On Saturday I put together a big Valentine's dinner. It actually came together disaster-free, which was amazing because I had a lot of things going on in the kitchen at once. I mean, I usually screw up at least one thing royally, but not this time. I was so proud of myself! ;-)
First, I made Ina Garten's Roasted Pears with Blue Cheese Salad.
This salad is amazing! We could not believe the flavors! You hollow out a bunch of pear halves and stuff them with a mixture of blue cheese, walnuts and dried cranberries. Then you pour a mixture of Port, apple cider (NL: unfiltered apple juice), and brown sugar over them and roast them in the oven. Afterwards, you put the roasted stuffed pears on a bed of arugula and use the remaining basting liquid, some lemon juice and olive oil to make a tangy and sweet dressing. I garnished the salad with some shaved Parmesan cheese. We thought it was out of this world delicious!
Note: Be sure to buy pears that aren't very ripe yet. They shouldn't be totally unripe, I suppose, but definitely not ripe enough to eat yet. Mine were decidedly too ripe and after roasting were a bit softer than I would have liked. Oh well, it was still delicious!
I also made Ina's Tomato and Goat Cheese Tarts.
Just the smell of the caramelized thyme-scented onions was enough to make me drool. Throw in freshly shaved Parmesan, creamy goat's cheese, thick slices of tomato and fresh Basil and you've got some seriously delicious tarts. These were a cinch to make and taste really yummy! The best part is you need a few tablespoons of some dry white wine for this recipe, which leaves the rest of the bottle to enjoy during the meal.
Notes: Be sure to get your onions nice and caramelized in the pan because that adds loads of flavor and they don't really continue to cook in the oven. Keep an eye on these tarts so you don't burn the edges. They cook faster than you think!
I used puff pastry already cut out into squares (about 5"x5") and this recipe made 4 tarts. I'm not the hugest fan of puff pastry though, so next time I think I'll make mini pizza's instead. A yeast dough would taste divine with these toppings!
On the side, I made these Strawberry-Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts that my friend, Haley, once made.
They're not very photogenic, but they taste delicious. I was in a rush and forgot to cut them in half, which probably would have made them even better by letting them brown up a bit more, but they were still great nonetheless. I just mixed strawberry jam with balsamic vinegar, instead of bothering with the whole juicing of strawberries and of course, I left out the bacon.
Finally, as dessert, David Lebovitz's German Chocolate Cake.
Contrary to popular believe, this cake is not actually German. It was named after American, Samuel German, who in the late 1800's invented the baking chocolate used in the 50's by a Dallas homemaker to create this now infamous cake. If you've never had this cake, you are seriously missing out! The frosting alone is good enough to eat straight out of the bowl, but put together with the most delicious and moist chocolate cake in the world and boy are you in for a treat! This is totally going to be my birthday cake this year!
Notes: You can't find Baker's brand German's Chocolate in Holland, but luckily this recipe uses semi or bitter-sweet and unsweetened chocolate. I just went ahead and used all semi-sweet and it was outstanding! (NL: I used AH Puur).
While I think the chocolate ganache is very pretty to decorate the edges with, I didn't really think it tasted that great with the cake. I may just omit it next time.
The recipe for the rum simple syrup to baste the cake with made way too much for me. I probably used about 1/3 of it, at most. I didn't want my cake to taste overly rummy, but did want to add extra moisture. This syrup works wonderfully! ***UPDATE: I've been storing my cake in the fridge for a few days now and it's starting to dry out just slightly. I never did taste a drop of rum anyway, so I'm starting to think that using more of the syrup may have actually worked out alright.***
Well, I hope you all have a wonderful week and Happy Valentine's Day!
What a very lucky man he is with all of that delicious food! You look gorgeous together Lizzy! :D
ReplyDeleteThank you Lorraine! I'm lucky too b/c the next day he took me to an Art Deco movie theatre where we sat in a "love seat" and got Prosecco and snacks while we watched Black Swan. He's such a romantic!
ReplyDeleteWowwwww everything looks amazing. I'd like to try the pear salad... which sort of pears (from those available here in NL) do you use for this?
ReplyDeleteI also like the look of those tartlets... and what can I say about the cake!! Yummie, come to la mamma!! :D
Thanks Aledys Ver! I just used Conference handperen, but you could also probably use Doyenne de Comice handperen as well. I've never tried them, but sometimes I see stoofperen called Gieser Wildeman. This type of pear apparently doesn't taste good until cooked. I'd be curious how the texture would differ between a stoofpeer and a handpeer when cooked. :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat a gorgeous meal! I am making this salad tonight to have with a crabmeat quiche ... would love to make the German Chocolate cake too, but we're still working on the little box of Valentine chocolates! ;-)
ReplyDeleteSo glad you had a wonderful Valentine's Day with your sweetheart!
Hi Lizzie, thanks for visiting my blog today.
ReplyDeleteThought I'd stop by and say Hi.
I love Brussels sprouts - so that looks like a good new recipe for me to try... and i just got a juicer for V'day - that's what I"m excited about using. so i can make fresh strawberry juice :) yummy.
P.S. expats rule :)
Thanks Susan! Let me know if you liked the salad :-) I had a salad in France once that had blue cheese, walnuts and pears and I haven't been able to get it out of my mind ever since.
ReplyDeleteThanks for saying hi CuteKittyPunk! I just got a new food processor that came with a juicer, but I have no idea what to make with it. Maybe you'll have some good recipes for me soon :-)