Today I have another "man meal" and it's a guest post thanks to my brother! Looks delicious!
So originally I had planned to take her out for dinner, but
instead I decided why not have a nice home cooked meal by candle light. I definitely recommend this meal,
gents. It was super easy, didn’t make a
huge mess, and tasted great. I’ll start
from the beginning…
Meal choice: Marinated chicken breasts, asparagus with béarnaise
and mashed potatoes.
First things first: Ambiance. I took the liberty of picking out 7 or 8
candles at the grocery store. Glade
candles were on sale for the week, so I went with them. Pick out a few different scents. Place them all over the house and group the
scents.
Pick up some nice flowers
too. I always felt like it was kind of
cliché to get flowers, but apparently women really like them ;)
Picking out ingredients:
No need to get super fancy here, guys.
I picked up about 2lbs of chicken breasts (or a pack of 3). I also grabbed a bundle of asparagus. I’m not
a huge fan of asparagus, but I know she really likes it. Here comes the tricky part. Mashed potatoes…I went with Bob Evans garlic
mashed potatoes. Keep it simple.
For the marinade I used McCormick Grill Mates Garlic,
Herb and Wine. It comes in a little
powder packet with ingredients on back.
If you’re not sure you have what it calls for buy it while you’re at the
store. The béarnaise sauce comes in a
powder as well.
Preparation and Cooking Times: You’ll need about an hour to prep and cook
all parts of the meal. Marinade the chicken
first. Mix up your marinade as per
the instructions on the back of the packet. Rinse your chicken with cold water and put in a plastic Ziploc bag along with the marinade and
throw it back in the fridge while you prepare the rest of your meal.
I cooked everything in the oven, but you can
use the grill if you’d like. Take your
asparagus and snap all the bottoms off.
Place them in a Pyrex cooking dish.
You can layer them up. Coat them
in olive oil, a dash of salt and some ground pepper. Set that to the side.
Take your chicken out of the Ziploc bag and place
in a suitable size Pyrex dish. Dump the
rest of the marinade in there with it.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. You’re going
to cook the chicken for about 30 – 35 minutes and the asparagus about 15 – 20 minutes.
Throw the chicken in there first and when it’s got 15 minutes left throw the
asparagus in there.
I cooked the
potatoes in a pot. I added a little bit
of fresh garlic and some milk and butter to dress it up a little bit. Heat it on low heat, stirring
frequently.
The béarnaise takes about 5
minutes and thickens up/skins over quickly, so you’ll want to make this
last. Again follow the directions on the
package.
Serve from the same dishes you
cooked in or plate the meal. I plated. The béarnaise goes on the asparagus, so don’t
put it on everything.
Wine: A nice light
chardonnay goes well with this meal. I
went with Chateau St Michelle. I’ve had
it a couple times before and it’s very good and inexpensive.
Light all the candles, set your placemats with all necessary
utensils for the meal. Keep it classy,
boys. We're professionals and you know she's worth it.
Lastly: Contingency plan.
I’m not the best in the kitchen so I like to have a contingency plan
just in case something doesn’t go right.
I got some Ice Cream sandwiches. Doubles
as dessert.
Have fun!
-Dan
Follow the instructions on the package for baking the crust. Saute the chicken, peppers and onions over medium heat until chicken is thoroughly cooking.
Top your crust with BBQ sauce, then the chicken, peppers and onions and finally the cheese.
Bake again (according to package instructions) until the cheese is melted and bubbly. 
