Recipes For Sex Challenge: A Love Letter Dinner

It’s officially our fourth week of the challenge--how is everyone doing? I know I have been having a lot of fun with the challenge and I hope you are, too!

This week, I wanted to get a little romantic. One thing I love to do is write to my husband (go figure!) Expressing myself in writing is important to me, and let’s face it, everyone loves a love letter. This is sort of a two parter....well, three parter, really.

What I did first was to think of how I would interpret a love letter into food. That is, I wanted to make a meal that really expressed care and thought and infuse it with a little romance. What I came up with was lemon and rosemary chicken served with polenta and fried green tomatoes.

For me, this fuses my Italian-American cooking with the down-home flair of Southern Delaware....and that, ladies and gentlemen, pretty much sums up my romance with my husband. We’re a little bit country, but we’ve also got this fiery thang going on too. When my husband asked me what was for dinner, and I told him, he said, “I love fried green tomatoes!”

I replied, “That’s the idea--I’m trying to get lucky.” *wink wink* It’s all about intention and set up.

The other part of this was the ACTUAL love letter. Because the Recipes for Sex Challenge isn’t just about wham, bam thank-you m’am. It’s also about connection. (Or at least it is this week!) All of these things together may seem a little overwhelming because they were for me. I am not a natural romantic. I’m more sexual than sensual...but I said to myself, “Self, you can do this. Be romantic and challenge yourself!”

I’m not going to tell you what I wrote in the letter because that’s my lovey dovey personal side. But I can report that I did, in fact write a letter and that I served the dinner, and I gave him the letter. When I did, I got these little nervous butterflies in my tummy. I realized that being romantic makes me nervous! Just imagine how guys feel trying to be romantic all the time--nerve-wracked that’s how!!!

This dinner was a hit. So was my letter--he even gave me a kiss for it. The meal was light-ish although I will say I needed about an hour to digest before we did the deed. I also dressed up a little for the romantic sex portion...it’s amazing what a great pair of tights and fancy bra will do for a gal. It was romantic, and lovely.

I hope my love letter dinner will have you well on your way to a evening of sexiness!!!

Rosemary Lemon Chicken w/ Fried Green Tomatoes 

Also served with Polenta 

Time: 1 hour | Serves 2 | Difficulty: Medium 

You Will Need:

4 chicken thighs (I like the bone-in dark meat.) 

2 lemons

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (plus a bit more for drizzling) 

Handful fresh rosemary, coarsely chopped 

6 fresh sage leaves,  coarsely chopped 

3 cloves garlic, minced 

2 green tomatoes 

2 fresh eggs

Almond or real milk (we're going to do a two count pour) 

Autry seafood breading 

vegetable oil

One half recipe polenta (optional--you could also use potatoes or rice) 

Method: 

Preheat oven to 400 degree F. 

Begin by slicing the green tomatoes thin and get ready to bread them. 

Combine the two eggs and a two count pour of milk in a bowl. A two count pour is when you hold the carton over the bowl and begin to pour and go "one, two!" Blend with a fork. 

Pour a bunch of Autry's seafood breading on a plate. 

Dip the sliced tomatoes first in the egg mixture and then coat it well in the breading. Repeat. This is very important. The double breading is the secret to excellent fried green tomatoes. Do this with each slice of tomato. 

Let the tomatoes sit while you begin to prepare the chicken. Making them sit is also very important. Don't skip this step. 

With the chicken: salt and pepper liberally. 

Heat two tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat. I use cast iron pans because they go right from the stove to the oven. They are awesome. 

Add your chicken to the pan and fry the chicken on each side for 4 minutes. 

Take the pan off the heat and add the juice of the two lemons. Zest one of the lemons into the pan on top of the chicken. Add garlic and herbs and drizzle it all with a bit more oil. 

Place the chicken in the oven and cook for 20 minutes, turning once at 10 minutes. 

With the chicken in the oven, it's time to get back to those tomatoes! In a pan, heat 1/2 inch vegetable oil over medium high heat. Add the tomatoes in two batches, cooking them about 3 minutes each side. You want the breading to be golden brown. 

When they are done, remove to paper towels to drain and keep them warm in the microwave. 

Plate this all up together with polenta or another starch if desired. Eat and then get laid!!!