Do you have a budget? How complicated do you want this to be? How much time do you have to prepare it?

Check out :
http://www.epicurious.com

They have some really good stuff on there ..
CHICKEN WITH ROASTED LEMONS, GREEN OLIVES, AND CAPERS

was a hit with the Mrs on V-day

If you are watching the Food network and like what you see, try www.foodnetwork.com

Demiurge, if I could suggest only one recipe that is elegant, delicious, simple, and relatively affordable, it would be my own version of baked fish in mushroom-wine sauce. This recipe originally sprouted from the mind of Frank Davis, a local Louisiana chef and food personality, but I''ve made a few alterations. The original may be found in Davis'' book, The Frank Davis Seafood Notebook.

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--Fresh fish fillets (Allow between 0.5-1.0 pounds of fish for each person, depending upon how many sides you''re serving, and on who''s doing the eating. Just about any mild, non-oily fish will do. I like haddock quite a bit, but the following are also fantastic: halibut, red drum (AKA redfish), grouper, cod, sole, sea bass, catfish, flounder, trout, and red snapper. Salmon would also work well, in spite of its medium-high oil content.)
--8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, in all
--2 Tablespoons flour
--1/2 Cup heavy whipping cream
--8 to 12 ounces of fresh mushrooms, rinsed and thinly sliced
--1 Tablespoon lemon juice (or, to taste)
--Dry white wine (allow ~6 Tablespoons wine for each pound of fish)
--Kosher salt
--Cayenne pepper
--White pepper
--Freshly ground black pepper

1. Place an oven rack in a central position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Melt three tablespoons of the butter. Rub the melted butter on the fish fillets, coating them completely. Use any leftover butter to grease a Pyrex or ceramic baking dish large enough to hold all the fish in a single layer (or as close to it as possible). Add the fillets to the baking dish.

3. Sprinkle each fish fillet with an even layer of kosher salt, cayenne pepper, white pepper, and freshly ground black pepper. Don''t be stingy.

4. Melt the remaining 5 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan over low or medium-low heat. Stir in the 2 tablespoons of flour, and keep stirring until the flour is absorbed. Let the roux cook for just a minute, until it just barely takes on a faint hint of color. Do not allow the roux to brown. Stir in the 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream and heat until completely smooth. Turn the heat down to its lowest setting and stir occasionally so that the sauce doesn''t stick or congeal.

5. Scatter the mushroom slices over the fillets and pat down. If you have enough mushrooms to completely cover the fillets, then do so. Drizzle the lemon juice and white wine over the fillets. Place the fillets in the oven and bake uncovered for ten minutes.

6. Remove the fish from the oven and pour the butter sauce over the fillets. Place the fish back in the oven and cook until done, usually about 10-12 minutes longer. To test for doneness, stab the thickest fillet with a fork and twist gently. If the fish flakes apart, it is done. Do not under any circumstances overcook the fish. Serve immediately, preferably with a crusty bread, fresh salad or steamed vegetables, and glasses of whichever wine you used in the recipe.

We need to start a pictorial thread with a cooking skillz show-off.

""Three Cup Chicken""

Chicken (breast)
Fresh Basil Leaves
Ginger
6 gloves of Garlic
1/4 Cup of Rice Wine/Rice Vinegar
1/4 Cup of Soy Sauce
1/4 Cup of Sesame Oil
Two tablespoon Sugar

A wok if you have one, or else just use fyring pan.

-Cut chicken breast into bite size.
-Pick the basil leaves off the stem
-Cut Ginger root into roughly 12 slice, with each around 1/6 inch thick.
-Heat the wok.
-Add sesame oil and ginger and stir. Wait until ginger slices absorb most of the oil
-Add garlic and stir a short while.
-Add chicken, rice wine and soysauce. Stir until chicken is cooked.
-Turn heat to low and cover the wok, reopen to stir ocassionally to prevent chicken sticking to the wok. Wait until the wok is almost dry. It takes roughly 20 minutes.
-Add basil and stir a quick moment. 5-10 seconds will do.
-Ready to serve

This serves 2 ppl, so adjust the measurements as you see fit.

Rosemary Herb Chicken

6 boneless Chicken breast halves
3 cloves garlic minced
1 tbs rosemary
1 tbs thyme
3/4 tsp instant chicken bouillon
2 tbs olive oil
1/3 cup dry white wine

Combine Garlic, Rosemary, Thyme and Bouillon in a bowl.

Rub chicken with dry mix.

Drizzle chicken with oil.

Pour wine on bottom of pan.

Cover with plastic wrap and marinate for 2 hrs in fridge.

Cook on stovetop at I believe Med-Med/High? (Can''t remember 100%, but if you can cook, you should be able to figure this out quickly on how the chicken is doing)

Season with pepper to taste.

Itadakimasu!

**edit** I actually followed this recipe with only 3 chicken breast pieces and like the extra seasonings on it.

This one takes about 30 minutes, serves two and usually impresses the hell out of people.

Buy a pound or so of Jumbo tiger shrimp (or the largest size you can afford).
Set the oven on broil.
Boil about half a box of linguini noodles.
Put the shrimp in a broiler-safe pan with a decent amount of olive oil in it.
Sprinkle the shrimp with garlic, cumin, paprika and/or cayenne pepper.
Broil the shrimp for about 5 minutes, but don''t overcook ''em. You want ''em pink, not white.
Toss the cooked noodles with a little olive oil (garlic and butter if you prefer).
Serve the shrimps over the noodles with a bottle of wine.
Sex usuallly follows.

What do you think the olive oil is for?

I have a recipe idea that is easy and economical, sort of like an ex-girlfriend of mine, here goes:

BBQ Chicken Pizza

For the crust, I either purchase a premade crust, whichever is your favorite, but I usually make my own in the breadmaker.

Barbecue sauce, again it is a matter of taste, but I prefer Bone Suckin'' Sauce http://www.insanechicken.com/bone_suckin__original_bbq_sauce.html

Add 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to the sauce, along with some crushed red pepper.

Slice up a whole red onion into rings add on top of the sauce.

1 lb of chicken breast, sliced into strips, then roll the strips in a dry rub of salt, pepper, oregano, and parsley. Add on top of the onions.

Top off with 1-1/2 cups of the shredded monterey jack, cheddar, and provolone.

Bake at 375 F, for approxiamtely 20 minutes or desired melty goodness, enjoy.

Hey Deva, I for one would love to hear about the angel hair & veggie recipe. My wife is a vegetarian, and I struggle a bit to find good meals to eat with her (especially non-pasta). Oddly, she tends to be picky, but likes Indian food and the few pseudo-Arabic dishes we''ve tried, so any other vegetarian recepies would be gratefully received.

Last night I made pasta con aglio with sauteed scallops and shrimp. Very easy and delicious.

You will need pasta, much fresh chopped garlic, much olive oil, fresh herbs (rosemary and basil for me) fresh scallops, fresh (or steamed shrimp), pepper mill and a wedge of parmegiano or romano, crusty bread.

I used angel hair, the scallops are quite delicate and I find the light pasta works best, but use what you like. Cook according to package directions - do not overcook pasta - drain and set aside (toss in a bit of olive oil in to keep from drying out)

Sautee garlic in olive oil, don''t burn it, add scallops and shrimp, cook through, again be careful not to overdo it or seafood becomes rubbery. I like to add a little fresh rosemary and cracked pepper as the seafood cooks. (my rosemary came from Arcosanti near Sedona! woohoo) If you are unsure about the seafood, try cooking over medium to med high heat, turning the scallops only once, giving them about 3 mins per side. If using raw shrimp, it should cook about same rate as scallops. You can see the change in the texture and color as the seafood cooks, when it becomes opaque, it''s done.
You can also use steamed shrimp or cocktail shrimp - if your shrimp is precooked, add in the last minute or so just to heat and coat with oil and herbs. (I like to leave the tails on the shrimp, adds to my dining pleasure)

Remove seafood from skillet and set aside, add more olive oil and garlic to skillet, toss in cooked pasta, add fresh basil and fresh cracked pepper (and more rosemary, or oregano if you prefer), heat through, then pour the seafood mixture over top, sprinkle with fresh grated parmegiano or romano and serve with crusty bread.

This recipe is quick - and oh so tasty.

Pasta con Aglio simply means pasta with garlic, omitting the seafood and adding mushrooms and/or various veggies makes this an awesome vegetarian dish.

My favorite is Savory Deviate Fish.
Transformations:
• Pirate (1 hour)
• Defias Soldier (1 hour)
• Slimey Ooze (5-10 seconds)
There are many others, but don''t remember right now.

Buffs:
• Fastcast (2 minutes, casting time cut to 1/4th IE 4 sec cast is now 1)
• Fastmelee (2 minutes, you flail your weapon like a madman...)
• Fake Death (If the bar runs out while faking you really die; ~5 min)
• Fear (10 minutes, you are scared)
• Multi restore (You restore both health and mana by an unknown amount.)
• Cat speed (5 minutes, you run really fast)
There are more buffs than listed here.

Well, the angel hair and veggies is really simple. Try this with yellow squash, zucchini and chopped, seeded roma tomatoes.

As you''re heating the water for the pasta, blanch the veggies for no more than 2 minutes in the hot(not boiling) water. (Make sure the water has salt...use Kosher if you can find it...the difference it taste is astounding.) Note...do not blanch tomatoes...that would be bad.)

Then, while the pasta is cooking, flash saute the veggies in olive oil and a small amount of butter with garlic. (Again, cook no longer than about 3-4 minutes...you want the veggies firm to the tooth.) Remove veggies from heat, and add herbs to taste...for squash/zucchini/roma tomatoes, I recommend basil/rosemary/greek oregano.

Pour veggie mix on top of cooked pasta, drizzle a little more olive oil if necessary, top with freshly grated Parmesan...voila...15 minute dinner, including prep.

You might also consider Bruchetta...

Bake or buy hard crusted bread. (If baking the bread, put a bowl of water on the bottom rack of the oven...it''ll create a much harder ""shell"".)

Preheat oven to about 400 degrees F. Put 3-5 whole, peeled garlic cloves on a plate in the oven to heat while you do the next part.

Get a selection of ripe tomatoes...I usually go for a red and a golden...just for plating presence. Cut, seed and salt the tomatoes and leave them to drain on paper towels. You don''t want them to be soggy or wet. You want just the firm fleshy part.

Once drained, place in a bowl big enough to toss, and sprinkle with Balsamic vinegar and a tiny amount of olive oil. Add fresh, chopped basil. Toss and let sit while you do the next part.

Cut the bread. Brush with virgin olive oil. Lightly toast in the oven.

Retrieve the garlic. Holding firmly, rub, rub, rub against the bread. The garlic will start to dissolve as you rub it. That''s good. You want that.

Once the garlic has been applied, spoon the tomato mixture onto the bread. Top with fresh Parmesan. (That weird stuff in the plastic tube...never use that...that stuff is just wrong.)

Put in the oven, turn on the broiler...do NOT close the door all the way...watch carefully...you just want the cheese to melt. Theoretically, the tomatoes shouldn''t get hot...just slightly warmed.

Pull baking tray out, and there you have it...so good...so very, very good.

Damn, now I''m hungry.

The boy has ceased being interested in Monsters Inc., so I''ll post some yummy Arabic recipes later.

edited for typos x2

Well if you were doing dessert, I have a recipe I make for my wife all the time for made from scratch German chocolate cake with made from scratch coconut pecan frosting....