For an audio extravaganza on Valentine’s Day, featuring interviews with Amy Reiley, author of Fork Me, Spoon Me, the Sensual Cookbook, Vari Cuthbert of Whole Foods in West Vancouver and executive chef Scott Pratico of Joe Fortes, make sure you listen to my Valentine’s Day podcast. For recipes, see below:
Valentine’s Day Dinner Suggestions
All of these suggestions are courtesy Scott Pratico, executive chef at Joe Fortes Restaurant in Vancouver
Appetizer:
Scott suggests raw oysters for an appetizer and prefers the Kumomoto or Kushi oysters. They are small, flavourful and easy to shuck. For a special topping, take a quarter cup of a high quality fruit vinegar. (I used Maille raspberry vinegar) and mix it with 1 shallot, finely chopped. This is called a mignonette.
Main Course:
2 choices:
Lobster: If you are squeamish about dealing with a live lobster going into a pot, Scott says put the lobster in the freezer for about half an hour before you cook it. It will go comatose and won’t feel a thing when you put it into the water.
Fill a big pot with water, leaving a couple of inches at the top. Put a good handful of salt in the water, maybe a lemon and a bay leaf, maybe a shot of white wine. When the water comes to a boil, put in the lobster. When it comes back to the boil, start timing. For a one pound lobster, 10 minutes, 15 for a 1 ½ pound lobster, 18 for two pounds.
Scallops and prawns: Get a couple of large branches of rosemary. Strip all the leaves off except for a tuft at the end. Sharpen the cleaned end with a knife, and alternate skewering large prawns and scallops onto the skewer. Season with salt and pepper and a thin coat of olive oil. Heat a cast iron skillet or grill pan so it’s really hot, then sear the prawns and scallops for about two minutes a side. The prawns should be pink and plumped up, don’t over cook them.
For veggies, Scott recommends steamed asparagus or a light salad, and some nice bread for your starch.
Dessert: Take 250 mls of whipping cream and heat until just about boiling in a small pot. Remove from heat and whisk in 250 grams of chopped, dark chocolate until it melts. That’s it! Pour into a nice bowl and serve with chunks of pineapple, banana, strawberry, whatever strikes your fancy.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
