Valentine's Day Dinner

A couple of weeks ago, I had a last minute opportunity to attend the US Bocuse d'Or final at The Culinary Institute of America. Twelve teams fought to be the US representative at the main Bocuse d'Or competition in Lyon, France January 2011.

Chef Thomas Keller, is the President of the US Bocuse d'Or organization and while there I was able to get him to sign my copy of The French Laundry cookbook! (Awesome!)

Anyway.... Part of my Valentine menu was inspired by a recipe in that book and the beef broth I made, *did* come from his instructions and it took all stinking day to make. That's okay though. The flavor of that stock was A-MAZING!!!

Competition floor


Chef Daniel Boulud introducting some of the judges

One of the presentation trays as it passes the judges -- (thank you zoom lens for having the capability to get these shots from my seat in the bleachers!)


At church, we can sign up to feed the missionaries who are serving full-time. Right now, we have the cutest, SWEETEST Sister Missionaries that I just love so when I saw that they didn't have plans on the calendar for Valentine's Day (except church), I put my name down and got to scheming. I like to make food they normally don't get every day and for this holiday, I wanted to make it extra special and extra delicious!

Dinner was served in 3 courses -


{Course #1}
Sweetheart Salad w/ Goat Cheese Croquette & Sweet Potato w/ Rosemary Rolls
I made my roll dough like normal but before adding the flour and salt, I stirred in 1 cup mashed sweet potatoes and 1 Tbsp rosemary. A little extra flour is necessary due to the moistness of the sweet potatoes, but if you gauge it by how the dough pulls together, you'll have just the right amount. I loved how savory these were. Delicious.

The salad was in a parmesan bowl that I made, but I didn't keep them in the oven long enough and they flattened out. They were so delicious with this salad! What I did was use my silpat and sprinkled two semi large circles on the mat (on a cookie sheet) and popped into a 400* oven. Let it melt until nice and golden brown. Remove and let sit for a few minutes so the cheese is cool enough to handle. Slowly pull the cheese up and off the Silpat and place over an upside down bowl. Allow the cheese to cool and harden completely.

My "sweetheart" salad had mini hearts cut out of a red bell pepper, I did a zigzag cut around radishes and when pulled apart, they look like little flowers, I curled green onion sprigs by slicing the chive part and then popping in a bowl of ice water for 30 minutes. Grated carrots, sliced cucumbers, and topped with a goat cheese croquette.

To make the croquette, I cut semi-thick slices off a goat cheese log. Dipped each slice in egg wash (1 egg white + 1 Tbsp water) and then into a bowl of crushed Panko breadcrumbs.
Place all the pieces on a plate and put in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes. Heat a little oil in a small saucepan and carefully put each croquette in to fry. When golden brown on both sides, remove and sit on a paper towel to drain. Put on top of the salad. This ooey, gooey warm bit of goodness is pure heaven!




{Course 2}

Parmesan Polenta Cake, Pan-seared Pork Tenderloin, & Root Vegetable Garnish

Polenta: Bring 2 cups water and 1/2 tsp salt to boil in a saucepan. Add 3/4 cup polenta and cook until thick. Add 1 Tbsp butter and a small handful of fresh grated parmesan cheese. Taste. Season with more salt and pepper if necessary. Dump out into a 9x13 pan and refrigerate. This can be made a day before hand to cut down prep time. I used a circle cutter to cut out all the cakes. This made 12 rounds. When ready to plate, heat a skillet. Melt butter and carefully place a cake for each person in the pan. Fry until both sides are golden.

Tenderloin: This part was the easiest. Cut thick slices of tenderloin. Season well with salt, pepper, and thyme (fresh is best). Heat a skillet over medium high heat. When hot, drizzle in some olive oil and carefully place each medallion in the pan. Sear for 3-4 minutes on each side. Pop into a 350* oven until the centers are no longer squishy, but still spongy. We don't want to overcook the pork!

Root Vegetable Garnish: Peel and slice celery root into batons (rectangles). Slice those little snack size carrots into quarters. Slice a beet and then cut into very very fine dice (small squares). Take 3 cloves garlic and crush with the side of your knife. Remove the dry skin.

Heat three saucepans up with water. If you don't have three, then just use one and alternate your cooking. Put the carrot and celery root in a small pot of boiling water. Cook until just slightly fork tender (do not overcook!). Strain and put the veggies into ice water immediately to stop them from cooking any further. Drain and set aside.

Boil some more water. This time, add the beet and repeat the same method as above. You want to cook the beet separately because it will bleed color everywhere and you don't want to change the color of the other vegetables.

Finally, we're going to do the exact same thing with the garlic! Boil in water until fork tender, drain, shock with ice bath, drain and set aside.

When you're ready to plate your food, put the veggies in a little saute pan to heat back up with 1 Tbsp butter. Season with salt and pepper. I think some chopped italian parsley would have been perfect for some color. I had used up the last of my parsley to make my beef stock so I wasn't able to do this.

Savory beef sauce: Heat olive oil in a skillet. Saute chopped carrot (2), 1/2 an onion, diced, 2 stalks celery, and 1 bay leaf. When the veggies are cooked through, remove from the pan. Add 1 Tbsp butter and move around the bottom of the pan. When melted, add 1 cup red wine and 3 cups beef stock. Cook over medium high heat until the sauce has reduced by half and is starting to thicken. If it doesn't thicken, stir a little beef stock and a tsp or two of cornstarch in a small bowl. Whisk until there aren't any more lumps and then carefully add to the sauce. Stir well. Once thick (not too thick!), drain through a mesh sieve to remove any particles.

When you're ready to plate, put one of the polenta cakes in the center of the plate. Carefully stack two pieces of tenderloin on top. Spoon the vegetable garnish on top, and then drizzle with the beef sauce. Be prepared for pure silence at the dinner table. Everyone will be too busy enjoying every bite of this dish! :)

{Course 3}

Bittersweet Chocolate Charlotte

I'd been eyeing this recipe for awhile and decided it would be perfect for this dinner. What says "I love you" better than chocolate? Come on now.

To improve on the recipe, I made my own chocolate lady fingers. I have to say, WAY better than store bought but with all the eggs you need to make both the Charlotte and Lady fingers, I say buy them if you can find them. (I used over a DOZEN eggs!)

I love individual desserts for special dinners so I lined the inside of my ramekins with a parchment circle on the bottom (for easy releasing) and put lady fingers around the edge. I cut my lady fingers in half so they were flush with the top of the ramekin. Once you have sides covered, spoon in some of the chocolate mousse. Top the mousse with more lady fingers and press slightly to make sure there aren't any air holes. Cover with saran and chill overnight.

When ready to plate, I simply ran a small knife around the inside of the ramekin to unstick any lady fingers then sat a plate on top. Flip them over so the Charlotte pops out (might require some shaking of the ramekin). Pull up the parchment circle if it's still attached to the Charlotte.

I piped on some whipped cream (use fresh whipped if you can. Aerosol whipped cream will melt and deflate all over and will be a huge huge mess), drizzled with a little ganache I had in my fridge, and garnished with a white chocolate heart I made the night before.

The perfect ending to a perfect night! I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's day. When you're looking for a showstopping meal for your loved one, or if you just want to impress the pants off your guests/family, I definitely suggest this meal! You'll be the talk of the town!

Apple Fennel Slaw

While visiting my family in Seattle, we had many dinners and bbqs. Two days after our arrival, we went to Music in the Park and the plan was for us to bring a dish or two to share. I've been wanting to try fennel slaw for some time now. In fact, I had been planning on doing a big 4th of July segment here on my blog with summer/bbq type recipes, but it never happened.

We'll put the past behind us and move forward, shall we?

So for Music in the Park, I made peach cobbler, a roasted beet salad, and this... apple fennel slaw. I know it sounds like a strange combination but holy cow it was SO good. I encouraged my skeptical family members to try the slaw and they loved it, even though they took that first bite with much trepidation. (Suzanne would never steer you wrong!!!!!!)

Not only is this salad delicious and refreshing, it's very very quick to make. Here's how it's done.

In a large bowl, put:

2 fennel bulbs, finely sliced
2 granny smith apples, cut into matchsticks
1 carrot, grated

In another bowl, put:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
a shake of garlic powder
a shake of celery seed
2 Tbsp rice vinegar (or white vinegar)
the juice of 1 lemon (or 2 Tbsp lemon juice)
and 1 Tbsp sugar

Mix all the dressing ingredients together and taste. It should be slightly sweet so if it's not, add a little more sugar to balance the acidity of the vinegar and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.

Pour the dressing on top of the slaw and mix together well. If you want to get fancy with it, garnish the top with some of the fennel frond. Keep in the fridge until ready to serve.

The perfect side dish for a summer bbq! Enjoy!


Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AZ-Z_fQXybIkZGcydmZqcW1fMTYxZ2g2bjdrazk&hl=en

.buffalo chicken salad.

I have a confession.  I love (LOVE) hot wings.  It was probably the one benefit of low-carbing (when I low-carbed it) because I would eat them every day for lunch.  Mmmmm...   Tangy, zesty.. spicy!  

I bought a new cookbook a couple weeks ago that offer quick meals and this was in there.  I changed it up a little and it was so SO good!  The spicy chicken mixed in with the crunchy lettuces, carrots, and celery.. then drizzled with a homemade blue cheese dressing.  Nothing quite like it in the world.

I cheated by using the pre-seasoned buffalo chicken strips.  If you make your own hot wings and want to take that job on yourself, go right on ahead.  The nice thing about this recipe is that it is on your table in 30 minutes.  And if you use these?  I promise not to tell if you don't tell on me. :D

Bake according to the directions on the package.  When it's cooked, pull from oven and cut into bite sized pieces.

Chop up 1 head iceberg lettuce and 1 head romaine lettuce.

Slice up 4-5 stalks celery and put it in the bowl with the lettuce.

Slice 3 peeled carrots and put that in the salad bowl too.

Annnnd add some sliced red onion.

Chop up some tomato and put in a bowl.  I don't like adding it to the salad because that tomato slime gets all over the place.  Yuck.  (Am I strange?)

In a bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups mayo, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1 cup crumbled blue cheese, 4 Tbsp white vinegar, salt and pepper, 1 tsp sugar, and 1 clove minced garlic.

This can be made up in advance.  In fact, the longer you let this sit in the fridge, the longer those flavors have a chance to marry.

To serve, put a pile of the lettuce/salad on a plate.  Sprinkle on the tomatoes (if you like tomatoes) and then put a handful of chicken around and spoon on some dressing.

Easy peasy and very delicious!

Printable version:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_148vp964sg5

.spinach salad w/ blue cheese and walnuts.

This is the spinach salad for our Valentine dinner cook-along. I love a good salad and this one definitely hits the spot. You want to make sure you use really good ingredients. Make sure your blue cheese is a good brand with nice veining throughout the wedge. You won't need much because it's such a pungent cheese, so don't buy more than you think you'll use. If you aren't a fan of blue cheese, you can sub with parmesan. My daughter had cheddar on her salad.

I made this with a warm bacon shallot vinaigrette. The sweet and sour dressing was a perfect compliment to the creamy cheese and nutty flavor of the walnuts.


Slice two shallots.












Chop up two strips of bacon. I used thick sliced bacon.











Put the bacon in a skillet. Fry over medium high heat.











When the bacon is halfway done, add the shallots and let saute for 3-4 minutes.











Add 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar. If you find there isn't a lot of "dressing", add a little olive oil.

Season with 1/2 tsp sugar, salt, and pepper. If it's too sour, add more sugar. If it's too sweet, add more vinegar.

That is all this is needed for the dressing. I transferred to a bowl and kept in a low temp oven.

Slice some of the blue cheese and break into pieces.

I used one of those pre-packages of spinach that you can find in your produce section. I like these because the spinach is already washed.

Make the viniagrette a day in advance. It will save you a lot of time. Reheat in the microwave just before serving. You can also toast the chopped walnuts the night before too. Trust me. Do as much as possible before hand so you aren't killing yourself in the kitchen.

To plate: Tear some of the spinach on top of a plate. Sprinkle around some blue cheese and walnuts. Spoon the bacon-shallot vinaigrette over the top. Serve immediately.

Printable version:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_136ffs6dtdv

.grilled shrimp and mango salad.

A couple years ago I was in Chicago for a scrapbooking event. It's a big thing for the craft and hobby industry and I was along for the ride with a company I was designing for at the time. I shared a hotel room with three other ladies and one night while out to dinner, my friend Bek ordered this grilled shrimp and mango salad. It looked FABULOUS! Since I'm all about salads, I thought I would try remaking it here at my house.



It's quick and easy and so deliciously refreshing. A light cilantro lime vinaigrette tops this off. The dressing can be made ahead of time and held in the fridge for future use.





Begin by taking however many shrimp you want and rinsing them well. Pull of the tails if they still have them on.





Season with seasoned salt.





Skewer up the shrimp and turn on the bbq.





Grill each side. When they're pink, they're done cooking. Don't let these overcook because the shrimp will be tough.

Peel and grate a couple carrots.

Seed and dice a tomato (or two).

Peel and slice a mango. If you're making this for a crowd, then dice the mango so it stretches further.

Slice some red onion.

Thinly slice some cucumber.

And finally, grate some cheddar cheese.

You can mix all these things together in a bowl with some lettuce (I used iceberg and romaine), or you can plate it like I did in the photo at the top. Drizzle lightly with cilantro-lime vinaigrette.

CILANTRO LIME VINAIGRETTE:

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (key limes are good)
1 small jalapeno pepper, ribs and seeds removed, coarsely chopped (leave in some seeds if heat is desired)
1 small clove garlic, halved
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon honey
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 pinch ground cumin
1 pinch salt, to taste
1 1/2 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro

Put all of the ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.

.steak salad w/ strawberry peach salsa.

I stumbled across a recipe for strawberry peach salsa and thought, "Oooooooooh! I wonder what I can make this with?" Then I thought I could try it with a scrumptous steak salad.

This is light and refreshing. Perfect for a summer dinner and only took 45 minutes to an hour to make! Even better!


In a bowl put 2 diced peaches (peeled), 6 sliced strawberries, 1 diced jalapeno, a little chopped cilantro, 1/2 lime juiced, and 1/2 tsp honey. Season with a little kosher salt and stir well. Set aside.


In a bowl, mix together 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1/2 lime, juiced, a little chopped cilantro, salt and pepper.


Spoon a little of the sauce over the steak and brush all over the surface. Sprinkle a little thyme and rosemary.


Put on a grill and cook until medium or medium rare.

Set aside.


Slice some red onion.


Peel one avocado and slice.


Holding your knife on the diagonal, slice your steak thinly.

To assemble, put some lettuce (I used a spring salad mix) on a plate. Sprinkle with red onions. Fan out the steak all pretty like, and the avocado in front of it. Put a handful of the strawberry peach salsa on last.

You don't really need a salad dressing for this, but if you really want something, use raspberry vinaigrette.

You could also add a little cheese if you want. Maybe something like bleu or gorgonzola or plain ol cheddar. Enjoy!

.jerk chicken salad w/ grilled pineapple salsa.

I'm always looking for new things to make. It seems I make the same things over and over from two or three ethnicities. Chinese, Mexican, Japanese...

Well, while I was perusing blogs, I came across one where the guy made a jerk chicken salad. It looked so good. I've only had Caribbean food a couple of times. Jerk food only once and WOW!!! It's so hot!!!!!! I like spicy food, but not spicy spicy where you can't even enjoy it, you know? But I loved the blends of hot and sweet, the cinnamon and allspice flavors mixed with citrus. So I thought I could temper the flames if I made the dish myself.

I tempered the flame so much.. it wasn't spicy AT ALL. I was a bit bummed because I thought there would at least be a little "pow"... so I'm going to adjust *my* recipe so it's more spicy. Here's how I did it.


JERK MARINADE:

In a blender, put:
2 scotch bonnets, seeded and roughly chopped
1 onion, chopped
the juice of 1 orange
the juice of 1 lime (including some zest)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp allspice
1 Tbsp thyme
1 1/2 tsp pepper
3/4 tsp nutmeg
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rum
1/4 cup white vinegar

I cut this recipe in half because I didn't want a ton leftover. I wasn't sure when I would actually use it again. :)

Make sure when you handle these peppers that you wear gloves or use a piece of plastic wrap to keep from touching it. The oils and seeds will burn your skin horribly. If you do happen to get some on you and it's burning your fingers, soak in milk.

Puree all of the ingredients until nice and smooth.


Put chicken breasts (1 per person) in a ziploc. Pour the marinade in and let sit for 30 minutes on the counter, or in the fridge overnight. The longer you let this marinate the better!


The other day I made pineapple mango upside down cake. This pineapple is left from what I used for that. I diced it up the other night where I probably should have or could have left them in ring form. Whatever you have, put on skewers. We're going to grill the pineapple for the salsa. Don't used canned pineapple!!!


We are going to need some diced avocado. My friend, Marie left a comment asking how to get the seed out so I'm going to take a quick minute to show you how to dice an avocado. Cut it in half, around the seed. Sometimes the seeds pop right out. But you don't want to go digging around it to get it. Take the blade of your chef's knife and knock the seed with a little force to get the blade to stick into it. Twist it a little and then pull out!


Carefully use your fingers to pull the peel off. You want firm but not hard avocados. If they're too hard, they're going to have a very stringy tough texture. To ripen them up, sit them on your window sill a day or two where they will get sun. Once slightly soft, put in the fridge. If they're too soft, they aren't good.. and are usually even a little too over ripe for guacamole.

Lay the flat side of the avocado down on the cutting board and cut up and down, then side to side. This will dice it up!

Set the avocado aside. We'll need it for the salad.


Chop up a little cilantro and set aside.


Put half of a olive oil rubbed red bell pepper on a hot bbq grill. We want to blacken the skin up.


Take two thick slices of onion (I used spanish onion for this, but you can use any kind. Red onion would be prettier!) and skewer. Rub with olive oil and put on the bbq grill. Grill until soft.


Put your chicken on the grill and sear each side. This locks in the juice. Turn down the heat and continue to cook with the lid down until they're slightly firm. If you push the thick part of the chicken and it's no longer spongy, it's done. Don't cut into it as that will release all of it's juices.

A few minutes before the chicken is done, put the pineapple on the grill and cook until nice grill marks form and the pineapple is slightly soft.


When the onion is done, pull off skewers and chop up. Put in a bowl.


Pull the skin off the bell pepper, then cut into a small dice.

Put in the bowl with the onion.


Add the grilled pineapple, the cilantro you chopped, and squeeze half a lime in.


When you pull the chicken from the grill, let it sit for a few minutes. Then slice on the diagonal.


To assemble the salad, put some spring salad mix on your plate. Scatter some of the avocado around, then sprinkle a handful of rinsed pinto beans around too.

Put a handful of salsa right in the center.


Put the chicken down the center and drizzle lightly with mango vinaigrette (recipe below). Serve immediately.

MANGO VINAIGRETTE:
1 cup mango, diced
3 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp sugar
juice of one orange
2 tsp honey
1/2 tsp dijon mustard

Put all of the ingredients in a blender and puree until no lumps appear.

Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_87cbth5psz