Our “Aphrodisiac Foods” Dinner Club is coming up this weekend! I’m thrilled about the menu for this one, not as much for its realistic possibilities in satisfying romance as for its possibilities in satisfying our appetites! The menu is really inspired this month and we’re experiencing some flavor combinations that we typically don’t on a regular basis. (For our menu, you can refer back to my posting from March 15th.)
Yes, the candles will be lit for this one, the lights dimmed, the music soft and romantic or jazz-infused; but while researching the subject of aphrodisiac foods, this blogger was “left cold” so to speak on the science behind the rumor!
For example, the recipe I’m featuring below is that of our main entrée for the evening, the “Pepper Crusted Beef with Chocolate Port Sauce”. Sounds delicious right? How can you go wrong with beef and chocolate? However, while we may savor the flavor combination (I certainly hope we will), I’m not sure it will provide the shot-in-the-arm of romantic emotions that our group of long and happily married couples might hope for.
According to a New York Times article I located, “The Aztecs may have been the first on record to draw a link between the cocoa bean and…desire: the emperor Montezuma was said to consume the bean in copious amounts to fuel his romantic trysts. Nowadays, scientists ascribe the aphrodisiac qualities of chocolate, if any, to two chemicals it contains. One, tryptophan, is a building block of serotonin, a brain chemical involved in…arousal. The other, phenylethylamine, a stimulant related to amphetamine, is released in the brain when people fall in love. But most researchers believe that the amounts of these substances in chocolate are too small to have any measurable effect on desire. Studies that have looked for a direct link between chocolate consumption and heightened…arousal have found none.” (1)
At least this one article doesn’t back up the claims, but we are having an ENTIRE MENU of aphrodisiac foods, so we’ll let our group be the unscientific-judges of the centuries of rumor and popular belief! One thing is sure, as always we’ll have a terrific time and I will, of course, let you know how the beef entrée (following) turns out!
(1) Permalink to New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/18/health/18real.html
Pepper Crusted Beef with Chocolate Port
From: Allrecipes.com;
(I will be serving 12 ppl, so will increase my amounts based on below)
2 (5 ounce) beef tenderloin filets
1 tablespoon olive oil
Coarse sea salt to taste
1 tablespoon cracked white peppercorns
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1/4 cup port wine
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup beef stock
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
1/2 (1 ounce) square bittersweet chocolate, chopped
Brush the tenderloin filets on all sides with 1 tablespoon olive oil, then sprinkle with sea salt and cracked pepper. Heat another tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until it begins to smoke. Add the steaks, and cook to your desired degree of doneness, 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Once done, remove the steaks from the skillet and keep warm.
Stir in the minced shallot, and cook for 1 minute. Pour in the port and balsamic vinegar. Simmer until the port reduces to the consistency of chocolate syrup, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the beef stock and rosemary, and return to a simmer. Once the sauce has begun to simmer, whisk in the chocolate until it melts and slightly thickens the sauce. Pour sauce over steaks to serve.
