The Perfect Valentine's Dinner

I don’t know about you but I would always love to plan way in advance when it comes to the perfect date. Well gentlemen, Valentine’s day is one month away, and I’m sure some of you aren’t really thinking what exactly to do until the time comes. Well here’s a start. Let’s begin with the evening. Some of you will come home from work and school and won’t have much time in cooking, so let’s start with thinking ahead of the ball game. You may have an idea of what to do, but time and planning is always most important. Men, if you really want to make time during the Valentine’s day, take the entire day off.  This is YOUR event that you want to make sure it’s special and done right. Beginning now, make that call to your boss.

The Menu

This is the most important part of this blog. Many people would like to go out to dinner. Let’s start by thinking “the budget”… It maybe more expensive to go out to a fancy French bistro where the average cost of a meal consisting of appetizer, dinner, dessert, and a bottle of wine totals out to be a minimum of $96 plus tax or higher. What about doing something new for a change. Utilize this time to create something fancy and unforgettable.  You can do this one or two ways…Surprise her with your own meal, or ask what her preferences are.  What’s the one cuisine everyone loves to eat when it comes to a romantic dinner? Italian. When we think of Italian, we think of pasta, chicken parmigiana, pizza, and a garlic bread of some sort. But let’s try to modernize the cuisine a bit. Rather than usual Italian, think of adding an extra flair to it. Think beyond the ordinary and think more as if you’re a chef at Enoteca Pinchiorri. Now we have to look at suggestions on what to best prepare. You can always go online and someone will have a great recipe for a delicious dish. Since I’m not allowed to share or give any family recipes, I will make suggestions. Let’s start with the appetizer. If you want a seafood themed meal, have a seafood appetizer. A popular appetizer would be a salad with Italian dressing, but think more of a lite margherita pizza, Bruschetta, homemade Italian garlic bread, or perhaps a dip. Seafood suggestions will come later on.

Main Dishes: Red meat, White meat, or seafood.

Dinner suggestions can vary depending on your partner’s choice. If she doesn’t eat red meat, try fish. If she can’t eat fish, try poultry. If no meat is the thing, and you’re looking at vegetarian, do so. Italian cuisine holds all of that. But let’s be simple and not spend over a huge amount of money buying a rack of lamb unless you please to. Let’s begin with red meat. My preference of red meat would be veal. Veal is great for any European dish, and for Italian, try to create a veal parmigiana. Veal Parmigiana is exactly like chicken or eggplant parmigiana. Lightly fried veal with seasoned Italian breading topped with a tomato paste sauce and mozzarella cheese. If you want, you may stuff it with your choice of a filling such as vegetables, cheese, or any type of filling. Serve that with a side of pan-fried seasoned asparagus, and a side of pasta. Veal Piccatta is also a lightly fried (or pan fried) seasoned cutlet garnished in a white wine lemon-butter sauce. Serve it over a bed of angel hair pasta and mushrooms.

             For a delicious chicken dish, try a stuffed Chicken Marsala which is another simple easy dish using a Marsala wine to cook with. Seafood dishes can also be a great way to spice things up. Most seafood items that are typically used Italian dishes are muscles and clams, calamari, scallops, swordfish, and salmon to name a few. Try using a muscles and clams as your appetizer. Try them cold with a lemon sauce, or perhaps if you want to try something very simple, take a salad using the freshest spinach leaves and lettuce, and then top it with fruit, avocados, and jumbo scallops. Swordfish soup would be another ideal dish as an appetizer. For a main course, try a clam carbonara linguine pasta. What I would also suggest is a do is a homemade Alfredo sauce on fettuccine topped with a grilled smoked salmon.  DO NOT USE CANNED ALFREDO SAUCE. BE CREATIVE!! If you’re using tomato sauce from a can, season it well so that it’s semi-homeade.

My Ideal of “The Taste of Italy” Platter

-Veal Parmigiana

-Pasta and chicken carbonara

-Seasoned asparagus

-Garlic Buttered Mashed Potatoes

Side Dishes: Side dishes are to go with your meal. Each country cuisine is different and side dishes usually depends on the main course. You want to have a decent balance of sides and I don’t mean pasta, but everyone should have a select portion size of vegetables. I think asparagus goes great with any meal. Asparagus, spinach, artichokes, zucchini are some great green sides.

Dessert: My favorite Italian Dessert is perhaps any other’s favorite Italian dessert, Tiramisu. Tiramisu is a coffee-flavored dessert. Think of it as a dessert lasagna layered with lady finger cookies, and whipped, mascarpone, cocoa cream. What’s great about it this is, you can make it ahead of time, and save it in the fridge. If however you want another option, you can make a sorbet of any flavor of your choice.

French Cuisine

French Dishes can be complicated when it comes to creating the perfect meal. As a matter of fact, many French dishes usually vary by region. I want to go ahead and give some suggestions that Julia Child popularized in her show “ The French Chef”, and in her cookbook “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”. So let’s be small and simple and begin with an appetizer. One thing that is popular that many of us are fond of is French onion soup.  Let’s also look at a simple French salad called Salad Nicoise. This is a simple salad consisting of lettuce, tomatoes, tuna, hard-boiled eggs, black olives, and fillet anchovies all topped with a vinaigrette. It’s important(according to Julia Child) that you dress the ingredients separately.  Now for the main dish, try to find a descent recipe to the dishes in which I’m about to share. Like many Americans, you can always go to the store and pick up a roasted chicken from the market. However, a roasted chicken is popular in French cooking. Usually depending on how it’s prepared, and what spices you are using. Another chicken dish would be great is “Coq au vin”, which is basically chicken braised with wine, garlic, onions, mushrooms, and lard. Serve this with a side of pan fried seasoned potatoes. A beef dish which is popular is beef bourguignon. This is a a signature dish also originating in the Burgundy region where you’re braising beef in wine just like Coq au vin. Regardless of what you cook, always find a descent green side dish. But in the French cuisine, you can find any vegetable that would work well. A potato goes great with any dish. Like I said, keep it simple. These are dishes where it requires you to cook everything in advance, and then throw it in a pot, and let it finish cooking.  Now let’s go with bread….I love croissants. Croissants are a huge hit, and just because it’s a breakfast type pastry doesn’t mean you can’t always have it for dinner. Another delicious bread dish is Gougere. Gougere is a pastry mixed in with variants of cheeses. For a good dessert, try a delicious apple tart.

Setting the mood

-Plan the event

-Plan the menu (surprise your woman)

-Set the mood so it fits perfect.

-Set your music play list.

            Italian music with Italian food. French music with French food. Anything that is Mediterranean style themed music.

-White table cloth, candles, and a proper table set-up.

Pre-set your dishes, clean as soon as you’re done cooking, and make sure everything is in order and it looks perfect with nothing out of place.  Remember, you have the entire day to set things in order so the last thing you have to do is clean, dress up, and pick up your date.

Below are some good links to look at that can help guide you on your cooking.

Academia Barilla

Mario Batali

Best wishes

@RonaldAtkinson9

"I think careful cooking is love, don't you? The loveliest thing you can cook for someone who's close to you is about as nice a Valentine as you can give."-Julia Child