ChefTalk.com Valentines Menu Contest Thread

Riedel crystal, linen tableclothes, tiny bouquet of mix flowers on the table, sliver and china....formal but not stuffy.

Champagne (or Cava) Brut.....armagnac french prunes with foie gras mousse, rich unctious and totally sensual...lots of candles, no overhead lighting....good if there's snow outside to make inside much more inviting.

Appetizer....mussels on the half shell with shallot cream sauce, sauvignon blanc...crispy warm bagette with eurobutter or amish butter and little pots of pink salt on the table, small pepper grinder.   

Citrus Salad, bib lettuce with cara cara oranges, red grapefruit, blood oranges...shallot tarragon dressing...paper thin crostini with maytag blue mixed with mascarpone spread....the blue and citrus playing off each other.  Pale green glass plates make the colors pop.

Boneless Quail roasted and served on a bed of popcorn rice cooked with thyme, shallots, and morels....very large morels are stuffed with makers mark morel duxelle are "garnish".....Michigan dried cherry demi glaze naps the quail....pinot noir

70% single estate Patric chocolate souffle, Grand Marnier Whipped cream and candied orange peel garnish, decaf coffee

Cheese plate, perfectly ripened ooozy cheese,Baetje farms bloomsdale....wheat biscuits, port

tiny precious candy jewels.....mini fluer de sel caramels, truffles, fruit pates, tiny macaroons...

We have a mountain home in the Blue Mountains of Oregon, my wife and I would snowmobile up to 6000 ft  to a place called tower mountain. I would make a camp fire on the ridge over looking the mountain range   I would put a grill over the fire to grill the bread for the Bruschetta and serve with an Italian chopped tomato and basil herb salsa while sipping on a Columbia valley Chardonnay. I would then take out my one burner butane stove and saute some garlic shrimp that have been marinating for a few hours and serve over a roasted tomato and basil pesto linguine that was made earlier and heated in a skillet over the camp fire. The Shrimp Scampi over Roasted tomato and basil pesto linguine served with home made herb bread sticks, sitting by the camp fire enjoying the view. We would then take the trip back down the mountain to a hot springs down the country road from our home and have Chocolate dipped strawberries and Champagne while soaking in the 104 degree natural hot springs water     when we were done soaking, I would take my bride of 30 years back to the cabin, get into our terry robes that were being warmed by the log fire, and finish our Champagne. We will then retire to our King size Montana log bed, I will leave the rest to your imagination.................ChefBillyB.......P.S. I hope you guys have a good imagination, this should work out real well, unless we fall off the cliff on the way up the mountain, that could put a damper on dinner.

We are sitting on a blanket, spread upon the hood of the car, two mugs full of really rich hot chocolate in hand and a plate of extra thick chocolate chip cookies wait to be tackled. A few feet from the Jeep's bumper, a fire crackles and laps at the cascading snow flakes as we shake off the chill. Dave Matthews' Crush is the muffled hum from the speakers safe on the inside in the warmth, shielded from our outside dining room. The backdrop is the infrequent twinkle of the stars making their way through the snowy curtain falling about. The hot chocolate is warm and velvety and the whipped cream on top pokes fun at the pillowy softness that the piles of snow surrounding the fire look to mimic. 

At the table, a red table cloth topped with a white lace tablecloth.

Centerpiece is a simple clear crystal vase with a rose of each color, white, red and salmon.

A red cloth napkin pulled through an ivory colored napkin ring is centered between your silverware

Presented before ordering is a simple basket of warm crusty sliced baguette and small bottles of Balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil with side plates for pouring , mixing and dabbing

Apps- Half dozen oysters on the half shell separated by cooked and chilled prawns on a bed of Red Leaf lettuce and rock salt with ramekins of cocktail sauce, garlic butter and slices of lemon centered in the platter

Salad- A small Cesar made with whole leaf baby romaine with fried capers sprinkled along top

Main- Your choice of a Bacon wrapped Filet Mignon with Monterey Bay Blue Cheese and butter melted on top accompanied with Rosemary roasted Red Potatoes and a shredded Carrot salad with a citrus and olive oil dressing  or Blackend Salmon with Rosemary Roasted Red potatoes and steamed Spinach with a Hollandaise sauce on the side    
 
Dessert- Your choice of either a Brandy Apple Flambe Crepe with Cinnamon and Cream or Bananas Fosters   
     
Each course is accompanied with a 2oz. pour of your choice of our fine wines

Quote:

Originally Posted by siduri 

Sorry, Nicko, but I don't think it's a good thing for a community to have contests that are only open to some of the members.  It's a bad message.  If there are reasons you can't send a prize abroad then it would be better to make a contest without a prize at all.  

Excellent point Siduri.  If it weren't for your post I would have made an entry into the competition, and I mean that in a complimentary way to you..  I was thinking of all sorts of nice summery things, given I'm half a world away.  Dinner at the beach at sunset, bbq'd food on a portable bbq, things from the Eski, etc etc etc.  Oh, and lots of mosquito repellant!

Why not just do it for the fun and participation?  See what other people may be doing and enjoy it just for that.  It may stir up some notions for those that hadn't thought of doing this or that titillating thing and make more romance in the world

I think serving crabs would be especially appropriate for valentines day. 

With the great André Kientzler, Pinot Gris seamlessly paired with each component, a wonderful start to a wonderfully romantic evening.  Is anyone familiar with this pinot gris?

Shroomgirl, please invite me. You scored on champagne, my favorites the mussels, quail, the chocolate souflée, the truffles and the macarons.

I have severe doughts on the citrussalad unless you turn that into a citrus sorbet, but you lost me completely on the decaf coffee! I thought the menu was just an interludium, you don't expect me to go asleep after dinner? 

Keep It Simple Yet Elegant

                                                White Cloth with a Red Satin Heart Cutout as a place mat

                  The Nicest            Crystal ,Flatware and China that you have

                                                 3 Red Roses with Flickering Tea Lites on Assorted height Glass Blocks   Soft  background music , lights down

                                                                                  A Napkin folded like a Heart Change of Napkin With Dessert Course

  For The  First Course ..   Wild Mushroom and Sauteed Baby Shrimp Strudel with A Zifindel Sauce and Spiced  Baby Spinach

 The Second  ..      A Warm Puree of Winter Vegetables with Creme Frache and Ground  Pistachio Served in  an Accorn Squash

  And Third ..          Individual  Filet of Beef Wellington in a Heart Shaped Pastry Crust, With A Truffle Infused Pergoudine Drizzle

                               Parissienne  White Turnip,  Carrot Vichy with The Stem,  Haricot Verte Au Buerre Tied with White of Leek in a Bow

The Finale..       Hazelnut Scented Creme Brulee served in a Dark Chocolate Candy Box Surrounded by Chocolate Dipped Strawberries and Milk  Choco and    White Choco Truffles  

                                                              Cafe Au Lait, Expresso and Blue Mountain Coffee

                                                                 An Assortment of Domestic and Imported Cheese and English Water Wafers

I tried to do this keeping in mind availability of products ,skill levels and things you had available as well as a medium budget . ENJOY EdB

Seafood lollipops with peach gastrique as the starter.

Flank steak pinwheels (stuffing consisting of a shiitake-lined pheasant forcemeat)

Roast asparagus with Louis dressing

Pumpkin gnocchi

Heart-shaped chocolate Pavlovas with whipped cream and fresh berries

White table clothe sprinkled with rose petals. A single red rose in the center circled by four wide candles of varing hight. Dimmed lights, and a mix of love songs playing on low (such as Marvin Gaye, Barry White, Bryan Adams, Kenny Rogers)

1st course- Kumamoto oysters on the half shell with minced basil, shallot, a small slice of candied fig and a few pieces of honey caviar sprinkled with a little pink sea salt.

(glass of prosecco)

2nd course- Fire roasted butternut squash bisque with a maple cream heart piped on the top, applewood smoked bacon garnish.

3rd course- Nicoise salad with Espresso chili rubbed seared blue fin tuna, pickled shallots, nicoise olives, grilled green beans, a poached quail egg, confit tomato, and a wasabi ginger vinaigrette over baby butter crunch lettuce greens.

4th course- Seared venison tenderloin with pink peppercorn, over Stilton and fingerling potato puree, with a champagne and champagne grape gastrique and shaved white truffle

5th course- White chocolate and raspberry creme brulee with a heart shaped caramel, fresh raspberries and white chocolate cigarette garnish.

(with a Dom Perignon toast)

Dry Martinis with a twist (I forgot to say Gin preferably)

Warm Brie with toasted almonds and pita crisps.

First course: Duck Confit/Wild Green salad with Granny Smith Apple/Green Peppercorn Jus 

Second course: Cream of baby sugar pumpkin soup with Alaskan King Crab 

Sorbet: Strawberry Riesling

Entree: pan roasted Halibut with Roasted Beet Vinaigrette

Wilted spinach with sesame seeds and White Truffle essence

Dessert: Crepe Suzette

Chocolate Truffles with B&B and a NY State Late Harvest Riesling.

Bon Apetit

Wow!  So many of these sound great I feel like mine won't compare.  But here is what I made last year:

To start off the dinner, I opened a bottle of Proseco from Zefiro winery.  

On the table, I set out, fresh Homemade French Bread with imported butter, picholine olives, on the side; and a small plate of Amadeus cheese.

For our appetizer, I made Baked Brie in a very flaky, homemade pastry with sliced green apples on the side.

At this point we were already starting to hit the wall, but then we got our second wind when I brought out our entree: crab stuffed filet mignon, with bearnaise.  Sides were twiced cooked baked potatoes with plenty of bacon, and sauteed asparagus.  To drink with that, we had a simple bottle of Louis Martini Cabernet. 

With just enough room for dessert, I made a Valrhona chocolate souffle with vanilla bean ice cream (I think the ice cream was Bryers.)  A small glass of Baileys on ice was just potent enough to compliment the souffle. 

Definitely a filling evening!

Valentine's Day in front of a blazing fireplace, romantic classical music playing soft in the background.  Red linen tablecloth, white china, nicest silver and crystal.  Crystal vase in middle of table holds the winter red and white Casablanca Lillies.  Nice Reisling Wine and Prosecco Sparkling Italian Wine options.

Appetizer:  All-Crustecean Canapes, Garnished with Deep Fried Capers. (buttery shrimp, lobster and crab)

First Course:  Baked Oysters in Spinach Jackets with Bacon Cognac Butter...served on the half shell on a plate of coarse salt, side of bacon cognac butter and parsley, dill crostini's.

Second:  Velout de Tompinambours soup...rich with jerusalem artichokes and sweet potatoes...served with a grainy baguette. 

Entree:  Cocoa Rubbed Pork Shoulder (cooked low and slow in the smoker 4- 6 hours with hickory chips) accompanied by Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Potatoes and Sage: assorted Southern Greens (collards, kale, mustard, turnip) flavored with hamhocks and crushed red pepper.  Served with Fatback Cracklin' Cornbread.

Finale:  French Cheeseboard with Camembert, Brie, Goats Milk, Roquefort, Cooked Cheese, and Fromage Fraise.  Served with Baguette and Bordeaux Red Wine.

Chocolate Fondue served with Candied Orange Peels, Raspberries, Fresh Figs, Cayenne Candied Bacon and Heart Shaped Cherry Scones.

White Bean Cappuccino

Know your audience. This meal is all about what my wife likes without being heavy so you're still in the mood later on.

Watermelon Jarritos

A bread and cheese platter that will be worked through out the meal. Fresh focaccia, a crusty loaf, a crackery flat bread. Aged Gouda, Smoked Red Dorset, an herbed Boursin.

Seared scallops to get started

A winter vegetable minestra style soup.

The main course is a mesclun based salad. I know this will sound weird to many but it's about knowing your audience. This is topped with a sort of solid dressing. hot smoked salmon, cubed avocado and pomegranate arils providing a seasoned punch, fatty texture and fruity tartness. 

Dessert vanilla bean creme brulee.

a small but perfect crescent shaped, palm fringed, totally isolated beach (yes folks, they do exist). sugar white sand and water unmistakably caribbean blue. hammock swaying in the soft breeze. set up two firepits...one for cooking, one for warming us and gazing into. nice long stroll on the beach to take in the sunset...as the sun sinks below the horizon, we slip into the water to refresh. fires lit, wrapped in big fluffy towel blankets, sitting on a very large soft blanket, we start our little feast with oysters florentine and prosecco. then stone crab claws with mustard sauce, followed by a small antipasto plate of papaya spears, avacado, mango and chevre in lettuce cups with tangerine/opal basil dipping sauce. next, grilled caribbean lobster, pulled apart and set on a platter with small bowls holding a chile-lime butter and a roasted garlic aioli for dipping. grilled asparagus as well. lots of lemons and limes for squeezing on food and fingers. wonderful warm artisan bread..open a bottle of sonoma cutrer 'the cutrer'.(chardonnay)....dessert.....something small, chocolatety and fun..smore's!, while watching the moonrise over the water. music? sound of a crackling fire, palm fronds rustling in the soft breeze and waves softly lapping. maybe a wee bit of tuaca, maybe not...another stroll on the beach in the moonlight? another dip in the water? they can wait til morning

this is really a reenactment..some of the food and wine have been changed to protect the innocent! same concept though....NO SILVERWARE! eating with ones fingers is very romantic and  very sensual...

joey

Cosy Bedroom setting, blazing fireplace, snow lightly falling outside a big picture window

sweetheart table with crushed velvet linens and napkins,

white roses and cala lily bouqet grace the table

banana leaf charger

Veuve Clicquot Champagne

AMUSE BOUCHE

..peanut butter captain crunch coated

crab cakes with spicy peanut sauce 

..doll sized crispy potato samosas with citrus lime sweetheart chili jam 

served atop a bed of coconut on a hand carved Balinese Mirror

pasta and seafood course

maine lobster mac n cheese with spicy pepato cheese 

served in a fantasy champagne saucer 

Since both Russell and Savi love lamb

and especially meats that are on the bone,

rosemary infused baby lamb chops

with pomegranate glaze was perfect!

 

nestled on a bed of heart shaped

Israel cous-cous primavera,

accompanied by grilled asparagus bundles,

and roasted veggies,

deliciously sweet jerusalem artichokes

(neither from Jerusalem nor an artichoke)

roasted whole shallots

+ cumin scented roasted cauliflower.

 

Starfruit, commonly used in Trinidad,

where Savi hails from

made a delicious and beautiful garnish.

 

The stars are aligned for this fantastic couple!

 

Originally for dessert the Valentines menu
included desserts that centered around chocolate

- however, that was the only
request that Russell had


"As far as dessert
I'm more of a vanilla,lemon, citrus, creamy, crunchy type. "

in that mode we created the following delectable dessert...
 

Not Your Mama's Baked Alaska Finale

 

 

Grilled Pineapple +

Rosemary Brown Sugar Shortbread Base

with Vanilla Bean Speckled Ice Cream

and Meyer Lemon Meringue

Flambeed Tableside with Meyers Rum

 

So I decided not to enter the contest.  I was trying to come up with a menu that reflected our honeymoon 4 years ago which fell around Valentine's Day.  I wanted to compile a menu of dishes that we ate while we were in Paris and London but the idea fell through and is too difficult to make happen on a weekday.  Anyway, I have my reservations about the contest mainly because I would rather see a contest about a menu we executed rather than wrote, I'm a cook not a writer.  And seeing as Valentine's is today I won't be able to document the meal I'm creating in time to enter the contest.  So good luck to all those who entered the contest, I hope what you wrote is indeed what you'll be serving tonight.  I will post my menu tomorrow.

I hope what you wrote is indeed what you'll be serving tonight. 

In my case it is, Koukouvagia. Made one slight change, in the stuffing. In addition to the shiitake duxelle flanking the pheasant on one side I flanked the other with a roasted red pepper coulis for additional color.

I would imagine that most of the menu components have been made by their respective cooks, at one time or another. Just weren't necessarily grouped together. That certainly was my approach; and I feel confident it was taken by all the front-runners as well.

I'm not making any accusations, I'm sure everyone has made or will make these menus either today or some other time.  I'm just having a hard time connecting to the challenge because a contest imo should be about something we have done, not something we may do.  I'd feel terrible if I had posted a menu that indicated that I was going to make bananas foster and then couldn't find any good bananas for that menu, I'd have to swtich the plan.  Anyway, like I said I enjoyed reading the menus.

Well in my case, it's an actual menu and photos from a Valentine;'s dinner we served last year for our client's 40th birthday celebration on Valentine's day which is his birthday.

This year, well be lucky to have anything special,  too busy with getting ready for Las Vegas and my presentations at the Catersource Convention and the caterBuzz meetups.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by KYHeirloomer 

I hope what you wrote is indeed what you'll be serving tonight. 

 

In my case it is, Koukouvagia. Made one slight change, in the stuffing. In addition to the shiitake duxelle flanking the pheasant on one side I flanked the other with a roasted red pepper coulis for additional color.

 

I would imagine that most of the menu components have been made by their respective cooks, at one time or another. Just weren't necessarily grouped together. That certainly was my approach; and I feel confident it was taken by all the front-runners as well.

I created this menu based on my clients wine cellar. The whole evening was a Valentine's gift to their closest friends.  It was all about best friends, great wines and food.

It was an informal event with guests sitting around the bar outside the wine cellar.  Rustic log walls and a highly polished log bartop were complimented by red iridescent topped cocktail tables.  Antique horn silverplate and pewter chargers rounded out the "look".  Polished wine glasses in every possible size gleamed in the shadows created by the crackling fire.  It really was a night to remember just not for the wine and food, but for these people who've maintained such close friendships over decades.  If I got to choose a last meal...this would be it :)

Hooray for me,  I got to drink the dregs of the La Tache de la Romanee Conti!

Champagne Pol Roger Brut 1990

Fresh strawberries

China Ranch Dates Stuffed with St Andre

Smoked Trout on Apple Crisp

*

Chateau Pavie Macquin St Emilion 1995

Grilled Rack of Lamb; Toasted Farro with Thyme, Olives and Tomato

*

Michel-Schlumber Dry Creek Cab Sauv 1992 “Benchland Wine”

Seared Duck breast; Vanilla scented mashed sweet potatoes garnished with Blackberry Gastrique

*

La Tache de la Romanee Conti 1971

Hot Smoked King Salmon; Wild Mushroom Cream Sauce garnished with fried basil leaf

*

Blandy’s Bual Madeira 1954 Armengac

Served with Raisins, Stilton and Walnut Torta with sautéed Pears

Wife wont let me cook for Valentines Day. I cook dinner every day. She says since we are both each others valentines  we should go out. I agree. Going to good Steakhouse near here  She wants Prime Rib,  Me?  a  T Bone Rare  charred, Fresh made  SpicyTobacco Onions

Well in my case, we were on the snowmobile traveling about 50 MPH, I looked back and she must have fallen off some where along the trip up to 6000 ft. I started cooking and I'm on my third glass of wine, I figure she will show up soon, she hasn't missed a meal in 33 years. ..............

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChefBillyB 

Well in my case, we were on the snowmobile traveling about 50 MPH, I looked back and she must have fallen off some where along the trip up to 6000 ft. I started cooking and I'm on my third glass of wine, I figure she will show up soon, she hasn't missed a meal in 33 years. ..............

Bill, I hope dinner is pretty spectacular!  Enjoy your evening and I hope your wife is OK!

I made a simple dinner of pork chops with caramelized onions and red peppers, macaroni and cheese, green beans, and brownies for dessert.  My SO isn't even home from work yet so my son and I ate earlier.  We saved the brownies to eat together as a family.

ROFL@Bill!

well funny enough, the clients from the menu I posted, saw my post about the contest on my facebook and wrote on my wall to say how they were thinking about us as they cooked dinner for hemselves this year.  I texted them back and we ended up going out for drinks and having  a blast.  They said they still show people the blog post all the time.  It was a fun evening.

So for dinner tonight we actually ate kobe beef hotdogs, mini sliders with seasoned fries and coconut shrimp I drank a cosmo which was delicious and tart.  Hubby had a glass of Reisling and like  Chef Ed, neither of us cooked!

I know this is after the fact, but I made:

wilted spinach salad with roasted beet vinaigrette,

lamb shish kabobs with wild rice pilaf

...and pavlova with vanilla bean ice cream and Chaumbord raspberry coulis.

Congratulations tigerwoman, shroomgirl, kyheirloomer, chefedb & chefbillyb!

Our Valentine's dinner was super old fashioned straight out of a 70's restaurant.  Hubby came home with beautiful red roses (awww!) and he helped himself to a few glasses of 2005 Megapanos Nemea red wine while I sipped on ginger ale.

Appetizer: Sopressata and kretan graviera cheese served with toasted pita bread and smoked black olives

Main: Horseradish and garlic crusted prime rib au jus

Side: Boiled baby new potatoes with olive oil and dill

Side: Roasted asparagus with hollandaise

Dessert: Rice pudding