Saturday, January 15, 2011

14 Days of Valentines - Dinner ideas


I am narrowing down what I want to make for dinner. The kids always get a pizza early and then head upstairs for a DVD. I think Firstborn will be out on a date and Secondborn will be out with friends.


I've had my eye on the recipe for Lobster and Tomato Fettucine from my favorite restaurant Market Street Broiler. I've never made it before, nor have I ever cooked a lobster on my own. Shouldn't be too hard, should it? The dish sounds divine, but it would mean not doing a cream based dessert and my creme brulee recipe from the same place is my go-to dessert. Hmmm.


There is always my fall-back staple entree: Alton Brown's Pan Seared Rib Eye with roasted garlic mashed potatoes. It's foolproof when you want to make a really good steak. One rib-eye is big enough for the two of us. I like to add caramelized onions, sauteed 'shrooms, and crumbled Stilton. If I do this then I will also add bacon wrapped scallops.


I'm going easy on sides this year since I always serve too much food. Along with a loaf of really good bread from a local bakery, I'm making a simple Pear and spinach salad (swapping out the cranberries in favor of pomegranate).
Dessert will most likely be a Blackberry and Almond Torte recipe, also from Market Street. The presentation is gorgeous and I haven't made one for a few years. It's time.
Other ideas can be found in a previous blog post here. Or get already prepped food from Costco that you only have to heat (the Miso-glazed cod from the freezer section is tasty) or get your fave takeout. For dessert, get brownie bites and fruit from the store and melt chocolate for fondue. Or head to your fave bakery for a cupcakes, ultimate chocolate cake, or fruit tarts. You could layer cubes of purchased pound cake, fruit, and whip cream in flute glasses or those cute mini trifle glasses I've seen at Target and Walmart. Go to your fave chocolatier, purchase 8 different kinds of truffles and have a truffle tasting. (This surprisingly went over really well on a date night I planned last summer. If you don't do it for V-day, plan it for a romantic picnic ASAP).
I've said this every year, but it bears repeating. It doesn't matter what you do. Your Mr. Wonderful will appreciate the effort. Spending time making him feel loved it the only goal.

3 comments:

Anna said...

I LOVE the truffle tasting idea. You are a genius! When the weather gets better...picnic in memory grove with truffles for dessert. Genius!

p.s. I'm terrified of making steak at home. I like it med or med-rare and I'm paranoid I'll overcook it and then we've wasted tons of money on an overcooked steak. So we opt to eat all steak at restaurants and stick to other things at home

Scarehaircare said...

The truffle tasting was so much fun that I want to do it again the minute we have nice weekend weather. I bought the most unusual I could find from Preece chocolates (www.preecechocolates.com) The surprising winner was a lemon white chocolate truffle. Definitely a do-again.

PS - the Alton Brown steak recipe has yielded a pefect medium-rare steak EVERY SINGLE TIME. I kid you not.

Christie said...

Agreed on the Alton Brown steak recipe.
Good. Every. Time.
Yum!