent teacher conferences so it's in the fridge to be cooked tomorrow.

Dinner was some 'big-o-mammo-jamma' (the house lingo for huge) ribeyes. Rubbed down with Cavender's Greek seasoning, baked for an hour at 170 brought internal temp to about 100, then a quick sear on the grill. Fantastic.

Then mixed baby potatoes (what are those purple ones called? They were great!). Boiled till done, then tossed with lots of olive oil, garlic, green onion, salt & pepper and chopped basil. Then roasted for about 10 minutes till the garlic got crispy.

Dessert was chocolate dipped fruit. The grapes were out of sight. The leftover chocolate made heart chocolates for the kids teachers and mom & dad. Can one of our resident candy experts let me know how to do this without the chocolate fusing to the plate? We coated the plates with butter (??) but it still stuck like crazy.

I hope you all had a fantastic day!

[Mjx]

. . . .

OK, the Venison was magnificently done to perfection, but part of the puff pastry was slightly undercooked. Which was not too bad. I didn’t want the venison to be over cooked. . . .

dcarch

. . . .

The venison en croute looks looks beautiful! If you want the pastry a bit more 'done' next time, you might want to give this a go (method I use for this same dish, I have no sous-vide setup): Take the (raw) venison directly from the refrigerator, and sear it at very high temp., just to colour it, then wrap it in the pastry, and bake it briefly in a very hot oven. The venison I get is (mostly) from roe deer, so the pieces are quite small in cross-section, but using this method, it's still possible to serve it rare.

[Shelby]

robirdstx I've bookmarked the recipe you posted. It sounds really good and comforting.

thirtyoneknots Key lime pie. YUM.

dcarchAs usual, stunning presentation and food.

Kim You kicked butt, girl! Isn't it fun to be able to spend all day in the kitchen and not have to worry about work??? I love it. I have to make that salad. AND that dessert. Except I want you to make me the dessert.

pastameshugana You had me at the runny egg.

RIBS! Mr. Shelby came home at 1 with RIBS! I can't believe I forgot to take pictures...they were so good. I even nibbled on one this morning for breakfast and that's not like me. Along with we had brussels sprouts in a creamy bleu cheese sauce--really good, roasted baby potatoes and buttermilk biscuits. And, chocolate chip peanut butter cookies for dessert. All while watching the dog show .

[Kim Shook]

Kim You kicked butt, girl! Isn't it fun to be able to spend all day in the kitchen and not have to worry about work??? I love it. I have to make that salad. AND that dessert. Except I want you to make me the dessert.

RIBS! Mr. Shelby came home at 1 with RIBS! I can't believe I forgot to take pictures...they were so good. I even nibbled on one this morning for breakfast and that's not like me. Along with we had brussels sprouts in a creamy bleu cheese sauce--really good, roasted baby potatoes and buttermilk biscuits. And, chocolate chip peanut butter cookies for dessert. All while watching the dog show .

Thank you, ma'am! The salad was really, really good and the dessert was seriously easy to make. I stretched it out over 3 days, so not so time consuming. Good on Mr. Shelby for coming through with the ribs! That's love!

So, tell me how a Wooley Bear caterpillar qualifies to win a dog show?

[Shelby]

Kim You kicked butt, girl! Isn't it fun to be able to spend all day in the kitchen and not have to worry about work??? I love it. I have to make that salad. AND that dessert. Except I want you to make me the dessert.

RIBS! Mr. Shelby came home at 1 with RIBS! I can't believe I forgot to take pictures...they were so good. I even nibbled on one this morning for breakfast and that's not like me. Along with we had brussels sprouts in a creamy bleu cheese sauce--really good, roasted baby potatoes and buttermilk biscuits. And, chocolate chip peanut butter cookies for dessert. All while watching the dog show .

Thank you, ma'am! The salad was really, really good and the dessert was seriously easy to make. I stretched it out over 3 days, so not so time consuming. Good on Mr. Shelby for coming through with the ribs! That's love!

So, tell me how a Wooley Bear caterpillar qualifies to win a dog show?

I know, right? I thought it was a bunny rabbit.

I meant to ask dcarch--did you make the pastry?

[thirtyoneknots]

thirtyoneknots Key lime pie. YUM.

I did a little scrape of tonka in the whip topping, for funsies. Came out great.

[Shel_B]

What are you doing, or cooking, for your sweetheart for Valentine's Day? Is this an occasion that's celebrated world-wide, or is it an American thing?

Tonight we're having a simple supper consisting of Molly Wizenberg's curried lentil soup with kale from our garden, a salad, also with ingredients from our garden, a pork tenderloin with apples and caramelized onions, and a side of baked Minnesota wild rice, cooked in a homemade mushroom stock with some of Toots' favorite mushrooms and toasted pecans added for good measure.

For dessert there will be a blood orange panna cotta served in small, red, heart shaped ramekins.

I'm having a grand time doing things for Toots. I made a card for her using a vintage image from the early 1900's - It's fun making my own greeting cards, and the recipients like them, too, as they can be so easily personalized. She's also getting a box of Recchiuti chocolate hearts with her favorite fillings http://www.recchiuti.com/overview.html?area=02&id=J43aFnvE&gclid=CNHkuufUy7wCFQWTfgodPl4AVw, and the traditional bouquet of a dozen red roses. We went to see The Thin Man last night at the local theater, which once a month has screenings of classic films.

Whatever you do, I hope you'll be enjoying the day as much as we will.

Edited February 14, 2014 by Shel_B (log)

[liuzhou]

Valentine's Day is most certainly not American! It was originally European, but is now world-wide.

In China, today is both Valentine’s Day and the Lantern Festival which marks the end of the Spring Festival. The two only coincide every 19 years.

In 1995, China didn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day, but in recent years it has been adopted, although few people know its name – English speakers tend to call it Lovers’ Day. They also have their own, Chinese equivalent known as Qixi (七夕节) which takes place on the seventh day of the seventh month by the traditional Chinese lunar calendar. It is therefore sometimes referred to as the Double Seventh Festival. This year it will fall on August 2nd.

Single people have to wait until November for their day. November 11th, to be precise. 11-11. All those lonely ones. This date, of course, has very different associations in the west.

The Lantern Festival meal round here is the usual Chinese stuff - White Cut Chicken, Steamed Pork Belly, Frogs, Squid, Beef and the odd bit of vegetation. But the traditional food is Tangyuan.

These are little balls of sticky rice with various fillings. Peanut, sesame, sweet stuff generally.

I can't stand the things.

But this year, due to the date coincidence, it is also Valentine food. But won't be again until 2033.

Edited February 14, 2014 by liuzhou (log)

[Shelby]

I saved the last of our foie gras to eat tonight. So, we will have that along with a small bowl of lobster bisque, salad, king crab legs and for dessert I'm going to make those individual molten lava cakes. I'm probably the last person on earth who has never made or eaten one of those before.

[Shel_B]

[...] and for dessert I'm going to make those individual molten lava cakes. I'm probably the last person on earth who has never made or eaten one of those before.

No, you're not ...

[David Hensley]

Personally, we'll be having 5-grain and mushroom stuffed pork chops, braised in an herbed veloute'; whipped, roasted garlic potatoes; roasted,citrus brussels sprouts; and creamy succotash.

Nothing especially exotic, but with a surprise day off, I'll have the time to really make things nice!

[Shel_B]

Personally, we'll be having 5-grain and mushroom stuffed pork chops, braised in an herbed veloute'; whipped, roasted garlic potatoes; roasted,citrus brussels sprouts; and creamy succotash.

Nothing especially exotic, but with a surprise day off, I'll have the time to really make things nice!

Sounds like a nice, simple meal, one that allows plenty of time to be with your sweetie, and that's the best part of any special dinner.

[David Hensley]

Although I'm sure this post will be hidden (rightfully so, since I know I'm completely off-topic!) I'd just like to say that after a really rough couple of years, I've finally found the woman I want to be with, even though her tastes in food horrify me ( ), and if "simple" is what she prefers, then simple is what I'll prepare!

I wish all of You, and all of Yours, a very happy Valentine's day!

[robirdstx]

We will be dining at home, with each of us having our favorites. Grilled rib eye and baked potato for him and grilled lobster with garlic butter for me. And a bottle of Dry Creek Chardonnay to share!

[BeeZee]

probably gorge on chocolates

my husband buys them for me so he can shamelessly indulge

Edited February 14, 2014 by BeeZee (log)

[OliverB]

I'm German and never heard of Valentine's Day there, I think it's a Hallmark invention (and I think it's stupid). But national pressure demands something more than a regular dinner, LOL.

I'm just about to go out and see if I can get some fresh oysters, if not we'll have little toasts with foies gras I brougth back from Paris, I realized I have 4 frozen lobster tails, I'll be making those. Maybe with fried polenta? Or just crusty bread? Definitely a salad. Dessert will be just strawberries or something like that, I don't really bake or like sweet stuff all that much.

No flowers, I always have flowers (orchids) in the house anyway and don't like cut flowers. And the kids will make a card for mom. That's it :-)

[basquecook]

Catering an event tonight

Been crossing out things as we have been going but, it's all being served

MADELINE

Roast Garlic, Rosemary, Cornmeal

CARPACCIO

Venison, Prince Noir Goat Cheddar, Sriracha, Sea Salt

KALE

Crème Fraiche, Lemon, Hazelnuts, Pomegranate, Gorgonzola

MARROW

Caviar, Parsnip Puree, Parsley Salad, Blood Orange Gastrique, Toast

RAVIOLI

Red Beet, Brown Butter, Pecorino, Poppy

LAMB

Bronzed Cauliflower, Glazed Carots, Demi Glaze

CHEESE

5 Year Aged Gouda, Leonora, Torta De Casar, La Cesearia Blu

TART

Vanilla Bean Custard, Dolce De Leche, Banana Brulee

POT DE CREME

Mast Brother’s Chocolate, Sea Salt, Frosted Thai Chili