♥♥♥ Valentine's Day Dinner ♥♥♥

For Valentine's Day, we decided to stay home for dinner. We didn't feel like going to some fancy restaurant. So for weeks, I thought of what to make. I wanted something that we didn't have too often, but something that wouldn't take me forever to make. I originally wanted to buy filet mignon and make it at home, but was afraid i'd ruin a perfectly good piece of meat by not knowing what I was doing. I've never cooked steak. Usually Kevin grills it on the BBQ or he cooks it on the skillet. I'm not sure why...I asked Kev what he wanted for Vday dinner and he came up with the idea of making duck. I decided to make garlic snails and crème brulée french toast.

The idea of the snails came to me when I was at the dollarstore during lunch break. It amazes me all the things the store carries. I noticed escargots plates. So I did some research about how to prepare snails. To be honest, I didn't know where to get snails...when I read online that I could get them canned, I decided to give it a shot. Even if I knew where to find fresh snails, I probably wouldn't even know how to prepare them. So canned and pre-cooked snailed was the best. When I posted this picture on my facebook, I had a few people ask me if it was hard to make. And it wasn't, especially not with canned snails. It took me all of 12 minutes to make...where 10 minutes was in the oven.





1 can of giant snails
Shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
2-3 tsp garlic, minced
parsley flakes

1. Preheat oven to 350. Open can of snails and rinse under cold water. Drain and put aside.
2. On low heat, melt unsalted butter and add minced garlic
3. Add some parsley flakes in the garlic butter
4. Remove from heat source and toss snails in the garlic butter.
5. Place garlic on escargots plate and drizzle each snail with some of the garlic butter.
6. Cover plate with shredded cheese and bake for 10 min, until cheese is melted.

The result didn't quite look like what I expected it to be. I expected the cheese to be a bit browned, but it taste just like the restaurant. The canned snails didn't taste like it came from a can at all, and the snails really were giant! They were twice the size of the snails we usually get at restaurants. The can of snails was $1.99 for 14 snails. It's a great deal considering how much we pay for escargots gratinés when we eat out.

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I've actually made this duck breast recipe before. Last year, Kev and I went to Knowlton for a weekend and they are known for their Lac Brome ducks. We had a nice package deal with the hotel that included a 3-course duck dinner with our choice of wine. After coming home from the weekending trip, we wanted more duck and I had found a recipe on their website. I will post here the original recipe from the site, with my corrections.

2 duck breasts (magrets), 18/20 size (1 package)
45 ml (3 tbsps.) each ~ honey and Dijon mustard
375 ml (1-½ cup) oil 1 Tbsp of oil
Salt and pepper to taste
5 ml (1 tsp.) curry
30 ml (2 tbsps.) green onions, finely chopped

1. With a sharp knife, score the breats in squares on the skin side. Set aside.
   In a bowl, mix the honey, mustard, curry, salt, pepper and onions.
2. Add oil and stir until it resembles a vinaigrette.
3. Put the breasts into the marinade and leave them in the refrigerator for 8 to 12 hours, turning them from time to time.
4. Remove breasts from marinade and sear them on the skin size on a very hot grill.
5. Finish cooking in the oven (350F) for 8 to 10 minutes until pink inside

The first time I made this, I followed the recipe exactly...with the 1 1/2 cup of OIL! I remember it being a complete mess when I seared the skin on a skillet. It was nasty and oily. This time I reduced the amount of oil by a lot. It was much better and less oily. Depending on the thickness of the duck breast, i'd suggest cutting your duck breast to see how rare the duck is. I baked mine for 10 minutes and it was still quite raw. I put it back in the oven for an addition 5 minutes for medium rare doneness. It was delicious. I boiled the remaining marinade and served it with the duck. I served these with simple roasted potato wedges (Preheat 400, season wedges with salt, pepper and olive oil. Bake for 30min)

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This recipe was found on allrecipes.com. However, I was greatly disappointed when I made this. Don't get me wrong, it ended up tasting quite good, but the preparation was annoying. The instruations given in the recipe were terrible. Luckily, I managed to save it and even had leftovers for the next day.

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup
6 French bread
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon brandy-based orange liqueur (Grand Marnier®) -optional
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Mix in brown sugar and corn syrup, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Pour into a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. Remove crusts from bread, and arrange in the baking dish in a single layer. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, half and half, vanilla extract, orange brandy, and salt. Pour over the bread. Cover, and chill at least 8 hours, or overnight one hour is enough.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Remove the dish from the refrigerator, and bring to room temperature. Place the bread on a baking sheet sugar side up.
4. Bake uncovered 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until puffed and lightly browned.
   

Important notes i'd make for this is to make sure that the egg mixture only covers the bread. Discard the excess egg mixture or pour them in ramekins to make custard. I poured all the micture in and it was too much. My breads ended up floating to the top and the brown sugar mix would detach from the bread, that's why my bread doesn't look like creme brulee at all. I had followed the recipe instructions and after 35 minutes in the oven, it was still a soggy mess. I finally took it our and moved my soggy bread onto a baking sheet and baked it for an addition 15-20 minutes. They ended up being crispy on the outside, but fluffy in the center.

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's day with great food.