Love, honor and enjoy meal with your valentine
My husband and I wrote our own wedding vows.
In mine, I promised (among other things) to “nourish our love with honest words, mindful actions and plenty of rosemary pork chops.” In his, he vowed to “enjoy food with you, to enjoy your food, and try to eat… a little more slowly.”This Valentine’s Day, we’ll both try to make good on our commitments over a homemade meal cooked with love by yours truly.
I’ve always extolled the virtues of staying in on Valentine’s Day and other occasions that fill restaurants to the gills and make getting a table more a chore than a joy. At home, there is more space and time to talk, share and enjoy the evening and your loved one’s presence. Plus, cooking is my love language.
Clearly, the main course must be rosemary pork chops, but no ordinary chops for my V-day menu. I picked up four thick cut, bone-in chops from locally raised, heritage breed pigs at Kettle Range Meats at 55th and State.
The recipe starts with infusing an oiled cast-iron skillet with garlic, then cooking the chops until medium-rare and golden brown on the outside. After the chops are removed, the pan juices are used as the base for a rich, red wine vinegar cream sauce flecked with fresh rosemary. Every bite is decadent, flavorful, infused with love.
As a counterpart to this robust meaty main dish, a crunchy and colorful salad is ideal. I first tasted this salad at a work potluck and immediately fell in love. The friend who made it developed her own version of a dish she had enjoyed at Taverne in the Sky at Lodge Kohler in Green Bay.
The simple, yet surprising ingredients blend so well together atop a bed of mixed baby greens. Al dente roasted cauliflower, salty pistachios, nutty Bellavitano cheese, sweet golden raisins and a simple red wine vinaigrette taste just as delicious mid-February as in early August, which is more than can be said of most salads this time of year.
Chocolate-covered strawberries very well be may be the world’s most romantic dessert. Instead of stopping there though, I decided to combine these very sensual ingredients into a boozy milkshake perfect for sipping together to cap off an amorous evening.
I imagined using a chocolate liqueur such as Godiva in this recipe, but instead stumbled across Kohler Dark Chocolate Brandy, a very happy accident indeed. Whether blended with milk chocolate Sassy Cow ice cream and plump, juicy strawberries for a special occasion or sipped straight, accompanied by a square of dark chocolate, this smooth, distinct brandy finishes any meal on a high note.
Should you, too, decide to stay in this Valentine’s Day, may this menu serve as inspiration for a meal that speaks from your heart and satisfies your stomach while nourishing your soul. However you choose to define it and whoever is lucky enough to receive it from you, I hope you enjoy spending an evening celebrating L-O-V-E.