Saturday, February 9, 2008

Kitchen of Love

So down at our good friend Mele Cotte we got a fantastic event. Kitchen of Love is an event where we were to all make a dinner or appetizer for our loved one that has at least one (but i chose all) ingredients to be an aphrodisiac. The only other rule was that it couldn't be a dessert.
If you want to see all the great roundup entries on Feb 12 go Here.


For my Aphrodisiac Dinner
we have tender steamed salmon, succulent asparagus, and delectable carrots.
all topped with a minced garlic and basil butter sauce.
All with a side of baked garlic toast
and goblets of the most amazing knudsen blueberry sparkling cider.

Fish
Aphrodite, the goddess of love was born from sea foam, so in general any type of seafood is considered to be an aphrodisiac. The high phosphorus and iodine content of seafood may actually have a beneficial effect on sexual potency.
Asparagus
Perhaps the most erotic member of the vegetable kingdom. In nineteenth century France bridegrooms were required to eat several courses consisting of asparagus, asparagus and more asparagus because of its reputed powers to arouse.
Carrots
This popular root vegetable, with its phallic shape and sweet flavor, was used to seduce lovers by Middle Eastern royalty. Our question is: "Why does royalty needed to depend on carrots?"


Garlic
This pungent member of the lily family has been used to treat a wide variety of illnesses from the common cold to heart disease. Garlic has been used as an aphrodisiac by the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Chinese, and Japanese. Garlic mixed with lard used externally to bring on an erection has been suggested by a professor at USC medical school. (Do not try this around a hungry German Sheppard.) Garlic stimulates the appetite, awakens the senses and makes food taste great.
Basil
This flavorful herb is used in Voodoo love ceremonies in Haiti. (teehee i had to try it when i saw vodoo ceremonies)
If you want to see other interesting aphrodisiacs check out "the cooking couple"

So you are probably wondering how did my beau take it.
Huge success!!! The salmon was tender and the light buttery sauce complimented the flavor without covering it up. It was some of the best salmon I've ever had. The carrots & asparagus were steamed just to perfection where they were tender but still had tons of flavor. I drizzled some of the garlic basil sauce on them and the fish. The toast was a nice solid side to compliment the amazingly fresh and tasty ingredients of the rest of the meal.
Then we topped it off with this amazing sparkling cider. If you can get your hands on any knudsen ciders definitely try them. They are made from 100% juice and have a much better flavor then any sparkling cider or soda pop I've ever had. We've so far tried their Mango, and black cherry. This blueberry one is even better then those. Next time we are going to try the pear sparkling cider.

Such a wonderfully romantic meal for two.
Whether these aphrodisiac's are true or myth they certainly did
increase our romance for the evening.

16 comments:

enza said...

strange consider garlic as an aphrodisiac!
I agree with those consider garlic as aphrodisiac....i like it so much and this preprations sounds good

T’s Treats said...

Fantastic Love!!! Your meal looks soo good. And I love salmon!!! hehe You found the site I did ;) It was very helpful. Loved you bust my dear ..simply Fantastic!!

Chris said...

Wow! So many aphaphrodisiacs in one dinner! This is perfect for the event. Thanks for participating!

Angel said...

Enza- Yes garlic is fantastic, and I love that it compliments almost any meal.

Kitten- Thank you, yeah that was a great site, although some seemed a bit of a stretch to me.

Chris- Thank you for such a fun and scintillating event!

Mansi said...

wow, I just wrote a post about aphrodisiacs on my blog yesterday, and here you have an entire meal!!

that looks great! I bet you are gonna be high for a few days now:D

Anonymous said...

Great combination of ingredients!

NĂºria said...

I love your choice! The ingredients combine so nicely!!! You had a nice Fiesta!

Mary said...

Wow that salmon and garlic sauce sounds fantastic! I will definitely keep my eyes open for the cider too!

PheMom said...

Hey! Thanks for the note about the chocolate truffles from my little event. I just noticed you are here in Utah too! Yea! I am not a seafood person myself, but the hubbs is so I'll definately give this a try. It looks great!

Holly

Sharona May said...

Looks wonderful- a great Valentines Meal. Salmon is a favorite with us!

ThreeTastes said...

Hi Angel,
Thanks for your visit to my blog. I love this post detailing aphrodisiacs -- I had no idea carrots were one! : P

You're quite a baker -- something I envy since I am not very accomplished -- your pies look wonderful, especially the lemon meringue (one of my faves). I also love how you show the inside of the heart-shaped tarts by taking a bite out of them instead of the conventional knife-slice. I think it shows your spunk. You go, Girl!

manju

Angel said...

Mansi Desai- That is so cool that you too got into the aphrodisiacs. I think even though there is no proof that it has some truth to it. Food can be very exciting for me!!

Ann- Thank you, they are all fresh ingredients that i consider a huge treat.

nuria- It definitely felt like a party for the two of us. Our own romantic party of Two!! Woot!

mary- The ciders are phenomenal so definitely do, and the garlic complimented the fish perfectly I was soo happy about how it turned out.

holly- Your truffles were so tasty looking. We should totally go out to lunch sometime.

sharona- Thanks its nice that my sweety loves fish as much as i do.

Manju- Thank you everything you said about my blog really warms my heart. I feel like such a noob at all this stuff, and its the encouragement of people like you and my other blogger friends that keep me trying and experimenting.

Cakelaw said...

Yum Angel - and to think that foods that I eat all the time have aphrodisiac qualities and I never knew!! Love the sound of the sparkling blueberry cider - msut investigate if you can buy it here.

carmachu said...

Sounds wonderful. If the mrs wasnt on a diet I'd ask how to make it.

Angel said...

cakelaw- I know i was pretty surprised to find out that carrots were an aphrodisiac, but after eating them like that I'd believe it.

Uncle Car- It really was wonderful, although salmon carrots and asparagus are all highly nutritious and low fat foods, I don't see why the aunty couldn't eat them. They would do her body good.

carmachu said...

Its all some point system tsuff...But shoot me the recipie if you dont mind!