February 4, 2011: Valentine’s Day Menu for Romance

For my husband and I, Valentine’s Day is a special day, but not one on which we want to spend a whole lot of money that we don’t really have. I don’t expect jewelry and he doesn’t expect much of anything (what’s a romantic gift for a guy, anyway?). So instead of going out and buying some stupid little gift, I show my husband how much I love him by preparing a special dinner.

Not only do we eat special food, I make it romantic by setting the coffee table in the living room with good china, candles, cloth napkins, and finger foods. We sit on pillows and listen to CDs of music we find romantic (I absolutely adore Ottmar Leibert’s acoustical Spanish guitar tunes) while eating three courses of food I’ve lovingly prepared.

Here is one menu that lends itself perfectly to an intimate Valentine’s Day dinner. Enjoy!

Menu:

• Lobster Salad with Bloody Mary Granité
• Sesame Breadsticks (Homemade is preferable but store bought is fine)
• Salad of Baby Greens, Apple Slices, Toasted Pecans and Gorgonzola with Creamy Balsamic Dressing
• Bacon-Wrapped Filet Mignon
• Lobster Tails with Clarified Butter
• Cappellini Pasta with Olive Oil, Fresh Parsley, Garlic, and Shaved Parmesan
• Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Most of these recipes should be self-explanatory so I’m just going to include the recipe for the granité.

Lobster Salad with Bloody Mary Granité (courtesy of foodnetwork.com, 2003)

Granité:
2 cups tomato-vegetable juice (such as V-8)
1 T. lemon juice
6 T. lemon-flavored vodka
1 t. horseradish (freshly grated or prepared)
1 t. Worcestershire sauce
1 t. freshly ground black pepper
3 shakes hot sauce
Salt

Combine all ingredients and season with salt to taste. Pour into a shallow container and place in the freezer. Run a fork through the granité every 30 to 45 minutes while it is freezing to obtain a nice, granular texture.

Lobster Salad:
½ lb. cooked, chopped lobster meat
4 T. olive oil
2 t. finely grated lemon zest
3 T. chopped chives
Salt and freshly ground white pepper

Fold all of the ingredients together and season with salt and pepper to taste.

To assemble hors d’oeuvres, use fancy shot glasses. Fill them ¾ of the way with the lobster salad and top with the granité.

Tip: You can also rim the glasses with coarse margarita salt before filling and garnish with a twist of lemon for an extra fancy touch.

Makes 12 appetizers.