Topic: At Home Date Nights
By Momma Foodie
Since I have become a parent I have found myself forgetting about my spouse time and time again. In the busyness of my day I get caught up in all that the house requires and all that it takes to care for the kids. I am sure that we all forget our significant others from time to time, but I am a repeat offender on a daily basis. It is also hard sometimes to find a babysitter and make arrangements for a date night out alone without the kids. And if you are on a budget like we are, one that isn’t too expensive and doesn’t allow you to get some quality time in like, sitting in a movie you can’t talk to each other during or in a loud restaurant. In my realization about my lack of attention to my husband I have found a fabulous way to anyone’s heart is FOOD!!!! So cook together, with or with out the kids. Or cook for your significant other and make it a special night in however you choose. It doesn’t have to be candlelit or a dusting off the expensive china kind of night, just one where the time is spent paying attention to each other.
My husband and I are lucky that our daughter tends to go to bed anywhere between 7:00PM-8:00PM every night, so we have time to be together just him and I nightly before we pass out from the exhaustion of the day. So our date night dinners are usually spent eating with our daughter and then she is put down to bed. The rest of the night is ours to cuddle up on the couch and catch up on the DVR’d shows we record or to get further in our favorite video games together. Our go-to date night dinner is usually a fondue of some sort. It seems to be a dinner that allows us to cook our food together and be able to discuss things over good foods and catch up with each other, as it does take time to enjoy fondue, whether it is cheese or broth, or both. In our house we have two fondue pots, so it is usually both. If the kids are into it they can do it too. Our daughter will eat the cheese only so we make her a separate meal she can enjoy too.
So to get to enjoying a fondue date night dinner, break out your favorite wine or other libations and get together with your significant other and reconnect with these simple recipes. I am including a cheese, a Coq Au Vin, and a chocolate course. You can make one, some, or all!
Cheese Fondue
Ingredients:
Aged, medium-sharp cheddar
Emmenthaler Swiss cheeses
1 cup of any lager beer
2 cloves of garlic minced
Splash of Tabasco
Dippers for Cheese Fondue:
Chunks of any crusty bread
Celery sticks
Carrot sticks
Granny Smith Apple slices
If you don’t have a fondue pot or a mini crock pot to prepare this in, just do it on the stove top in any pot. However you will have to find a way to keep the cheese warm otherwise as it cools it will become solid.
Directions:
1. Mince garlic and sauté until aromatic in pot.
2. Add in the beer and let heat through, and then start adding in shredded cheddar and Swiss until creamy and smooth. You can add more beer to thin out. But don’t make too thin or it wont coat your dippers.
3. Last add in the splash of hot sauce and you are ready to go.
Coq Au Vin (entrée) Style Fondue
* This is a particular style of fondue cooking for various meats
Ingredients:
1 cup of Burgundy wine
1-2 cloves of Garlic minced
1 cup of mushrooms
1 cup of chicken broth
1 tsp of chopped parsley
Meats and pasta you can cook in this style: Small Beef Cubes, Chicken Breast Cubes, Cubed Pork, Shrimp, Lobster pieces, Ravioli’s, Tortellini, Tuna, Sausage, Potstickers, Duck.
Vegetables you can cook in this style: Mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, asparagus, artichoke hearts, cubed potatoes.
Directions:
1. Mince garlic and cook until aromatic.
2. Add in the wine and chicken broth.
3. Then add in mushrooms and parsley.
4. Heat through to almost a boil and then begin cooking your meats in the fondue pot.
Note***: Meats take generally 1-2 minutes, Seafood 2-3 minutes, Vegetables 2-4 minutes.
Flaming Chocolate Turtle Fondue
Ingredients:
Fondue Chocolate Discs
¼ cup of caramel sauce
2 tbsp of candied pecans
Shot of amaretto (must be flambéed once added)
Dippers: Strawberries, brownies, blondies, bananas, pineapple, rice crispie treats, marshmallows, pound cake, cheesecake, etc.
Directions:
1. Melt Fondue chocolate until smooth.
2. Stir in caramel sauce
3. Add in candied pecans.
4. Add shot of amaretto and light on fire until alcohol burns off and blow out, then start dipping.
This fondue date night meal is sure to get you some quality time over some amazing food with your love. Paired with a great wine and some much needed adult time together it will surely make for a great night in together.
Food Is Love,
Momma Foodie
Previous Treats from Momma Foodie:
Making Family Mealtime a Priority
