A Valentine's Day on a Saturday was a perfect excuse to cook. We started with scallops in a mushroom-white wine sauce. I definitely had the breadcrumbs on the top too close to the broiler:
It was really good though. The sauce was difficult, but I didn't need too much, and it tasted good. It's made by poaching the sea scallops in white wine and water, with some onion and bay leaf. I added some shrimp shells for a little extra flavor. You then add egg yolk and cream to a roux, then mix it all together. Mine was way lumpy, but I got enough for two servings, and this was delicious. We drank Gloria Ferrar Sonoma Brut.
The salad was the star of the show. Another Cook's roasted vegetable recipe, carrots and beets with watercress, in a honey vinaigrette. Amazingly delicious. I should have trimmed the watercress better--it made for a beautiful presentation, but was difficult to eat.
And finally, the dish I've wanted to make all winter. Mario Batali's Osso Buco with pine nut gremolata. I made it in the morning and reheated it, and it was wonderful. The sauce was really really good, made with the chicken stock and tomato sauce I made last weekend.
I was disappointed in the gremolata, however. I thought the texture of the pine nuts really didn't work with the silkiness of the rest of the dish. That was my only criticism.
Enjoyed atop risotto Milanese, with a 2003 Planeta Merlot (way good and really interesting), it was a great, low-stress, but fancy, meal. We finished the evening with a little Lake Champlain milk chocolate and port. Perfect.
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