Valentine's Dinner for Three

This was our first Valentine's Day together since we've been married. Kind of missed the last one. oops. Finally got it checked off the list. It was quite a day. I woke up late...as usual, and when I got out of the shower, my cute little pregnant wife had made me a scrumptiously simple, quick breakfast... because she's got a crush on me. I don't know what you call this meal where you're from, but around here, we call them camel's eyes. Well, I call them camel's eyes. Kristen thinks that's gross, so she calls them "eggs in toast." She made them extra special by using a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out the center of the bread. She buttered a pan on medium-ish heat, put in the bread, then cracked an egg into it. Salt and pepper and she's got a happy husband(that's me). She even put it on the red plate we got as a wedding gift. That's how I know she really thinks I'm special.

Then, she whisked me away to school. blah, blah, blah, classes and stuff. My brother, Thomas(hi Thomas) was in town and he picked me up after class, Kristen was still at work. So we stroll over to the store. "What should I do for Valentine's?" I ask. "I dunno," he replies. Okay, that's not what he said. I had planned on making dinner for Kristen, but I had no idea what to make, so Thomas recommends pork chops with cream sauce, portabella mushrooms, red potatoes, and some baked cinnamon apples to finish it off. With a look of bewilderment I said, "...I don't know. I don't even know how to make any of that stuff." So after loafing around the grocery store for a good while, I came up with a pretty good idea, I thought: pork chops with cream sauce, portabella mushrooms, red potatoes, and some baked cinnamon apples to finish it off...oh, AND salad. Mostly the last part was my idea. ...and I think I got her a rose and chocolate or something girly like that. She liked it. Whatever. Anyway, we thought it was about time we got back to our respective families. So we did.

I hid everything in the refrigerator and told her not to peek, or Santa Valentine wasn't going to leave us any presents. That was a lie, of course, but it worked. Then, before we could get to making dinner, we had to go to some doctor appointment. Oh yeah, we're having a girl.
...Okay, who am I kidding, I'm going freaking crazy with excitement.
Here's a couple pictures of our sweet little thing.


This is relevant to this blog because this girl likes to eat. Well, she likes to eat good food... and oranges, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Well, she liked dinner, too, and that's where we're going with this, but isn't she cute? You can take a minute to get all googly-eyed.








Alright, now to the good stuff. Just kidding, I love her. ...but really, here's what we did for dinner. After being captivated by those ultrasound pictures for a while, we scanned them into the computer, posted them onto some social network, then I went to Google and typed in "pork chops and cream sauce recipes." I did the same for each meal item, then we got to work. Kristen helped me. Mostly because I get lonely in the kitchen alone...and I can't cook as well as her...and I wouldn't know where to find anything without her.

So you melt some butter and a little olive oil into a pan, then put the pork chops in on medium heat, browning both sides. You set those aside and keep them warm. I put some chicken stock into the pan with whatever was left after the pork chops. That sat for just a little bit on the heat while I mixed a little flour into some cream, then I added that to the pan and mixed it together with a whisk. Have you ever used those silicon coated whisks? I have. They're amazing. That's not what I used here, so I live in constant fear that I'll scratch the bottom of the pan. I have to eat to help me forget, but I have to cook to eat. It's such a vicious cycle. ...add some salt and pepper to the sauce and simmer for about 5 minutes. Then put the pork chops in and drown them in deliciousness.

The real trick is getting everything done at once, so you'll need to plan ahead of time. I think it all works out most the time anyway, so don't plan too much, just enough to convince your wife that you have a plan, then see if she wants to run to the store for something or make the potatoes while you work on the other stuff.

Kristen made the potatoes. They were delicious, and this is how it's done. Mix the small red potatoes in a bowl with olive oil and salt and pepper. Thoroughly slather the potatoes, covering them pretty well. Make sure you have pre-heated your oven to about 375 degrees. Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes, or so. They're done when the biggest one is soft. You can name that one, so you both feel less awkward about your having to poke him. "While potatoes are cooking use a mixer to whip the butter, shredded Parmesan, chopped garlic, chopped basil and salt and pepper." That's what the recipe says. I'll post the link at the bottom. This is when you put it all together in the bowl and smash it. That's right, smash it. Don't completely obliterate it, just kind of chunk it up pretty good.

I don't like mushrooms. I just don't. I don't know why and I wish I could like them, I just don't. For those of you that do like mushrooms, gross. Just kidding, that's fine. In fact, my wife happens to love mushrooms, too. So I figured I could go ahead and make them because it was Valentine's Day, and I've got a big crush on her. These were simple enough, I guess. I'm not sure how to properly slice mushrooms, so I just sliced them. It worked. Then I chopped up a quarter of an onion. Put some olive oil and a little garlic(or garlic flavored olive oil) into a pan on medium heat. When you put in the mushrooms and onion, reduce the heat to somewhere close to low. That's what they say, at least. I think you should just wing it. "Blacken" the mushrooms. I don't think that's the same kind of blacken they do to chicken and stuff, I think it's just cook them until they turn dark. Who knows? No really, who knows? Maybe you can clear this up for all of us. Okay...when they're done, take it off the heat, sprinkle on a little oil...if you want...then salt and pepper, and some Parmesan and Asiago cheeses.

I used the red plate. That's how she knows I really think she's special. I wish there were other ways, but this is all I can think of.

I know, I know, this is dragging on forever. You know how to make a simple salad, I hope, so I'll leave that to you all. We used some spinach and it was good. So this leaves us with just the baked apples. You cut out the core, but not clear through, leaving a well in the middle. You put in butter and brown sugar and sprinkle it with cinnamon and bake it. Some people say they put some water or apple juice in the bottom of the baking pan and maybe some vanilla, which I'm totally okay with. Do what you want. Even if you don't get these all the way tender, they'll still taste good, but try to make them nice and tender and yummy.

Well, I dragged you all through that, so I hope you like it. I think we recommend the food. It was pretty easy. I was scared out of my mind, but I had my cute wife to make sure I didn't mess it up.

Here are the recipes:

Pork chops with cream sauce:
Slight variation of recipe found here: www.bellalimento.com/2011/02/08/braciole-alla-panna-pork-chops-in-cream-sauce/

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (I don't care if you use salted butter)
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 4 boneless pork chops
• salt/pepper
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon all purpose flour

1. Into a saute pan add butter and oil and heat over medium heat until butter has melted. Add pork chops. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until browned on both sides. Turning as necessary. Transfer pork chops to a plate and keep warm.

2. Into your hot pan add chicken stock. Cook for just a little bit. Place flour into cream and mix together. Add cream mixture to pan and whisk together. Season with salt and pepper. Allow to simmer for approximately 5 minutes.

3. Continue cooking on LOW for approximately 5 minutes or until sauce has thickened. Then, return pork chops to pan. Turning to coat.

Portabella Mushrooms
A little bit different than this: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-portobello-mushroom-saute/

• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided (whatever that means)
  
• 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic flavored olive oil (I just added a little more olive oil and a little minced garlic)
  
• 1/4 onion, cut into chunks
• 2 portobello mushroom caps, sliced
• salt and black pepper to taste
• freshly grated Parmesan
• freshly grated Asiago cheese

1. Warm 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic flavored olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in onions and mushrooms; reduce heat to low, and cook until the mushrooms are soft and blackened and the onions are black around the edges. (Add additional olive oil as needed.) Turn the heat off, drizzle with 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle generously with Parmesan and Asiago cheeses.

Red Potatoes
http://www.iloveinns.com/recipes/smashed-red-potatoes-with-parmesan-basil-butter_118.htm

• 12 small red potatoes
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 4 oz. unsalted butter
• 3 tbsp grated Parmesan
• 1 tbsp chopped garlic
• 1/4 cup chopped basil (fresh) (We didn't really use fresh basil, just some of the dry stuff. Worked just fine)
• Salt & pepper to taste
  

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a mixing bowl, add red potatoes, olive oil and salt and pepper. Toss to cover potatoes. Then place on a baking sheet. Cook potatoes until largest potatoes are soft to the touch, approximately 25-30 minutes. While potatoes are cooking use a mixer to whip the butter, shredded Parmesan, chopped garlic, chopped basil and salt and pepper. Add the roasted potatoes to bowl and with a large spoon, smash potatoes to a rough mash.

Baked Apples
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/baked-apples/

• 4 tart green apples (Or whatever apples you want to use)
  
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Scoop out the core from top of the apple, leaving a well. Do not cut all the way through. Stuff each apple with 2 tablespoons brown sugar and 1 tablespoon butter. Place in a shallow baking dish and sprinkle with cinnamon.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes(or so), until sugar begins to caramelize and apples are tender.

Well, that's it. Oh, and salad. Do what you want with it. We put in some yellow and orange bell peppers and they were delicious. Alright, I'm signing off. Thanks for tuning in.