Date night used to be so easy.
What kind of food are you in the mood for? Movie? Play? Late-night stroll in the city?
Boom. Book it. Hero.
Three kids later, it’s a bit tougher.
We spend hours setting up the baby sitter, making a reservation, figuring out the post-meal fun. By the time that’s all coordinated, we’re usually too tired to even go on the date. I have friends with multiple kids who just go grocery shopping for date night.
Seattle food blogger Ashley Rodriguez had a similar problem. Three kids into her marriage with her husband, Gabe, she found their romantic life decidedly lacking.
So she wrote a book about it. “Date Night In” isn’t as much a cookbook as a concept. Rodriguez’s book, filled with more than 120 recipes, is built around the idea of making “leisurely romantic meals” at home with your mate.
“We needed more than the quarterly date we were trying to squeeze into our budget and our schedule,” Rodriguez writes in the introduction to “Date Night In.” “Our finances were tight, and baby sitters were not lining up at the door eager to hang out with our three children. We had to get creative. So we turned to our modest kitchen as a new, romantic setting where we could begin to date again.”
The idea sprang from something she started on her blog, notwithoutsalt.com, and the cookbook has the feel of a blog. Organized by season, each menu is a set of three to five recipes that stick to a theme, some personal like My Birthday and Our Burger; others more generic like Breakfast for Dinner and A Soup for Summer.
My wife and I decided to take the book for a test drive. As I toiled away at work, my wife went shopping for the ingredients for the Our Burger menu, which included a gorgeous burger, onion rings and the bittersweet chocolate malted shake. (My wife decided to use the alternate recipe which substituted bourbon for malted milk powder. God bless her.)
When I got home from work around 6:30, the youngsters were already eating a meal of small burgers and onion rings. Once they were done, I ushered them upstairs and set them up with a movie. They were warned not to interrupt mom and dad — unless fire was involved.
I helped my wife finish making the meal and set the table. We sat down and dove in. The burger was juicy and delicious and the onion rings, made with a mix of potato chips and panko, were crunchy and baked to perfection. The special sauce was great slathered on the burger or used as dipping for the onion rings.
The bourbon chocolate ganache shake was an incredible cap to the meal. I can’t stress the bourbon part enough.
The date was nice as well. My wife put on a record and set up candles and it felt like we were alone — a rarity these days. We were in our own home, so as we enjoyed the food it was easy to relax and chat.
We weren’t able to spend as much time together preparing the meal as Rodriguez suggests, but overall it was a big success. Over dinner we decided to make it a ritual and set at least one night every couple of weeks as a date night in.
Our Perfect Burger with Special Sauce
12 ounces ground beef
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 slices cheese (American or Cheddar)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 burger buns, split
1 recipe Special Sauce (recipe follows)
Small, inner iceberg lettuce leaves
Tomato slices
Yellow onion slices
Thinly sliced dill pickles
Special sauce
2 tablespoons dill relish
2 teaspoons yellow mustard
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons ketchup
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon honey
For the beef patties, gently combine the beef, salt, pepper, and butter in a bowl and then let rest on the counter for 30 minutes or, to get the best results, let rest covered in the fridge for a couple hours or overnight.
Form into two large patties. Refrigerate until ready to use.
For the burgers, in a very hot cast-iron skillet or on the grill, add the oil and then cook the burgers to your desired doneness (see note below). I find that about 3 to 4 minutes on each side gives me just the right amount of pink. Lay the cheese on the patty for the last minute of cooking. Set aside to rest for a few minutes before building your burger.
While the pan that you just cooked your burger in is still hot, throw in the butter and add the bun halves to the pan. Toast until golden and crisp.
As for the special sauce, I’ve thought of just scrapping everything and bottling and selling this sauce for a living. It’s all the condiments you’d want on a burger in a convenient little sauce. It’s tangy, slightly sweet, a touch spicy from raw garlic, and made incredibly savory with soy sauce, which is what puts the “special” in this sauce.
Whisk all the ingredients together. The burger sauce can be made up to 1 week in advance. Store, covered, in the refrigerator.
Build your burger by slathering special sauce on both sides of the bun. Add the patty and lettuce, tomatoes, thinly sliced rings of raw onion, and lots of pickles and top with the other crisped and sauce-smeared bun.
Note: For medium-rare, cook the burger to 130 to 135 degrees; medium 140 to 145 degrees; medium-well 150 to 155 degrees; and well-done 160 degrees or higher.
Makes 2 generous burgers.
Bittersweet chocolate malted shakes
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
4 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate
Small pinch of kosher salt
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1 pint vanilla ice cream
2 tablespoons malted milk powder (substitute bourbon)
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 ounce bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped, for garnish
For the chocolate ganache, place the cream in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate, pinch of salt, and espresso powder. Allow to sit for 1 minute and then whisk to combine. Cool to room temperature if using the same day, or if making ahead, cover and refrigerate. The chocolate ganache can be made up to 1 week in advance.
For the shake, in a blender, combine the ice cream, chocolate ganache, and malted milk powder. Pour into serving glasses (or make it one with two straws).
Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Garnish the shakes with whipped cream and the chocolate.
Note: Ganache is one of those things that everybody should know how to make. With ganache in the fridge, you are steps away from the best cup of hot chocolate you’ve ever had. You have a quick and easy tart filling in your reach and can dress up a simple scoop of vanilla ice cream in a matter of seconds. It also makes a mean mocha. So, what I’m saying is you better make a double batch.
Makes 2 shakes.
Oven-baked onion rings
3 tablespoons neutral oil (such as canola or vegetable)
2 generous cups kettle-fried potato chips
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 large yellow onion, sliced and then separated into 8 to 10 onion rings
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and drizzle with the oil. Set out a wire rack.
Blend the potato chips in a food processor until finely ground.
In a shallow bowl, combine the chip crumbs and panko. In a second shallow bowl, combine 1/4 cup flour, salt, pepper, cayenne, and garlic powder. In a third shallow bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, remaining 1/4 cup flour, and baking powder.
With one hand for dry ingredients and the other for wet, dip the sliced onions into the flour mixture, then the buttermilk mixture, and finally the chip and panko mixture. Press the crumbs onto the ring so they adhere well; each ring should be thickly coated.
Set the rings on the wire rack. Breaded onion rings can sit at room temperature for up to 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Thirty minutes before you are ready to eat, place the oiled baking sheet into the preheated oven.
After 8 minutes, carefully remove the hot baking sheet from the oven and fill with breaded onion rings. Place the pan back in the oven and bake for 8 minutes. Remove the pan, flip the rings, and bake for an additional 8 minutes.
Once the rings are golden all over, remove them from the oven and carefully set them onto the wire rack to cool slightly before serving.
Makes 2 servings.
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