Early Valentine's Dinner at Home

I cooked a special dinner for hubby and myself tonight. Hubby's feeling a bit under the weather and we had to cancel our dining plans so that he could rest.

I decided to just cook something to celebrate Valentine's day. I made steak with mushroom and whisky sauce with a side of scallops wrapped in bacon. I only had an hour to prepare because I over slept and hubby was starting to get hungry already.

This is the first time that I made the sauce so it came a bit salty. Other than that, I think the sauce will be great for grilled pork chops or grilled chicken breast.

I heard hubby barreling down the stairs while I was finishing up the sauce because he was already hungry. I didn't have time to make a salad. Haay.



Anyway, here are the recipes in case you want to make them at home. All are quite easy to make.

Steaks:
2 Rib-eye Steaks
2 Garlic Cloves, minced
Worcestershire sauce
Olive Oil
Salt and pepper

1. Rub rib-eye steaks with garlic cloves, worcestershire sauce, olive oil, salt and pepper just before cooking.
2. Pan grill according to you preferred doneness.
3. Remove steaks from the pan, wrap in foil and keep warm while you make the sauce.

Mushroom Whisky Sauce
1 and 1/14 cups beef broth (I used a beef cube to make the broth, that's why my sauce became a bit salty, home made is the best of course)
Crushed black pepper
I cup all purpose cream
1/4 cup whisky (I used Chivas Regal)
1 heaping tablespoon Tarragon Dijon Mustard (which I bought in NYC, but may be available in Santi's)
Olive oil
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
2 small shallot, minced
I small can button mushrooms, drained (fresh is better, if you have it)

Procedure:
1. In a sauce pan, boil beef broth and pepper. Reduce until about a cup is left.
2. Reduce heat to medium and stir in the all purpose cream and half of the whisky. Keep whisking until reduced in half.
3. Set aside.
4. In a separate pan, saute garlic and onion in olive oil. Do not brown. Add in the mushrooms until warmed through.
5. Set aside.

To bring together:
1. Deglaze the steak pan with half of the whisky, add the cream and whisky sauce and simmer.
2. Add the tarragon dijon mustard. Stir and simmer until the sauce thickens a bit.
3. Add the mushrooms.
4. Pour sauce over the steaks,

Bacon Wrapped Scallops:
6 strips of bacon
6 Scallops
Lemon juice
Pepper
Olive oil
Cilantro leaves

1. In boiling water, blanch the bacon. Drain in paper towels.
2. Let cool a little bit.
3. Wrap scallops with bacon and secure with a toothpick.
4. In a small bowl, mix the lemon juice, pepper, olive oil and cilantro leaves and pour over the scallops.
5. In medium heat, pan grill the scallops, bacon side down, roll until all sides of the bacon are golden brown. The heat from the bacon will cook the scallops.
6. Remove from pan and remove the toothpicks before serving.
7. Serve immediately.

Advanced happy Valentine's Day everyone!