Valentine's Dinner for Two

How do you celebrate the most romantic holiday of the year? I feel like there is so much hype for this holiday and talk of how much it is a "ladies" holiday. I kinda disagree...I feel like it is a day to actually take the time to tell and show the one you love just how much you care for them. No need for gifts or heart shaped desserts or chocolate. (Even though I do agree that is just fun sometimes.) To celebrate Valentine's Day in the past, Brian and I have gone to very nice dinners, had a casual night of just pizza and cooked at home, but my favorite so far is this year. We just stayed at home and had a blast cooking together. We made filet mignon with bearnaise sauce, mac and cheese, chopped wedge salads and drank a great Cade wine that we bought in Napa. We finished the meal with a yellow cake with buttercream icing. Why eat out...

Dessert first. I have been looking for a simple cake recipe that I can adapt with different flavors and that stays super moist. Although I feel that I am still looking for that, this is still a great cake, just be sure to make every effort to keep it moist as it has the tendency to dry out quickly if left on the counter. I got the recipe from one of my favorite blogs, bakerella, she knows her stuff! So if you are interested in my beautiful cake below, please go here for the recipe...Moist Yellow Cake with Buttercream Frosting.

Ok, back to the first course. The chopped wedge is something that is so super simple and so super delicious. Please serve it the next time you have company or just the next time you make dinner for your family.

Chopped Wedge (recipe by me)

1 head iceberg lettuce, washed and chopped fine

4 slices thick cut bacon, cooked and crumbled

Handful grape tomatoes, cut in half

Blue Cheese crumbles (I prefer Stella)

Ranch Dressing (I prefer fresh from bulk section of Central Market)

Start by making sure your lettuce is washed and chopped earlier in the day to give it time to stay nice and cold in the refrigerator. (I like to put my salad plates in the fridge too in order to keep them cold.) To assemble, I just put a handful of lettuce on a small salad plate and top with a few tomatoes. I then like to drizzle the ranch dressing over the salad, then add the bacon and blue cheese crumbles.

Filet Mignon (recipe by me)

Start by buying the best filets you can. We bought ours from Central Market this weekend, and bonus, they were on sale for $16.00 per lb.

Let the filets come to room temperature. Rub the filets with vegetable oil until just coated and season heavily with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

I like to use a cast iron skillet for searing, but use your favorite pan for this. (Preferably one that can go from the stove top to the oven.) Get your pan smoking hot on the stove top before adding any oil or the filets. Once hot, add a little bit of vegetable oil (any light oil that can reach a high smoking point) and wait for it to come to temperature. When the pan is super hot, add your filets and sear on each side for a few minutes each. You know it is time to turn them when they no longer stick.

Once you have seared the filets on all sides, transfer the pan to the oven to finish cooking. Remove filets at your desired doneness. I like to take mine out between 130 degrees and 135 degrees for medium rare. (The meat will continue to cook about 10 degrees once removed from the oven.)

MMM...The perfect meal...

Roses are Red...Violets are Blue...

Well, my roses are actually Fire Tipped, my favorite. What is Valentine's Day without fresh, beautiful flowers? Brian and I went grocery shopping at Central Market to get all of our ingredients for our wonderful dinner and I talked him in to letting me pick out my flowers and arrange them myself. The floral department was overflowing with gorgeous beauties, and I was just dying to get some. I love arranging flowers myself, and I really don't understand why you would pay so much money to have it done! It's so easy. Take a look at my beautiful blooms, each one hand cut and perfectly arranged...thanks babe!

Seafood Pasta

Tonight we were craving seafood...

I got back in town last night from being in Phoenix for 8 days and eating nothing but hotel food. Some hotels are definitely better than others, however, anything for 8 days straight gets old. I was making my grocery list this morning and couldn't think of anything that even sounded good. Brian suggested a seafood pasta and that sent my mind racing. We decided on clams, shrimp and scallops with a white wine reduction with butter and lemon juice over fresh linguine. It was divine...you can see I bit into the bread just to make sure it was truly delicious!

Seafood Pasta (recipe created by me)

Ingredients

2 tbls olive oil

1 large shallot, minced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup dry white wine

2 tbls lemon juice

3 tbls unsalted butter

1 pkg cherry tomatoes, halved

1 tbls capers

1 tbls kalamata olives, chopped

Salt and Pepper to taste

1/2 lb shrimp (peel and devein yourself, save shells for a shrimp stock!)

1/2 lb littleneck clams, scrubbed and cleaned

Handful of scallops (we used bay scallops)

1 lb fresh linguine (you can use dry if that's what you have on hand)

1 tbls basil, chiffonade

1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded

Directions

Start by heating the olive oil and sauteing the garlic and shallot. Once fragrant, add the white wine and lemon juice and reduce slightly. Stir in butter. Add tomatoes, capers, and olives and cook until tomatoes are tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Note: You will not need to add much salt as the olives and capers are salty.)

In the meantime, cook pasta until al dente. Drain.

Add clams to white wine mixture and cook a few minutes, then add shrimp and scallops. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes more until shrimp are pink and clams have opened. Once seafood is done, toss pasta into the mixture to coat all noodles with the sauce. Serve immediately sprinkled with basil and parmesan cheese. I like to serve a salad and garlic bread on the side.