Valentine Dinner for 2

For Valentine's Day I decided to create a dinner for my girlfriend and I that would challenge my cooking skill set and leave a lasting impression on Ashley. I thought the best way to start our dinner was by having soup (vegetable stock) garnished with asparagus. I wanted this soup to be rich in flavour. For this I decided to start with a vegetable stock.

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion
• 6 ribs of celery
• 2 bunches of asparagus
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1 zucchini
• 2 leek stalks (white part only)
• 3 bulbs of garlic
• 2 cloves
• 1 small bunch of parsley stalks
• 2 bay leaves
• 10 sprigs of thyme

You can add other vegetables as desired.

Start with the onion, celery, zucchini, bell pepper, asparagus and leeks, run the vegetables under cold water to give them a quick clean. Each vegetable needs a rough dice, not too small though, these vegetables will be simmering for a few hours. If you have a stock pot great, if not do what I have done and divide the ingredients in half and through them into a couple bots with some oil. Turn your stove top on to about medium and sweat the vegetables for about 10 minutes. Make sure to cover the pot and stir every couple minutes so the vegetables dont start to burn or caramelize.

After about 10 minutes remove the lids and add cold water (an inch above the vegetables should be enough). Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil, once boiling turn the heat to medium low and simmer. At this point take your garlic bulbs cut in half and throw them into the pot (no need to remove the outer skin, we'll be straining later.) Throw the bay leaves, cloves, parsley stalks, and thyme into the pot. Let simmer for a couple hours, keep an eye on the stock, you want it to simmer for the whole 2 - 3 hours.

Give your stock a taste. Do not season with salt or pepper, this will come later.

After 2 - 3 hours remove from heat and strain. Your stock should have a cloudy look to it. For a clear stock you will need to do one more step. If anyone would like to know how I achieved it let me know..

Remember this is the base for the soup. It will need to be seasoned once you prepare the garnish and serve.

Clarifying..

To clarify the stock just take 3 - 4 egg whites and beat into room temperature stock. Bring to simmer and let sit. DO NOT STIR! You will notice a "raft" form at the top of the stock, this is the egg grabbing all the excess particles in the stock. After 15 - 20 minutes of simmering turn the heat of and carefully ladle or strain. Make sure not to break the raft or you will need to start the process over again!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• Salt
• Pepper

For vinaigrette's you need to remember one simple rule The ratio of oil to vinegar is 1:1, the flavour can be of your choosing.

In a small jar combine the oil and vinegar with the Dijon mustard, mince the garlic before adding it. The salt and pepper is to taste. Once all ingredients are combined close the jar and shake until colour is a creamy yellow.

Roasted Garlic

Cut the top of the garlic bulb off and place in some foil. Lightly drizzle olive oil over the garlic and seal the foil. Place garlic in oven at 350 F for about 40 minutes, or until garlic is a golden brown.

Once it is golden brown take the garlic out of the oven and remove from the foil. Separate the garlic from its bulb and put into a bowl. Finely chop fresh oregano and thyme and add to the garlic. Take a fork and mix the garlic with the herbs.

Salad

The salad is pretty easy. Run the tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, and bean sprouts under cold water and dry. Slice the vegetables as you would like and mix with salad greens.

Turnip au gratin

First take a white onion and slice it thinly. Add oil to a pan and sweat the onions on a medium heat. Be sure not to caramelize the onion, you don't want any colour on the onion. Once the onions have sweated (about 8-10 minutes) put aside.

Take a vegetable peeler and peel the skin off of the turnips. Thinly slice the turnip and place in a large bowl, add the onions and toss with the turnip.

Take a small casserole dish and start to layer the turnip and onions. Continue to do this until you have filled your dish, with some left over stock fill the casserole dish 2/3 of the way up. Take some chunks of butter and place on top of your turnips.

Preparing the chicken

Take the roasted garlic mix and toss your chicken breast in it, get a good coating on the chicken.

Take the bacon and wrap your chicken with it.

Steamed vegetables

Clean the broccoli, and cauliflower and separate the florets. These should be bite size or able to fit onto a fork. You can use a steamer or do what I did and just make a steamer out of a pot of water and some foil.

Take the asparagus and chop into smaller pieces. You don't need to use the whole bunch, this is just for garnish in the soup. Steam the asparagus as well.

The vegetables should still have some bite after steaming and not be to soft.

Mixed berries

Clean the strawberries, blackberries and raspberries. Trim the greens from the strawberries and slice how you like. Place all the berries in a bowl and serve chilled.

Enjoy