What are some fun recipes for my girlfriend and I can cook together to bring us closer?

Oyster cocktail followed by oyster Rockefellar with steamed lobster and lots of wine

Here is a meal that is labor intensive and would be kinda fun to work with someone to produce. It’s all fairly easy, but needs hands. Good luck! <3

Westport Salad

Ingredients:
1 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp Parmesan Cheese
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
dash of Accent
iceberg lettuce
romaine lettuce or spinach
3/4 cup grated cauliflower
3/4 cup toasted bread crumbs
Preparation:
Combine mayonnaise, cheese, lemon juice, garlic powder, salt, pepper and Accent to make dressing. Refrigerate 2 hours or more for flavors to develop. Toss greens with dressing and half of the grated cauliflower. Top each serving with remaining cauliflower and the toasted bread crumbs. Yield: 6 servings

Beef Braciole “Pinwheel Style”
Mario Batali

Ingredients:
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
4 ounces thinly sliced salami, cut into ¼-inch-wide matchsticks
8 ounces Italian Fontina, cut into ¼-inch cubes
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/2 cup toasted bread crumbs
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
One 10-inch long beef tenderloin roast cut from the heart of the tenderloin (2½ to 3 pounds), butterflied (see Note)
Preparation:
In a medium bowl, combine the garlic, scallions, parsley, salami, Fontina, Parmigiano, and bread crumbs and mix well. Add 1/4 cup of the olive oil and mix well with your hands or a spoon. Set aside.
Cut six 15-inch-long pieces of kitchen twine. Open out the beef, season on both sides with salt and pepper, and place it on a work surface so a long side is toward you. Spread the bread crumb mixture evenly over the beef, leaving a 1/2-inch border along the side farthest from you; press and gently pack the stuffing mixture onto the beef to keep it in place (you may have a little stuffing left over—it makes a great Panini filling). Starting from the side nearest you, rollup the meat like a jelly roll, pressing any stuffing that falls out of the ends back into the roll, and tie tightly with the twine, spacing the ties evenly (it’s easier if you have a friend to tie the beef while you hold the roll together). Wrap tightly in plastic wrap to make a compact roll, and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, or as long as overnight.
Preheat a gas grill or prepare a fire in a charcoal grill.
Carefully unwrap the beef roll and, using a very sharp knife, cut it between the ties into six thick pinwheels. Brush gently on both sides with the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Gently lay the pinwheels on the hottest part of the grill and cook, unmoved, for 5 to 7 minutes. Using a spatula, carefully turn each pinwheel over the cook for about 4 minutes longer for a medium-rare. (Don’t be alarmed if some of the cheese in the stuffing starts to melt and char on the grill, making kinds of a savory Florentine-cookie-like thing; but if you find it charring too much, move the pinwheels to a slightly cooler part of the grill.) Transfer to a platter and serve. Serves 6
Note: Beef braciole is traditionally made with slices of top round or a similar cut, pounded think and wrapped around a savory filling. It’s a mainstay at Italian street fairs. This is a more refined version. All the lusty flavors of braciole are wrapped up in a butterflied tenderloin—and the results are spectacular. You can have the butcher “butterfly” the meat, but it’s easy to do yourself. To butterfly the beef, simply use a sharp knife to cut it horizontally almost but not all the way in half, starting from one of the long sides, so you can open it out like a book. Another tip: Be sure to buy good salami from an Italian market for this dish.

Crispy Cinnamon Sugar Palmiers
Take a cue from the French and get sophisticated with these surprisingly simple caramelized pastries.

Ingredients:
Non-stick baking spray
1 box (17.25-ounce) puff pastry, thawed
1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup sugar mixed with 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Spray two baking sheets with non-stick baking spray and set aside.
On a lightly floured surface, unfold the thawed pastry and brush with the egg mixture.
Sprinkle the pastry with 2 tablespoons of the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Lift the two long edges of the pastry and gently fold them into the center.
Again, brush the dough with the egg mixture and then sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Fold the longer sides into the center again, brushing the dough with the egg mixture and topping with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Continue this process, as though closing the pastry dough like a book, until you have created an 8-layer rectangle. Use the egg mixture and cinnamon-sugar mixture to top the final layer. Repeat steps with the second piece of thawed pastry.
Cut each dough rectangle into 12 equal squares. Place each piece on your prepared baking sheet, approximately 2 inches apart. Top each piece with the remaining egg mixture and cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Bake the palmiers for 12 minutes or until golden brown. Upon removal from the oven, lift them from the baking sheets to cool on a wire rack. Let the palmiers cool completely and serve.
Note: Palmier dough can be frozen until you are ready to bake and serve. Once baked, the pastries will keep for two to three days if stored in an airtight container at room temperature. Palmiers are wonderful dipped half in chocolate. mmmmmmm!