OK, it's been observed that cooking for a date gets some good points, so I thought I'd open a thread for ideas around cooking, guy-friendly recipes, etc. I'm good on a grill, but I struggle in a kitchen (which sucks because it's winter here right now!)

Note: Have some beers, a couple bottles of wine, or a good mixed drink recipe available and waiting as well. Red wine is one of my favorites...I like to joke that I'm cooking with wine and some of it might actually make it into the food.

Here's a good winter food thought...stir-fry's. In fact, I've been getting the frozen stir-fry in a bag from the grocery store recently, they are quite tasty, very easy to prepare (about 10-20 minutes and all you need is a big frying pan), and very "guy-friendly" to cook. (I've got a 6 yr old daughter whom I have custody of half of the week, so I can do my cooking experiments on her! LOL!). You could easily buy all the components fresh and do it yourself, but hey...all you need is already in the bag with instructions and it's frozen so you don't have to worry about stuff going bad, so why not make it easy on yourself? You can find these bags of frozen stir-fry stuff with beef, shrimp, chicken, sausage, etc., and they're not expensive (like in $6-$8 a bag here in the my part of the US). They are enough for two to have a light dinner, but you could always add rice or something.

You can nuke rice btw...one cup of rice, two cups of water, cover and microwave 5 mins on high, then 15 mins on 50% heat...voila, perfectly cooked rice.

Spaghetti is of course another easy one...boil the spaghetti for 10 mins or so on high, heat a jar of sauce in a pot on medium heat...you can buy pre-made frozen meatballs and add those to the sauce if you choose (nuke 'em first to thaw 'em, then just drop 'em in the pot with the sauce). You can get frozen garlic bread if you so choose...stick it in the oven for a few minutes until it's done (insure first that your date intends to have garlic breath as well though! ).

Post your ideas up, guys!

Gruuve

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Divorced dude having a good life.

HAHAH.

This probably goes without saying considering my handle, but if you guys need ANY cooking advice, please ask. Cooking is one of my few REAL passions and I enjoy giving advice whenever needed.

That being said, if you are going to cook for a woman, either hide the frozen food packages after you cook, or seriously devote yourself to learning the art of cooking from scratch, I obviously condone the latter.

Comfort foods and light foods will usually get you the most points in my experience.

For girls who are not afraid to eat and are not picky- Go for a filet mignon, or a lean beef cooked medium rare, top that off with a micro green salad, or baby spinach with a light dressing. Italian is generally a very good choice for red meats. Go ahead an a small potatoe, baked, mashed, however you want to do it. Pair that with a nice deep Merlot or Cab.

For girls who do eat meat but seem a little birdish- stay away from fish as this could have potential to fuck with some people's stomach, and stomach problems lead to less sekz. Instead go with a braised or baked chicken, breaded or in strips, again over some greens and I'd finish this one with garlic breadsticks- Chardonnays or Sauvignon Blancs work well here

Vegetarians- Caprese salad, Fettucini Alfredo. This has potential to get really heavy, so go easy on the Alfredo Sauce. Pair this with a Pinot Grigio or a White Zin.

Vegans--- beats me, I hate vegans.

Wine pairing are subjective to my tastes so feel free to play around.

Like Robert Rodriguez says, "Not knowing how to cook, is like not knowing how to fuck"

-Chef

Like 'The Chef,' cooking is one of my great passions, so this is a topic to which I will happily contribute. My advice is not to be afraid to try something impressive that intimidates you a little bit. If you've been out with the girl a couple of times, cooking together is great for building intimacy. (I've heard something about "domestic fantasies" being a switch you can turn on.) Homemade pasta sauce actually isn't as hard as you'd think and Italian goes great with red wine, so I would enthusiastically encourage you to try it sometime! I use the Better Homes & Garden Recipe, seasoned a bit more than they do:
1 lb pork sausage or ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
16 oz diced tomatoes
8 oz tomato sauce
6 oz tomato paste
basil (to taste)
oregano (to taste)
Brown the meat first and drain it if necessary. Add the onions and garlic and heat until the onions are tender. Add the tomatoes and then simmer. Add the herbs last after you've removed the sauce from heat. The exact quantities of onion and garlic are kind of unimportant too. If you're in the ballpark, you'll get a good pasta sauce.

Whether you prepare dinner in advance or not, bake dessert together. There's nothing simpler than Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies, but you'll get that domestic fantasty, the smell of fresh-baked cookies, and the fun anticipation of waiting for them to bake. (It's 20 minutes made for a makeout.)

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Some vices miss what is right because they are deficient, others because they are excessive, in feelings or in actions, while virtue finds and chooses the mean.
Aristotle, Ethica Nichomachea

Hehe,
I sometimes wrap slices of chicken in strips of Prosciutto and fry these in the pan, and stir fry some vegetables in the pan afterward with some tomatoes (skin them by giving them a quick bath in boiling hot water and dragging of the skin) and spices like basil, oregano, tarragon(dragon, estargon) and add a little sour cream and Parmigiano.

Served with pasta, of course

It's simple and safe dish, but it looks good, and it tastes delicious.
Spices and such you apply to your own taste of course, but pepper and salt is always needed, and I usually add some lemon and something with a little sweetness to it (I use lingonberry jam because it adds both to the sweetness and a little to the sour. I'm scandinavian after all)


If you dish up with some bruschetta and such as starters/side dish
Just dish up some garlic butter onto some toasts and fry them in the oven so they're golden and crispy.
And chop up some fresh herbs (Basil and oregano again) along with finely chopped garlic and tomato, salt and pepper, etc.
.. here you remove the juicy core of the tomatoes, just slice them in half or in quart and remove the seeds and such, before you chop this up (or use a blender) into a tomato-saucy, mush that goes nice on the bread.




Red wine ?... oh yes.

Yea vegans suck- the worst are raw foodists (yea they are real) they call you a savage or eating anything cooked, they are all toxins you know... faukers....
Being a 19 year old college student girls are f'ing amazed when i cook-

I get pleasure from giving a girl the best night and then the best morning of there life- since chef and zeg have given good advice on dinner ill try to tackle breakast...

Scrambled eggs, toast (have a few different jams), a small fruit smoothy (mostly banana) vannila yogurt with gronolla on top, pot of coffe (good stuff) tea kettle (somthing herble) orange juice. That takes like 5-10 minutes to make and gets the most amazing reactions, this is all stuff i eat for breakfast (minus a bunch of disgusting steel cut oats) so it is simply making a little more...

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=natural+harvest+cook+book

find it, read it, be amazed by it

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Every Saint has a Past, Every Sinner has a Future

Yo, vegans suck. Thanks.

Dish's that focus on tofu, soy, or beans work real well. No animals or animal products, so no cheese, milk, eggs, so on and so forth.

If this was a cooking forum, I'd recommend a whole list of stuff . . . but since this is a pua forum, I'll keep it simple. I think going from "pouring contents of a plastic bag onto a hot pan" to "making his own sauce and working with prosciutto" is a bit of a leap. Especially if he's trying to do all this stuff with a kid around.

So here are a couple of simple ideas:

Gourmet burger. There are a ton of different recipes on the Internet and no restaurant can make it better than you. (For fries, go frozen. This is an acceptable cheat cheat) Prepare the patties the veggies and everything ahead of time so when she shows up, you cook, plate and serve.

Lasagna. Kids love the stuff. Takes some time yes but you toss it in the oven before she arrives. She gets there hungry and goes, "Oh my God, that smells so good!" I have my recipe but I'm sure you can find simple recipes on the net.

Extra Credit:

Make your own ice cream. This is a dead ringer and it gets em' coming back again, again, and again. A simple machine doesn't cost too much and I'm sure the local Target/Walmart type places will carry decent machines for cheap. Your 6 year old will love it . . . (Also a ton of recipes on line . . .) For the adults, think Baileys!

. . . And since this is a PUA forum, I'll share my ice cream opener:

"What's your favorite ice cream flavor?"

"Huh? What? . . ehmm. . . chocolate?"

"Oh that's too easy."

"What?"

"Well, I just got this ice cream maker and I've been experimenting with flavors . . . We've been having ice cream parties. It was ____ last weekend. _____ the weekend before. . . Use you're imagination. What's the yummiest?"

I think you'll know where to take this one. . . alright maybe not. Don't make it too easy for her. Anybody can eat ice cream well right? . . .

"Well that flavor will be a challenge. I'll need your help. Are you ready for this? Blah blah blah"

When she shows up, you have EVERYTHING prepared but you still talk about how there's so much involved with this process. Then you pour the "already prepared ice cream mix" into the machine, close it. Then you ask her, "Are you ready?"

She goes, "??"

"OK . . . press that button but you really have to aim right down the middle and be quite gentle. . . wha, wha, little bit to the left, up, up . . pay attention, this is the most important step . . . back right just a tad . . . There! Press. OK. You did it."

Then you put some music on and start dancing with her. "We have 40 minutes . . ."

Must have done this xxx times. Finally, I've shared one of my all time favorites.

Alright dude like some of the previous posters, I also am a chef so I'll give you my 2 cents. If I'm cooking for a date I usually just go w/ a pork tenderloin that is cut thinly, some mashed potatoes(go w/ red bliss potatoes: no peeling and it looks fancy w/ the peels in) and some lightly cooked asparagus. This is the easiest dinner ever yet it looks like something out of a restaurant. Here is how you do it:

1) The mashed potatoes: put your quartered bliss potatoes in cold water and bring them up to a boil for 3 1/2 mins drain them mash the potatoes using a masher a spatula or anything you have available. Add salt and cracked black pepper, then a 1-2 tablespoon of butter(its on the side of the package)then take milk(2%-whole)and pour a little in. The milk is to bind the potatoes so only add a little at a time unless you want a goopy mess. Stir the milk in and and the potatoes are done.

2)With asparagus cut off the bottom of the asparugus(the tough white root). heat up a skillet with olive oil. When you put the asparagus in the pan it should sizzle cook the asparagus in the pan for around for 4 mins moving the pan almost every 45 secs to prevent burning. at the end of the 4 mins turn of the pan and add butter on top of the asparagus for flavor

3)Lay your pork tenderloin( ask the butcher at the supermarket he'll direct you) out on a cutting board and season w/ salt and freshly cracked black pepper

4) Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet almost till it is smoking( this will give a good color and texture on the outside of the meat. cook on each side for around a minute( if the slices of meat are very thin even less)

5) once colored on each side take the out and pour red wine into the pan and watch it bubble and steam. This will be your sauce so you need to have enough for both your dishes. When the wine stops bubbling put the pork back in the pan to sit in the sauce

Put this on the plate with the mash potatoes in the center, the pork on the potatoes and the asparagus on the side. pour the sauce on top and presto a dinner.

*WARNING*
This only takes 15 to 20 mins so do not prepare anything but the potatoes really ahead of time unless you want cold food!
Also when I say add salt do NOT pour salt from the container on the product. Pour in you hand FIRST then put in your food. Less salt= more health

If there are any questions let me know or if you want more recipes I can give you that too

Dude,
Paladin

Wow, I had no idea this thread would be so popular. LOL.

Just for the record, I don't parade women around my 6 yr old daughter...that would be confusing and distressful for her. Any cooking for another lady would be when I don't have my little girl...but, I can practice whatever dish first with my daughter, so big score there! (It's impossible for me to be motivated to cook for just myself.)

OK, here's a crock pot favorite of mine...I call it "La Choza Chicken".

- 6 chicken legs (you can put some breasts in too, but at least a few legs).
- 2 cans of black beans
- 1 small can of chilis (or fresh chilis)
- 1 can of sweet corn (or fresh corn cut off the cob)
- 1 small can of mushrooms (or fresh mushrooms)
- 1 small bottle of taco sauce

Dump it all in and let it cook for about 6 hours...good stuff! It's good over rice, so I usually nuke some rice as described in the opening post.

Sangria seems to go well with this dish.

Gruuve

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Divorced dude having a good life.

Threads like this show why I left North America. Hell, I think I want an American boyfriend!

I love to cook. Absolutely love it. I tend to get quite ambitious, I can cook pretty good but I love to stretch myself. Blumenthal influences a lot of my cooking, I'm not a clone, but I take a lot of aspects from him, get the best out of it, being a scientist the style fits pretty nicely in with me.

American recipes are strange, you do a lot by volume(cups) and it makes no sense! Especially with baking, which I'm really in to.