ana0pera Posted January 11, 2014 Posted January 11, 2014 I am curious, what are your go-to recipes/meals for a home cooked meal? Is the recipe simple and elegant or is it very time-consuming? Do you cook it alone and serve it to your date, or is it something you cook together? Background: I love to cook and I am dating a guy who also likes to cook (and eat, but let's be serious, how many 20-something guys don't like to eat? ). I am thinking about inviting him over for dinner and I want to cook him a really yummy meal but the problem is I have no idea what to make! I am fully capable in the kitchen and it's probably more accurate to say that I have a thousand ideas of things that I could make, but I don't want to go overboard and overwhelm him with like 20 dishes so that he goes into food coma, or spend the entire day and night in the kitchen, too stressed to enjoy the evening with him (which is the point of sharing a meal, right?) He knows that I am a little intense in the kitchen because the first time we cooked together I showed him how to make ice cream from scratch (admittedly, he made root beer from scratch so he is just as crazy lol). I am thinking fondue would be relatively simple to do together... I have a fondue pot, we both love cheese, and he mentioned that he loves cooking with beer, so a beer and cheese fondue (with homemade pretzels and assorted vegetables that I prep beforehand) could be fun... I also want to make chocolate-covered strawberries rolled in crushed nuts (almonds or pistachios) because neither of us are really big on sweets but we both love fruit, nuts, and dark chocolate. chocolate-covered strawberries are super easy and a very sexy dessert, IMO. I am also thinking these things could be nice: A. I procure a nice handmade ravioli from the farmer's market and serve it with a cream sauce (I know from experience that making ravioli from scratch is too much work for one meal lol) B. A cedar plank salmon with roasted potatoes and garlicky greens of some sort (spinach or green beans, most likely) C. A whole fish baked and stuffed with herbs and lemons, served with rice/orzo and simply prepared vegetables D. A seafood risotto (so many of these ideas are fish because I am a pescatarian). E. This decadent, spicy tofu recipe that I know he'll love. The problem with making an entree like one of these is that I feel compelled to also make an appetizer, and I feel like most of the appetizers I like to make would clash (like a cheese plate or cheese-stuffed mushrooms with fish) or be overly complex given the complexity of the other dishes I want to make (like spanikopita with any of the fish dishes or spring rolls with the tofu dish). Any appetizer ideas? Or do you usually not do appetizers? I like to make a Spanish-style bruschetta with eggs so maybe that would be a good one to do?
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