Valentine’s Dinner – Roasted Lobster Tail & Gran Marnier Souffle w/ Creme Anglaise

We celebrated our Valentine’s dinner an evening early as Chris works tomorrow (though the girls are off from school). We were quite lazy, watching the Olympics (interspersed with House on Bravo) so it was a good thing this meal came together so quickly.
First we started with some caviar that we purchased at Whole Foods earlier in the day. Chris went with the usual blini but in an effort to keep the points down, I opted to use some endive leaves as my “scoop.” Yum.

Next up, we moved onto Roasted Lobster Tail with a Ginger Dipping Sauce and some simply roasted brussel sprouts.

Roasted Lobster Tail

Roasted Lobster Tail with a Ginger Dipping Sauce

Sauce:
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon water
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon plum sauce
1 tablespoon dry sherry
3/4 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
Lobster:
2 (8-ounce) frozen lobster tails, thawed
Cooking spray
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon dark sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Sliced green onions (optional)
Preheat oven to 425°.

To prepare sauce, combine mustard and water in a small bowl; stir well with a whisk.

Stir in soy sauce, plum sauce, sherry, and ginger; set aside.

To prepare lobster, make a lengthwise cut through the top of each lobster shell using kitchen shears, cutting to, but not through, lobster meat; press shell open. Place the lobster tails, cut sides up, in a shallow roasting pan coated with cooking spray. Combine the oils and pepper, and spoon over the lobster meat.

Bake at 425° for 13 minutes or until the lobster meat turns opaque. Serve lobster with sauce, and garnish with onions, if desired.

Yield: 2 servings (serving size: 1 lobster tail and 2 tablespoons dipping sauce)

Whole foods didn’t have 8 oz lobster tails, so we went with smaller 3 – 4 oz tails, two each. For one serving, an easy 4 WW points.

But the real highlight of the meal was dessert.

Grand Marnier Souffle

Hot Grand Marnier Soufflés

Cooking spray
3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
4 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons Grand Marnier (orange-flavored liqueur)
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 large egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 400°; place a heavy baking sheet on middle rack.

Coat 6 (8-ounce) ramekins with cooking spray, and sprinkle each dish with 2 teaspoons granulated sugar, shaking and turning to coat.

Place egg yolks in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium-high speed 5 minutes or until thick and pale. Gradually add 1/4 cup granulated sugar; beat 2 minutes. Beat in liqueur and vanilla.

Place egg whites in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed 1 minute or until foamy using clean, dry beaters. Add the cream of tartar and salt; beat mixture until soft peaks form. Gradually add 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form. Gently stir one-fourth of egg white mixture into liqueur mixture. Gently fold in the remaining egg white mixture; divide evenly among the prepared ramekins.

Place soufflé dishes on baking sheet in oven; bake at 400° for 10 minutes or until tall and golden brown (soufflés will rise 1 1/2 to 2 inches above the dish rim). Quickly dust soufflés with powdered sugar. Serve immediately.

Note: Using a wide rubber spatula, gently fold egg whites into the batter by making a scooping motion from the bottom of the bowl to the top. This prevents the egg whites from deflating.

I have 7 oz ramekins so had a bit left over, which I’m sorry I didn’t put into a 4 oz ramekin for a little treat. These come in at four points each (but that 4 oz one would have been as easy 2 points). Note: It calls for 2t to coat each ramekin, I only used a single teaspoon (if that), and by doing so, you knock these down to a three point dessert!
Yield: 6 servings

While I was at it, I made a Crème Anglaise as a bit of a garnish for the soufflé.

Crème Anglaise

1 3/4 cups 1% low-fat milk
1 (3-inch) piece vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1/3 cup sugar
4 large egg yolks

Pour milk into a medium saucepan. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean; add seeds and bean to milk. Cook over medium heat 6 minutes (do not boil); discard bean. Remove from heat.

Combine sugar and yolks in a bowl, stirring with a whisk until blended. Gradually add milk mixture to bowl, stirring constantly with a whisk. Return mixture to pan. Cook over medium heat 6 minutes or until mixture thinly coats the back of a spoon, stirring constantly with a whisk. Immediately pour mixture into a bowl. Cover and chill (mixture will thicken as it cools).

Note: Crème Anglaise can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Also, I used skim milk instead of 1% because that’s what I have on hand – I think it was still really good. Lastly, when cooking the custard – it says for 6 minutes or until it coats the back of a spoon. Mine didn’t take anywhere near six minutes, so be careful. Also, for 1/4 cup of the Anglaise, 2 Weight Watcher points.