for Valentine’s Day kevin and i enjoyed a relaxing and romantic evening home. we had dinner, exchanged gifts, and then watched a movie! i wanted to make kevin a simple but slightly fancy dinner. here’s what i came up with!
THE MENU:
appetizer: bacon crackers (courtesy of Ree Drummond)
main dish: seared scallops & oven-roasted asparagus over a cauliflower puree
dessert: chocolate covered strawberries
the appetizer and dessert were pretty straightforward. we did like the bacon crackers a LOT. they complemented the scallops amazingly well. we used different crackers than the ones recommended by the recipe so they weren’t too overwhelmingly buttery and rich. mm…i think the bacon we used was probably a bit too thick so next time we’ll have to try a thinner sliced version.
now for the main dish! when i started planning the menu last weekend, all i knew was that i wanted to make scallops because scallops speak “fancy” and i have often ordered them for past valentine’s dinners and other nice dinners with kevin. after looking at a number of recipes online i came up with the following.
Ingredients:
- 2 lb jumbo scallops
- 1 lb asparagus
- olive oil
- 1 head green cauliflower
- 1 head white cauliflower
- 6 garlic cloves
- 1/2 c greek yogurt
- 1/4 c heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 c grated parmesan cheese
- 8 Tbs butter (6 for scallops, 2 for cauliflower puree)
- salt & pepper
Directions:
1) Bring a big pot of water to boil. Add cauliflower florets and garlic gloves. Cook until florets are fork tender (about 5-7 min). Drain and remove from heat. Mash the cauliflower with a potato masher. Add the greek yogurt, heavy whipping cream, parmesan cheese, and butter. Mash more and then puree with an immersion hand blender until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
2) Preheat oven to 425. Lay out asparagus on baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt & pepper. Bake for 10 minutes. After the asparagus is cooked, cut into thirds.
3) Season scallops with salt and pepper. Melt 3 Tbs of butter in a large skillet. Once the butter melt and starts to brown and sizzle, add 1 lb (half) of scallops to the skillet. Sear scallops until they turn golden brown. Flip and cook until golden brown. Clean pan and repeat to cook the rest of the scallops.
4) To serve, mound about 1 1/2 cups of cauliflower puree on plate. Top with scallops, and then asparagus.
5) Enjoy!
the main dish was SO SOOO good! scallops are always amazing, but WOW the cauliflower puree blew our socks off! kevin liked it so much that he said it was even better than mashed potatoes…and it was made out of vegetables! that’s a win for me!
switching topics here, but i’m realizing that i reeeally enjoy cooking yummy food for other people to enjoy. it’s a new love language that has been rapidly developing ever since i got married. all to say, Valentine’s Day dinner was made with lots of love for my sweet hubbyboo.
alice in cook-ING land 