For so many years, it seems a given that you are supposed to take your significant other out to dinner at a restaurant for Valentine's Day. However, I'd much rather spend my hard earned money on a nice gift and create a meal at home. Knowing that restaurants get a bunch of average food in bulk, and knowing that the average restaurant is going to be blowing out huge amounts of food on that evening, it makes sense not to go out on what many of us in the industry refer to as amateur night. You will not get the restaurant's chef and staff to produce their best meal. It is too busy, and things are too crazy in the kitchen for them to send each meal out prepared perfectly. Think about the pains of going out on Valentine's Day (or Mother's Day, Father's Day, Easter, etc.). You normally have a wait, even if you made reservations. Priced fixed menus are a common occurrence because a restaurant can charge a good margin, and it simplifies things in the kitchen somewhat. Most of the wine and white sparkly that is on the special menu is the cheap stuff that the venders sold to the restaurant at a discount to move it out of stock. Almost always, the evening rarely turns out to be the best you've had. Most restaurants know that the true foodies will rarely go out on these night, but all the non-foodies (amateurs) will. Hence amateur night.
So what do you do, you ask? Quite simple. Cook a fantastic meal at home, and spend the money on the flowers, chocolates, and jewelry. Plus, it is safer if you drink when you are already home. But Chef, all I know how to do is grill a steak. How am I supposed to do something fancy? Well, I'm here to tell you that if you can read, you can very likely prepare a pretty decent meal, at least one that is as good, if not better, than the one you might spend a large sum of money on in the restaurant.
So let's talk menu.
You need a main course, so here are some ideas, in order of cost, most expensive to least.
Lobster, Ribeye Steak, Filet Mignon, Salmon, Shrimp, Pork Tenderloin.
Personally, I'll take a steak or a pork tenderloin over lobster any day of the week. Lobster is easy, yet difficult to get just right. More often than not it's overcooked in a restaurant. Plus let's think about something. We are not on the coast, nor near it. Lobster is not a Texas Gulf specialty. I'd forgo the lobster until you can get to Maine. It has to travel too far and won't be anywhere near optimum.
Steak and filet mignon are good calls. So is salmon, shrimp or pork tenderloin. Since most folks know how to grill a steak or sear a filet, I'm going to focus on the salmon, shrimp and pork.
Salmon filet's are best, as there shouldn't be any bones. Operative word is shouldn't. Always check for the pin bones, as sometimes they are easily missed. I personally like nothing more than salt and white pepper with respect to seasoning. My method of cooking salmon is to rinse it, pat it dry, and cover in an olive oil blend. Salt and pepper the non-skin side (top) and let rest for a minute or two while your oven-proof saute' pan heats up. Have your oven already on at 425 degrees. I personally use a de Buyer style steel saute pan. That type of pan will get the best sear. Get the pan to where it is just smoking, add a bit of oil (again, I use the olive oil blend for the higher burning temperature), and carefully lay the filet down top first. If the pan is hot enough, and the oil is added cold, the filet should not stick at all. Cook for a couple of minutes for the top to get a good caramelization on it, then carefully flip the filet to skin side down using a fish spatula or a regular spatula. Put the fish, pan and all, into the oven to cook for approximately 7 to 10 minutes. This is very dependent upon your desired cooking temp. I like my salmon medium rare. About 7 minutes gets me there. At this point, however, the fish starts to finish quickly so pay attention.
I serve the salmon over a bed of garlic mashed potatoes topped with a lemon buerre blanc sauce. Both are very simple to do. I'll post some recipes on my Etsy site for a very small fee. The side dish would be a green vegetable, with steamed asparagus always coming in first for me. Careful not to get to crazy trying to create a complex side dish. You don't want to take away from the star of the plate, which is the salmon with the buerre blanc.
Shrimp may be the simplest food to cook, though so many people over-cook it. I have a very simple recipe in an earlier blog that is definitely high on the wow factor. It is a variation of the old southern favorite of shrimp and grits. The flavor combinations are fantastic. As a side, asparagus, broccoli, or a saute' of baby squash and zucchini would go very well.
Pork tenderloin may be one of the best flavors paired with almost any starch, but goes exceedingly well with mashed sweet potatoes. Much like the salmon, I clean the pork loins by trimming off the fat and silver skin and cutting them into 3" or 4" roasts, rub them in oil, season with salt, pepper, and a myriad of other things (I like using comino and chipotle powder), then searing them in the steel saute' pan on each side and putting them in an 425 degree oven until medium rare. Some folks really like their pork done, but pork is so safe these days (there hasn't been a case of trichinosis in over 35 years), that there is no need to overcook it. Placing on a bed of mashed sweet potatoes (with butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg) and a side of sauteed spinach and kale has a huge wow factor. If you can add a mushroom pan sauce over the top, you will likely get some really good kudos from the significant other.
Desserts tend to be what ends the meal with flare. I tend to do chocolate as it goes with Valentine's Day so well. I make a Diablo Chocolate cake with a raspberry sauce. It's actually easier than it looks, but provides a huge wow. It is also gluten free, though not sugar free. If you use dark chocolate and organic sugar you can at least feel good about it. I'll also post this recipe on my Etsy site for those who want an easy yet great dessert.
So there you have it. Great and easy menu ideas with some great wow factors. If you have any questions on how to prepare these meals, feel free to email me or comment on the post.
Happy Valentine's Day to you all!
