Date Night at Chez Magnin

So last night was Wednesday, and as many of you have noticed, that likely means Date Night. Being that I am leaving for 7 days tomorrow, I let Josh drive the menu.

It went something like this: beef and mashed potatoes. Oh, and pudding--more on that later.

He didn't specify an appetizer, so I made Shrimp Cocktail for our cocktail hour:


Well, me being me, I couldn't let my last date night dinner for 2 weeks be simple steak and potatoes. So I made filets. With a Parmesan crust. Josh has declared my Parmesan crust to be better than what he has had in the wonderful Chicago steakhouses where we like to eat. It's very simple: about 3T softened butter, a 1/4 c grated Parmesan, and 1 tsp crushed roasted garlic (from a jar). Mix, adding additional parm as needed, until you reach a pastelike consistency. Add, after turning the steaks, to the seared side.

I made about 3.5 pounds of mashed tators, because if he eats nothing else while I'm gone, I can be sure he will eat his potatoes. And I roasted a head of broccolli.

This is Josh's plate, about halfway through dinner, when I remembered that at least one reader was expecting pictures.


We also enjoyed a lovely Cab with our meal.


And on to the pudding. I failed miserably. When Josh asked me to make pudding, my response was "You mean Brownies?" No, he meant pudding. "I don't have a pudding recipe," I told him. "You'll find one," he said. "You like a challenge."

He's right, I do like a challenge. And I found a recipe. But this was more like chocolate soup. Honestly. As I was drinking mine, Josh told me that it "tasted like pudding."


He's convinced that I'll do better next time. I think I'll make brownies next time.

Other details: We drank Manhattens. And I asked for 8 shrimp at the fish counter. I also, made Josh a simplified Caesar salad. My salad was even simpler.

TTFN