Valentine's Dinner: A New Watercress and Dauphinois Recipe

James and I usually stay in for dinner on Valentine's Day. We started the tradition a few years back of cooking a joint venture meal instead of going out. It is a treat for me to have him cook, and there is no chance of bad service or noisy patrons. Well, apart from Harry.

James cooked steak - French style, and I made a Three Cheese Gratin Dauphinois. We also had a green salad with a new discovery to me: "Wild Red" Watercress. It was lovely, not quite as bitter as some of the watercress we get around here, and was a bit more peppery. We both agreed that we liked it better. With the lovely mixture of green and red, you could almost feel the goodness as you were eating it. Take that toxins and potentially cancerous cells! I did some research and discovered that this is actually a recent find. Or so the article goes. As it has just been placed on the market and only to a limited area, I feel very fortunate to have stumbled upon it. Have I mentioned that I love Sarasota's Downtown Farmer's Market???

We had a lovely meal with Madeleine Peyroux singing away in the background. James had cleared the table and we were finishing up the last of the fizz before going for a walk when an uninvited guest showed up:

Quicker than I could say "Be Mine" (alla Sweethearts Conversation Hearts), Harry was up on the table, on the trivet, like he belonged there. Now I do not condone the cat on the table while we eat, if you know Harry, some times there is no compromising.