Two Novice Chefs, One Tiny Kitchen

Happy Valentine’s Day!  Tyler took charge this year, planning out a nice menu, shopping, and doing the cooking!  I’ll admit I did help a bit with a few things though, but I was careful not to take charge or boss him around the kitchen.  He thanked me for not going all Gordon Ramsey a la Hells Kitchen on him :)  By working together we got dinner on the table by 7:15!  I was prepared for another 3 hour cooking ordeal but this went much faster!  Our dinner menu:

chicken stuffed with garlic and herbed goat cheese
garlicky green beans
spaghetti tossed in red pepper pesto
bruschetta with red pepper pesto
chocolate dipped strawberries (same as last V-day!)

Bruschetta with Red Pepper Pesto (from Weight Watchers)

Ingredients:

2 red bell peppers, seeded and quartered
1 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves
2 garlic cloves, sliced
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 loaf of french bread/italian bread/baguette sliced into 24 pieces and toasted
1 oz Parmesan cheese, shaved

1.  Preheat the broiler.  Line a baking sheet with foil; place the bell peppers on the baking sheet.  Broil 5 inches from the heat, turning occasionally with tongs, until lightly charred, about 10 minutes.  Let cool slightly.

2.  Thinly slice 1/4 cup of the basil leaves; set aside for garnish.  Puree the bell peppers, the remaining 3/4 cup basil, the garlic, pine nuts, oil, salt, and pepper in a blender or food processor.  Transfer the pesto to a small bowl.

3.  Spread 1 scant tablespoon of the pesto on each toast slice; top with a few of the reserved sliced basil leaves and a shaving or two of the Parmesan.

Serves 8 (3 pieces of toast per serving)

4 WW points per serving

Source: Take-Out Tonight: 150+ Restaurant Favorites to Make At Home, Simon & Schuster, New York, 2002 

We are always looking for reasons to celebrate and bust out our fondue pot. Birthdays, valentine’s day, anniversaries…but this week we wanted fondue and decided to use the series finale of Gilmore Girls as our reason. Not that we are happy it has been canceled, but celebrating 7 great years of my favorite show (though the last year was a little less than stellar!) Obviously this was my idea, not Tyler’s We whipped up fondue and it was good but not as good as last time. I skimped on cheese and bought Kraft shredded sharp cheddar, I should have gone for extra sharp and bought a block of the good stuff to grate myself. One should not skimp on cheese. I found the original recipe by googling “the melting pot’s cheddar fondue” and we’ve tweaked it a bit to our liking.

Melting Pot Cheddar Fondue (made by Julia and Tyler)

3 to 3 1/2 oz beer (our chef at The Melting Pot said they use Miller High Life so that’s what we use)
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic
1-2 Tablespoons worcestshire sauce, however much you prefer, it can be strong.
2 cups extra sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup swiss cheese

Grate cheese and mix in some flour to very lightly coat the cheese and keep it from clumping.

Mix beer, mustard powder and garlic in the fondue pot, bring to a simmer.
Add in cheese in small batches, and stir until the consistency is right. Add in worcestshire sauce and continue stirring until thickened.

Serve with whatever dippers you prefer. We use Italian or French Bread, Pumpernickel & Rye, and granny smith apples.

For dessert we had chocolate covered strawberries, very yummy. I was not impressed with the microwaveable tub of bakers dipping chocolate. It worked and tasted fine but it clumped up terribly so I wasn’t able to use all the chocolate. Next time I will melt the chocolate in a double boiler on the stove so I can better control the temperature.