Dinner & dessert for your Valentine

Want to wow your Valentine with a romantic dinner at home?  That is what I set out to do last weekend, since on the actual Valentine's day (Thursday) I've got to work all day, then head straight to a 3-hour class, which leaves me home around 9:30 or 10.  Not exactly a recipe for a romantic evening, right?  So we celebrated a little early at our house and enjoyed a really delicious meal together in the quiet of our own home and without the hefty tab at the end of the meal that we would have to pay to have something similar prepared for us at a restaurant.

This particular meal is not difficult to make, nor does it take long to prepare, but the meal will be so delicious, it will seem that you must have spent hours on it.  Also, for my gluten-intolerant and Celiac friends- this meal is gluten-free.  It also means no post-meal bloat for the rest of us, 'cause nobody wants to feel bloated on Valentine's Day.  So with Florence & The Machine wailing over the speakers and a glass of wine in hand, I set out to prepare a special meal for my Valentine.  The menu includes:

Rosemary Lamb Chops in a Shallot Balsamic Reduction
Almond Green Beans
Volcano Rice
Mini Molten Lava Cakes

For the Chops:

4 lamb loin chops
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp salt
fresh-ground black pepper
2 Tbsp sunflower oil (or any high-heat cooking oil)
1/2 C minced shallots
1 clove minced garlic
1/3 C aged balsamic vinegar
3/4 C water or broth
1 Tbsp butter

The chops I'm using today come from a small, family-run farm in Lincoln, VT called Meetinghouse Farm.  Ruth Shepherd at Meetinghouse Farm has been raising and finishing organic lambs on pasture since 1986 and in her free time she teaches other farmers how to do so through Master Shepherd Courses sponsored by the Vermont Sheep and Goat Association.

Combine the rosemary, salt, and several generous cranks of fresh-ground black pepper.  Rub this spice mixture into each of the chops and set them aside.  Mince the shallots and garlic.  Heat the oil in a large cast-iron skillet over high heat.  Once oil is hot, place the chops in the hot skillet and reduce heat to medium-high.  Cook for 4 minutes, flip, and cook 4 more minutes without otherwise disturbing them.  This will leave 3/4 inch chop medium-rare.  If you wish to have it more well done, add a minute or two to each side.  Remove the chops from the pan, set aside, and cover to keep warm.

In the skillet with the pan juices, add the shallots and cook a few minutes over medium-high heat until they just begin to turn brown.  Add the garlic and cook an additional minute, then add the balsamic vinegar.   Scrape the browned bits of lamb from the bottom of the pan and then add the broth or water.  Continue to cook, stirring occasionally,  until the liquid reduces by at least half and becomes the desired consistency for your sauce.  Remove from heat and add the butter.  Place two of the chops on each plate and pour the sauce over top.

For the Almond Green Beans:

2 servings of green beans
2 cups water
1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp sliced almonds, toasted
salt & pepper

I used a package of our home-grown rattlesnake pole beans from the freezer, defrosted them, and brought 2 cups of water to a light boil in a medium saucepan.  Add the green beans, and some salt & pepper and simmer 2 or 3 minutes over medium heat.  If using fresh green beans, cook a bit longer until desired tenderness is reached.  Drain the water, add the butter, almonds, and another pinch of salt & pepper.  Toss, gently and serve.

For the Volcano Rice:

2 C rice
4 C water
2 tsp olive oil
salt & pepper

I chose Volcano rice because I love the flavor and love how packed it is with minerals and antioxidants.  It is very rich in magnesium, manganese, and zinc due to the volcanic soils where it is raised by a cooperative of family farmers in Indonesia using the SRI method.  This method of rice production uses less water, less seed, less land, and no chemicals.  Plus, the name of the rice made it seem fitting for a hot Valentine's day meal.  Rinse the rice and cook in a 2:1 ratio with water on the stove or per the directions of your rice cooker.  Fluff when done and add a bit of salt & pepper to taste.

For the Mini Molten Lava Cakes:
 
3/4 C sugar
plus a little for coating ramekins
1 Tbsp cornstarch
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 C dark chocolate
5 tbsp butter
plus a little extra for coating ramekins

In a double boiler (or a large bowl set over a pot of simmering water) gently melt the chocolate and the butter.  Remove from heat.  Mix the cornstarch and the sugar.  Beat the 2 eggs and the 2 egg yolks.  Pour the eggs and the cornstarch sugar mixture into the warm chocolate.  Gently combine, but don't over mix.  Chill.  While batter is chilling, rub butter into each ramekin to coat the bottom and sides, then coat with sugar.  This recipe will fill 2 large ramekins, or 4 small ones.  Place the ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet and fill the bottom of the pan with 1/2 inch of warm water.  Pour batter into each ramekin until each is 3/4 full.  Bake at 325 F for about an hour.  They should rise up out of the ramekins a bit when done, then they will settle and cave in as they cool.  The centers of the cakes should remain gooey like lava, with the outsides completely done.  Serve with a dollop of fresh whipped cream or a dusting of powdered sugar, if desired.   

 


So pour the wine, light the candles, put on Marvin Gaye's greatest hits, and prepare for sparks to fly!  Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Super Bowl Red Beans & Rice with Buttermilk Bread

According to sports reporter Darren Rovell, 440 gallons of red beans and rice were prepared at the Superdome in New Olreans, Louisiana for the Super Bowl today.  I decided to make a gallon of my own here in Vermont to eat while we watched the game.  Red beans & rice is a staple dish of Louisiana Creole cuisine and historically was  prepared on Mondays, since Mondays were also the traditional laundry day and, therefore, were good days for slow simmering a pot of beans.  Ham was the customary Sunday meal, which meant that there were ham bones left over on Monday for the pot of beans.  I don't have a ham bone, but I do have some delicious Daily Grind pork sausage from Vermont Salumi seasoned with Lincoln Peak Marquette wine and garlic.   For the beans I chose to use 1 1/2 cups of traditional dried red kidney beans plus 1 1/2 cups of Jacobs Cattle Beans.  The latter are heirloom beans grown in Maine which are similar to kidney beans.  I soaked the beans overnight, then slow cooked them this afternoon while listening to some of my favorite New Orleans blues music and gearing up to watch the big game. 

Red Beans & Rice

3 C Red Beans
1 1b sausage
splash red wine
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium shallot, chopped
1 medium green bell pepper chopped
1/2 C carrots, chopped
1/2 C celery, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 C water or broth
2 C cooked brown rice

1 bay leaf
1 tsp thyme
Salt & Pepper

Brown whole sausages on all sides over medium-high heat in a hot soup pot or dutch oven.  Remove the sausages and set aside.  In the retained sausage drippings, add the splash of red wine and scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pot.  Add the onion, shallot, bell pepper, carrot, celery, jalapeno, and garlic.  Cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until softened.  Add seasonings, then the rinsed beans, and 4 cups of water.  Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat to the lowest setting, and simmer for an hour.

Meanwhile, cook the rice in a rice cooker or on the stove top and slice the sausage into one-inch bias- cut slices.  After an hour, or when the beans turn soft, add the sausage and rice.  Stir and heat through.  Serve with a slice of crusty bread and enjoy.   You'll be glad you made a big pot, since the leftovers are better than the original.

Even though a crusty French bread would be the customary accompaniment to my red beans & rice, I have a recipe for buttermilk bread that I have been excited to try out.  The recipe comes from The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book- a Guide to Whole-Grain Bread Baking.  There is a great dairy farm in Orwell, VT called The Animal Farm that makes the most delicious fresh-churned butter and buttermilk from their small herd of grass-fed Jersey cows.  They ship most of their supply of dairy products to two restaurants run by Chef Thomas Keller:  The French Laundry in California and Per Se in New York.  It's highly unlikely on my budget that I will ever visit either of these, so I'm lucky that what little they have left, they sell at my co-op.   I love using their buttermilk in everything from mashed potatoes to biscuits and was excited to try it out in a bread recipe.  Here is what you will need:

Buttermilk Bread

2 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 C warm water 
3/4 C hot water
1/4 C honey
1 1/4 C cold buttermilk
5 1/2 C whole wheat flour
plus more for dusting
2 tsp salt
2-4 Tbsp cold, unsalted butter

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water.  Ideal temperature range is between 110 and 115 F.  Mix the hot water with the honey and stir until the honey is dissolved. Add the cold buttermilk.  Meanwhile, mix the salt and the flour in a large bowl.  Make a reservoir in the center of the flour and pour the buttermilk mixture and the yeast mixture in.  Stir from the inside out until all the flour is incorporated.  Turn it out onto a floured surface and knead for 15 minutes.  Cut the cold butter into bits and knead it into the flour.  Knead an additional 5 minutes.  Form the dough into a ball and place in a large bowl.  Cover, and place in a warm, draft-free place for 1 1/2 hours.  To check readiness, poke the dough in the center 1/2 inch deep with a wet finger.  If the hole doesn't fill back in, it is ready for the next step.  Press the dough flat, form it into a ball again, and return it to the bowl.  Cover again and let it rise another 45 minutes.

Press it flat and divide it into 2 separate balls.  Let it rest for 15 minutes.  Deflate it, and shape it into two loaves.  Place them into loaf pans or just onto a baking sheet and let them rise in a warm place until the dough slowly returns a gentle fingerprint.  Preheat the oven to 325 F, brush the loaves with some melted butter or buttermilk, and bake for 1 hour.