The time before Valentine’s Day is running out, and if you’re like me you may not be entirely sure what special thing you’re going to do for your significant other.
Making your sweetheart a romantic dinner at home can be an intimate, more relaxed (and certainly more personal) alternative to going out to an expensive restaurant.
The key to a successful Valentine’s Day dinner is making something quick and without a lot of prep work that still results in a memorable meal. That way you can spend the most time with your lover.
Here are two easy dinner recipes that are sure to make an impression. The most difficult step is keeping him or her from inquiring what the strange box from Marx Foods is doing in the freezer before you spring the surprise on them.
Suggestion 1: Crown Roast of Lamb
Believe it or not, this ultra-fancy dish isn’t a lot of work. Probably the most difficult element is frenching racks of lamb (specifically two), and ours are pre-frenched.
Once that’s done, all you have to do is decide on the elements for a flavorful crust to be pressed on the outside of the lamb meat. The easiest solution is rubbing on a high-quality rough ground dijon mustard, but if you’d like to personalize the dish more, try a blend of olive oil, bread crumbs, and whatever herbs/spices strike your fancy (fresh rosemary‘s the traditional choice). Bend the two racks of lamb into semi-circles (bones facing in) and tie the ends of each rack together so a crown is formed. When you’re ready to cook, throw it in a 375 degree oven until the internal temperature of the lamb is at 130.
Then pull it out, let it rest for 20 minutes, fill the middle of the crown with a pilaf or other rice dish (there are some pretty good boxed pilafs on the market…I won’t tell if you don’t) and present to your valentine.
But let’s say you’re one of those people who’s better at eating good food than making it. What do you do then?
Suggestion 2: Fresh Alfredo Sauce Over Nuovo Pasta
Alfredo sauce is actually very simple, there are really only three essential ingredients (cheese, butter, cream) and the end result needn’t be fettucini Alfredo. You can pick one of forty exciting filled gourmet pastas, such as our Grand Marnier roasted duck ravioli. We even have heart shaped raviolis. Our heart-shaped lobster and herb raviolis are not only bright red, but are also a nice pairing with Alfredo.
Just start some water boiling, get your ingredients together and pre-measured for your sauce and throw the frozen pasta in the boiling water about the same time you start your sauce.
The amounts for your ingredients really depend upon how much you’re making, but a easy rule is half as much butter as cream, and an amount of cheese equal to your cream.
Melt some good quality butter in a saute pan, pour in your heavy cream and simmer for a few minutes before wisking in finely grated parmesan (use the best you can, Parmigiano Reggiano if possible). When the cheese is melted, you’re done! Simply toss the pasta in the sauce and serve immediately.
If neither New Zealand lamb racks nor hand-made ravioli strike your fancy, we also offer fresh live oysters, whole cornish game hens, and frenched Le Québécois veal rib chops, all quite capable of wowing your special someone.
Comments 2
when I tie the racks together, they’re flat, with no space in between. How do I fill that space with anything?
My apologies, Anita, it looks like I neglected a step in the process. You should be able to bend each rack into a semi-circle prior to tying them together at each end to make a circle.
If your racks are giving you trouble, you might try scoring the membrane between each rib on the back of each rack with a knife, that should help loosen them up.
I’ve changed the blog post to make this step clearer. Thanks for catching the problem!