Dinner for two - what would you cook?

[Chelsea26]

Have a newish man coming over for dinner tomorrow night - very out of practise at cooking for anyone but myself (Minimal effort) or me and the kids (hidden veg!)

I’m a good cook but am drawing blank on inspiration so looking for ideas...

Don’t want to spend hours on it and no fish are the only considerations!

Rack of lamb, although unseasonal, makes a good alternative to steak.

Can’t believe people would consider spaghetti dishes, far too risky for me.

I agree that steak is a good idea but you want minimal faffing and things that can go wrong so with it I’d do mini potatoes cooked in their skins in the oven, with salt, olive oil and rosemary - so easy.

And a salad of spinach and green beans like this which is crunchy and healthy and easy and tastes good. Buy pudding.

This sort of thing

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/herb-roasted-new-potatoes

Lamb and couscous? With broccoli and flatbreads.

I expect this will be too out there for first date territory but I love red wine and mushroom risotto with steak. You can add blue cheese to it too.

I'd do coq Au vin.

Easy to prep hours ahead and easy to delay as exact timing not critical. Serve with mashed potato and green beans.

Pop some crusty bread, a tossed salad and wine on the table and it will feel really luxurious.

Always impresses guests and your not slaving over the stove while they are there.

Challenge with steak is that you have to cook it last minute AND whilst he’s there watching. I’d probably overlook it cos I’d be flustered! I’d choose something that could mostly be cooked in advance - venison casserole and mash, some kind of pie - with just green veg to cook last minute. Some friends cooked navarin of lamb yesterday and it was delicious 😋

Rack of lamb, although unseasonal

British lamb is absolutely in season right now.

I'd go for beef wellington (just get the one from Cook and pass it off as your own - it's delicious!). Have it with the dauphinoise potatoes and some french beans.

Keep it simple. I'm sorry now but steak is not something I would cook for anyone, too much hassle, bleu, rare, medium, well done and so on. Forget it.

Order in and pretend it's yours, or just put something un crematable in the oven or in the slow cooker. Lots of recipes online, and mashed spuds. Everyone LOVES buttery mash especially at this time of year.

If he is worth it, the food will be the last thing on his mind!

Another one for Coq au vin here. It's got such a lovely flavour and you can basically leave it alone to do it's thing. Nice with parsley mash and tender stem broccoli.

Spaghetti carbonara. Super tasty, super fast, a bit posh and not drippy/difficult to eat.

Steak and sauté potatoes?

I’d do chilli. Pudding is sex 😜

Oh my gosh! I ran out of battery and have come back to so many ideas! Thank you everyone!

I have had some wine tonight so will review tomorrow and make a plan!

However chocolate dipped strawberries might need to be a feature...

obvious but who cares!!

Coq au vin here too, I wouldn't do pasta or anything garlicky. I'd definitely get a pudding plus cheese biscuits and port - they will keep if not eaten

Oooh... exciting! One dish I love making and it's quick and can be assembled in advance. Chicken breasts, stuffed with cream cheese and basil leaves and wrapped in prosciutto, served with toast baby potatoes in olive oil and rosemary and then some spicy/asparagus etc on the side, super quick and I think it's tasty! Let us know what you end up cooking and how the date goes 🥰

do you want the smell of frying to pervade and cling to your clothes?

I’d go for something that can slow cook in the oven and won’t spoil if you are chatting before dinner. My suggestions are:
A lamb tagine (with cous cous - I do a lovely one with pomegranate)
Steak ale and mushroom pie (I slow cook for 2+ hrs in my Le creuset-type pot and then serve in individual oval Cole & Mason pie dishes and either make homemade pastry with a touch of cheese and cook the shape of the pie dish and loosely place on top or use shop bought puff pastry). I’d serve with mini roast potatoes (a doddle to cook) and roasted carrots and parsnips. Or dauphinois which I find are best cooked the day before and re-heated to eat.
Lasagne (served with lovely homemade garlic bread if you like that and a salad)
Have a lovely evening!

Sorry for the delay and once again thank you for all your ideas!

I managed to get to the shops earlier than I though I would so I currently have half a leg of lamb slow cooking in the oven with tomatoes, onion, garlic, thyme, mint sauce and red currant jelly. It smells amazing (even if I do say so myself! )

Going to do mash and tenderstem broccoli on the side. I bought creme brûlée’s for pudding as I knew I’d run out of time!

Just out of the shower, going to dry my hair and then deliver the kids to their dad and hopefully all will go well! 😍

Your menu sounds fabulous! My mouth is watering. I’m sure it will all go wonderfully and I hope you have a lovely evening

It sounds lovely, have a great evening!

Sounds delicious!!! Hope the date goes well x

Yum! I hope you both have an enjoyable evening.