Celebrations: Valentine’s Day Options

 

Setting The Scene for Valentine’s Day 

Now that the somewhat clichéd restaurant dinner out for Valentine’s Day is somewhat of a quaint memory, it makes good sense to revisit the idea of a special dinner for two at home. Something special, yes, (this would have to be meat and not fish for the resident male Valentine here) but not too hard to fulfill. We need a little stab at vegetables along with the carbs – potatoes are the preferred white accessory. And you already know that I feel a little celebratory bubbly cocktail is compulsory. (Look here for horses doover suggestions from the KD recipe file) I still like a little chocolate something to make up for the red meat takeover of the Valentine main event. We both like flowers but not the long-stemmed red rose found absolutely everywhere, including highway median strips and gas station mini-marts. Our choice is always something small from our favorite florist, K Aubrey Flowers and Vintage. Chances are, there is a florist near you who could add a little romantic and lovely smelling bouquet to set the scene. And if any Valentine participants need a review on the proper approach to gift-giving, look no further than this commercial from over a decade ago. 

Beforesies

For Valentine’s Day, pick a horses doover of your choice from our highly curated and well-nibbled collection to sample along with this lovely Parisian cocktail. We had had it years ago in a little family-run restaurant in Paris which we returned to on every trip in the Before Times. The wife of the chef ran the front of the house and the bar. I would never have found such a charming and well-priced restaurant if it had not been for our well-used guide book from Sarah Gustafson, Great Eats-Paris. My copies of her guides for dining and sleeping in Italy (she focuses on Rome, Florence and Venice) and Paris are falling apart, but many  of her recommendations are still alive and well.  The cocktail could not be simpler: 1 teaspoon each of Peach liqueur, such as Mathilde, and cognac and then fill (about 6 oz) your glasses with prosecco or champagne and top with a raspberry. I’ll have another!

 

Meat And Potatoes for Valentine’s Day 

I have done racks of lamb in many overly laborious ways, but this simplified approach from Shelley Wiseman has been our thumbs-up winner for years in this Valentine’s Day household. I gravitate to her recipes as her techniques and sense of how the dish should be are terrific. Wiseman was a recipe developer for over a decade at Gourmet Magazine and now is a partner and teaches cooking at  The Farm Cooking School. She suggests this amount of herb mixture for two racks of lamb, each with 8 chops, but I like the herb mixture so much I slather it all over just one 8-rib rack. We always have a half a rack left over, and it reheats beautifully without losing its degree of rareness in a 350F (175C) oven, uncovered, in 15 minutes. Many of Shelley Wiseman’s on-target recipes can be found on the Epicurious website.

I love doing this gratin in the winter. It’s a real two-for-one winner. Especially when one person at the table sincerely wants to like green vegetables but finds it much easier if they are camouflaged by potatoes. You can halve this recipe easily, but you might as well make the full amount as it too warms up nicely the next day at 350F, uncovered, in about the same time frame as the lamb. Once again, this recipe was originally chosen by Gourmet editors to be included in one of their Menu cookbooks. And, as you probably expect from me, this comes from yet another Best Of Gourmet Cookbook, this one published in 1994, reflecting and the editors’ choices from the twelve issues of Gourmet in 1993. The original recipe calls for unmolding at the end so that the potatoes can brown under a broiler. I didn’t like the crsipy, almost leathery effect, so I have omitted that final step.

 

I found this recipe for Valentine’s Day in the only cooking magazine my husband has saved. I assumed that it had been tucked away in his reading basket because it features only male chefs. He says that is not the case at all, and that I am too quick to judge, but rather that it has a short ribs recipe he wants me to make. This dessert is by Jaimie Oliver, and so easy that I am planning on teaching it to my grandsons. You can use any type of good quality chocolate, milk chocolate works fine for the chocolate faint-hearted. You can replace the cognac with cold espresso, strained orange juice or even a complementary tea such as Earl Gray. He serves it in espresso cups, but you can use ramekins or little bowls. 

No Fuss Valentine Celebration

Too crazed with working online and home schooling kids who don’t want you to be their teacher? If you are in the DC and Baltimore areas (Hooray – they just started delivering in Baltimore neighborhoods! ) you are in luck. Open Hand is delivering a beautiful menu with some options. Valentine’s Day Dinner for two including a pretty-in-pink salmon option for those of us who have grown weary of a steady red meat diet. It is delivered to your door on  Saturday, February 13. Open Hand is so appreciative of the KD subscribers who became clients that the team is offering you a 10% discount on this lush dinner. Use the code KDV21 when you check out. Contact them if you have questions about the options.