Have a Taste of Intimacy and Romance on New Years' Eve

Until not so long ago, going out on New Year’s Eve, was like winning the lottery – almost nonexistent. The kids were still young, and finding a babysitter was like finding the winning ticket.

 Every mid- December I would contact every female age 15-65, and try to ask, beg, or manipulate someone to stay with my kids.

One year I decided to beat the system: I notified the hubby that we are going to a top notch restaurant, and he should dress appropriately. On the big night, I put on a skimpy LBD, perfume and jewelry and found my husband waiting in his suit looking again like a groom. I invited him to enter our dining room, where candles, flowers, a nice tablecloth and beautiful tableware were awaiting..
 Yes my friends, I made a New year cocktail party for hubby and myself!   Bye-bye begging, Adios bribing babysitters. I went into the kitchen and made some great tasty small things to greet the New Year with style. And you know what? It was romantic, and I celebrated the beginning of the new year with the person I love the most.

Sometimes in life we simply can’t go big and celebrate the way we fantasize. Life gets in the way. It’s important then to think out of the box and find a way to have a special moment in mundane situations. If you don’t have time to cook something?  Simply buy cheese, nuts, olives, crackers and wine, dress nicely and make the effort. I bet you that your significant other and you will not mind that you are by yourself.

I think that welcoming the new year without  some type of luscious chocolate is impossible, so here is Debby Puentee’s recipe for espresso crème brulee. it's sweet, yet grown up, creamy and crunchy at the same time. Somewhat like the coming year with all it's flavors and life itself. Happy New Year to you all!

Espresso Crème Brulee

2 cups heavy cream

1 tbsp instant espresso powder

5 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

6 egg yolks

3 tbsps sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup sugar (for topping)

chocolate-covered espresso beans for garnish

 

1) Heat oven 300°F

 2) In a medium saucepan, bring the cream and espresso powder to a simmer. Do not boil!!!

Whisk to help dissolve the espresso granules.

3) Remove from heat and add the chocolate

while the cream is still hot. Mix until smooth and set aside.

4) In a large bowl, whisk the

egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla together. Slowly add the chocolate mixture to the egg

mixture, whisking to combine. Strain through a sieve. Ladle the custard into six cups

(custard cups, tea cups, ramekins, you name it) and place in a water bath. The way to do it:

5) Boil water in a kettle and when the oven is ready, set roasting pan with custard filled

ramekins on the oven rack and carefully pour the hot water into the pan. Take care

not to let the water splash up and into the custard  Bake until the custard is set, but still jiggles in the middle. This takes

about 40 to 50 minutes.
6)Remove the pan from the oven and let the

custards cool IN THE WATER BATH. Remove from water bath and refrigerate for at

least two hours.

 

7)Before serving, sprinkle a couple of

teaspoons of sugar over each custard and either torch it with a propane torch until the

sugar bubbles and caramelizes.

 

Amada Restaurant: The Art of Tapas

 

A romantic getaway to Atlantic City landed us in an excellent restaurant of one of the best chefs in the United States.

 Jose Garces, won Iron Chef America after defeating chef Jehangir Mehta . A year before, he defeated Bobby Flay as a challenger in an episode that was featuring melon, and this is when I vowed to one day eat this chef’s food. You can imagine how delighted I was to see his restaurant while planning a weekend that included all play and no shame at all.
 Amada, in the Revel hotel, is also the name of Garces’ first restaurant that he opened in Philly in 2005. It’s a Tapas style restaurant.
 We entered this beautiful place, and were seated in a private and romantic “cabana”. While examining the menu I saw that one can choose tapas from the huge selection, but chef Garces also offers his own recommended selection. In a case like such, I always opt to having chef’s recommendation. The reason behind it being that I want to eat what chef is proud of. I also chose to pair with wines that were recommended with these dishes. I was really tempted to try the Sangria ( They have three types: red, white and rose’) but I chose the wine pairing.
This was the beginning of a culinary journey that embarked us on a taste, texture, aesthetic adventure. Tapas are small plates and we kept getting these palette teasers to our  table. From Aged Manchego cheese with thinly sliced apple and lavender honey to Serrano ham to flat bread with shrimp, chorizo and garbanzo beans puree as beginners. We continued with Spanish octopus and potato confit, Spicy potatoes, and unbelievably sweet scallops. The jewel in the crown was the Iberian pork , that is only served in three restaurants in the U. S. I am not a big pork eater, simply because I didn’t grow on pork. This pork, which is what Kobe is for beef, was succulent and could easily compete with any steak in any upscale restaurant. It was accompanied with a fragrant mushroom risotto with truffle oil. I cannot begin to describe to you how it introduced us to new flavors. We don’t get to eat a lot in restaurants and say: wow! This was something new but we did and it was fabulous. I don’t remember which desert was served. It was after that pork, that’s all I can tell you. We came out of the restaurant feeling great, and didn’t even blink at the check, which is about $100 per person.

I recommend it with all my heart. This chef is very accurate in the way that he presents flavors to his diners, and that makes the experience a truly great one.