Special Dinner...

http://ralphpancetta.com/

I'm not the biggest fan of Valentine's Day... but only for a single reason: It's over-hyped and everyone expects too much out of it -- especially the folks marketing greeting cards and lobster. But I am an incurable romantic, and when I get an op to have a special dinner with the one that put life in my life, I'm gonna do it! And if the day just happens to be Valentine's Day, it gives me another excuse to make dinner at home. As for the lobster? Well, I did my grumbling when I visited the local market and then decided to promptly forget about it (but I think one has to agree that $40 per pound for Bahamian Lobster tails is more than a tad ridiculous!). 'Nuff said.

I managed to catch the end of the WGN noon news last Friday (2-11) when the Lunch Break segment came on, featuring Chef Tim Kirker from Bistro Zinc in Chicago. His presentation was
Citrus and Shaved Fennel Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette, and Maine Lobster with Vanilla Beurre Blanc and Toasted Hazelnuts. I think I drooled through the entire 4-minute segment! I knew that this would be the perfect Valentine's Day dinner; the question was: could I prepare it?

The short answer was: I knew I could. The more important issue was could I manage the finesse and skill level required to create a show stopper... all words that Chef Kirker used to describe his presentation. Even though it had been quite a while since I had attempted anything with the amount of prep work and timing I knew had to be involved, it seemed much easier -- and certainly less time consuming -- than reconfiguring two computers and installing a new hard drive and re-installing the OS in one of them, not to mention the time to rebuild a blog after being hacked by spammers... But on to the dinner!

In the morning, I went on a shopping trip and procured the necessary ingredients from Caputo's and Jewel. After reading the directions several times, I started the prep work (first sectioning the fruit) at about 1:30 pm. Total prep time was probably about an hour-and-a-half. The nice thing that I learned a long time ago is that once the prep work is done, the actual cooking part is really easy... and doesn't take much time.

The final step was to reduce the wine to make the Vanilla Beurre Blanc, sauté the brussel sprouts, re-heat the lobster in the sauce and plate the dinners. It may sound like a lot of work, but the dinner was an absolute delight (candlelight on the three-season porch -- heaters were needed...); or, in the words of Chef Kirker: "It's a showstopper!" with incredible flavors. If you want to see the recipe and directions, I have put them on my site, here, along with a couple of pictures. Of course, if you're curious enough to at least watch the video from WGN, you can see Chef Kirker in action in this video.

Either way, Lauren and I both enjoyed it (along with a nice bottle of champagne). And just remember, if I can prepare this dinner, so can you! Happy cooking!

rp