Valentine’s Day Menu

I’ve made my thoughts on Valentine’s Day well known, so much so that I posted my rant twice. Despite my general disdain for the overly commercialized holiday that it is, I still enjoy making a nice meal for my wife.

Last year I wrote post about our Valentine’s Day tradition, but I didn’t post my recipe for what I have been traditionally preparing for the past three years. So, I figured I’d take the opportunity to do that now in case anyone is feeling up to offering an easy, yet delicious homemade meal to their special someone this weekend.

Ever since my wife was pregnant with our son I have been making my creamy tomato bisque and paninis. The bisque is actually quite simple to prepare, just a little chopping and stirring and you’ve got a wonderful, comforting soup that also freezes well.

As for the paninis they are no more difficult than assembling a sandwich. I like to use ciabatta (or even foccacia) bread for my paninis. A trick I’ve discovered is after you cut the bread invert it so that the soft inside is what ends up getting grilled, rather than the crustier exterior.

Then I layer up slices of tomato that I have first marinated in some balsamic vinegar, generous slices of fresh mozzarella, a pinch of some chiffonaded basil and proscuitto (for my wife) or sopressata (for me). Lastly, I lightly brush the outside of the sandwiches with some olive oil and grill them in a cast iron pan until they are golden brown and the cheese is melted.

As you can see it is very simple, but a nice way to jazz up a simple meal of soup and sandwiches.

Creamy Tomato Bisque

as adapted from Food Network Kitchens

Hardware

Dutch oven or large pot
Measuring cups and spoons
Immersion blender or Blender and strainer

Software

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 to 3 slices of bacon
1 medium yellow or sweet onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
5 tablespoons all purpose flour
4 cups chicken broth (low sodium if canned)
1 cup sherry or white wine
1 28 ounce can of whole tomatoes with liquid, roughly chopped
3 flat lead parsley sprigs
3 fresh thyme sprigs
3/4 cup heavy cream
6 oz mascarpone cheese (3/4 package)
salt and pepper to taste

Assemblage

• Melt the butter in the oil over medium high heat in the dutch oven or pot
• Add the bacon and render down until crispy, then remove bacon
• Stir in the onion, carrot, celery, garlic and shallot, season with salt and pepper, then cook for 7 to 8 minutes, or until fragrant
• Add the flour, stirring to combine and cook for 2 to 3 minutes
• Deglaze the pan with the sherry or white wine, cook for 1 to 2 minutes
• Add the chicken broth and tomatoes, then bring to boil while stirring regularly
• Drop in the parsley and thyme (tied together with twine if you have to make it easier to retrieve), lower the heat to simmer for 30 minutes, then remove from heat and allow the base to cool
• Discard the herb bundle, then hit the soup with the immersion blender, or transfer in batches to a regular blender and strain before returning it to the pot.
• Turn the heat back on to medium
• Whisk together the mascarpone and heavy cream, then stir into the the soup, reserving 1/4 of it for garnish
• Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary

Presentation

When my bisque is finished I like to serve it in a shallow bowl then swirl some of the remaining mascarpone/heavy cream mixture and top it off with the bacon crumbles and chiffonaded basil. Combined with the paninis this bisque is the perfect cold weather comfort food.

Dipping the perfectly grilled paninis into the soup brings me back to my childhood when my mom would make tomato soup and grilled cheese after we had been playing out in the snow.

If you give this a try I love to hear about how it went, or what you might have done differently.