I LOVE MY VALENTINE!!!!!

Today was Valentine’s Day. We spent the day browsing through little towns in the Charlotte area – Davidson, Cornelius, Concord, Belmont - looking for antique shops. Unfortunately, most were closed on Sunday, except for a lovely little shop in Belmont. When we got tired of antiquing, we went to Ross Dress For Less. But we had the most wonderful Valentine’s Day dinner.

We started with shrimp with Cava, a first course without compare (unless we had Wellfleet oysters, which unfortunately, we didn’t have…..

We then followed the first course with

FILET MIGNON WITH MULTI-ETHNIC SAUCE AND SMOKED BLUE CHEESE,
LOBSTER AND CHIVE WHIPPED POTATOES

Eric prepared a sauce from 1 cup Cabernet Sauvignon, 4 Tbsp. lingonberry preserves (from Ikea), whole cherries, and garam masala. The sauce was simmered until reduced by half. The filet mignon was broiled until medium rare. Over the sauce we crumbled some smoked Blue Cheese from Dean and Deluca (any rich smooth Blue will do).

The meal was accompanied by lobster-whipped potatoes, using a chopped lobster tail, butter and chives in mashed potatoes that Sherry prepared. Awsum!

Dessert was a Raspberry-infused Chocolate bar.

Pre-Valentine's Day Dinner

While having lunch at the Cabo Fish Taco restaurant in NoDa (Charlotte), we starting to think about our plans for a pre-Valentine's Day Dinner. Sherry came up with the idea of a stuffed pork chop with a fresh salad of greens, seared goat cheese and blueberries. Her creativity led to making a stuffing of hot Italian sausage and Andouille sausage, capers, sun-dried tomatoes, panko and brie! She cooked up the sausages, chopped them up in a bowl, and added chopped pieces of brie, capers, sun-dried tomatoes and panko. She made cuts in the fairly thick boneless pork chops, stuffed them, and then cooked them in the skillet (using the sausage juices) until done. A little white wine added to make a reduction, poured over the chops, and finished with some balsamic glaze.

The salad was simpler, with a mix of baby spinach and red butter lettuce leaves, grape tomatoes, and blueberries. She cut pieces of goat cheese, covered them with panko, and then cooked them in canola oil until browned on both sides. A simple dressing of balsamic vinegar, canola oil and powdered garlic, zapped for 45 seconds in the microwave, accompanied the meal.

Just a spectacular meal! I can’t wait for Valentine’s Day dinner tonight.