Day 8: A Valentine’s Special (pt. 1)
Valentine’s Day: A day one either adores, or completely loathes. I’ve always found the idea of it a bit cringeworthy: show someone you love them by spending a bunch of money on them. A sentiment to both our inescapable fears of being lonely…and to the capitalist fixture branded so deeply in our hearts. But, that’s a philosophical discussion for another date and time.
As a home cook, I have a love affair for both cooking…and my actual lover. This is my Valentine’s ode to both of them.
The (rather elongated) Breakdown:
This dish is a replay of sorts. I made the same thing last year, and was keen on doing a much-improved rendition of it. I put my heart, soul, sweat, and tears into this dish- both times around.
I vividly remember spending at least 9 hours in the kitchen. I cooked for my boyfriend all the time, but wanted to pull off something truly spectacular. I think I might have, because he still talks about that meal to this day. I wanted to do a 5-course, tasting menu-something you see at a posh restaurant type ordeal. To be quite frank, the whole meal did not make complete sense. There was a carb at every course, and I swapped the traditional soup course for pasta. Yet, it was really freaking good.
To summarize the meal: a starter of smoked salmon atop a thin dollop of crème fraîche, wrapped in a delicate rye crepe; a fresh cucumber salad, with pickled beet; pan-seared fresh sweet potato gnocchi with browned butter & fried sage, butterflied lobster tail with lemon-garlic butter atop steamed green beans. For dessert, a hand poured chocolate heart filled with chocolate truffles, mini chocolate hearts, and heart gummies. Not to mention, a strawberry custard tarte. Ohh, and throw handmade herbed focaccia in there too.
I’m still recovering from tempering the chocolate heart. I must have tried 8 times before I got it right.
Fast-forward to a year later.
And, I’m giving it another go. With some slight alterations. I wanted to take the same flavor profile, and replicate it in a way that was more sensical. A simplistic alternative if you may. A two-part, two-day special (because it’s a bit much to eat in all one go!).
First up: A blissfully doughy (2-day fermentation) focaccia, smoked salmon crostini, cucumber & beet salad, and roasted carrot & sage pasta.
Aside — I dutifully loved the sweet potato gnocchi, but was gifted a pasta class at Eataly where my boyfriend and I made fresh pasta together (he knows me too well at this point). I couldn’t resist but to spin off the original recipe.
I could take you through all the (many) steps and provide a completely detailed recipe…but one, theres too many steps, and two, it’s something I’d rather keep near and dear to my heart.
But I didn’t want to leave you hanging.
Stay tuned for more,
💖 Lil
