Valentine’s Day is upon us! If you forget to call for a dinner reservation, or just want to avoid the busy restaurant scene this year, you’re going to want to do something or else you’re going to get some heat. Don’t fear! We have you covered. I created this dinner specifically for you. The recipes are not too difficult and the combination of the sea scallops and sirloin work very well. The couscous gives the plate a sophisticated feel without being “over the top.” Go ahead and give it a try!

You will be making and serving sea scallops with Meyer lemon butter sauce coupled with seared sirloin steak with mushrooms and blue cheese. Both are served with asparagus, grape tomatoes, and couscous with olive oil and Parmesan. The key to cooking and serving any dinner like this is preparation. You are going to have almost everything done ahead of time.

For dessert, I recommend you serve Dr. Loetker’s Lava Cake. It is a wonderful chocolate dessert that is on sale this week for only $2.69 a box. You will find it in our Natural and Organic section.

( Chef’s hat denotes sale item)

INGREDIENTS

• 4 to 6 sea scallops
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Juice of one half Meyer lemon
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

METHOD

Pat scallops dry with a paper towel. Lightly season with salt and pepper, then set aside. Heat a metal or cast iron skillet over high heat for about 3 minutes. Add oil to pan, then scallops. Cook scallops 2 minutes or until they are browned nicely. Do not turn, cook one side only! This will keep them from over cooking later. While scallops are browning, melt butter in microwave; mix in lemon juice, set aside. After scallops are browned nicely, remove from pan and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet, browned side up. Pour butter mixture over scallops and refrigerate. This can (and should) be done one or two days in advance.

INGREDIENTS

• 12 oz. petite sirloin
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• ½ cup mushroom, sliced
• ¼ cup Rosenberg blue cheese
• ¼ cup hot water mixed with 1 teaspoon Better Than Bouillon Beef Base
• Preheat the oven’s broiler

METHOD

Lightly season steaks with salt and pepper. Set aside. Heat a metal or cast iron skillet over high heat for about 3 minutes. Add oil to pan, then add steaks. Cook two minutes per side. Remove from pan (don’t wash pan), place on a cookie sheet or Pyrex and refrigerate.

Place pan with steak drippings back on stove over high heat and add mushrooms. Sauté for a minute or two then add beef broth. Bring to a boil and scrape up any brown bits from bottom of pan. Add blue cheese and toss or stir until all ingredients are mixed well. Pour sauce into a microwavable container and refrigerate.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 quart boiling water
• 2 quarts ice water in large bowl
• 10 stalks asparagus
• ½ cup grape tomatoes
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper mix

METHOD

Cut ends off asparagus and place in boiling water. Cook for about 90 seconds. Immediately plunge in ice water. Drain well. Cut asparagus into 2-inch pieces. In a large bowl, toss asparagus and tomatoes with olive oil, and about ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Place in Pyrex or baking dish. This can be done up to 3 days in advance. 15 minutes before serving, place mixture in a °350 oven for 10 to 15 minutes until warmed through.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup cooked Texmati Tri-Color Couscous (follow package directions)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• Pinch black pepper

METHOD

After cooking couscous, run cold water over it to stop the cooking process. Allow it to drain, then toss with olive oil, Parmesan, salt, and pepper. Place in a microwave safe container. This can be done up to two days in advance.

1. Preheat oven to °400.
2. Set the table. Remember: forks on left, knives on right with blade side pointing in towards plate.
3. Put steak in oven; set timer for 5 minutes.
4. After timer goes off, put scallops and asparagus in oven with steaks. Set timer for 4 minutes.
5. Put sauce and couscous in microwave. Set for 1½ minutes on high. When done, stir and cook for another minute or until couscous and sauce both are heated throughout. Leave in microwave until ready to plate.
6. When oven timer goes off, pull steaks and set aside to rest, leaving asparagus and scallops in oven for another three minutes.
7. Remove scallops and asparagus from oven.
8. Slice steak into 6 or 8¼-inch pieces and divide onto two plates. Place scallops on plate; with a spoon, pour sauce from scallop pan over scallops.
9. Spoon mushroom sauce over steaks.
10. Divide the couscous between the two plates.
11. Place asparagus and grape tomatoes on plate as shown.
12. Prepare to be a hero!

For those of you that love a good steak but are worrying about keeping the weight off, here is a really wonderful recipe for the steak that is easy to prepare, heart healthy, and simply delicious!

INGREDIENTS

• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing
• 2 (1-inch-thick) rib eye steaks (about 1 pound each)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 3 cups arugula, washed and spun dry
• ½ cup toasted pine nuts
• 1½ cups roasted peppers, rinsed and patted dry
• Small block Parmesan (about 8 ounces)

METHOD

• In a large sauté pan, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil. Season steaks with salt and pepper. When pan starts to smoke, carefully add steaks. Allow the steaks to cook for about 3 to 4 minutes on 1 side, without moving or piercing the meat. This will help create a good, crusty sear. When steaks are brown, flip and sear the other side for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove meat to a large plate (do not wash pan) and allow them to rest for 10 minutes.
• Place pan back on stove over high. Add mushrooms and balsamic vinegar to the pan, season with salt and pepper and cook until soft. Use a spoon to scrape up any brown bits on bottom of pan.
• Put mushrooms in a large salad bowl. Cut peppers into strips and add to mushrooms. Add arugula, pine nuts, and remaining olive oil to bowl, season with salt and pepper, then toss together until ingredients are lightly coated with oil.
• Pour arugula salad mix onto a large platter.
• Slice the steaks across the grain and on a bias into 1½-inch thick pieces. Lay the slices on top of the salad.
• Using a vegetable peeler, shave about Parmesan over the dish.

I, like many of you, struggle with my weight. Last week I told you I would be offering more healthful recipes and techniques proven successful by many. This week I am sharing with you the method of “food combining,” which has gained much attention in the weight loss blogosphere as well as in popular books, videos, and periodicals.

The theory is called “food combining” and the gist is that by combining or not combining certain foods your digestions system works more efficiently giving you more energy and a better chance of actually converting the food to energy rather than turning it into fat. The proponents include many who say that when you mix proteins (like meat, chicken, or fish) with starches (like potatoes, rice, pasta, or bread), your stomach has a difficult time processing the two foods. Many nutritionists claim that our system doesn’t work like that therefore the idea is bull hockey.

All I can tell is that for me, it does seem to work. I DEFINITELY have more energy when I don’t eat a bunch of pasta with my chicken and stick to green veggies instead, but maybe it is just because the vegetables are probably healthier than the pasta anyway. It does make sense from a historical perspective when one considers that early man probably only ate certain foods alone. Anyway, I can tell you that I have lost a lot of weight in the past using this system and I am losing weight now doing it. I think we can all agree that when you try this steak, you certainly won’t feel deprived!

INGREDIENTS

• One, 12 to 16 oz. strip steak
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 or 4 tablespoons of your favorite grill spice
• ¼ cup red wine
• 1 tablespoon butter

PREPARATION

A cast iron skillet works best for this, but you can use aluminum. If you don’t have a good fan over your kitchen stove, you may want to do this over a hot fire on the BBQ grill or outside on any portable stove or burner. Heat you pan on high for at least 10 minutes. I like to heat my cast iron skillet until I can see white ash. That can take as long as 20 to 30 minutes. I know it sound crazy, but trust me! Rub the steak all over with the olive oil and the spice. If you don’t have a favorite “grill spice”, we sell one in our meat department called “Char Crust” that is wonderful. Some Kosher salt mixed with some coarse, black, pepper, and garlic powder also will work. Rub the spice into the meat. Allow the steak to sit for 15 to 20 minutes at this point until it reaches room temperature. Before you do the next step, really consider whether or not you should do this outside. If your hood vent is not commercial grade, you really should consider it as it will smoke; A LOT!!!

Place the steak in the very hot pan. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes on first side. Turn and cook another 4 minutes or so until desired doneness is reached. I can’t tell you when that is. A steak that is 1½ inches will usually be medium rare after 4 minutes per side in a really hot pan. If you like it more done and you don’t want to blacken the crust further, finish in a 450 degree oven for 3 to 5 minutes more for every degree of doneness.

Remove steak from pan and let it rest while you finish the sauce. Add the wine to pan and scrape up all the brown bits from the bottom of pan. Let wine boil until only a couple tablespoons are left. Remove from heat and whisk in cold butter. Pour over steak and serve immediately with the green beans below.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 to 6 ounces fresh green beans, stem-end trimmed
• ½ cup olive oil
• Kosher salt and pepper

PREPARATION

Heat oil over medium low heat for 5 minutes. Add beans, turn heat to low and cook for about 8 minutes. Taste one to see if they are the right texture for you. Strain from oil and season with salt and pepper.

In This Menu:

• Warm Spinach Salad
• T-Bone Steaks with Chimichurri
• Blueberry Crumble

To continue our culinary journey this week, I thought we would visit the Pampas of Argentina. Argentina is a place that produces some of the best beef cattle in the world and is renowned for their steaks. The Chimichurri sauce for the steaks is a very common and popular condiment for meat. The sauce really gets its flavor from the parsley. To that end, it is important to use the flat leaf or Italian parsley as it has a much better and more pronounced flavor than the curly parsley. Since I have personally been trying to eat healthier and avoid processed foods, I will try to give those of you also trying to eat better some healthful hints within these blog posts. Fortunately, we have just hired a registered nutritionist to be part of our team and she is assisting me in my effort to eat better as well as passing along good information to you, our customers.

In looking at this menu I realized that the salad, corn, and steak go right along with my plan. No changes. Instead of frying the fries, you could bake them, remove the skin, and mash them with some salt, pepper, and creamy goat cheese; these are wonderful and the goat cheese is very good for you as are the potatoes. As far as the dessert goes, try using unbleached flour instead of all purpose and substituting Stevia (a natural sweetener) and/or honey for the white sugar since fat is not the enemy, processed foods are (at least in my program). Use regular sour cream, not the “light brand”.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb. baby spinach
• 2 Roma tomatoes
• 1 small red onion
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup fresh mozzarella
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic or red wine vinegar
• Salt and pepper

PREPARATION

Cut Romas in half vertically and run your paring knife round the seeds inside the tomato. Now remove the seeds and run under cold water to remove any seeds that remain. Peel the onion, cut in quarters, then into thin slices. Cut mozzarella into ¼” cubes.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and spinach. Stir spinach constantly until it just begins to wilt. Remove spinach from pan, season with salt and pepper, and place in a large salad bowl. Put pan back on stove, turn heat to high and add other tablespoon of oil. When pan is hot, add the tomatoes, onions, and mushrooms to the pan along with a light dusting of salt and pepper. Sauté quickly, stirring constantly for about 2 minutes. You don’t want the vegetables to overcook. Pour vegetables over spinach and top with mozzarella. Drizzle vinegar over salad and toss to combine.

INGREDIENTS

• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• 6 garlic cloves
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 jalapeño chiles, seeded and coarsely chopped
• 1½ tablespoons of salt
• ¾ cup coarsely chopped fresh Italian (sometimes called flat leaf) parsley
• ¼ cup fresh oregano leaves
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

For Sweet Potato Fries and Steaks:

• 3 large sweet potatoes
• 2 to 3 cups canola oil

For Steaks:

• 3 T-bone steaks, 1 inch thick or as desired

PREPARATION

For Chimichurri:

Place the vinegar, garlic, bay leaves, jalapeños, and salt in a food processor and blend until smooth. Add the parsley and oregano, and pulse until well blended. Keep machine running and slowly drizzle in oil. Remove from food processor, cover tightly and set aside. Preheat the oven to 400° F and prepare the grill (or, alternatively, the steaks can be broiled).

For Fries:

Place the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet, bake in the oven for 20 minutes, and let cool. Neatly cut the potatoes, still with their skins on, into thin sticks. Heat the oil in a deep fryer or large saucepan to 350° F and fry the potatoes for about 4 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Season with salt and keep warm. This is the traditional Argentina way of cooking these fries, but I prefer the French two step method that we have discussed before.
(http://www.pricecutteronline.com/blog/?p=1666)

For Steaks:

Lay steaks out on baking sheet and rub each side with a generous amount of olive oil, salt, and pepper and place on the hot grill. Grill the steaks for about 5 minutes per side for medium or to the desired doneness. Top with a liberal dose of the Chimichurri sauce and put some sauce in a bowl for dipping.

For Corn:

Remove husks from corn and rinse in cold water to remove any stringy material left on cob. Take out a one foot length of foil and lay cob on top of it. Brush all sides of corn cob with olive oil then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roll in foil and seal the ends. Place corn on grill or in oven about 5 minutes before steaks go on. Turn corn frequently to avoid burning any side. Corn takes about 15 minutes to completely cook.

INGREDIENTS

For the Streusel:

• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

For the Cake:

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (¾ stick)
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 2 extra large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• Confectioners’ sugar for sprinkling

PREPARATION

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round baking pan.

For the Streusel:

Combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter and then the flour. Mix well and set aside.

For the Cake:

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, lemon zest, and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Fold in the blueberries and stir with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out with a knife. With your fingers, crumble the topping evenly over the batter. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely and serve sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar.

When I was thinking about what menu I was going to do for Father’s Day, I thought about simple food that I, and most dads, like. Steak. Shrimp. Simple salad. Cheesecake. Easy, huh? Well, here is the menu that I want to have on Father’s Day (hint, hint). I don’t mind doing the grilling if someone else does the dishes!

In This Menu:

• Wedge Lettuce Salad
• Shrimp Skewers and Rib Eye Steaks with Red Wine Mushroom Sauce
• Cheesecake with Blueberry Sauce

I think I like this salad because it is simple and that it also has a big piece of iceberg lettuce! I know, I know, iceberg is not as healthy as some other lettuces, but this is for Father’s Day! Sometimes we dads just want a big, old, crunchy piece of iceberg. It may not be the healthiest, but it sure is tasty!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 head iceberg lettuce cut into 4, wedge-shaped pieces
• 2 hard boiled eggs, cut in half vertically
• 1 large, fresh tomato, cut into quarters
• Dressing of choice
• 1 cup sliced black olives
• 1 cup crumbled blue cheese
• ¼ cup fresh chives

PREPARATION

Lay wedge out on plate. Put ½ egg on one side of wedge and 1 tomato quarter on other side. Drizzle dressing over the top of wedge lettuce then top with blue cheese, olives, and chives.

INGREDIENTS

For the Steaks:

• Four, 12 oz. rib eye steaks
• Olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• Kosher salt
• Black pepper

Drizzle oil on both sides of steaks and rub with garlic, salt, and pepper.

For the Shrimp:

• 16 large shrimp, peeled except for tail and de-veined
• Olive oil
• Kosher salt and pepper

Drizzle oil on shrimp and lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper. Skewer 4 shrimp on a bamboo skewer and set aside.

For the Sauce:

• 3 cups dry, red wine
• 1 cup strong beef bouillon
• ½ cup diced onion
• ½ cup diced celery
• ½ cup diced carrot
• 1 bay leaf

2 cups fresh, sliced mushrooms, sautéed in butter.

PREPARATION

Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce for 20 to 30 minutes. Strain through a mesh strainer and place back on heat. Mix 3 tablespoons cornstarch with 3 tablespoons water. Slowly add to boiling sauce until desired thickness is reached. You do not have to add all of the cornstarch mixture. Add cooked mushrooms to sauce.

To Finish:

Grill steak to desired temperature, about 6 minutes per side for medium to medium rare. When steaks are almost done, place shrimp on hot grill. The shrimp will cook in about 2 minutes per side. Serve steaks with shrimp and top steak with mushroom sauce and serve with bicolor corn and your favorite potato.

For the Crust:

• ½ lb. butter-softened
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ t. salt
• Flour as needed

Mix butter, sugar, and salt in mixer. Add flour until pea-sized balls are formed. Form crust into 10 inch spring form pan two inches up the side.

For the Batter:

• 1 and ½ block cream cheese (this is 1 and ½ lb.) – softened
• 4 eggs
• 1 t. vanilla extract
• ½ cup sugar

Mix cream cheese, vanilla, sugar, and eggs in mixer until smooth. Pour into crust and bake in low oven at 200° for about 4 hours. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Run a warm knife around sides before removing side of spring form pan.

For the Sauce:

• 2 pints fresh blueberries
• 2 tablespoons butter
• Juice of one lemon
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons cold water

Place blueberries in a small sauce pan with butter, sugar, and lemon over medium heat and cook until berries begin to burst and release their juice. Turn heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Add ½ of the cornstarch mixture and bring to a boil. Add more of the cornstarch mixture as necessary to reach desired thickness. Let cool and serve over cheesecake.