In this thread, we help Kevin to plan a "welcome home" meal for his wife
 

I have 10 days til she gets back. She's at some journalism institute for newspaper/yearbook teachers who majored in other things in college (she was a music major).

At any rate, I *never* cook the food. Honestly, I don't even really know how. I figure it can't be really hard though. I can generally follow directions. Cooking is just generally applying heat to food, right? How hard can it be?

What are some decently fancy/elaborate meals I could prepare? Assume I know nothing about food preparation... which is true.

ETA: I don't have to be too impressive. She'd be really impressed if I just boiled chicken or something. Expectations are low for this one.

What are some foods that she likes?

Do you want to fix some kind of casserole ahead of time or plan on grilling, etc.?

What does she like?

The apartments we're in came with a natural gas grill. They later removed them to save on their insurance. Since then, the only grilling we can do is in a grill pan. We have a decent one, so the sacrilege aside, I guess that's a possibility.

She doesn't like fish (except salmon in a can). She enjoys shrimp, hates crab... not a fan of lobster, but that wasn't in the cards anyhow. She also doesn't like beets.

Other than that? Casserole is a possibility.

This is one of my favorite things to fix for guests, because I can make it ahead of time & just heat it up. Also, it's a meal in itself -- the only thing else you might serve with it is a green salad.

DANISH SPAGHETTI

Ingredients:
1 (12 oz.) Pkg. vermicelli or thin spaghetti (cooked)
1 medium onion chopped
1 small jar chopped mushrooms (drained)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 can chicken broth (I like the roasted garlic flavor broth)
1/2 pound pork breakfast sausage
1 package Frozen spinach (thawed and drained)
1 (8 oz.) Can tomato sauce
1/2 pound Velveeta
2 cups cooked cubed or shredded chicken (I buy the pre-cooked packages that are made for salad toppings)
salt and pepper to taste


Directions:

Cook sausage until brown. Drain and pat dry with paper towels to remove as much grease as possible. Saute onion in large skillet in 1 tablespoon butter until transparent. Add spinach, mushrooms, tomato sauce, chili powder, and chicken broth. Simmer a few minutes. Melt Velveeta in microwave with 1/2 cup water to thin (about a minute at a time: Cook 1 minute, stir, cook another minute, stir, until thin and smooth). Add Velveeta to mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add cooked noodles and mix well. Fold in cooked chicken gently. Spray 9 x 13 casserole dish with non-stick spray and pour mixture into dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Freezes well.

This recipe for Danish Spaghetti serves/makes 6

::thinks it doesnt matter what you make for dinner, but rather what you're offering for dessert :P ::

(ok im in a pervy mood, sue me)

Orange Tequila Chicken

In a bowl, combine a few cups of Orange Juice, a couple tablespoons of oil, a tablespoon of the following: cumin, parsley, chilipowder, oregano and a teaspoon of: nutmeg, ginger. Add a shot or two of tequila (depending on how much of a "bite" you want it to have), lime juice and about an 1/8 cup sugar. Mix well. Put chicken (quaters or breasts work well) in a glass baking pan. Cover with orange mix. Put in the fridge for a few hours, or overnight, if you have time. Preheat the oven to 350. When the oven is ready - put chicken in and bake for approx 35 min. (Depending on the kind of chicken - it will be done when it's white-white all the way through). OR - if you don't want to use the oven, you can do it in a frying pan on the stove. Turn the heat on med-high and turn frequently. For extra flair, towards the end, add more sugar (about a quarter cup) and turn the heat up to high to turn the orange mix into a glaze.

Generally anything she doesn't like, she likes... and on occasion, I've tricked her into eating things she doesn't like and she was fine with it.

Ah.. she also hates brussel sprouts.

Here's her food blog:

http://www.kelliskitchen.blogspot.com/

I'm considering just doing something I can't screw up.. like spaghetti... just boil some noodles and pour some sauce on them, right? I'll bet the sauce even has instructions on the back...

You can't screw this up, its so easy & takes less than 15 minutes to prepare:

Chicken with Broccoli and Garlic Sauce

2 tsp olive oil
3 medium garlic clove(s), minced, or more to taste
1 pound uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tsp dried thyme, or 2 tbsp fresh minced thyme, or to taste
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 cup broccoli, florets
1 1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth, divided
1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 cup cooked brown rice, kept hot


Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Season chicken with thyme, salt and pepper and add to skillet. Cook until browned on all sides, stirring frequently, about 3 minutes.

Add broccoli to skillet, cover and cook 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of broth, cover and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes.

Dissolve cornstarch in remaining 1/2 cup of broth and add mixture to skillet. Simmer until mixture thickens, stirring constantly, about 1 minute. Serve over rice. Yields about 1 cup of chicken mixture and 1/2 cup of rice per serving. Its designed to serve 4 small portions, or two larger portions.


Edited to add, after looking at her food journal she appears to be very health conscious, so this is the perfect recipe. (I can't cook either, I make a slamming bowl of cereal & a perfectly toasted bagel & thats about it. ;)) Good luck!

Get her favorite take out and put it on a nice fancy plate. Light candles and CLEAN THE HOUSE so it's spotless when she gets home. Then put the effort you would have put into cooking into doing the dishes and helping her unpack and do her laundry.

At least thats what I would tell my hubby! :D

I think things like spaghetti, while good, can be very heavy for a summer meal, especially after a trip. Can you get fresh shrimp in OKCity without paying an arm and a leg? If so, here's what I would fix for my wife for a summer "welcome home" meal:

Fresh shrimp, steamed:

Boil water, add seasonings if you want to (like Old Bay), drop the shrimp in the boiling water and boil until nice and pink -- literally a few minutes. You want to do this when you're ready to sit at the table so the shrimp will still be hot. It's just boiling water -- you can't screw this up.

If you want to, peel the shrimp before she gets home and cook it unpeeled, but in my family we always served it unpeeled, especially if we were having company. Put a large bowl on the table and peel as you eat; what this says is that conversation and being together are at least as important as eating, since peeling frees your mouth up to talk. It makes for a nice, leasurely and relaxed meal, perfect for catching up.

Corn on the cob:

If you're feeling really cooking challenged, leave it in the shucks and microwave it on high for 4 minutes per ear. If you're only slightly more adventurous, shuck the ears, rub with butter and pepper, wrap each ear in foil with a few raw onion rings, and roast in the oven at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.

Green Beans

Probably about a half pound of fresh green beans will do. In advance, snap the ends off the beans, and break them into bite-sized pieces. Also in advance, roast 1/4 -1/3 cup chopped walnuts in the microwave (about 30 second on high should do it -- be careful, they keep cooking a little after you take them out, so you don't want them to roast quite all the way in the microwave.

Since we're keeping this simple, get a package of the already-cooked, heat-in-the-microwave bacon. Cook 3 or 4 slices per the directions, and then crumble it (which will be easier if you let the bacon cool first). Hold on to the paper towel or wax paper (works better) that you cooked the bacon in. This can be done somewhat in advance, too.

When you're getting ready for supper, bring water to a boil. When it comes to a boil, drop in the beans. Cook them for about 3-4 minutes, then pour them in a colander and blanche them by running cold water over them. (This stops the cooking and sets a bright green color.) Take the paper you cooked the bacon in and grease a skillet. Toss the beans, the walnuts, the crumbled bacon, about 1/4 cup of bleu cheese and some cracked pepper into the skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the cheese is really melted and coating the beans. Serve warm.

It may sound complicated, but it's really not at all. It just tastes complicated.

For dessert, I'd get something really good from a bakery.

And of course, wine or beer.

If you plan ahead by having the table set before she gets home and doing in advance what you can, like snapping the beans, peeling the shrimp (if you're going to do that before cooking), wrapping the corn and setting the table, the whole thing can be thrown together in 20+ minutes.

The house cleaning project is well underway.

what about instead of doing plain spaghetti, do some tortelini? or make lasgana, I've got an excellent easy recipie my mom uses that is delish! Or you could always do a "fiesta" theme and do tacos which are pretty simple to make.

Lasagna.. I could probably cook the kind that comes premade at Sam's... probably..

As for tacos, we had those the night before she left.

Sauteed Shrimp and Pasta with Garlic Toasts

Ingredients:
Shrimp
Spinach Linguini
Garlic Bread: bread, garlic, butter, lemon juice
Parmesan cheese

spinach linguini is pretty, tastes good and makes a dish look really elegant-- it's in the same aisle as the rest of the pasta!

Cook the pasta and put in a serving bowl. Pour a quick drizzle of olive oil over the top and mix it in.

Prepare the shrimp-- I like to buy the pre-trimmed and ready to cook kind--- throw a drop of oil in a pan and saute -- they're pretty much done the moment they hit the pan. You'll know b/c they change color. Add to the top of the pasta. Sprinkle with the parmesan cheese.

Cut your bread into slices. Melt the butter and add it to a little bowl with minced garlic. Spread onto the bread. Spritz the bread with lemon juice. Toast.

Serve and enjoy with a chilled white wine. Very easy-- this can be done in less than 20 minutes.