The Home Date

Spicy Sesame Crusted Ahi Tuna Complete Dinner Recipe

2021-03-27T12:30:00.001-04:00

A Japanese inspired complete dinner recipe for sesame crusted, pan-seared ahi tuna, white and wild rice, spicy soy roasted cucumbers and coffee jelly for dessert from start to finish. This recipe includes ingredients and a shopping list to make life simple.

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If you follow along with our video and instructions you can prepare this full meal in less than 60 minutes. That means you can have this date night dinner any night of the week you want.

Spicy Sesame Crusted Ahi Tuna Complete Dinner Recipe

Recipe Details
Courses
Appetizer	Spicy, garlicky edamame
Entrée	Sesame crusted, pan-seared ahi tuna stakes w/ chili mayo
Side dishes	White and wild rice, and spicy soy roasted cucumbers
Dessert	Coffee jelly
Wine pairing	Pinot noir
Info
Servings	2
Total Time	75 minutes
Cost*	$35
Cuisine	Japanese

* Estimated cost as of publication and does not include staples or drinks. Most of the shopping was done at ShopRite.

Complete NY Steak Dinner Recipe Video

You can watch the video of this dinner being made. If you make this yourself leave a comment and let us know how it went. You can also send us pictures on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Home Dinner Date Details

Appetizer: Spicy, Garlicky Edamame

If you want to have a hot date night, start with some hot, spicy food^**. This spicy, garlic, edamame dish is a fun and tasty way to start off the evening.

** Results not guaranteed. Void where prohibited by law. If your date lasts longer than 4 hours... whoohoo!

Serve the spicy edamame along with an empty plate for collecting the shells (or pods). You eat edamame pods by biting them open with your teeth and sucking out the beans inside. Then you discard the shells on the empty plate.

Spicy Edamame Ingredients

10 oz steamable bag of edamame in pods
4 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon chilli paste
1 tablespoon mayonaise
pinch of salt

Entrée: Sesame Crusted, Pan-Seared Ahi Tuna with Chili Mayo, White and Wild Rice and Soy Roasted Cucumbers

Our main dish tonight is a sesame crusted, pan-seared ahi tuna. The toasted sesame seeds on the outside give this a wonderful nutty flavor. The inside stays raw like sushi but it looks like a perfectly cooked medium rare steak. Ahi tuna is usually sold frozen and what we normally get but if you want fresh, it's usually sold as yellow-fin tuna. Ahi tuna is just the Hawaiian way to say yellow-fin tuna apparently. Some packages are marked as "sushi grade" but from the little bit of research I did it doesn't seem like that's anything more than a marketing term. Go with the tuna steaks that work for you. I usually like the smaller ones as 4 ro 5 ounces is a good sized portion per person.

We went with a chili mayo sauce this time but you could also go with wasabi aoli instead.

To continue the black and white theme used in the sesame seeds we also went with a mix of white and black, wild rice. Our vegatable side dish is spicy, soy roasted cucumbers. These were very good and the first time we've had cooked cucumbers.

Sesame Crusted Ahi Tuna with Chili Aoli Ingredients

2 Ahi Tuna Steaks
1/8 cup black sesame seeds
1/4 cup white sesame seeds
2 tablespoons mayonaise
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon chile paste (or to taste)
juice of 1/2 a lime

Soy Roasted Cucumbers Ingredients

1 lb seedless (English) cucumbers
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 fresh red chile finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 leaf basil chopped
3 tablespoons canola oil (peanut or other high heat oil)

Black and White Rice Ingredients

1/4 cup white rice
1/4 cup wild rice
1/4 teaspoon salt

Dessert: Coffee Jelly

According to Wikipedia, coffee jelly used to be popular in the US and Britain but now Japan seems to be the hot spot of the coffee jelly scene. In Japan they use agar but we'll use gellatin instead as that's easier to find. Of course we're going to top it with homemade whipped cream too!

This was very refreshing and we're glad we made it. The caffiene gives you a little extra energy to keep the date going too.

Strawberry Shortcake Ingredients

2 cups black coffee
2 packets unflavored gellatin (1.5 tablespoons or 16 grams)
3 tablespoons water
4 tablespoons sugar (for coffee jelly)
3 ounces heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons sugar (for cream)

Wine Selection

Spicy, fatty, red fish like tuna go well with a dry red wine like a pinot noir which is what we went with.

I have to admit that pinot noir is usually not my first choice of varietals if I'm just drinking wine but it paired very well with this meal. My local wine store had some Mark West Pinot Noir on sale for about $10. The price and decent ratings is why we chose it.

Directions

Timings are included as a guide to keep you on track, make adjustments as necessary.

The Night Before Your Date

A few things will need to be done the night before your date. It should only take about 10 minutes or so.

Start brewing 2 cups of coffee using whatever brewing method and beans you like.
Place the 1/4 cup of wild rice in a bowl, add enough cold water to the bowl to cover the rice, the cover the bowl and place it in the fridge. Soaking the wild rice overnight will cut down on the cooking time tomorrow.
Take the tuna out of the freezer to defrost in the refrigerator if you're using frozen tuna steaks.
Mix 2 packets of unflavored gelatin in a bowl with 3 tablespoons of water and mix to hydrate.
After the coffee has brewed, add the 4 tablespoons of sugar to the bowl of gelatin, then add the hot coffee and mix until all the gelatin is dissolved.
Pour the mix into your molds, let it cool a little, then cover and refrigerate until tomorrow night.

15 Minutes Before Your Date Arrives

Get started in the kitchen about 15 minutes before you expect your date to arrive.

(00:00) Take the tuna out of the fridge so it starts to get up to room temperature.
(00:00) Boil 3/4 cups of water, drain the black rice and add it to the boiling water. Cover and reduce heat to simmer for 15 minutes.
(00:01) Mix the mayonaise, sesame oil, chili paste and juice of 1/2 a lime together for the tuna sauce. Cover and refrigerate until plating.
(00:03) start measuring and prepping the other ingredients we'll need for the appetizer and sides. Dice the chili pepper, mince the garlic, cut the cucumbers into little spears, measure the sesame seeds, etc.
(00:08) Steam the edamame in the microwave according to the bag instructions. Start sauteeing the garlic in sesame oil until lightly browned. Then mix the sauteed garlic, mayonaise, chili paste, and soy sauce in a bowl. Mix in the edamame when done.
(00:13) Start boiling a 1/2 cup of water in the microwave.
(00:15) Add the boiling water, along with the 1/4 cup of white rice to the wild rice, bring it back up to a boil, cover and reduce heat and simmer for another 15 minutes.

When Your Date Arrives

We'll wait to cook the rest of the food so it's hot for our guest. If they're running late the rice is easy to heat back up.

(00:17) After welcoming your date, serve them the spicy edamame and some wine.
(00:20) Start sauteeing cucumbers in canola oil.
(00:28) After cucumbers started to brown a bit, add the chili pepper and garlic and stir.
(00:29) Add the soy sauce, the rice vinegar to the cucumbers and keep an eye on it while you work on them tuna.
(00:30) Heat up a pan over medium high heat. Press each side of the tuna steaks into the sesame seeds to coat. Then add oil to the pan and sear the tuna to your liking. 30 to 60 seconds is what most people do. We did 60 seconds on each side and 45 seconds on each edge. When done remove from pan and let rest.
(00:36) finish the cucumbers with by adding the sesame oil and lastly the basil. Remove from heat and start plating the rice, cucumbers and chili mayo.
Slice the tuna into 1/2" thick slices and add to the plate and serve.

After the Main Course

Remove the coffee jelly from the fridge. If you need to unmold them it helps to dip bottom and sides of the molds in hot tap water for a few seconds to help them release.
Whip up some whipped cream with sugar to the thickness you like, top the cofee jelly with the whipped cream and serve.

Shopping List

This is a summary of all the ingredients used in this Ahi Tuna dinner date recipe to make it easier to shop.

2 Ahi Tuna Steaks (about 4 ounces each)
1 basil leaf
1/8 cup black sesame seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
2 tablespoons chili paste
1 pound seedless cucumbers
10 oz steam in bag edamame pods
1 red chili pepper
6 cloves garlic
2 packets unflavored gelatin
3 ounces heavy whipping cream
coffee
1 lime
3 tablespoons mayonaise
3 tablespoons canola or peanut oil
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon + pinch of salt
2-1/2 teaspoons sesame oil
3.5 teaspoons soy sauce
6 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons water
1/4 cup white rice
1/4 cup black wild rice

NY Strip Steak With Mushroom Sauce Complete Dinner Recipe

2021-03-03T12:54:00.015-05:00

A complete dinner recipe for a NY strip steak with mushroom sauce, cheese and grape appetizer and homemade strawberry shortcake dessert from start to finish. This recipe includes ingredients and a shopping list to make life simple.

If you follow along with our video and instructions you can prepare this full meal in less than 90 minutes. That means you can have this date night dinner any night of the week you want.

Big gap between episodes

I've always loved cooking and I had an idea for a cookbook decades ago with a raunchy title. With the rise of blogging and the Internet I decided to try to put those ideas on here. If you see the last post was a few years ago. I wanted to make this site very video heavy but it turns out making videos is hard. :) That was also a different time where I didn't have everything I needed to get this going, especially the time and video skills. Thankfully things are better now and I also have someone in my life who I really enjoy cooking with.

NY Strip Steak with Mushroom Sauce Complete Dinner Recipe

Recipe Details
Courses
Appetizer	Cheese and grapes
Entrée	Pan-seared, butter basted, NY Strip steak with mushroom sauce.
Side dishes	Creamy mashed potatoes and green beans with buttery, basil tomatoes and sunflower seeds.
Dessert	Strawberry shortcake
Wine pairing	Cabernet Sauvignon or Bordeaux
Info
Servings	2
Total Time	75 minutes
Cost*	$40
Cuisine	American

* Estimated cost as of publication and does not include staples or drinks. Most ingredients purchased at Aldi.

Complete NY Steak Dinner Recipe Video

You can watch the video of this dinner being made. If you make this yourself leave a comment and let us know how it went. You can also send us pictures on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Home Dinner Date Details

Appetizer: Cheese and Grapes

Our appetizer tonight is very simple. Just some hard, aged cheese and red seedless grapes. Nanna wanted New Zealand cheddar but we were shopping at Aldi, which doesn't have the greatest cheese selection so we went with gruyere.

This is a light, refreshing appetizer that you and your date can snack on while you're preparing dinner.

Cheese and Grapes Appetizer Ingredients

6 ozs gruyere cheese
1/2 lb red seedless grapes

Entrée: NY Strip and mushroom sauce with green beans and mashed potatoes

Our main dish tonight is a pan-seared, butter basted New York strip steak. This is great way to prepare steak but you'll want to make sure you have a thick cut.

When I was younger I used to think that when you had steak you had the whole cut. 1 NY Strip Steak is more than enough for 2 people. About 3/4lb is the smallest thick cut strip steak I can usually find. Everyone loves a good steak but 3 to 4 ounces of meat and lots of vegetables is really the healthy way to go. It might also be a good idea to not be completely bloated after your home dinner date.

The beef broth concentrate is a little more expensive than regular beef broth but it saves a lot of time by not having to wait for the sauce to reduce as much.

Mashed potatoes and green beans with tomatoes round out the main course.

NY Strip Steak with Mushroom Sauce Ingredients

1 boneless New York Strip Steak
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 sprig of rosemary
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon butter
1 shallot
2 portabella mushroom caps
1/3 cup red wine
2 packets beef broth concentrate

Mashed Potato Ingredients

1 pound russet potatoes
1 tablespoon butter
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon salt for potatoes
1 teaspoon salt for boiling

Green Beans and Basil Tomatoes Ingredients

1/2 pound trimmed green beans
10 ounces grape tomatoes
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
1/4 teaspoon basil (we used basil paste)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Dessert: Strawberry Shortcake

This is a simple, refreshing dessert that can be made quick.

This is basically the Strawberry Shortcake recipe from FoodWishes.com. I'm a big fan of Chef John and I found some similarity in his story about this being his grandfather's recipe and my grandfather's cakes.

Strawberry Shortcake Ingredients

For the shortcake

1 cup flour
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons heavy cream

For the macerated strawberries

1 pint strawberries
1/4 cup sugar

For the whipped cream

1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 tablespoon sugar
a few drops of pure vanilla extract

Wine Selection

This is a meal that works well with a dry, full-bodied, red wine with medium to high acidity and tanins. A cabernet sauvignon or Bordeaux is a good choice.

We wound up getting a 2016 bottle of 1935 Cuvée Tradition Bordeaux from Les Vignerons Réunis de Monségur which went very well with the meal and was less tha $12. Like most Bordeaux reds, it's a blended wine containing Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes. It's on the high end of body, tannins and acity with notes of black berries.

Directions

Before your date arrives

Start preparing the dinner about 35 to 40 minutes before you expect your date to arrive.

(00:00) Pre-heat your oven to 425F and add a bowl for making whip cream into the freezer. Measure out the ingredients for the strawberry shortcake
(00:05) Wash, drain and slice the strawberries. Mix with sugar, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until dessert.
(00:10) Start melting butter in a pan over medium heat. In a bowl, mix the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar for the shortcake.
(00:15) When the butter browns, mix the milk and heavy cream into the dry ingredients together with the melted butter. Stir until the dough starts to come together then use your hands to finish shaping the dough into a 1" thick rectangle. Cut it into 4 pieces.
(00:20) Get the steak of of the fridge so it can get to room temperature when it's time to cook it. Salt and pepper both sides. measure out the ingredients for the green beans and mashed potatoes and prep them as appropriate, cutting the potatoes into 1" chunks, slicing the shallots, mushrooms and tomatoes.
(00:30) Cut cheese for serving, rinse grapes and plate. Clean up a little.
(00:35) Remove cake from oven. If a tooth pick poked in the center comes out clean, it's done.

After your date arrives

(00:40) Put out the cheese and grapes, pour the wine, saving 1/3rd cup for the mushroom sauce, get the steamer ready and start heating the pan you'll cook the steak in over high heat. Cast iron, stainless or other non-non-stick pan is preferred.
(00:42) Start boiling the potatoes in salted water with a bay leaf.
(00:45) Add the canola oil to the pan and place the steak in it. Sear it on one side for 3 minutes. Flip it over and sear the other side for another 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Add sprig of rosemary and butter. Start basting the steak with the pan off the heat until the pan cools a little so the butter doesn't brown too fast. Keep basting until the steak reaches an internal temperature of 130F for medium rare (or however you like your steak done). The temperature will rise a little when it's resting.
(01:00) Steak should be ready now. If it is, remove it from the pan, tent it with aluminum foil and let it rest. Drain the potatoes.
(01:02) Rice or mash the potatoes. Mix in the heavy cream, butter and salt. Taste to see if it needs more salt.
(01:05) Drain all but 1 or 2 tablespoons of fat from the pan that was used to cook the steak. Start sautéing the shallots. Add the red wine to deglaze the pan and add the mushrooms
(01:07) Add green beans to the steamer. Add rosemary, beef broth to the mushroom sauce. If the sauce is getting too thick, add some water.
(01:10) On medium low heat, start sauteeing sunflower seeds in butter with salt and pepper. Add tomatoes and basil.
(01:15) Start plating mashed potatoes, green beans and tomatoes. Slice steak and add about 3 ounces to each plate. Add mushroom sauce over steak.

After the main course

Slice shortcake in half so you have a top and a bottom.
Add each bottom to a plate
Cover the bottom with the macerated strawberries, making sure to spoon the extracted juice onto the cakes.
Add the top of the cake, and more strawberries.
Get your mixing bowl out of the freezer and pour in 1/3rd cup of cold, heavy cream. Whisk it until it starts getting thick then add the sugar and vanilla. Continue whisking until it's think enough for you. Add whipped cream to the top of the cakes and serve.

Shopping List

This is a summary of all the ingredients used in this dinner to make it easier to shop.

8 ounces grape or cherry tomatoes
6 ounces portabella mushroom caps
1 pound russet potatoes
1/2 pound trimmed green beans
1/2 pound red seedless grapes
1 pint strawberries
1 shallot
1/2 teaspoon fresh basil or basil paste
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds (1 ounce)
1 NY strip steak (around 3/4 pound)
6 tablespoons butter
6 ounces gruyere
8 ounces heavy cream
2 ounces milk
1/3 cup red wine (or beef broth)
2 beef broth concentrate packets (or 3-4 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 cup flour
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
6-1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Acknowledgements

Strawberry shortcake recipe adapted from FoodWishes.com

"AcidJazz" by Kevin MacLeod available at https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Kevin_MacLeod/Jazz_Sampler/AcidJazz_1430 Under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

"5 Station 5" by Pipe Choir available at https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Pipe_Choir/Pipe_Choir/5_Station_5 Under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Complete Steak Taco Dinner Recipe

2017-11-10T07:30:00.020-05:00

For the first post on TheHomeDate we're going to be going over making an entire mexican meal from start to finish. Taco night includes taqueria style steak tacos, white rice and a bean and corn side dish with some homemade tres leches cake for dessert. Along with these written instructions is a video showing you step by step how to make and time each item in the meal.

Taco night is a good midweek date night meal plan that is easy to whip up one night after work along with some prep the night before.

Taco Night Menu

Recipe Details
Courses
Appetizer	Tortilla Cchips and salsa
Entrée	Taqueria style, skirt steak tacos
Side dishes	Rice, black beans and corn
Dessert	Tres leches cake
Wine pairing	Zinfandel, Shiraz or your favorite Mexican beer
Info
Servings	2
Total Time	60 minutes the day before, 30 minutes the day of
Cost*	$35
Cuisine	Mexican

* Estimated cost as of publication and does not include staples or drinks.

Complete Taco Dinner Recipe Video

Below you can watch a video with instructions and timings or you can read the instructions below the video.

Home Dinner Date Details

Appetizer: Chips and Salsa

Appetizer is a simple bowl of your favorite tortilla chips and a small bowl of your favorite salsa so your guest has something to nibble on while you make dinner.

Chips and Salsa Ingredients

6 ounces tortilla chips
6 ounces of salsa

Entrée & Sides: Steak Tacos, rice, beans and corn

This is a fairly simple taco recipe, on flour tortillas we're adding our marinated and broiled steak, onions, tomatoes, salsa, jalapeno peppers and a squeeze of lime juice. Served along with white rice,

Tacos and Sides Ingredients

4 (or 8) small, soft white corn tortillas
1 skirt steak (about 1 lb)
1 medium tomato
1 medium Vidalia onion (or other sweet yellow onion)
2 jalapeno peppers
1 lime
4 tablespoons prepared salsa (hot or mild)
1 15 oz can of black beans
1 15 oz can of sweet whole kernel corn
1/2 cup white rice
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
1 packet taco seasoning mix
2 tablespoons lemon juice (or lime)
butter to grease pan
salt and pepper to taste

Dessert: Tres Leches Cake

Tres leches cake is a sponge cake that is soaked in three types of milk, topped with whipped cream. It is utterly delicious.

Tres Leches Cake Ingredients

1-1/2 cups cake flour (or all purpose flour)
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 stick of unsweetened butter
2 cups of sugar
5 eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups 2% milk (or whatever milk you have)
1 14oz can Sweetened condensed milk
1 12oz can Evaporated milk
1-1/2 cups heavy cream

Equipment

A stand mixer is nice but not necessary.
Some mixing spoons, whisk, rubber/silicone spatulas
Mixing bowls
measuring spoons, cups
1 quart or larger pot for rice
2 quart or larger pot for beans and corn
13x9" cake pan or similar
broiling pan for steak
cutting boards and knives
spatula
zippered freezer bag
plastic wrap
kitchen timer
meat thermometer

Directions

The Day Before

Set out a stick of butter earlier in the day to let it soften. If you forgot to do that, put a large bowl or measuring cup with about 2 cups of water in the microwave and bring it to a boil. Then put a bowl of chopped up butter in the microwave with the hot water and close the door. The butter should soften in a few minutes.
In a bowl combine 1-1/2 cups of flour and 1 teaspoons of backing powder. Mix well with a whisk and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cream 1 stick softened butter and 1 cup sugar together until butter turns light and fluffier.
Add 5 eggs, one egg at a time followed by 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
Start to slowly mix in flour mixture a few tablespoons at a time until thoroughly combined.
Grease 13x9 baking sheet and spread cake batter into pan. Spread and shake it around to get it to cover bottom of pan.
Bake cake for 30 minutes at 350F.
You have some time now to clean up a bit.
While the cake is baking, prepare the marinade by mixing 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 packet taco seasoning, 2 tablespoons lemon juice and about 1/2 cup of water. Place skirt steak and marinade in a zippered freezer bag. Add more water if necessary to cover steak. Place bag in a bowl and place in refrigerator to marinate until tomorrow night.
Wash your hands and any surfaces you used after handling meat. Clean those dishes if you have time.
When the cake is done take it out of the oven and let it cool 5-10 minutes.
Combine cans of condensed milk and evaporated milk along with 2 cups of milk in a bowl. Whisk thoroughly to dissolve condensed milk.
Use a fork to poke holes along the entire top of the cake.
Slowly ladle the milk mixture over the top of the cake.
Cover the cake pan in plastic wrap and place in fridge.
If you're serving wine and don't have a wine cooler place your wine in the refrigerator.

The Morning Of

You can do this an hour or two after putting the cake in the fridge but if you prefer to do it the next morning that works too.

whip 1-1/2 cups heavy cream with 1 cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla until stiff peaks form.
Spread whipped cream over top of cake.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

The Day Of

On the day of the date you'll have 30-45 minutes of cooking to do. I would try to time it so that there's a few minutes of cooking still to go after they arrive.

If you're drinking a red wine take the wine out of the fridge now. Slice the cake up into 16 rectangular pieces and put it back in the fridge.
Start by preparing produce. Cut lime into 8 wedges. Chop tomato, onion and jalapeno and keep in separate containers until needed.
Add 1/2 cup of rice and 1-1/4 cups of water into a 1 quart sauce pan. Add salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover pot and set over a low flame to simmer.
Set a timer for 20 minutes. You'll be using this timer to time the rest of the meal.
Start getting the steak ready. Pull the steak out of the refrigerator and place it on a pan to get it ready to broil. When the timer is at 15 minutes left put the steak under the broiler. It should need about 5 minutes on each side then a 5 minute rest.
When there are 12 minutes left, take the 2 quart pot and place it over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and about 1/2 cup of chopped onions and start sauteing. Add a couple of table spoons of chopped tomatoes and as much tomato juice as you can trickle out of the container you stored it in. Add 2 tablespoons of chopped jalapeno, 1/4 cup of water from the bean can. Then strain and rinse the beans and corn, add them to the pot and stir frequently as they cook.
Keep an eye on the timer when making the beans and corn. When the timer reaches 10 minutes it's time to flip the steak over.
If you're drinking a white wine take the wine out of the fridge now.
Get tortillas ready to heat. Place 4 (or 8 tortillas doubled up) on a large plate. Cover with a damp paper towel and place in the microwave. Single tortillas can sometimes fall apart in the middle. Doubling up protects against that but adds calories I'd rather do without. The newer the relationship is though the more I'd be inclined to double up so everything goes well.
with 5 minutes left on the timer check the meat temperature. It should be about 130F at the thickest point. If it is then take it out of the broiler and let it rest for a few minutes.
When the timer goes off... take the rice and beans off the heat and get your steak ready for carving.
Heat the tortillas for 30 seconds in the microwave.
Slice the steak in half and save half for tomorrow.
Slice the steak across the grain into thin strips and then chop it up in the other direction a little
Get plates ready and hit the tortillas for another 10 seconds or so.
Lay out two tortillas, top with 1/4 of the meat, a tablespoon or so each of jalapeno, onion, tomatoes and salsa on each tortilla.
Spoon some rice and bean and corn onto the plate.
Place 2 lime wedges (for the tacos) on each plate then serve.

After you and your date are done with your main dish, plate up a couple of pieces of tres leches cake to enjoy for desert.

Acknowledgements

The tres leches cake recipe is one I've been making from allrecipes by Stephanie.