What do I cook for a second date if we have one hour to eat, and no chinese/mayo/pasta (she specified).?

Question

I'm going to be cooking for an awesome girl, but since I'm working nights this week we only have one hour between when she can arrive and when I have to leave. I'm not a super-chef, but I do want to impress. She specified nothing with pasta/chinese/mayo (yeah she's picky), so I need ideas that are basically 1. easy 2. don't include pasta/chinese/mayo and 3. we can enjoy within one hour (it's from 4pm to 5pm). Thanks!

Answer 1

Get some tiliapia or chicken breasts at the store - grill it on the george foreman or cook it in the skillet with a little olive oil. Doesn't take long to cook so long as not frozen when you start. If you cook chicken in the skillet (cut into bite size pieces prior to cooking), add some fast cooking veggies (such as cauliflower, broccoli, corn, carrots - all are good a little crisp too). Put in some seasoning (maybe even a little Italian salad dressing while cooking - not a lot). For dessert, impress her with a homemade pie -very easy. Melt a large hershey chocolate bar with almonds in the microwave, mix with a tub of whipped cream and pour into a graham cracker crust - she'll think you spent hours on that. It's very good. Don't forget to put a few fresh flowers on the table! Have a great evening.

Answer 2

Sounds like you need to make something ahead of time that can be warmed up, do you have a crockpot? If so, you could toss a small roast in there before you go to work, or maybe some chicken of some kind. I was going to say you could make a pan of lasagna and cook it when you get home but since pasta is out, never mind on that LOL. Fish is also very fast, you could bake or broil some in the oven in a matter of minutes, or even sautee some in a pan on the stove. Just fix a nice salad and get some rolls that are pre-made, you can pop those in the oven and they will be done in about 5-7 minutes. Buy a cheescake for desert! The site I have listed below has a TON of great fast recipes that will help if you dont like any of the above suggestions, Good luck!!!!!
http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,fast_supper,FF.html

Answer 3

Pork Roast with a white wine dijon mustard sauce
Mashed potatoes
Fresh green beans with a lemon butter sauce

Rub the roast with a mixture of 1 T kosher salt, 1 tsp fresh ground pepper, 2 T rubbed sage. Place in baking dish and pour some white wine in the bottom. Bake at 375 for 1 1/4 hours or until juices run clear. Baste with cooking juices often and add more wine if needed. When cooked, remove pork from pan and cover with tin foil. Let sit for 15 minutes while you make the sauce. Place baking dish on stove and add 1/2 cup white wine, stirring to break up the bits that are sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add 1 T dijon mustard and 3 T cream or half and half. Stir and simmer until reduced. Add salt and pepper to season. Slice pork and pour sauce over sliced meat.

Mashed potatoes: 4 Yukon Gold Potatoes, cooked in chicken broth. Drain. Add 3 T butter and 1/2 cup light sour cream. Add kosher salt and ground pepper to taste. If too thick, add more sour cream or milk.

Fresh Green Beans: Steam trimmed green beans until crisp tender. Toss with a mixture of 3 T butter, 1 tsp lemon juice, a sprinkling of kosher salt, and 1/2 tsp lemon zest.

The pork can be prepared ahead of time so that all you have left is your potatoes and greenbeans closer to when she arrives.

For dessert: raspberry sorbet with chocolate shavings

Answer 4

FISH ! Get a couple of salmon fillets (or frozen they're relatively cheap - just remember to thaw in the fridge from the day before). Sprinkle with Cajun seasoning and place in a hot non-stick fry pan with a wee bit of olive oil - when the meat appears cooked about half-way up from the pan (about 2-3 minutes) flip them and continue to cook about 5 more minutes. Serve with a salad (you can buy the bagged kind and top with a bit of lemon juice or a light dressing - nothing too strong) and baked potato (puncture a clean potato with a fork and pop in the microwave on high for about 10 minutes). (I have been known to cheat on that and pick up a couple of sour cream/chive baked potatoes at Wendy's on the way home from work.)

Answer 5

I'm guessing you'll have time to cook before she arrives, so the hour doesn't need to include cooking time. If I'm wrong, go with a chicken salad you can make the day before. Bake some fresh biscuits or bread -- both from refrigerated dough, of course -- to go with it and make it special.

If you have time before she arrives to cook, a baked chicken breast with a nice green vegetable or two should suffice. You can find all sorts of recipes for baked chicken breast (marinated, basted, sprinkled, etc, wth any number of yummy ingredients) at www.cooks.com if you want. One of my favorites is to put the chicken in the baking dish (spray the dish liberally with non-stick spray first, of course) and then pour a bottle of barbecue sauce (or a can or two of cream of something soup) over it and bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about an hour if they're boneless or 80 to 85 min if they have bones. I always skin chicken before cooking, since that removes about 1/3 of the fat before you even start. (It's a whole lot nicer to serve a date boneless chicken, since it's much easier to eat without potentially embarrassing onesself while trying to subdue one's dinner.) If you dump sauce over the chicken and let it bake, you'll have time to deal with the rest of dinner while it's in the oven.

If you can find it, try putting a small loaf of refrigerated dough (comes in a can like biscuits, but makes a small loaf instead) into the oven as the chicken comes out. It'll be done when you're ready to eat. Hot breads are extremely nice and smell wonderfully homey while cooking.

Anyway, serve that with sliced zucchini or some other nice green veggie -- you can get almost anything frozen nowadays, with heating instructions on the package -- and a nice salad. If it's starting to warm up where you are, try a salad (www.cooks.com for a recipe) with mandarin oranges in it. That'll taste summery.

Answer 6

Make a big chicken salad - you can get the meat already cooked, and get a ready to go bag of the greens but load it up with extras like cheese, almonds, etc.

If that don't work, get some Talapia - butter fry it with salt, paprika, & lemon pepper takes about 15 minutes if you cook slow or 7 minutes to do 4 fillets on med-high. and serve with a plain salad or the chicken salad and texas toast.

Answer 7

Start with a Mozzarella tomato salad. Then either veal scallopinni with a risotto instead of the pasta or new potatoes with sauteed mixed spring veggies. You can have it with a great Australian Pinot Noir. Finish it with a Passion Fruit Panna Cotta.

Answer 8

Plan ahead, or do a gourmet grocery. Buy the entree already done.
Can do fruit/cheese/wine spread yourself, or pick up some anti pasto stuffs.
If you want more of a production, do a salad too.

Think too if there is something you want to make the day before and just heat up....

Answer 9

Chicken Piccata is a great dish, and pretty easy to make! I can do this in about 20 minutes!

2 skinless and boneless chicken breasts, butterflied and then cut in half
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
All-purpose flour, for dredging
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup brined capers, rinsed
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter with 3 tablespoons olive oil. When butter and oil start to sizzle, add 2 pieces of chicken and cook for 3 minutes. When chicken is browned, flip and cook other side for 3 minutes. Remove and transfer to plate. Melt 2 more tablespoons butter and add another 2 tablespoons olive oil. When butter and oil start to sizzle, add the other 2 pieces of chicken and brown both sides in same manner. Remove pan from heat and add chicken to the plate.

Into the pan add the lemon juice, stock and capers. Return to stove and bring to boil, scraping up brown bits from the pan for extra flavor. Check for seasoning. Return all the chicken to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove chicken to platter. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter to sauce and whisk vigorously. Pour sauce over chicken and garnish with parsley.

Have a wonderful date!!

Answer 10

Grilled salmon and grilled veggies. Very quick and easy. Especially if you have a Foreman type grill. Use a lemon pepper mix, or some other ready mixed seasoning.