Seduction Meals is about food + romance and the premise that everyone should learn to master one dish that is their signature dish—a Seduction Meal, to enchant and captivate that special someone in your life...
For a luscious quickie that will satisfy all senses, this seduction meal will delight the eyes, tease the imagination and grab you with its divine taste. A sure winner that can be made in 1/2 hour.
crab ravioli in saffron cream sauce
saffron cream sauce 2 tbsp butter 1 shallot, minced 1/2 cup dry white wine 2 good pinches saffron threads 2 cup whipping cream 1/4 tsp of cayanne pepper salt and pepper to taste fresh chives
crab ravioli 1 dozen crab ravioli
I used all natural crab ravioli from The Ravioli Store
lobster 1/2 lb of fresh, cooked lobster meat, preferably with two small lobster tails cut the lobster tails in half lengthwise 2 tablespoons of butter
1/8 cup of dry white wine
preparing the dish
saffron cream sauce Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add shallot and cook until translucent. De-glaze by ading wine; cooking and stirring until wine evaporates--about 3 minutes. Add cream and saffron. Lower heat and simmer, cooking until sauce has reduced to just about half. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat. Finish with a pinch of cayenne pepper. Stir. Set aside.
ravioli Cook lobster ravioli per directions. Drain
lobster While ravioli is cooking, melt butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add lobster pieces and toss to coat with butter. Add wine. Cook until you have nice medium brown color on the white meat, carefully flipping the skillet, or stirring, to cook lobster on all sides--about 3 - 4 minutes. Set aside
plating the dish Reheat the sauce, if necessary. Add 3-4 tablespoons of sauce on each plate. Place 3-5 ravioli on top--depending upon whether you are serving this as an appetizer or a main course. Spoon the sauce over ravioli. Top with a few pieces of the lobster meat. Garnish with snipped chives and a strand of chives that you will a lay on top and across the entire dish. If you like a little kick, sprinkle with a tiny bit of cayenne pepper. Another great garnish would be caviar or tobiko--I'll have to try that next time.
Serve this with a chilled bottle of Chablis and wait for the praise and adoration to follow.
For a truly seductive, lighter pasta meal try Linguine alle vongole; an Italian dish made with fresh clams, parsley, garlic, white wine and butter. To start, serve up a simple salad like the radicchio salad with thinly sliced parmesean cheese slices.. Next serve up this great linguine dish with a bottle of chilled white wine and hot crusty bread and the night is yours.
Salad 1/4 cup extra olive oil 4 Tbsp balsamic vinegar salt and pepper to taste Medium size head of radicchio lettuce
Fresh Parmesean cheese, long thin slices
Tear the radicchio in
separate leaves. Place in a salad spinner filled with ice cold
water--add some ice cubes if your water isn't ice cold. Let stand for a
5-10 minutes. Drain. Set aside. Whisk together the olive oil and vinegar.
Plate the Dish
Place the salad on each plate. Using a cheese slicer to get very thin
slices, carve long thin slices from the brick of cheese. Arrange slices
over the lettuce. Drizzle with salad dressing, salt and pepper to taste and serve.
Linguine alle Vongole serves 4
4 Tbsp olive oil 1lb fresh minced clams 12 oz clam juice 2 dozen cockles 1 1/2 little neck clams 1 head of garlic, finely chopped 1 medium white onion, finely chopped 1 cup white wine 1/2 stick sweet butter 1 Tbsp finely chopped red jalapeno 2 Tbsp finely chopped parsley 1 box linguine Salt and Pepper to taste
Preparation Simmer the onions and garlic in olive oil in a skillet over low heat (you do not want to brown them, only soften). When soft, add minced clams. Continue to cook over low heat for about 20 minutes. Add remaining liquid (wine and clam juice), turn heat up to medium, cooking until liquid just begins to boil, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cover.
Cook pasta as per directions being sure to remove when al dente. Strain the pasta and place in a large bowl, add 1/2 stick of butter and toss. Salt and pepper to taste.
Steam cockles and little necks clams until shells just open. Remove from heat, set aside
Plating the dish Heat up the minced clam juice. Place linguine in large serving bowl. Arrange littlenecks and cockles over the pasta and add minced clam mixture over the pasta and make sure its hot. Sprinkle red jalapeno (to taste), salt and pepper to taste, and garnish with the minced parsley.. Serve with your favorite wine, and toss the pasta at the table for maximum effect.
This Spicy Winter Risotto made with butternut squash and spicy Italian sausage, topped with toasted pine nuts was sent to Seduction Meals by Cynthia, in DC. Thank you Cynthia, I look forward to trying this recipe!
"I love making risottos! This one is great for this time of year and my favorite. Serve with a nice wine--I've been into Argentinian Malbec the past two winters--yummy!
1 butternut squash approx 2 pounds...or make life easier and buy from Trader Joe's or Whole Foods the packaged, already cubed squash.
5 tablespoons olive oil
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 pound hot Italian sausage, casings removed
1 medium onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
Fresh rosemary and sage
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Toasted pine nuts and fresh flat-leaf parsley for garnish
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel and seed squash and cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Place cubes on large cookie sheet. Using your hands, toss with 2 tablespoons oil, salt and pepper. Roast until tender and just brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove and set aside.
Meanwhile, in medium skillet on low heat, cook sausage until brown on all sides. Remove from skillet, cool and slice into 1/4 inch coins.
In stockpot or large saute pan on medium heat, saute 3 tablespoons olive oil with onion, garlic, rosemary and sage for about 10 minutes (do not brown). In a separate stockpot, heat the chicken broth to just under a simmer (do not boil).
Once the onion is translucent, add the Arborio rice to the onion and oil and stir for 2-3 minutes. Add the wine and stir until it evaporates. Add the stock, about 1/2 cup at a time, stirring after each addition, until the stock is absorbed. Continue adding stock and stirring frequently for a total of 25-30 minutes or until the rice is tender and the rice takes on a creamy texture (you might not use all the stock).
At about 20 minutes, you should begin to taste the risotto. It should be soft and creamy, but each grain should have a chewiness in the center. Once the risotto reaches this stage, stop adding the stock and turn off the heat. Add the butter, cheese, roasted squash and sausage. Mix well, cover and let sit for 2 minutes. To serve, ladle into deep soup plates and top with toasted pine nuts and parsley to garnish. Serves 6 to 8.
This recipe was submitted by Stefan of NYC, and a Seduction Meal it is! For those who like it hot, and we know you do, this dish will have you both flush with desire as you devour this medley of calamari, shrimp, clams, garlic, and hot peppers slowly simmered in a hot diablo sauce, topped with a special garnish and a pinch of red hot pepper flakes.
Gently simmer over low heat for 5 minutes. In a separate pot, over medium-high heat, mix together:
2 Cans of 28 oz crushed tomatoes with basil 1 jar of white clams in clam juice/ strained (reserve juice for later) 1/4 tsp dried marjoram 1/4 tsp dried basil 1 16 oz can tomato paste
Cook for about 20 minutes. Mix all ingredients above together in one pot (the larger of the two), cover and cook over medium-low heat for 1 hour.
Garnish 3 cloves of garlic finely chopped 2 tbsp finely chopped chives 3 medium shallots, finely chopped 1/8 cup of fresh lemon juice a pinch of finishing salt (Victoria Taylor's Australian Flake)
Use all fresh ingredients, mix together and set aside, letting all flavors blend together.
Calamari & Shrimp 1lb of fresh (or frozen) calamari and 1/2 lb of Shrimp (large) 1 Cup of white clam juice 1 large tomato, chopped
If using frozen calamari or shrimp- defrost. In a skillet, over medium heat, add 2 tbsp butter and 1/4 cup of grapeseed oil. When hot, add and saute all ingredients for 5 - 8 minutes
The Pasta I used a bag of Gragnanese Liguine al Nero de Seppo (black squid ink linguine), you can use the pasta of your preference Cook as per the directions, al dente
Plating the Dish
Place pasta serving in the bowl/plate and top with a large spoonful of with Calamari/Shrimp, adding some of the broth it cooked in
Drizzle 1 tbsp of the Garnish over the pasta
Top with 1/4 cup of the tomato sauce
Add a pinch of red pepper flake
Serve with crusty warmed bread and a glass of red wine. Amazing! I am sure you will enjoy this truly delicious, flavorful dish.
Mediterranean fare is my absolute favorite. Lemons, figs, olives, almonds, eggplant, tomatoes, cheese and pomegranates--all wonderful tasty morsels and healthy food choices. Throw in lamb, seafood, pasta, a bottle of wine, and some fresh baked bread and I could live on this food forever.
If you love vegetables, you will LOVE this dish. Oven roasted eggplant, mushrooms, olives and tomatoes bring out an intense flavor for this Seduction Meal. This garlic infused vegetable medley can be served over polenta or pasta as in the recipe below.
Mediterranean Pasta
1lb of your favorite pasta, I used Gragnanese
5 mini eggplants, cut into 1/2 inch slices and cut in half
9 large button mushrooms, quartered
¼ cup of olive oil
2 cloves of crushed garlic for the vegetables
2 large tomatoes, quartered and cut in half lengthwise
1 cup of pitted Kalmata olives
________
½ cup olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, crushed for the olive oil sauce
red pepper flake
¼ cup of white wine
¼ tsp coarse sea salt
freshly grated black pepper
¼ cup of fresh Parmesan cheese
freshly grated Parmesan cheese over each dish
Preparing Vegetables
Preheat oven 300. Cook mushrooms in a skillet with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tbsp
of butter, add salt and pepper. Cook until all liquid is absorbed about 5 mintues. Place all vegetables (tomatoes, whole Kalmata olives, and eggplant) in a bowl. Add 1/4 cup of oil and crushed garlic and mix with your hands. Add the mushrooms. Place vegetables evenly on a cooking sheet. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook all vegetables for 45 minutes to 1 hour until eggplant is soft.
Cook pasta in water with salt. Cook al dente and drain
Mixing it all together
Place in large pot (the same one pasta was cooked in) over medium-high heat, add 1/2 cup of olive oil, crushed garlic and pepper. Cook until garlic is soft. Add pasta and Parmesan cheese, mix thoroughly. Add white wine and toss in all vegetables. Mix well and cook for 5 minutes. Place on a large serving dish. Top with freshly grated cheese.
Tradition. It stays with you your whole life. The rituals, memories, scents, tastes and sounds hopefully all conjure up feelings of love and comfort. My family tradition--every Sunday was Pasta Day. My entire family would gather at my grandfather's house in Brooklyn to share the day and feast on a 5 course meal.
We would start with a mix of artfully prepared appetizers such as stuffed artichokes, shrimp croquettes, and stuffed mushrooms. Coarse two: Pasta. This would be accompanied by a meat platter filled with hot and sweet Italian sausage, the best meatballs, and pork so succulent it would fall apart as you tried to fork a piece. This was followed by a light green salad. And the grand finale: A mix of Italian pastries and fresh fruit served with coffee and Sambucca. You can just imagine the aromas that filled this house every Sunday.
For my Seduction Meal of today, and in honor of my Italian heritage, I am preparing a simpler version of our Sunday Italian feasts.
The Menu
Olive oil, bite-sized pieces of fresh Parmesan Cheese, and Ecci Panis European Baguette
Tomato, Mozzarella, Basil Salad
Macaroni served with Mushroom Tomato Sauce and Succulent Pork
Cannolis, coffee and Sambuca
The macaroni is served with slow-cooked pork that simmers in a tomato sauce for about 3 hours. At
the last hour of cooking I add sauteed Portabella mushrooms. This dish is served with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and
served with a nice red wine like Barolo or Chianti Classico Reserve. The recipe that follows serves
four hungry Italians.
I had my eye on a recipe I wanted to try--a special mushroom seduction meal-- and lucky me, the market was filled with mushrooms galore.The mushrooms I used are photographed below and include portabello, crimini, shiitake and white button.
Other mushroom varieties include maitake, oyster, beech, enoki, chanterelle, the odd looking morel mushroom, and edible wild mushrooms. And let's not forget my all time favorite--truffles. Here's the recipe I was dying to try.
I went to my cookbook / magazine library and took out my copy of Vol 4 Issue 7 of delicious. magazine for Tobie Puttock's Open Lasagne of Mushrooms with Fontina Cheese recipe. After converting the ingredients from grams to cups as best as I could; and altering the recipe slightly...I made this amazingly seductive dish. I share with you Tobie's recipe as printed in the magazine.
Mushroom and Fontina Cheese Lasagne
2 lbs of mixed gourmet mushrooms
3 tbsp of unsalted butter
3 tbsp of olive oil, and 2 extra tbsp
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tsp marjoram, or a small handful of fresh marjoram
1/3 cup of dry white wine
2 tbsp veal glaze or beef stock
3-4 fresh lasagne sheets, cut to make twelve 3" x 5" rectangles (I used regular boxed lasagne sheets)
3 cups fontina cheese, thinly sliced. Plus extra grated for top
Preheat oven to 350. Wipe mushrooms using a damp towel. Cut into thick slices.
Melt olive oil and 2 tsp of the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and cook until tender. stirring often. Add more butter if needed. When mushrooms are done remove to a bowl. With same skillet heat extra oil over medium heat. Cook onions and garlic, stirring, for 3 minutes until just starting to brown. Add marjaram and wine and bring to boil. Reduce the heat to low, stir in mushrooms and glaze and remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Place pasta in salted boiling water and cook until al dente, then drain. Place 4 pasta pieces on a greased baking tray. Leaving space inbetween each one. Use a slotted spoon (save any mushroom liquid you may have) and top each sheet with mushrooms, then some cheese. Repeat process ending with top sheets of pasta and grated cheese on top. Bake for 10 minutes to heat through and melt cheese.
Boil the mushroom liquid over medium heat for two minutes (terry:I didn't have any left). Serve lasagne drizzled with mushroom sauce.
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