ISO help creating an anniversary meal...

[subnormal]

Hey everyone, I need some help. I told my girlfriend I would cook a dinner for our anniversary, but I have no idea what I should cook. It needs to be cheap, easy, and romantic. Please help if you know of any good recipes that would fit these criteria, thanks a lot!

 

[kadesma]

Hey everyone, I need some help. I told my girlfriend I would cook a dinner for our anniversary, but I have no idea what I should cook. It needs to be cheap, easy, and romantic. Please help if you know of any good recipes that would fit these criteria, thanks a lot!

We might beable to help you more if you can give us an idea of some of your favorite foods..meats, veggies, salads,poultry..
BTW, Welcome to DC
kadesma

 

[subnormal]

she likes pasta a lot and I am pretty good at cooking it, I don't want to cook the same old spaghetti and meatballs though, maybe some type of chicken parmesan? She likes red sauce. She loves vegetables. This meal is more for her than for me.

 

[*amy*]

Welcome to DC.

This meal can be made all in one dish. Enjoy.

Chicken Parmisiana & Stuffed Shells (or Ravioli)

4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Italian Bread Crumbs
1-2 eggs, beaten
olive oil
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
2 Cans 16 0z Crushed Tomatoes
1 Tbsp. each crushed garlic, basil, oregano, marjoram, sugar
salt & pepper, to taste
1 Pkg. Stuffed Shells or pkg of cheese-filled ravioli - frozen and thawed, or from the refrigerated pasta section of the market.

Coat chicken in eggs, then in bread crumbs.

Heat olive oil in a skillet and add chicken. Cook 20 minutes per side, or more if very thick. Place on paper towels to absorb extra oil.

Mix crushed tomatoes, garlic, basil, oregano, marjoram, sugar, salt and pepper. In a rectangular shaped baking dish, place sauce mixture to cover bottom of dish, then place chicken and frozen stuffed shells in dish. Cover with mozzarella cheese, add more sauce to cover, place aluminum foil over dish, and bake at 400 for 20 minutes.


Serve with steamed broccoli or roasted asparagus - or
a salad w your fave dressing, & garlic bread.

 

[subnormal]

How much olive oil? Am I frying it or searing it?

 

[*amy*]

About 1/3 - 1/2 cup. I usually eyeball the amount. You're cooking the chicken. You could prepare the chicken ahead and refrigerate, then reheat it with the shells or ravioli, until everything is heated through. Hope that helps.

Another suggestion - if she's a veggie lover is eggplant parmesan and penne or spaghetti. Try a search on this site. Have a great dinner.

 

[Barb L.]

Any meal will be romantic, as long as you have candles, single rose and soft music. Have a great night, congrats. !

 

[velochic]

Barb has a good point!!

What about Veal Scallopini with a mushroom cream sauce?

(If you don't morally object to veal). It's also REALLY fast.

Do a dry (seasoned flour), wet (beaten egg), dry (seasoned breadcrumbs) breading on the scallopini.

Shallow pan fry the scallopini for one minute on each side in a 50 -50 mixture of butter and olive oil.

Keep scallopini warm in a low oven.

Add more butter if necessary, then saute 1/2 lb of chopped mushrooms, 1 or 2 shallots, salt and pepper. Once they are soft and you've scraped up any fond (those brown bits left behind), add flour to make a roux. Cook flour for a minute or two, then add milk/single cream/double cream... however rich you want to make it. Bring to a boil and reduce to desired consistency.

Serve scallopini and sauce over rice or buttered noodles. Add a salad side and nice light red wine.

Let us know how it goes for you!

 

[Katie H]

Barb has a good point!!

What about Veal Scallopini with a mushroom cream sauce?

(If you don't morally object to veal). It's also REALLY fast.

Do a dry (seasoned flour), wet (beaten egg), dry (seasoned breadcrumbs) breading on the scallopini.

Shallow pan fry the scallopini for one minute on each side in a 50 -50 mixture of butter and olive oil.

Keep scallopini warm in a low oven.

Add more butter if necessary, then saute 1/2 lb of chopped mushrooms, 1 or 2 shallots, salt and pepper. Once they are soft and you've scraped up any fond (those brown bits left behind), add flour to make a roux. Cook flour for a minute or two, then add milk/single cream/double cream... however rich you want to make it. Bring to a boil and reduce to desired consistency.

Serve scallopini and sauce over rice or buttered noodles. Add a salad side and nice light red wine.

Let us know how it goes for you!

If you don't care for veal or it's not readily available in your area, you can substitute chicken or turkey cutlets, pounded very thinly.

You could add tiny whole steamed green beans with a light coating of butter as a side dish and a nice tossed or Caesar salad and some crusty bread.

For dessert, kahlua parfaits. In parfait glasses or tall stemmed glasses, layer a couple of spoonfuls of kahlua, some toasted slivered almonds, a scoop of coffee ice cream, repeat layer and top with some whipped cream and more almonds. Yummy good.

 

[kitchenelf]

This is an easy, yet impressive dish. If you don't like mushrooms substitute caramelized onions. Add some bread and a salad. I never eat dessert but that could be simple enough if you guys are into dessert. Macerate fresh strawberries (cut and add sugar and stir throughout the day) and make the shortcakes on the side of the Bisquick box.

 

[*amy*]

Another vote for chicken marsala. Wanted to mention it as well, but didn't know if your budget would allow re alcohol in the dish. KE is there a sweet marsala you could recommend for cooking & drinking (killing two birds with one stone - & you won't have a leftover bottle of whatever to use up later)? TIA

Not to deter from KE's recipe, but here is a link to give you a visual of the steps. I like the addition of heavy cream.

Chicken--Mushroom-Marsala

You could buy extra mushrooms, and make stuffed mushrroms as an appetizer.

I also like the strawberry shortcake idea for dessert. For an easy method, you can purchase the shortcake shells at the market, pile on the berries & top with whipped cream.

Another quick dish is shrimp scampi. There are lots of recipes here on this site. Try a search at the top of the screen. Happy anniversary.

 

[CassieKate]

I LOVE Martha Stewart's version of chicken parmigiana. I get asked to make this all the time! Also, when she saute's the chicken cutlets, I would use a mixture of oil AND butter for flavor. Also, definitely use FRESH mozzarella, it makes ALL the difference. You can make it ahead of time and bake it off. Do a search on her site!

 

[subnormal]

I went with the first dish that was suggested because I was very short on time. I had to make a few alterations though. My supermarket didn't have stuffed shells so I went with cheese tortellinis. They had all three of the spices but they were expensive so I bought a spice mix that included the basil, marjoram, and oregano. (it also had thyme and sage). It came out pretty well but if I ever make it again I think I'll boil the tortellinis first. I made the asparagus and garlic bread too. I just bought generic "throw it in the oven and it's done" garlic bread and I made the asparagus by tossing it with olive oil, salting it, and baking it for about 10 minutes. I have never liked asparagus but I tried some anyway and discovered that I LOVE ASPARAGUS as long as it's cooked that way and not steamed.

Thank you all for your help, it ended up costing about 30 dollars in materials and the leftovers fed us for another day and a half.

 

[*amy*]

Sub, glad you liked my suggestion & asparagus are yummy. Should have mentioned for a dinner for two - you probably wouldn't need as many chicken breasts, but sometimes leftovers are a good thing.