Monday, February 15, 2010

Epic Valentine's Day Dinner

Valentine's Day with Gregan became an affair to remember. Why?
  • Over five hours spent in the kitchen
  • Four complicated, gourmet recipes that would make most home cooks cringe
  • Homemade pasta dough mixed by hand, using the well-technique
  • Rolling out said dough with brand new Kitchenaid pasta roller attachment...multiple times
  • A bottle of wine for Megan, and a large saison and several Hefepoizens for Greg
  • Fleeces and sweatshirts worn at all times
  • Cream in every recipe
  • Oyster mushrooms, crab, shrimp shells, three varieties of fresh herbs
  • Straining sauces
  • Reducing more sauces
  • Recording the proceedings for posterity
  • Flambe...seriously....fire on purpose
  • and eating everything, of course!
Do not attempt these recipes unless you are willing to put away huge amounts of calories, and laugh and love the process. Megan and I were and did.

The menu:
  1. Pan-fried mushrooms in thyme butter
  2. Crispy roasted asparagus
  3. Seafood ravioli with shrimp cream
  4. Bananas Foster
This post is by far and away the largest collection of video clips posted so far on Is Deliciousness a Word?, but if you can make it through them all, you'll understand why this Valentine's day was the best ever.

It's great to love food, and it's great to love cooking. It's even better to love cooking the food you love, with the one you love. I couldn't ask for more.

Greg


-Ingredients (actually missing quite a few):



-Kneading pasta dough two ways:


-Pan fried mushrooms in a thyme butter sauce:

*Watch me do the weakest stirring ever. C'mon...stir it like you mean it!






-Crispy roasted asparagus

*We did not mean for the asparagus to get crispy. We just forgot about it, and it turned out perfect. A beautiful mistaken discovery, like penicillin.


-Shrimp and crab ravioli stuffing

*Megan enjoys pushing food around in the pan. Watch her go.


-Unsuccessful pasta rolling by Greg:

*Tried to remain positive for a while, until I could take it no longer. "Shit."


-Successful pasta rolling by Megan:

*So, we thought it should be rolled to setting 4, because we wanted thicker pasta. Nope. Too thick. Setting five. This is what happens on first attempts.


-Preparing raviolis:

*Totally proud of ourselves here. We really are "cooking nerds."




-Shrimp cream sauce:

*Turns out the recipe does call for us to strain the sauce. That's what happens to the shells. Apparently they don't disappear. Megan was curious about how that magic was going to happen.



-Seafood ravioli with shrimp cream sauce (not the best photo):

*After four hours, we didn't even take the time to properly coat the ravioli. Look at how big they are, too! Dayamn!


-Bananas foster:

*Yes, you're suspicions are correct. Megan has had a bottle of wine to herself by now.



What a night! :)


Recipes:

Pan-fried mushrooms with thyme butter:
*From Take Six Ingredients, by Conrad Gallagher

Cut 3 cups wild mushrooms into thin slices. Heat 2 tblsp. olive oil in a skillet; when hot, add the mushrooms and saute for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown and completely tender. Add one pad of butter and 1 tblsp. fresh thyme leaves and season to taste with salt and pepper. Once the butter starts to melt, stir in 1 cup heavy cream and 2 tblsp. minced chives. Cook for another 2-3 minutes until slightly reduced, stirring occasionally. Divide the mushroom mixture among warmed wide-rimmed bowls and scatter 1/3 cup parmesan shavings on top. Serve immediately with some crusty bread.

Note: the cook times seemed to be far too short, and both were doubled, with the time spent to reduce the sauce closer to 10 minutes. As the French say, "Cook it till it's done!"

Seafood ravioli:

Shrimp cream sauce:

Bananas Foster:

Friday, February 12, 2010

Swedish Meatballs

On Friday night of Valentine's Day weekend, Megan and I prepared to attend a Winter Olympics opening ceremony party. Each attendee was tasked to bring a food representing a different country, so we chose to bring Swedish meatballs. Mmmm. Who doesn't like a meatball? Seriously...

The preparation was fantastic, and they tasted terrific! However, we learned that Swedish meatballs do not travel well. The sauce thickened up tremendously during the drive, and the meatballs got a little cold. Also, when we arrived, we found out that the host didn't have a microwave. Really? Isn't this the 21st century?

Still, the flavors were out of sight, and as a testament to their glory, they were the first food finished that evening. I highly suggest this to anybody looking for a good time on their way to a heart attack. Here is the recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Swedish-Meatballs-II/Detail.aspx. Enjoy.

Greg

-Swedish Meatballs