Date Night Leftovers = Crab Cake Eggs Benedict

Under Construction: Toasted artisan bread, crab cake, scallions, poached egg, remoulade (don't forget the Bloody Marys)

We are lucky to have my parents living quite close and, occasionally, they invite our children to spend the night. Sometimes we use this occasion for a dinner out or, more often, as a chance to go see some of the amazing live music available to us here in Music City U.S.A. But really our favorite thing to do is cook together the way we used to do before we had kids.

Back in The Day, we'd leisurely peruse the aisles of the supermarket, possibly having a plan for our meal or possibly waiting to be inspired. So on this recent date night, plans to play golf got rained out and we decided to do five-course dinner instead, followed by "playing" (i.e., me learning) chess by a roaring fire. Delightful!!

I don't have pictures for everything, but the food was so beautiful I couldn't help but snap a few pictures here and there. We hadn't done this in so long that I have to admit we got a bit carried away, but it was an awful lot of fun and a splurge I do not regret!

First Course

Fried Green Tomatoes (Brandywine) with  Goat Cheese and Stone Ground Mustard

Second Course

Mahi, oil-poached with pineapple sage, Garlicky Fingerling Potatoes, Broccolini

This beauty was 100% the spouse's brainchild: oil poaching without requiring a full pan of oil, with the bonus that we could finally use the fancy food saver. He prepped the mahi and cooked it in some low-simmering water, but 3/4 of the way through the damn bag broke, so it was only mostly "oil-poached." Making the most of things, we tossed our broccolini in the herby/lemony water with the fish and it turned out to be a happy -- and quite tasty -- accident in the end. 

Third Course

Crab Cake with Remoulade

Fourth Course

Lamb Chops with Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

Fifth Course was a cheese plate, for which I have no photo. I also must stress that, if you want to do this, the key is small portions of everything (that one piece of mahi, for example, yielded our two "portions" plus leftovers). You want a lovely taste, an exquisite mouthful or two to savor, but then you need to cook the next course, so if you get overloaded you might decide (like I did) to forego that lovely pea puree that would have been beautiful with the lamb and potatoes. C'est la vie. We had leftover broccolini and that was good enough for me!

The following morning, we woke and went about our day at a leisurely pace, enjoying coffee and then Bloody Marys, which lead to the inspired idea (again, credit to my spouse) to make a fantastic Eggs Benedict with our leftover crab cakes and remoulade. Then he strummed the guitar and indulged in a nap while I painted. 

Feed the body. Feed the Soul. Appreciate Our Time. Live Well.

We are planning a frugal-minded version of the 3+ Course Date Night very soon. Not surprisingly, it's easier to take pictures when the photographer is not also responsible for all of the cooking and prep, so I feel confident I'll be able to share that with you as well.

Easy Date Night

Make food.  Make love.  Live well.

If I were a pessimistic type of gal, I might think the stars had aligned quite dramatically against a Date Night.  The entire family came down with a short-lived, but still nasty, cold (a first for all of us to be sick) which forced us to abandon our plans for a child-free, cavorting date night listening to music with friends under the stars.  Did I mention a bonfire?  C'est la vie.

As all parents know, you absolutely must carve out time together.  It is essential to survival.  So we put the kids to bed early and made the best of things.  Nothing too fancy, but good food and lots of time to sip wine and talk.

Whet the appetite

First up: crostini, which is possibly the easiest first course ever...but always satisfying.  You can make them with bread and anything you have on hand.  Tonight, we toasted the thinly-sliced baguette (brushed with olive oil) for about 3-5 minutes, then topped it with goat cheese, fresh tomato, sea salt and another drizzle of olive oil.  This is very subjective, but I think a good rule of thumb is to broil until the cheese bubbles slightly, but before the bread gets too brown.  Yummy bites.

The Butter Steak

Next up is the Butter Steak.  We had a NY Strip in the freezer, so that's what we cooked.  Basically, you sear off the fatty side, add butter and huge chunks of garlic, then add well-seasoned steak and allow it to cook  (relatively) slowly, over medium heat, basting with butter.  I could blame the wine or the talk, but we neglected to render the fat first.  It mattered not.  The steak was deliciously medium rare and The Crust was still quite amazing.

Spinach is the amazing shrinking leaf.

While the steak was resting, we poured off most of the butter and added some spinach, more garlic (this time finely chopped) and a little salt and pepper.  I like to cook spinach until it wilts by about half and turns a darker, but brighter green; then it's time to plate and eat.

I only put a tablecloth on half the table -- the half we ate on.  For Easy Date Night, candles swiped from the mantle and daisies from the hallway are perfect.  The steak was sliced and placed artfully atop the spinach, then butter-roasted garlic was tossed on that. 

This was a great meal.  More important than the meal itself is the time spent preparing.  Talking.  Laughing.  Connecting.  Life is too short to let a Date Night slip through your fingers.  Make it Easy.  Make it this weekend.  Make it fun.  Make it Real.

Bon Appetit!