EdHart.me
What could go better with a morning latte than some crepes? I was inspired to make my own after eating the delicious crepes at Capriccio Cafe in Destin and seeing all the amazing sweet and savory options. The crepe filling options are almost unlimited. All you need is a basic crepe recipe. Oh, and a crepe pan is really helpful.
Grilled lamb chops are the perfect date night dinner, especially when it’s been a busy day and you don’t have a ton of prep time. Where I live, Trader Joe’s is always a sure bet to have New Zealand Lamb racks in stock. I can occasionally find them at Sprouts, but that’s about it. I like to make a simple herb marinade with thyme, rosemary & Italian parsley and then grill them. The presentation is elegant and they’re delicious when paired with a spicy red wine like a Malbec or Cabernet Sauvignon. So good!
A few weeks ago I discovered galettes. For those of you who don’t know, a galette is like an open faced pie. They’re generally made, as best as I can tell, with fruit fillings which is what I’ve been doing. But you can also make them with more savory fare, which I plan to do soon. The awesome thing about galettes is that they’re made to look rustic, so you almost can’t mess them up.
Tonight we were in the mood for something on the lighter side. I considered my other roasted cauliflower recipe, but wanted a bit of a different flavor profile, and I like the idea of a more steak-like presentation. I had a great blackened rub in the spice cabinet, so decided to go with a basic pan-seared cauliflower steak with some caramelized onions. I used butter in the skillet to sear the cauliflower since I figured that the whole thing was already pretty economical on the calories, so a butter flavor bomb with the blackened seasoning would be totally fine. It was really good!
I had planned on having a lot of prep time, but after the wedding and our visit to the art museum, I fell asleep for a couple hours. Then had to go to the store and shop for ingredients and then on my way home I remembered that we hadn’t gotten any food for our Mother’s Day picnic the next day. On top of that, I couldn’t find a pre-prepared pastry crust at the grocery store (mainly because I was still half asleep when I was shopping) so if we were going to have the quiche, I needed to make a pastry crust from scratch. By the time I started prepping, it was about 6:30 in the evening.
This evening was a particularly nice spring evening and we kicked off the date night dinner with an appetizer of fried oysters, followed by a wine walk around the neighborhood (so we would’t feel guilty!) before settling in for the main course. The nice thing about this menu is that all the work is up front on the appetizer. The main course requires very little prep, just timing. Main thing is to cut up the potatoes before even starting on the appetizer and pre-heating the oven while making the oysters. I’m all about efficiency, particularly on a date night, so we can maximize the enjoyment part and minimize the food prep part.
This is a classic quiche recipe that I got from the Spring 2018 issue Magnolia Journal and one that I use as a base for lots of quiche experimentation. It’s eggs, cream and bacon in a pie shell so how can it be anything other than delicious?
When I first started making fried oysters as a date night appetizer, I was buying them fresh from the seafood counter. But as we’ve gotten busier and date nights have become less about the production and more about spending time together talking. Unless you’re a pro, shucking 12 oysters for an appetizer is a job. So I’ve been buying [these] from Publix and while I’m all about ‘the fresher, the better,’ I haven’t been disappointed yet.
This simple recipe is my go to for Greek style roasted potatoes. They are so good and so versatile to go with so many dishes. When shopping for red or new potatoes, I like to hand select small ones that can be cut in half or quarters to make bite sized pieces. I’ve found that when buying the bag, you tend to get some big ones mixed in that don’t look so great when cutting them up and I’m really all about the aesthetics & the plating, so I want my wedges to look good! I also use an old cake pan to roast mine. It’s the perfect size for dinner for 2 and I also like to try and keep at least 1 cut side down which will give the potatoes a slightly crispy texture on that side.
A delicious and spicy remoulade style dipping sauce. Perfect for fried anything, but pickles in particular! Super easy to make and keeps for about 4-5 days in the fridge.