Valentine's Day Dinner

Valentine's Day.  I am usually pretty popular on this day every year.  Not because I am in a relationship (Thank you for the flowers and spices, Tawm), but because people wait until the last minute to make reservations/go grocery shopping and they need help pulling something out of the air.

Case in point:  my boss.

Let me say this now:  my boss is a pretty awesome guy, so I was a little worried when he came to my desk looking like this:

Turns out boss-man wanted to impress his lady for the day upon which we celebrate the slaughter of innocents with chocolates and flowers, and he needed help with a recipe.  I was more than happy to oblige... and then steal my own recipe for myself.

P.S. if you time this right, it all comes out at the same time and works perfectly!

Valentine’s Day Dinner

Dinner:  Baked Sliced Potatoes, Asparagus, Lobster Bisque, and Filet Mignon with cream sauce.  You will need approximately 1 ½ hours to prepare everything.

Cooking Supplies:

2 cookie sheets

Aluminum foil

1 Plastic bag

1 baking pan

1 frying pan

1 small sauce pan

The first thing you want to do is prepare the Asparagus and the Baked potatoes because they will take the longest to cook.  Start with the potatoes.

Baked Sliced Potatoes (it never looks this fancy, but this is what the end product should resemble):

You will need…

2 medium potatoes (washed and scrubbed.  Cut out any roots)

Some olive oil to drizzle

Salt and Pepper

Rosemary and Garlic Salt (if you have it.  If not, just grab some Italian herb eg. Oregano, basil etc.)

A little parmesan cheese to sprinkle.

What I do is place the potatoes on a wooden spoon while I am slicing them to make certain I don’t cut them all the way through.  Cut them so they are evenly and thinly sliced.  When you are finished cutting them, put them on a cookie sheet covered in aluminum foil (this makes for easy cleanup).  Fan out the potatoes slightly and drizzle olive oil over them until lightly saturated.  Shake salt and pepper over the potatoes, as well as the garlic and rosemary.  Shake parmesan cheese over the potatoes (however much you want).

Place potatoes in the oven for 50 minutes at 425 F… also preheat the oven… that part probably should have been first.

NEXT

Baked Asparagus

You will need…

1 Bunch of Asparagus (the thicker kind)

About ¼ c. olive oil

Salt, Pepper, and Red Pepper Flakes

1 Plastic Bag 

1 cookie sheet

aluminum foil

Step One: Cut the whiter ends off of the asparagus and rinse thoroughly.

Step Two:  Put asparagus in plastic bag with olive oil, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.  Shake bag like red-headed step-child.

Step Three:  Place evenly on cookie sheet covered in aluminum foil. 

Step Four:  When the oven timer reaches 15 minutes remaining on the potatoes, pop the asparagus in the oven as well.

NEXT

Filet Mignon (make sure the steaks are at room temperature)

You will need…

2 Steaks

salt n’ pepper

olive oil

1 frying pan

1 baking pan.

1)      Rub steaks with salt and pepper

2)      Lightly cover bottom of frying pan in olive oil and heat on high.  Toss some salt and pepper into the oil

3)      When the oil begins to sizzle put both steaks into the pan and sear the top for one to two minutes and the bottom for one to two minutes.  Then sear the sides of the filets briefly so that it is brown all over.  Place the filets in lightly oiled baking dish.  Put the steaks in the oven when the veggies are done cooking, and lower heat to 400F. 

4)      Cook the meat for five minutes (oven should be on 400F).  Take it out of the oven and flip over.  Cook for another 3-5 minutes.  This should leave the meat anywhere from medium-rare to medium.

While the meat is cooking, take the veggies out and wrap them in foil.  Place them over the vents of the oven so that they stay warm.  

NEXT:  Lobster Bisque or Butternut Squash soup

This is a good time to heat up the Lobster Bisque.  I mean it.  Do not try to make soup from scratch unless you did it yesterday, just buy it at the store and heat it up or you will just make yourself cry.  When it is done heating up, put it in bowls and crack some pepper on top.  Apparently cracked pepper makes everything fancy.

NEXT

This is optional.  The cream sauce is my own creation and it tends to go with the steak very well.  It’s entirely up to you if you want to make it or not.

You will need…

Blue Cheese or Gouda cheese (I use aged Gouda)

Half and half or Heavy cream

Butter

Small sauce pan

1) Melt one 1/2 stick of butter in the saucepan on low heat.

2)  Throw in ¼ cup of cream

3)  Grate in Gouda cheese (About 1 C) and stir on low until everything has melted together to a consistency that you like.

Leave this sauce in a small bowl on the table so you can use it like gravy.

Then buy yourself a couple of slices of cheesecake at Mariano’s because screw cooking desert after all that.