Katsudon

One of my favorite Japanese dishes.

Pork cutlet, grilled onions, egg, pickled ginger, over a bowl of rice with a soy based sauce. A Japanese classic.

Of course, served with beer – this time, Hitachino Nest White Ale. (Hitachino Nest has quickly become my favorite beer as of late.)

Mussels

Mussels cooked in white wine, garlic, onions, butter. Add fresh diced tomato and cilantro before serving.

Green Salad

French Baguette

Drink extra wine in bottle not used in cooking

 

Chicken and Waffles

Tonight was a special at Popeye’s Chicken…so we couldn’t pass it up.

8-piece white/dark hot/mild chicken bucket

Whole Foods frozen waffles with maple syrup

Mashed Potatoes

Collard Greens

Oh man what a dinner.

Chicken Teriyaki

Chicken Teriyaki – dark meat chicken, soy sauce, sugar, some secret Japanese ingredients that only the wife knows.

Fried Octupus

green salad

white rice

Spanish Cuisine

We have a restaurant near our house in Chicago that we love called Cafe Iberico. It inspired us to try to cook some spanish cuisine at home.

Chorizo Sausage from Whole Foods Market

Baby Octopus, Crispy diced potatoes, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika

Green salad

Beer: Hitachino Nest – Japanese Classic Ale

Valentine’s Day Dinner

I’m not a romantic. But I do appreciate special occasions for various reasons. And of course I appreciate my lovely wife who actually prepares these beautiful dishes that I love so much I feel inclined to write about. (Sidenote before we get to the food part: I did a bit of research on the origins of valentine’s day (side-side note: I actually didn’t do research, but just stumbled across and read a slate.com article) and found that Hallmark didn’t actually invent valentine’s day. It was your typical pagan-turned-christian holiday, which was originally a Roman day devoted to fertility, transferred to a far less “sensually-themed” St. Valentine’s Day. I just found that interesting.) On to the goods.

Lamb Chops with curry powder

Cous cous

Pan-seared endive (similar to this)

Mushroom caps sautéed with garlic and butter (awesome and simple!)

Champagne: Veuve Clicquot Rose (the alcoholic’s version of Valentine’s day roses )

Wine: Paitin Barbera Campolive. A tart and fruity (but not sweet) Italian red, very smooth going down. Really drinkable.

Desert: Milk and White chocolate covered strawberries and bananas. Yum!!

Lasagna

My wife makes lasagna from scratch – I mistakenly thought she was using the Betty Crocker cookbook and almost got a slap. Ha! She only refers to that to get the correct order or layers. (Which, really, is probably the most difficult part. If you screw that up, you’re out of luck.)

I can’t get into details about this recipe, since its kind of hers, and thus, a secret. But I’ll do the best I can without giving anything away.

Whole Foods lasagna noodles

Mozzarella/ricotta/parmesan cheeses – all at different points in layers

Meat sauce – this is where it gets tricky: 1 lb. Locally grown ground beef, tomato sauce (not paste), diced tomatoes, and TWO secret ingredients. Both are sauces typically used in other dishes – one in Japanese dishes and one in French dishes. That’s all I will say!

Drink: Bourbon. I was looking for some good chianti (you can typically find good chianti for very little money) but alas, I was at Walgreen’s. Not ideal store for buying wine…But I did see, for the first time, Walgreens’ new solution for alcoholic beverages in these tough economic times, Big Flats 1901.