Need help with a date

[cardshark]

Hey Guys,

I have a date coming up. We've always met and gone out for dinner. Well, this time, I jokingly offered to cook and he took me up on it! Now I'm totally stuck because I have no idea what to cook! It has to impress him, but at the same time, it needs to be fast since I'll only have about 1 hour to cook from the time I get home to the time he will arrive.

I'm not above "cheating" (ie, store bought dessert), but I don't want it to be obvious, or all already made stuff. Any suggestions?

 

[M4P]

Welcome

Cooking for him is a great date. Do something easy - either pasta or chicken. Actually - go with the chicken. I'd marinate it and then grill. You can also prepare some veggies the night before and do them on the grill too. Incorporate the cooking into the date. Share some wine and conversation and have a great time. Be sure to let us know how it went. Good luck

 

[cardshark]

PastrychefTy I would love some ideas! I was thinking pasta was a good idea because its easy and fast. But, I don't want to do spaghetti and meatballs because its so boring. Any suggestions is really appreciated!

 

[looseliam]

baked mostaccioli

use your meatballs to make a meat-sauce

or fettuccine with home-made alfredo sauce.

chicken parmesan

stuffed eggplant

All relatively quick and yummy

dessert: raspberry sorbet with raspberry syrup (get it from A Polish store, I like Cracovia)

 

[looseliam]

Nice! Hopefully i may have a date with u if u dish that up ^_^

Same ol', same ol'; you only want me for my food.

 

[looseliam]

Thats because u put ur love into ur cooking and im addicted to it! ^_^

It's not love, it's the secret sauce

 

[cardshark]

Update

Ok, so I decided to make a pasta dish for tonight. A friend suggested I check out epicurious.com for recipes and I got one for a simple pasta dish - a bow-tie pasta with chicken, tomato and basil.

I took the advice of having my date cook with me. It was a complete disaster! One of the worse dishes we have ever tasted! It was so bad, we had to go eat out at a nearby restaurant. Ha, even though the cooking plan failed miserably, we somehow still had a great time. I think he is even falling in love with me, despite the bad food!

Thanks for the suggestions, guys, but I think I won't try this again for a while...

 

[looseliam]

Those time can even be better. When he looks at you trying not to wince, and you realise it and both laugh.

So what went wrong (with the food?)

 

[cardshark]

Those time can even be better. When he looks at you trying not to wince, and you realise it and both laugh.

So what went wrong (with the food?)

Yeah I was really embarrassed! He said he was greatful that I went through the trouble of cooking for him, but its ok we can go eat out. He's not a great cook, either, so I can take solace in that.

I don't really know what went wrong...it just tasted terrible. The chicken was fully cooked, but maybe I used the wrong wine or something. It looked pretty bad, too. Nothing like the picture on the recipe!

 

[Jerry]

Hahaha

Well atleast it still ended well. That's all that really matters.

The last time I cooked on a date it was frozen pizza. Hard to screw that up!

 

[Kitesurfboi]

stick to easy pasta dishes, something where you could make a sauce stir through the pasta before hand and whack it in the oven would be good as its nealy fail safe. Use fresh, good quality ingredients, limit the number to 5 or 6 and it;ll taste great!

If I was you I'd be cooking a sliced chicken breast with finely chopped garlic in a couple tablespoons of olive oil over a medium to high heat, adding a splash of decent wine when the chicken has gone white allover, throwing in a can of cherrytoms or chopped toms a min or so later when the alcohol smell is gone. cock for 15mins on a medium heat making sure the sauce doesnt catch on the bottom of the pan and adding a splash of water it stock if it looks too dry. Cook some rigatoni in at the same time. Stir finely chopped basil and a couple of tablespoons of mascapone and season to taste. Stir though the cooked pasta and when your ready grate some parmesan on top and shove in a hot-ish oven between full on and half on and cook for 20-35mins till hot. sprinkle a little more chopped basil on top just before you serve and have some nice crusty bread, good olive oil and balsalmic to dip and a nice glass of vino, you'll be right!