If you are an avid reader you know that the hubs and I are big fans of Thomas Keller.  With that, my hubby made me the most incredible Thomas Keller dinner on my birthday.  I told him I wanted fish, chocolate, and wine; he went above and beyond!

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On my 27th birthday this past month I came home to my favorite bottle of Prosecco and my hubby working hard in the kitchen.  The dining room table had been set-up with the Kate Spade China we received for our wedding five years ago, and the house was consumed with the most incredible fragrance.  The hubs had me immediately open a present; The Lumineers Album on Vinyl.  I opened the album and we listened to it on our tiny recorder player throughout the evening; while sipping champagne and cooking away.  Dinner was a three-coure Thomas Keller masterpiece.  I don’t have many words to describe the dinner he made me except…freaking delicious!  We both agreed it was the best thing my hubby has ever made.  I would have ordered the dish in a five-star restaurant, oh wait, Thomas Keller’s French Laundry is five stars…go figure!

We started out with an arugula salad tossed with a white-wine vinaigrette, sliced shallots, and bleu cheese crumbles (my favorite salad).  Even though it was just the salad, I was very close to picking-up my Kate Spade plate and licking it clean; sometimes you just can’t be lady-like.

The entree is officially named…The Vampire Killer…in our household at least!

This incredibly light-delicious dish was actually quite heavy…When you look at this dish do you think “Fish and Chips”?  I wouldn’t but that is exactly what it is, Red Snapper with a Palette d’Ali Doux and Garlic Chips.  A culmination of simple, yet super complex components, put together to create an artistic plate.  It started out with a Parsley Coulis; an emulsion of decadent butter and parsley.  What completely MADE the dish was the Palette d’Ali Doux!  Let’s just say it is a fried cake of creamy garlic, DRACULA PROOF!  Basically you drown a crap-load of garlic in heavy cream and boil away…a few times.  Then you puree the crap out of the drunken cream garlic with egg yolk and butter….ouch I can feel my arteries clogging! Ha! The orgasmic fried garlic cake was worth every calorie and gram of fat.  I would have been happy with the garlic cakes and parsley coulis alone, but it just got better with extra crispy skined Red Snapper and fried garlic chips.  The dish was the perfect balance of textures…texture heaven! The flavor alone was enough for me, but the hubby went above and beyond with the technique involved, as well as the plating. As if dinner wasn’t enough, he surprised me with my favorite wine (that I have never bought myself), Freemark Abbey Cabernet.  He told me to pick a bottle of wine out of the wine fridge, and to my surprise the Freemark was sitting there happily waiting for me.  I don’t think I have ever drank a bottle of wine so slow in my life, I savored every last drop! How could you have a bad night with such an opulent wine?

To end the evening we made Thomas Keller Bouchons, from of course, Bouchon!  These little chocolate dream cakes put brownies to shame!  Typically you would want to serve them with vanilla ice cream to cut down on the richness, but the hubs had a better idea…Homemade Almond Whipped Cream!  Yuuuummmmmmmmm….He knows me so well, I love almonds!  We gorged our already stuffed selves on dessert, TOTALLY WORTH IT! 

Aside from having to go to work that day, I cannot think of a better birthday that I have ever had.  I am so lucky to get to spend my life with such a truly amazing man…I love you Thomas Keller…I mean hubby!