Friday July 5, 2013

Dinner for 5

Take Away Canadian Chinese

Spring Rolls

Fried Rice

Deep Fried Wontons

Chicken Balls

Lemon Chicken

Beef and Peppers

Beef and Snow Peas

Lo Mein

 Well I was suppose to still be up north at my Dad's with my family but it has been raining a lot and the mosquitos are becoming unbearable.  We have cut this visit short but I am not worrried because I am sure to be back again soon.  We got home just in time for dinner but I took the night off and we ordered some Chinese take away from my son's favourite spot.

While I love the fried rice, deep fried rice, lo mein and of course there is something truely nostalgic about the chicken balls in that bright red sweet and sour sauce I could pass on the beef dishes.  I certainly prefer my own stir fried beef and vegetables.  I just find the take away dishes to have a very gelatounus sauce that is not appealing to me.  All in all it was a tasty way to end a long drive home after a long time away.

Saturday June 28, 2013

Dinner for 20

Grilled Lamb Kofta Kebabs with Pistachios and Spicy Salad Wraps

Grilled Chicken (for the young kids)

Rhubarb and Sticky Stem Ginger Crumble

Grilled Strawberries with Pimms and Vanilla Ice Cream

Canada Day Long Weekend!!!! Traditionally spent at my parents home on a river located between Minden and Haliburton in one of the cottage areas of Southern Ontario.  It is a weekend spent 'camping' (ie sleeping in tents but having access to the house's bathroom and kitchen).  Dishes are done outdoors with basins of hot water.  There are campfires at night and playing in the river during the day with friends and family.  Truly Paradise.

One day of the weekend is the Canada Day party that includes a pot luck, trivia contest and a gift exchange game when even more people come just for the day.  Such Fun.  The rest of the weekend, the core group (ranging for 20 to 30) is assigned meals to do.  For many years I have done breakfast because I don't mind getting up, usually after staying up late drinking, and making food for the gang.  This year we decided to have only one "BIG" breakfast (which my sister, the other early riser wanted to do) and on the other mornings the folks would just fend for themselves on standard available items like fruit, cereal, toast, yoghurt, bagels etc.

That left only 2 lunches and 2 dinners open to assign.  We gave the lunches to the two families not actually related by blood leaving the Dinners open for my younger sister family and mine.  Everyone in my family knows Friday Night Dinner is my thing but only 9 people would would be up at the cottage on Friday Night.  My 15 year old nephew is a wonderful cook and he wanted to take the lead on his families dinner duty serving pork larb in lettuce wraps.  I happily took the Saturday night so his debut as the lead cook would be for the smaller group.  

Of course with all the excitement of the evening I forgot to take any photos.  You will have to take my word for it that it was a sucess.  One of my Brother-in-laws particularly loved the Grilled Strawberries, now know as BOOZY BERRIES.  It was a build your own kind of dinner with the young kids able to use grilled chicken and non spicy salad in their wraps.

Food was great.  Company was fantastic.  I LOVE cooking for family and friends   

Friday June 21, 2013

Dinner for 1

Well tonight my Husband is out at a squash (the sport not the vegetable) party and I am home with the kids.  The weather has turned hot and humid suddenly after a slow start to the summer.  What shall I cook for Friday Night Dinner for 1?  I have this fantastic leftover Teriaki Salmon from a dinner party I had this week.  Ah ha I know....

I mixed some baby spinach, mustard sprouts, broccoli sprouts and snow pea sprouts, added some quartered cherry tomatoes, chopped green onions and a little chopped cucumber and placed them on a flat bread.  I topped it with the leftover salmon, some coriander and a little bottled teryaki sauce.  I rolled them like a fajita and tucked in.

Light, delicious and perfect for a hot and humid summer night.  Used up my leftovers too.  Win, win in my books.

Friday June 14, 2013

Dinner for 2

Hot and Sour Rhubarb Crispy Pork with Noodles

Sometimes Friday Night Dinners can go horribly wrong.  Tonight was one of those nights.  Thank goodness it was just a dinner for Hubby and I.  Hot and Sour Rhubarb Crispy Pork with Noodles sounds fantastic doesn't it.  I got this recipe out of Jamie Oliver's Jamie at Home cookbook.  I have always had great success cooking or adapting Jamie's recipes.  It was my ingredients that sabotaged me this time.  I have a hard time finding pork belly (I now have a farmer I can get it from). In the morning I bought some from the grocery store after looking high and low this week, but it was HEAVILY salted.  And I mean HEAVILY!  I soaked the pork belly and rinsed it all day prior to cooking this recipe but it was of no use.  The dinner turned out too salty to eat.  What a disappointment.  Sadly that was not the Anniversary dinner I had in mind.

It looked beautiful though.  Now that I have a farmer that will butcher me any pork belly I need, I look forward to attempting this again in the early summer when the rhubarb is in season.

 

Friday June 7, 2013

Dinner for 2

Broiled Citrus Seafood with Fennel and Snow Pea Sprouts in Broth
Grilled Asparagus
Peach, Rhubarb Ginger Crumble

I have made the broiled citrus seafood before but with a bouillabaisse broth which contains potatoes.   Tonight I didn't want potatoes so I left them out and added fennel and snow pea sprouts to the broth.  I served the dish with some grilled asparagus.

It was a pretty simple dish and so tasty.  I marinated the split lobster tail, scallops and shrimp in olive oil with the zest and juice from an orange and a lemon plus a pinch of dried chilli flakes.  Then I grilled the seafood under a broiler.  I made a simple broth with a little fennel, tomatoes and adding the snow pea tendrils at the end.  I then ladled the broth into the bowls and topped it with the seafood.  A little finely chopped parsley topped it off.  Grilled asparagus was served as a side.

Rhubarb is currently in season and growing in my garden. I combined the fresh rhubarb with some peaches I froze last summer and a bit of grated ginger.  The crisp topping was made with brown sugar, butter, oats and cinnamon.  All topped off with some vanilla ice cream.

 

Friday May 17, 2013

Dinner for 4

Crispy Asian Four Spice Duck with Noodles in Lettuce Cups

I know what you are thinking, my menu has a typo.  Shouldn't that read five spice?  Well yes and no.  Traditionally it would be five spice but I had to adapt the recipe and create my own four spice because my sons girlfriend is joining us for dinner tonight and she is allergic to cinnamon. Imagine missing out on cinnamon. 

I made my own four spice mix by just leaving out the cinnamon, no worries.  It was very tasty even without cinnamon.  I love crispy duck and anything in a lettuce cup.  I adapted this recipe from Jamie Oliver's 15 Minute Meals television show.  The closest recipe I could find on line was Five Spice Duck Salad so it must be out of his book.  The duck was cooked similar to this recipe, however it was cubed first then the 4 spice seasoning was rubbed in and then cooked and drained of fat.  I served mine on platter with lettuce cups and thin noodles cooked as directed and tossed with a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil.  I added the cooked duck and then topped it with toasted sesame seeds, toasted cashews, radishes, fresh coriander and silken tofu cubes which had been mixed with a little sweet chilli sauce.  Then finally the whole dish was topped a with sauce made of Hoisin and lime juice combined.

So glad to be eating outside again as the weather is lovely tonight.

Friday May 3, 2013

Dinner for 2

Thai Noodles

Well I burried my mom yesterday, so again my heart just wasn't into cooking Friday Night Dinner.  I know that this is going to be a tough year without her but I am not planning on going on about it on my blog.  I promise not to constantly bring you readers down.

I decided on a Thai noodle dish with some seafood.  I am making some Thai food this weekend for a friends baby shower.  The word is out with the women I swim with that I cook great food.  The mother to be has put in a request for Thai at her baby shower so in planning for that, I decided to cook Thai for the Hubby and I.  I love Thai food and as long as you spend some time prepping everything it is super easy to cook up and is done in no time at all.
  

 Lots of vegetables, capsicum, broccoli and snow peas, with shrimp and noodles in a spicy Thai sauce topped with fresh coriander.  YUMMY!

Friday April 26, 2013

Dinner for 2

Mixed Mushroom Risotto with Garlic, Lemon & Sage Oil

Well I had to get back at it.  The unexpected loss of my Mom last week has put a damper on everything in my life and I really haven't cooked any meals since the 17th.  Too sad.  However, the show must go on as they say and my mom was very proud of my passion for food and has been encouraging me to find the funds for culinary school.  Although she wasn't much of an adventurous eater she did love what I cooked when it was in her preferred flavour profile.

One of the foods I love is risotto.  Particularly mushroom risottos.  I have never tried to make risotto at home so this seemed like a good time to give it a go.  After all I intended to make it a couple weeks back but the ice storm through a wrench in my plans.

Found this recipe that seemed yummy enough.

I forgot to purchase parsley and the plant growing in the pot in my kitchen is certainly looking dead so I had to leave it out.

It wasn't as difficult to make as I thought but it seemed a little over cooked and heavy.  I think there is a fine line to master with this dish.  I will need more practice.

The Garlic, lemon, sage oil on the top was a fantastic flavour.  I think with practice this will become a favourite.

The best bits about looking at old photos and telling old stories is remembering all those fantastic things my mother did that shaped me as a person. 

Thanks Mom for helping to shape me into who I am.  I will miss you always XO

Friday April 19, 2013

Cancelled

As you may have noticed I am catching up all my Friday Night Dinners from the notes I took last year. I hope to be up to date shortly and able to go back to the original plan of posting weekly. Up until today it has been fun.  This cancelled Friday Night Dinner is still hard for me to even think about let alone talk about.  Here it goes anyway.

I have had to cancel my plans this Friday my mother died unexpectedly on April 17th, just two days ago.  None of my sisters or I have been able to make the drive to go see my Dad yet so I am off right after I dropped the kids at school.  I need to see him and make sure he is okay.  I just can't believe this has happened.

It was nice to go and spend the day with my Dad.  I helped make some arrangements at the funeral home for next week.  I made sure he had eaten dinner tonight and I have driven back home to be with my family.  

My mother was a strong supporter of my dabbling in the cullinary world.  She wanted me to go to culinary school and see how far I could go.   She never liked anything spicy, which I love, but she was willing to try new things and believed I had talent.  I was just cooking for her a few weeks ago.  I am so happy she loved that last meal I had cooked for her. I am having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that she is gone.  

Miss you XO

Friday April 12, 2013

Dinner for 1

My husband is out of town again tonight so there is no dinner party planned.  I have done them without him, actually his being away really is what gave birth to this whole idea, but it has been a crazy week so I decided just to do dinner for myself.  I was planning on Risotto.  I love risotto but I have never made it.  I believe it requires a lot of practice to get it right so I decided to attempt it for me in case it all goes pear shaped.

Turns out the weather went pear shaped and we have had a terrible ice storm.  The power is back on at my home but I have no desire to venture out to pick up mushrooms and abboro rice so it is onto Plan B.

Plan B:  Look in the fridge and cook something tasty with what I find.  Okay so I have some chowmein noodles in the fridge lets start there. What I came up with will feed way more than 1 but left over noodle dishes always get eaten up in my house.

1 package of chow mein noodles soaked in boiling water and drained according to package directions.

Now what else:

3 Tbsp minced garlic

3 Tbsp grated ginger

4 purple carrots julienne

an equal amount of wombok cabbage finely sliced

1 1/2 red peppers finely sliced

1 bunch of green onions, washed trimmed and cut in half then cut to the length of the carrots 

In the wok I heated 1 1/2 Tbsp of peanut oil and 1/2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil then I added in the garlic and ginger and stir fried until fragrant.

I then added the vegetables and stir fried for about 2 minutes.

Add 2 Tbsp of Sake, reduce heat and cover for about 2 minutes until vegetables are tender crisp.

Uncover and increase the heat again, add sauce (ingredients below) and stir constantly until the sauce thickens.  Toss in noodles and heat through. 

Sauce

2 cups vegetable broth

6 Tbsp oyster sauce

3 Tbsp soy sauce

2 Tbsp Sake

2 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 tsp sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp corn starch

ground pepper

It TASTES way BETTER than it LOOKs

The vegetables looked great when cooked but the addition of the sauce allowed the colour of the purple carrots to blend with the sauce.  This resulted in a weird grey colour.  Then when I tossed in the yellow noodles it changed to a most unappealing grey/green colour.

EXCELLENT FLAVOURS!!!! Too bad it looks so awful.  I am glad I am only serving this to myself.

NOTE TO SELF:  Purple carrots are to be eaten raw or steamed and never added to sauce.  

Always good to learn new things.

  

Friday April 5, 2013

Dinner for 10

Cold marinated Peanuts
Spring Rolls
Rainbow Beef Lettuce Cups
Spring Onion Lamb
Spicy Stir Fried Chicken with Fresh vegetables
Golden Scallions and Ginger Scallops
Stir Fried Curry Celery
Flash Cooked Bean Sprouts
Seared baby Bok Choy
Noodles in Black Bean Sauce

My younger sister and her wonderful family live only 45 minutes away and until tonight had never been to a Friday Night Dinner.  How does that happen?  Busy schedules of active children mostly.  We are making it right tonight with a huge Chinese feast for us all to eat.  I am going to be introducing her children to more authentic Chinese food.

That was the best laid plans of course.  I had a meeting today that went extra long, then I had to get the shopping done.  That ment very little prep had been completed by the time my guests arrived.  Being in constant pain from a crazy elbow injury wasn't helping either.  I managed to get the appetizers out quickly and they were great but my young neice didn't eat any of them so she was totally starving.  A little snack from the pantry helped tie her over until I could start getting out the main food

Marinated peanuts.  I loved them.

Handmade spring rolls.  Yummy!

I then served the beef cups to hold everyone else over until I could finish the rest of the dishes.

Just scoop a little of this in a piece of lettuce, roll it up and stuff it in your gob.
 
A LOT later than planned everything else was served and everyone was eating happily.  My young niece even tried lamb and liked it.

Lamb

Chicken

Scallops

 

 Curried Celery

 Sprouts, these are fantastic.

 Bok Choy, always a favourite.

Noodles with Black Bean Sauce.  Tasty.!

All in all it was a fantastic evening with fantastic company.  Way better than any take away any day. 

Planning for a future dinner with this crew will include having my nephew (an enthusiastic home cook) working with me. 

Sources:  The recipes for cold marinated peanuts, spring rolls, rainbow beef lettuce cup, and stir fired curry celery came from Complete Chinese Cookbook by Ken Hom.   The recipes for spring onion lamb and noodles in black bean sauce came from EASY ASIAN.  The recipes for golden scallion & ginger scallops and seared baby bok choy came from Simple Asian Meals by Nina Simonds .  The recipe for flash cooked bean sprouts came from A Spoonful of Ginger by Nina Simonds  

Friday March 29, 2013

Dinner for 4

Japanese Pickled Vegetables
Beef and Shallot Skewers

Gyoza
Karaage Chicken
Horenso No Goma-ae
Kakiage
Green Salad with Miso Dressing
Nanban-zuke with Steamed Rice
Five Spice Nashi with Ginger Cream

My sister is in town for Easter weekend, without her spouse, so one of my adult nephews has joined us.  Prior to my sister and brother-in-law moving away last year they were the anchor at my table for my Friday Night Dinners.  

Tonights dinner is consiting mainly of many small plates served over the course of the evening.  Each one was fairly easy to cook although some of the dishes had a lot of prep work and sitting time.  The recipes can be found here at the Japanese tapas menu plan except for the Japanese Illusion a delicious cocktail anytime.

I love pickled anything really and I especially like having pickles with any Asian cuisine.

This has to be one of my favourite Gyoza recipe.  I think it was the pre-cooking of the ginger, garlic and cabbage.  I also made a spicy soy dipping sauce by combining salt reduced soy sauce and chilli garlic sauce.

Beef and green onions are aways a favourite in my books.  These were super easy with bottled teriyaki sauce.

The Horenso No Goma-ae, a spinach and sesame salad, was quick and delicious.

As was the Karaage Chicken which was deep fried chicken thighs. My oil was just a little to hot so they got a bit dark.  Someday I hope to have a frier where I can control the temperature.

I think the Kakiage, a prawn and vegetable fritter, was the hit of the night.  I used purple heritage carrots which made the dish even more colourful.  It was my first go at any sort of fritter.  I think I needed a little less oil in my pan and to get the oil a little hotter.  For a first attempt they certainly tasted great and were a big hit with my guests. 

Miso salad dressing where have you been all my life?  This is being added to the go to recipe book for sure. So tasty!

Nanban-Zuke, fried fish with vinegar and onion on steamed rice, was also very tasty, light and sour, but at this point in the evening we were all getting rather stuffed.

I love fruit desserts and this one was delicious.  The savoury/sweet spices of 5 spice paired nicely with the Nashi.  The chopped candied ginger added to the cream was delicous.  This is definately my kind of dessert.

All the dishes were fantastic and I would cook any of them again.

 

Friday March 22, 2013

Dinner for 6

Antipasto Plater

Rocket Pesto & Capsicum Bruschetta

Mixed Tomato and Bocconcini Bruschetta

Slow-Braised Chicken in White Wine

Soft Parmesan Polenta

Beans with Garlic Bread Crumbs

Panzanella

Chocolate & Cherry Zuccotto

This meal was based off of this modern Italian feast .  I had to adjust the meal a little as it is designed to serve 10 and I was only serving 6. 

The Antipasto plater had mostly store bought items except I grilled the zucchini and eggplant and made the baked ricotta.  The ricotta was the biggest hit, it was so tasty.

I love bruschetta and I really enjoyed the rocket pesto with capsicum (red bell peppers).  I didn't have any feta to go on top so I just shaved a little parmesan.  I love roasted peppers and even made extra to go on sandwiches this week.  They will go great with the leftover grilled eggplant and zucchini.

The chicken turned out very tasty, nice and moist, but the sauce didn't thicken like I expected it to. I have tried to make polenta a couple of times before but I have yet to master it. More practice is required.  While it was tasty it was much too thick and gloppy for my taste.  Although my guests thought it was great.  When it mixed on the plate with the thinner sauce from the chicken it had a better consistency.

I loved the panzanella and plan to make it more often.

The green beans were okay.  I really couldn't taste the garlic in the bread crumbs.  I would have liked a stronger garlic flavour.

The big surprise of the night was how much I liked the dessert.  I have mentioned often that dessert really isn't my thing.  Chocolate, cake, cheese, nuts, peel, glace cherries all together, I didn't think I would like it but it was fantastic.  The cake was a little dry, I am not the best baker, but brushing it with the Marsala worked wonders.  It looked rather beautiful when you cut into it as it was a layer of cake, layer of the white cheese with the red and green cherries then a layer of the chocolate cheese with pistachios and peel.  I really wish I had remembered to take a picture.

All in all it was a fantastic night with two wonderful couples and no rushing.

Friday March 15, 2013

Dinner for 3

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Roasted Potatoes

Pancetta Wrapped Chicken with Glazed Date Sauce

Apple Crisp

It is March Break this week in Ontario and I have taken my two daughters up to my parents place in cottage country.  That means Friday Night dinner is on the road this week.

My parents have a somewhat restrictive diet now that they are in there 70's.  They have to avoid things high in salt and cholesterol as well as grapefruit.  Plus they have things they definitely don't like ... spice of any kind for my Mom and ginger, arugula and a lot of seafood for my Dad.  This sort of limits the foods I prefer to cook but it gives me a chance to explore other avenues.  My parents are willing to try new things but my mom loves a few of my standard dishes, like roasted potatoes, so I decided to combine new and old.

Roasted brussel sprouts are by far the best way to eat this vegetable and it is so simple.  Trim and half the brussel sprouts.  Place them in a baking dish with a generous amount of olive oil, salt and pepper.  Pop in the oven at 200C for about 20 minutes.  Yummy.  These turned out a little darker than I usually do them, my parents oven is hotter than mine, I really need to get use to it.

My mother absolutely loves my oven roasted potatoes.  She always wants me to make them when I visit.  She believes I even make them better than my Dad, sorry Dad.  I make them the way Jamie Oliver does on his show.  Par boil pealed and quartered potatoes.  Drain and steam dry them.  Put them in a baking pan with olive oil, salt and pepper then into the 200C oven for about 40 minutes until they are nice and crispy on the outside.

New to the menu was the panchetta wrapped chicken.  Everyone loved it, although I reduced the sauce a little too much so it was too thick.  It was a little sweet for my liking but it sure was a hit with my parents.  They support my 'chefiness'  a lot so it always makes me feel extra great when I cook them something they truly love. Recipe was found in a Good & Fresh Magazine by Better Homes & Garden Winter 2013.

Finished dinner with apple crisp.  Another of my Mom's favourites that I make.  I know my parents don't use butter but I snuck it in here.  A little decadence is always deserved once in a while.  I peel and chop apples into small pieces.  Enough to fill four ramekins.  The topping is 1/4 cup butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup rolled oats and 1 tsp cinnamon.  I blend the topping together with my hands until it is a nice crumbly texture.  You can add flour to get a better texture if need be.  Then I bake them in the oven for about 20 minutes at 180C.

Friday March 8, 2013

Dinner for 2

Udon Noodle and Shiitake Mushroom Soup
Seared Scallop Salad with Sweet Chilli Dressing
Apple Pie

 I know, I know apple pie is a little odd with this dinner  but it is my birthday weekend and I am craving warm apple pie with a nice slice of cheddar cheese so that is what dessert is tonight.

Dinner tonight is just for my Husband and I so it is light, simple and tasty.  The udon soup is a super easy dish I learned to make in Australia.  It is my go to starter if I am serving up Asian dishes that don't have a rice or noodle component to them.  

The recipe is from the back of a package of Udon noodles.   

Boil 2 cups of water and add a few dried Shiitake mushrooms.  Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the mushrooms and finely slice them and add them back to the pot.  Add a 1/2 cup of white wine and 1/2 cup of soy sauce (I use reduced salt) and 2 tbsp of sugar.  Simmer for another 5 or 10 minutes.  While simmering cook noodles according to directions.  Place noodles in the bottom of the bowl.  Add broth and mushrooms.  Top with sliced spring onions and plenty of fresh grated ginger.

The seared scallop salad is an interpretation of this recipe .  

I used sweet chilli, soy and lime juice for the dressing.  I seared the scallops on both sides in a hot pan with a little oil.  Then I added 2 tablespoons of the dressing and continued to cook the scallops for another minute.  For the salad greens I used arugula, mixed baby greens, snow pea sprouts, mustard sprouts, mint and cilantro.  The greens were dressed with the remaining sweet chilli lime dressing and the seared scallops were added.

I admit I cheated with the apple pie.  I used frozen pastry, but if Jamie Oliver can so can I.  I pealed and cut my apples and cooked then in a frying pan with a little cinnamon, sugar and butter then I put them in the pie and baked it.  

Friday March 1, 2013

Dinner for 1

Udon Noodles with Chicken and Baby Bok Choy

Well today was one of those rare Fridays where I was cooking only for myself.  They may become more common place as my anchor guest (my sister) moved away this past summer.  No one has volunteered to be my anchor yet.

Friday night dinners started because my husband was always traveling for work and a group of friends would support me, in my single parenthood, by inviting me over or by me having them over for company.  It helped a lot during the time that I was living overseas, far from my family, and my husband was mostly working on another continent.  

I sure hope this is a rare occurrence.  I prefer at the very least cooking for the two of us. 

Tonight's dinner was pretty simple and my daughters did share in it.

I cooked the Udon Noodles then rinsed them.  

I cut one chicken breast into thin strips then stir fried it in a little peanut oil. When it was cooked through I set it aside to keep warm.

I wiped out the wok and added a little more oil plus 2 cloves of garlic minced and a teaspoon of finely grated ginger. That was stir fried for 30 seconds and then I added half a red pepper cut in strips and 8 baby bok choy trimmed and rinsed.  That was cooked for a couple of minutes then the chicken and noodles were added to the wok followed by a slurry of 1/2 cup of stock, a table spoon of oyster sauce, 1/4 teaspoon of sesame oil and a teaspoon of corn starch.  Everything was tossed together with a splash of soy sauce and then topped with sliced green onions.

It was pretty tasty.  I would have put in some shitakke mushrooms but I was hoping the girls would eat it so I left them out.  I also would have preferred a little more heat but that again that would put the girls off.  I could have added a chilli but opted to add a little sirachha to my plate.  Yummy!

Friday February 22, 2013

CANCELLED!

We are going to watch Brave at the school ... no time for fancy cooking.  Family night, well just the youngest my hubby and I.  As much as I love my Friday night dinners I love it when we get to spend time together as a family.  The big ones didn't want to join us this time but the three of us had a great time.

Friday February 15, 2013

Dinner for 2

Grilled Figs
Broiled Citrus Seafood in Bouillabaisse Broth
Raspberry & Pear Salad with Hazelnuts
Granola Mini-Cakes with Cream Cheese Icing and Fresh Berries

My husband was out of town for Valentine's Day so we are enjoying each others company tonight.  Of course the kids are still mulling around but you have to make the best of it.  This meal is more about my favouties than his but I know he will love the seafood.

Starting with a grilled figs inspired by this recipe . I stuffed them with a little blue cheese and placed them on a bed of snow pea tendrils instead of what was called for.  I could eat figs with every meal.  Hard to come by nice ones here in Ontario though.

 

I made this seafood bouillabaisse not that long ago for the End of Days (December 21, 2012) Friday Night Dinner.  It was fantastic so I decided to make it again.  I just wish I could remember where I got this recipe from.  I think it might have been a Cuisine for Two magazine.

I love a salad that has fruit in it.  Especially pears.  Again I based my salad off this recipe using pea tendrils instead of watercress, which tends to be hard to find where I live. 

And finally a little dessert for two.  I am of two minds when it comes to dessert.  I either want it super rich and chocolate or something much lighter and fruity.  I rarely eat dessert actually and often struggle to come up with something to finish my dinners as I don't want a whole cake or pie left over.  This mini cake with icing was just the thing.  I am pretty sure it also came from a Cuisine for Two magazine.