A Labor of Love

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love to cook, and this is only preceded by how much I love to cook for other people.  To me, nothing says love like a homemade meal made from the heart.  This past Monday being Valentine's Day, it seemed only fitting then that I make a home cooked meal for myself and my friend Sheridan, a fellow work widow who's man has a job that keeps him out of town quite a bit (not at all unlike my own situation).


Valentine's Day Dinner - 2011

We started out with Absolut Luv martinis (a Valentine's Day creation from 2009 with my girlfriend Liz).  A perfect marriage of chocolate, mango and a hint of spiciness on the back end...

Absolut Luv
1 part Absolut New Orleans (mango, black pepper vodka)
2 parts Godiva chocolate liqueur
Cocoa chili powder to garnish

Appetizers were homemade crostini, triple crème brie and rosemary Marcona almonds (all from Trader Joe's).  I made the crostini by slicing the baguette on the bias and spraying them with some olive oil before popping them under the broiler to toast.  So easy!

For the main course, I settled on steamed lemon garlic artichokes with homemade hollandaise sauce (Julia Child's recipe!), harvest grains and balsamic glazed brussel sprout sauté.  Aside from the hollandaise this was a pretty simple, throw it all together meal and everything was from Trader Joe's.  I was so excited to make the hollandaise sauce; it's something I've always wanted to try homemade, particularly on artichokes (something about beating egg yolks and butter into submission and then dipping veggies in it sounds so wrong it has to be right...)

To start I dressed the artichokes and drizzled them with some olive oil before rubbing the tops with garlic, grating lemon zest over them and finishing with salt and pepper.

I then put them over boiling water to steam for about 30 minutes.  While that was going I started water boiling for the harvest grains and got my ingredients together for the hollandaise (which is a bit of a process to make, but well worth the time...) 

Note:  Due to copyright I can't replicate the recipe here, but if you don't have "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" in your kitchen library, I highly recommend investing in it.  And when you do, make the hollandaise sauce.

I followed the recipe exactly for the hollandaise, and it was truly magical.  Creamy, rich, savory, and it had a fabulous lemon flavor from the fresh lemon juice used in the recipe.  I could have sat there and just eaten it with a spoon.

The sides were by far the easiest part of the meal.  I cooked the harvest grains according to the package (add to boiling water, simmer, voila) and I followed the directions for the brussel sprout sauté - which was a revelation in itself, by the way.  It had bacon in it.  I did not know that when I bought it.  I would have bought more had I known.

This meal was very much a labor of love, and we loved every morsel.  But, no Valentine's Day would be complete without an outrageously delicious dessert...

Oh yes, I went there.  Individual molten chocolate cakes with vanilla crème fraîche.  Who knew that half-baked chocolate cake could be so intoxicatingly good?  The best part is as impressive as this looks, it's ridiculously easy to do.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day and was able to spend time with loved ones.  Happy hollandaise making, molten chocolate cake eating, and... bon appetit!


Nutrition Facts 
with a meal like this, it’s best not to worry about calories...  ;)