Valentine’s Dinner at Home on 14Feb2016

valentine's day 2pax dinner

valentine’s day dinner at home

for this year’s valentine’s dinner, i had planned to do a small 2pax dinner for my wife on 14.2.2016. ^^

we usually do not go out on the actual day as most places ridiculously ex & quality of food & service not great vis a vis price.

this time, i got some IQF (individual quick freeze) frozen cooked lobsters from giant couple weeks before, so i would do a gordon ramsay grilled lobster. ^^

white cucumber gazpacho

white cucumber gazpacho

we started with a white cucumber gazpacho with croutons.

it was very good, wonderful refreshing flavour of cucumber tempered with yogurt, red wine vinegar & olive oil. croutons were ok very crispy & moderate cheesy.

prawn pasta iin pink sauce

prawn pasta in spicy tomato sauce

prawn pasta in spicy tomato sauce was very good. very tasty & wonderful tomato taste.

pasta spicy tomato sauce

pasta spicy tomato sauce

i used prawn stock, papa alfredo traditional italian pasta sauce & canned tomatoes, and reduced before tossing.

my gordon ramsay grilled lobster was the best.

i spooned the chilli garlic butter marinade over the lobster & left it in the fridge for 3hrs.

lobster was very flavourful with the chilli garlic butter, brandy flaming & hot grill.

gordon ramsay grilled lobster

gordon ramsay grilled lobster

lobster was very good really, meat was bouncy & very tasty, even though it could not compare with live lobsters.

gordon ramsay grilled lobster+prawn pasta in pink sauce

gordon ramsay grilled lobster+prawn pasta in pink sauce

the tangy tomato pasta complemented the lobster perfectly. ^^

australian wagyu ribeye

australian wagyu ribeye

my last course was the wagyu ribeye.

now i use the new method, rubbing the steak liberally with sea salt & pepper & placing in a 60degC oven for 2 hrs. that provided consistent medium rare interior & also did a bit of dry edging.

australian wagyu ribeye

australian wagyu ribeye

after that just 1 min each side on a very hot pan. it was such a flavourful steak.

the evening was one to savour, excellent food & wine & music, spending time together.

c.h.e.f andy

Gordon Ramsay’s Grilled Lobster with Bloody Mary Linguine

Gordon Ramsay grilled lobster with bloody mary linguine

Gordon Ramsay grilled lobster with bloody mary linguine

saw Gordon Ramsay’s grilled lobster with bloody mary linguine a while back & wanted to try it out.

frozen cooked canadian lobster S$26.96 for 2x375g

frozen cooked canadian lobster S$26.95 for 2x375g

i bought some frozen cooked canadian lobsters from cold storage earlier, S$26.95 for 2x375g lobsters.

i used 2 lobsters recently for a 4pax 6-course anniversary dinner for my wife & daughters. & had 2 more in the freezer, so decided to try out GR’s recipe today on 14.6.2015.^^

i followed the usual method cutting the lobster in 1/2 & shelling the pincers. they just looked great with the roe & tomalley (above photo).

lobster with chilli garlic butter2

lobster with chilli garlic butter

lobster with chilli garlic butter

lobster with chilli garlic butter

i followed Gordon Ramsay’s preparation for the chilli garlic butter.

i cut 1 large chilli, added 3 cloves of chopped garlic, large pinch of sea salt, 1 tablespoon of dried parsley & ground them in a mortar, then added 40g of unsalted butter

then i spread the chilli garlic butter over the 1/2 lobsters & left in the fridge for 4hrs.

bloody mary sauce

bloody mary sauce

for the bloody mary sauce –

i chopped a large red onion & fried in 2 tablespoon of oil, added 2 cloves of chopped garlic & fried till translucent & beginning to brown.

i added 1 teaspoon of sugar & just 1 teaspoon worcester sauce, & not being certain of the taste, i added 2 tablespoon flat oyster sauce instead. then i added 1 can (14oz) of cut tomatoes, & reduced the sauce (above photo)

grilled chilli garlic butter lobster

grilled chilli garlic butter lobster

grilled chilli garlic butter lobster

grilled chilli garlic butter lobster

when ready to serve, i used a heavy stainless steel pan (i recently switched over from non-stick coated pans to stainless steel pans for high heat cooking)-

added oil to give a thin coating, and waited for oil to begin to smoke under high heat.

then placed the 4 halves lobster, chilli buttered face on the hot pan, & grilled for 30secs.

then i added 3 tablespoon brandy & flamed the lobster (turning of the hob fan) to give nice liquor & grilled flavours.

bloody mary linguine

bloody mary linguine

bloody mary linguine

bloody mary linguine

for the bloody mary linguine,

i had earlier prepared the linguine al dente, drained the pasta in a colander & stopped the cooking with water & ice.

i heat up the bloody mary sauce & tossed the linguine, & then plated it as shown in Gordon Ramsay’s youtube video.

i also prepared the breadcrumbs with just 1 teaspoon olive oil & added some dried parsley, & had them sprinkled over the top of the pasta.

Gordon Ramsay grilled lobster with bloody mary linguine

Gordon Ramsay grilled lobster with bloody mary linguine

& voila!

the lobster was very flavourful with the chilli garlic butter, brandy flaming & hot grill. 🙂

this time i made doubly sure that the lobster was not overcooked. it was very good really, quite bouncy & most importantly very tasty, of course not to be compared with live lobsters.

the bloody mary had excellent tomato taste. taste though was a bit complex, with nice stand-out, slightly tangy tomato taste. it was a very good tasting sauce. still, it was not (yet) my favourite. i was in 2 minds & decided to prepare a pink sauce (creamy tomatoes) which i knew would be very good in any case.

in the end, my wife & i decided we should try this new bloody mary sauce since i had already prepared it, rather than just stick to some old normal & comfort level with the pink sauce. haha!^^

it was a very enjoyable dinner. it was a first attempt, and i was able to reproduce the dish quite well, so it was a repeatable dish. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy