Homemade Dinner Made Easy (For the Gentlemen)

The old adage "the quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach" holds true for women as well, a homemade meal will charm any woman in your life and the great thing is you don't have to be an Iron Chef to make an elegant meal for her. You can find plenty of savory recipes that'll make you look like a culinary genius with a minimal amount of actual work. Even if you feel a little like you’ll never get your bearings around the kitchen all you need to do is turn dinner into a project for two, tell her you want to cook together or point out some recipes you like and ask her to guide you through making them. Cooking together can be a very intimate experience and even if you don’t know how to cook, if she does, and you ask for her help she’ll appreciate your eagerness to learn and enjoy being able to teach you something new. You can make the experience of cooking together more sensual by choosing recipes from sexual cookbooks (yes they do exist). A lot of food items are also aphrodisiacs and there are entire cookbooks devoted to using solely these ingredients, preparing a meal that is supposed to arouse sexual desire with your partner is a subtle form of foreplay and will add an element of seduction to the domesticity of cooking. (I’ve listed the titles of a few aphrodisiac cookbooks below). If you want to make her a meal on your own and are uncertain of your culinary prowess remember to keep it simple—some of the best dishes are the simplest, stick to what you can manage and do what you know well.


Aphrodisiac Cookbooks:

The Seduction Cookbook: Culinary Creations for Lovers by: Diane Brown

The Kinky Sex Cookbook: An Orgy of Sensuous Food & Silly Fun! by: Carole Marsh

The New InterCourses: An Aphrodisiac Cookbook by: Randall Lockridge

Fork Me, Spoon Me: The Sensual Cookbook by: Amy Reiley



For effortless appetizers choose things like bruschetta or a cheese/savory meat tray, you want things that are easy to put together and leave quality time for you and your date.


Easy Bruschetta with Tomato and Basil Recipe (For two)

Ingredients

• 3 or 4 ripe tomatoes

• ½ clove garlic, minced

• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

• Handful of fresh basil leaves

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

• 1/2 baguette (French bread) or similar Italian bread—make sure it is good quality bread!

• 1/8 cup olive oil

• Fresh Mozzarella (the kind that comes floating in liquid)


Instructions

1) Preheat oven to 450°

2) Slice tomatoes width wise (basically into a circle)

3) Slice the mozzarella into ½ thick pieces

4) Slice the baguette on a diagonal about 1/2 inch thick slices. Coat one side of each slice with olive oil then place on a cooking sheet, olive oil side down. You will want to toast them in the top rack in your oven, so you may need to do these in batches depending on the size of your oven on the top rack. Toast for 5-6 minutes or until the bread just begins to turn golden brown, (a toaster oven will work too).

5) Alternatively, you can toast the bread without coating it in olive oil first. Toast on a griddle for 1 minute on each side. Take a sharp knife and score each slice 3 times. Rub some garlic in the slices and drizzle half a teaspoon of olive oil on each slice. This is the more traditional method of making bruschetta.

6) Whisk together balsamic vinegar and 1/8 cup olive oil.

7) Align the bread on a serving platter, olive oil side up, place a piece of sliced mozzarella on each piece followed by the sliced tomato on top then a basil leaf. Finish by drizzling the olive oil and balsamic mixture over the top.



A main course that will cut down your kitchen time but still be impressive is filet mignon with a balsamic reduction, there are variations on the reduction sauce that range from using cherries to maple syrup, explore and find your favorite. Pair it with a simple vegetable like haricot verts (French green beans) which only take about 6 minutes to cook if you want to serve them plain with just salt, pepper and olive oil. If you want to get a little fancy there is a good recipe for making them with herb butter which takes about 30 minutes, however the butter can be made ahead of time if you want to save time on the actual day of cooking. These are only suggestions you should always go with whatever is most manageable and in season just to insure you have the best quality ingredients.



Filet Mignon with Balsamic Syrup and Goat Cheese

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups balsamic vinegar

• 3 tablespoons sugar

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 2-4 (5 to 6-ounce) filet mignon steaks

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 2 ounces soft fresh goat cheese


Instructions

1) Boil the balsamic vinegar and sugar in a heavy small saucepan over medium-high heat until reduced to 1/3 cup, stirring occasionally, about 18 minutes.

2) Meanwhile, preheat the broiler. Melt the butter in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the steaks with salt and pepper. Cook the steaks to desired doneness, about 3 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer the steaks to a baking sheet. Crumble the cheese over the steaks and broil just until the cheese melts, about 1 minute. Sprinkle with pepper.

3) Transfer the steaks to plates. Drizzle the balsamic sauce around the steaks and serve.



Haricots Verts with Herb Butter


Ingredients


• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

• 3 tablespoons finely chopped shallots

• 3 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

• 2 teaspoons finely chopped tarragon

• 1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

• 2 lb haricots verts trimmed


Instructions

1) Stir together all ingredients except haricots verts with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl until combined well.

2) Cook beans in a large pot of boiling salted water (1 tablespoon salt for 6 quarts water), uncovered, until crisp and tender, about 6 minutes, then drain and place in ice bath to stop the cooking process and preserve the color. Toss with herb butter.


Dessert is something you can get really playful about and have a lot of fun with, anything from homemade fondue to skillet cookies and ice cream sundaes are fairly easy. I personally love crème brulée, it’s delicious and very easy to make but looks impressive (especially if you caramelize the top in front of your date) it does require a little hardware, specifically ramekins and a kitchen torch. A lot of cook ware places sell crème brulée kits that will include everything you need to make it, even the recipe. It is a favorite of my dad and I was surprised at how manageable it was the first time I tried to make it. It’s made like any other custard dessert and you can find hundreds of different variations—in my family the variation with fresh berries is a hit as well as the variation using Bailey’s Irish Cream.


Crème Brulée

Ingredients

• 2 cups heavy cream

• 1/4 cup white sugar

• 1 pinch salt

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 3 egg yolks

• 4 tablespoons white sugar

Instructions

1) Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) and line the bottom of a large baking pan with a damp kitchen cloth.

2) Bring a large pot of water to boil. While water is boiling, combine cream, 1/4 cup sugar and salt in saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally 4 to 5 minutes, until steam rises. In a medium bowl, beat egg yolks and vanilla until smooth. Pour hot cream into yolks, a little at a time, stirring constantly, until all cream is incorporated. Pour mixture into four 6 oz. ramekins.

3) Place ramekins on towel in baking dish, and place dish on oven rack. Pour boiling water into dish to halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover whole pan loosely with foil.

4) Bake 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until custard is just set. You will be able to tell if you shake the ramekin and the custard just barely jiggles in the center. Do not over cook or the custard will curdle. Chill ramekins in refrigerator 4 to 6 hours.

5) Before serving, sprinkle 1 tablespoon sugar over each custard. Use a kitchen torch or oven broiler to brown top, 2 to 3 minutes. (If you use kitchen torch remember to do so delicately, It is not a blow torch!  Hold the torch about 3 inches away and caramelize the sugar…DO NOT BURN IT!)