valentines day ..meal

funkyniff

hi guys was wondering for valentines day it is a tradition to celebrate by a homemade candle lit dinner. but im running out of new and exciting and original ideas..
in the past i have made

starter bruchetta
main..steak with peppercorn sauce and fries with salad
dessert ..pavlova with cream and summer fruits

or

green thai curry
and
knickerblocka glory

soup
or beef stoganoff
and apple pie..

to name a few but i want something great
i always make lasagne or spag so thats not really special..

any ideas..
im a reasonably good cook and can start from scratch..
any tried and tested recipys

tSubh Dearg

A good main course is Parmesan Chicken. Darina Allen has a good recipe for it. It's basically chicken fillets (or turkey, which can taste jucier) cooked in the oven. It's covered in grated Parmesan with a little bit of butter and cream for a saucy finish. Serve it with veg of choice and rustic roast potatoes. These are potatoes you toss in olive oil, season and stick in the oven, you can put garlic cloves with them or a little rosemary to give them flavour. They're delicious.

If you have the time nothing beats homemade ice-cream for dessert.

I'll happily PM you either or these recipies if you like.

Doper Than U

Fajitas are always good..

Get the fajitas/wraps from a local supermarket.
Red Peppers, Onions, Guacamole, Tomato Salsa, Sour Cream and your meat of choice (I usually just get a cooked chicken from the supermarket and tear all the meat off).

Slice Peppers and Onions into strips, and fry them til soft. Heat the chicken in a frying pan if you've got a pre-cooked one, for a minute or two, you don't want it burnt.
Steam the fajitas in a colander over boiling water (be careful with this, it's easy but fiddly).
Put the Guacamole, Salsa and Sour Cream into little serving bowls to be fancy if you want, pile the fajitas on a plate, the chicken in a bowl, and the peppers and onions in yet another bowl. Then each person can fill their own fajita, so to speak. It might not be ultimate "candle-lit dinner" food, but it's delicious.

For desert, why not try something chocolatey...

175 g Dark Chocolate (the best quality)
150 ml double cream
100 ml full fat milk
1/2 teasp real vanilla extract (or you could use Cointreau for an orange chocolate taste)
1 egg

(This makes 8 60 ml pots, so you might want to halve the recipe)

Crush chocolate to smithereens in a blender. Heat the cream and milk until just about boiling, add the vanilla and pour onto the chocolate in the blender. Let it stand for 30 secs. Then blitz it for 30 secs. Then crack the egg into it and blend again, for 45 secs.

Pour into whatever you're serving it in (little coffee cups work nicely), put them in the fridge for 6 hours or overnight, and take them out of the fridge a good 20 minutes before you intend to eat them.


Thanks to Nigella for that recipe

Coconut

Mmm.. excellent. Thanks! Was just looking for a really rich chocolate mousse receipe. If anyone can do decadent, it should be Nigella! Unfortunately I don't have a blender, but I'll see how it goes.

cajun_tiger

steak sounds good....

funkyniff

thanks guys !!
i actually went out and bought a fondu kit this weekend and tonight we are having a cheese fondu....somethink diffrent ya know...
however im hoping to make the mousse for dessert!! wonder if i can use baileys/dooleys tho instead of vanilla... il see ....
thanks again for the ideas

dave_eire

hey!

on the chicken dish, got me thinking...

a great and really easy dish is chicken breasts (on the bone) stuffed with black pudding and wrapped in parma ham with a creamy mustard and white wine sauce!

its lovely!!! let me know if you would like recipe?!

cheersd

catho_monster

Doper Than U wrote:

For desert, why not try something chocolatey...

175 g Dark Chocolate (the best quality)
150 ml double cream
100 ml full fat milk
1/2 teasp real vanilla extract (or you could use Cointreau for an orange chocolate taste)
1 egg

(This makes 8 60 ml pots, so you might want to halve the recipe)

Crush chocolate to smithereens in a blender. Heat the cream and milk until just about boiling, add the vanilla and pour onto the chocolate in the blender. Let it stand for 30 secs. Then blitz it for 30 secs. Then crack the egg into it and blend again, for 45 secs.

Pour into whatever you're serving it in (little coffee cups work nicely), put them in the fridge for 6 hours or overnight, and take them out of the fridge a good 20 minutes before you intend to eat them.


Thanks to Nigella for that recipe

this is so, so easy to make and i just tasted it before it set and it tastes like it took longer, and would have been worth the effort!
score!
everyone go out and make it now!!!!