Instead of a sappy Valentines Day filled with commercialism and spending money at an overpriced and crowded restaurant Lauren, Neil and I decided to do a cook-off!   In advance, we each chose 10 “mystery” ingredients and we entered them into a database.. we then took turns drawing a total of 4 numbers which corresponded to a secret mystery ingredient. Additionally, we had to select one secret pantry ingredient… The rules were pretty simple and not that strict… We had to use the 4 ingredients and 1 secret pantry ingredient in the dish of our choosing.  We could prepare as far in advance as necessary but the main cooking was to take place on Feb 14th!   Aside from that, we also had to nicely share the kitchen, cookware and dishes… For the ingredient list, we ended up choosing the following: Neil chose: Shrimp Pita Bread Chicken thighs Shallots Croutons (secret pantry … Read More →