> wrote in message
oups.com...
>I was wondering whether anybody can help me. In the near future, I
> shall be cooking a meal (for the first time) for a very special lady.
> The thing is, I am no expert at this type of thing, and I have no idea
> about what to cook for her. She tells me that she is "not fussy" and
> will eat "just about anything" - which leaves the ball very firmly in
> my court. However, I'm sure that if I provide something uninteresting
> like pasta, she'll think I'm devoid of originality. Have any of you
> any suggestions as to what I can cook - or more importantly what not
> to? I can do my bit in the kitchen, but sadly I'm used to the bachelor
> way of doing it!
>
>Man, pick up a six pack of Lone Star beer and a couple of Big Mac's. She'll
>love you for it! ... No seriously, there are a lot of really amazingly good
>recipes that are very simple. Quality ingredients are essential:

Appetizers:
1) 1 block of cream cheese with a bottle of Pick-A-Peppa sauce poured over
it with crackers. You will be surprised at how good that is.
2) 1 Bag of tortilla chips with a quality salsa and slices of cheddar cheese
3) 1 port wine cheese log with crackers. I like whole wheat crackers for
that one. If you don't like port wine cheese logs, just set out some
crackers with a nice Havarti or a nice Cheddar, or both.
4) 1 bag tortilla chips - 2 Avocados smashed up with salsa and lime juice to
taste

Salad:
1) Chopped Lettuce, grated Carrots, fresh Spinach and/or Arugula, sprouts,
chopped Apples, chopped walnuts and red wine or balsamic vinaigrette
2) Cottage cheese with cling peaches on top with black pepper
3) Chunks of mixed types of fruit cut up into a bowl with chopped walnuts
and a lime squeezed over it

Main course:

Red Meat -
1) Get two well marbled Rib Eye steaks 1.5 inches thick, dump worsteshire
sauce on them and then dust them with course black pepper, Broil for 6
minutes each side. While they are broiling, steam some asparagus, and melt
some butter in a pan with a half a lemon squeezed in it. Pour the lemon
butter on the asparagus when served. Baked potatoes with butter and sour
cream go well with this.
2) Take a glass baking dish and pour a beer in it. dump in a teaspoon of
worsteshire and 1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce. Add three or four GOOD Quality
sausages and bake for 20 minutes at 350 (cheap sausage would be a mistake).
Serve with good mustard and kraut. (find out if she likes kraut first) If
she doesn't like kraut, scratch it and the mustard and serve with bar-b-que
sauce. That goes well with store bought potato salad and steamed green beans
with butter and black pepper.
3) Take some butterflied pork loin chops and put cooked stove top cornbread
stuffing in the middle of them and tie them up with bakers string. Bake in a
covered dish at 325 for 20 minutes. Paint them with bar-b-cue sauce and bake
them for another ten minutes uncovered. While they are cooking, quarter some
small new potatoes and boil them until soft. drain them and dust them with
Cajun Seasoning or Seasoned Salt. Serve with Cheddar and French bread.

Chicken-
1) Take some chicken breasts and marinade them in your refrigerator over
night in Italian dressing. Bake them until white all the way through (20 or
30 minutes at 350) and serve them over buttered rice with peas mixed into
it. While they are cooking, steam some carrots until they are soft and drain
them. Add some butter, some maple syrup and some black pepper to the carrots
and stir them up. Fry some Zucchini or Squash slices in Italian dressing
until done.
2) Take a whole chicken and put it in a glass baking dish with a lid. Cover
it with Tamari sauce until it is about 1/2 inch deep in the dish. Cover the
chicken with lots of Rosemary and bake for 50 minutes at 350. Serve with the
Cornbread you can buy in the tubes that pop open from your grocery store and
fresh peas with butter and pepper.

Fish-
1) Mix 1/4 cup melted butter, 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard, and 1 and 1/2
tablespoons honey and spread it all over a nice 1/2 pound Salmon filet. Next
take a 1/4 cup finely chopped pecans, 1/4 cup dry bread crumbs, and four
teaspoons finely chopped fresh parsley mixed up and sprinkle liberally over
the salmon. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 or 15 minutes until flaky. This one
is an amazingly tasty recipe! Serve with vegetable of choice and fresh
bread.
2) If you have access to an outdoor cooker/burner, this is a simple and very
tasty meal neither of you will soon forget. You will need to get a couple of
Dungeness crabs (any crab works, but Dungeness is the best if you can get
them, King Crab or Snow Crab is good too) and 1/2 pound of fresh shrimp. Put
a couple of gallons of water in a big pot and throw in a bunch of new
potatoes, 6 half ears of corn, 1/2 pound of sliced Andouille sausage (if you
can get it, if not any GOOD quality sausage will work) and a bag of good,
spicy crab boil. Boil it until the potatoes are soft and then toss in the
crabs. Boil for one minute and then toss in the shrimp. Boil for another
three minutes and turn off the fire. You will have boiled the crabs for a
total of 4 minutes, that is important. Drain it all and then dump it in the
middle of the table on butcher paper. Put out some cocktail sauce and melted
butter and enjoy! I use a rolling pin to break up the crabs.

Dessert-
1) Get some of those Nestle toll house cookies they sell in the refrigerated
section of your grocery store. You can make them any time and they are easy,
fast, and tasty!
2) Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream! The premier, frozen dairy
confection (although I have to admit, some of this Gelato stuff that has
been showing up lately is mighty god!)