Flourless Chocolate Walnut Torte with Pinot-Noir-Laced Strawberries

Valentine's Day is synonymous with chocolate. Heart-shaped boxes of it, faux-roses shaped from it, kisses and various red and pink and white candies made from it. Yes, we had to have chocolate in our Valentine's Day dessert. And for good measure, something needed to be red. So when Amy spotted this recipe from Dean and Deluca in an old folder on her computer, she knew it was The One, since it had all the necessary V-Day requirements: chocolate, strawberries and red wine. Perfect.

Amy entered into making this dessert a bit hesitantly, having suffered some baking fails in recent memory. And this one seems, at first glance, to be complicated. However, it's not so much complicated as it has several steps, none of which are very difficult, especially if you've made meringues before. Which we have.

Amy poured the berries out of the container and they formed a heart!

(okay, that didn't really happen...)

Use a nice bottle of pinot. You can drink the rest!

Strawberries, pinot noir and sugar

Start to finish, this recipe took about an hour, then it needed time to cool. We didn't bother with the whipped cream, but sprinkled each slice with a light dusting of confectioner's sugar. The torte was light as air, with lots of crunch from the nuts and hints of chocolate that weren't too overpowering. The pinot-noir-laced berries were divine, with their intense berry-sweetness. We loved it, neighbors B, D and J loved it, and Joanne loved it. This one's a real keeper!

Egg yolks mixed with sugar until pale yellow in color

Egg whites mixed with sugar, until stiff glossy peaks form

Fold ingredients together and pour into prepared springform pan

The finished product

Flourless Chocolate Walnut Torte with Pinot-Laced Strawberries

slightly adapted from this recipe found on epicurean.com

Ingredients:

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup Pinot Noir

1 pound fresh strawberries, hulled and halves (reserve a couple for a garnish!)

5 eggs, separated

1/2 cup plus 5 tablespoons sugar

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

8 ounces chopped walnuts

confectioners sugar

In a medium bowl, combine the sugar and Pinot Noir. Whisk until the sugar is dissolved. Add the strawberries and allow to sit for 2-3 hours. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with a round of parchment paper. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks until pale in color. Gradually beat in the 1/2 cup sugar and continue beating until the mixture is thickened. In another large bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Gradually beat in the 5 tablespoons of sugar into the egg whites, one tablespoon at a time. Continue to beat until stiff, glossy peaks form. Alternately fold the chopped chocolate, chopped walnuts and egg white meringue mixture into the yolk mixture by thirds until well blended. Pour into the parchment-lined springform pan and bake about 30 minutes, until the torte is firm to the touch, does not jiggle when shaken, has risen to the top of the pan, and has turned golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool inside the pan on a wire rack. Once cooled, run a knife around the edges of the pan to detach. Invert onto a plate and peel off the parchment paper. Invert again onto a serving plate. Cut the torte into wedges and top with strawberries and a dusting of confectioners sugar.

Valentine's Surf and Turf

We are products of that era of cooking in which surf-and-turf was the end-all, the epitome of gourmet cuisine, the go-to meal for all special occasions (except those at which Chateaubriand was served, of course). Perhaps that is why we chose it for this year's Valentine's dinner, because something in each of our brains is wired to think "Surf-n-turf equals romance." Whatever the reason, we didn't want to come up with anything extraordinary, nothing molecular or involving strange or hard-to-find ingredients. Yes, we went retro with that oh-so-classic combination: surf and turf.

Melted butter, garlic, shallots, cayenne, salt and pepper...

...whisked together

The "surf" was two 1 1/4-pound lobsters, flash boiled, picked, then returned to the (cleaned out) shell to be baked in a garlic, shallot, pepper and cayenne compound butter. These were moist, succulent and completely drenched in spicy, garlicky buttery yumminess.

Spread butter into the clean lobster shells...

 

...and fill with bite-sized pieces of par-cooked lobster meat.

The "turf" was two 6-ounce filet mignon steaks, generously seasoned with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, seared to perfection, tender, juicy and delicious in their simplicity.

Nicely seasoned and seared filet mignon

The side dish was red potatoes tossed in olive oil and herbs de Provence, then baked at 425 for a half hour.

The dessert? Well, you'll just have to check out our next post to find out about that.

The outcome? Classically romantic.

Hope your Valentine's Day dinner was just as wonderful, shared with the one you love the most.

Valentine's Day Surf and Turf

The Side:

Ingredients:

4 red potatoes, cut into a large dice

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons herbs de Provence

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl. Spread onto a baking sheet and place in oven to roast.

The Surf:

Ingredients:

2 1 1/4-pound lobsters

3 tablespoons kosher salt

6 quarts water

1 stick unsalted butter

1 tablespoon chopped shallots

4 small cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 cup plain breadcrumbs, divided

In a large pot, bring salted water to a rolling boil. Put the lobsters in head-first, cover and cook for 3 minutes only. Remove the lobsters from the water and let cool enough to handle. Pick the lobster meat and cut it into bite-sized chunks; set aside. Clean out the empty body and tail shells and place in a baking dish. Put the butter in a glass bowl and microwave for 30 seconds, until mostly melted. Add the shallots, garlic, cayenne, salt, and pepper, and whisk to incorporate. Spread 1/4 of the butter into the bottom of each lobster shell. Fill each tail shell with 1/2 of the lobster meat and the head of each lobster with 1/2 of the breadcrumbs. Top the lobster meat and breadcrumbs with the remaining butter. Set aside until the "turf" is ready to go into the oven.

The Turf:

Ingredients:

2 6-ounce filet mignon steaks

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

Generously season each steak with salt and pepper. Heat a large cast iron pan over high heat until very hot. Add the olive oil and quickly swirl it around the pan. Place the steaks in the pan and sear over high heat until nicely browned, about 4 minutes each side.

 

The Finish:

Place the baking dish holding the lobster and the cast iron pan holding the steaks into the oven (in which the potatoes are still roasting - check them for doneness). Bake for 6-8 minutes, depending on the thickness of the steaks and how you like them cooked. Plate and serve with a nice bottle of wine, candlelight and lots of love and romance.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Buttermilk Fried Quail

Chris enjoys game meats, and takes advantage of various opportunities each season to enjoy a game dinner with friends or family members. In fact, he has gone hunting in the past, mostly for birds, in particular pheasant and quail, just not recently. Still, when we found a half dozen of these little birds at the market, we bought them. Inspired by an episode of Chef John Besh's New Orleans, we attempted to make Buttermilk Fried Quail. However, we couldn't find his actual recipe, and we no longer had the show on our TiVo, so we did it by (our somewhat failing) memory.

The hard part was deboning the quail. Chef Besh made it look easy (but we didn't have the episode handy, remember). So we did what any normal people would do...we Googled it. We found a great video of Jacques Pepin deboning quail. He, too, made it look easy. Apparently when you do something a gazillion times, it's easy to make it look easy. Too bad Jacques wasn't in our kitchen, because it's not very easy to debone quail. Chris did his best, but the first 3 or 4 (of the six) got a little mangled. The last one was pretty, though! That's the one in the pictures (naturally...).

After the hard part (see previous paragraph), we simply dipped each quail in buttermilk and then in flour we had seasoned with kosher salt, and Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning, which is definitely a staple in our house. Then we fried them in vegetable oil inside a cast iron pan until they were golden brown (about 3 minutes each side). That's it.

It was an okay first attempt. The quail were crispy without being greasy, had good flavor (they tasted like fried chicken) and were pretty tender on the inside. We served them with a side of wilted Swiss chard. But overall, the result was not really worth the effort. Since then, we've (finally!) purchased John Besh's My New Orleans: The Cookbook, and we've read the real recipe, and we've realized exactly how off base we were. So we're not going to give you "our" recipe here...it will only steer you wrong.

To sum up, here's our advice: Buy the book and make it yourself. The right way. Or just order quail next time you see in on a restaurant menu. That would be easy. 

The Hidden Vine Wine Bar and Lounge, Newington, CT

Before you read, sorry about the photos. We forgot the camera and only had a phone.

Dining out is a gamble, a risk, a roll of the dice. There is a cost involved, and these days it's getting harder and harder to find that extra money to do extra things with. That's why we love to take advantage of Groupon, Living Social, and other discount offers, because we love to go out to eat. Usually these don't cover the entire check, however, so the remaining balance is where we place our bet: will the meal be an excellent one or not?

Those truly amazing, and therefore memorable, dining experiences are like winning the jackpot. But that doesn't happen as often as we'd like. Typically, the answer is something in between: not amazing, not awful, but just good enough. That's what we got at The Hidden Vine Wine Bar and Lounge in Newington. The Groupon offer was $20 for $40 worth of food and drink. We had been at a late afternoon meeting in nearby Wethersfield, so figured we'd go ahead and make a night of it.

"Hidden" is a fitting name for this cute restaurant; although the address is on Main Street, it is located in the back of the building facing the back parking lot. There is a patio that must be great in the summer, and the interior space is warm and cozy, with decorations inspired by the wine theme. We were led to a small table and our smiling server brought us a basket filled with bread knots. There was olive oil for dipping already on the table; it was very light and not particularly flavorful but a little salt and pepper helped.

Bread knots

The menu consists of five basic categories (appetizers, bruschetta, paninis, salads and entrees). In each section, one can find typical Italian fare such as fried calamari, Caesar salad, and chicken marsala. However, there are also some surprising offerings as well, like gorgonzola stuffed dates, roasted beet salad, and homemade gnocchi a la cognac. And then there were the night's specials which were the most intriguing.

Since we were having an Italian meal, we had hoped to share a bottle of Montepulciano, but they were out, so we let the server suggest a Malbec that was comparable in price and while it wasn't great, it was good enough. We then ordered the night's special appetizer, arancini. Six small lightly-breaded-then-fried balls of risotto were delivered on a plate coated in a gorgonzola sauce that was drizzled with balsamic glaze. The sauce was creamy and velvety, with the balsamic offering a much needed acidic balance. Overall, it was a decent start to the meal.

Arancini

More risotto may seem redundant, but the chicken francaise, served with risotto and a sundried-tomato caper butter sauce sounded good to Amy. The batter was eggy and light but the chicken breast itself was slightly overcooked and therefore was rubbery. The medium-sized scoop of risotto was the star of the plate, cooked al dente and with plenty of tangy, salty parmesan cheese. The sundried tomatoes were cut too large and overpowered most bites, so most of them ended up left on the plate. And we could have done with either the squash or the asparagus - both was overkill.

Chicken Francaise

Since Amy doesn't eat much fish other than shellfish, the night's special fish dish immediately attracted Chris; it was wild striped bass served with mussels and bay scallops in a tangy tomato brodo. The bass was cooked just right, and was light and flaky. Bay scallops, however, being so small, are easy to overcook, which many of them unfortunately were. The broth was deliciously flavorful, though, and there was plenty left to be sopped up with those buttery bread knots.

Striped Bass in tomato brodo

There were ups and downs, and overall, the meal, like the wine, while not excellent, was good enough. Nonetheless, in this economy, we're reminded of that typical teacher adage: good enough never is.

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Mini Upside-Down Lobster Pot Pies, or Celebrating New England for the Super Bowl

We'll be the first ones to admit that we aren't sports fans. ESPN has been deleted from our TV channel grid. We don't own any football jerseys or foam fingers or can koozies. Sports are simply not on our radar. But now and then, we are invited to a sports-viewing soiree. It is then that we take it upon ourselves to choose a side (usually based on any current or past residence, sometimes based on color of outfits uniforms), and make a dish that celebrates that particular city/state/region (see our recent LSU vs. Alabama post).

Which brings us to Super Bowl Sunday. When we got a text from our friends D and J inviting us to their Super Bowl party, we knew we'd have to represent New England, both of us being born and raised here. And what food is more quintessentially New England than Maine lobster? Unfortunately, there is no money tree in our yard, and it's tough feeding lobster to a crowd (even a small one), when live lobsters cost about $9.99 a pound, and much of that is the (heavy) shell. A little brainstorming was all it took to come up with a solution that pleased all involved: 12 mini upside-down lobster pot pies.


What makes them upside-down? They are served in a puff-pastry cup instead of a puff-pastry or pie-crust top. Fun, right?

Mise en place

Shallots softened in butter

Add a little brandy

And a little flour to make a roux

Saturday afternoon, we purchased four small lobsters, steamed them and picked them. We netted one pound of lobster in the end (accounting for the occasional picking while picking). As the lobster meat chilled, we made our own lobster stock by placing all the shells in a large stock pot, covering them with water and boiling them for an hour, then straining the stock and reducing it until we had about two cups of lobstery liquid. An hour before the party, we set out to make our pot pie mixture that we based on Emeril's recipe, slightly adapting it to suit our tastes. For the shells, we cut puff pastry sheets into squares and placed two squares in a regular muffin tin to form a cup. Pricking the bottom all over with a fork reduced the "puffage" and voila - puff pastry cups to fill with lobster pot pie mixture!

Pot pie mixture with milk, cream, herbs and spices

Forming puff pastry cups

Golden-brown, puffed-up pastry cups

Mini Upside-Down Lobster Pot Pies

Makes 12

Ingredients:

4 1 to 1 1/4-lb. live lobsters

water for stock

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/3 cup minced shallots

1/4 cup brandy

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup frozen green peas

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons dried thyme

2 tablespoons chopped chives

1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

4 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed

flour for work surface

cooking spray

To cook the lobster and make the stock:

Fill a large pot about two inches high with water. Add a small handful of kosher or sea salt. Bring the water to a rolling boil, and put in lobsters, one at a time. Cover tightly, return to a boil and steam for 8 minutes per pound, adding 3 minutes per pound for each additional pound thereafter (so about 17-18 minutes for four 1-lb. lobsters). Your lobsters are done when the outer shell is bright red and when the meat is white, not opaque; remove them carefully and discard the steaming water. Allow the lobsters to cool then remove the meat from the shell (pick them). Cut lobster meat into bite-sized pieces, set aside to cool completely, then refrigerate. Place all the shells back in the large pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes, then strain out and discard the shells. Return the stock to the heat and simmer for 2 hours until reduced to about 1 1/2 - 2 cups.

To make the pot pie mixture:

In a heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and cook until softened, about 1 minute. Add the brandy and cook until almost completely evaporated. Sprinkle the flour over the top of the shallots, stir to combine well, and cook for 2 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups lobster stock and the milk, and whisk until smooth. Continue to cook until thickened. Add the heavy cream, green peas, salt, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, and thyme, and cook for 15 minutes, until sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and the flavors have come together. Set aside until cooled. Add the lobster meat, chives and tarragon, and salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

To make the puff pastry cups and assemble the pot pies:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put pot pie mixture in a saucepan over medium heat to warm through. On a floured work surface, lay out the puff pastry sheets and cut them into 3-inch squares. Spray a regular size muffin tin with cooking spray. Lay two puff pastry squares overlapping in 6 of the muffin cups (alternating every other), allowing room for the pastry to puff around the sides of the cup. Prick the bottom of each muffin cup all over with a fork, then bake at 400 for 18 minutes, until puffy and golden brown. Remove puff pastry cups to individual bowls and fill with warm pot pie mixture. Repeat the entire process to make a total of 12.

Wordless Weekender: Chocolate Waffles with Elizabeth

Please "Like" Our Grilled Poundcake with Balsamic Berries

We've entered our Grilled Poundcake with Balsamic Berries into the California Strawberry Commission's 2nd Annual Most Romantic Recipe Contest. Please go here, scroll down to find our entry, and LIKE it or COMMENT on it. Thank you!!!

Super-Easy Super-Crispy Baked Chicken

Let's start off by saying that if you are concerned about your salt intake, read no further. Those of you with high blood pressure, look away. If salt gives you cankles, please proceed to the next blog.

If you're still here, we'll continue.

This is one of Amy's favorite recipes from childhood, one from her Mom's twice-a-month-or-so repertoire. It's a go-to dinner when Amy is either PMS-ing (read: craving salt) or feeling run down or just generally in need of comfort food (as most childhood dishes are). Well, this week, it's all of the above, so salt be damned, we went for it.

This chicken is soooo very tasty, with its super-crispy, salty, herby skin and moist, tender meat. The house smells of Italian seasoning and garlic as it cooks, and, to get that just-like-Mom's-ness, we always have it with Near East Rice Pilaf (original flavor only) (and yes, we know that means more sodium) and canned (that's right) cranberry sauce on the side. Just like Mom.

Bonus? It's so easy, it can be prepped in about 3 minutes with a cooking time of about 45, depending on the size of your chicken pieces. Go on, you know you want to try it. But beware, once you try it, you'll be back for more.

Chicken goes into the pan.

Spices come out of the cabinet

Spices go onto the chicken; the oven does the rest.

Super-Easy Super-Crispy Baked Chicken

Ingredients:

Number of chicken pieces needed to serve number of diners

(we usually use legs, thighs, or, like this time, quarters)

onion salt, to taste

garlic salt, to taste

Italian seasoning, to taste (preferably without added salt ha ha)

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Lay chicken pieces in a baking dish. Sprinkle generously with onion salt, then garlic salt, then Italian seasoning. Place chicken in oven and bake at 450 for 30-45 minutes (depending on size of chicken pieces), until chicken is cooked through and skin is nice and crispy.

Chocolate Stout Chili

When two people cook a 4-pound spoon roast, there's bound to be leftovers. And when that particular spoon roast has been cooked in chocolate stout, those leftovers are destined for chili. We know that chili is all about creating layers of flavor and letting them simmer together, so we set out to do just that with chipotles, spices, tomatoes, dark cocoa powder, unsweetened chocolate, beef, beans and of course, the most important ingredient - Thomas Hooker Brewery Chocolate Truffle Stout. The fact that the beef had been cooked in the stout was just another added layer of flavor. It was a blustery cold weeknight, and the result was a chocolatey, deeply dark brown, and very spicy chili that made our noses run and our brows sweat. Can't stand that much heat? Leave out one (or both) of the chipotles.

Chocolate Stout Chili

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped

1 1/2 tablespoons ancho chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 28-ounce can stewed tomatoes

1 tablespoon dark cocoa powder

1 28-ounce can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups cooked beef, cut into bite-sized pieces (we used leftover spoon roast cooked in the chocolate stout)

1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 1/2 cups chocolate stout (divided)

1/2 cup tomato puree

In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat and saute onion, garlic and chipotle peppers for 2-3 minutes stirring often, until onions start to brown and garlic becomes fragrant. Add chili powder, cumin, tomato paste, salt and pepper, and continuing to stir, cook for another 2 minutes so spices bloom. Stir in stewed tomatoes, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan well. Add the cocoa powder, beans and beef. Stir in the unsweetened chocolate until it melts. Stir in 1 cup of chocolate stout, turn heat to medium-low and allow to simmer for 2 hours. After 2 hours, stir in the additional 1/2 cup of chocolate stout and the tomato puree. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Simmer another 1/2 hour and serve hot with a pint of chocolate stout to cool off with.