Cooking for him for the first time...What should I make to impress?!
1. Don't want to be too fancy (ie...beef wellington, lobster thermidor etc would be too much for the first meal, I think)
2. Don't want to spend a ton of money. (Rent is due on the 1st, you know)
3. Already decided on the bread (Asagio & Olive) and salad (spinach with dried cranberries, apples and candied pecans)
Would love to know what you actually did that was a hit, but am happy for all suggestions.
Thank you!
P.S. We're both REALLY into food...
Answers: Ok...I'm making dinner for someone that I haven't cooked for before and need some suggestions, please. I'm good and can cook almost anything, but here are the parameters:
1. Don't want to be too fancy (ie...beef wellington, lobster thermidor etc would be too much for the first meal, I think)
2. Don't want to spend a ton of money. (Rent is due on the 1st, you know)
3. Already decided on the bread (Asagio & Olive) and salad (spinach with dried cranberries, apples and candied pecans)
Would love to know what you actually did that was a hit, but am happy for all suggestions.
Thank you!
P.S. We're both REALLY into food...
Wear the dress your wearing in your avatar and don't worry about it. You could serve burgers with mac-n-cheese wearing that and impress anyone.
A nice bloody steak :) It takes like 15 min to make and its easy:
2 top sirloin, if your low on my money chucks
Sauce:
1/2 cup beef stock
shot of whiskey, if you really like him 2 shots of whiskey
2 knobs of butter
First you microwave that knob of butter, until fully melted, skim off the white stuff
Heat up a pan, add the butter
Salt and pepper your steak, add it to the hot butter
Then turn the fire to medium to low, and cook for 4 min-6 min on each side
Put the steaks on a plate, add the whiskey (watch out for eyebrows) until syrup forms
Add stock, reduce to half
Add the juice that the steaks emitted
Add the butter to finish her off
Pour onto your steaks
Some sides could be mashed taters or green beans~~ Amazing to impress the b/f
why not try to make steak which isnt costly and its easy to coock in different styles
Well I'm not sure if this really goes well with your salad, but I made this tonight for the first time and my fiance nearly ate the whole dish!! It's a baked ziti! And it's affordable, because we are both college students and broke as well lol!
1 box ziti
1 bag of 6 cheese italian blend cheese
1 bag of Mozzarella cheese
1 tbsp of minced garlic or you can mince your own
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 pound of lean ground round
Cook your meat in a very large pot and drain. Also, be boiling your noodles. Add minced garlic to the meat and put it on simmer. When noodles are done add to meat and garlic mixture, and then add sauce. Let this simmer together for a few minutes and then add about 3/4 of each bag of cheese into the pot and stir well. This will be extremely cheesy, so be prepared for a cheesy spoon. Then spread this into an oblong dish like a 13x9 or something, and top with some cheese. Bake on 400 for 15 minutes and it is wonderful! It was out of this world, I hope you like it as much as we did!
Well, for dessert you should make some peach cobbler or apple crisp :)
Hmm, how about a good roast chicken for the main course?
I'd say don't wing it, cook the meal that you know how to cook and is comfortable cooking. try something different later.
I think a dish that describes you, something you love to eat, so he gets the idea of what type of person you are. You shouldnt worry to much if you are cooking one of your favourite dishes.
Apricot-glazed Pork: OMG!!! this was good! the pork turned out super juicy, and the apricot glaze is a nice tangy/sweet, but not over powering compliment to the pork.
1 2-3 pound boneless pork top loin roast (single loin)
2/3 cup apricot preserves
4 teaspoons of lime juice
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/4 tsp. grated fresh ginger, OR 1/8 tsp. ground ginger
dash red pepper.
Place roast in a shallow roasting pan. insert an oven-going meat thermometer into center of roast (or find a roast w/ one of those lil pop-up bottons that indicate when it is done, i used a meat thermometer that doesn't go into the oven too). Roast in a 325 degree oven for 1 1/4 hours to 1 3/4 hours or until the thermomenter registers 155 degrees. (doneness for pork is 160, but don't freak out at me yet, read on)
In the mean time, prepare the glaze, combine all ingredients and cook and stir until bubbly.
brush on some of the glaze for the last 30 minutes of the roasts cooking time then, once the thermometer reads 155 degrees, take it out of the oven and cover it with foil, let stand for 15 minutes, the temp will keep rising, by the end of that time the thermometer should read 160 degrees, and the roast is done and ready to serve, just rewarm the rest of the glaze and serve w/ the meat.
coq au van. chicken in wine sauce. there are many recipes, all easy to make, and minimal cost for the ingredients. just go to foodnetwork.com or cooking.com or any other food website, and you'll find a good, cheap recipe.
This is the dinner that convinced my husband he wanted to marry me.
Mushroom stroganov
1 package fettuccine
6 Portabella mushrooms, sliced (Portabellas are best, but if there are buget considerations, you could use the plain old button mushrooms)
1 can (8 oz) kidney beans
1 onion, chopped fine
1 garlic clove
1/2 cup red wine or grape juice
1/2 to 1 cup sour cream (or you could use plain yogurt, if you're watching your cholesteral)
6 tbs butter or margarine, divided
salt and pepper to taste.
First, prepare the pasta according to package directions. While the pasta is cooking, make the topping:
Melt 3 tbs butter in a skillet and saute the onion until it's soft, about 3 mins. Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and simmer over low heat for about ten minutes. Add the kidney beans and wine and simmer for ten more minutes. When the pasta is done, put it in a bowl and stir in the rest of the butter and sour cream. Serve the mushroom/bean mixture on top of the pasta. If you 'd like to, serve it with red wine and a green salad
How about chicken with mushrooms and angel hair pasta..
Buy 1 package of chicken tenders
1 container of sliced mushrooms
1 container of feta cheese
1 bottle of white wine
1 container of chicken stock
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup of flour
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 angel hair pasta
place the pasta in the water after its been boiling with a pinch of salt and tsp of olive or salad oil
in a saute pan melt about 2tbsp of butter and add
the minced garlic let it cook until it is lightly brown
add mushrooms and let them cook down for about 3 minutes
add 2 cups of white wine and 1cup of chicken stock and butter if needed. Let it cook down. Make sure you have some what of a sauce. let it simmer on low heat. Add salt to taste.
Chicken tenders dredge them slightly in flour and shake of excess flour and add salt and pepper.
prepare a skillet with olive oil and make sure it is hot
put chicken in skillet and brown on each side until fully cooked.
Check on pasta. Angel hair cooks quickly. When pasta is finished pull of to the side and drain pasta water.
Make sure chicken is fully cooked. Then add chicken in with the sauce while set on low with mushrooms so it can thicken the sauce a little add more wine and butter if needed. Then add pasta in to the skillet. Finally toss it with feta cheese. Salt it at your own preference.
you can also do a brucheta type with your bread.
1 small mozzarella cheese cubed
2diced tomatoes
1 minced clove garlic
1 container of basil (you only need two leaves)
1 small botle of roasted bell peppers (mince it)
1 tsp of olive oil
just dice everything except the garlic that needs to be minced. combine ingredients and baisyl with olive oil
salt and pepper to taste. place in refrigerator for half in hour before you eat. All the flavors will infuse together.
Dear Martha Stewart Jr!
Ok,I myself had the same question and have decided to make Shepperd's pie..Easy,tasy,and men like it when you put on your oven mitts!It gives them a hint of wife material!And most importantly you can sprinkle fresh parsley on top to look amazing.Its not too fancy yet special enough!You cant mess up this dinner and who doesn't like melted cheese and beef or you can replace with lamb?just have wine and beer ready.Just remember to make it casual and have music or tv going while he nibbles on appetisers and booze.Hope I was helpful,good luck sweetie...