THE SUMMER LOVIN' ONE

Date night dishes for guaranteed kisses... and maybe more

THE SUMMER LOVIN’ ONE

Menu to feed 2 people

STARTER - BURRATA, OLIVE SALSA, AUBERGINE AND BREAD

STARTER - SEA BREAM CARPACCIO, CRAB, GREEN CHILLI AND MINT

MAIN -  CHICKEN MILANESE, ‘NDUJA CREAMED PEPPERS, BASIL OIL

PUDDING - TIRAMISU

IT’S A DATE! I am so excited to bring you this extremely sexy menu. I’ve thought a lot about date cookery and I think it is an underserved area of occasion-based recipe writing. It really only gets a couple of weeks around Valentines but the dating game is all year round baby!

I have also long been obsessed with the tv show Dinner Date. It is quintessential British car crash tv and most of the cooking on it is unspeakable to say the least, but that’s kind of why I love it. I think date night food can be really intimidating - it is SO hard to decide what to cook someone, how much to do in advance, how far to push yourself. I did a little bit of market research via my instagram and asked my followers what food they like to eat on a date, followed by what food they would actually cook on a date. There was quite a difference although some definite themes emerged.

So, in order to break down this menu for you, I need to give you context. In my book, a date where you cook for someone at home is usually the 3rd, 4th or 5th date. You really like each other, you’re keen to know more and you also wanna show off. Needless to say you can also cook this menu for someone you have been going out with for ages but there’s way less risk involved there. Obviously, because it’s The Dinner Party - there is a lot here that can be made ahead or is super easy. I wanted to strike the perfect balance of chilled vs pushing the boat out. 

Tapas and sharing plates was definitely one theme that came out of my research, and there is something very sexy about dippy, oozy, schmeary dishes. So I took that and added burrata, because it’s a bloody gorgeous date night option - very few people dislike it, it’s incredibly easy and it’s delicious. Combined with a refreshing and pretty olive salsa and some burnt aubergine this is a great place to start. Equally popular was raw fish of some kind, be it oysters, sushi or ceviche and it truly is a perfect little romantic starter. It is light, refreshing, elegant and easy to eat (I am not talking about oysters here, I have never eaten an oyster and looked cool and I am not afraid to admit it). Anyway of course raw fish at home is a little bit more daunting but actually your fishmonger does the majority of the work and it is a brilliant vehicle for flavour. A lovely light carpaccio of sea bream topped with crab, green chilli and mint looks and tastes divine and tells that person that you really give a shit about them. 

As for a main course there was a lot to consider here. I want relative simplicity but also huge flavour. I want impressiveness but also low keyness. There were lots of suggestions for steak (high risk cooking is not relaxing on a date), for pasta (obviously hard for me to say but TOO HEAVY) and roast chicken (big fan but quite a lot of admin still). So I landed on a little compromise - Chicken Milanese. It’s light but filling, tasty and looks impressive but is still, to all intents and purposes, a giant chicken nugget so it’s not intimidating. Plus with the naughty yet simple garnish I propose of ‘nduja creamed peppers and basil oil - it’s a showstopper. 

And finally, pudding… if you even get there, am I right?! I think a tiramisu is incredibly sexy. It’s soft, gooey and tender, boozy and grown up all in the same breath. It’s best made ahead so all you need to do on the day is pull it out of the fridge whenever you’re ready for it.

Ok, have I convinced you? Are you ready for love? YES I AM. 

NB The starters today are an either / or situation. I would say to do both would be a lot of food which negates one of the golden rules of date food - not too heavy. 

BURRATA WITH OLIVE SALSA, AUBERGINE AND BREAD

It’s Burrata, bitch. If you read my first episode of TDP, then you will know my thoughts on the white stuff. A low effort, high reward, ready to eat item is extremely useful when hosting and a good burrata is a super sexy bit of kit. Please do try and get a good one though, it makes a big difference. Employed here with (or without if you can’t be bothered) roasted aubergine and a lovely refreshing salsa you’ve got a super seductive plate of food. 

• 1 high quality large burrata or 2 small at room temperature

For the salsa

• 100g Nocellara olives, cheeks removed and then finely chopped **

• Small handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped

• Zest and juice of half a lemon

• 2 salted anchovies, finely chopped (optional)

• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

• 30ml extra virgin olive oil

For the aubergine

• 2 aubergines, pierced

• Zest of half a lemon

• 1 clove garlic, grated

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• Salt

• Fresh, soft bread to serve

** I tend to slice 3 cheeks off, sliding the knife diagonally along the pit each time. Don’t discard your pits - pop them in a small bottle of good vodka and into the fridge for a couple of weeks to steep. Then use it to make the dirtiest martini of your life, maybe on your 6th date.

Preheat your oven to 250*. Take the aubergines and stab them a few times with the point of a knife, this is important as they have a tendency to explode in the oven if you don’t give them a few holes. Pop them on a tray and onto the highest rack in the oven and roast for an hour, turning often so that the skin is burnt and blistered but the inside soft, tender and smokey. If you have a bbq or gas hob, you can simply char the aubergine on the flames to achieve a lovely, smokier flavour but this is a simple oven method for when that is not possible. When the aubergines are cooked, slice them open and leave to cool for 10 minutes. Then scoop out the flesh into a sieve and leave to drain for another 10 minutes- there is a lot of water in the aubergine. Then roughly chop the flesh (add some of the burnt skin too if you like) and combine with the lemon zest, garlic, olive oil and plenty of salt. Set aside until needed.

Make the salsa by combining the ingredients and seasoning well. Take the burrata out of the fridge at least an hour before serving, it will be creamy and silkier at room temp. 

Pop the aubergine onto your plate and spread out a bit, before tearing over your burrata on top. To be fair, you could just put the ball on there and let your date do the honours, that could be quite sexy too. In any case, dress with the salsa, a little drizzle of oil and some salt and pepper and serve with warm, fresh bread. 

MAKE AHEAD -

• You can make both the aubergine and the salsa 24 hours in advance if you need to. As always please make sure everything is room temperature before serving.

SUBSTITUTIONS -

• If you can’t get hold of burrata, good mozzarella or even ricotta will work.

• If you’re catering for a vegan then leave out the cheese and use some high quality jarred beans or chickpeas warmed through in the salsa. 

• Nocellara olives are my preference but any good green olive will do.

SEA BREAM CARPACCIO WITH CRAB, GREEN CHILLI AND MINT

This is a really luxurious dish and will show your date you mean business without you stabbing yourself in the wrist attempting to shuck oysters with a butter knife. It’s also practical - light, easy and full of flavour. I love the addition of the crab meat in the dressing, any excuse for crab basically, but if you want to leave it out and save some pounds it is just as beautiful without. It goes without saying that your fish needs to be spankingly fresh, so try and get it from the fishmongers or online as close to the date as possible.

• 2 sea bream fillets, skinned and pin boned - ask your fishmonger to do this

• 15ml fresh lime juice (half a lime)

• 15ml extra virgin olive oil

• ½ tsp sea salt

For the dressing

• 1 green chilli, sliced

• 100g picked white crab meat

• Zest of a lime, juice of half 

• Salt to taste

• 2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil 

• Small handful of fresh mint, shredded

Thinly sliced toasted bread to serve - like the crostini from The Family Style One!

Take the fillets of sea bream and pop them into the freezer for 10 minutes to firm up. 

Zest the lime into a bowl, then add half the juice to the zest and the other half to another bowl; the zesty juice is for the crab later, but it’s much easier to zest a whole fruit than once it is cut. Combine the plain juice with the olive oil and salt. Remove the fillets from the freezer and slice as thinly as possible without the slices falling apart. Lay the fish onto a large plate and drizzle over the marinade. Pop into the fridge until you need it.

Combine the crab with the green chilli, lime juice and zest, olive oil and salt and refrigerate until needed. 

Pull the sea bream out of the fridge half an hour before you serve it. When it’s time to eat, dress the plate with the crab and green chilli and then finish with the freshly shredded mint and some thin and crispy olive oil toasts.

MAKE AHEAD 

• You can slice and marinade the fish up to 6 hours before serving and the crab can be made up to 24 hours ahead, but don’t chop the mint or add it until just before serving.

SUBSTITUTIONS

• Sea bream could also be sea bass, pollack, halibut, trout, sustainably caught salmon or tuna. 

• If you don’t want to use crab meat but like the idea of something extra then brown shrimp is a nice swap, or equally some diced fresh apple or fennel would be delicious too, just do it right before serving as they will oxidise and turn brown.

CHICKEN MILANESE, ‘NDUJA CREAMED PEPPERS, BASIL OIL

I bloody love a Chicken Milanese. It is a great way to make a chicken breast, something I usually avoid, go far and taste excellent. I did debate on whether to include this in the menu for the simple fact that it does have to be cooked to order, but then I decided that actually, one of the fun things about hosting a date is getting to cook together. So my advice is - get everything done in advance except for the actual cooking of the Milanese and then do that together, hips grazing at the stove, hands touching as you both reach for the spatula, eyes meeting whilst sprinkling with salt. It’s practically a Richard Curtis movie already. 

A NOTE ON BASIL OIL - this is by far one of the most “cheffy” things I’ve done on TDP, and I am fully aware that it is a bit of a faff. You can very easily just chop basil and stir it through oil before dressing if you prefer, it will still look and taste excellent.

For the chicken

• 2 chicken breasts

• ½ tsp fine salt

• A pinch of garlic powder

• 1/4tsp dried sage

• 4 eggs, beaten with a pinch of salt

• 100g plain flour

• 200g panko breadcrumbs

• 200ml vegetable oil

• 60g butter

• Sea salt to finish

For the creamed peppers

• 60ml olive oil

• 2 red peppers, deseeded and sliced

• 2 yellow peppers, deseeded and sliced

• 2 cloves of garlic

• 2 tbsps ‘nduja

• 120ml double cream

• Salt to taste

For the basil oil

• 100ml olive oil

• 25g picked basil leaves 

To make the basil oil, bring a small pan of water to the boil and prepare a bowl of iced water. Blanch the basil leaves in the water for 10 seconds, remove and immediately plunge in the iced water, this will help them hold their colour. Take the leaves out of the water and squeeze out any excess liquid. Pop the basil in a food processor or bullet and add the oil. Blitz until the basil is pureed. Take a small piece of a jay cloth and put it in a sieve over a bowl, then pass the basil mix through it, so that the bright green oil drains through. Cover the basil oil and keep in the fridge until needed, use the basil mulch that remains in a pasta sauce or pesto or even a salad dressing. 

For the peppers, heat the olive oil in a saucepan on a medium heat. Add the peppers, a generous pinch of salt and fry gently for around 30-40 minutes, until the peppers are wilted and soft. At this point, add the garlic and fry for a couple minutes, then add the ‘nduja and melt into the peppers. When the ‘nduja is well combined, add the cream and stir, before taking off the heat. Incidentally, this is an excellent pasta sauce too.

To make the chicken, take each breast and lay between two sheets of parchment paper. Using a rolling pin or, in my case, a cricket mallet, bash each breast out to a thin, even thickness - around 2cm. In a pestle and mortar (if you have one, don’t worry if not) crush the salt, garlic powder and dried sage together. This is a little dry brine to season the breasts with. Sprinkle it over both sides of each breast and pop in the fridge for half an hour. Take three dishes or trays big enough to fit a bashed breast and put the flour in one, the eggs in another and the panko breadcrumbs in a third. Once the chicken has brined, pat any excess moisture off and then dip in the flour, coating well and dusting off any excess. Then pop it into the eggs and coat liberally on both sides before immediately transferring to the breadcrumbs which will stick to the egg. This is a messy process and I like to keep one hand just for the dry ingredients and one for the wet if you can. Take the now breadcrumbed breast and dip it back into the eggs again, coating well, and then the breadcrumbs. This ensures an extra crunchy coating. Lay the chicken on parchment paper, cover with cling film and place in the fridge until needed.

When you are ready to fry, split the oil and butter between two frying pans and pop them on a medium heat. When the butter starts to sizzle, gently lay the breasts down into the fat and leave to cook for about 4 minutes, then turn over. It won’t be fully cooked and golden yet. Cook the other side for 4 minutes, then turn again and cook for another 2-3 minutes, repeating on each side until they are beautifully golden brown and crunchy. This takes about 10 -12 minutes all together. Transfer the cooked chicken to kitchen paper to drain. Reheat the peppers, adding a splash of water if necessary. 

Place each milanese on a plate and top with the peppers, then drizzle over the basil oil and sprinkle with sea salt.

MAKE AHEAD -

• The peppers and basil oil can be done up to 2 days ahead. 

• You can bread the chicken earlier in the day and I definitely suggest you do, that gives you time to clean up the breading station! 

SUBSTITUTIONS -

• As I said in the intro, the basil oil can be swapped for simply chopped basil in good oil if it’s a bit of a stretch.

• Leave out the ‘nduja and add a teaspoon of smoked paprika if you are avoiding pork, and use a plant based cream if you want to avoid dairy.

• Chicken breast could also be pork or veal cutlets bashed until thin.

TIRAMISU

An absolutely golden piece of pub quiz knowledge that I will give you for free here is that Tiramisu means “pick me up” in Italian. And if that isn’t appropriate for a date night menu then I don’t know what is. Apart from the fact that it is an absolutely iconic pudding, it’s also great because it’s easy to make, impressive but in the same breath kind of low key… It's sponge fingers dipped in cold coffee and covered with cream cheese at the end of the day. I just really love a sexy little pudding moment on a date, something to get the pulse racing and sweeten up that potentially garlicky breath. Tiramisu is IT. This is a lovely little 2 person recipe, it fits well into a 22cm/16cm dish, but feel free to scale up if you want to make it for more.

• 350g mascarpone

• 3 egg yolks

• 2 egg whites

• 80g caster sugar

• 25ml marsala

• 175g sponge fingers

• 180ml fresh, strong espresso, cooled - I like to use espresso powder for this

• 30ml dark rum

• 2 tbsps best quality dark cocoa

Make your coffee or espresso first and then leave to cool. Espresso powder is great for this, it has a much stronger flavour.

Pop the egg yolks into a bowl with the sugar and whisk with electric beaters for about 5 minutes until the mix is thick, glossy and very pale. Add in the mascarpone and marsala and whisk again until smooth. Then give your beaters a little rinse and dry. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks, then use a metal spoon to fold them into the mascarpone mix. You will end up with a lovely thick and floofy (a technical term) cream.

Mix the cooled coffee with the rum. Take each sponge finger and dip them in the mix for around 4 seconds, then lay them side by side in your dish - you will need 6 roughly for the first layer. Then spoon about half of your mascarpone cream on top and level out with a spatula. Using a sieve, dust the top generously with cocoa - you want it to be a nice thick coverage. Then, repeat with the second round of sponge fingers, although you might need a couple more this time - the dish will be slightly wider at the top. Pop the remaining cream over the top and smooth out again but DO NOT dust with cocoa yet. The cocoa will bleed too much in the fridge as it sets and it won’t look good when you reveal it. Cover the tiramisu in cling film and pop in the fridge overnight. 

When you are ready to serve, remove it from the fridge and dust with cocoa. Use a knife and a spatula to get a couple of nice wedges out or don’t even bother, just give your date a spoon and dive in.

MAKE AHEAD -

• I STRONGLY recommend you make this the day before, it will set nicely and the flavours will mingle together in the fridge beautifully over night. Having said that, here comes my age old warning to make sure your fridge isn’t stinky - it can and will affect the flavour of your pud.

SUBSTITUTIONS - 

• If you’re worried about staying up all night (for the wrong reason) then use decaf coffee.

• The booze can be left out completely or play with it - Kahlua, Frangelico and Amaretto go beautifully in the coffee.

TIMEPLAN 

This first plan should help you see what you can get done in advance, so that for each course on the day you have at least 1, maybe 2 major parts of it taken care of. I appreciate that not everyone’s weeks are easily peppered with dinner party prep, but if you’re hosting after work or on a day where you can’t be in the kitchen, getting ahead is going to save your arse.

MISE-EN-PLACE

This is the fancy name we give to the food prep each section in the restaurant needs to do for their dishes. Hopefully breaking down each dish like this will help you feel organised. 

Use the hour before your guests arrive to organise your space too- I find it helpful to group ingredients by dish so it is all in the same place. Little ramekins are really useful for this.

STYLING GUIDE

BURRATA 

This is 100% a plate to share, that’s half the fun of it. So choose a nice big plate with a lip for catching all that delicious oil and creamy cheese. The colours are sort of a muted green palate, so I would be tempted to lift this with blue or even deep green tones. 

SEA BREAM 

I think this works well both as a sharing dish and also as an individual - it depends how formal you want to go. It is also more work plating twice, just FYI. This dish is very pretty by itself, it doesn’t need much help from the plates so white, creams and greys all would work well. I like to lay the pieces of fish flat and quite close together so they almost look like scales on the plate, but you can also be more loose with it and it will still look amazing.

CHICKEN MILANESE

Get a couple of big main course plates for this one! The chicken will swamp the plate but there should be just enough room for that gorgeous green oil drizzle which reads best on a white base. Pile the peppers on the top of the chicken and oil around it. 

TIRAMISU

This one is pretty hard to “style” as such, it’s either a square or a spoonful. I wouldn’t over think it and just enjoy the final course with your lover.

If this menu doesn’t get you laid then I am sorry, I cannot be held responsible. I really hope you enjoy making it and that at the very least you get a new dish to add to your date night repertoire, at the very most a marriage proposal. Let me know how it goes! All my love and luck, Rosie x