Random Recipe Date

Another week, another date. This week our date was to cook a 4 course dinner together. The catch is that we didn't get to choose what dish we had for each course. Instead, we randomly selected recipes from a cookbook and HAD to make and eat whatever we landed on.

We specifically selected dishes from their sections of our giant America's Test Kitchen cookbook (e.g. our appetizer was selected from the section on appetizers, dessert from the section on desserts, etc). That way we wouldn't have ribs or something for dessert. Besides that, it was fate as to what we'd be making and eating. Yikes!

Given that Joe and I are picky eaters, this felt like a really scary game of Russian Roulette for our taste buds. Thankfully, our random number selection and die rolls gave us a meal that was full of yummy foods!

***Side Note*** We decided to roll a die for the main course since the section was split up into chicken, pork, beef, fish, etc. and we didn't want to knowingly pick a number from a preferred section. That would have been more control over our dinner fate than we wanted. In retrospect, using a die would have been the best way to pick the whole meal - it felt a lot more out of our control and, therefore, more exciting. ***End of Side Note***

Since Joe loves cooking but doesn't get to much anymore (thanks dental school), he was really happy for this date. I've actually really started to enjoy cooking myself, so I was happy too.

I love to cook with wine... sometimes I even use it in my food.

So now to answer the big question: what did we eat?

Appetizer: Quesadillas

The cookbook gave advice on cooking a basic quesadilla, but didn't have any special recipes. Since I wanted something more snazzy than just cheese and a tortilla, I decided to make our quesadillas with cheddar and mozzarella cheese, thick cut bacon, caramelized onions, and cilantro. OMG it was insanely delicious. I'll be making it again for sure. Since we didn't want to get too full, we only had two slices(?) parts(?) sections(?) each.

Salad: Roasted pear and walnut arugula salad

I overdressed the salad horribly, so it was the worst dish of the night, but all of the components were great. We'll try it again and I'll be much less heavy handed with the dressing.

Entree: Coq a Vin with mashed potatoes

Okay, I've never heard of coq a vin before, so when we first landed on it I was afraid. When I found out it was a chicken dish, I breathed a sigh of relief since I can do chicken, but I was still scared because it calls for chicken thighs. Fun fact about me - I can't eat meat on the bone unless it's a rib. It creeps me out (why ribs are okay baffles me too - probably because they are covered in BBQ sauce) and I don't know how to cut meat off of a bone. Yes, I am 27 and I don't know how to cut meat off of a bone. You can shake your head in shame at me, I deserve it.

Anyways, Joe insisted that if we used chicken breasts they would probably dry out and the point of this meal was to try new things. I agreed to use thighs as long as he cut my chicken and we didn't have to use mushrooms (even though they are a big part of the recipe). He agreed.

Aside from the thighs and mushrooms, coq a vin sounds like the most amazing chicken dish ever. The recipe uses an ENTIRE bottle of wine, a ton of onions, garlic, and other flavors I love. Plus, the traditional side is either noodles or mashed potatoes.

Joe pretty much took charge on this part of the meal, which I am glad of because it seems pretty difficult to make. There are a ton of steps. But oh boy was it INSANELY DELICIOUS. This is going to be my pick for my birthday dinner in December.

Dessert: Fallen chocolate cake

I was thrilled we got a chocolate dessert, I was definitely craving it. Unfortunately, our oven is super aggressive and these got a bit overcooked, but they were still delicious. They were also super easy to make, so we'll be able to try again.

Even though the food was delicious, I did make a huge mistake with this date. I put it as a 90 minute date and it ended up taking 4+ hours. Note to self: cooking ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS takes longer than you expect. Also, what moron thinks it only takes 90 minutes to make a 4 course meal? This girl right here.

The good news is that Joe had more time than he expected to this weekend, so it didn't get in the way of his studying.

All in all, this was probably our favorite date so far. It was so much fun to hang out in the kitchen and cook together. We didn't have the TV or any music on when we were cooking, we just chatted. There were lots of Walking Dead predictions made since last night was the season premiere, and we got to be at home together for the longest stretch of time for a while. It was a great night :)

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