Wednesday, January 18, 2012

the oceanaire seafood room

picture it...
san diego restaurant week 2012, the oceanaire seafood room, downtown
8pm reservation for two, first time i've seen him in a jacket and he was the most handsome guy in the place.
he started with a vesper and i had a glass of red. we ordered appetizers: jumbo crab cake and fried asparagus. for dinner, i had the black and bleu fijian ono wahoo and he had the angry mexican black grouper, both accompanied by another glass of red. for dessert, we shared blackberry creme brulee and rick dark chocolate mousse.
best. date. ever.
great food and good wine.
www.theoceanaire.com
cannot wait for the next restaurant week...until then, i get back into my kitchen to cook for my man :)

Monday, January 16, 2012

domestically motivated

with a new beau comes a new person to cook for...which makes me a happy chef :)

wanted to take a minute to reflect on the delicious things i have made for him...starting at the first meal. christmas eve dinner.
we started with a bottle of cab and some cheddar-stuffed mushrooms.
i made a spinach salad with tomatoes, mushrooms, green onions, parmesan, and a red wine vinegarette.
the main course was a prime rib, medium rare, with freshly prepared horseradish, mushroom risotto, and parmesan crusted zuchini. he had seconds of the prime rib and thirds on the risotto...i think he liked it :)
we finished up the evening with death by chocolate and another bottle of red.
it was an amazing meal i made for an amazing man.

for the next meal, i kept it a little more casual. he was sick and had a soccer game, so i suggested making him soup. so i made chipotle chicken soup, with some fresh bread. it was a simple, refreshing, and sinus-clearing soup (i made it with double the chipotle peppers). it hit the spot and gave my sick guy enough sustenance to get through his game. he had two bowls...i think he liked it :)

next on the list, a casual friday night in. i offered him stir fry or mexican and he chose stir fry, so i made spicy cashew chicken over jasmine rice. lots and lots of veggies, fresh chicken, raw cashews, and lots of spices. i used a new rice steamer (first time and it worked like a charm) and got perfect jasmine rice, which was a lovely palate for the stir-fry of the year! he had thirds...i think he liked it :)

last week, my man worked lots of 12-hour days, had a terrible day at work, and was (not) looking forward to working on saturday, so i made a nice quiet dinner in on friday. spiced cranberry-glazed pork tenderloin, with honey-ginger carrots, and mashed potatoes. i think he ate half of the pork loin...i think he liked it :)

http://www.cookingclub.com/Recipes/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/9225/Spiced-Cranberry-Glazed-Pork-Tenderloin

i cannot wait for the next meal. i find myself thinking about what i will cook next, because food is best when it is shared. now i have someone to share meals with, and with that comes shared conversations and shared kisses. i love that he loves being a homebody just as much as i do. i love that he likes my cooking. and after watching a cooking show with him, i cannot wait to actually cook with him.