Valentines Day Dinner

Since Valentines day was during the week we decided to go out on the weekend and for Valentines day I made a special  homemade dinner.

• Procesco with strawberries
• Mushroom Bisque
• Sourdough bread & butter
• Red Bell Peppers stuffed with Couscous with cranberries, feta and garbanzo beans
• Scallops two ways (bacon wrapped and baked Ritz)
• Brownie with strawberries and whipped cream

I had never tried Procesco so I wanted to give it a try.  If you like champagne you will like Procesco.  I'm not sure what I was expecting but it's just like champagne.  The one I purchased seemed a a bit sweeter than some champagne's I buy but basically the same.  I think the bonus is the price, "Fantinel Extra Dry" was under $15.  Most champagnes I buy for that price I would use in a Mirmosa.  This one was good straight.

The best mushroom soup I ever had was at a restaurant called "The Martini House" in St. Helena.  We were planning on going again this year for Valentines day but it closed.  I was so disappointed but my soup was excellent so no regrets.  I found the Martini House recipe on line and what I gleamed from it was the Marsala Wine.  I used my recipe but changed it up a bit with the Marsala, see the Variation.  My original recipe is also very good but in order to find out which is best I would need to do a side by side test.

MUSHROOM BISQUE
3 T. olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
8 oz. (about 3 C., ½ lb. or 10) crimini mushrooms (aka baby portabella), sliced
3 T. flour
1 (14.5 oz. can or 2 C.) chicken broth
½ t. salt
¼ t. white pepper
1 C. (8 oz.) regular whipping cream
2 T. sherry
In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat, then cook the onion until soft. Add the mushrooms and sauté until the mushrooms begin to soften – about 2-4 minutes. Stir in the flour, cook 1-2 minutes. Slowly add the chicken broth, stirring to combine with the flour. Add the salt and pepper. Simmer 15-30 minutes. Puree with an emulsion blender in pot or add to a regular blender and then return to pot. Add the cream and sherry. Heat to serving temperature. Serves 2-4 depending on side dish or main course.
Variation: I used about 3C. button mushrooms plus 2 C. baby bellas, 2 shallots instead of the onion, 5 T. Marsala wine before you add the flour instead of the sherry at the end and cook down the Marsala by half before you add the flour. The rest is the same.

For Valentines day I changed up my standard couscous recipe by adding 1 t. cumin to boiling water. When couscous is done add 1 can drained, rinsed garbanzo beans, ½ C. dried cranberries and 1 C. fresh packed spinach, chopped.  Fill a red bell pepper, cut in half from top to bottom. Place in a baking dish, fill ¼ way with water (covering ¼” of paper). Bake 400˚F for 60 minutes.  Going forward although the presentation was pretty I think the bell pepper overpowered the couscous.  The couscous had a lot of flavors but you couldn't taste them as well as you could have if the bell pepper wasn't there.  Also the spinach only added color and nutrition no added flavor so if you don't have it don't buy it.

COUSCOUS
1 C. couscous
½ t. salt
¼ t. (thin slice) butter
1 can (14 oz. or 1 ½ C.) chicken broth

In a pot heat chicken broth, butter and salt on high heat. When boiling add couscous and stir. Remove from heat, cover and let sit for 5 minutes. Uncover, fluff with a fork, and serve.


BACON WRAPPED SCALLOPS
-Scallops
-Applewood Smoked Bacon

Cut bacon in half, lengthwise. Wrap around scallop and secure with toothpick. Grease baking dish. Bake 400˚F for 15-20 minutes.

Make Ahead: Assemble and refrigerate until ready to bake.

BAKED RITZ SCALLOPS
1 lb. sea scallops, rinsed, muscle removed
10 low fat Ritz crackers, crushed
⅛ t. black pepper
½ t. garlic powder
1 T. butter, melted
1 T. lemon juice
¼ C. dry white wine
-Parsley, for garnish

Preheat oven to 350°F. In the microwave, melt a sliver of butter in an 8x8 inch pan. Crush crackers into fine crumbs, in a pie plate using your hands and the back of a spoon.  Add pepper and garlic powder.  From scallop remove muscle, rinse, drain and pat dry. Press scallops into crumbs to evenly coat. Place in buttered pan. Mix butter, lemon, wine and drizzle on top of scallops. Bake 15 minutes. Garnish with parsley.

Make Ahead: You can assemble them and refrigerate until ready to bake.