Win Her with Dinner

This witty, accessible cookbook for men proposes painstaking instructions for""seriously impressing"" a lady by entertaining at home. Written by three regular guys who initially learned their way around a kitchen through caveman-like trial and error (including Hilebronner, now a private chef to the stars), the book leaves nothing to chance.""Each recipe is a blueprint for a complete, self-contained, ready-to-share evening, start to finish,"" and the authors also offer advice on choosing a menu and accompanying wine, getting the house ready for female company, preparing a great meal and deciding what music to play. While none of the information is dumbed down per se, the cookbook is geared toward those men who are wholly uninitiated in the kitchen and provides a very basic, straightforward culinary sagesse. Each of the 24 meals, with meat, chicken, seafood or vegetarian entrees, gives a simple description of what the menu really is, such as Pork, Cornmeal Mush, and Tomatoes, which a man should be sure to his date is Garlic-Rosemary Pork Tenderloin with Creamy Gorgonzola Polenta and Pesto-Baked Tomatoes. While some readers may find the book's basic assumption that ""most guys don't cook"" impertinent, or its beer buddy humor sophomoric (""pick the breasts that look the perkiest"" when choosing chicken at the store), many men (and women) will rejoice in the new world of possibilities for wining and dining a date at home. Photos.