Appetizer: Seared Scallops with Romesco Sauce
Scallops is one of Chris and I's favorite indulgences. They are buttery and comforting and delicious! Key to cooking scallops is to make sure you get them super dry and sear them off in a hot pan. Other than that you just need salt and pepper (before you sear).
Wrapping scallops in bacon is pretty popular (and amazing!) but I chose to make a romesco sauce instead. It is pretty easy. In a food processor combine jarred roasted red peppers, toasted walnuts, EVOO, shallot, garlic, lemon juice and S&P. Once combined, I put in a sauce pan to warm up. When ready to plate, drizzle the romesco sauce on the shallots. Romesco sauce also goes well with most fish and chicken dishes.
Main: Slow Roasted Prime Rib
Prime rib roast...I don't need to say much more. Keep this simple! We cooked the prime rib a little differently than we have in the past. We've always started the prime rib in a hot oven (500 degrees) and let it get a good crust and then lower to 350 degrees and cook until it hits the desired temp. Last Christmas I ran across How to Cook The Perfect Prime Rib. Basically, it said to do the exact opposite. Cook the prime rib at a lower temp (150-200 degrees) so that it cooks more evenly and then sear at the end in the oven. We weren't able to try this method out last Christmas but I really wanted to try it out. It turned out perfect!
Cooking the prime rib the old way you end up with a grayish brown ring around the outside but with the new method there was no funky colored ring. The entire middle was cooked perfectly medium rare. We used an electronic meat thermometer and cooked until 124 degrees.
I will warn you that cooking at 550 degrees caused a very, very smoky oven for us and we had to turn on some fans and open some windows. For the rib roast all we did was S&P GENEROUSLY and then cook as directed in the oven. We love horseradish as a condiment with this. Normally we would make au jous with prime rib but skipped out tonight.
Side: Mashed Cauliflower
I believe I blogged about this before but all that needs done is chop up a head of cauliflower and steam in 1 cup of chicken stock and a mashed clove of garlic. Once tender blend together with butter and S&P. I also added some grated parm for flavor.
Side: Sauteed Spinach with Sun Dried Tomatoes (aka vegetable candy)
For this just warm up some EVOO, add some shallot and a clove of garlic and then the key ingredient, sun dried tomatoes. Chris and I like to call sun dried tomatoes vegetable candy because they are just so darn delicious and have a sweetness about them. I keep sun dried tomatoes in the fridge so I just chop a few up and add them and their oil. I rarely make sauteed spinach without sun dried tomatoes After sauteing the aforementioned for a few minuets add your spinach, cook down and add S&P.
Dessert: Berry Torte with Berry Coulis and Whipped Heavy Cream
This was the first time I attempted this recipe but when I first saw it I knew it would be perfect for Valentine's Day. For this recipe (check out the link) I did make a small adjustment. Instead of using frozen raspberries, I already had frozen mixed berries (raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries) so I used that and then I bought fresh blackberries at the store. For the coulis I suggest to strain the sauce. It is not necessary but it gets all the berry seeds out of it and the sauce is that much more velvetty. Chris gave me two thumbs up on this so I'll keep it in my dessert rotation for the future.
Finally, wash it all down with a good glass (or two) of red wine. We drank Hudson Shah Cab with it. If you come across it I would highly recommend it. I used to be able buy this for $10 a bottle but it is now up to $13 but it's still a great value. Drinks more like a $25 bottle and has never disappointed me.
To Lovers!
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