I only cook once in a great while… so when I do I like to go all out. I think I’m decent enough that with a recipe, I could make most anything. I would cook more, but I don’t have much of an imagination to come up with something to eat every night and Stunning enjoys making dinner, so I usually leave it up to her. However, we’re in an effort to save money right now, because we are a) poor b) about to have a baby and c) have a ton of student debt. Therefore, for Valentine’s Day, I decided I was going to make her dinner.
Here’s the menu:
Insalate: Arugula Salad with Shavings of Porcini Mushroom & Parmigiano-Reggiano
Entree: ORECCHIETTE WITH CHERRY TOMATOES AND ARUGULA
Side #1: Asparagus Gratin with Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese
Side #2: Steamed Broccoli with Oil and Garlic
Dessert: Baked Apple with Chocolate
I had a grand plan to take pictures of what I was doing and do a little “cooking” post. However, when I cook it’s pretty close to World War 3 in the kitchen with the chaos happening. I’m not practiced enough to figure out the timing of multiple dishes, so it always seems about 5 things all have to happen within 10 seconds or dinner will be ruined.
I was reminded to take pictures by my wife who was sitting on the coach smiling at me running around in a fashion that I think would be similar to moments after the soldiers of the Alamo found out the Mexicans were on the way. Anyway, I did get some pictures, but they’re random because keeping the house from burning down was number one on the priority list, not taking pictures.
However, I want you to feel like you’re on a cooking blog. These are all the pictures I took…. therefore, based only on the pictures I have, I will explain to you how to get the final product.
(Get a ton of arugula.)
( wash it, mix with homemade salad dressing, put cheese all over it, and cut in some mushrooms.)
(put it on a plate)
(Cut a ton of cherry tomatoes)
(heat up some oil)
(boil some pasta)
(add tomatoes to the oil and let them simmer for a bit)
(mix it altogether and stir with spatula)
(cover some cooked asparagus with a ton of parmesan cheese and broil it)
(take it out of the oven)
(cut up some broccoli and put it in a pan with some water and other stuff, cover)
(uncover… oh ya… put some crushed red pepper on it)
(cut out the core of an apple, stick some butter in it, and some cinnamon sticks, put it in an oven pan)
(take it out of the oven)
(drizzle dark chocolate on it)
Overall, things went well. It was a good “final” Valentine’s Day with it being just the two of us in this marriage.
4 comments:
The pasta dish looks reaallllly good! Stunning is lucky!
February 18, 2010 at 9:51 AMYou know John your Grandpa used to cook like that...very good outcome...lots of dirty dishes! And, he would do them too. Your other Grandpa (dad's dad) used to be a cook too but I don't know if he cleaned up after himself...guess you have the potential of becoming a great cook!
February 18, 2010 at 11:17 AMMom
It all looks pretty good to me. I love to cook, and like you I tend to go all out so I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off sometimes. During all this chaos I always forget to put the bread in the oven. Every single time.
February 18, 2010 at 12:21 PMStu cooks like this every time that he puts a meal together: over the top, fancy, using every dish in the cupboard, but pouring out his love. Know that just the simple of idea of having the hubby cook dinner (even if it is only PB&J) is appreciated, but we do love the effort that goes into the extravaganzas :)
March 3, 2010 at 7:46 PMPost a Comment