love-made feast on valentines

written by jun

valentines day is the one day out of the year where we’ve sworn to never dine out. we refuse to buy into the blatantly overpriced food and the uninspiring generic menu. instead, we love to create our own feast at home. what’s more romantic that two people creating a work of art in the kitchen and sharing that masterpiece in the comfort of their own home?

this year, the menu consists of

juicy ribeye steak
creamy celery root puree
crispy brussel sprouts with honeyed walnuts
grilled giant green asparagus
decadent chocolate souffle

and of course, a meal would not be complete without red wine. two bottles worth to be exact. one while we were cooking, the other one while we were eating. honestly, i can’t find anything more fun than cooking and drinking at the same time.

two great passions, drinking and cooking

a tip to quick “aging” the steak is to leave it uncovered on a rack in the fridge. this helps draw the moisture out of the meat, concentrating the flavor of the beef. i left the steak to age overnight, approximately 24 hrs. one time, i aged it for 48 hrs. but i found that it turned slightly jerky-ish. so i definitely do not recommend aging it for more than 48 hrs.

steak is “aging”

since i was planning to grill the asparagus, i decided to throw the steak on there as well… two birds one stone kind of deal. i didn’t want to wash an extra pan… washing dishes after a delicious full meal is no fun. once the grill was nice and hot, i generously salted the room temperature steak. roughly 2 minutes on each side should do the trick.

look at those grill marks

so my friend, Celia Hu, a fellow hk blogger at girlmeetscooking.com, suggested that i try celeriac. ok, at first glance, i had no idea how to tackle this ugly monstrosity. it was the first time for me cooking this thing. but i figured it’s similar to a parsnip, so i treated it like one… just boil and puree it until smooth like baby food.

perfect with meat, or even as a vegetable dip

now, i don’t know about you, but brussel sprouts has got to be one of my favorite veggies ever. i used to buy them fresh on the stem in trader joes back in the states. now, they are considered a luxury item in hong kong… oh to be in california again. but one thing is for sure, you can’t go wrong with deep frying food, especially vegetables.

deep fried brussel sprouts with honeyed walnuts

asparagus is certainly a hit or miss when it comes to valentines day. some of you already know what i’m talking about here. there’s a certain, odor, that’s produced when one consumes asparagus. whether you smell that odor or not really depends on the receptors in your nose. luckily, some of us are born with the inability to smell that nitrogenous stank. for others, like myself and priscilla, we have to hold our noses through several cycles of urination before the smell goes away.

how to resist these fat asparagus

and finally, you gotta have dessert for valentines, especially one that involves chocolate… it’s the unofficial flavor of valentine couples everywhere. we love making souffles because we each have our unspoken assigned tasks. she takes care of prepping the ramekins and making the custard, while i do the meringue and shaping of the souffle. it’s definitely the ultimate example of team work.

chocolate is the unofficial must-have on v-day

the point of valentines is to spend quality time together. for us, that means cooking up an amazing meal in the kitchen. the best part is we get to reap the rewards of that time well spent.

nothing fancy. just a plate of love

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