{Friday Night Dinner} David Chang inspired

I came home late from work (exhausted and starving) to incredible smells wafting through our apartment building hallways. I burst in the door to find Luke in the midst of preparing an amazing Asian dinner for 2. 

He truly never ceases to amaze me! 

{Appetizer}

Homemade Momofuku Soy Sauce Eggs

Hard at work

{Vegetable}

Chilled Asparagus tossed in Japanese 7-spice with Wasabi dipping sauce

My favorite Beth Mueller serving dish
from here

{Protein}

Slow-cooked Sweet Chili Pork Chops over Jasmine Rice

{Drinks}

Liquid joy :)

Kirin Ichiban chasers

{Dessert}

Homemade Sweet Berry Cheesecake

 Playing hide-n-seek with Popples

This is how useless I was during the process.

I say it all the time, but I am one lucky gal.

Thanks a million Luke ♥



{Friday Night Dinner} Homemade Sushi

I love making sushi at home. All the prep work is actually kind of fun. I enjoy going to the fishmonger at Chelsea Market and getting the freshest Yellowtail tuna, then hitting up Han Ah Reum (the asian grocer in Koreatown) for essentials like wasabi and pickled ginger. Back at home, it's julienning the cucumber, slicing the avocado, and tearing up the crab.

We had Dave and Jess over recently and they brought a bottle of the smoothest sake I've ever tasted. Every time I finished making a roll, we all took a shot. We also had beer chasers and Luke drank some Johnny Walker Black Label, but let's get to the sushi, shall we?

sashimi

removing the fatty skin from the BBQ eel

avocado and roe

a true labor of love. always keep your hands wet and use the thinnest, sharpest knife you've got. plastic wrap is a godsend and use a no-fail recipe for the rice.

practice, practice, practice!

Japanese Seaweed salad

 boiled and buttered edamame with Japanese 7-Spice

Yellowtail sushi pieces

2 California rolls with roe (crab, cucumber and avocado)

4 Unagi Dragon rolls (eel and avocado with eel sauce)

3 salmon rolls baked in spicy sauce (mayo and Sriracha) 

pickled ginger and wasabi

my lovely sous chef

Mugsy came over, too!

Like on Thanksgiving

Dove chocolate-tinis for dessert that tasted like drinking vodka pudding.

a little vinyl listening to aid the digestion process

(i still can't get over luke's beard. i think it suits him well)

{Friday Night Dinner} Salmon in Lemon Brodetto and Pea Purée

We're really enjoying our "Friday night dinners at home" tradition and hope you enjoy seeing them. See here, here, here, and here. I recently made a bright, beautiful salmon dish using this recipe. Aren't the colors stunning? The flavors were fresh and clean and we felt super healthy eating it. The sharp, acidic brodetto paired perfectly with the creamy, sweet peas and the savory, seared salmon. We will definitely be adding this to our cooking repertoire.

Using the rest of the apples we picked, I decided to make an apple pie for dessert. I actually hate apple pie (I know, how un-American of me), but Luke loves it and I really wanted to treat him.

I doubled the amount of apples it called for, so it took a little longer in the oven and I used vanilla bean ice-cream instead of hard sauce as a topping. Also, there's no pie crust on top, just crumbled sugar, flour, and pecans (my favorite part).

Luke highly approved, so I guess it's a winner? We snacked on it (cold) for three days straight, too. So I guess I'm guilty of kinda liking it now. Just a little!

{Friday Night Dinner} Portland Maine Lobster

Luke's parents were in town last weekend and we went out to eat dined like kings instead of cooking a Friday night dinner at home. SO, I wanted to share a worthy meal I had almost forgotten about. Back towards the end of the summer, (before we moved to our new apartment) our roommate Dave and his girlfriend Jess brought a cooler of live lobsters back from Portland, Maine! They had been up that way for a music festival and it was the perfect excuse to buy some fresh, East coast seafood.

Poor little crustacean! He had no idea what was coming. Or maybe he did? How sad.

 Did you know that Whole Foods does not sell living lobsters?

Dave and Jess in our old apartment on 77th

Luke whipped up his secret mashed potatoes and roasted some asparagus, while Dave boiled and broiled the lobsters to perfection. Seriously the best lobster I've ever had! So sweet and succulent. Thanks Dave!

{Friday Night Dinner} Braised Beef Short Ribs

 Luke had been craving short ribs for a long time, so I decided to give them a whirl. I followed a recipe from this awesome blog. Quite an endeavor, but well worth every mouthwatering minute!

season some short ribs and let them rest

chop some veg and fresh herbs

uncork some tasty red wine

give half to yourself and half to the pot

(please disregard our messy kitchen. it is well used and loved!)

simmer and reduce wine with veg, herbs and broth

sear ribs (patiently)

if you don't own a $300 ceramic cast iron, Le Creuset dutch oven, do not fret (like I did). just use the deepest casserole dish you have on hand. put all ingredients in, cover, place gently in oven, and go away for 3 hours (drink more wine and watch 6 episodes of Property Brothers to pass the time) prepare mashed tators during last half hour

feel seduced by the amazing aroma and take dish out. transfer ribs back to oven to "crisp" just a tad

(trust me that these are incredibly tender, even though they appear to be extra crispy)

serve swiss chard (or kale or spinach) with broth and horseradish crème fraiche

see how moist and tender?

DEVOUR and enjoy!!!

Luke claims that these were the BEST short ribs he's ever had. I don't know if he was just being super sweet or if he was super serious (i'd like to think the latter :) but it's definitely a keeper to make again. I'd love to serve this to our parents or friends sometime!

(if you'd like my adapted version of the recipe, let me know and I will happily email it to you)

{Friday Night Dinner} Siu Mai

Luke gifted me a bamboo steamer back in Colorado and we finally got around to using it for some homemade dim sum! You may already know of my undying love for dumplings previously mentioned here. We made Siu Mai from this recipe and Luke concocted some homemade egg drop soup (his favorite) from scratch (impressive). 

The dumplings were surprisingly effortless to make and took no time at all, truly. We will use more shrimp (or all shrimp) instead of so much pork next time, but otherwise they were a success. Perfect little parcels of goodness! I even loved eating the tender, cooked cabbage "beds" that the dumplings were steamed on.

We used soy sauce and spicy hot chili oil as our dips.

***

Can I tell you something?

I may have suggested turning the heat up (even more) for the boiling water and...

it may have gotten too hot under that last batch of dumplings and...

the water may have boiled down to nothing and...

we may have had to throw away the wok because of the burnt, blackened bottom. Eek!

I'd like to think I'm a genius in the kitchen, but it turns out I'm more of a culinary terror sometimes.

{Friday Night Dinner} Shrimp and Grits

Luke and I don't really do "date" nights or celebrate anniversaries, but we did start a new tradition of special Friday night dinners at home. I really enjoy grocery shopping (weird but true), and we both love cooking and creating fancy dinners for half the price of eating out, so it's win-win all around. 

I kicked off the first one with this amazing recipe that I had made once before back in Colorado. This meal is hearty, spicy, and extremely rich. There is so much going on in every bite. You get smooth, tangy, Citrus Buerre Blanc with thick and creamy, smoked-cheese grits, and spicy bbq sauce smothering mushrooms, tender shrimp and chewy bacon. Oh man, it's a belly-buster and so, so good. I used smoked Gouda instead of smoked white Cheddar and I didn't smoke the mushrooms, I sauteed them in a pan. I also substituted the Abita Amber beer with a cup of BudLight and I completely omitted the grilled green onions.

Have you ever made a Citrus Buerre Blanc, or any other french sauce for that matter? I felt a little like Julia Child making mine. Not that hard, but don't tell anyone how much butter is in there!

Fact: Before Luke and I were officially dating, he invited me over for a filet mignon dinner. Every bite was heaven and after watching Luke slave away for hours, literally (he is notorious for taking his sweet time cooking) he had won me over. I guess the key to my heart is through my stomach, ha!

I hope to continue this series of Friday Night Dinners and have a few more lined up for the coming weeks.