Fancy(ass) Holiday Dinner Menu- Love on a plate

 FOOD IS LOVE

I'm a cook.  And a passionate one.  I spend hours and hours mulling over flavor profiles and I've probably spent weeks of my life watching cooking shows.  I am passionate about the art of food, its philosophies, magic, and truths.  To cook is to live.  To share this cooking is to pass on life, love, luxury.

This year I'm broke as hell and so traditional Christmas gifts didn't fit into my budget, therefore I decided I'd lay down a little cash for some Maine lobster tails from Lobster Gram and make my family a meal.  A real meal. 

Rooster and I used to order tails for our anniversary dinners every year (we got married on New Year's Eve of '05 and lobster always felt like the perfect New Year's Eve bite) and we were never disappointed by the quality and care we received from this little ME shop.

The tails from the Down East coast are unmatched.  They'll arrive flash frozen on Christmas Eve and will be ripe for cooking the next day.  I'm going to butter poach them and it will be like love on our tongues.

Here's the menu/email I just sent my mom and Terry and Rooster:

Frisée-thyme salad with warm toasted hazelnut goat-cheese medallions and pickled cherries
Parsnip and apple soup
Butter-poached lobster with tarragon and butternut squash risotto
Oven-roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon and lemon
Maple horseradish and sage glazed beets
Nutmeg ice cream and Turkish coffee

If anyone wants to volunteer drink pairings for the Salad, Soup, Dinner, and Dessert courses, be my guest!

I'm trying to weave the richer flavors with ribbons of acid all on a base of earthy notes.

The frisée salad starts the meal off with a high note of bitter greens and pickled cherries offset by a touch of rich hazelnut and creamy goat-cheese.  The parsnip and apple soup is to transition us into a deeper flavor base with both sweet and tart.  For the main dish itself, the risotto filled with aromatic tarragon and warm butternut squash is meant to highlight the burst of bright, buttery lobster in our mouths; tangy roasted Brussels sprouts will hopefully be balanced out by crisp and hearty bacon offset with lemon; and rounding out the main course is maple, horseradish and sage-glazed beets.  The dessert is about the easiest thing I can think to do since it's my most feared course.  And it's stupid easy. 

This meal is love on a plate, but I'm open to suggestions and critiques.  Do you have any better ideas/pairings/flavors to add??