Best recipe to impress your date

It's Valentine's Day this Sunday. Are you scrambling for ideas? Haven't made dinner reservations? I asked Tia, co-owner of Avedano's and head chef at San Francisco's Sociale, to share a fun, impressive, but not too complicated recipe to prepare for your special Valentine. It's one Tia often makes at Sociale so it's bound to be a success. Here's a steak that really says, "I love you."

This post comes in two parts. Today's installment will be the list of ingredients and preparation instructions. Tomorrow I'm actually going to put this recipe to the test for my girlfriend (because we both work on Valentine's Day) and see if it properly woos her. I'll let you know how it goes so you'll be all set for Sunday. Wish me luck.

Tia's recipe is for "Grilled Ribeye with gorgonzola smashed potatoes and arugula salad." I purchases most of the ingredients at Avedano's earlier today. I had Dave cut me a sweetheart steak (basically two Ribeye steaks cut to look like a heart, which will be available this weekend) and found some organic red creamer potatoes, wild arugula, a meyer lemon, and thyme finishing salt. The recipe also requires olive oil, kosher salt, black pepper, fennel pollen, gorgonzola, and fresh horseradish.

For the potatoes: boil 6 organic red creamers until pierced easily with a fork and set aside in the fridge for a few hours. When you're ready to start cooking, slice the potatoes in half and place 1 tablespoon of gorgonzola in the middle. Smash the potato in wax paper with the flat of your hand. Set aside until the last minute, then fry the potatoes on both sides in saute pan on medium heat, seasoning with kosher and thyme salt.

For the steaks: season with 1 tablespoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon of fennel pollen, and 1 teaspoon of cracked pepper. Grill to desired temperature.

To pull it all together: place 3 smashed potatoes on each plate, toss 1 loosely packed cup of arugula in a bowl with lemon zest, grated horseradish, salt, and drizzle with good olive oil. Place steak on plate and top with salad.

Delicious and romantic. Check back tomorrow to see how it goes...