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

Valentine's Day Course 1: Mini Crab Cakes with a Garlic Aioli on a Bed of Mixed Greens with Lemon Vinaigrette

So, as a new resident of Maryland, I have been searching for the perfect Maryland Crab cake recipe to impress visiting family and friends. Awesome Sauce and I met at the University of Maryland and in tribute, I decided that the first course in our Valentine's Day meal, I would make us Mini Crab cakes with a Garlic Aioli on a Bed of Mixed Greens with Lemon Vinaigrette. Yum!

I found the recipe on Epicurious. Here is the link:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Crab-Cakes-and-Baby-Greens-with-Lemon-Vinaigrette-5762

Here is the link to the Garlic Aioli:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Aioli-107026

I wanted to make sure that this was easy to do, so I prepared the mixture the day before. I looked to the comments and used some of their suggestions. I used panko instead of regular bread crumbs. I also added Old Bay seasoning to taste. I also prepared the Lemon Vinaigrette and Garlic Aioli ahead of time and kept them in the fridge.

On Valentine's Day, I formed little crab cakes and fried them in a small skillet. While they were cooking, I took some of the lemon vinaigrette and tossed it with the mixed greens. I was a bit disappointed to find the lemon vinaigrette had turned into a thick paste. However, as it warmed up and mixed with the greens, it turned into a lovely, refreshing vinaigrette. It became the perfect background for the crab cakes.

The garlic aioli was wonderful! It was a great complement to the crab cakes and I strongly recommend it if you choose to make this recipe.

These crab cakes were incredibly simple to make. I loved that I could mix them the day before and then merely fry them the day of. With slightly larger crab cakes, this would make a great and impressive entree for an elegant dinner party. I strongly recommend using the panko and the old bay seasoning. This was great advice.

Crab Cake mix ready to go in the fridge. I used jumbo lump Weis-brand crab from a can. Not the freshest, but it was simply wonderful. The seasoning for this dish is incredibly well balanced.

Frying the crab cake in some oil. (yes, I see the spill on the side, I spill many things...this is one reason why I am The Clumsy Gourmet!)

Beautifully fried mini crab cakes.

First course plated and ready to go!!!

The crab cakes are ready for their close-up!

The crab cakes were WONDERFUL!! We paired them with a light, fresh pinot grigio. Awesome Sauce, who is not a huge fan of crab cakes absolutely loved these. The next day, we even turned the left over crab cakes into a wonderful breakfast. We re-heated the crab cakes and put them on toasted whole wheat bread, added poached eggs and hollandaise sauce and enjoyed Eggs Chesapeake.


Ratings
The Clumsy Gourmet: 10
Awesome Sauce: 9-9.5

We really enjoyed them!!

UPDATE: Using our Eggs Chesapeake recipe, we fed both my mother and sister. Both LOVED the crabcakes and really enjoyed the brunch we prepared for them. Two more fans of this amazing recipe!