Hot Times in the Kitchen

They say the way to a man's heart is through his tummy...so with that in mind, I thought I'd plan a rather "different" date night for Hubs and I last weekend....

We went to our Culinary Institute here in town and participated in Friday night's "Cooking for Couples" class...which can either be a great bonding experience, or a terrific and sure-fire way to start a fight as we each try to assert our prowess in the kitchen.

We began the class by making a tasty scallop tostada appetizer, topped with homemade sauce crema and salsa verde...Hubby got a little bossy about how much salt to put on the scallops, but otherwise, we worked great together as a team:


Heating up those little slippery devils...


EVERYTHING about this dish was homemade...we deep-fried the tortillas; we made the tomato relish; and we made all of the sauces on top...

Here's the finished product on the appetizer - and I'll have to say, these were YUMMY!!!!


Next on the agenda was making dessert.

I know - it would have been wonderful to just EAT the dessert next, but we had to get our little chocolate bouchons in the oven so they could bake...and then take them out so they could "rest."

This is where Hubs and I had a very clear understanding of our roles in the kitchen:


Hubs' role is to whip up the chocolate batter...


...while my role was quality control and clean-up. I'm doing a DARN good job cleaning up this spatula of chocolate batter.

After we'd lovingly put our delightful chocolate bouchons in the oven, we tackled our salads next. We prepared a delicious spinach salad with goat cheese and a peppadew dressing...


Here's Hubs and our friend, Mike, toasting the almonds for our salads (Mike's wife was "cleaning" the chocolate spatula at this time, as well....we worked GREAT together as a team!)

...and our finished product: (and again, YUMMY! Especially the dried cherries...delish!)


After our salads, it was time to tackle the main course: a potato-wrapped tilapia filet with prosciutto, drizzled with a champagne beurre blanc.


We began by wrapping the tilapia in prosciutto, and then wrapping the entire filet in a "nest" of purple potato strings.


While Hubs prepared the fish, I diced the veggies and prepared the sauce...between the artichokes, onions and butter - this sauce was to DIE FOR.

Our finished Main Entree:

It may not be much to look at, but it was very tasty...many layers of flavor that tickled our palate...

Our chocolate bouchons were now ready, and we drizzled them with a homemade vanilla bean anglaise:

I seriously died and went to heaven when I took my first bite of this...

Altogether, it was about a 4-hour evening, and we pretty much walked out of there stuffed to the GILLS (hee, a fish joke!) with wonderful, aromatic, delicious, delectable food.


Still together...

We actually had so much fun, that Hubs is ready to do it again.

I'd do it again, as well - especially if I get to do chocolate clean-up again.

Hey. It's a dirty job - but someone has to do it.

Peace.

P.S. I have complete recipes for anything and everything, so if you're interested, let me know, and I can shoot you off an email with the recipe for what we made.