Best Date Recipe

Occasionally I will cook for my favortite girls when they come over to see me. But my cooking skills are quite limited. So, I am asking everybody else for some help here. If you wanted to cook dinner for your ATF fo a special evening, what is your best go-to recipe?

Takeout!!!

netman

Ask her what she likes. If you can't cook it, TAKEOUT!

Good point guys, however I actually do the Take Out thing all the time. I would like to be able to mix things up and surprise her with some culinary skills

You can't go wrong with Italian. Most of the basic dishes are fairly easy to prepare. I have a favorite chicken cacciatore recipe that is perfect for a date...if you time it right you can have it simmering on the stove when she walks in, which means you can focus your time on her when she gets there.

Cajun/creole is another favorite of mine, although some can be pretty challenging. Making the perfect roux isn't as easy as it looks, at least not at first.

Bertolli

I love crockpotting the shit out of things! It's easy but takes time.

I also have a Frugal Gourmet cooker that does chicken and steaks nicely, fast, and easy. Find a good glaze recipe to use on the steaks and chicken to give it some personality. Baked vegetables are a nice accompaniment.

That's just me, though. WALDT! Haha

Later,
CanDo01

Cream sauces are quite easy and have the added bonus of looking difficult, and therefore impressive. I'll give my recipe for a simple, fast meal but you'll have to forgive me, I'm one of those cooks who never measure anything. I cook so often I just eyeball it.

Chicken in Sweet Pepper Cream Sauce

2 chicken breasts (dunno, how hungry are you?)
Half an onion, sliced fine
Half a green pepper, seeded and sliced fine
Half a red pepper, seeded and sliced fine
Chicken broth
Heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil

Trim the chicken of any skin or fat and cut into chunks. Heat a heavy skillet with a little olive oil. Brown the chicken, remove from the pan. Add the peppers and onion (and more oil if needed). Saute over medium heat until carmelized and soft. Deglaze the pan with chicken broth (half a cup? I'm guessing here), add the chicken back in, simmer to reduce the volume of broth by about half. Pour in the cream and simmer until just thickened.

This takes me about twenty minutes, start to finish and that includes the knife work. I serve it over linguini with good bread and salad. It's probably terribly fattening but I refuse to count the calories in a cream sauce. Just don't overcook the sauce. It'll thicken as it cools.

Also, when in doubt - the grill! Marinate just about anything in lemon or whiskey and garlic and grill it. Buy a decent pasta salad and eat out on the patio. There must be lots of guys here whom could tell you lots of things you could do quickly on a grill.

The easiest thing in the world to cook is a pre-marinated pork roast that is sold in a sealed package. They are about a foot long and three inches in diameter. Pick the marinade you like. Add roasted veggies, wine( Pinot Noir), and chocolate dessert. Don't forget the candles and to wash your hiney real good.

Three bottles of wine, one white for before dinner with appetizer, one red for dinner and one sweet for desert. Fell free to experiment with wines I like Australian and South American. A lite appetizer even if just cheese and crackers. Two tenderlions fresh cut and least 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 inch thick. Spray with olive oil and seasoned with a lite rub. Cook on a grill to the request of the diner. A fresh salad with blue cheese dressing (the real blue cheese) and baked asparagus would be a good vegetable. For desert creme brulee with the sweet wine. You don't have to drink all of the wine, unless you want to, just some with each course.

good thread for some of us bachelors out there who like a little Q time with their ladies. i am a hack cooker myself so a few ideas.

for the entree the grill is your friend. a good grilled fish if you know she likes fish. halibut season starts today so should get some good fresh alaskan coming in. otherwise, ahi tuna, chilean seabass, etc is good. maybe a mango or pineapple salsa to spruce it a little on the plate. can't go wrong with a fresh cut beef filet if you're not sure she likes fish.

a good salad is pretty easy; just get a fresh bag and some good dressing.

for sides maybe some grilled asparagus tossed with olive oil and montreal steak seasoning. sprinkle a little parm cheese when done. can't go wrong with a quick tossed pasta. expermient with roasted tomatoes, fresh spinach, roasted garlic, olive oil and toss with fressh chopped basil. another quick and easy is sauteed mushrooms and cherry tomatoes. i mix a generous amount of olive oil, good balsamic vinegar, kosher salt, basil or oregano (i used the kind in the jar packed in water), garlic (of course), crushed pepper, etc. toss it with halved or quartered mushrooms and halved cherry tomatoes in a tupperware bowl and let sit a few minutes (or longer) and then just saute down in a pan. very easy, tasty and won't show up on your waistline in a couple of days. goes great with steak.

can do alot with breads. i've had to cut this out unfortunately. too much work in the gym to keep it from staying with you.

and then a good wine. normally i try to drink the reds. but some wonderful lady has me drinking Riesling lately. now i wonder who might that be?

check out www.foodnetwork.com they have a great search engine and videos for anything you can imagine. Cooking for a special lady is a sweet gesture. Hey, I wouldn't even turn my nose up at Hamburger Helper if that's the best you could do, LOL.

Pastas and a homemade sauce is always a winner. Try something new and be sure to keep a take-out number handy, LOL...

Prime steaks, baked potatoes, and good wine........

...Try something new and be sure to keep a take-out number handy, LOL... Originally Posted by Nicole Preston

Now that's some good advice!

I love a cooking man. Now that's something special.