V-Day Cooking

So, what'd'ja do?

I was all-in this time. Overall planning had two features thrust upon it: #1 Pumpkin is a Yankee so, no matter what else I find, seafood goes down best, and #2 Pumpkin was going to visit his home town so wouldn't be home till after 7:30p and might be ravening by then. So, I put the Bryan Flannery steaks away and I made sure to have one fast-to-table appetizer.

The day before I poached some little pears in moscato d'asti with warm spices (cinnamon, clove, lemon zest, black pepper), and made a lemon-dijon beurre blanc using an inexpensive French chardonnay raised in steel. And the final menu:

Cocktails and Chips - Pumpkin's handmade cocktails, a bowl of pesto-scented potato chips, and, when those are done, a shrimp cocktail.
Seared Foie Gras, Brioche, and Poached Pear - served with the rest of the moscato
Heart-Shaped and Red-Striped Lobster Ravioli with Lemon Beurre Blanc - poached the tail and served in half, chopped the claws and elbows for the sauce, and a side of broccolini steamed in tarragon
Cantuccini, Chocolate, and Combier - almond and pistachio biscotti, sundry filled chocolates, and a selection of fruit liqueurs (featuring the Combier Pamplemousse which Pumpkin is eager to try)

A bottle of Brun's NV "FRV100" with all.

The interesting cooking here was the beurre blanc. This took the juice of an entire lemon and a half teaspoon of Dijon. It was pretty firm when it set, almost like a bread spread, and it was mighty tangy. I took the recipe from a dill sauce for salmon but maybe the dill and the robust fish are needed to counteract the zing of the base sauce?

The other thing that surprised me was how tough the lobster tail became after the poaching. I kept the heat gentle but I would have done better to just put it in the beurre blanc and let it warm up slowly.

[Jenise]

Great menu!

We don't celebrate Hallmark holidays so no V-day here. Besides, I'd been sick all week. What we celebrated Friday night was the return of my sense of smell, so we had wine again after a dry week! Hurray!

Strange about the lobster tail toughness. I would not have expected that.

Amazing. Someone else who doesn't do Valentine's Day.

Every year for us, we have Thanksgiving, Xmas, New Year's Eve, my birthday, Edie's birthday, and then our anniversary (53rd) three days after Valentine's Day. That's why we skip Valentine's Day; we're worn out with various celebrations and holidays.

Great menu!

Thank you. WIth so many plates, I could keep portions small so nothing overflowed a single pan.

Strange about the lobster tail toughness. I would not have expected that.

Yeah, I was very unhappy about that.

[Jenise]

Amazing. Someone else who doesn't do Valentine's Day.

Every year for us, we have Thanksgiving, Xmas, New Year's Eve, my birthday, Edie's birthday, and then our anniversary (53rd) three days after Valentine's Day. That's why we skip Valentine's Day; we're worn out with various celebrations and holidays.

53 years now, wow!!!!!

No Hallmark holidays here either. To us Valentines day is just a day when you don't want to try and get a reservation to eat out.

I will admit that there is an odd demand for flowers in my house (which I am always careful to comply with - don't want to rile the Sue-chef)