Valentine’s Day Dinner

Valentine’s day. Oh, what a “holiday”. You look forward to it if you are in love, (especially newly in love). Some of the single folks dread it. If you are partnered up it is a great chance to show your honey bunny how much you appreciate and love them. You can celebrate cupid’s day in many ways. It almost always involves a nice dinner. You can go out but what a better way to “show the love” than a homemade romantic dinner for you and your baby?? You say you don’t have a honey bunny?? Then why not invite some friend’s over and have the ever-popular “un-hitched V-day bash”!?!

This dinner is the perfect romantic pleaser. It starts off with a nice bottle of bubbly accompanied by the familiar aphrodisiac of oysters on the half shell and fresh garlic bread. The main attraction is a pan seared surf and turf—tender filet mignon and sweet seared sea scallops. This great combination is side lined with bay shrimp and Gorgonzola laced twice-baked potatoes and a wonderful roasted garlic sautéed spinach.

The happy finish, you ask?? Well, hopefully there will be more than one!! We’ll give you the details on one of them—a rich and dense chocolate decadence. If this spread doesn’t impress your babe, then you might want to consider a V-day dump!! The best part about all of this is most of it can be made ahead of time which makes it super easy to throw it together on the 14th while you are showering your honey with champagne kisses!!

As a side note, this dinner is a little more complicated than most Gayfood menus. Also, it is a menu that is for two people. You can “do the math” if you want to make it for more peeps.

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You really need to make a "romantical" setting for this one!!! Set the table ahead of time. If you want to splurge, buy a dozen red roses for the center. But, quite frankly, keeping it simple is always a good idea, especially because this dinner is not the most frugal of menus. So, if you wish to opt out of the spendy dozen roses, just buy one really nice looking red long stem rose and put it in single stem vase—there’s your centerpiece. Accent the table with a few votive candles. We shouldn’t have to tell you this, but light up every candle in the house and get a fire going in the fireplace, if you have the luxury.

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Oysters on the half shell

If you have never done oysters your self, don’t be intimidated. You will need a few essentials. One being an oyster knife, or shucker. You may think that you can use a knife, but you will end up in the emergency room with a nice Valentines Day hand laceration. You’ll also need a heavy dishtowel. If you have never shucked an oyster, click here for a quick 101. Buy your oysters from a reputable fish market. February is the perfect time of year. Ask your fishmonger what they recommend. Some tasty popular varieties to offer are Stellar Bay, Dabob, Kumamoto and Quilcene. Keep the oysters in the refrigerator until you are ready to shuck them.

1 Dozen fresh oysters
1/2 lemon, cut into wedges
Cocktail sauce
Hot sauce, like Tabasco or similar

Place a medium sized serving plate in the freezer. Shuck the oysters and set aside until all are shucked. Again, if you do not have experience click here. Once they are all shucked, remove the serving plate from the freezer and line with ice cubes. If you have access to crushed ice that works best. Place the oysters on the ice filled serving plate. Top each oyster with approximately ½ tsp. Of cocktail sauce followed by a drop of the hot sauce on each oyster. You can add more cocktail sauce and hot sauce to suit your taste. Finish the oysters with a squeeze of lemon. Garnish the plate with the remaining lemon wedges. Serve with garlic bread (and that tasty champagne!)

Fresh Garlic Bread

4-6 slices of artisan bread (ciabatta or similar bread with a chewy interior)
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced (about 1 Tbsp)
2Tbsp. Softened butter
1 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Pinch of Salt
Parmesan cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 425°F. In a small bowl, combine softened butter, chopped garlic, salt and olive oil. Mix to combine. Evenly spread the butter mixture on the bread slices. Finish with a sprinkle of shredded Parmesan. Place the slices directly on the middle oven rack and bake for 8 – 10 minutes, until lightly golden brown. Turn oven off and let rest for 5 – 10 minutes. The bread can be assembled ahead of time and refrigerated until ready to bake (like, maybe when you’re shucking the oysters!)

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Pan Seared Filet Mingon and Sea Scallops

1 – 10 – 12 ounce filet or two 4 –6 ounce filets at room temperature
4 large fresh sea scallops
3 Tbsp. Olive oil
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Season the filet by brushing both sides with 1 Tbsp. Olive oil, followed by kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Season the scallops with salt and pepper as well, you shouldn’t need to brush with oil as they will be pretty moist and the seasoning should stick. Heat one Tbsp. olive oil in a medium sized sauté pan (preferably non-stick) over medium high heat until oil just reaches smoke point. When smoke rises from the oil, place the filet in the pan. Cook for 2 –4 minutes per side depending on desired doneness. The key to getting the caramelized, deep brown color on the filet is to be patient and ONLY TURN IT ONCE. When done, transfer to a plate, cover with foil and set aside. In the same pan (you may need to wipe it out or give it a quick cleaning) heat the remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium high heat again, just until it smokes. Place the scallops in the pan. Cook for one and a half minutes ONLY on each side turning only once. Remove from pan and place on dinner plates. Remove foil from filet(s). Slice whole filet in half (if you used a 10 –12 oz) and place on dinner plate. Drizzle filets with any drippings that were left in resting plate.

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Bay Shrimp and Gorgonzola Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes

1 medium size russet potatoe
2 oz Bay Shrimp (about 1/4 cup)
2 oz. Gorgonzola Cheese (about 1/3 cup)
1 shallot, diced (about 1/4 cup)
2 Tbsp. Cream or half and half
1 Tbsp. Butter
Salt and pepper to taste

This recipe can be made way ahead of time. You can do it a day or two ahead of time and refrigerate them, or make them way in advance and freeze them (make sure to defrost before baking). For the "first bake" you can bake the potatoes or microwave them. For perfect microwave "baked" potatoes, click here. To bake, preheat oven to 400°F. Wash potato and wrap in aluminum foil. Bake at 425°F for one to 1 and 1/2 hours, until tender (potato will give when pressed with fingers—fingers protected by a pot holder!). Once done, remove potato from oven, remove foil from potato and let cool. Once cool, slice the potato in half-length wise. Using a large spoon, scoop out the potato flesh leaving a thin layer of the potato (1/8”) adhered to the skin. This will keep the potato firm and allow it to hold it’s shape when stuffed. Place the scooped out potato into a medium sized mixing bowl and push through the flesh with a fork just to break it up (don’t mash it). Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Sauté the shallots until translucent, about 5 minutes. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Once the shallots are translucent, add the shrimp and sauté for an additional minute. Transfer mixture to the bowl containing the potato. Add the remaining ingredients and fold until well mixed. Fill the two potato skins with the mixture, piling it up in the center. This is the point where you can freeze or refrigerate them for later use. Before baking, sprinkle with shredded Parmesan cheese. Place stuffed potatoes on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated 400 degree oven and bake for 15 - 20 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes before serving (they will be HOT!).

Roasted Garlic Sautéed Spinach

1 bunch spinach, washed with lower stems removed
1 Tbsp. Butter
1 tsp. Balsamic vinegar
1 bulb garlic
1 tsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

You can make the roasted garlic a few days ahead of time and store in the refrigerator until ready for use. Preheat oven to 400°F. Rub garlic bulb through your hands to break off the loose and dried skin. Cut the top 1/4 of the bulb off—just enough to expose the cloves. Place the bulb in the center of a 10 x 10 piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle with olive oil. Cinch up foil to cover garlic (so it looks like a Hershey’s kiss). Place in preheated oven and roast for 30 minutes. Remove and let cool. Heat butter in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Once melted and bubbling, add roasted garlic by squeezing out cloves from the bottom of the bulb up. Sauté for minute or so. Add spinach and sauté for 2 – 3 minutes, just until it is wilted and hot, it won’t take long. Drain off excess liquid. Add the balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.

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Chocolate Decadence

16 oz. Chocolate
½ cup butter (4 Tbsp)
1 1/2 Tbsp. Flour
1 1/2 tsp. Sugar
1 tsp. Hot water
4 eggs, separated

You can use whatever chocolate you like—semi-sweet chips or your favorite dark chocolate, whatever is your favorite. Grease 8” cake pan. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper (place pan on paper and trace around bottom of pan, cut out with scissors and place in the bottom of the pan). Preheat oven to 425°F.

Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler (cut butter up in to smaller pieces to assist in even melting). Bring mixture to melting point; it will be lukewarm when all the chocolate and butter has melted. Add flour, sugar and hot water, mix well. Beat egg yolks together until combined and add to chocolate mixture, stir well to combine. In a separate bowl, beat egg white until soft peaks just start to form, it will still be somewhat liquid but also fluffy. Fold egg whites into chocolate mixture using a spatula until mixture is homogenous. Pour batter into cake pan. Bake 15 minutes ONLY at 425°F. You can bake this in a water bath, if so add 5 minutes to baking time. To bake in a water bath, place cake pan in a 9 x 13 baking pan and add enough boiling water to fill baking pan to the point where it just barely meets the top of the cake pan. When done baking, remove cake from oven and place on cooling rack. Cool completely, cover with foil and place cake in the freezer. This can stay in the freezer for up to two weeks before serving. On the day you plan to serve, remove cake from freezer and immerse pan in enough warm water (just enough to cover the bottom ¾ of the pan) for about 1 minute. Invert the cake onto a serving platter, remove parchment paper. Let stand at room temperature to thaw, for about an hour, then refrigerate. Before serving, cut cake using a knife that has been run under hot water. Wash knife with hot water between each cut (dry the residual water off of knife with a kitchen towel before cutting cake). Serve with fresh whipped cream and garnish with fresh raspberries if desired.

Whipped cream for two

1/3 C. whipping cream
Dash of real vanilla (about 1/4 tsp)
1 tsp. Sugar

Combine ingredients in a small bowl. Whip until soft peaks form. Serve.

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2 –3 days ahead of V-day

Twice baked potatoes refrigerate. These can be made a week or two in advance and then frozen. Make sure to thaw completely before baking.

Chocolate Decadence. This too can be made a couple weeks ahead of time and frozen.

Make the roasted garlic and refrigerate

Garlic Butter for the Fresh Made Garlic Bread

V-Day night

Whipped cream for two, refrigerate. You might need to give it a quick whisk to freshen it up before serving.

Bake Garlic Bread while shucking and getting the oysters ready

When the bread is done, put the twice baked potatoes in

20 minutes before serving

Sear filet, cover in foil on resting plate. Sauté spinach and sear the scallops. You’re good to go.

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