To my delight, I discovered early in our relationship that Chef Paul was not only capable of serenading my heart with his beautiful bass-baritone voice, but that he was an accomplished amateur chef (having been raised in a family of great cooks) and was willing to take our relationship to the next culinary level one meal at a time. Gotta love a man who can COOK!
Fast forward to Valentine's Day 2013 and here's a glimpse at some of the happenings in the kitchen. Chef Paul, Executive Chef; Moi, Sous Chef.
- Prepared on V-day eve was Veggie Lasagna two ways: both with the traditional ingredients (pasta, sauce, cheese) and sauteed mushrooms, but only one with a ricotta, cottage cheese and baby kale mixture (we ran out). Both = Yum.
- Dark chocolate dipped strawberries--came out a little messy because we didn't use baking chocolate, but tasted delish!
- V-day's dinner was a warm brie salad with toasted bread served with a side of a lobster tail :-) He quickly cooked the lobster tails in boiling water for 2 minutes then put them in the oven for 5 minutes with a bunch of seasonings (lemon zest, butter (shh!), red pepper flakes). The brie with drizzled honey also went in the oven and came out a winner.
- Today dinner was homemade pizza topped with cheese, tomato and pesto sauce. All I can say is that CP's pizza gets better and better the more he makes them. He's discovered a few secrets to successfully making pizza at home, such as: don't overload with too many toppings, put the toppings all the way to the edge, put olive oil down in the pan before the dough (and cornmeal, if you have it) and don't be afraid to bake at 500 degrees.
Recipe for a Successful Week: Sing. Cook. Eat. Gym. Sleep. Repeat.