Les and I try to cook when we can, and it had been a while since we’d done anything fancy, so we hit up epicurious for something challenging. Our Valentine’s day dinner, illustrated edition:
Main Course: Beef Tenderloin with Cranberry-Port Sauce and Gorgonzola Cheese
This was absolutely amazing. An “instant classic,” you might say. We were skeptical at first, since it incorporates so many random tastes (cranberry + port + blue cheese?!), but we were very pleasantly suprised. The preparation was easy, we just started with the base of every tasty western dish: butter, garlic, and onion (shallots, to be exact)
We then added the port, broth, and cranberries, and reduced about 4:1. Then we soaked up the juices from grilling the beef with it and poured it over the top.
The overall taste was perfect, and unexpected: the sweetness of the port, the cranberries combined with the sharpness and pungence of the cheese: heaven! I absolutely recommend this, and we’ll definitely do it again, though maybe not with $30/lb beef.
Side: Saffron Orzo with Asparagus and Prosciutto
Orzo is a tasty pellet-shaped pasta that I like to begin with. Throw in saffron, ham, and asparagus, and I’m in love. Step one was to fry the pork in some butter. After this, add more butter, then let the orzo just soak it up:
Mmm. Finish hydrating it with chicken broth and add the saffron for a beautiful golden color, adding the asparagus later for maximum crispiness.
Drink: Bishop
This tasty way to finish our bottle of port involves roasting an orange studded with cloves for 90 minutes then quartering it into simmering ruby port. Delicious accompaniment to some chocolate mousse we bought for desert.
