Looking for Giantbomb for its culinary expertise!!!

Hey all.

So, I have this girl I know who always makes me food when I hang out with her. I decided, I want to make her a really special meal on her birthday (it's April 30, but i wanna be prepared). So, I came here for help, as I am not a very good chef, and was hoping people could recommend something tasty.

I know she really likes onions (like, she said she'd eat a raw onion, I doubt she would but just barely). She's also really health-conscious, so this meal would have to be low-fat and low-carb.

Beyond this, I really wanted to get some ideas flowing, so that I could think of something. The reason I ask so early is because, since I'm not a good cook (very little practice), I was hoping to practice making it before I made it for her, so it'd be perfect. So hopefully we can get the thoughts flowing, and I come up with a tasty meal idea for her :)

Please and thank you.

French Onion Soup.

Personally, I hate the Gruyere, but found Provolone works great. Should be pretty easy to practice making.

Grilled chicken and pasta

Then put some fuckin onions on it

Put alfredo sauce on somethin

Perogies

Here, cook this:

Onion Gingered Chicken

Seasoning mix
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3/4 teaspoon cayenne
3/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground dill seed
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground sage

Chicken

3 tablespoons flour
3-4 lbs chicken pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 cups chopped onions, in all
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
4 cups chicken stock, in all

Directions:

Combine seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl.
Mix 2 tablespoons of mix with the flour and set aside for later use. Sprinkle 4 tablespoons of mix over chicken and rub in well.
Heat oil in heavy pot over high heat just until it begins to smoke, about 4 minutes.
Brown chicken in batches, large pieces first, skin side down first, about 2-3 minutes per side.
Remove from pot and set aside.
Caution: this mixture will brown very quickly, so watch it carefully, but make sure to brown it well.
Add onions to pot and scrape bottom to loosen browned bits.
Cook, stirring and scraping frequently, until onions are brown, about 4 minutes.
Add ginger, seasoned flour, and 1/2 cup of stock and stir until flour is completely incorporated.
Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until flour begins to stick, about 2-3 minutes.
Stir in remaining stock and seasoning mix and scrape pot well.
Return chicken and juices to pot, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer until chicken is tender and sauce has reduced to 4 cups, about 30 minutes.

Serve over pasta or rice.

1. Buy apron, 1 bag flour

2. Get a Bloomin' Onion from Outback to go

3. Right before she arrives, put on apron and throw a handful of flour on yourself

I don't have a dish to suggest, but I offer some advice from my own personal experience.

In my early 20's I couldn't cook for shit. I picked a single recipe (My Great Grandmother's recipe for White Ginger Chicken Alfredo) and I made it once to twice a week for about an entire year. I got so good at that one recipe that it became the best thing I could cook. Everyone I make it for loves it, and I eventually wanted to do more.

In the decade since then I have gone on to conquer many different types of foods. I can proficiently cook Italian, French, Mediterranean, Thai, and many other foods. Just get the basics down, and try the same recipe over and over. You'll get it.

Make her jambalaya. Don't put any onions in it. When she asks you why you cooked her an unhealthy meal with no onions in it, tell her a real man does what he wants. Then dump her.

Give that bitch KFC, bitches love KFC.

@MrCandleguy said:

Give that bitch KFC, bitches love KFC.

I dont know... KFC just isin't what it used to be, last time i got a bucket it was some dry ass shit. There biscuits are still amazing though.

Get another girl and a cup.

You guys are awesome! Well... some of you guys.

Haha. I'll definitely be looking into some of these ideas :) thanks so much

@ricktard said:

Make her jambalaya. Don't put any onions in it. When she asks you why you cooked her an unhealthy meal with no onions in it, tell her a real man does what he wants. Then dump her.

Solid advice. Or just give her an onion that you carved into the shape of a heart. Then dump her.@Sploder said:

Grilled chicken and pasta

Then put some fuckin onions on it

Swag.

Stir fry with broccoli, carrots, and onions is quick, healthy, and you can tweak the flavor by adding a bomb sauce. I'd add green onions, cauliflower, and maybe green peas too. You can also put chicken in it for protein.

Barbecue everything. Onions? Barbecued. Other vegetables? Barbecued. Cereal? Barbecued.

Etc etc. Do it.

Make her an onion cake.

@NiKva said:

Barbecue everything. Onions? Barbecued. Other vegetables? Barbecued. Cereal? Barbecued.

Etc etc. Do it.

Also a very good idea. Followed.

I once microwaved soft pretzels to make hot, soft pretzels.

@OldGuy: this looks amazing. thread bookmarked.

You guys crack me up. Having said that, fuck you, I'm not making onion cake.

I'm probably going with@OldGuy's recipe. It looks really solid and fun to make. Still, I mean, keep throwing ideas down if you've got good ones :)

Roast a chicken. It's very easy and you can dress it up to be super fancy. Serve with healthy, low carb sides like roasted vegetables (with onions of course) or a really nice salad.

You could also just make a pretty awesome chicken cesar salad with roasted chicken, homemade croutons etc.

I would say make a lasagna (since it's what I always do for my husband) with pepperoni, sausage and meatballs, but she's into low fat, and that certainly isn't. :)

chocolate coated onion(make sure it's organic, preferable a red onion, white chocolate)

Some ketchup with that.

Served warm, with a cold glass of onion milk to wash it down.

@Angre_Leperkan439: One note... I usually deskin the chicken after it has cooled but before returning it to the pot (cuts down on the fat content)...

Also, if you are serving to a big crowd, you can pull the chicken just before serving to cut it off the bone and then shred or chunk it up for easier distribution to many plates (heck, you can do this even if you just dojn't want to deal with cutting up the chicken on your plate at the table)..

@OldGuy: You, sir, are awesome.

This recipe looks baller.

@dudy80 said:

Perogies

Make them. Add parmesan cheese and Dave's Insanity Sauce. Wonderful meal.