This year and last year Brian and I have celebrated Valentine’s Day and our dating anniversary (Jan 26) on one weekend in between. This year was our fabulous dinner in Portland, ME at Fore Street. We also make a delicious dinner on Valentines day. Last year we did a seafood risotto…mmmm. This year we went classic Steak House style!
We had lots of errands and things to do before dinner thought, so I made us a energy packed breakfast.
Veggie Omelets!
These babies contained (for two people):
- 2 Eggs and 2 Egg whites
- a little Skim milk
- onion
- orange bell pepper
- broccoli
- tomato
- 1 garlic and herb laughing cow dotted throughout
- reduced fat cheddar
Served with a toasted homemade Choco-Coconut Muffin!
I spread a little Cashew Butter on some of my muffin…I couldn’t believe I found CASHEW BUTTER in my MOM’s fridge!! GO mom! (It was in there next to the Almond butter…yay for my influence hehe)
Our first stop was at a really nice meat shop in Wellesley, MA:
John Dewar & Co., Inc. My aunt told me about this place and they apparently supply meats for many high end restaurants in Boston! Perfect!
We went all out:
I have only ever eaten Dry Aged steak at really nice restaurants and never see it in regular grocery stores, so I was very excited to purchase one. A $30 steak for the two of us is still way cheaper than getting this at a restaurant!
I also grabbed these…because, well I love pickles :)
The rest of the day included:
- stopping at Great Harvest for some bread! (we each got loaves of the 9-grain bread, and also got lunch there)
- To the jewelers for my 6-month inspection on my engagement ring!
- An Unplanned purchase at the jewelry store…Brian got his wedding band!! It’s so cool…I’ll post a pic when we pick it up sometime this week :)
- Visit the grandparents
- DINNER!
A steak needs some sides:
And a nice red wine of course…I picked this up at TJ’s Friday night after trying a sample. It was really full bodied and flavorful, and I Liked it which is key since I don’t love all red’s.
On to the main event: the meat! I probably eat red meat 1 or 2 times a month…if that! So if I do I want it to be goooooood.
It was 1.5 – 2” thick!!!
We seared it in a HOT cast iron pan for 2-3 minutes on each side, then placed it into a 325 degree oven for 8-10 min. Or so that what we were told.
(**We were also waiting for the meat thermometer to read 140 (med. rare), and it just wasn’t getting there, so we left it in a little longer…BAD MISTAKE! It wasn’t completely overcooked…still pink inside but I was SO upset, a steak like this NEEDS to be med rare or you might as well have just picked up a regular old grocery store piece…it was still good but I was really really disappointed…STUPID MEAT THERMOMETER!!!!)
The sides were delish though haha…
Oven roasted red potatoes with onion, garlic, EVOO, S&P!
Grilled Asparagus with EVOO and garlic, splashed with lemon at the end.
Dinner is Served
Dessert was simple yet decadent…
Picked up some of this deliciousness at WF’s
- Used the crepes I bought last week at WF’s
- heated in the micro
- Spread with the Choc. Hazelnut Butter (practically the same as Nutella),
- Topped with sliced banana and strawberries
- Rolled up
- heated a little again
- topped with 1 scoop Dulce de Leche ice cream (for him) and half a scoop for me, and half a scoop of vanilla.
His
Mine
I’d say minus the steak snafu, it was a success! And delicious to boot! I must say I had a FABULOUS Valentines Day!
Yay for no work tomorrow!! Mom and I are shopping for a dress for HER to wear at the wedding…this should be entertaining haha. We are staying FAR far away from bridal store “Mother of the Bride” dresses, I can’t stand those things!
