Parents Night Out

Originally published in the Greenwood Daily Journal Saturday April 2, 2011

A few weeks ago my husband and I broke free from our suburban shackles and headed to downtown Indianapolis for a nice dinner, alone.  It doesn't happen often but when it does it seems like we plan out every little detail for days.  We have noticed, over the years, that we tend to stay with in a 7 mile radius of our house.  We never really venture much further north on 135 than the Meijer, which is kind of sad. 

The problem with scheduling a  "Date Night" is most of our family lives out of town and they have their own lives and jobs so we hate to impose.  Once, a few years ago, we paid a sitter that is the daughter of a good friend.  It was a great experience for all involved and she did a phenomenal job.  The problem is, I am rather cheap.  I feel like I have a constant adding machine sound going on in my head and I admit it is hard to enjoy a night out when I am doing mental calculations all night.  Thus, the reason we usually resort to asking a family member to babysit for the night.

As parents we get swept away in the daily cycles of family life.  Work, errands, housework, activities and just basic life...stuff.  Sometimes by the end of the day I feel like I haven't even paused to take a moment for myself let alone checked in with my spouse.  It has taken me 15 years realize that the key is to find balance.  Days can go by before I realize that I have not had a real adult conversation with my husband and that all of our time spent together doesn't have to revolve around the goings on of our children.

I find that this is a common lament of other parents I know.  So when we do go out, we make good choices.  Our most recent night was a well planned event.  We sometimes look  online to see who has a good special, what restaurant has gotten a good review recently and sometimes we even break out the old Entertainment book for inspiration.  I hate to use coupons at upscale establishments but the way I see it they publish these deals for a reason.  Besides, using a discount allows us to try something new or get a great appetizer we wouldn't normally get, etc.

I have a running list in my head of my favorite places to eat, sans children.  As you know I am a little bit of a food snob and if I am going to eat somewhere I would prefer it be something better than what I could make myself.  This night in particular we had narrowed it down to two choices.  The deciding factor was which place would have an open reservation and the winner was Agio on Massachusetts Avenue.  I had wanted to go there for years so needless to say I was excited.

I had done my homework and already looked over the menu online, strange I know.  I already knew what the market special was, the soup dujour as well as the chef's dessert choice.  Armed with this information I was able to take it all in and truly enjoy my first Agio experience.  Avoiding the typical "I can't decide what to get" conversation was liberating!  It's the little things...

Our food was presented to us in record time and the chef did not disappoint.  I had a Veal Scallopini over 4 cheese risotto that I will remember for the rest of my life.  I enjoyed every morsel and was a little sad when it was gone.  This meal was a true food lovers dream.  All I could think about on the way home that I needed to write all of the details of that particular dish down so I could duplicate it at home.

The next week I made two attempts at my own version of the Scallopini and I have to say I am pretty close.  I decided to go with a nice cut of steak to make it a little more budget friendly for a family of four. 

All in all it was a good experience for the both of us.  We both had fabulous meals that we enjoyed as well as a chance to reconnect.  There is no better way for us to do that than to have a great meal, a nice glass of wine and great conversation.

The white wine is a suprising twist on a typical beef saute usually made with red wine.

This meal can be made in 30 minutes

Sauteed Beef with White Wine and Rosemary

1/2 pound sirloin steak
1 TB all purpose flour
4 TB olive oil
2 TB butter
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 1/2 TB chopped fresh Rosemary
1 C dry white wine
salt/pepper

Thinly slice the beef.  Toss in a bowl with the flour, salt and fresh ground pepper.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and the butter in a heavy skillet over medium high heat.  Saute steak in 2 or 3 batches  until no longer pink on the outside, about 2 minutes per batch, adding another tablespoon of oil if needed.  Transfer to plate.

Saute garlic and rosemary in the same pan in remaining oil over medium heat until golden, 1 to 2 minutes.  Add wine and salt and pepper (to taste) and boil, scraping up browned bits, until reduced by half.  Return beef with juiced to the skillet and heat through.

Serve immediately with smashed red potatoes or a cheesy risotto, my personal favorite.