Valentine's Day dinner- 2/24/2015
I refuse to go out for Dinner on Valentine's day PERIOD!! In my youth Hoa and I we used to go on to fancy restaurants and we learned that it is really not worth all the hassle.
Of course we all want the fancy, romantic Valentine's Day dinner with your partner but it is a double-whammy to your wallet and the experience is always a let down. First, demand is really high for such a meal on Valentine's day so restaurants usually get a big hike in prices but yet even you pay peak prices the true problem with the Valentine's Day dinner is that quality and service are likely to take a dive. Secondly, if you did not plan in advance, chances you will not get a reservation. Now that we know what to expect to go out on Valentine's day we rather stay home.
This year it is probably the worse time to go out because Valentine's day is on a Saturday and you can expect a lot of people dinning out.
I am avoiding the crowd so I am inviting our friends for a Valentine's dinner at our house.
The table is all set up for Valentine!
Decorating the table with Valentine's Color, Red, pink and white.
The table came out pretty nice and hopefully it will create a nice mood.
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Plum Blossoms |
Quince blossoms |
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I tried to make it special so I printed a personal menu for each couple.
Tonight I am preparing a four course dinner and the theme is Duck served 4 way.
1-Mixed salad served with Brie Beignet in a beer batter and smoked duck served on a bed of spinach fondue and mushroom ragout.
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This dish is a bit time consuming to put together as it is has 5 components: Salad, fried Brie beignet in beer batter, Spinach fondue, mushroom ragout, and pan seared smoke duck breast.
However the spinach fondue was really flavorful and it goes really well with the duck. Worth all the effort.
Cheers to Hoa, Minh, Loan, Trung, Ha, Maily, Phuc, Huyen, Hanh, and Tuan
2nd course: Cauliflower puree, duck egg, burned butter, and crispy bacon.
A unusual dish but all the flavors came together very nicely.
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Prepping the Foie gras
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Here I am ready to pan seared the foie gras.
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Course 3: Pan seared Foie Gras with blueberries in a balsamic reduction
We love Foie gras that's for sure and the best way is to pan seared it. So glad the banned of Foie Gras in California is lifted!
Foie Gras forever!
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Foie gras was paired with a great 1990 Chateau Guiraud 1er Cru Sauternes.
Oh my gosh this sauternes is incredibly delicious... We managed to finish this bottle between 11 people.
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Preparing the Moulard Duck breast.
4th course: Pan seared Moulard Duck Breast with a parsnip puree, and parsnip chips in a cherry sauce.
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Ending the meal with a Chocolate soufflé with espresso Crème Anglaise.
Happy Valentine's day!
Filed under: Dinner parties
