Beef Carpaccio

Beef Carpaccio is a household favorite.  It's actually pretty simple to prepare, and the flavor of the raw beef, lightly seasoned and served with an aggressive spring mix salad, fresh shaved Parmesan, and a few Caperberries is a treat that we reserve for special occasions.  If you can overcome your fear of raw beef, you won't be disappointed by the texture and flavor of this dish.

Start by slicing a filet of beef as thinly as possible.  You will have better results if the meat is almost frozen when you begin.  I find that using an electric knife really helps with this step.

In order to pound the meat as thinly as possible and not destroy it when you move it to the serving dish, make sure to put a layer of plastic wrap on your cutting board, then arrange the meat slices so that they are almost touching, then put another layer of plastic wrap over the top.  Gently pound the meat until it forms a single thin piece, then carefully remove the top layer of wrap.  Put your serving plate upside-down on top, and carefully flip the whole thing over.  Leave the (now) top layer of wrap on until you are ready to serve.

When tossing the salad, use the best olive oil and balsamic vinegar that you can afford.  Simple preparations like this demand the highest quality ingredients to really shine.

Lobster Bisque

Lobster Bisque is the second part of our Valentine's Day tradition.  The sweet chunks of lobster tail swimming in the rich broth paired with a crisp white wine make for a perfect second course, especially when the weather turns cold.  Start to finish it takes a few hours to make, but a lot of that time is downtime while the soup simmers on the stove, so it doesn't feel like a chore.

I use kitchen shears to cut the tails in half.  One cut along the back shell, one along the belly, and the third cut through the meat keeps it all intact without too much mess.  Once the meat is steamed, I use tongs to pull the steamer basket out, let the meat cool, and use my hands to gently separate the meat from the shells.  And save the liquid from the pot!

We are always surprised by how much flavor we get from sauteing and deglazing with wine, so be sure to give this step enough time to develop all the lobstery-goodness you're looking for.   We let the wine reduce until just a puddle was left before we added the stock.

We cheated a little here by using ketchup instead of tomato paste.  Once everything had simmered and we removed all the bay leaves, I used our immersion blender until the soup had a smooth glossy appearance.  The recipe calls for some cream, lemon juice, and salt to taste to finish the soup.  We always go a step further and throw in a splash of Worcestershire sauce and a few hits of Tabasco to really pull the whole thing together.

The final step is mostly for presentation, but it's also another opportunity to add a bit of flavor to the soup.  After you lightly saute the tails, deglaze the pan with a bit of brandy or cognac and pour the pan-sauce into the soup.  Since you'll be eating this with a spoon, be sure to cut the meat into bite-sized slices, and sprinkle a little paprika and fennel frond over the top for garnish.

Black Forest Tartlets with Chocolate Cherries

Chocolate-dipped cherries + cherry-cream filling + chocolate cup = tasty morsel.  They were fun to eat, but they took some time to assemble.  Worth it for a Valentine's Day dessert, but I don't think we'll be making these again anytime soon.

The first step was painting chocolate layers into little foil cups.  Kate did the first round and I did the second.  We made a dozen, and I promise that the one in the photo at the top is the best of the bunch.

The second step was dipping cherries in the same chocolate.  Easy enough, but I haven't learned the trick to cooling them without a flat puddle of chocolate attached to the bottom.

The third step was making the cherry filling.  It starts by dissolving gelatin in cherry preserves over low heat.  Then I whipped heavy cream until it had stiff peaks.  The tricky part is folding the mixture into the cream without losing the fluffiness.  My final product, as you can see, wasn't nearly as uniform or appetizing as the photos in the magazine.  Luckily, it still tasted good.

Once everything was chilled, I started assembly by using tweezers to remove the foil from the chocolate cups.  I then spooned a dollop of the cherry filling into the cup and topped it with a cherry.  Three to a plate and our holiday dessert was ready!