Romantic Recipes

Whatever your plans are for Valentine's Day, I think it always is romantic and special to cook for someone you care about, so I wanted to pass along a couple of my favorite easy and succulent recipes. I must say the first time I started an evening with a Sgroppino was a few years ago with an ex on New Year's Eve, and I still remember the drink, the venue and most certainly the evening (and yes the guy of course too). No promises the same will result for you, but I advise serving these dishes with your favorite bottle of wine, a mixed green salad and a nice, decadent dessert and voila - a fabulous, as well as hopefully romantic, evening is on upon you.

Sgroppino
1 cup chilled Prosecco (Italian sparkling wine)

2 tablespoons chilled vodka

1/2 cup frozen lemon sorbet

1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh mint leaves
Pour the Prosecco and vodka into 2 Champagne flutes, diving equally. Spoon a scoop of sorbet into each flute. Sprinkle with mint and serve immediately.

Seared Pork Tenderloin with Cocoa Spice Rub
1 tablespoon whole white peppercorns

1 tablespoon whole coriander

4 tablespoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cloves

4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

4 tablespoons sea salt

2 boneless pork tenderloins (about 1 pound each)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, toast white peppercorns and coriander seeds until they begin to pop. Remove from heat and grind to fine powder in a spice mill or coffee grinder. Mix the ground pepper and coriander with remaining spices, cocoa and salt.
Trim the pork tenderloins of fat and silver skin. Rub with a generous amount of the cocoa spice rub. Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium high heat until hot but not smoking. Sear each tenderloin on all sides until a rich brown color, about 2 minutes on each side. Remove tenderloins from heat and finish in the oven for about 12 to 14 minutes or until cooked through.
Let the tenderloins rest out of the oven for at least 10 minutes before carving.

Gruyere Potato Gratin
1 pound large red potatoes

3/4 cup coarsely grated Gruyere

1 large egg

3/4 cup milk, heated just to boiling

Kosher or sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter a 1-quart gratin or shallow baking dish. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Peel potatoes and cut into thin slices. Add potatoes to boiling water and parcook 4 minutes. Drain potatoes well in a colander. In a baking dish, arrange potatoes, overlapping them, in 3 layers, sprinkling first 2 layers each with 1/4 cup Gruyere and salt and pepper, to taste. In a small bowl whisk egg and add hot milk in a stream, stirring constantly. Season mixture with salt and pepper and pour evenly over potatoes. Sprinkle the potatoes with remaining 1/4 cup cheese and bake until top is golden and potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes. A nice bubbly or red wine is perfect with these dishes.