A Lovely Valentine's Dinner

A Lovely Valentine's Dinner

Ten lovely guests came for an evening of delight this past Valentine's evening. People seemed to have a great time! I know I had a great time preparing all of the food. Especially because my friend Santha came and helped. We had so much fun together in the kitchen making this fabulous feast!

Santha plating up the first course, beet-cured salmon with endive fennel salad

We started off the evening in the salon with kir royales and oysters. This was a great way for the guests to introduce themselves to one another before heading to the table.

Starting the evening in the salon with oysters and kir royales

To go with the oysters, I made a mignonette with the outside rings of shallots chopped finely, and my favorite white wine vinegar, Forvm Chardonnay Bittersweet Vinegar. I order mine from Supermarket Italy. I also used a tiny bit of prepared horseradish.

Rock Point, Amethyst and Pacific Jewel oysters with a mignonette

The First Seated Course

While the guests were enjoying their oysters, Santha and I plated up the first course; beet-cured salmon and endive-fennel salad. I purchased the largest wild sockeye salmon fillets I could find. Since it was Valentine's, I wanted to accentuate the color red, so when I saw Naomi Pomeroy's Beet-Cured Salmon, I decided I would use her recipe. The salmon, like any cured salmon, was a bit salty, so I paired it with the bitter and sweetness of the endive and fennel. I tossed the salad with a simple honey lemon dill vinaigrette and garnished the plate with radish slices, crème fraîche and wild salmon caviar.

Beet-Cured Salmon with endive, fennel, radish, dill, crème fraîche and wild salmon caviar

Beet-Cured Salmon with endive, fennel, radish, dill, crème fraîche and wild salmon caviar

The Main Dinner Course

While the guests were enjoying the first course, Santha and I were busily preparing the main course, stuffed quail with a cassis sauce and kale. I've cooked quail different ways, and will admit, I like to brown it in a black pan, then arroser it with butter and herbs before putting it in a warm oven to finish off. But, with 10 guests and two birds per person, plus Santha and me (we wanted some too!), there wasn't enough time for that. So this is what we did.

First, I started the preparation for the birds early in the day by drying them out in the refrigerator with salt. Next I stuffed them, then rested at room temperature for close to 2 hours before cooking. I pre-heated the pans in a 450ºF oven, then we put the birds on the hot pans and broiled them for about 7 to 10 minutes. They rested under foil for about 15 minutes. I think they turned out pretty darn good! I will be writing a blog about cooking quail. So, stay tuned...

Quinoa stuffed quail on the pain

Plating up 10 dinner plates of these beautiful birds.

The brown sauce was fantastic. When I was making it, I just wanted to drink it... but resisted. We used every ounce of the sauce. I made it with two different stocks and the wild mushroom soaking water. One stock was made from the quail carcasses, and the other was a rich stock from chicken and beef bones and oxtails. I reduced cassis and white wine vinegar with shallots, then reduced the stocks with the shallots, bay leaves and juniper berries until it became this creamy decadent sauce.

I stuffed the quail with wild mushrooms and black quinoa, which was also cooked in a rich stock, then served with simple steamed kale and lemon zest. We finished off the plates with an herbed parsley-chive oil and fresh parsley.

Black quinoa and wild mushroom stuffed quail with kale and cassis mushroom sauce

Cheese Course with Green Salad

The next course was a simple green salad with cheese. I've always liked that combination instead of them separated, so I generally always put those two courses together. However, I forgot to take a photo of the cheeses, so you'll have to imagine how wonderful it was. We had a humboldt fog, a triple cream and a blue cheese.

Valentine Chocolates for Dessert

A beautiful array of hand made chocolates by my dear friend, Katarina Cahen was the final course. They consisted of truffles, chocolates, caramelized hazelnuts, marzipan hearts and macarons.

Katarina Cahen's hand made chocolates for dessert

The guests all brought wine. You'll know I had great guests when you see this line-up. All lovely quality wines!

The wines the guests brought to pair with the meal

To all of my guests, a heartfull THANK YOU for contributing and making the evening fantastic! I hope to host you again!

Very warmly,
Karen