"That's Freaky Good"

That's what Josh said after his first bite of souffle.


The dark edge is not burned. The baking dish was coated in sugar and cocoa powder. And it was really, really good. It's important that you understand that the harder I work on something (and this one used a lot of brain power) the less likely I am to be pleased by the result. This was good.

I'm going to quote Josh some more, rather than toot my own horn:

"Souffle is the holy grail of dessert baking...and you nailed it on the first try."
"It's ridiculously good."
"It's a lotta good."

So we finished it.


Granted, I misread the recipe and thought I needed a 1/2 qt baking dish and that's what I made it in. I was alarmed by all the custard left over. The recipe actually called for 1 and 1/2 qt baking dish. Now I know for next time.

So the souffle wasn't the only thing we ate (although that's not a bad idea for future date night...hmmm...it is eggs, after all).

I made mashed potatoes. With roasted garlic and rosemary. Josh had something to say about those, too. "It's piney fresh--I'm not gonna get mosquito bites after eating this." I know he's a purist about his potatoes and adding garlic AND rosemary was gonna push him over the edge...but I made him a souffle, dang flabbit!


He does like that I leave the skins on when I mash them. Or that's what he said. After the mosquito crack, he may have been goin' a little nuts with compliments.

The last addition that I made to the menu was to add caramelized onions. I had seen Giada DeLaurentis do it on her show, so I gave it a try. She thinly sliced 2 or 3 large onions, added a pat of butter, a tsp of sugar and a pinch of salt and left the saute pan on low for like an hour and a half. So I used one medium onion. (That should have been a big clue that I was going to get very different result.) It was a happy, happy accident as the onions moved past caramelization to crispy. To quote my husband again, "The onions were the best part of the main course."


The filets were HUGE! We are eating them again tomorrow night for dinner and I'm going to cut mine in half before reheating so Josh has lunch for Thursday. Maybe I'll make another batch of crispy onions.

Salads were good. I forgot the parm on Josh's Caesar, but he didn't seem to mind.


Cocktails, both shrimp and alcoholic were great. See for yourselves:



That's all I've got. I had one request to hear about my never ending spaghetti and one not to talk about the "p" soup. That will be fodder for another post. I also found out that the most difficult thing A made was Limoncello cheesecake. Or was that the most decadent thing you've made? Do you think you could share the recipe with us?

We're Dating Chuck Night

Do you watch Chuck? On NBC? He was gone for a little while. The execs at the network thought it would be a good idea to cancel him. The fans disagreed. I even signed an online petition.

Well, he's back. (We, the fan's, won! Power to the People!) There was a two hour double episode last night, just to get us all in the mood again. And it worked; it was good. Chuck is regularly on, you guessed it, Monday--aka Date Night.

Josh and I are very excited as this, along with Leverage on TNT (also back on Wednesday), is our favorite show (that's not on Disney or Nick). So tonight's Date Night is very special. I've been planning it since I found out that Chuck was coming back. It's gotten a little more involved as we get closer.

I know, enough about Chuck. Tells us about the food.

Cocktail Hour:
Shrimp Cocktail with homemade cocktail sauce
Black Thorn--similar to a Manhattan but with Irish whiskey and a splash of Absinthe (yup--the stuff's legal again)

Salad Course:
Caesar for Josh with anchovies and hard boiled egg (don't tell him about the egg--it's a surprise. I know, you're saying the EGG is the surprise, not the fishies. The anchovies come in a can, they're easy for me to keep around and really, Josh is so easy to please that I can get over the weirdness of handling little fishies for his salad.)
I will be having a green salad. My extra special ingredient is artichoke hearts. I just love 'em.

Dinner:
Filet Mignon and Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes--Chuck brings out the decadence in us.

Dessert:
This is really the stunner in the menu. Souffle. Grand Marnier and Chocolate. I have to try ("there is no try, only do"--Yoda) to prepare the beef while preparing the souffle so it all comes out at the right times. If only I had a sou chef. I'm still working on that one. I suppose I should let the meat rest...hmm...maybe that will be long enough to put the souffle together. I have to keep thinking.

I will take pictures and post them tomorrow. I know I've been gone for so long, you probably don't believe that I'll post twice in 2 days. You know what, though? If my souffle turns out I want the accolades and if it flops (that's really doubly bad for a souffles) I want the sympathy. So for my own ego...I'll post pictures.

And I have done other cooking in the past month. I should probably try to post about them, too. So what do you want to read about: Poultry stocks, pea soup, or my ingenious use of a box of spaghetti over three meals? Let me know.

Also, what is the most decadent meal you've ever eaten? What is the most difficult thing you've tried to make on your own?

Kristen Out1