Dinner tonight for a stay-in date...what should I make?????!
Answers: He states he likes anything, but I'm thinking American or Italian would be safest. What should I make? I don't want a huge effort type meal...something simple, but good.
Baked Ziti... Very simple and very good!!!
Baked Ziti:
INGREDIENTS
1 pound dry ziti pasta
1 onion, chopped
1 pound lean ground beef
2 (26 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce
6 ounces provolone cheese, sliced
1 1/2 cups sour cream
6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
DIRECTIONS
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes; drain.
In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer as follows: 1/2 of the ziti, Provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.
Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted.
Good Luck on your date!!!
Spaghetti and meatballs
Garden salad
Italian bread
Simple dessert like Ice Cream
CHIMICHANGAS
Spaghetti is always simple and everyone likes it i think. You could also maybe gets some steaks and cook them up real quick. That's always a big hit with men that love meat.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baked-Ziti-...
use this recipe but i like to dollop the ricotta rather than stir in. make some simple garlic bread and a salad you got it. reccommend a good sweet or semi sweet red wine like marlot
Pasta's are always good for dates, something simple but has a good presentation, and maybe a salad.
Good luck
go to Jewel... Buy BERTOLLI italian dinners.. They are in the frozen food section... have all kinds of options.. Take 15 minutes to make!
cut top off bag
pour contents in skillet
put lid on pan
and stir occasionally until done! :) VOILA!
VERY VERY VERY YUMMY! Its what I am making for dinnner tonight! JUST REMEMBER TO HIDE THE BAG so then he thinks you made him some wonderful home cooked italian meal!
good luck! :)
fahitas w/ steak , pork, chix + shrimp , he can assemble as he likes + they're easy + fun too
This is the 1st recipe I made for my boyfriend and we've been together for over 18 months! This recipe makes enough for 4, so if it's just the two of you, you may want to half it!
Bacon Wrapped Shrimp & Scallops
12 jumbo raw peeled deveined shrimp, 16 to 20 count per pound
12 large sea scallops, trimmed and well drained
1 lime, juiced and zested
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon grill seasoning or coarse salt and black pepper
1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
12 slices center cut or applewood smoked bacon, cut in 1/2
Toothpicks
3 scallions, very thinly sliced on an angle
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Place shrimp and scallops in a shallow dish or bowl. Dress seafood with lime juice and zest, a generous drizzle of sesame oil, grill seasoning and hot pepper flakes. Wrap each shrimp and scallop with a half slice of bacon. Wrap each shrimp working from head to tail, pulling bacon snuggly around the shrimp. Wrap the bacon around the outside of each scallop. Fasten bacon in place as necessary with picks.
Arrange the shrimp and scallops on a slotted baking pan, such as a broiler pan, to allow draining while bacon crisps. Bake shrimp and scallops 10 to 14 minutes, until shrimp is pink and curled, scallops are opaque and bacon is crisp. Shrimps may finish before the scallops.
Arrange cooked seafood on platter and sprinkle with chopped scallions.
Sundried tomatoes, olives sauteed with garlic in the oil from the sundried tomatoes. Toss in the cooked spaghetti noodles. Top with grated parmesan and strips of basil leaves. Pair this with a match box-size grilled or pan-fried steak (marrinate it first). For vegetables, steamed mix vegetables with butter or olive oil. Season it to taste. You may serve this with red wine or your preferred beverage.
For dessert, you may have parfaits and coffee.
Definitely spaghetti. You can't go wrong!
Italian would easiest to make, but not so easy to eat, it can get kind of messy.
If you're thinking american maybe hamburgers, or fried chicken? Doesn't need to be fancy.
If you're going to follow Autumn's idea of an italian layout, I'd reccomend Spumoni flavored ice cream for the finisher. It's a traditional italian ice cream and has chocolate pistachio, and some other flavor (maybe cherry or something) ice cream. It looks just like Neapolitan.
I'm giving you a range of options - they're all very easy though!
This is what I served my boyfriend a couple of nights ago to mark 11 months together - he's a bit of a picky eater and he loved it! It looks pretty impressive, is easy to make, and tastes gorgeous - if you're not into tarragon, though, cut it back a wee bit, it can be a bit strong. If you make it with the veggies, I'd recommend having them all peeled and sliced and ready to go before starting the chicken, BUT remember that a whole breast of chicken will take some time to cook, so put the potatoes to parboil at the same time as you start the chicken - it shouldn't be hard to juggle the two as, by the time the potatoes are ready to drain and coat to put in the oven, the chicken will already be poaching away in its sauce. I can't wait to make this again! If you make it with pasta (which is way easier!) just check the cooking time and make sure you have the water boiling around about 15 minutes before you expect the chicken to be done - you can always drain the pasta, swirl a bit of olive oil through it to stop it sticking, and keep it warm while the chicken finishes.
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Skillet Herbed Chicken with Mustard
Serves 2
Prep time 10 Min
Cook time 25 Min
Ready in 35 Min
Ingredients
1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons dried tarragon
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Seasoned flour to coat
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
? cup white wine or chicken stock
Cornflour and water to thicken, or cream (optional)
Directions
In a small bowl, blend Dijon mustard and honey. Mix in the tarragon, basil, thyme, salt, and pepper.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Toss chicken in seasoned flour and BROWN (make sure it has some colour, don't just cook it until it's white on the outside. It just looks nicer!). Remove from skillet and coat with honey mustard mix. Leave to sit.
Deglaze pan with ? cup wine and remainder of sauce and stir over low heat to combine. Return chicken to pan, reduce heat, cover, and simmer about 10 minutes, until liquid is reduced.
Pour another ? cup wine around the chicken, and continue to cook about 5 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear. Remove from heat, reserving remaining liquid.
Mix remaining wine into the skillet. Increase heat to medium, and scrape up browned bits. Add cornflour or cream and stir to combine. Cook and stir until liquid is reduced by about 1/3. Serve as a sauce over the chicken.
Notes:
- Just in case you're not familiar with the term, to 'deglaze' is simply to add liquid to a pot that has cooking juices in it and mix them together - so just pour the wine in and swoosh it all around, picking up all the flavour from the pan.
- to thicken the sauce with cornflour, stir a tablespoon of cornflour (cornstarch) with 2 tablespoons of cold water until it's mixed REALLY THOROUGHLY. Add this very gradually to the gravy, stirring constantly - it will thicken as it mixes and heats.
Serving suggestions:
Serve with honey mustard grilled veggies or over fettucine or tagliatelle. Green beans or peas would be a perfect side - just slice and steam then toss with salt, pepper and a dash of olive oil.
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Honey Roasted Potatoes
Serves 4
These slightly sweet potatoes are perfect with most entrees.
Ingredients
1 pound red potatoes, quartered and parboiled (I also use parsnip and carrot, the parsnip in particular is fantastic)
2 tablespoons diced onion
1 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 ? tablespoon honey
1 ? tablespoon mustard, dry or jar (if using jar eg. Dijon, cut back on the butter by a tablespoon)
1 pinch salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
Directions
Preheat oven to 190degC. Lightly coat an 11x7 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
Place potatoes in a single layer in prepared dish, and top with onion. In a small bowl, combine melted butter, honey, mustard, salt and pepper; drizzle over potatoes and onion. Mix thoroughly so potato is completely coated.
Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes or until tender, stirring halfway through the cooking time. Put under grill for last 10 minutes, turning several times (keep close eye so they brown but don't blacken!).
Suggestions: garlic powder
Taste sauce as making before cooking – add more mustard or honey to taste.
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If he likes fish, this is fantastic and super-easy - chopping the veggies may take a while but otherwise I swear it's less than 10 minutes preparation. You could parboil the potatoes to hurry them up if you wanted:
Baked Mediterranean fish
This can obviously be done with a proper home-made sauce, but as a last-minute thing when people just turn up, all you need to buy is the fish and you’re off. It’s good for either summer or winter; summer the asparagus and capsicum are great flamegrilled or just chucked under the regular grill. Also works well with chicken, but definitely skip the capers in that case.
Fish:
Olive oil
Firm white fish fillets, enough for however many people you’re serving
Jar pasta sauce – even the cheap stuff is OK, but the nicer the better, obviously
Olives – black or green, but I prefer black
Cracked pepper
Roast veggies:
Olive oil
Garlic cloves, peeled and smashed – about a head should do
Rosemary – fresh & stripped from stem is best
Sea salt & cracked pepper
Potatoes cut into thick slices
Red capsicum cut into thick strips
Asparagus
Cherry tomatoes
Balsamic vinegar
Fresh basil (optional)
Veggies:
Do the veggies first as the potato takes longest. Chop it however it works for you – I think it looks nice sliced into thick slices. Put it in a roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil and scatter garlic cloves, rosemary, salt & pepper on top – toss it all up with your hands. Put in oven as hot as you can get it so it cooks faster (250C is what most ovens reach) – check it & toss the potatoes every 10 minutes – I’m never sure how long it will take, but usually you can turn it down to 160 after about 20 minutes and toss the capsicum and asparagus in.
Fish:
Start preparing after you’ve put the soft veggies in. Spray roasting pan with olive oil. Lay fillets in single layer, season, dollop pasta sauce evenly over the top, scatter olives over top of that. Cover pan with tin foil. Put in oven, turn veggies while you’re at it, leave for 15 minutes. With about 5 minutes to go, put the tomatoes in and shake the veggies one last time. Everything should be done at about the same time.
Take everything out of oven, put the potatoes aside and sprinkle balsamic vinegar LIGHTLY over the veggies (make sure you don’t drench them, just want a hint of it and not enough to overpower the fish) and toss them. Add the torn basil at this point if you’re using it. Add the potatoes back in and mix them through just before serving so they stay crispy, or serve them separately – the vinegar risks making them soggy but tastes excellent with them too.
In summer you could skip the potato and use couscous instead, just chop the veggies smaller.
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Have to say though, I've never met a (meat-eating) man who doesn't love his steak... and this way is perfect!
Perfect Steak
Serves 2
2 pieces of striploin
1 red onion
1 bunch of thyme
olive oil
1 glass red wine.
2 knobs of butter
Chop thyme and onions finely. Leave to side ready to add
Rub olive oil onto steaks and season both sides then put on hot pan with glug of olive oil.
Turn steaks every minute for evenness. 6 mins approx for med rare.(more if you want no blood, maybe 9-10 mins)
Remove steaks and leave to sit on a plate.
Fry red onion and thyme for 2-3 mins
Reduce heat and add wine, 1 knob of butter and resting juices from steaks.
Add red wine on low heat to pan, reduce while stirring in for 1 minute. Add another knob of butter. Stir. Serve steaks drizzled with red wine jus.
Serve with roast root veggies eg. potato, carrot and parsnip - I parboil the potato first and shake the whole lot in olive oil and instant gravy mix to give them a fantastic crispy coating.
Have a fantastic date! You'll blow him away! xx
lasagna, green salad, toasted herb buttered french bread, then buy a tiramisu dessert from a bakery or grocery store.