Four fun food dates for your summer romance

Ready for a summer romance? Dinner at a nice restaurant is the usual go-to date, but it’s become slightly overrated at this day and age. So why not spice things up a little and take your special someone on one or all four of these awesomely creative food dates?

1. Try breakfast—overlooking the city!

Pick your significant other up first thing in the morning and take him or her to a nice refreshing breakfast atop a building, hill or anywhere elevated, really. The key is to get as high to the top of the world as you can with a good view of everything else below. But remember to bring a scrumptious breakfast with you.

Award-winning culinary school Global Academy recommends bringing this simple yet mouth-wateringly delicious extra-special grilled cheese sandwiches that will surely melt your date’s heart.

Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Ingredients:

• 8 slices bacon
• 2 (1/4-inch-thick) slices red onion
• 2 (3/4-oz.) slices Cheddar cheese
• 2 (3/4-oz.) slices mozzarella cheese
• 4 slices of bread

Procedure:

1. Heat closed contact grill for 5 minutes.
2. When grill is heated, place bacon on grill. Close grill and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until browned. Remove bacon from grill and drain on paper towels. Cut bacon slices.
3. Carefully scrape most of drippings from grill into drip tray. Add onion to grill. Close grill and cook for 4 to 6 minutes or until tender.
4. To make sandwiches, layer Cheddar cheese, cooked bacon, onion and mozzarella cheese between bread slices. Close grill and cook 3 to 5 minutes or until bread is toasted and cheese is melted. Repeat with remaining sandwiches.

2. It doesn’t have to be dinner to be special.

Try lunch at Shine Bakery & Cafe at SM Aura Premier! Check out Global Academy’s very own chefs Sunshine and Rob Pengson’s new hot-spot! Their savory Scallop & Chorizo Pasta and mouthwateringly delicious Fondue Burger are to die for!

3. Enjoy a picnic merienda at the park.

Since it’s summer, wait until it gets cooler in the late afternoon to set up a nice picnic for two at a park. Don’t forget your shade, picnic blanket and meal!

Global Academy recommends preparing something these easy-to-make fancy treats.

Simplified Sangria

Ingredients:

• 3 parts red wine
• 1 part orange juice
• 2 parts lemonade
• ice
• fresh mint
• sliced fruit such as oranges and lemons

Procedure:

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a large jug and add more red wine, orange juice or lemonade according to taste and desired strength.
2. Pour into glasses, garnish with mint sprigs and fruit.

Fish Tacos

Ingredients:

• ½ lb fish fillets
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil
• 6 corn tortillas
• Salsa
• 1 ripe avocado
• Cabbage
• Cider vinegar
• Salt

Directions:

1. Prepare salsa
2. Prepare the cabbage and avocado. Thinly slice cabbage. Put in a small serving bowl. Sprinkle with cider vinegar (about a Tbsp) and salt (about a tsp). Mix in the vinegar and salt. Peel avocado and remove seed. Chop and reserve for later.
3. Soften tortillas by heating in the microwave for 20-25 seconds on high heat, on top of a napkin or paper towel to absorb the moisture that is released.
4. Cook the fish. Soak the fish fillets in cold water for at least one minute. Pat dry with a paper towel. Heat a large stick-free skillet to medium high heat. Add a couple of teaspoons of olive oil to the skillet. Place fish on skillet. Cooking time depends on the thickness of the fillets. A thin fillet may take only one minute on each side to cook. A thicker fillet may take a couple of minutes. Fish should be still barely translucent when cooked. Break off a piece and test if you are not sure. Do not overcook the fish. Remove from pan when done to a separate plate. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
5. Bring all ingredients in separate containers, and assemble at the picnic area.

4. A homemade pizza dinner is so much fun and a must-try for special dates!

Pizza Dough

Yield: 2 Portions

Ingredients:

• 5g salt
• 25g sugar
• 180g warm water (90 – 100 F)
• 400g bread flour
• 40g corn meal
• 5g yeast
• 30g olive oil

Procedure:

1. In a kitchenaid mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water. Wait 5 to 10 minutes for the yeast to activate. Bubbles or foaming on the liquid’s surface is evidence of this.
2. Combine the flour, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
3. Set the kitchen aid bowl in the mixer, fit the machine with a dough hook and turn the mixer on to low speed (1 or 2).
4. Start adding the flour 1/2 cup at a time, allowing each cup of flour to be incorporated first before adding more. Stop the machine and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. You may not need to use all of the flour. Stop adding flour once you have a shaggy mass of dough. Any leftover flour may be used for dusting the work bench later. Press the dough pieces together to form a ball.
5. Working on a flour-dusted countertop, knead the dough in olive oil. Continue kneading until the dough is fully developed.
6. Form the dough into a large ball and place in a large, greased bowl. Cover with a light cloth and allow the dough to ferment for 1 hour in a warm, draft-free place.
7. Divide the dough ball into two even portions. Flatten and stretch each dough evenly into 10 to 12-inch diameter rounds or 8 x 10 inch rectangles

Salsa Pizzaiola (Basic Pizza Sauce)

Yield: 4 portions

Ingredients:

• 390 g canned tomato, seeded, liquid reserved
• 1/8 tsp dry oregano
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 3 pcs basil leaves, roughly cut
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Procedure:

1. Place all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse until uniformly blended.

Pizza Frutti di Mare

Ingredients:

• 1 portion basic pizza dough
• 60 ml basic pizza sauce
• 1 pc plum tomato, sliced 1/8 inch thick
• 100 g mozzarella cheese, grated
• 5 pcs basil leaves, chiffonade
• 5 pcs black olives, sliced
• 10 pcs clams, cooked and shelled
• 90 g shrimp, peeled, deveined and rough chopped
• 90 g squid, cleaned and cut into
• 5 pcs mussels, cooked, shelled and rough chopped
• 2 fillets anchovies, chopped

Procedure:

1. Place the pizza dough on a sheet tray heavily greased with oil , corn meal or dusted with flour.
2. Spread the pizza sauce evenly on the dough’s surface and top with the cheese, seafood, olives and anchovies.
3. Bake the pizza in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes in a450 F degree oven, or until the cheese is bubbly and lightly browned.
4. Remove the pizza from the oven and and finish by sprinkling the basil chiffonade.
5. Cut and serve.

Just because Valentine’s day has passed, the romance doesn’t have to stop!

About Global Academy
Global Academy is an award-winning culinary academy recognized for its world-class excellence and competitiveness. The academy offers professional courses for aspiring chefs, pastry chefs and hospitality professionals for affordable tuition fees. As the first culinary school in the Philippines recognized by the World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS), Global Academy is distinguished for its quality education and unmatched culinary standards. For more information, visit http://globalacademyph.com.