There's a common theme that I saw in the article. Each dish has a special ingredient: Sea bream or sea bass, crab meat (easy enough to find, if pre-packaged), high-quality sirloins and Camembert cheese. Accordingly, each recipe is better than "the same quick pasta sauce or that chicken recipe you tore out of the magazine a dozen years ago" because of its primary ingredient. That element alone makes a meal stand out.
If one were to start with venison or striped bass or fresh oysters the meal would be far more interesting than a simple cheeseburger.
My wife and I are foodies and enjoy mixing up our meals. Weekend eggs Benedict is a frequent favorite. We make them with not only Canadian bacon but regular bacon, salmon, crab cakes, Florentine (spinach) and once--- in a pinch-- with sliced steak. Of course, the Hollandaise sauce is a critical factor.
For us, as is implied in the article, the preparation shouldn't take all afternoon. 30-60 minutes should be enough unless we're slow-cooking something in a crockpot.
SHOUT OUT TO NJCHER's daily DU post, "What's For Dinner!" Her menus are inventive and creative and the many responses she gets are also inspirational.
In the end, my mother's advice on cooking when I moved into my first apartment was simple. Start with high quality ingredients. Figure out the cooking order so everything's ready together. Do NOT overcook. (And NEVER make something for the first time when entertaining guests!)
Thanks again for the article. It's Saturday morning and the eggs Benedict looks really good!
= new reply since forum marked as read