A Valentine’s Day Meal Fit For Your Special Lady

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, so I thought it would be fun to give the guys out there who read my blog (ladies, don’t hesitate to send this blog to your loved one) some ideas on how to prepare a romantic meal at home on this festive occasion. I know some of you may be saying you can’t cook so each course will have options for a homemade version or a ready-made or simpler preparation. Either choice will be tasty, so it is up to you and depends entirely upon your level of proficiency in the kitchen.

Included will be a lesson or two about plating and setting a romantic table. Because, let’s face it, serving a romantic meal on paper plates with paper napkins leaves a little to be desired unless you are on a picnic which can be very romantic.

A Little Valentine’s Day History

It’s not very clear how Valentine’s Day came to be or which Saint Valentine the day is honoring. Although there are a lot of stories about various possibilities, no one knows for sure, which one is most likely correct. According to history.com, one legend goes,

"Valentine actually sent the first ‘valentine’ greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl — who may have been his jailer’s daughter — who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed ‘From your Valentine,’ an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure. It’s no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France."

There are other stories that you can read on their web site but for us guys, it doesn’t really matter. It is a day when we do something a little special, out of the ordinary for our wives, girlfriends, or significant other. It may be flowers, chocolates or a nice meal at a favorite restaurant. But this year, I’m suggesting trying something different. Prepare your loved one a meal from soup to nuts with all the trimmings and see how she responds.

(By the way, the origin of the phrase "from soup to nuts" comes from a time when formal dinners started with a soup dish and ended with nuts served in the billiards room with a glass of cognac and a cigar)

The Way To A Woman’s Heart

We have all heard the expression, "the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach". Well, it’s the Reluctant Gourmet’s opinion the same is true for women. I have never met anyone, man or woman, who didn’t appreciate the effort that goes into preparing a home cooked meal. Even if it doesn’t turn out as well as you would like, they always appreciate the time you put into making it.

Making a romantic dinner offers lots of advantages:

It’s going to be much more cost effective than going out for dinner. Yes, time is money, and you’ll have to invest a little time shopping and putting the meal together, but it still will be cheaper than an expensive night on the town. And because you will not be paying a double or triple markup on the wine, you can go ahead and purchase something special. Maybe a nice Veuve Clicquot or Dom Perignon champagne or French Bordeaux.

You control the atmosphere. Here’s where you can get creative. You get to choose the lighting and the music. You have no say when you are out in a restaurant, but at home, you get to decide. The table setting will be exactly as you want and if you want to fill the room with candles, so be it. Just a little bit of effort will go a long way.

You don’t need a designated driver. Dining at home permits both you and your partner to have an extra glass of wine without having to worry about driving under the influence.

You won’t need to worry about the service. Valentine’s Day is a busy night in restaurants, as you can imagine. Cooking at home eliminates any upset that can be caused by less-than-stellar service. You can cook and eat at your own pace without worrying about an intrusive waiter wanting to rush you to turn the table.

You can cook together. Even though you are cooking for her, it can be very romantic to work on the meal together. The act of preparing food is a very basic and sincere way of showing love and affection, and preparing it together can bring you closer as a couple. As long as you both are comfortable cooking, give this a shot.

There is no bathtub full of rose petals at a fine dining restaurant. Just saying…

So What’s The Menu

Over the next few days I’ll be posting some different ideas for the menu. It will start with some cheese suggestions, then soup, salad, fish course or meat course and then dessert. Each posting will have a choice of preparing the dish from scratch or taking some shortcuts. I’ll try and make everything as simple as possible while considering how long it will take to put this all together.

You can decide which course works best for your skills and schedule and do everything from scratch or combine the various suggestions together. Doesn’t matter. What does matter is you make the effort to prepare as tasty a meal as you can in the most romantic atmosphere you can create and I’m sure your partner will appreciate it.

How to Make Coq au Vin at Home

When you think of Coq au Vin, do you think "this must be a difficult French dish to prepare?" If you do, you are making a big mistake. This dish is simple to prepare and very economical. In years past, the farmer would make this meal with an old unproductive rooster. Today you can’t find a rooster in the supermarket, young, old or unproductive. Instead we might try substituting dark meat chicken.

Coq au vin is much more about technique than it is about a recipe. While endless variations are possible, this one happens to be very tasty indeed. Although as written, this is a two-day process, it is not imperative to refrigerate overnight if you really want to eat it the same day you make it. This coq au vin recipe goes with my second Squidoo lens called Coq au Vin. If you want to learn more about the history of this dish, see some a great video on how Chef Alton Brown prepares it, plus Julia Child’s version, I recommend you check out my Coq au Vin Squidoo. And please remember to give it 5 stars if you like it.

Serves 4-6, depending on how hungry everyone is

Ingredients

3 oz. thick-cut bacon, cut cross-wise into ½ inch pieces
Butter or neutral oil, as needed
3 dark meat quarters, or thighs and legs to fit in one layer in the bottom of a Dutch Oven
1 ½ oz. all purpose flour
Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
2 medium carrots cut in small dice
2 medium celery stalks, cut in small dice
1 medium-large onion cut in small dice
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh thyme (or ½ teaspoon dried)
2 sprigs fresh parsley (or 1 teaspoon dried)
3 cloves of garlic
5 pepper corns
1 bottle dry red wine
Chicken stock, homemade or low-sodium canned, as needed
8 oz. peeled pearl onions, whole
8 oz. button mushrooms, small ones cut in half, large ones cut in quarters

How to Make Coq au Vin at Home

In the bottom of a large Dutch oven, fry bacon pieces until crisp. Drain and reserve bacon. You should have 1 - 2 tablespoons bacon grease in the bottom of the pan. If not, add a little butter or neutral vegetable oil.

Depending on how much fat you like, you can remove the skin from the chicken pieces. Sear chicken pieces on all sides until golden brown. Reserve.

Again, add butter or oil so you have 1 - 2 tablespoons fat in the pan. Sauté the peeled pearl onions with a little salt and pepper until golden brown. Reserve. Add more oil or butter to the pan, if necessary, and sauté the mushroom pieces with a pinch of salt and pepper until golden brown. Reserve.

Add the carrot, celery, onion, and a pinch of salt and pepper and cook over medium heat until the vegetables are beginning to soften and turn golden. Add the flour, and whisk and cook over medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook another minute or two. Deglaze the hot pan with a cup or so of wine.

Put the chicken back into the pan. Add the rest of the wine. Cover the pot and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat the oven to 300 degrees, F, and add enough chicken stock to the pot to almost cover the chicken.

Tie the bay leaves, thyme, parsley, garlic cloves and peppercorns together in a square of cheesecloth and add to the pot. Submerge the bouquet garni in the cooking liquid.

Cover the pot tightly and let braise in the oven until the chicken is very tender, about 3 hours.

At the end of the cooking time, remove the chicken and the bouquet garni from the pot. Reserve the chicken and keep warm. Throw the bouquet garni away. Do not get the two confused and throw away the chicken.

With an immersion blender, blend the sauce until smooth, and then reduce on the stove top by about ¼ or until a nice saucy consistency. Taste the sauce and add more salt and/or pepper, if needed. Add back the reserved onions and mushrooms and heat through. Add the chicken back to the pan and stir everything together.

Spread the bacon pieces on a baking sheet and heat them up in the oven.

You can serve this dish alone, with crusty bread or even over buttered egg noodles.

Garnish each serving with some of the hot bacon, crispy bacon pieces.

Bratwurst and Sauerkraut with Spicy Mustard

Sauerkraut and mustard are two very traditional accompaniments to a good wurst. Bratwurst is readily available in the United States, but feel free to use any wurst you choose. To learn more about the various types of wurst, be sure to check out my very first Squidoo lens called The Best of the Wurst, an introduction to German Sausages.

For those of you unfamiliar with Squidoo, it is a social networking community website where anyone can create "lenses" or pages focusing on a particular subject. These "lenses" are completely interactive and include content, Flickr photos, Google maps, YouTube videos on the subject being looked at. I’m brand new to the community and will be building more of these "lenses" dealing with cooking techniques and food subjects. If you have a moment, please take a look at my first lens, The Best of the Wurst and be sure to leave comments in the Feedback area.

Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut is eaten throughout much of the world, although it is most commonly associated with Germany and eastern Europe. Sauerkraut is fermented cabbage. The fermentation occurs naturally, and it is fairly easy to make your own, although it is a time consuming process.

Like yogurt, fresh, unpasteurized sauerkraut contains many beneficial bacteria that aid in digestion. As well, it also contains high levels of Vitamin C. As a matter of fact, German sailors always had sauerkraut at hand on their ships to help prevent scurvy!

When using purchased sauerkraut, try to find a fresh, unpasteurized type, as pasteurization kills the beneficial bacteria and breaks down Vitamin C.

Bratwurst and Sauerkraut with Spicy Mustard
Serves 4

For the Bratwurst
4 Bratwurst
2 dark beers
1 large onion, sliced
1 pound fresh sauerkraut
4 Pretzel rolls, hoagie rolls or other long buns
Spicy mustard—recipe follows

In a saucepan, bring beer and onion to a simmer. Pierce bratwurst casings with a sharp knife. Place brats in the simmering beer, turn down the heat to just below a simmer, and let brats poach for about 6 minutes.

Over medium coals, grill brats until they have good color, turning so they are evenly browned—about 1 minute per turn.

If not serving right away, return the cooked brats to the beer/onion mixture to keep hot.

Split rolls almost all the way through. Place, cut side down, on the grill just to get some grill marks.

Gently warm the sauerkraut over medium-low heat. Don’t let it boil, you just want to warm it through.

Spread spicy mustard to taste in each bun. Top with a brat and then some warm sauerkraut. Finish with more mustard, if desired.

Spicy Mustard -
*Mustard must “ripen” three days in the refrigerator before serving, so plan accordingly.

½ cup flat beer (you can use water)
1/3 cup whole mustard seeds
½ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons dry mustard powder (such as Coleman’s)
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
1-2 tablespoons prepared horseradish (optional)

Combine beer and whole mustard seeds. Let sit for one or two hours.

Put soaked seeds and any remaining beer or water into the work bowl of your food processor. Add all the rest of the ingredients. Process for 30 seconds-4 minutes or so, depending on your texture preference. The longer you process, the smoother your mustard will be.

After processing, put the mustard in a small saucepan. Let it sit for an hour, then bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for one minute.

Remove from the heat and cool. Cover tightly and refrigerate for three days to ripen. Mustard will thicken. After three days, adjust the consistency with another teaspoon or two of water or cider vinegar.

Well covered, the mustard will keep for three weeks in the refrigerator.

Makes about 1 ½ cups of mustard.