Sharing a Fun Date Night Idea

I just wanted to tell you about the date night my Super Awesome Hubby and I had last Friday night. It was a different date night than usual and because we had such a great time I really felt the need to share it with you just in case you might like the idea too!

We took a “Date Night” cooking class!!! It was held at Cooking in the Cottage in the St. Matthews area of Louisville. Chef David Moeller of Sullivan University was the chef and he was wonderfully entertaining and educational. To set the scene, it was a full class of 13 couples, with ages ranging from the early 20’s to their mid 70’s. The long tables were arranged in a large U in front of the kitchen and each table station had a small gas stove, utensils and all of the ingredients prepped, labeled and ready to use.

At the Cottage each date night menu is different and ours was Fried Green Tomatoes with Goat Cheese and Roasted Pepper Relish, Cannelloni with Shrimp, Scallops & Lump Crab Filling in Tomato Cream Sauce and for dessert a Pear and Brie Tartlette with Bourbon Sauce… YUMMY right!!! Oh, it was so delicious and all of it easy to make, granted we didn’t have to prep the ingredients but that is more time consuming than difficult. Also, you can bring your own wine, but they also give you each 2 glasses of either red or white with the meal. So for $95 per couple we had a delicious 3 course meal, 2 glasses of wine each and we learned how to cook some new recipes! We really had so much fun sharing this experience with one another, for us it was much better than just going out to dinner and we plan on taking these classes many more times!

So I only took a couple of pictures, which I will share with you, but I’m also going to give you the recipes… and I’m telling you they are worth trying for yourself! FYI, all of these recipes are for serving 2 people.

Fried Green Tomatoes with Goat Cheese and Roasted Red Pepper Relish

Ingredients:

• 3-4 sliced green tomatoes
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 egg for egg wash
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 2 oz. diced roasted red peppers
• 2 oz. diced tomatoes
• 2 oz. cider vinegar
• 2 oz. granulated sugar
• 2 oz. goat cheese
• vegetable or Canola oil for frying
• salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. For the green tomatoes, dredge in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs. Set aside for frying.
2. In a sauté pan, combine peppers, diced tomato, vinegar and sugar.
3. Heat pepper mixture and cook until slightly syrupy; set aside
4. Heat oil to 350 degrees and fry breaded tomatoes until golden brown
5. Remove and drain on a paper towel or rack
6. To serve, top fried tomatoes with goat cheese and pepper jam
7. Serve immediately

(sorry no photo here, we ate them before I could even think about taking the picture)

Cannelloni with Shrimp, Scallop and Lump Crab Filling in Tomato Cream Sauce

Ingredients for Filling:

• 4 Cannelloni pasta shells, cooked al dente and shocked in ice water, set aside
• 4 oz. shrimp, cut into 1/2” sections
• 4 oz. bay scallops (these are about the size of a dime)
• 3 oz. lump crab meat
• 2 oz. heavy cream
• 1 Tbsp. basil pesto
• Panko bread crumbs, as needed to bind (I think it was about 1/4 cup)
• vegetable or Canola oil as needed
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Heat sauté pan and add enough oil to coat the pan; heat oil
2. Sauté shrimp and scallops until about 2/3 cooked; add cream
3. Heat thoroughly and season with salt and pepper to taste
4. Add just enough breadcrumbs to bind
5. Add pesto and crab meat; gently incorporate
6. Open shells and stuff with mixture, set aside

Ingredients for the sauce:

• 4 oz. heavy cream
• 3 oz. tomato puree
• 1 oz. vodka
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. In a sauté pan, heat cream and tomato
2. Add vodka and reduce sauce consistency
3. As it reduces gently place stuffed shells in sauce, to heat through, ladle sauce on shells
4. Serve!

Pear and Brie Cheese Tartlettes with Bourbon Sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 individual tart shells
• 2 Tbsp. room temperature brie cheese
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
• 1 oz. bourbon
• 1 pear, ripe but still firm, cored and diced

Method:

1. Place brie in the bottom of the tart shells (it will work best if it is spread evenly across shell)
2. In a sauté pan, melt butter
3. Add sugar and incorporate
4. Add pears and coat with butter and sugar mixture
5. And bourbon and cook to a syrupy consistency
6. Pour pear mixture over brie cheese in tart shells
7. Serve

(umm… sorry about the half eaten dessert picture, this was fabulous)

Ugh, now I’m hungry!!!

Well I hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend, thanks for stopping by!

Until next time!