Romantic Dinner Menu -
rec.food.cooking/Nina S. Vevern/2002

Valentine's Day was awesome. My menu, now that I think about it, had a predominant cheese and fruit theme to it. Here's what I made:

Greeted my husband with a Sour Apple Martini when he came home from work. Dinner was Beef Tenderloins with French Onion Sauce served over Parmesan Cheese Toast Points. Veggies were green beans with Mandarin Oranges and Toasted Almonds. I also made a salad of butter lettuce, fresh pears, gorgonzola cheese and olive oil. Dessert was my surprise for my husband.

He's a cheesecake fiend and is absolutely mad about Almond Roca candy. Don't laugh . . . I searched and found a recipe for La Roca Cheesecake which I made for dessert. I'm not a huge cheesecake person -- the only one I've ever really enjoyed is a White Chocolate Cheesecake I had at a restaurant a while ago -- but I had a sliver and it was very, very tasty!

BEEF TENDERLOINS WITH FRENCH ONION SAUCE

2 teaspoons butter or stick margarine, divided
2 cups thinly sliced onion
3 cups cremini mushroom caps, halved (about 1/2 pound)
2/3 cup water
1 1/4 cups beef consomme*
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
4 (4-ounce) beef tenderloin steaks (1 inch thick)
1/2 cup dry red wine

Melt 1 teaspoon butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and mushrooms; sauté 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in water and consomme, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil; cover and cook 10 minutes. Remove onion mixture from pan.

Combine thyme, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Rub the thyme mixture over steaks. Melt 1 teaspoon butter in pan over medium-high heat. Add steaks; cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove steaks from pan; keep warm.

Add wine to pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Stir in onion mixture; bring to a boil, and cook 1 minute. Return steaks to pan; simmer 1 minute.

Place one toast slice in plate, and top each slice with steak. Spoon the onion mixture over each serving. Serve immediately.

*I used beef broth.

PARMESAN CHEESE TOAST POINTS
Yield: 6 croutons

1 (12-inch) French baguette, sliced into 2-inch slices
1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/3 cup mayonnaise
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 F.

In a mixing bowl, combine cheese, parsley, garlic, and mayonnaise. Mix until incorporated. Season with salt and pepper. Spread 1 tablespoon of the mixture onto each baguette slice. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until the croutons are golden brown. Garnish with parsley.

ROASTED GREEN BEANS WITH MANDARIN ORANGES AND ALMONDS

1 1/4 pounds green or wax beans, trimmed
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons toasted slivered almonds
1 cup Mandarin orange segments

Preheat oven to 450º. Combine first 7 ingredients in a jelly-roll pan, tossing well. Bake at 450º for 10 minutes or until beans are tender and browned, stirring occasionally. Add Mandarin orange segments and toasted almonds just before serving.

LA ROCA CHEESECAKE

3/4 cup Graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup chopped or ground Almond Roca Buttercrunch Candy
1/4 cup margarine or butter, melted
3 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
3 eggs
1 tsp. almond or vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 300 degrees; combine crumbs, Almond Roca, sugar and margarine; press firmly on bottom of a 9 inch spring-form pan or 13 inch baking pan. In large bowl, beat cheese until fluffy; gradually beat in condensed milk until smooth; add eggs and extract; mix well. Pour into prepared pan; bake 55-60 minutes or until center is set. Cool; top with La Roca Topping; chill, refrigerate leftovers.

LA ROCA TOPPING

1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup chopped or ground Almond Roca Buttercrunch

In a small saucepan combine brown sugar and whipping cream; heat and stir over low heat until sugar dissolves; simmer 5 minutes or until thickened; remove from heat and stir in Almond Roca; spoon evenly over cake. (For 13 x 9 inch pan, double all topping ingredients; simmer 10 to 12 minutes or until thickened.)

*The recipe was a little confusing in that it mentions the sugar in the La Roca topping but not for the shell. I divided the brown sugar into two -- half for the shell and the other half for the topping and was happy with the result.