Help me cook dinner tonight

[Cubswin]

Date #5 with this gal and since its raining like a mofo we've canceled our outdoor plans and have decided to stay in and watch a movie.... and im cooking dinner. Im actually very good in the kitchen but was still looking for some input. The important information... she likes meat and seafood and is a fan of italian, spainish, and latin food.... but she is latin herself so i think it might be best to stay away from latin food. So, what should i whip up?

cubs

[Al_Capone_Junior]

OK. Try my salmon recipe from the thread on this ferum...

pour a nice layer of sesame oil on the bottom of a glass baking dish, put your fish on it skin side down (if it has skin).

On top of the fish, put some dragon sauce and some light mixed spices (easy on the spices, the dragon sauce is mostly enough). You can also put some finely grated orange rind on it if you like

Cover with slivered almonds.

Put about six to ten pads of butter on top of that.

Bake at moderate (three-fity) temperature until done.

Good side dishes

- a salad, cater this to your taste, but I might suggest a goat cheese and walnut salad with some red vinagrette, use spinach and other more exotic types of mixed greens (no iceburg lettuce please!). A few finely diced or shredded vegatables might be a nice addition here. Perhaps throw some fresh grated romano cheese on top

- steamed vegatables of your choice, perhaps mixed veggies with some spices, or maybe cooked carrots with some butter and brown sugar

- small red potatoes with rosemary and Mrs. Dash, plenty of butter or olive oil of course, boil them first to get them soft, then add oil/butter and spices, bake right in the oven with the fish

- acorn or other type of sweet squash is fabulous with some butter, you need to bake for like up to 1.5 hours first tho at 350, you can partially cook them in the microwave first to speed things up, but really slow cooking is the best

- creme berlay (sp?) or cheesecake for dessert

- Whatever wine you think goes best with all this

- and DON'T try to convince her to "catch the last 1.5 hours of WWE RAW while we eat" [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] If she wants to catch tonight's "friends" while you're eating tho, (GAG) you should probably say "great idea!" [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

al

[StevieG]

This is not beef or seafood, but it is very easy, and is definitely Italian. Bonus - there is a good amount of simmering time when you aren't really doing anything. Time it so she arrives when you are doing this - you can chat her up in the kitchen while you finish, offer her some of the wine you used for cooking, etc., and impress her with your FoodTV-like skillz.

2 chicken breasts
prosciutto (half a pound will do, and considering what you are going to do to it, domestic is fine)
garlic
1 red chile pepper (or about 1tsp crushed red pepper)
olive oil
3-4 tomatoes (depending on size)
1 cup white wine (pinot grigio)

chop the prosciutto into small squares
chop up the pepper
slice the garlic cloves
dice tomatoes

season chicken with salt and pepper

In sauce pan, sautee prosciutto, pepper, garlic in olive oil for 3-4 minutes on medium high heat

Add chicken breasts to sauce pan. You want to cook the surface of each side - should take another 3-4 minutes. When the chicken is white on both sides, add the wine.

After the alcohol boils off, add tomatoes. Reduce to medium heat. Keep an eye on it, stir once in a while.

Twenty minutes later you should have juicy, spicy chicken with prosciutto.

An easy side dish for this is gnocchi. You can find them in the supermarket. Follow the directions for cooking, but you'll likely start boiling water about the time you start sauteeing. When the gnocchi is cooked, toss with butter and fresh Italian parsley.

You can serve the same white wine you used to cook the chicken, or open a milder Italian table wine like a Montepulciano or Valpolicella.

[Cubswin]

i think i was leaning toward salmon but when i cook it for myself i normally just go the lemon and pepper route because i dont like to overwhelm the taste of the fish... what exactly is dragon sauce?

i could go with my old trusty sauteed scallops with an orange saffron reduction sauce, but what to try something new and different.

cubs

[Cubswin]

that sounds delish but i think garlic might be a good ingrediant to avoid....

[Al_Capone_Junior]

Dragon sauce is a thick brown, very flavorful (but not hot) sauce that you can find in most grocery stores (the bottle makes it look like it's hot sauce tho). It's usually next to "tiger sauce," but don't mistake that for dragon sauce, dragon sauce is the CHIT and tiger sauce sucks. You wouldn't want to DRENCH the fish, just put on in moderate amounts and spread thinly with a knife or your finger. I've used dragon sauce on fish, chicken and steak and it sure has its uses. To me it's like another spice in the cabinet, except you keep it in the fridge.

al

[StevieG]

[ QUOTE ]
that sounds delish but i think garlic might be a good ingrediant to avoid....

[/ QUOTE ]

Good point, but a Latin girl shouldn't mind [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

No? How about a sorbet afterwards? Haagen-Dazs makes some.

[Cubswin]

mango sorbet sounds delish to me.... lets hope giant carries it....

[fluxrad]

This is what I cook when I want a nice meal on the quick:

Chicken Marsala:

Ingredients:

Angel Hair Pasta (amount to appetite).
2 boneless skineless chicken breasts.
2 portobello mushrooms.
1 clove of garlic.
1/4 cup diced onion.
1 cup of flour.
Misc. Seasonings (to taste).
1&1/2-2 cup Marsala wine.
1/2 cup cooking sherry.
Olive oil.

1. Mix seasonings and flour. Pound chicken until somewhat thin, then dip both sides in the seasoning/flour and fry on medium heat in a pan lightly greased with olive oil.

2. As the chicken becomes cooked, slice the portobello mushrooms into thin strips. Mix with onion and diced garlic and simmer under medium-low heat for 10 minutes or until the mushrooms are fully cooked (slighly limp).

3. Begin cooking the angel hair pasta.

4. Once the chicken is cooked, add the sherry and marsala. The mix should smell sweet and slightly alcoholic. This step is very subjective. Add sherry or marsala as necessary. Simmer for just a minute.

5. Add the mushrooms, onions, and garlic to the chicken and sauce and simmer for an additional two to three minutes or until about 3/4 of the sauce has cooked off.

Toss the angel hair pasta in olive oil and serve. The remaining sauce can be used to coat the pasta. Serve with french or italian bread.

You can add starch to stiffen the marsala mix if you so choose.

[STLantny]

Appetizers-
Artichoke hearts->flour->egg wash->italian breadcrumb->fry in olive oil.