Single Serving: Date Night

Showing posts with label Date Night. Show all posts

Friday, June 5, 2009

Cooked: Hot Stuff! Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Cornish Game Hens with Fruity & Nutty Saffron Quinoa

So I have four major Dan's in my life, 3 Dan B's & 1 Dan O... they're my 4 Dan's of the Apocalypse. These men encourage me, support me, humor me, entertain me & are my lifeline. Dan O' Connor & my 3 B's... Berman, Bennett & the last one I won't say cause he HATES his name being "dropped" *snort* HA!

They keep me on my toes & I love having the opportunity to cook for them. This time it was finally on for my Ber-Man♥. He's the leader of our Taco Tuesday crew & has really been essential in supporting me & keeping my spirits up during this turbulent fiscal year for me.

My kitchen was a WRECK & he had been dying to show me his new wood floors he just put in. Let me fill you in on Berman, he works insane hours, drinks like nobody's business whenever he has the chance, is super low key, no frills, laid back, shops online ONLY, science loving Atheist, history buff, smack talker, loves his cat... is it normal for a dude to love a cat so much?

I'm such a dog person I always flip when I find a guy I know has a cat... maybe it's because I don't like cats except for Hello Kitty, but she doesn't have a mouth & can't do nasty stuff with her genitals with it like other cats... oh & she's not real so she can't act like she's too good for me & she wears a dress so I don't get the hotdog end in my face... sorry rambling again, I don't like cats!

Here's proof of how much he loves the kitty, he commissioned a painting for his cat sitting in on a World War 2 summit with Stalin, FDR & Churchill... HA brilliant! ♥

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AND I need to emphasize again, he works very, very hard so he can be able to afford to spend the time with the people he cares about all over the Country... I have a massive amount of respect for him, well except for the fact he's a chronic texter.

I LOATHE text messages! I blog, Facebook, email even freaking Twitter... I'm a single woman that lives with a dog with an unlimited talk plan on my cell... sometimes I can go days without hearing or speaking to another human being therefore I completely oppose text messages & people who love to text can KISS my ass! Word.

The Berman doesn't do 4 legs so I settled to make my infamous stuffed cornish game hens, I wanted a twist so I wrapped mine in bacon... how could ANYONE not eat bacon?!?!?! Remember I said he was low key, I had NO idea what I was walking into.

First off the floor was... stun-NING dark wood. He didn't tell me he re-did the kitchen countertops... sleek in black. Now mind you, I assumed his pantry would be bare except for a can of tuna, a jar of peanut butter, red bull, jerkey & some muscle fuel garbage...

I came with bags of crap, even brought my own pots. The boy had a FULLY stocked spice section, I was blown away! All the utensils & rad KitchenAid cookware. I LOVED his spices especially this Johnny's Jamaica Me Crazy stuff, fantastic!

This is really why I can't stress enough cooking at other people's homes & trying out ingredients you normally wouldn't buy. Of course this too he bought online, it's available on Amazon & Ebay I used both the seasoned salt & seasoned pepper flavors.

I was so comfortable in his kitchen it was really hard for me not to take my pants off... EW you guys! It was because my jeans were too tight & stuffy... you PERVERTS! I like cooking in a dress or just a long shirt... duh! Anywho, so now I was in like Flynn, time to get my cook on. I started with frying some sage & putting them aside.

I browned the ground turkey & added crimini mushrooms & dressing. He had beautiful Fuji apples literally minutes from eating dust so I decided to add those to the stuffing mix too, I've never done that before again the cooking at other people's homes aspect. Now I will add apples to my stuffing for good.

Stuffed the bird, added the spices, wrapped mine in bacon & started the quick sear for that golden crispy skin I just adore so much then it was the big finish in the oven. The Quinoa I settled to cook in the microwave so I can keep the heat off my hair that I just got done.. damn Black girls & their hair.

We drank Vodka & he put on MC Hammer's greatest hits mix tape... it was awesome. We laughed & ate our butts off.

It felt so good to, in my own way, repay someone for all that they've done for me. Even though it was small, he REALLY enjoyed it... I'm still smiling just thinking about it. Thanks Berman, I will be raiding your kitchen more often, be ready! Please Hammer don't hurt 'em!

The star studded cast Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Cornish Game Hens:

I LOVE this Trader Joe's Trail Mix, loaded with Antioxidants & I usually add it to my Couscous thought it would be fun to add to my Quinoa also... it was, delish!

2 Legit 2 Quit.. HA!

♥

Friday, March 27, 2009

Cooked: Paellissima Paella!

Hailing from Miami, I have been fortunate enough to have had some of the BEST Paella in the world! I especially ♥ how serious the Spaniards are about their national dish... conquistadors still those people! I've had so many different variations, nothing beats my girl Debbie LaCasa's mothers Paella Valenciana. My GOD that Woman is a beast in the kitchen. I've had some with Rabbit & all sorts of game some heavily influenced with seafood & even had one made with pasta! I have been making Paella for years in a cast iron french oven (I've named her Marilyn) & although I have NEVER had anyone complain about the flavor of my Paella, in fact there is plate licking involved, I have on more than one occasion been told my Paella isn't authentic, because I didn't use a Paella pan!!!

Ok after the third time the hunt was ON to find a paella pan. Like I learned in the movie Boomerang "you have to coordinate". Originally I was looking for a aqua Dansk Paella pan, but REALLY wanted a Le Creuset one to keep with my cast iron obsession, unfortunately Le Creuset stopped making them a while ago. After a year I found an extremely rare vintage one & wouldn't you know it was in the aqua color I wanted (yes Jesus LOVES me) I named him Luke after Paul Newman's character in Cool Hand Luke.

After a year of not making Paella I finally used this bad boy last night ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... don't like it, like my way better, less messy. It was like a Paella massacre on the stove & it required SO much more attention I was not accustomed to giving my recipe before. I don't know maybe I'll try it ONE more time, I'm not a quitter but the next time I have a Spaniard over that mops up their plate & has the audacity to say "it was AMAZING... buuuuuuuuuuuut that was not Paella" I'm afraid they & I have a "failure to communicate" & might end up with Luke being slapped in the back of their head!

Either way I will say it was hands down one of the best Paellas I have EVER made! The head on shrimp I got for $1.80 in Koreatown was stunning to look at & tasted so good. Trader Joe's seasonally brings back their Langostino tails... AH-MAY-ZING! This is the first time I have ever added it to "my" Paella I also didn't have any peas off hand & honestly am not a huge fan so I used Trader Joe's Soycatash... & I can't get over the the flavor it added to it & the surprise pieces of corn hidden in all the saffron rice was a nice touch. I also enjoyed the Soycatash had diced red peppers in it so that was less peppers I needed to dice. Speaking of peppers I also used Trader Joe's Melange A Trois frozen fajita peppers... it's BRILLIANT for Single cooks.

You get 3 kinds of peppers, keep in your freezer so you won't be chucking peppers because you don't have any recipes that call for them & you can't beat that you are getting 3 capsicum flavors, already cut for less than $1.50... this makes me moist I tell ya (ew... I REALLY don't like that word). I made my own stock with chicken wings I grabbed from my neighbor & the chicken I had left over from my Au Gratin potatoes from the night before.

I also used a fantastic seafood mix that had Crab, Octopus, Calamari, Clams & Mussels this was just PERFECT & I soaked the seafood in Chardonnay before cooking it & it REALLY made the seafood the star of the show. I was originally going to cook for my friend Dan & I but was SO excited about the deals I made, I made enough for My neighbor Keisha, her brother Matt, Dan had leftovers for himself & his roommate & I my girl Rena stopped by today for her taste. None of them Spaniard... damn! Must grab the Magic Eraser & tackle that stove *snort*♥

The Star Studded Cast:

Langostinos:

Seafood Mix

CAN'T BAH-LIEVE how cheap these skrimps were:

I will NEVER understand why people buy canned/box stock?!?! My house smelled like heaven!

Chicken & Chorizo

The Supporting Cast:

Aussie love for my HOT Aussie date ♥ ♥ ♥ finishing salt! This Aussie pink salt is ridiculous not because it's pink, but the delicate crunch & light iodine flavor is incredible AND it's PINK!!! The Paw Paw in the Olive Oil is to DIE for! I picked up the salt at Marshall's & the Olive Oil at Tuesday Morning, I can't stress enough going to close out stores (Ross, Marshalls, TJ Max, Tuesday Morning, Big Lots etc) stroll along their gourmet food section. Wonderful steals... I mean deals!