Valentine’s Day Dinner: A stay-at-home celebration

This Valentine’s Day, let’s forgo the fancy prix fixe restaurant dinner in favor of setting a pretty table and making something special at home. Straight from “Back Porch Table” online, here is a menu that feels special. Just add a simple salad…and roses. 

Filet Mignon with Peace Meals Blue Cheese Walnut Butter

The perfect steak gets a glow-up with Blue Cheese Walnut Butter from the Junior League of Houston’s Peace Meals. Serves 2.

1 ½ cups crumbled blue cheese

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) salted butter, room temperature

2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley

1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary

¼ cup chopped, toasted walnuts

2 8-ounce filets mignons

Combine the blue cheese, butter, parsley, and rosemary in a medium bowl. Stir in the walnuts. Place on plastic wrap, roll into a log, and refrigerate until ready to use.

Sear the filets in an iron skillet and finish in the oven (for specific instructions, see the recipe at thebuzzmagazines.com). Top the warm filets with a slice of the Blue Cheese Walnut Butter. 

Truffle Mac and Cheese

Truffle oil takes humble mac and cheese next-level. Serves 8.

1 pound macaroni or other tubular or curly pasta

1 tablespoon truffle oil

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

¼ cup flour

1 teaspoon dry mustard

2 cups milk

1 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon kosher salt

¾ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

¾ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

¾ cup shredded gruyere

¾ cup plus ¼ cup grated parmesan

¼ cup breadcrumbs

Minced fresh chives, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook 8 minutes. Drain and transfer to a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Drizzle the truffle oil over the warm pasta and stir to coat. 

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk in the flour and mustard and cook, whisking constantly, until there are no lumps of flour, about 2 minutes. Continue whisking and add the milk and cream gradually, then the salt and pepper. Whisk until the mixture thickens to coat a spoon, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheddar, gruyere, and ¾ cup of parmesan. Pour the sauce over the pasta in the baking dish and stir carefully to coat the pasta. Top with the breadcrumbs and then ¼ cup of the parmesan. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes, then let the macaroni rest for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with chives before serving. 

Gourmet’s Chocolate Glazed Chocolate Tart

In 2008, just before it closed forever, Gourmet magazine published this simple but gorgeous tart. Simple, because it’s quick and easy; gorgeous because it looks like the most perfect tart in the bakery case. The New York Times wrote, “Gourmet was to food what Vogue is to fashion.” This tart could be in Vogue. And you can make it this afternoon. Serves 8.

You will need a 9-inch round fluted tart pan (1 inch deep).

Crust:

1 cup finely ground chocolate graham crackers or chocolate wafer cookies (not chocolate covered)

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

¼ cup sugar

Filling:

9 ounces bittersweet chocolate (not more than 65% cacao), chopped

1 ¼ cups heavy cream

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon salt

Glaze:

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1 ¾ ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 teaspoon light corn syrup

1 tablespoon warm water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place the rack in the middle.

Stir together the cookie crumbs, melted butter, and sugar, and press evenly onto the bottom and ¾-inch up the side of the tart pan. Bake until firm, about 10 minutes. Cool on a rack 15 to 20 minutes.

Place the chopped chocolate in a medium bowl. Bring the cream to a boil, then pour it over the chocolate and let it stand for 5 minutes. Gently stir the chocolate and cream together until smooth. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla, and salt, then stir it into the melted chocolate.

Pour the filling into the cooled crust. Bake until the filling is set about 3 inches from the edge but still wobbly in the center, 20 to 25 minutes. (The center will continue to set as the tart cools.) Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack, about 1 hour.

Bring the cream to a boil and remove from the heat. Stir in the chocolate until smooth. Stir in the corn syrup, then the warm water.

Pour the glaze onto the tart, then use an offset spatula or the back of a spoon to coat the tart evenly. Let the tart stand until the glaze is set, about 1 hour. 

Editor’s note: Look for Back Porch Table by Andria Dilling every Friday online. For more inspiration, you can also search our site for thousands of recipe ideas.