Chef John’s Most Memorable Seduction Meal
Here is the very true, and amazing story behind Chef John’s best
ever Seduction Meal.
Our
ultimate seduction meal would have to be “fireplace salmon.” Many years
ago, I took my wife for a romantic getaway in Mendocino, CA. I promised
to arrange everything, but being a typical male, I procrastinated, and
just assumed dinner reservations would be no problem. Much to my
horror, there were only a handful of restaurants open that time of
year, and they were all booked! I was panicking trying to think how I
was going to get out of this one!
Luckily the B&B we were
staying at had a fireplace. I had a brainstorm…I would tell my wife I
had a surprise for her, and that I was going to cook her a romantic
dinner in the room, in the fireplace. She loved the idea! Now, I had to
find the food. Fortunately, this area features great salmon fishing,
and a local store had some amazing wild salmon. I bought some
heavy-duty aluminum foil and did a simple, yet fabulous salmon filet
with butter and fresh herbs. I also wrapped up some baby potatoes. I
tossed these foil pouches into the hot ashes and soon we were enjoying
the sexiest, most romantic meal of our lives.
But,
the adventure didn’t end there. I also bought a zip lock bag of wild
huckberrries at a fruit stand, and a single frozen piecrust at the main
store. I poured the berries into the pie crust, and opened all 12 of the
little sugar packets from our coffee kit, and added them. This was
carefully wrapped in lots of foil and placed on the dying coals.
As
we waited for dessert, we finished what was one too many bottles of
wine, and both fell asleep. I woke up about 4 hours later to the smell
of burnt pie crust. Oh, no! I had burned the pie. I pulled it out of the
still warm ashes and tore it open. Much to my amazement it was
perfectly cooked! The burned smell was from some of the syrup that had
leaked out into the ashes, but the pie itself was a perfectly crisp,
golden brown, and the sugared berries had caramelized into a beautiful
warm jam.
I
woke up my wife and we ate the pie with coffee, and toasted this
incredible evening. So, the next time you are away and the room has a
fireplace, maybe you can try what I consider the ultimate seduction
meal.
* * * * * * * .
Chef John graduated with honors in Culinary Arts/Chef Training. After 20 years in the food industry, Chef John went on to teach at the California Culinary Academy. His reputation among those who’ve had him as a teacher at culinary school is second to none. His students universally enjoyed his insightful lectures. Along with his legendary sense of humor, his ability to reach and inspire others made him one of the most popular Chef’s at the school. Now, Chef John has taken this same engaging approach to the online culinary realm and has quickly gained a large and loyal following of foodies that anxiously await his daily video recipes.
