Our anniversary is coming up, and I'd like us to spend the day together cooking something decadent, racy, and interesting. One of my friends suggested a bleu cheese lasagne (using a velute sauce instead of a bechamel) which kind of fits the bill.

Any other ideas?

FOIE GRAS!

You can't get much more decadent that that. Of course, you could you could have a first course of caviar.

I was going to suggest caviar as well. Order a pound or so of really good domestic caviar, and just relish the extravagance of wolfing down huge spoonfuls at a time, with lots of fine champagne.

Corkage's lobster ravioli might fit the bill. He posted the recipe somewhere on VC.

Caviar sounds awesome about now.

This is not decadent but I would consider it racy:

Babbo's black squid ink tagliatelle and pancetta

For a racy appetizer, my friend always makes a tuna tartar served on a fried wonton skin. The beefiness of sashimi grade tuna, a nice zing from a marinade, and the cruchiness of the wonton can't be beat.

A friend of mine suggested a bleu chesse lasange made with a veloute instead of bechamel. Sounds kind of interesting.

I think decadent food from home needs to start with A+ ingredients: sashimi grade fish, dry-aged prime beef, lobster, crab, caviar, etc. Extravagent ingredients are great because they can shine without extremely elaborate preparations, which makes for less stress in the kitchen. Some other classics to work with are mushrooms, cheeses, even chocolate and vanilla. I think lasagna could be very good, but in order to savor every bite, I think it is good to err on the side of smaller quantities of super-rich things like cream sauce-based dishes.

The menu

Insalata Caprese (with fresh mozzella di bufala and top-shelf Tuscan olive oil)
Goat Cheese and scallion ravioli verde in black olive butter
Salsiccie alla griglia
Roastead asparagus and shallots

Veuve Cliquot La Grande Dame 1996

Dark chocolate cherry torte

We made the pasta fresh; the green part was easy (just a little chopped spinach mixed with the eggs in the dough).

Is anyone afraid to serve raw fish at their house? It's just something that scares me - is a retail fish market really able to give you that quality - but I trust restaurants. Strange, huh?