The Perfect Valentines Day Meal
What to cook on Valentines Day…..
Three days late but it will do for next year! So what should you cook for that special someone in your life on Valentines Day? Want to know what I cooked? Who that special someone is?
Well that special someone is me and my dish of choice was, wait for it…..lobster bearnaise. Oh yes, a whole lobster nicely grilled served with fresh lemon and a generous spoonful of bearnaise sauce.
So you’re on your own on Valentines Day, so what. Get over it and cook a lobster. I did………
Grilled Lobster with Sauce Bearnaise
If lobster seems a touch indulgent or you’re not confident enough to cook one then buy a steak, anything that goes with sauce bearnaise really. Why the sauce? because it’s rich, smooth as silk and bad for you. Sauce bearnaise is a derivative of sauce hollandaise and, rather sadly seldom seen in restaurants now. I used to have to make hollandaise twice a day when I worked in Germany, it was a pain in the arse, any chef will tell you that. You lose half your bodyweight through sweat followed by your sanity if it splits on you twenty minutes into service. When it splits simply look for the nearest commis chef, blame him (never blame a girl, it’s dishonourable) then get him to whisk it whilst you trickle warm water back in to it to emulsify it once again.
Hollandaise is the base sauce; egg yolks, clarified butter, a reduction of chopped shallots and white wine vinegar. Some add a pinch of cayenne and/or lemon juice, some use crushed coriander seeds etc. It’s up to you.
Here’s a basic hollandaise sauce recipe:
3 Egg yolks
200ml Clarified butter (warm)
2tsp Reduced white wine vinegar
5-6 crushed coriander seeds
squeeze of fresh lemon juice. pinch of cayenne pepper
Put the eggs, coriander seeds and a tablespoon of warm water into a heatproof bowl. Make sure the bowl fits comfortably over a saucepan. Pour some water into the saucepan and heat gently. Place the bowl over the pan and whisk the eggs until they are creamy, remove from the heat and continue to whisk until the mix has cooled. Slowly add the warm butter and keep whisking. Don’t be impatient, keep drizzling the butter into the egg mixture until it has all been added and the sauce has thickened. Add the rest of the ingredients and season to taste. To make bearnaise sauce from hollandaise simply add freshly chopped tarragon.
Miles,
Next year you’ll probably have more valentines than you know what to do with…. then you’ll have to share, it’s not all fun
I think that lobster looks delectable but wouldn’t you have to know someone quite well before tackling one? That answers that then….. tell the girlfriend you’re terribly sorry but you’re inviting all your ‘old’ blogging chums over for a lobster eating frenzy, thus saving her from any embarrassment… napkin under the chin and a couple of pairs of dental instruments she has no idea what to do with
Wonder what Rod treated himself to? Bet he secretly bought himself a bunch of daffs and an Andy Williams CD
Cid
February 16, 2010 @ 8:52 pm
Cid,
No worries there, I scoop the flesh out and cut into bite size pieces first before serving. You can’t be too careful, especially when you’re sat there in a tuxedo
Miles
February 16, 2010 @ 8:58 pm
The last thing you’d want to be doing is sharing that with anybody
February 17, 2010 @ 9:33 am
Rod,
I was waiting for your comment
Miles
February 17, 2010 @ 9:59 am
Miles,
sat there in a tuxedo … it’s official, you are the most stylish man in the Shire! Hope that lobster shell made it into the stock pan, yet another treat.
I’ve been dishing out olives at work today…. a new variety with lemon infused olive oil, coriander and garlic, very good they were too. The olive trade is more popular than I’d imagined, some customers are pre-school, good habits starting young.
Cid
February 17, 2010 @ 6:39 pm
Cid,
Lobster soup! Couldn’t resist
Olives sound nice, love them with lemon and coriander. One of life’s nicer things.
Miles
February 17, 2010 @ 8:54 pm