Our Valentine's

Beth and I have not once been able to spend a Valentine's Day together. While we were dating she was always in College Station and even when she wasn't, something always came up. This year was no different. Ironically enough, she was in College Station doing a career fair for her company. It was sad, that our first year of marriage, we didn't get to spend V-Day together. But I knew she would be back on Saturday and I wanted to do something extra special. After reading Box's post on cooking, you might just think this is a repeat of that, but not so much. You also might not be able to grasp just how special it is for someone like Box or myself to cook. What you don't realize is that neither of us had ever cooked a meal in our lives (except maybe Mac & Cheese). Beth, in particular, is very much into cooking. She is a fantastic cook and very knowledgeable. She frequents shows like Top Chef, Iron Chef America, and more. If I was going to impress her, I had to go all out. That I did. I also wanted to cook it in her presence so she knew it was all me. In order to pull that off, I had to do a practice run. Last Thursday I went to my friend Jesse's house for this "trail run". He and his wife just moved here from Dallas for him to attend culinary school! He's pretty much the bomb when it comes to cooking. So he showed me the ropes and it ended up being the best quality lunch break I've ever taken!

So now onto the menu!

Appetizer:

• Goat Cheese Toast Point - This consisted of a really good rye bread toasted in the oven topped with an orange marmalade sauce, goat cheese, and an herb salad (fennel, dill, basil, parsley, & arugula). This was absolutely amazing...tastes SO good.

Main Course:

• Cocoa Crusted Filet - Filet Mignon with a dry rub mixed from Ghirardelli dark chocolate powder, ancho chili powder, and salt & pepper. I pan-seared the filet to a medium rare.
• Mascarpone Mashed Potatoes - Self explanatory, just a fancier and more delicious way of making mashed potatoes
  
• Asparagus - Cooked with cocoa nibs, almonds, diced garlic & shallots, and chicken stock. A way to make anyone enjoy their vegetables!
• A dried cherry reduction was a sauce served throughout the whole main course, it went pretty good with everything.
  

Dessert:

• Chocolate Mousse - Chocolate mousse with homemade whipped cream and sliced strawberries!

Wow, I'm really hungry now that I'm talking about all this. Anyway, she was blown away and it was awesome. Hopefully I can top this next year. I'm sure if we get to spend the actual V-Day together, it will probably increase my chances of being able to top it.