Sometimes, when you live with a bear, that bear has to work late. One such occurrence happened on Valentine’s Day, so our Valentine’s Day feast was postponed a week. But then we went all out. Oh yes we did.
For the first course, I made the Caesar Salad for Two.
Now, if you are like me, you have probably never made Caesar dressing at home. Maybe the anchovies scared you off. Maybe it was the raw egg. Either way, it’s a daunting proposition. I decided to give it a try anyhow (because someone had to) and let me just say, you should ignore all of your fears and hesitations regarding this and just make it for heaven’s sake! It’s so good!! The bear was so thrilled with it that he literally made me make it three more times in the following week. It tastes neither fishy, nor eggy. It tastes like what comes out of a bottle only 100 times more flavorful and delicious. Do it! The good thing about this recipe is that it is a small batch too, just enough to make a decent size bowl of salad for two maybe three people. I’m not sure how well homemade caesar would store in the fridge so this recipe is ideal.
We followed our salad with Steak and Shrimp with Parsley Potatoes.
Well really, the steak was for the Bear, and the shrimp were for me. I did try the steak (the first steak I ever cooked) and I thought it was quite tasty. It wasn’t too beefy just tasted nice and seared and salty. (I tried to replicate it with a different cut of meat and again it was too beefy). The shrimp were cooked perfectly. They were sweet and buttery. I think scallops would also be good in this recipe. The potatoes were also quite tasty. They were buttery and the perfect little side for the decadent shrimp and steak.
And finally… oh yes, the Fresh Orange and Yogurt Tart.
Navel oranges are for chumps so I used blood oranges. This was an awesome desert folks. Just spectacular. After such a decadent meal this wasn’t so over the top sweet that we would instantly fall into a food coma. Nope it was light and satisfying. It was an amazing texture and I will absolutely make some variation of this again. I think it might be pretty awesome to make the yogurt part and then top it with a curd, maybe like that incredible orange curd I made for the pavlova.
So there you have it, a feast to end all feasts. A feast to end the Jan/Feb 2010 issue. Next up, March 2009!!
Cooking The Stripes 