Valentine's Day Dinner In!

It was so relaxing last night to spend the night in for Valentine's Day - cook a nice dinner and enjoy a good movie in with my valentine! We've been eating out a lot lately so we agreed that something lighter would be a good idea - I set off to think about my bf's favorite ingredients and how to incorporate those into the meal. Bananas, good cheese, dark chocolate, scallions, asian flavors ... and this is what I came up with!

Caprese Salad
Very simple, fresh Italian salad made with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, fresh basil and a little olive oil, salt and pepper

Crunchy Shrimp with a Ginger Orange Sauce over couscous and roasted asparagus
Panko breaded pan fried shrimp with flavors of ginger, cilantro, citrus and cumin, served with Israeli pearl couscous (with toasted almonds and scallions), and roasted asparagus with just a drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper and cumin.

Almost Vegan Chocolate Banana Pie
I attempted a new recipe, which always makes me a little nervous, but I had a little faith in this one and it turned out just like it was supposed to! I knew it was a success when a special someone went for a 2nd slice!


This recipe was 'almost' vegan because I didn't have the energy to figure out how to make a vegan pie crust. The filling followed the vegan guidelines though I think! The secret to this somewhat healthy pie was an entire container of silken tofu - yes, tofu.


Recipe follows ....

Thanksgiving down, Christmas Next

I'm clearly behind as I still haven't posted about Thanksgiving, so I absolutely must write this one up before Christmas comes this weekend! At first I was told that there wasn't much room for me to do a lot of cooking, as my mother was taking care of most of the food - but then, the night before, when I got home I was told I could cover a long list of things! Fine by me! This year we just had dinner the four of us, and then got together with extended family for dessert so here goes - my thanksgiving in pictures!

I got up pretty early to get started, but even then - by the time I got up my dad had already gotten the turkey ready to go and into the oven. Last year I tried to brine the turkey and I didn't find that it made a big difference in flavor or juiciness, so no brining this year. Still very important though to baste throughout the cooking process.

The Academic Chef turns 26

Yes, the actual chef, not the blog. The blog had its 3 month birthday yesterday actually. Thankfully I didn't have to make my own birthday treats because I have so many great people in my life who treat me at this time of the year to their homemade goodies.

In fact, it all started over a month ago. My mother took a recreational cake decorating class and so she showed up at my apartment in March with a cake from her class she had been practicing on - I saw that it said Happy Birthday Elise, until she pointed out that, in fact, it said "Happy Birtdy Elise." While practicing her letters she realized she had made them too big and wouldn't be able to fit the entire word, Birthday. Close enough - and what really matters is that the cake was delicious on the inside and the frosting was even better.

After a bit more practice, she was able to fit all of the letters and still keep the cake delicious! I love chocolate cake, so that's always my birthday request. The only other thing I asked for was pretty frosting colors - which definitely came through in the pink and orange theme. So thank you mom for making me two birthday cakes this year, even if one was for practice and a month early! I'll have to get a little cake decorating lesson from my mom next time I have a cake to make. In addition to two birthday cakes I also got two sets of cupcakes, ice cream from JP Licks and two lunches out! I know - I was a little spoiled with treats this year.

Happy Belated Easter Dinner

Because, I'll be honest, holidays these days are more about the fact that I get to cook a big, fun meal for family and try out new dishes. This past Easter weekend was no different - despite the usual spiral ham, all other dishes were left to my choosing this year. This was the menu I settled on:

Easter Spiral Sliced Ham
with Twice Baked Potatoes, Spiced Apple Carrot Casserole and  Steamed Green Beans

I bought a fresh pineapple and cut half slices, pinning them onto the ham with toothpicks. Cherries are a nice addition too!


Before dinner comes appetizers!