Opinions and suggestions for valentines dinner

p-nut

My girlfriend and I are together 6 months on valentines day, and she said she doesnt want to go out and would prefer if I cooked something for us and we sat in with some drinks and a DVD afterwards. I've cooked for her before; steak and homemade chips, stirfries, duck and creamy mash, and scallops and mash. It's usually just been a quick one course meal before a night out, but really want to dazzle her this night as its a little more special;)

I've already decided on a starter and dessert, so i'd like your opinions on those, and also some suggestions as to what I should go for as a main course. She wouldn't really be into lamb or pork dishes, and only eats beef as steaks or in the likes of lasagne or cottage pie, and I want to make something a little more special than those. She loves really tasty food, italian probably being her favourite, but not carbonara, and is willing to taste anything. Also, bear in mind I have access to very good quality fresh meat and fish.

So far I have a nice homemade prawn cocktail, made with fresh prawns for starters, and a rich homemade chocolate mousse, both of which can be prepared the night before;)

As I said, I'd welcome opinions on my choices of starters and desserts, and hope you can help me with my choice of main course.

Thanks all for your help:)

babyguinnessfan

Hi,

Just wanted to direct you to the link below - it's from the BBC food website. Nenah Cherry & Andrea Oliver have a show called Dish It Up - I saw Episode 4 some time last week, where they were preparing a meal for a double date.

They did a really nice fish dish with roasted root veg and 2 dipping sauces, which they recommended as a nice light dish for a date instead of something heavy which may slow you down later on in the evening!

I know that you are doing a fish starter but it's worth a look anyway.

They also did this absolutely amazing looking pear and rose tart for dessert - perfect for Valentine's!

Enjoy the evening.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/tv_and_radio/dishingitup_episodes.shtml

John Mason

We are having a dinner party and for our main we are having home made chicken kiev (the recipe on this forum), with a butternut squash and spinach bake and asperagus (sp?)

we done a trail run a few weeks ago and it was supreme

00112984

I always feel that prawn cocktail is a bit of a cop-out, if I'm honest. It's not a dish I like as 1) it's cold, 2) it's not hugely "special" and 3) the sauce just drowns out the taste of the prawns.

I'd suggest prawn pil-pil. Marinade tiger prawns in olive oil, garlic and chili and then cook in the oven in (ideally) a cast-iron dish so that the oil is sizzling and the prawns are ready to pop. Served with fresh, crusty bread and real butter, it's amazing.

Just a suggestion.

As for the main course, my idea of heaven is:
Rare fillet steak
Fried onions (cooked in the juice from the steak to get them all sticky)
Mashed Potato
Broccoli
Carrots
Gravy
and
00112984's Bestest Mushrooms Ever.
Basically, fry some sliced mushrooms and drain off the excess juices. Return to the pan with a splash of cream, a few knobs of garlic butter and plenty of black pepper.

It's a fairly heavy main course which makes it perfect to retire to the couch after a while with a glass of wine and your mousse.

If you think that steak isn't right for the night, there are a few other things that might work.

How about turning the whole meal into a livingroom picnic? Light the fire, throw on some soft music, soft lighting and spread a blanket and some cushions on the floor. You could do a cheese fondue for the main with different breads and meats to dip. It's great fun.

If you wanted a light main course, maybe some white fish with lemon juice, splash of white wine, some sea salt, scallion and chili all wrapped in tinfoil and baked in the oven. Serve with roasted tomatoes and peppers and maybe some sauteed garlicky potatoes?

Minder

Did you see the Saturday Kitchen on BBC1 at the weekend? There was a very interesting dish by John Campbell - Slow-cooked beef fillet with horseradish mash, wild mushroom tortellini and red wine sauce

Have a read and see what you think. The beef cooked at a low temperature might not be possible, but you could cook that as normal and just follow the rest.

p-nut

Thanks for the suggestions folks, I'm back to square one with a starter as I forgot she can't eat prawns since we both had a tummy bug a few weeks back and prawns were the last thing she'd eaten before it, so prawn cocktail is off the list:rolleyes:

The dessert is now prepared and chilling in the fridge, and I need to think of something for starters and mains by tomorrow morning.

I want to do a pasta dish for the main course, so open to suggestions on that, and it can't be a cream based sauce like carbonara.

Was thinking of panfried scallops for starters, but again open to suggestions?

Thanks all

Kitty_N

I was looking around for a nice starter myself and I came across this recipe for a goat's cheese/butternut squash thing that I think looks rather tasty.

http://www.rte.ie/tv/theafternoonshow/2008/1117/derryclarke654.html

Alternatively maybe you could make a really nice soup? That way you could have it prepared hours in advance. Maybe leek, potato and blue cheese soup? It's yummy.

Spinach and ricotta cannelloni is a good choice for a pasta-based main as it's relatively simple but tastes great. Only problem is that there is a little bit of fiddling around with pasta sheets and the like before you put it in the oven (unless you can find the ready made tubes of course).

The Sweeper

An excellent starter is goats cheese and fresh cooked (not pickled) beetroot layered in a stack... let me see if I can find the recipe.

xxdilemmaxx

Not sure if this will be any use, but here is the menu I'm planning for V day...

For starters I'm doing a baked camembert, dead easy and really tasty

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/bakedcamembertwithth_76948.shtml

Then for mains I'm doing a dish that myself and the other half lived on while we were on hols in croatia, it's called mussles buzara (spelling prob wrong!) and it's whole prawns and mussels in a wine, tomato, garlic and breadcrumb sauce, gonna serve that with some tagliatelle. If anyone wants the recipe I can post it...

Then if we can still move after that I'm planning on this for dessert:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/chocolatefondantwith_87308.shtml

All washed down with a nice bottle of bubbly

deisebabe

An easy starter is brushetta!

http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/001321bruschetta_with_tomato_and_basil.php

Pasta with pesto, chicken, spinach baby tomatos and pinenuts is always nice

p-nut

Thanks for all the replies folks, you've been more than helpful:)

I've decided on what i'm going to serve now...

Starters:
Gourmet duck liver pate on crusty french bread with caremelized onion

Mains:
Tagliatelle with brocolli, mushroom, bacon and scallops pan fried in a kind of white wine, garlic and basil sauce, with fresh rocket leaves mixed through as a garnish at the end

Dessert:
Luxury home made chocolate mouse

As always, looking for your opinions on what i've decided:)

Clairecluck

Hi p-nut, that sounds lovely, really tasty. Just as a matter of interest, what base has your pasta sauce got?

You're probably well past the ideas stage but here's a nice recipe for scallops as a starter

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/6669/seared-scallops-with-leeks-and-lemon-chilli-butter

I'm going to try this myself tomorrow.

A really good recipe (and fairly easy as the tapinade can be made in advance and you could also have your potatoes peeled well in advance, keeping the fresh in a pot of cold water) which sprung to mind when I saw your post is this

http://www.cheapeats.ie/2009/01/23/grilled-trout-sweet-potato-mash-rocket-and-sun-dried-tomato-tapenade/

My boyfriend made this on Monday night and it really is lgorgeous, and like the recipe says, it's fairly impressive despite the fact that the effort is minimal. He used seabass instead of trout as it is on special in Supervalu at the moment. He also didn't bother with the anchovies in the tapinade. The tapinade, by the way, is really the star of the show. It is to DIE for! There was also loads left over and we kept in the fridge and used to spread on toast later. If you're a fan of italian food, olives, olive oil, sun dried tomatoes and the like, you'll find this fu€king gorgeous, as did I. Hope this helps, even if you don't use it tomorrow night you might like to cook it again.