Valentine's Day Part 5: Molten Lava Cakes with Chocolate Ganache, Raspberry Coulis and Whipped Cream

You CANNOT have Valentine's Day without chocolate. Yummy chocolate is a necessity on Valentine's Day! When planning our meal, I knew exactly what our ending note would be.

I started with the base of a molten lava cake. This recipe can be found at epicurious.com:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Molten-Chocolate-Cakes-102177

These cakes were very easy to make. I made the batter the day before and placed them in the little souffle cups. I then placed the cups on a plate, covered them loosely with saran wrap and kept them in the fridge. When we were ready for dessert, I took them out of the fridge while the oven reached the desired temperature. Then they went into the oven while I poured us each a small glass of brandy and whipped the cream and prepared the ganache. After they came out they were allowed to cool for a few moments and were drizzled with the toppings.

Ganache, I discovered, is ridiculously easy. It is one part chocolate to two parts heavy cream. Put it in a sauce pan on low and let it do its own work. It thickens into a beautiful chocolate sauce. I used a bittersweet chocolate with great results.

Whipped cream I have been making for years. Heavy whipping cream, covered stand mixer, a tiny bit of powdered sugar (I don't like it too sweet!), a tiny bit of vanilla and you let it go to town.

The Raspberry Coulis was also a new one. This one was easy and would make a great topping for a variety of desserts (mmmm...I am thinking a lemon cheesecake....). It was also easy enough to make the day before and stick in the fridge. I suspect it would have lasted a few more days, so if you want to make it very early, it is seems very possible. This recipe was also from Epicurious and can be found here:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Raspberry-Coulis-104664

Straining the Raspberry Coulis

Here is the finished product:

Drool!!

Side View!

This dessert was wonderful. The molten cake was good, but nothing special in and of itself. The sauces really made it. Awesome Sauce found that the sauces overpowered the molten cake. However, as desserts go, he really liked this one.

These desserts were ridiculous! Tasty, but over the top! Actually, this whole dinner was quite ridiculous and there is a reason why Awesome Sauce and I do not eat like this every day. We do enjoy indulging ourselves on holidays and special occasions. I really enjoyed cooking this meal for him and tried to make sure he would enjoy every last bite. I am so glad that we stayed in and I cooked this year. It is really nice to personalize your meal to your partner and was my way of showing Awesome Sauce how much I love and appreciate him. For your next occasion, I highly recommend using your kitchen prowess to show your partner that you care.


Ratings for Overall Dessert:
The Clumsy Gourmet: 8
Awesome Sauce: 9

Valentine's Day Part 4: Chicken Breasts, Smashed Artichoke Potatoes and Mixed Greens with Lemon Vinaigrette

Okay, so I have been pretty bad about blogging lately. A few things have come up that have kept me from blogging. However, I haven't stopped cooking and now have QUITE the backlog to post! I am going to try to get on it as much as possible, but it may be tough with finals coming up. I promise I will do my best to get through it all!

So for our main course, Awesome Sauce and I dined on Cognac Flambeed Chicken Breasts, Smashed Artichoke Potatoes and Mixed Greens with Lemon Vinaigrette.

This part of the meal was incredibly simple. There was no real recipe for the chicken. You take chicken breasts and coat them in a light layer of kosher salt and cracked black pepper. You then take a pan and put a large pat of butter in said pan (about a tablespoon). You then toss in some sliced almonds and put the whole thing over a medium flame. Once you can smell the almonds, you add the chicken breasts and turn up the heat, searing them on both sides. Finish cooking in the oven or very slowly over the stove. Once you take them out, toss about a shot glass worth of cognac over the chicken breasts and light it on fire!! This is best done at the table for a fun presentation. Unfortunately for us, the chicken breasts didn't want to light! :-( I have heard that others have been successful so we will definitely have to try again sometime. I can be a bit of a pyromaniac :-P

Overall the chicken wasn't bad, but wasn't anything special. We served it with a chardonnay that was recommended for buttery dishes. They did go exceptionally well together. The mixed greens were the same as the bed I placed the Crab Cakes one, so it is reviewed in an earlier post.

The smashed artichoke potatoes were a new one for us and were quite tasty. They were a unique recipe from Allrecipes and can be found here:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Artichoke-Mashed-Potatoes/Detail.aspx

I really liked these and am always fascinated by different variations on mashed potatoes. These ones were creamy and garlicky. They artichoke added a "freshness" to them that is difficult to describe. I would definitely recommend these and am considering making them the next time I grill up a steak. Something about the artichoke has me thinking that they would really compliment a steak well. I have tried some strange ones in my day (including peanut butter in mashed potatoes...yes, I am looking at you little sister....), but they are always fun to try.

Here is what the finished dinner looked like:





So, time for the Ratings:

Cognac Flambeed Chicken Breasts:
The Clumsy Gourmet: 6
Awesome Sauce: 4 (Awesome Sauce didn't find them very interesting and was bored by the basically plain chicken breasts. He did, however, very much like the wine with the butter sauce.

Artichoke Smashed Potatoes:
The Clumsy Gourmet: 8
Awesome Sauce: 8