I’m spending my weekend catching up on my blogs. So, I’m going through this month and trying to expand on some memorable meals.
This year, we spread out our Valentine’s Celebration over three days. We started in Lodi with a decadent tour of the wineries. The next day, we celebrated the romantic holiday at Ella in Downtown Sacramento. My co-worker recommended the spot for special occasion dining and other metrobloggers posted decent reviews.
Overall, Ella was a sophisticated culinary experience. We followed the informed suggestions from our server and savored the delicious servings of fresh shellfish, veggies, meat and more.
I enjoyed the duck and duck risotto. The chef served it medium-rare and that brought out the complex, fleshy tones. I loved the combination of those flavors with the crispy duck skin. We also started-off dinner with a half-dozen raw oysters from the East Coast. Our appetizers were served with the traditional marinara sauce plus a champagne vinegar mignonette.
For dessert, we shared a hot, sweet apple tart plus a tasty scoop of homemade cinnamon ice cream. The ice cream scoop tasted so creamy and I was tempted to get seconds.
We decided to cook for each other on Valentine’s Day. Mark made the linguini with clams and I made the salmon with prosciutto. We’ve made these dishes about 6 years ago. This time around, both recipes seemed easy to do. Mark’s pasta sauce with white wine turned out delicate and it complimented the clams. I thought the salmon’s pink color was perfect for this romantic holiday. I’m always tickled by the simple ingredients transforming fresh fish into something elegant: olive oil, prosciutto, salt and pepper. Yum!