Not to toot my own or horn or anything but my Valentine’s meal to my husband was probably one of the best meals I have ever made. Normally when I cook a big meal, I tend to not eat as much. I guess it’s some kind of psychological thing since I usually slave all day cooking it, who knows. But I went to town on that shit. Seconds and thirds type shit! Again, not tooting my own horn, but beep-motha-effin-beep!! It really was like going to a steakhouse. Well, minus the $300 bill. Not sure why I haven’t attempted this before because it really is easy to make it a night in with some quality food that will cost you fractions of a Morton’s or Ruth’s Chris.
When I first met my husband, he was well versed in expensive steakhouses. In all honesty, I never stepped foot in one. My parents never took us to those kind of places. In fact, we rarely went out to dinner, and if we did, it was to a Chinese restaurant, wings or pizza. Always home-cooked meals for this kid. Its funny, my husband always jokes with me that I was a spoiled child and grew up in “privilege”. HA! Who’s the child of privilege now, Mr. I’ve-Been-To-Every-Steakhouse-On-The-Planet?!
Back to the recipes! We started the night off with Clam Chowder and an Ice Wedge Salad. Both his favorite and both incredibly easy to make.
Clam Chowder Soup serves 6-8
chowdaahhhh
- 2 tbs unsalted butter
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 1/2-2 celery stalks, quartered and chopped
- 3 tbs all-purpose flour
- 2 cups chicken or veggie stock
- 2 cans chopped clams in juice (10 oz cans)
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 large Idaho potato cut into cubes
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
In a dutch oven or large pot, heat butter on medium-high heat. Add the onion and celery and saute until soft. Stir in the flour so its evenly distributed. Add the stock, juice from the cans of clams (reserving the clams for later use), cream, bay leaves and potatoes. Stir to combine.
Bring to a simmer, stirring often (the mixture will thicken) then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 20 minutes. Stirring often until the potatoes are nice and tender. Add clams and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook for another 2-4 minutes until the clams are just firm.
Soo good! Oyster crackers sprinkled on top of the chowdah complete the dish!
We then moved on to the 2nd course……..
Iceberg Wedge Salad serves 2-4
wedgie.
- 1 head of Iceberg Lettuce
- Blue Cheese Dressing
- 4 slices of bacon
- Optional: 2 hard boiled eggs and blue cheese crumbles
Directions
Cut the head of Iceberg lettuce into 4 quartered wedges (the best you can!). Wash each wedge and let dry then return to refrigerator to keep cold.
Fry up the four pieces of bacon. Let rest on a plate lined with paper towel to drain the excess grease. Crumble and reserve for serving.
Place eggs in a small sauce pan and heat on high, bringing the water to a boil. Once it begins to boil, put the heat down to a simmer and cook for 12-13 minutes. Run cold water in to the pan until its cool to the touch, then remove eggs, peel and crumble egg yolk. Reserve for serving.
When ready to serve, drizzle each wedge with blue cheese dressing, top with blue cheese crumbles, egg yolk crumbles and bacon pieces.
Easy right??!! If you don’t have bacon, BaconBits will work fine too.
Now on to the 3rd course……stay tuned!
– Amanda
