Love is Dinner for Two, Part 5

This is the last and final part of a short series of entries using food to document my most significant romantic relationships to date. Start from the beginning here.

Boyfriend 4, Mr. V. Nguyen:

As my food obsession has grown exponentially over the past few years, it is no wonder that my primoridal mating radar finally found me the talented chef and restaurant owner that I deserve. My hope is that this boyfriend will at some point train to become a masseuse. Then all of my romantic dreams will have been fulfilled.

Until then, my primordial mating radar has some evolving to do! Call me naive, but I thought dating a chef meant breakfast in bed (daily!), 3AM distractions from deep slumber due to the sweet aromas of the chocolate souffle he is trying to perfect (weekly), and clandestine trips to the backalleys of chinatown in order to procure illegal fruits and unusual cuts of meats, just to create the Ultimate Anniversary Dish (monthly). Instead, it means that by the time Boyfriend gets home from work, he is tired, hungry, and doesn't feel like creating and cleaning another mess in the kitchen. This is usual.

But that's okay! Mr. Nguyen and I love to cook, we love each other, and cooking for each other is how we show our love! In our relationship, there are no expensive Italian leather shoes or lacy negligees to surprise and delight the other (a situation we need to reexamine...). Rather, it means he cooks when I'm cranky and hungry, and I cook when he'd otherwise stumble to the bodega across the street for a BLT, extra jalapenos (to which I grieve). And although I beat him in terms of frequency, he's usually the one to bust out the labor-intensive, "fancy" meals. This means he defrosts, prepares, stove-cooks and oven-finishes juicy slabs of meat, while I, on the otherhand, throw 3 or 4 CSA veggies into a pot and call it a meal. (Am I the only one in this household who feels obligated to use up the CSA share before we pick up a new one?)

So what is my alimento de Novia #4? MEAT. Because nothing shows lovin like sexy-time grubbin! On meat!



THIS IS sliced rib-eye steak topped with mushroom and jalapeno sauce; roasted potatoes; and perfectly sauteed CSA kale, made by Boyfriend #4 for an anniversary meal.