Valentine's Day Steak and Lobster Dinner

Valentine's Day has never been a favorite holiday of mine- quite possibly because it brings back memories of kids buying carnations for their crushes in grade school and the only boy that I would get one from was my brother. In the years past I have gotten over the trauma of not being anyone's crush in grade school but I still never acquired a love for February 14th. My idea for Valentine's Day was to avoid the crowded restaurants with love themed prix fixe specials and cook a nice meal with Brady and that is exactly what we did and it was honestly the best Valentine's Day!

For our restaurant style dinner we decided to go with steak and lobster. Neither are foods that I would typically order from a restaurant but it sounded fun to make something a little out of the ordinary. We thought the steak and lobster turned out great. I made a salad and a dessert at the same time which was probably a bit ambitious. Making four dishes in my tiny kitchen is just asking for disaster, but we survived and the only thing that didn't was the burnt salad croutons (minor in the scheme of things).

I do have to say though that while I am not a huge fan of the holiday I definitely didn't mind the hot pink roses from Brady and the giant chocolate heart from one of the little boys in my class :)

Lobster Tail Steamed with Champagne and Orange
** from Cooking Light
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Serves 2
Prep/Cook Time: 15 minutes

4 slices of orange
2 lobster tails
2 tsp. butter, cut into small pieces
1/8 c. chopped fresh fennel fronds (the green part, not the bulb)
1/2 c. dry champage
1/8 tsp sea salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut out two large pieces of parchment paper. On each piece of parchment paper, layer two slices of orange, a lobster tail, 1 tsp butter and a little of the fennel. Sprinkle each with salt.

Pour champagne over each of the serving packets. Fold the parchment paper around the ingredients, using folds to seal each packet closed. Place the packets on a baking sheet, and bake for 12 minutes. To serve, drizzle the tails with the juices from the packet.

** I would recommend threading the lobster tail with a wooden skewer that has been soaked in water prior to cooking. This will keep the tails from curling during cooking.

Steakhouse Steaks
** from Barefoot Contessa

Serves 2
Prep/Cook Time: 30 minutes

1 (2 inch thick) filet mignon
1 T. oil
1 T. sea salt
1 T. fresh cracked peppercorns
2 T. unsalted butter, room temperature

Preheat oven to 400. Heat a large cast iron skillet or grill pan over medium high heat for 5-7 minutes.

Meanwhile, pat the filets dry with a paper towel, brush each with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

When the pan is extremely hot, add the steaks and sear on all sides; about 2 minutes per side (top, bottom and sides). This should take about 10 minutes total.

Remove the pan from the heat and arrange the steaks in a baking dish. Top each with 1 tablespoon of butter and place in the oven. Bake for 8-10 minutes, to 120 degrees for rare and 125 degrees for medium rare. Remove the steaks to a platter and cover tightly with aluminum foil for 5-10 minutes.