El, looks good, and an interesting recipe to say the least. One other traditional step omitted there: ice bath after boiling, to the toppings, and then to the pan.

Did it taste like a chewy ny bagel or more like a roll with a hole?

Do you prefer pickled onions over raw onion? For those who do not like eating raw onions, or those who already have enough chest hair, try washing them after cutting to get rid of the intensity.

Btc,

Super chewy, very much nyc bagel style chew - in fact more chewy than your average nyc bagel. The big difference was the crust. It was nice and crunchy, but super thin. Very different than the thicker crust most bagels have.

I prefer raw red onion with my bagel and lox, but pickled is what was available. It was really good and worked almost as well as raw onion.

The answer depends on the genders and cultures/heritage of the people involved. Most of the below assumes male cooking for female though some applies to both:

You should cook something that is "you" rather than being a generic guy trying to measure dicks with the whole world and failing at it. So a dish from your own culture or heritage is good or a recipe you have made up yourself if you are dating within your culture. For example I often cook a roast chicken with Yorkshire puddings in Eastern Europe as A) they have usually never had them before (there is the risk that they don't rise, but being from Yorkshire myself that never happens to me of course) and B) they will like them. Part B) is important - go for something that is accessible to people not familiar with it - e.g. not overly spicy.

Don't go for obvious try-hard sex food like chocolate strawberries and oysters as it may backfire if you look too desperate or calculating. She's invited you to her place so she's already decided to, er, provide dessert as it were. You should just try to show your general maturity and value in the kitchen.

If you're female cooking for a male then much of the above applies but also don't forget to give him a much bigger portion than you would eat yourself.

He wants to get laid, not discuss the readers digest and sleep together in the same room but in different beds. No signals, no sex.

The signal was her inviting him over. No need to go with 80s TV cheesy tropes to get laid.

Are using weinstein lenses to read that? What would you cook, a turkey leg? Use it to bop em on the head and eat it when you're done?

pre-handmade raviolli with a salad. Maybe text a pic of making them before you get there to show you aren't full of ****. Buy whatever dessert, maybe a fancy Entemmans.

If a chick is asking you to spend the evening with her at her place, she is down to clown. Oysters and chocolate strawberries makes you look like a douche whose only experience with the ladies is watching romantic comedies from the late 80s/early 90s.

I didn't say anything about oysters because there is no way he is shucking on a third date.

sushi/wine/chocolate berries is as appetizing as it is tantalizing.

Ravioli's, salad, and entenmann's sounds like a lonely Monday night. I had something much snappier for you but refrained April fools!

As long as she is new to meth and I don't have get a job at a pizza place or be near a dumpster, that sounds like a solid Monday night.

Champagne and strawberries for desert. If it’s a third date where she’s inviting you over and nothing happens than it’s not worth going forward.

LMAO. Hard to disagree with most of this.

I’m on the train of champagne and strawberries is way too try hard. Whip up a pasta dish that’s easy (you know, 97% of them). Tell her “I’m cooking, you’re on dessert duty” when you set it up.

Its a third date not a 6 months in first Valentine’s Day.

Depends a bit where you are but anywhere outside of France or certain social sets in London then champagne (as in actually from Champagne, France) is too try hard and also too generic. By generic I mean that anyone can buy champagne once in a while when their thoughts turn priapic so it proves nothing. Impressing people with your impeccable taste doesn't really work outside James Bond films.

If you do fizzy wine make something with it that is "you" or from your culture - e.g. if you are from Britain yourself but dating "off-reservation" in some sense then fizzy wine with orange juice will be a welcome surprise though that's more of a breakfast drink really. If that's not going to be new to her then put mango juice in it. There should be some added value from you though.

Girls tend to like sweet tastes so in the absence of information to the contrary then drinks should be something more like sweetish cider (I mean this in the UK sense of alcoholic cider, with a sweeter taste - not just farm-style apple juice) while you prepare and maybe during main course then switching to a dessert wine like a Tokay or something later. A lot of champagne doesn't actually taste that good to someone who's not used to it and she's not exactly going to find it that sluggable.

Took a poll of [1] females for you guys. Here are the results:

Oysters, chocolate covered strawberries, champagne - trying too hard; strange meal to have at home

Simple pasta dish - not impressive enough since the guy offered to cook, unless it's homemade pasta

Disagree with pasta.

I usually always cook steak, sometimes with dauphinoise, sometimes with just mash, and usually some greens. Uusally ribeye on the bone which is sure to impress her. If I have time to make dessert it's sticky toffee pudding or a simple chocolate pot.

In this case I would pre-make the dauphinoise and bring it round to cook, about 40 mins in oven.

If a girl likes steak in addition to other commonalities we'll have a good night.

But then again I do have a picture of steak on my profile so a lot of the time that's a talking point from the off and probably filters out vegetarians.

The girl just wants something pretty to post on instagram, with the tag John cooked this for me. So mainly just focus on presentation and give it a bull**** fancy name.

@txdome with some surprisingly good and informative posts.

txdome def spitting some truth ITT

ffs dr. z, can you give us a trip report so this derail can end and we can get back to Baking by btc?

I'm pretty sure there is a baking thread somewhere in ott. Let's rename this thread tx drops obvious knowledge, give him praise for it.

seared scallops on top of some type of puree imo

Don't stink up her place with seafood. imo. Or trying to sear a steak setting off the smoke alarms.

Did pork marinaded in (my) homemade cider and then did a stir-fry with it, along with with green beans onions, noodles etc today. I also caramelized part of the apple juice used to make the cider before fermentation started.

That's the kind of thing that I mean about the dish being "you" (or in this case "me").

Mostly agree with the [1] female any of us knows about pasta. It's a bit different if you're actually Italian and it's therefore going to be both "you" and you can actually ,ake it more amazing than she's had before. Also if you're both very young (e.g. 18-22) and you're both just learning then maybe it's passable.

Disagree with btc that you need to "send signals" with the food choice. You can still close the deal after lunch but your best chance to do that is to show that you're cool to hang out with instead of being this tiresome guy trying to get laid with every single thing you do.

Very likely the signal will be after lunch when you ask what's for dessert, she takes off her top and says "me!"

If not, then you can start making moves.

Make something that you've made a few times before and not something that you're consulting a recipe for.

Know your equipment. So likely bring your own knife, possibly pan.

Cooking for dates is preferably done on home turf.

This.

If the meal is prepped at my house than it’s a different story. I braised some short ribs for my current lady on a first date.