by Holly Russell

Created on: August 14, 2009

There is nothing sexier than a man who can - and will - cook. Your willingness to spend time preparing a meal and your home for her to feel welcome will not go unnoticed.

To begin this process, remember to focus on your guest. This is about what she would enjoy most, not your ideal meal. You may be a reasonably accomplished cook when it comes to great big slabs of red meat or mom's meatloaf, but she will be much more impressed if you fix something a little more sophisticated with her in mind. I have chosen a menu that is simple enough for the unexperienced cook to achieve.

Avoid especially messy dishes like unshelled crab, finger-lickin' ribs or spaghetti which might cause some embarrassment if it splatters. Another very important point is to select dishes which can be prepared ahead of time and only require minimal attention on the night. Your efforts will go astray if she is irritated that you have spent the entire evening in the kitchen cursing instead of re-filling her wine glass and charming her with your wit and intelligence.

I would begin with an antipasto platter. This is a combination of sundried tomatoes, klamata olives, marinated artichoke hearts and eggplant, and usually a couple of gourmet cheeses (Port Salut & Brie are my favorites). This should be served with a mixture of gourmet crackers, toast points and bread sticks. The beauty of something like this is that you have something all ready to go when she arrives. Open a nice bottle of wine, set the platter on the coffee table and you can spend some time getting acquainted and if things are going well, feed each other some very tasty morsels.

When selecting a main course I would stick with beef, chicken or vegetarian to be safe. Unless you know her eating habits already, it is a bit risky to pick seafood or lamb as people either really like it or really don't like it. I suggest a marinated teriyaki chicken breast served over a bed of jasmine rise topped with grilled pineapple. Serve it with a Caesar salad and some fresh French bread.

To prepare the chicken, cut each chicken breast in 3 even pieces. This allows the marinade to fully penetrate the meat and give a wonderful flavor, and makes for a more interesting presentation. Combine 1/3 C each of light soy sauce and canola oil. Add 1 tablespoon ketchup, 1 clove crushed garlic and some ground black pepper. Mix very well, and marinate the chicken pieces at least a couple hours, overnight would be better. To cook the chicken,

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