Sunday, June 10, 2007

The Menu

When Karen and I first started dating a few years back, one of the first things that I wanted to do was to prepare a home cooked meal for her. Knowing that she is also a foodie, I thought that it might be more fun to have her select what she wanted for dinner. So, I created a dinner menu, from which she could select the dishes of her choosing. Here were her choices:

Appetizers

Maryland Crab Cakes
With a side of homemade aioli
Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts
Marinated in soy sauce and rolled in sugar
Florentine Artichoke Dip
Served hot with crusty French bread
Cheese Filled Triangles
Spinach and cream cheese filled phyllo triangles

Entrees

Grilled Rib Eye
Rubbed with Montreal seasoning and seared on the grill
Baby Back Pork Ribs
Cured with a spice rub and glazed with homemade barbecue sauce
Thai Coconut Curry Chicken
In a spicy green chili sauce over steamed jasmine rice
Oven Roasted Chicken
Smothered with a lemon zest garlic pepper paste
Jamaican Jerk Pork Tenderloin
Marinated in a spicy habenero paste and grilled
Smoked Standing Rib Roast
Infused with garlic silvers and slow smoked over hickory
Barbecue Pulled Pork
Slow cooked for ten hours in a hearty homemade sauce
Smoked Chicken
Hot smoked with hickory wood
Grilled Garlic Cilantro Sea Bass
Chilean sea bass marinated in an Asian-style sauce
Home Style Meat Loaf
With a honey tomato glaze

Sides

Sesame Garlic Asparagus
Grilled Zucchini and Yellow Squash
Scalloped Potatoes
Cheesy Grilled Polenta
Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Wild Rice and Sausage Casserole
Baked Squash

Dessert

Dessert of the day

To make it more interesting, I put a few dishes on the menu that I had never previously made and that I would make for the first time for her dinner, if said dishes were selected. (Of course, I didn't tell her which ones they were.)

In the past few years, I have made all of these dishes for her, save two. Do you know which ones they are? Also, can you guess which dishes are the ones that I had not made prior to the creation of the menu? Finally, can you guess what I did make for her for dinner?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

It was very impressive getting such an extensive dinner menu on one of our first dates. Everthing I have had the pleasure of trying from the menu has been wonderful! I am quite a lucky girl.

Chef JP said...

Let's see...I'll have the crabcakes, the rib eye & the asparagus side. When do we eat? chefjp

tesha said...

Here is my best guess.

Had not made before: Cheese filled triangles, Jamaican Jerk Pork Tenderloin, Smoked Standing Rib Roast, Cheesy Grilled Polenta

The famous first meal: Bacon wrapped water chestnuts, Grilled garlic cilantro sea bass, wild rice and sausage casserole and dessert o'day.

Not made at all: Thai coconut curry chicken and baby back pork ribs.

How did I do?

Loren said...

Tesha: Let's see... unfortunately, you're a bit off the mark on each of the categories, but they were good guesses. Except, of course, for the baby back ribs - remember the ones that I've promised to make for you at some point? As I mentioned, I've made well over 100 lbs of said ribs over the past few years. Didya forget already? Perhaps you are delirious with hunger? :)

Chef JP: Well, you picked one of the quickest and easiest dinner combos to make. Guess that you want to have dinner ASAP, eh?