Romance in the kitchen

February 21, 2006 6:39 PM

What are some of your favorite romantic dinner recipes for the kitchen impaired?

I'm looking to cook a dinner for my lady friend this weekend. I'm by no means a whiz in the kitchen but I can follow a recipe as long as it doesnt get to crazy and complex. Anyone have any great dinners they like to make? Including but not limited to chicken and pasta meals.

posted by wavering to Food & Drink (22 answers total)

roasted chicken with herbs stuffed under the skin. concerned about undercooked chicken? buy an electric food thermometer for $15 from Target that lets you know when the bird is cooked!
Roasted potatoes along the side.
Something green, maybe a salad (romaine lettuce, walnuts, crumbled qoat cheese, sliced granny smith apples and dried cherries with a apple cider vinagrette )
If baking or dessert prep scares you pick something up from a gourmet type shop, don't sweat it!
posted by NoMich at 6:53 PM on February 21, 2006

cook these two at the same time -

Pasta
-------
Add pasta to salted just-boiling water and cook
In the meantime, put some butter&oil in a pan and add chicken, sliced mushrooms, minced garlic, and diced onions when hot. cook these on medium and go do something for 5 minutes
Mix around the stuff in the pan. onions should be clear. mushrooms shold be almost-brown.
Add some lemon juice
Add pasta to pan and mix around on high for half a minute. you're done.

Alfredo Sauce
-------------
Melt butter in pan
Add garlic
Slowly add heavy cream
Add minced parsley
Add parmesan cheese until thick


put them together for a nice chicken alfredo dish

shrimp looks really nice in this too because it's bright red. you can garnish with parsley too.
posted by lpctstr; at 7:05 PM on February 21, 2006

Take thin strips of chicken and cook them in butter in a frying pan. This is really quick and simple and then you can do a dozen things with them. (I'm guessing two to three minutes in the pan) A squeeze of lemon or some egg plus premade Italian bread crumbs.

Add a little bit of walnuts or sliced almonds to a romaine lettuce salad. Sprinkle in some fresh parmesan and/or crumbled blue cheese.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 7:05 PM on February 21, 2006

Intercourses: An Aphrodisiac Cookbook is perfect for situations like this. Lots of great recipes that are generally (a) simple and (b) easy to fudge or mess up a bit and still turn out well.
posted by occhiblu at 7:12 PM on February 21, 2006

A chocolate tart is suprisingly easy for something so indulgent.

Bake a frozen pie-shell, fill with chocolate filling and bake until the filling is set.

The filling is pretty easy, see:
Jamie Oliver chocolate tart

My friends and I made a version of it for dinner one night from a Jamie Olivier cookbook, so the link is the best I can do wrt a recipe. I don't remember using sour cream/creme fraiche, and we added the melted chocolate/butter mixture into a creamed egg yolk and sugar (not creamed whole egg and sugar), to which we folded in the egg whites, beat until they were forming stiff peaks. The tart was amazing.
posted by scalespace at 7:16 PM on February 21, 2006

Chocolate tarts and Alfredo sauce? Let's hope your date is not a ballerina because then you'll probably be eating by yourself.
posted by StickyCarpet at 7:40 PM on February 21, 2006

Here's a dessert from Ferran Adria's recently released cookbook: bread, chocolate. Broil. Sea salt, olive oil. Serve.

It's as easy as falling off a log and chocolate covers the romantic angle. Details here and here.
posted by stuart_s at 7:43 PM on February 21, 2006

Chocolate covered strawberries:

1) Find some large ripe strawberries. Don't trim the stems.
2) Line a cookie sheet or flat pan with wax paper
3) Put about one cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips in the microwave.
4) Cook for one minute on half power (very important). Stir. Repeat. Once you're getting close to having a bowl full of melted chocolate, reduce cooking time to half a minute. The important thing here is not to burn the chocolate.
5) Dip a strawberry in the melted chocolate, coat the lower two-thirds. Place on waxed paper.
6) Once you've got all the strawberries coated, let set in the fridge, and then allow to warm up a bit before serving.

This was a big hit with my special lady friend on Valentine's Day. If you've got a double boiler, use that to mile the chocolate instead of the microwave. You can spruce this up by dipping a second time in white chocolate. I kept burning the white chocolate, so be extra careful with that.
posted by hydrophonic at 7:44 PM on February 21, 2006

Olive Oil Fried Spaghetti: Spaghetti Aglio-Oglio:

snsranch version(easier/better)

Cook enough pasta for two persons; (spaghetti or whatever)

In a large skillet lightly saute a full table spoon of pre-minced (store bought) garlic in four tbs of olive oil and one pat (small chunk) of real salted butter. Simmer until the garlic is golden. (not too hot, no frying action, as this will become a nice sauce.)

As that slowly simmers, drain your pasta, set it aside and dice 2 or 3 roma tomatoes.

As your pasta drains in a collander, saute your tomatoes for just a couple of minutes.

Add pasta to the beautiful sauteing stuff. Mix and turn so that the pasta is really covered with the oil. Taste, add salt/pepper and more olive oil if needed. Perfect easy dish. (extras, parmigian cheese, fresh basil and oregano all sprinkled on top, it will look as good as it tastes, but easy!)
posted by snsranch at 7:45 PM on February 21, 2006

A few hints regarding salad and dessert:

Make your own salad dressing! It's better and fresher. Use olive oil, vinegar (I recommend either balsamic or white wine), and whatever else you like. I use loads of Dijon mustard, if you like mustard.

Fruit in salads is really good and often unexpected. Think grapes, dried cranberries, mandarin oranges, cut up pears. Same for nuts.

Skip anything involving white chocolate for dessert unless you know she loves it. It seems to be a love-it or hate-it thing. Same with cilantro.
posted by anjamu at 7:57 PM on February 21, 2006

If you're going to cook pasta, make sure you get a really good cheese to grate at the table, a nice bottle of wine and use fresh basil and other herbs.

If you're not going to cook pasta, how about fish instead? If you can get fresh salmon, here is a terrific recipe for miso-marinated salmon with cucumber-daikon relish.
posted by hooray at 9:51 PM on February 21, 2006

hooray, now there's a ballerina friendly recipe.
posted by StickyCarpet at 9:56 PM on February 21, 2006

My advice is that whatever you decide to make, do some trial runs before the weekend. If you're making multiple courses, you want to get a good gauge on prep time, cooking time, taste, and plating, and uncover any potential mishaps. The last thing you want is to serve burned meat with barely cooked vegetables.

In general, I'd avoid labor-intensive recipes. Something you can reheat/finish in the oven or cook a la minute is best. As sexy as you think you might look, you do not want to be fumbling around with 3 pans on the burner, a boiling pot, and a roaring oven while your date walks around feeling ignored.

My votes for main course are stews, risotto, fish, or shellfish. You should be spending no more than 20 minute tops in front of the stove for these.
1) A hearty stew can be made the days/nights before and finished with fresh herbs. The idea that you slaved away for 8 hours to make it is intensely romantic.
2) Wild mushroom risotto is quick. Just be sure to watch the risotto, keep stirring slowly, and add stock as it's sucked up by the rice. Plate with a drizzle of black truffle oil, shaved black truffles, and shaved reggiano and you've got a 3-star dish.
3) Fish - marinated black miso cod. Salmon works just as well if you're worried about cod stocks (though it's not as tasty). As easy as grilling marinated steak. And it's uber-trendy. Error on the slightly undercooked side - overcooked fish sucks. Wasabi mashed potatoes are terrific with this (creamy non-garlic mashed potatoes with a squirt or two of wasabi paste mixed in). Make the mashed potatoes beforehand and when the fish is ready, blend in some warm cream and the wasabi and you're done.
4) Shellfish - mussels steamed in white wine. Soften chopped shallots and garlic in a deep pot. Pour in a few cups of a dry white wine and bring to boil. Dump in mussels and steam for 8 minutes. Scoop out mussels onto bowls, add butter and herbs to liquid and reduce. For brownie points, mix in some sexy red Thai curry paste. Pour over mussels. A bit more fresh herbs on top. Grab a baguette for the sauce.

Starter: Fresh spring salad mix with walnuts and basic balsamic vinaigrette. Fresh is better but any spring salad mix will do. Whisk oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper together. Add a bit of fruit juice like bottled pomegranate juice for extra punch. Use a fruit peeler to shave off wide curls of a hard cheese onto the salad.

Side: Confit of tomatoes. Sounds fancy but this is ridiculously easy and great tomatoes are still to be had. Bake earlier in the week and throw them in a freezer bag in the fridge. Heat em up in a shallow pan in the oven as you're finishing the main.

Dessert: Fresh strawberries, grapes, stilton cheese, and premium chocolate broken into chunks. I like Valrhona if you have a Trader Joe's nearby. Tap a bit of powdered sugar over the strawberries and chocolate. At this point if she looks disappointed that you didn't make a "real" dessert, she's probably high maintenance. A nice, crisp white wine is terrific. If she's eating out of your hand, head to the fridge, break out the champagne, and extinguish any remaining inhibitions.
posted by junesix at 11:35 PM on February 21, 2006

Ricotta Gnocchi with homemade pesto from scratch. Seriously, people are IMPRESSED when you make them pasta and sauce from scratch. :) And you can't get much easier than gnocchi and pesto.
posted by antifuse at 1:22 AM on February 22, 2006

Here's a salad recommendation:
baby spinach
sliced strawberries
good mozzarella cheese
glazed walnuts (if you can find them at a store, great; if not, it's easy to find a recipe online)

Then make a simple dressing like this one:
Dressing:
¼ c. olive oil
1 ½ tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp onion powder
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/8 tsp garlic powder
I usually throw in a little garlic n’ herb Mrs Dash too.
(That's for making a big salad for a group, so you'll have extra dressing)

It's really simple, but the flavors blend together so well. And as a bonus, for the cheese factor, the cut strawberries look like little hearts! (But don't point that out to her, that would be really cheesy.)
posted by wallaby at 3:09 AM on February 22, 2006

Start by soliciting suggestions from your lady as to what she likes, and doesn't, particularly if you do not already know her food preferences very, very well. Nothing worse than preparing something to which she is deathly allergic, and spending the rest of the evening at the ER... Lots of people aren't big on milk products, peanuts, tomatoes, broccoli, etc. due to allergies, so be careful, and ASK, preferably a few days in advance, while you can plan smoothly. Beyond that, many people simply don't like common foods, so err on the side of bland and simple, to avoid "grin and bear it" moments, unless you know for certain she likes spicy foods, or has an adventurous palate; again, if you don't already know her likes and dislikes explicitly, ASK, in advance, and be guided by what she tells you.

The next point to remember in making a nice evening for a guest is to avoid making it such a big production that the guest ceases to be the focus of your attention, so I second junesix's second paragraph advice above. Ideally, 80 to 90% of your meal preparation is complete, and your kitchen is cleaned and the table set, before she arrives. Thus, plan to feed her things that are relatively simple to prepare, or at least, to finish, at dinner time. Plan and serve your meal in a few simple courses, i.e. appetizer, soup/salad, main course, and coffee/dessert, so that there is structure in your preparation and serving, and so your table isn't overly cluttered at any time. Finally, in the way of general advice, don't fix things that are difficult to eat (undressed seafood, meats with bone in, etc), so that there is no chance of you or your lady making a big mess of dinner that could have been easily avoided.

Appetizers are easy, fun, and give a guest license to drink something, and start conversations. Easy ones are steamed artichokes, stuffed mushrooms, or guacamole dip with blue corn chips. Appetizers can also serve to help the pace of the evening, stretching out or speeding along the pace, or being served in the living room, or other area. They need to be ready to go within a few minutes of your guest's arrival, but if you're are serving warm hors d'oeuvres, don't have them sitting out getting cold before she arrives.

Within 15-30 minutes of offering an appetizer, you should be moving on to dinner. Soup makes a nice first course, and it is one of those things that can be done hours in advance, and just bumped back up to serving temperature while you serve appetizers. It can also make your kitchen smell wonderful! Here's a simple recipe for a classic creamed leek soup, that I generally do without potatoes, and without doing the puree step in the blender. Just chop the leeks fine (make sure to split lengthwise and wash thoroughly before chopping, to remove sand), simmer until translucent in a little olive oil or butter, season with pepper, basil, marjoram, and add canned chicken broth. Hold at that point (remove from heat, cover) until a few minutes before serving. When ready to serve, bring leeks and broth mixture to just short of full boil, add 1/2 + 1/2 stirring smoothly, and serve immediately with captain's crackers.

For a main course, I'd suggest some kind of casserole primarily because they are easy to prepare well ahead of time, and hold well covered at reduced temperatures, making them easy to serve. Here's a basic corned beef casserole, to which you could add celery, carrots, cabbage or other additions as you wish. This is a "homey" main dish alternative that makes it seem you are not trying to be some kind of restaurant, but you could pick something entirely different, if you don't like corned beef. Add a steamed vegetable like fresh yellow squash or asparagus, and some corn muffins or biscuits, and you have an elegant, simple, main course for two.

I like to offer coffee immediately at the table after dinner, as a "pick me up" and counterbalance to a full stomach. But if your guest is not an evening coffee drinker, have something else to offer. Desserts that are small and light are more likely to be tried than big parfait dishes of mousse. Although, personally, I'm partial to chocolate mousse, and never miss a chance to push it for dessert...:-) But an easy, elegant dessert alternative is a plate of Bahlsen cookies or Walker's shortbread.

Good luck with your dinner.
posted by paulsc at 5:48 AM on February 22, 2006

Pasta is easy for sure, but it's pretty much the most cliche and obvious "I am romancing you with my dinner skillz" food. If you can think of something else that would be tasty, cook that.
posted by rxrfrx at 5:55 AM on February 22, 2006

Cheese fondue of course! Where I live you can buy packages of the cheese/wine (ready to throw in a pot and heat) at any supermarket. Or you can melt your own - still very easy. Cut up some nice fresh bread, and you can add veggies if you like. I usually steam a bit of broccoli to dip, have raw red pepper, and cooked potato chunks.

And for desert...chocolate fondue of course! Melt some semi-sweet chocolate, add a bit of cream to it and dip different fruit.

If you have a fondue pot, great, but you don't need one. I heat the cheese mixture in a heavy saucepan and it stays hot and runny for quite a while. You can throw it back on the stove for a couple of minutes if you need to. Make sure to serve with some nice wine. Yum.
posted by Cuke at 8:59 AM on February 22, 2006

The following dish is about the simplest thing I cook, and a favorite of my wife and others I've made it for. We just call it Chicken Delight. It requires a large casserole dish, something to cook rice in (a rice cooker is a wonderful investment, set it and forget it until it's time to eat), and some alluminum foil.

Chicken Delight

Pack of boneless chicken breasts or chicken tenders
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 small carton of sour cream, or a little more.
1 small jar dried beef (which I can find anymore) or 1/2 of a large jar.

Preheat oven to 350.
Chop up dried beef, place in bottom of casserole dish.
Separate chicken breasts/tenders, place on top of beef.
Mix soups and sour cream. Cover chicken/beef with mixture. Spread so chicken and beef are covered.
Cover with aluminum foil.

Cook for 45 minutes
Remove aluminum foil and increase head to 375.
Cook for 15 more minutes.
Serve over rice.

After the chicken has cooked for about 30 minutes is a good time to put the rice on. This is good with canned biscuits, which you can put in the oven on another rack after you got the rice going.

You can make this with just one can of soup (mushroom), but I like extra gravy. My wife doesn't like mushrooms as much as I do, so I added a can of cream of celery and I think it improves the dish.
posted by JamesMessick at 2:30 PM on February 22, 2006

I have a few dozen recipes on the page below. Many are ones that I've cooked myself, and wrote the directions up. Worth a look, methinks.

http://jamesmessick.triadplace.com/recipes/index.htm
posted by JamesMessick at 2:54 PM on February 22, 2006

If she likes pasta, you can absolutely not go wrong with Penne Arrabiata. It's simple and it has the benefit of being easy on the wallet -- without tasting like it.

Penne Arrabbiata

• One can of petite-dice tomatoes (no added seasonings and canned - not stewed)
• 3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup either fresh chopped basil or oregano (or about 1 tbsp dried... or you can actually leave this out, if need be)
• red pepper flakes to taste (I like about 2-3 tbsp, but that's pretty spicy for this amount of sauce.)
• parmesan cheese (fresh is amazing - you can top your dish with shavings using a vegetable peeler, and look like a pro)

To make the sauce, first heat up 2 of the 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Then add the garlic, and sautee for 2-3 minutes without letting it brown. Add the tomatoes (with juice), red pepper and salt. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 20-30 minutes, or until most of the water is gone and you just see tomato and oil.

At this point, you can remove the skillet from the heat and focus on cooking your pasta. About half a box of penne rigate is perfect for two and just right for this amount of sauce.

When the pasta has about 5 minutes left, return the skillet to the heat and add the herbs, if using.

When the pasta is done and drained, toss it with the sauce and the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Taste for salt, and serve with your parmesan. If you used herbs, you can garnish with some of those, too!

Simple. Fast. Cheap. And she will love you forever.
posted by kaseijin at 3:11 PM on February 22, 2006 [1 favorite]

Hey, how's the dinner go? What did you end up cooking?
posted by hooray at 7:41 PM on February 27, 2006