Restaurant Review - Chez moi
A sexy meal for two ... at home
Here’s my restaurant recommendation for Valentine’s Day: stay home and cook.
Though it’s not often expressed publicly, most restaurants dread the coming of VD. I know we did in every restaurant in which I worked. Hordes of customers show up, invariably expecting a perfect dining experience to impress their sweeties. Servers put on a brave face while the frantic cooks in the kitchen turn out plates of food as fast as humanly possible, which usually isn’t fast enough. Expectations are lofty, mistakes are frequent and tempers are quick. It tends to be a disheartening experience for everyone. If you really love someone, take him or her out for a lovely dinner two weeks after Valentine’s blows over.
With that in mind, I’ve devised an easy, manageable menu — with an eye toward libido-stimulating ingredients — for a romantic evening at home (never thought you’d be clipping recipes out of CL, did you?).
Oyster bisque is a recipe my family beseeches me to make every year for Christmas dinner. It’s light and amazingly flavorful for how little time it takes to prepare. The paella is not authentic by any means, but it’s fast and tasty. Saffron is an expensive (and optional) ingredient, but it adds an elusive, seductive flavor that suits the occasion. Feel free to substitute all shrimp or all chicken in the recipe, or even make it vegetarian by adding frozen peas, chopped artichoke hearts or green beans.
The flourless chocolate cake recipe is from my dear friend Vicki Ferebee, who whips this gem out whenever she needs a dessert in short order. No one is ever the wiser. Buy the best chocolate and cocoa you can find. Scharfenberger and Ghirardelli are good choices.
When preparing the meal, I suggest making the cake first, then assembling the ingredients for the soup, and then making the paella. You can cook the soup, which takes 15 minutes tops, while the paella is in the oven.
Of course, if your relationship status is anything like mine, and your attitude is understandably bitter on this amorous occasion, I give you full permission to skip everything but the cake, which you can eat all by yourself while sulking alone in your domicile, watching old episodes of Sex and the City. Bon appetit.