A meal fit for your Valentine

Chef Mike Millan has yet to give his first cooking class at Encore American Bistro, but he can already call it a success.

Millan planned one class for this Saturday to teach 10 people a Valentine's Day menu. But the class sold out so quickly that he had to add a second.

Encore American Bistro, on Fourth Street downtown, was a Latin-flavored restaurant called Rana Loca until about a month ago. Millan, a Florida native of Cuban and Spanish descent, ran that kitchen, too.

But when thinking of a Valentine's menu, he drew from a wide variety of experiences. Millan, 29, has a culinary degree from Johnson & Wales University in Miami, and experience in French, Japanese and other cuisines.

His Valentine's appetizer, lobster coconut rolls, has a Thai flair even though it comes from his days of working in a Japanese restaurant, which happened to have a lot of Thai cooks in the kitchen.

"I held onto this recipe because it's easy to make, it's really quick and it's really delicious," Millan said. "And it can be changed in a lot of ways. It can be made with shrimp, chicken or with all vegetables."

For the entrée, Millan went with a full-tilt, hearty winter dish — the kind of dish he wishes people made more often.

The dish consists of short ribs that have been braised in stout.

"One of my things is I like rich textures and flavors," Millan said. "The short ribs are a fatty cut, so you get this really nice sauce. This dish is one of those over-the-top dishes, which I think people don't do enough."

This dish would go great with dumplings, rice or mashed potatoes, but Millan raises the bar a bit with gnocchi flavored with gorgonzola, which is soft and creamy and not pungent like so many other blue cheeses.

For dessert, he chose a crème brûlée, which is similar to the Latin flan he grew up eating.

"Flan is like an upside-down crème brûlée because you put the (caramelized) sugar on the bottom instead of on the top," Millan said.

Millan adds raspberries to his crème brûlée, but he puts them inside the custard.

"Putting the fruit inside allows you to keep the nice sugar crust," he said. "This is a nice, old-fashioned dessert that people don't do much anymore. Some of the old things that are forgotten now, they have their place. Restaurants served them for a reason."

As to why he chose these dishes for a Valentine's Day menu, Millan had a ready answer.

"These are all the sexy foods I like to eat."

Lobster-Coconut Rolls

Makes about 15 rolls

10 ounces cleaned, cooked lobster, cut into ¼- to 1/3-inch pieces 
2½ cups thinly sliced iceberg lettuce (about ¼ large head)
1¼ cups finely grated, peeled fresh coconut
½ unpeeled English hothouse cucumber, seeded, cut into ¼-inch cubes (1 cup)
1 tablespoon plus ½ cup fresh lime juice
6 teaspoons fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc nam), divided use (See Note)
4½ teaspoons sugar, divided use 
3 teaspoons minced seeded red or green serrano chilies, divided use
2 tablespoons finely chopped green onion
2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint or cilantro leaves, or a combination
15 8- to 9-inch-diameter rice spring-roll wrappers (See Note)
Optional garnishes: lime wedges, sriracha hot sauce, soy reduction (See Note)

1. Combine lobster, lettuce, coconut, cucumber, 1 tablespoon lime juice, 4 teaspoons fish sauce, ½ teaspoon sugar, 2 teaspoons chilies, green onion and mint in large bowl.

2. Moisten kitchen towel. Squeeze out excess moisture and lay towel flat on work surface. Fill large bowl with warm water. Submerge 1 wrapper in water until beginning to soften, about 20 seconds. Place on damp towel. Place ¼ cup lobster mixture in 3-inch-long strip down center of wrapper. Fold in sides of wrapper over filling, then roll up tightly, enclosing filling. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.

3. Place rolls on baking sheet lined with parchment paper, cover with damp paper towels and refrigerate until ready to serve. This recipe can be made up to 8 hours ahead. If making hours ahead of time, put damp paper towels both under and over the rolls. Do not use plastic wrap, which can make the rolls turn gummy. Let rolls stand at room temperature 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

4. Mix ½ cup lime juice, 2 teaspoons fish sauce, 4 teaspoons sugar, and 1 teaspoon chiles in small bowl. If desired, cut rolls in half. Serve rolls with dipping sauce and, if desired, optional garnishes such as lime wedges, sriracha and soy reduction.

Note: Fish sauce is available in the Asian-foods section of most supermarkets, at some specialty-foods stores and at Asian markets. Thin Thai or Vietnamese spring-roll wrappers (known as banh trang), made from rice flour, are available at Asian markets. To make the soy reduction, combine equal amounts sugar and soy sauce in a small sauce pan and simmer until reduced to a syrup consistency.

Gnocchi Gratin with Gorgonzola Dolce

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Mike Millan takes "potato dumplings to the next level by bathing them in cream, studding them with Gorgonzola dolce — a sweeter, milder variety of blue," he said.

1 pound russet potatoes 
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
6 ounces Parmesan, finely grated, divided use
1 cup all-purpose flour plus more
1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup heavy cream
1 sprig rosemary 
¼-inch-thick slice fresh ginger
2 tablespoons (¼ stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, divided use
3 tablespoons fine dried breadcrumbs
4 ounces Gorgonzola dolce or other mild blue cheese

1. Place potatoes in a large pot. Add water to cover by 1 inch; bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer until tender, 25 to 30 minutes.

2. Drain potatoes; set aside and let cool slightly. Peel potatoes. Pass through ricer or a food mill or sieve into a large bowl. Whisk egg and egg yolk in a small bowl to blend. Add egg mixture, 1/3 cup Parmesan, 1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon salt and nutmeg to potatoes. Using your hands, gently mix to form a soft but not sticky dough. Transfer dough to a floured surface. Gather into a ball, then divide into 4 pieces. Cover dough with damp kitchen towel.

3. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper; dust with flour. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time (and keeping other pieces covered with a damp towel), roll dough into a 24-inch-long rope. Cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces. Working with one piece at a time, press lightly on gnocchi with the back of the tines of a fork and gently roll gnocchi to create ridges on one side. Place on prepared baking sheet and lightly dust with flour. (Gnocchi can be made to this point up to 4 hours ahead; cover and chill.)

4. Bring cream, rosemary and ginger to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat; cover and let steep for 30 minutes. Set aside.

5. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Working in batches of about 12 at a time, cook gnocchi until they float to the surface, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer gnocchi to a 1½-quart baking or gratin dish coated with 1 tablespoon butter.

6. Mix the 3 tablespoons of the remaining Parmesan, the remaining 1 tablespoon butter and breadcrumbs in a small bowl. Strain reserved cream mixture over the gnocchi in the baking dish. Break off small pieces of gorgonzola; scatter over the gnocchi. Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan, then the breadcrumb mixture, over the gnocchi.

7. Bake until the filling is bubbling and the topping is browned, 25 to 30 minutes.

Stout Braised Short Ribs

Makes 6 servings

If desired, these can be served with buttered egg noodles instead of the gnocchi gratin.

¼ cup packed dark brown sugar 
1 tablespoon paprika (not hot)
1 tablespoon curry powder (preferably Madras)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dry mustard
4 to 4¼ pounds beef short ribs, cut into 4-inch pieces
4 medium leeks, white and pale green parts only, chopped (2 cups)
3 tablespoons olive oil 
4 medium carrots, chopped (2 cups)
3 celery ribs, chopped (1½ cups)
2 Turkish bay leaves or 1 California bay leaf
¼ cup chopped garlic (5 to 6 large cloves)
1¾ cups beef broth (14 ounces)
2 12-ounce bottles stout, such as Mackeson or Guinness
2 14- to 15-ounce cans diced tomatoes

1. Put oven rack in lower third of oven and heat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Stir together brown sugar, paprika, curry powder, cumin, pepper, salt and mustard in a small bowl until combined. Pat ribs dry and arrange in one layer in a shallow baking pan or a shallow dish, then generously coat all sides of ribs with spice mixture. Marinate, uncovered and chilled, 1 hour.

3. Wash leeks in a bowl of cold water, agitating water, then lift out leeks and drain in a colander.

4. Heat oil in a wide 6-quart heavy nonreactive pot over high heat until hot but not smoking, and quickly brown ribs on all three meaty sides (but not the bone side) without crowding, in batches if necessary, about 1 minute on each side. Transfer meat to a large plate, then add leeks, carrots, celery and bay leaves to pot and cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally until vegetables begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring 1 minute.

5. Add broth, beer and tomatoes with their juice, then add ribs with any juices and remaining spices accumulated on plate and bring liquid to a boil, uncovered. Cover pot and transfer to oven, then braise until meat is tender, 2 to 2½ hours.

6. Skim off excess fat from surface of sauce. Discard bay leaves. If desired, serve with gnocchi gratin (recipe below).

Raspberry Crème Brulee

6 tablespoons raspberry jam 
2½ pints fresh raspberries
6 large egg yolks
6 tablespoons sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise 
1½ cups whipping cream
12 teaspoons (packed) light brown sugar

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Spread 1 tablespoon jam over bottom of each of six ¾-cup soufflé dishes or custard cups. Press 7 berries, placed on their sides, into jam in each dish. Reserve remaining raspberries for garnish.

2. Whisk yolks and 6 tablespoons sugar in medium bowl to blend. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean. Gradually whisk in cream. Divide mixture among dishes. Arrange dishes in 13-by-9-by-2-inch baking pan. Pour enough hot water into pan to come halfway up sides of dishes.

3. Bake custards until set in center, about 40 minutes. Shake the pan; the edges should be set and the middles should jiggle just a little. Place pan on work surface. Cool custards in water 30 minutes. Remove from water; chill overnight.

4. Preheat broiler. Sieve 2 teaspoons brown sugar atop each custard. Place dishes on small baking sheet. Broil until sugar just starts to caramelize, rotating sheet for even browning, about 2 minutes. (Alternately, brown surface of custard with a handheld butane torch.) Chill until topping hardens, about 2 hours. Garnish with reserved berries.

Cooking class

When: Mike Millan, chef of Encore American Bistro, will teach a three-course Valentine's Day menu Saturday. The 10 a.m. class is sold out, but a few spaces remain for the 2 p.m. class.

Menu: The menu will consist of lobster-coconut rolls, stout-braised short ribs with gnocchi gratin with gorgonzola dolce and sauteed field greens, and raspberry crème brûlee.

Cost: The cost is $25 a person. The cost includes lunch and written recipes for the dishes.

Where: Encore, formerly Rana Loca, is at 411 W. Fourth St. near the Stevens Center.

Information: For information or to register for the class, call (336) 722-9911.