anniversary dinner = steak & mushroom omelettes for breakfast

Our wedding anniversary is tomorrow and, since that happens to be a Monday, we went out for our anniversary dinner last night. It seems to be that going to a high-end steakhouse is becoming our anniversary tradition since this is also what we did last year. This year, we went to Fleming's (hubby's favorite steakhouse here). I think they have many locations, so if you are interested in a REALLY good dinner with REALLY big portions, check it out: http://www.flemingssteakhouse.com/ I promise, if you like steak, you will not be disappointed!

Anyhow, as usual, my eyes were bigger than my stomach. This combined with the fact that (1) I was unaware that the portions were so large and (2) our very nice waiter, Gabe, comped us the mushrooms - so a 3rd side got added to our already humongous portion of food and left me very, very, very full before I even got halfway done with anything (except my salad - I always finish my salad). Of course, the fact that we couldn't finish dinner also meant that there was a small slice of space in our tummies for dessert - Gabe came early to ask about dessert in case we wanted the chocolate lava cake since it takes 20 mins to prepare. I can't tell you what else is on the dessert menu because we didn't get any further than this. We ordered it. I was glad it took so long to prepare since it gave us time to get over dinner before diving into the supremely divine chocolate lava cake (which, by the way, came with a side of vanilla bean ice cream and chantilly cream to top the cake - a whole bowl of chantilly cream!) The one smart thing we did was to split the salad and the dessert. Even the half portions were a good size. So as I was sitting there wishing they could take me to the car in a wheelbarrow, I was already planning today's breakfast.

I love steak & eggs, so anytime we go out for steak I am happy to have some left. I knew that some combination of steak & eggs would be on the menu for this morning. As I sat there, I looked at the steak (it only came in a 16oz portion - I think I only ate 4 of them) and the mushrooms, I started thinking omlettes. Hubby LOVES his fries and was looking forward to ordering some. The only way you can get fries at Fleming's is thin-cut (kind of like Steak & Shake fries) and as part of a combo with onion rings. So there were a lot of fries left. I pondered on what to do for breakfast and how I could use the fries too. This is what I came up with:

I had already decided to make a steak & mushroom omelette but we were torn on which cheese to use (and, since I think cheese should be its own food group, there is always an assortment in our house). I briefly considered shredded cheddar but quickly decided this wasn't a good enough match for the rest of the ingredients. I then moved on to feta, but hubby didn't think it would be a good match. So we settled on parmigano-reggiano. I think this was definitely the right choice since the sharpness and saltiness of the cheese matched well with the fact that both the steak and the mushrooms had been prepared with garlic butter. Plus, it gave me the chance to play with my cheese grater.

It wasn't until I was slicing the mushrooms that I decided what to do with the fries. I had initially started trying to figure out some way to turn the fries into hashbrowns (or something like hashbrowns). As I sliced the mushrooms, and the pile grew, I knew exactly what to do. I heated all the mushrooms up and the set some aside to go in the omelettes. The rest, I left in the pan and added the fries. I covered the dish, hoping that it would soften the fries a little so they would be more hashbrown-like but this didn't work quite as I had hoped. There were still delicious though.

Since I didn't even eat half my steak, I heated it up and we were able to share it. I just heated it on low in the same pan the potatoes & mushrooms had been heated up in (after I took the potatoes & mushrooms out).

Anyhow, it turned out as spectacularly as I had hoped. The only problem is that we have now finished all the steak, so I am sad...but hubby's birthday is right around the corner, so I know that there is another yummy dinner coming our way very soon! :-)

Chicken in Garlic-Vinegar Sauce

I can't take any credit at all for this dish. I didn't even alter anything in the recipe - other than that I think next time (and there WILL be a next time for this dish), I might make more sauce and mix it in with some rice for a side dish. And I might start checking it at 40 mins instead of going the whole 50 mins so that the chicken has at least a little chance of staying on the bone long enough to plate the dish (this will be especially true if I make it for company). Oh yeah, and I used fat free sour cream instead of reduced fat.

There isn't much to write about this one other than it is supremely, awesomely delicious. It looks and tastes decadent but it really isn't. And it looks like it might be a difficult dish so people you serve it to will (most likely) be impressed. But the most time consuming part is skinning the chicken, peeling the garlic and dicing the shallot. Other than that, this is pretty much a set it and forget it kind of meal (except for the 1st & last steps - but those are fast). Anyhow, all I can say about this one is YUM!

I served it with our favorite couscous salad and steamed asparagus drizzled with EVOO & balsamic vinegar. I love the taste of the vinegar & asparagus. I think I need to get a balsamic reduction to drizzle next time so that it sticks to the asparagus better. I will buy it rather than make it since it is entirely too time consuming to make a balsamic reduction (believe me, I have tried).

Here's the link so that I don't have to retype the whole recipe: http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/chicken-in-garlic-vinegar-sauce-recipe-6754

Pomegranate Margaritas and Black & white pasta

I know that you are never supposed to go grocery shopping hungry, but I never thought about not going other kinds of shopping hungry. I will add to the grocery shopping part, never, ever, ever go anywhere that might possibly sell any kind of gourmet foods hungry. Unfortunately for me, HomeGoods is such a place.

Truth be told, I wasn't really famished; but, thanks to my workouts, I do have the appetite of a 13 year old boy most of the time. Anyhow, I went in for a serving bowl and came out with that AND a whole bunch of other stuff.

The first definitely-not-on-the-list purchase was sugar-free pomegranate syrup. I saw this and immediately thought "I bet this would make an awesome margarita" prompting me to have to go out and buy margarita mix and tequila. But I was right, it did make an awesome margarita. Of course the sugar and calories in the margarita mix kind of negated the whole "sugar-free" of the syrup, but oh well. And now, a friend of mine mentioned using limeade instead of margarita mix, so I might have to try this. I wonder if lemonade would work as well...because I DO have some crystal light mix...and that would return my margarita to being pretty much sugar-free. I don't have any pics of the margaritas, but I am sure that everyone probably knows what a margarita looks like. If not, there is always google...or a menu at TGIFriday's...

The second thing on the list was something that I normally wouldn't buy anyways - white pasta, but this was too cool to pass up. Black & white farfalle. I just couldn't pass it up. So I bought it. Then, of course, I had to figure out what to serve it with and how to top it. Something this pretty really can't just be covered up in a plain old tomato sauce. I thought about a pesto, but I thought that might cover it up too much as well. So I settled on oil and freshly grated parmesano-reggiano. But I thought that might be too boring so I decided that it needed asparagus, mushrooms and artichoke hearts. Looking back, I think this might have been overkill. So I am back to square one on how to top this awesome looking pasta. I am open to suggestions... Anyhow, we had it with out favorite baked pollock with smashed tomato sauce. Mainly because I thought the fish was a lighter option than the shake & bake chicken & pork we had earlier in the week; but also because I got several packages of pollock last week at the grocery (coupons + good price = carol buying a lot of it).