Valentine's Day Dinner!

Jamie sent me two bouquets of roses! One the day before Valentine's Day to psych me out, and then an even prettier one on actual Valentine's Day. Isn't he the best?? We have a Valentine's Day tradition of staying in and having some sort of special dinner, then going out to Long Island the weekend after and having a long, relaxing weekend, just the two of us. I wanted to make him something special and toyed with a few ideas and decided on salmon roe caviar and creme fraiche as an hors d'oeuvre, lobster pot pie and salad, and pink cupcakes. (It was going to be a pink heart shaped cake, but they heart shaped cakes fell apart, so I just used the cupcakes!) All of this was complemented by a bottle of our favorite bubbly, Graham Beck. (We were introduced to it by Luvo Ntezo, the amazing sommelier at One&Only Cape Town in South Africa - it's fab. Made in the Champagne style, so very yeasty and dry, not sweet. And about $15 per bottle. Love!!)

I was able to whip this up on a weeknight, but it was a bit crazy, so I'd recommend saving it for a special weekend night home-date, or intimate dinner party.

Lobster Pot Pie
This was really decadent, but great and choc full of lobster. I used Ina's recipe, but used puff pastry instead, and didn't do the bottom layer. Also, I didn't use any Pernod because I didn't have any.

I used frozen cooked lobster meat which was great! Still not cheap at $34 for half a pound, but not too expensive. Serves 2-3.

Ingredients:
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
1/2 bulb of fennel, chopped
1/2 stick of unsalted butter
4 tbsp flour
1 1/4 cup clam juice or fish stock
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 tbsp heavy cream
1/2 lb cooked lobster meat
3/4 cup frozen peas
3/4 cup frozen pearl onions
1/4 cup minced flat leaf parsley
thawed puff pastry, cold
1 egg

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Saute the chopped onions and fennel with the butter until the onions are translucent, about 10-15 minutes.

Add flour and cook on low for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Slowly add the stick, salt, and pepper and simmer 5 minutes. Add the heavy cream.

Cut the lobster meat into medium-sized cubes (I also left a few claws in tact so Jamie could really see what he was eating).

Place the lobster, frozen peas, frozen onions, and parsley in a bowl (no need to thaw the veggies) and pour the sauce over the mixture, checking the seasoning.

In a ceramic loaf pan, pour in the mixture.

Top with puff pastry, pinching the edges to the edges of the pan. Top with an egg wash, and add any decorations you want with the extra puff pastry dough. I did hearts for V-day. Cut a couple of slashes in the dough to let out steam.

Cook for about 30 minutes to an hour, until the filling is bubbling hot and the pastry is golden brown. Light some candles, pour the bubbly and serve!