Dinner Turns Red on Valentine's Day

Starting with a heart-shaped salad, add in a mouth-watering filet mignon for the entree and end the night with a sweet raspberry kiss. Here is a festive five-course meal that will woo any valentine this holiday.

Red, Sweetheart Salad

2 bunches of small beets (3-4 per bunch)

1 small personal seedless watermelon

1/2 tablespoon Mexican salty Cojito cheese, chopped super fine

Micro greens, two pinches sprinkled over each plate

Pomegranate berries for garnish

Have a pot of boiling water ready for the beets. Cut tops off of the beets, rinse and place in boiling water for about 45 minutes to an hour until cooked through, or until knife slides through them easily. Carefully pour out the hot water and replace it with cold water. Let the beets cool down for 20 minutes before handling. After thoroughly cooling, over the sink, place one of the beets between your fingers and rub off the skin and the top under cold water. Try to keep the root a little longer to create the pointed bottom of a heart.

To create a heart shaped beet: Cut beets into one-quarter-inch vertical slices. Place on a cutting board and carefully cut with a four-inch pairing knife, into the top of the beet, a sweetheart top. 

Slice the watermelon in half, and then slice the halves into three-eighths-inch slices. Cut a V-shape into the melon slice, and place on a cutting board to round out the top into a sweetheart shape.

Raspberry Vinaigrette

1/4 cup fresh Raspberries

1/4 white wine vinegar

3/4-cup oil

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon prepared mustard

1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon

Pinch of salt

Place all ingredients into a blender or food processor, and blend until incorporated. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Assemble: Sprinkle a small amount of the raspberry vinaigrette onto a plate and put two beet and two watermelon hearts on top of the dressing. Take a pinch of Cojito cheese and place carefully on top of each heart beet and watermelon. Sprinkle a pinch of micro greens on top for garnish, but try not to cover the hearts. Place pomegranate berries around plate as a garnish.

Honey’s Lobster Salad

2 large Martini glasses

Claws meat and tail of a one-and-a-half pound Maine Lobster, steamed

Butter lettuce

1 Red Endive

Juice of 1/2 lime (per martini glass)

Whole cilantro stems on, or micro greens

Sprinkling of extra virgin olive oil

Slice of lime for garnish

Salt to taste

Place the whole lobster into boiling water for five minutes, then turn down heat and keep in water for another 10 minutes. Place the lobster in ice water to cool. Being very careful, use a rubber mallet, break the shell and pull out the claw meat. Crack open the tail, pull out and slice into medallions.

Assemble the martini glass with spears of Endive first. Then place torn butter lettuce on bottom of the glass, sprinkle with a little salt, lime juice and olive oil. Add tail medallions and finally one claw meat per martini glass. Repeat with salt, lime and olive oil. Chill until served. 

A Valentine Filet Mignon

1 cup balsamic vinegar

1-2 pound beef tenderloin roast (fat and silver skin removed)

Sea salt to taste

1 1/2 tablespoons Maille brand prepared Dijon Mustard

1/8 cup crushed whole black peppercorns (don’t grind to a powder, leave slightly chunky for texture—hint: I use a coffee grinder and pulse, or you can place in plastic zip lock bag and roll over to crush with a rolling pen)

3 tablespoons whole pink peppercorns for garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Measure then pour the vinegar in a small pot on medium heat for 15 minutes, reducing it to the point of covering the back of a spoon, then remove from heat and set aside. Check often, and be careful not to let the vinegar foam, because it will harden like caramelized sugar and you want it thick and pourable.

For the beef tenderloin (make sure you have a meat thermometer): Salt the meat to taste. Thinly cover the Dijon mustard over all sides of the meat evenly. Sprinkle with crushed black peppercorns evenly over all sides of the meat. Place it on a cookie sheet and put into the back of the oven. Roast for about 15 minutes and check its temperature. The temperature should read 115 degrees for rare, which is preferable for tenderloin, and 120 for medium-rare.

Take meat out and let rest for another 10 minutes before slicing. It will continue to cook. Before slicing, firmly put the pink peppercorns all over the top of the roast. Cut into slices and place over the balsamic vinegar reduction to serve.

Red Potato Galette

1 teaspoon truffle olive oil to coat baking dish (truffle is optional, use plain extra virgin if prefer)

4 small red potatoes (thinly and evenly sliced)

1/4 cup chopped Pancetta

Salt and pepper to taste (easy on the salt, remember Pancetta is slightly salty already)

1/4 cup half and half

1 small shallot, sliced

Set oven to 350 degrees. Swirl truffle olive oil on bottom of baking dish, being sure to spread evenly to prevent sticking. Place in the sliced red potatoes, layered. Spread them out on top of each other in a circle if your dish is round or rows if your baking dish has straight sides. Continue until baking dish is filled with evenly spaced, sliced potatoes.

Salt and pepper to taste. Pour the half-and-half over potatoes. Sprinkle the Pancetta and shallot slices evenly on top and place in oven for 25 to 30 minutes, bake until golden brown and a knife slides through the potatoes. Serves two. 

Raspberry Tart

1/4 package fresh raspberries per heart-shaped tart pan

Frozen pie dough (rolled out on floured surface)

1/4 block of cream cheese

1 teaspoon of confectioners sugar (or to taste)

1 drop of vanilla extract

Honey for drizzling on top

Set oven to 400 degrees. Roll out frozen dough to one-quarter-inch thickness. Place the raw pastry carefully into a tart pan. Dock with fork (make small holes) into the dough and cook in oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

In a medium-sized bowl place cream cheese and soften with the back of a fork. Add sugar and one drop of vanilla and incorporate together. After tart shell has cooled, place a half-layer of the cream cheese inside, being careful not to break off the edges of the pastry. Place the raspberries, top-side down, on top of the cream cheese mixture within the boundary of the pastry. Drizzle honey on top, chill and serve.

Melinda Curtis is owner of the personal and private chef service Open House Culinary and occasional food writer for Patch. She is a member of the American Personal and Private Chef Association of America.