Valentine's Dinner

Rib-Eyes with Mustard Wine Sauce

2 tbsp olive oil
2 Rib-Eyes, about 3/4" thick
Montreal Steak Seasoning
Pepper
1 small onion, halved and sliced thin
3/4 cup beef broth
1/3 cup red wine
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp butter
Parsley

Season the steaks with Montreal Steak Seasoning and Pepper and let set at room temperture about 15 minutes. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat until sizzling hot. Sear the steaks well on both sides, turning only once, until well browned and cooked to desired doneness. Add onion slices to skillet around the steaks and let them brown, stirring to keep them from burning. Remove steaks to a warm platter, cover with foil and keep warm. Add the beef broth, wine, mustard and honey to the skillet and turn heat up to high. Boil until liquid is reduced by half, stirring occasionally. Stir in butter until melted and serve sauce over steaks with a granish of chopped parsley. YUM! (adapted from allrecipe.com's Peppercorn Seasoned Steaks with Mustard-Wine Sauce)


Roasted Baby Dutch Potatoes with Garlic and Butter

1 to 1-1/2 lbs Baby Dutch Gold potatoes
1 tbsp roasted minced garlic
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
Sea Salt

Preheat oven to 425^F. Place potatoes in a casserole or other baking dish. Combine garlic and butter in a small microwave safe bowl and microwave on high until butter is melted. Pour garlic butter over potatoes, drizzle with olive oil and season with sea salt. Cover dish with foil and bake 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake 25 minutes more or until potatoes are fork tender and beginning to brown a bit. Serve hot. We love these! If you can't find the Baby Dutch potatoes, Fingerlings work great too.


Chocolate Velvet Cake with Vanilla Buttercream

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter, softened
16 oz pkg light brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
8-oz container sour cream
1 cup hot water
2 tsp vanilla

Melt chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl on High for 30 second intervals until melted (about 1 1/2 minutes total). Stir until smooth. Beat butter and sugar at medium speed for 5 minutes or until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Add melted chocolate, beating just until blended. Sift together flour, soda and salt. Gradually add to chocolate mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Gradually add 1 cup hot water in a slow steady stream, beating at low speed just until blended. Stir in vanilla. Spoon batter into 2 greased and floured 9-inch round (or square) pans that are at least 2-inches deep. (If your pans are not 2-inches deep, use 3 pans and reduce baking time!) Bake in a preheated 350^ oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pans and let cool completely on racks.

Vanilla Buttercream

1/2 cup butter
16-oz pkg powdered sugar
1/3 cup half and half
1 tbsp vanilla

Beat butter at medium speed until cream; gradually ad powdered sugar alternately with half and half, beating at low speed until well blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla.

I used square pans and this was just barely enough frosting to completely frost the cake. The frosting is really sweet though so I wouldn't use more than the single recipe....I think if I ever make this one again I'll use seedless raspberry jam between the cakes instead of the frosting, which will probably then give you plenty of the buttercream for the outside of the cake. The raspberry preserves would have made this cake perfect! The actual cake itself was good, but if I'm going to make one from scratch I want it to better than good (!) and there are mixes that taste more chocolatey than this cake did. From Southern Living's 2003 Annual Recipes cookbook.