minow@decvax.UUCP (Martin Minow) (12/12/85)
Make a very light appetizer/main dish (broiled or fried fish) and a very sensuous dessert (that you can prepare in advance): 1. Melt at least 1/2 pound top-quality chocolate (Lindt extra-bittersweet or Merkins Yucutan if you can find it), possibly adding up to 1/4 pound unsweetened, in a suitable dish. (I use a flat-bottomed heavy copper "pommes-anna" casserole.) Be careful melting chocolate as it scorches easily, use very low heat and careful stirring. Don't let even one drop of water get into the chocolate. After it's mostly melted, I put the casserole on a heating pad to keep it warm. It shouldn't get above 90 degrees F. 2. Go to your favorite yuppie grocery and buy a carton or two of fresh strawberries. Clean and core them. Arrange them nicely on a platter. Serve them as finger food on the living room, in front of the fireplace. Note: you and your date probably can't eat 1/2 pound of chocolate. Just let it cool and cover it. It will keep until your second date. Martin Minow decvax!minow
barb@oliven.UUCP (Barbara Jernigan) (12/13/85)
Lots of good suggestions -- but really, cook what you're good at.
Nothing worse than trying to impress somebody and have a new -- untried --
recipe go sour. As someone said -- it's the ambiance that's crucial.
Hamburgers can be excellent by candlelight.
Make it easy (maybe stir fry -- chicken breasts, shrimp, scallops) or
something prepared ahead. Dessert should be decadent -- buy a slice
of cake/torte at the best bakery you know. Or, if you like things
light, try a bavarian cream mold (Bon Apetit's *Light Desserts* is
a good book to have on hand).
But mostly, go for the candle-light, the soft music, flowers, a
well-set table.
Or, if the mood hits you, go out for pizza. I know, not very romantic --
but my husband won me with his famous different-every-time casserole's-
got-nothin'-on-these-puppies tacos. No, not very romantic (though he's
made up for that with a few French dinners on the town) -- but tasty.
Of course, the very, very, best (and also $$$) would be to take her to
the Ahwahnee (sp) in Yosemite. Talk about your romantic settings -- ahhhh.
MEANWHILE, here's one of my party standbys. Easy and fabulous! Originally
found in Sunset Magazine, Feb. 1985, it serves well with pasta (fresh or
refrigerated) or rice, artichokes or asparagus as veggie. Try a Cream Mold
(no, not a dessert fungus) for dessert (if there's interest, I'll post my
recipe one of these days). Now, the recipe:
CHICKEN WITH TARRAGON CREAM (takes about 20 minutes to prepare)
2 tbsp butter or margarine
2 whole chicken breasts (1 - 1.25 lbs each)
split, boned, and skinned
1/4 cup chopped shallots or green onion
1 cup regular-strength chicken broth
>> for lazies, one chicken bouillion cube in
1 cup boiling water works very ok; canned
broth is also ok. <<
1 tsp dry tarragon
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 tsp grated lemon peel
2 tsp lemon juice
Thin lemon slices (optional garnish)
In a 12- to 14-inch frying pan, melt butter over
medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until
browned on both sides, about 5 minutes. Add
shallots, broth, and tarragon; cover and simmer
until chicken is no longer pink in thickest part
(cut to test), 7 to 9 minutes. Lift out chicken
with a slotted spoon and place on a warm platter;
keep warm.
Boil pan juices, uncovered, until reduced to
about 1/2 cup. Add cream and any accumulated
juices from chicken. Boil, uncovered, until
sauce is reduced to about 3/4 cup. Stir in lemon
peel and juice. Pour sauce around chicken.
Garnish with lemon slices.
>> NOTE, when cooking for many people, chicken
breasts are cost prohibitive. Cut up a frying
chicken (or chickens), brown as above. Place
in baking pan, sprinkle with tarragon (triple
recipe for one chicken) pour broth and *sauteed*
shallots/onions over. Bake until done -- 350/375
F for 40 minutes. Pour off pan juices into
frypan. Proceed with cream sauce as above.
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.ooo. ./ /. . o@ooo0 Barb
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