Tomorrow night Tyler & I are going to celebrate Valentine's Day. We decided that we would cook a meal together - something that we've never done. Surprised? Well, I love to cook. Tyler loves to eat what I cook. Anyhow, we thought we'd give it a try. See what happens. First I thought we could make a real gourmet meal that consists of ingredients that sound made-up, that take an insane amount of time to prepare, etc. But in the end we realized that we're not gourmet-type people. We're from Oklahoma, which I consider "down south." I may not be a real pioneer woman, but I think this menu fits the bill for us country folk:
Chicken Fried Steak:
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon each salt, onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder and pepper
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1-2/3 cups buttermilk, divided
4 beef cube steaks (1 pound)
Oil for deep-fat frying
1-1/2 cups milk
In a shallow bowl, combine 2 cups flour, baking powder and seasonings. In another shallow bowl, combine eggs and 1 cup buttermilk. Dip each cube steak in buttermilk mixture, then roll in flour mixture. Let stand for 5 minutes. In a large skillet, heat 1/2 in. of oil on medium-high. Fry steaks for 5-7 minutes. Turn carefully; cook 5 minutes longer or until coating is crisp and meat is no longer pink. Remove steaks and keep warm. Drain, reserving 1/3 cup drippings; stir remaining flour into drippings until smooth. Cook and stir over medium heat for 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in milk and remaining buttermilk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve with steaks. Yield: 4 servings (2 cups gravy).
Mashed Potatoes (not Holiday Mashed Potatoes)
3-4 potatoes
Butter
Sour cream
Milk (or whipping cream)
salt
pepper
Peel potatoes; cut into chunks. Boil in water until cooked (15-20 minutes). Drain. Use a hand mixer and blend potatoes. Add some REAL butter (4 tbsp or so), sour cream (1-2 tbsp), milk to desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Angel Biscuits - the best biscuit recipe ever. I'm not kidding. Try them - you'll see:
2 ½ cups flour
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
½ cup shortening
1 cup milk
1 tbsp yeast dissolved in ¼ cup warm water
Grease cookie sheet pan. Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Add shortening and cut in until mixture is crumbly. In separate bowl whisk together milk & yeast. Pour over dry ingredients. Roll dough into ball and knead on floured surface 20-25 times. Pat into ½ inch thickness and cut until mixed well. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until browned. Oven 400 degrees. Eat them right out of the oven. YUM!
Salad:
Buy a bag of salad at the store. Dole seems to know how to make a salad. I'm not a salad maker. I think they are a pain to make. Sorry.
Andes Mint Cheesecake: It is as good as it sounds. No, even better! Try this one - you won't be disappointed. Don't be afraid of baking a cheesecake. It's easy. You can do it. I promise:
Crust:
1 cup chocolate wafer cookie crumbs (buy the cookies and put them in a food processor)
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp butter, melted
Filling:
4 packages (8oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
2 squares semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted
1 package (4.67 oz) andes mints, coarsely chopped
10 drops food coloring (it recommends green, but I did pink for Valentine's Day)
Crust:
Mix crumbs, sugar, and butter; press onto bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Bake at 300 degrees for 10 minutes. Once done, set on a cooling rack until ready to pour filling in.
Filling:
Mix cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and vanilla; mix until well blended. Add eggs, mixing on low speed just until blended. Spoon 1 1/2 cups batter into small bowl; blend in melted chocolate. Add mint candies and food coloring to remaining batter (not the batter with the melted chocolate). Pour 1/2 of the min batter over crust. Using a tablespoon, dollop 1/2 of the chocolate batter over the mint batter layer; repeat layers. Cut through batter with knife several times to create a marble effect.
Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour or until the very center is almost set (or it begins to brown OR there are cracks on the top). Let cool on the cooling rack. Once to room temperature - cover and put in the refrigerator overnight or for several hours. Makes 12 servings. Remember to make this in advance - the day before you want to serve it. This is my hubby's favorite cheesecake recipe. Ever. Oh yeah.
What you are making for Valentine's Day?
10 comments:
Chuck-E-Cheese. Sadly, I am soooo not even joking. You just can't beat a giant dancing rat for romance.
I am eating Pan Seared Seabass at a 5 star hotel in downtown Colorado Springs.
Oooooo sounds yummy - we are also staying in (finding a babysitter for four kids on V-day is virtually impossible :)). I am going with Baked Potato Soup (Karson's current fav), homemade rolls and a side salad. I am still not sure about dessert, likely something chocolate...
I love how you are teaching Anna to cook - Kelsie has been so interested as of late and it has been fun to watch her learn to make some of her favorite things (scrambled eggs, grilled cheese, etc.)
Have a great Valentines Day and thanks for your sweet comment, you are amazing - I hope I get to meet you some day :)
That sounds like so much fun! I think I may have to try some of your recipes. Our current repertoire of food is limited to pasta, baked chicken, and the occasional new recipe. We seriously need to expand. I think it's cute that you and Tyler are going to cook together! I may have to try that sometime with Cody.
Oh, and for Valentine's Day, I plan to blog later today about our plans. You can read about it there =)
Wow! What a meal!! How cool that you're going to cook together. I think it's the same way with us... I love to cook, and Jon loves to eat. So we're a good match! But how fun that you're going to teach him your skills! Hope you have a great time together! I don't even know what's on the menu for tomorrow... probably leftovers. ;)
I wish I could get that for my valentine's dinner. I don't know what I am having, but for breakfast we are having heart shaped french toast with heart shaped ham and that's about it. I'm not that big into the day, but I am trying to make it a fun day for Aaron. Have fun making dinner! I wish I could get my husband to step foot into my kitchen. Happy Valentine's Day!
I'm making Rob his favorite meal: Lasagna, salad, garlic bread and for dessert i'm making a chocolate fondue. I have strawberries, graham crackers, and strawberry marshmallows to dip into the chocolate. And we're going to go see Push at Regal in the afternoon. He got me some hershey chocolates with toffee and almonds in them (my fav).
That's a great menu. And fat free too, right?
I shall try the chicken fired steak, thanks.
I am making "let's go out to dinner" dinner. Works for me.
YUM! We had fondue. :o)
We had chicken pot pie with some friends in Michigan. We had fun hanging out and chatting. Nothing ritzy or crazy, just some old-fashioned easy fun. Looks like you guys had fun!
Post a Comment