Kevin and I have continued our Valentine's Day tradition of cooking to avoid the big annoying crowds and upped prices that day. Same menu as last year except for a slight tweak of asparagus as a side. I'm obsessed with crab legs and Kevin's a big meat fan, so we had crab legs with filet mignon with asparagus and chocolate fondue with fruit and pound cake for dessert. Delicious! Kevin made the filet and asparagus so sorry if you want the recipes and let's face it, steaming crab legs and melting chocolate fondue made it a pretty easy night for me. Great meal, romantic, easy to make for only around $50 (that's including the wine!).
Kevin went out of town again last weekend with his buddies so Chelsea and I got to cook again! This time we made a recipe that Stephan and Kerry had made for Kevin and I before. It is so delicious yet surprisingly heavy so don't eat too much if you make it! We subsituted the Halibut for Tilapia to keep the costs down, but I highly recommend this dish as it looks incredibly complicated and fancy, but it's so simple to make! You can even make it for one person if you're just cooking for yourself!
Ippoglosso con Vegetali
312 Chicago http://www.312chicago.com/
Serves 2
1 cup finely chopped cauliflower
1/2 cup whipping cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 Pacific halibut fillet pieces, about 7 ounces each, skin removed
2 tablespoons chopped pancetta or bacon
1/4 cup blanched, peeled fresh fava beans or other seasonal beans
2 tablespoons thinly sliced red onion
1 bunch watercress, rinsed and dried
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, preferably from Tuscany
Combine the cauliflower and cream in a small saucepan with a pinch each of salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat until the cauliflower is fully tender, 10 - 12 minutes, stirring occassionally. Take the pan from the heat and let cool slightly, then puree the cauliflower in a food processor until smooth. Return the puree to the small sacepan and keep warm over very low heat.
Heat a medium skillet with 2 tablespoons vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Season the halibut pieces with salt and pepper. Add the fish to the skillet and cook until well browned and just a touch of translucence remains in the center, 2-4 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the fish. Transfer the halibut to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.
Add the pancetta to the pan and cook over medium heat until it has rendered some of its fat and is beginning to brown, 2-3 minutes. Add the fava beans, onion, and waterress, tossing for a few moments to just barely warm the vegetables through. Taste for seasoning, adding salt (keep in mind the pancetta is already salty) and pepper to taste.
Spoon a bed of the cauliflower puree into the center of individual plates. Spoon the sauteed vegetable mixture over and top with the halibut. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil over the fish and serve. We had our dinner paired with Cupcake's Sauvignon Blanc which was great! I also tried on HVD Cupcake's Red Table Wine and was just as pleased. Good wine brand and not too pricey!
Ok, last thing, but super amazing, I am so glad I watched Food Network pretty much all day Saturday and Sunday because I caught Melissa d'Arabian's show, Ten Dollar Dinners. She made Huevos Rancheros and they are so creatively cute! The recipe is linked but check out my crack at it for breakfast this morning. Not bad, right? I can't wait to host brunch so I can make these again!
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| The shell holding everything is a tortilla! |
The fillet was actually really good and fairly simple to make. I coated one side of each fillet with a heavy layer of equal parts sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. I then pushed the mixture into the fillet so it would stick better. After I was comfortable with the amount of seasoning, I pan seared each fillet in a pan with melted butter on high heat for about a minute on each side to create a crust. Once they were seared I placed them on a preheated broiler pan for about 5 minutes a side. We had relatively thin fillets (4-6 oz) so I only crusted one side of each, for a larger fillet (10-12 oz) crust both sides before pan searing.
ReplyDeleteI poured about 2 tblsp of olive oil and balsamic vinegar into a ziploc bag and rolled the asparagus in it until I was sure they had all been coated evenly. Remove the asparagus from the bag and lay in a row on a cookie sheet. Once on the cookie sheet add freshly ground black pepper, sea salt, and minced garlic. Cook at 400 for 10 min. Drizzle a small amount of lemon juice over the asparagus after removing it from the oven (we used a toaster oven).
It all looks so good!
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