v-day dinner (and dessert)
Considering I gave blood that morning, and also because it was Valentine’s Day, it sounded like the perfect combination of excuses to enjoy red meat guilt-free. Hey, my body needed the iron. Again finding myself in a situation where a grill would be nice to have, I worked around it and found a recipe for filet mignon that called only for a skillet. Plus there are minimal ingredients and no marinating time, that is my kind of recipe.
What it did call for was some dry red wine, and a lot of the reviews said the dish will only turn out as good as the wine you are cooking with so don’t skimp. I like to do things right so I looked up what type of wine goes best with filet mignon and resources said Cabernet Sauvignon. The Cab I ended up choosing was Kuleto Estate 2005 (Lone Acre) from Napa Valley. No complaints there and we drank it with dinner as well as just cooking with it.
From the pictures on the site it seemed like everyone was having asparagus as a side for this, so I did the same. They went so well together and my boyfriend said this asparagus recipe has taken the top spot in his list of favorite veggie side dishes so far. The filet itself turned out pretty good too. I mean, it wasn’t restaurant quality, but it was mighty tasty for a home cooked meal… especially since it was my first attempt at steak.
Click the links below for recipes:
FILET MIGNON WITH RICH BALSAMIC GLAZE
But wait, that’s not all…
…I went all in and made fancy chocolate covered strawberries too! They looked so pretty I told my boyfriend he couldn’t eat any until he took pictures of them (he is by far the better photographer out of the two of us). So there, to all my family members who are still in disbelief that I am spending this much time in the kitchen and actually having some success, look what I just made!
We ate them up pretty quick, but in all honesty they are kind of a pain in the butt to make and in the future if I ever want chocolate covered strawberries I am more likely to just buy them. But if you’re ambitious…
Click the link below for recipe:
Tuesday, February 17, 2009 at 9:18 am
it is amazing what a pro photographer can do! these look like they could have been catered for a wedding.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Hey now, I deserve at least some of the credit here. But yes, having him around does come in handy!
Saturday, February 21, 2009 at 11:20 am
i am walking your grandmother through how to leave a comment……
Sunday, February 22, 2009 at 11:52 am
WOW!!! I can see it now…Sarah the chef and Jeff the photographer making a beautiful cookbook together…match made in a kitchen in Pasadena
Monday, February 23, 2009 at 11:24 am
Sounds like a great project for my 30s! Hahaha, biggest 360 ever if I were to one day release a cookbook.