2011 Valentine's Day Dinner

This year I cooked Valentine’s Day dinner at home due to Philip’s crazy work schedule. I love cooking at home and he doesn’t seem to mind either.

I have two basic rules when cooking. One, don’t try to reinvent the wheel. I try to simplify recipes to fit our busy life. I don’t want to work myself to death to achieve the same result I could have achieved an easier way. My second rule is to never try to cook a food I am completely unfamiliar with in my kitchen before trying it at a restaurant. Philip nor I have ever eaten lamb… yet. As tempting as it is to purchase a rack of lamb and attempt it at home, I will not do that. For lamb to be our main course and neither of us know if we like lamb does not make sense for me to prepare lamb at home. When preparing a holiday, themed, or ethnic menu I don’t want to run the risk of ruining the entire meal by preparing a completely unfamiliar main dish. If I can’t resist the temptation to prepare a completely unfamiliar main dish I will scale it down to appetizer portions and serve as the appetizer.

Once a friend told me that the dishes I cooked sounded too complicated for him to eat. He came to the house a few times and had dinner with us and found that only the name of the recipe was complicated. Don’t let a name of a recipe discourage you from trying it.

Valentine’s Day dinner was very simple. This was our menu:

Appetizer: Parmesan Laceys
Bread: French Bread
Main: Black Peppercorn Pork Tenderloin with Peach Preserve Sauce
Sides: Cooked Carrots and Ricotta Mashed Potatoes
Dessert: Black Mousse Tie Cake
Drink: Sparkling White Grape Juice

I hope you enjoy these recipes!

Appetizer: Parmesan Lacys

6 ounces Parmesan cheese, coarsely grated (1 1/2 cups) I purchased a pre-shredded bag from the grocery store.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line large cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Drop level tablespoons Parmesan 2 inches apart onto cookie sheet; spread to form 2-inch rounds. Bake Parmesan rounds until edges just begin to color, 6 to 7 minutes. Transfer crisps, still on aluminum foil, to wire rack; cool 2 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Repeat with remaining Parmesan.
　
　
　
Drink: Sparkling White Grape Juice

We do not drink alcohol so I find alternatives to drink that is more festive that soda, water, tea or coffee. For this menu I purchased a bottle of sparkling white grape juice at the grocery store.

Main: Black Peppercorn Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Peach Preserves Sauce

This is where I saved a lot of time and money. I had the recipe to make this from scratch but when I went to the grocery store I found pork tenderloin in a package already flavored with black peppercorn for much less than I was going to spend on a pork tenderloin and prepare it myself not to mention the time spend preparing it. Follow the directions on the pork tenderloin package.

The peach preserves sauce is very simple. In a small pan add ½ cup of peach preserves and 1 cup of water. Heat to a boil and stir to dissolve the preserves leaving only peach chunks in the syrup.

Slice the pork tenderloin and place on plates. Spoon peach preserves sauce over meat.
　
Sides-2: Ricotta Mashed Potatoes

Once again I was pressed for time. Rather than going to the trouble of making homemade mashed potatoes I purchased a package of microwave mashed potatoes. I prepared according to the directions and then added 1 cup of ricotta cheese to the mashed potatoes and blended well. Salt and pepper to taste.

Side 2- Cooked Carrots

Cooked carrots are a family favorite. I purchase a small bag of baby carrots. Place the carrots in a kettle and cover with water. Add 2 chicken bullion cubes to the water and boil until tender. *You may use canned chicken broth instead of water and bullion.

Bread: French Bread

While at the grocery store I went ahead and purchased a loaf of French bread. What took me 3 minutes to purchase would have taken me 3 hours to bake.

Dessert: Black Mousse Tie Cake

This dessert is wonderful! In a previous blog I posted the recipe for this cake. This is the time consuming recipe but well worth it. Expect 1 solid day to prepare this cake or 2 days of working on it intermittently.

I hope you enjoy this menu as much as we did. What did you serve for Valentine’s Day?