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With Valentine's Day coming up we've got some romantic ideas straight from one of the country's most famous bachelors.
Dates
(1 serving)
4 Medjool Dates
2 slices Applewood Smoked Bacon, cut in half
Parmigiano Reggiano
4 plain wood toothpicks
Pit the dates. Cut cheese to about the same size as the pit. Stuff cheese into dates and seal opening with fingers.
Wrap each date in a half slice of bacon and secure with a toothpick
Place under broiler to lightly brown bacon, then finish in a 400 degree oven until cheese melts.
Remove toothpicks and serve.
Shrimp Risotto
¾ c. pumpkin risotto
2 Tbsp. shredded parm.
2 oz. pumpkin stock
3 Tiger Shrimp, U12, peeled & deveined
Cinnamon/Ginger BBQ Glaze
Toasted pumpkin seed oil
Roasted Pepitas (coat in olive oil, sprinkle with salt & granulated garlic, roast at 350 until lightly browned)
1 large sage leaf, fried
Pomegranate seeds
Pumpkin Stock
Mirepoix
5 lbs. Sugar pumpkins
Water
Peel pumpkins and use peels and innerds for stock, along with mirepoix. Stock only needs to cook 1-2 hours, or until a noticeable pumpkin flavor. Strain. Cut pumpkin flesh into small dice cubes. Coat with a little bit of olive oil, salt & pepper, and place on a sheet pan. Roast in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until tender. Remove and reserve for risotto.
Pumpkin Risotto
(full recipe)
Reserved roasted pumpkin flesh
Pumpkin Stock
1 large yellow onion, small dice
15 sage leaves, finely diced
1 lb. Arborio rice
Olive oil
1 bottle White wine (Firestone Chard is what we use)
Salt & White pepper
Using a large rondeaux, heat olive oil over med hi heat. Stir in rice and lightly toast. Add in onions while toasting rice and sweat. Deglaze pan with wine, and add sage leaves. Begin adding stock in small amounts, continuously stirring until rice is al dente and there is not a lot of “sauce”. Stir in reserved pumpkin. Season to taste. Cool on a sheet pan until needed.
Cinnamon/Ginger BBQ Glaze
2” knob of Ginger root, peeled and julienned
2 cinnamon sticks
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup water.
Stir to dissolve sugar and mix all ingredients. Place over medium high heat until the glaze takes on a brown color from the cinnamon and has a sweet yet strong cinnamon & ginger flavor. Strain and hold until needed.
Putting it all together:
Skewer the 3 shrimp on a bamboo skewer and place over a grill. Lightly baste on the bbq glaze and cook the shrimp for 2 minutes. Turn the shrimp, and brush glaze onto the 2nd side. Cook 2 more minutes. Remove from grill and transfer to a 350 degree oven to finish cooking (without the grill burning the glaze – there should be grill marks, and a golden color of the glaze, but not burn). While shrimp are cooking, heat 2oz or the pumpkin stock in a small sauté pan. Add in the risotto and heat through. Once heated, stir in the shredded parm cheese. Cook until risotto can be put into a ring mold and hold its shape. Place ring in center of plate and fill with risotto, smoothing out the top. Let set up for 30 seconds before removing the ring. Sprinkle the top of the risotto with toasted pepitas and stick fried sage leaf standing in the center of the risotto. Along the outside of the place drizzle a small amount of the toasted pumpkinseed oil on the plate. Remove finished shrimp from the oven and remove bamboo skewer. Brush srimp oncemorewith glaze if the outside is looking dry. Place shrimp around the risotto, tails resting on the risotto. Sprinkle plate with pomegranate seeds.
Beef Skewers
5 oz beef tenderloin, cut into 4-1oz cubes
4 4.5” wood skewers
Gorgonzola Fonduta
Port Demi Reduction
Pomegranate seeds / chive
Fonduta
½ cup white wine (Firestone Chard)
1.5 cups heavy cream
¾ cup gorgonzola, crumbled
Salt & white pepper
Heat small sauté pan over high heat. Add wine and reduce until almost au sec. Whisk in cream and cook until reduced by almost half over medium heat. Whisk in gorgonzola until melted and incorporated. Season to taste. Hold over baine marie until service.
Port Demi Reduction
Beef Stock – about 1.5 quarts, reduced down to about 1 cup.
¾ cup port wine
1 Tbsp. Butter, unsalted
Salt & white pepper
Heat small sauté pan over high heat. Add wine and reduce to ¼ cup. Add reduced stock and allow to cook down to ¾ - 1 cup. Monte au buerre and season to taste. Hold in a baine marie until service.
Putting it all together:
Cut beef so that all 4 pieces are uniform in size/shape. Line up in a row and skewer on a long bamboo skewer so that pieces are touching each other. Spray with olive oil and sprinkle sat & freshly cracked black pepper on all sides (if prepared in advance, omit salt. Sprinkle kosher salt on just before cooking). Place on a broiler grill and cook 2-3 minutes per side, turning to cook evenly (to about med rare). When cooked, remove from the heat and remove bamboo skewer. Pour about 1 oz of the fonduta on the plate, spreading evenly to cover. Line up the 4 pieces of beef on the fonduta, then drizzle with about 3/4 oz of the port demi. Stick the 4.5” skewers into each piece of beef. A chive can be threaded between the skewer sticks, and pomegranate seeds can be sprinkled on the plate to garnish.
Peanut Butter Banana
Banana Bread:
¼ lb. butter, unsalted
1 cup granulated sugar
4 bananas, very ripe, peeled
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 cups AP flour
1 Tbsp Baking Soda
Pinch salt
Butter to grease loaf pans
Chopped roasted peanuts
Cream butter and sugar in a stand mixer. Once creamed, add in bananas and continue mixing over medium low speed until bananas are incorporated. Mix in eggs and vanilla until all wet ingredients are combined. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Fold dry ingredients into the wet, being careful not to overmix. Grease 2 loaf pans and split mixture evenly between the pans. Sprinkle the tops of the loaves with the peanuts. Bake in a 350 oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, and the loaves are golden brown (about 45 minutes – 1 hour). Remove and let cool.
Concord Grape Gelato
Vanilla Gelato, slightly softened
Concord Grape Jelly
In an ice cream machine, run the mixing paddles only with the gelato inside, softening the gelato. Add in several Tbsps of jelly per cup of gelato, and continue mixing until fully incorporated and the gelato is purple with a distinctive grape taste. Turn chiller function on machine on while still spinning until gelato is mostly set up again. Place in a container covered and return to freezer until service.
Putting it all together:
2 slices banana bread, about ½” thick
Butter, softened to spread onto bread
Peanut butter
Banana
Granulated sugar
Concord Grape Gelato
Confectioner’s sugar
Assorted berries/fruit for garnish
Butter one side of each slice of the banana bread and spread a thick layer or peanut butter on the other side. Place both slices butter side down on a flat top griddle (about 600 degrees). Slice the banana thinly, and shingle the slices in two rows along the length of on slice of bread, nesting the bananas in the peanut butter. Coat the top of the bananas with a light layer of granulated sugar. Using a blow torch, carmelize the sugar as you would a crème brulee. Place the plain peanut butter bread slice on top of the now bruleed bananas (PB side down). Remove sandwich from heat. Allow to cool for a minute and slice on a diagonal using a serrated blade. Place some of the grape gelato in a small ramekin and place on the plate. Put the sandwich with the crusts on the inside, the cut edges facing out. Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar. Use assorted berries or sliced fruit fans for garnish. Serve immediately.
Flank Steak with Tomato, corn and avocado salsa
Serves 6
1 Flank Steak
Marinade
¾ cup brown sugar
2 cups soy sauce
2 T. lemon juice
1 tsp. crushed garlic
1T. minced ginger
2T. Firestone or Curtis Syrah
Whisk together all ingredients in mixing bowl. Pour over steak and marinate in lg. Ziploc bag in bowl in the fridge for 1-2 days. (The longer you leave it the better it gets.)
Salsa
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 cup sweet corn, (best with fresh corn that is lightly sautéed in olive oil)
Juice of 1 lime
2 T. chopped green onion, green part
2 T. fresh chopped cilantro
1 avocado, chopped
Sea salt & pepper to taste
Blend all ingredients. Refrigerate. If you want to make ahead, chop & add the avocado before serving.
Slice flank steak thinly and serve with salsa.
Mango Salsa
Makes about 2 cups
2 large mangos
3 T. chopped green onion
2 T. chopped cilantro
1 T. minced fresh ginger
1 fresh lime squeezed
¼ t. chili powder
salt & white pepper to taste
Blend all ingredients together and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Serve with Grilled Flank Steak.
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