MY HEARTS CONTENT

       Some friendships are defined by the length of time you can be apart physically without anything more than an occasional hello, text or e-mail. I personally find that technology excuses most of us from putting in the real effort to keep in touch, and many of us have bought into the idea that a Facebook update is enough to keep us going for awhile.  In fact, there really is nothing quite like being in the presence of your dearest and oldest friends, and I had the luxury recently of doing just that a few weeks ago.  A hug in person is worth exchanging for a thousand e-mails. No doubt.

As I move painstakingly closer to the decade of age that society dictates as “over the hill”; the one no one wants to talk about, I kind of had an epiphany and was able to turn that into some really positive thoughts. To imagine, that I have had these particular friendships, both for more than 30 years is such a huge treasure to me and without those decades behind us, there would be so fewer stories and humorous and embarrassing anecdotes to recall.

This last Valentines, while house-sitting a gorgeous golf-course property in Palm Desert, for a friend, I indulged in the flawless 76' degree February weather, enjoying the early evenings crisp breeze pushing the air towards the last of Fall, and finally, the blackness of the night with stars so bright and profound that can’t be seen in the city.

I was so fortunate to have my closest peeps and my man with me for a perfect evening of nostalgia, laughs, and if I may tout my own skills, a superb, and romantic meal………………….:)

We began with a platter of international cheeses; a French triple cream Brie with ribbons of chalky blue running through the river of ripe and gooey cream; An amazing seven year aged Dutch Gouda, crispy with dots of sugary crystallized caramel from the aging, but tangy enough to almost mistake it for a Parmesan; An herbed chevre’ from Cowgirl Creamery that never disappoints; A wedge of gorgeous, firm, tangy aged white cheddar studded with truffle shavings; And…. the “must-have” for any cheese platter, the Humbolt Fog with it’s creamy, light, but earthy flavors; notes of allspice, licorice and citrus zest hit your nose, but with a full and definitive goat flavor.  Oh yum…….

To accompany…. a thick, peppery and coarse dry sausage, a rich blood-orange chutney, some unfiltered wildflower honey and chunks of lavender honeycomb, cinnamon almonds, maple -sugar candied walnuts, fresh blueberries, blackberries and raspberries, and flawless artisan crusty bread and wafer crackers as the conduits for the cheeses.

While our guests snacked, I worked side-by-side with my man on the Duxelle Mushroom sauce for our Wellington. 

My version is simple but always a winner, with white mushrooms,  Crimini’s and a handful of luxurious Chantrelle’s that I came upon from a produce-guy who has a slight crush on me, praise GOD!  Heavy on the sweet roasted garlic and glazed down with a delightfuly sweet, Spanish Madiera.  Rather than top my filets with it however, I used it as a side-sauce for our meat.

I cut up a superb  7lb. piece of prime filet into little 5 oz. squares and seared them on each side with a spot of sea-salt and fresh ground pepper.

Working with the puff pastry was a smidge challenging. The batch of dough I made in advance wasn’t enough, so I ended up rolling it out quite thin, afraid the juice of the meat might make it soggy or leak through. But I had fun making the individual little filet packages, topped with a pastry “heart”  as the symbol for St. Valentine.  Don helped me roll up the meat, with a champagne duck liver pate’ (pre-made but still delicious) and even though the packages were all oddly shaped, I loved the way they looked after cooking.  They were crooked and imperfect, no two the same, which felt more artisan and less pretentious, and they just plain made me smile!

Into the oven they sweat for 35 minutes or just to medium-rare.(supposedly) The oven was older than most of us, and unfortunately I knew not hat the temperature gauge was hot by about 45-50 degree’s, slightly overcooking the filet's. However, the cut of meat was so excellent it remained moist, and still melted in our mouths like sandwiches from heaven

Along side our meat, an unobtrusive, delicate baby lobster tail garnished with salted butter, lemon and fresh tarragon paste. Broiled in that nasty oven for 6 minutes and they were strangely perfect! Sweet and fabulous! God was in a great mood when he created crustaceans. There just aren't too many other things that I adore as much.

The salad was an uncomplicated mix of spicy arugula, tangy fennel, mandarin oranges and toasted pine nuts. I tossed it all up in a home made grapefruit, orange and lemon olive-oil vinagarette which was just perfect as to not to interfere with the fun flavors of the salad ingredients.

 

The grilled asparagus was also slightly overcooked; I prefer it crisp, so just about a minute on each side on the grill, but “somebody” was busy opening our fifth bottle of wine (thank you Frank and Rick for taking care of the excellent BOOZE) and not paying attention to the grill. No worries though, as the pan sautéed parsnips and carrots were lovely, carmelized in wildflower honey and fresh rosemary from my garden.

Dessert, also not home-made, but why bother when the company I sell for had already exquisite Heart Shaped White and Dark Chocolate Gelato Truffles?? A simple garnish of raspberry coulis, rose petals and some mint did the trick for a perfect and decadent final course served with a mysterious Merlot and a painfully delicious dark Rotta Zinfandel Port.

At midnight we were still playing poker, but I would like to say that I was the winner of the night. I might not have had “most” of the chips, but I was blessed with a wonderful evening with my most favorite people who I love dearly. What could be a better Valentines gift than that of eternal friendship?