Ready for romance

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Deluxe brownie dessert. A little bit of preparation the key to simple but spectacular Valentine's Day dinner.

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When planning a romantic meal, I want the best of both worlds. I want the food to be spectacular but I also want to spend time with my beloved, not be in the kitchen all night.

Over the years I've come up with a go-to menu that achieves those goals, and I'm sharing the recipes today.

The meal starts with a simple, palate-awakening salad, which in this case includes tender lettuce, crisp apple, rich walnuts and cubes of creamy brie cheese. You could ready the lettuce, make the dressing and cube the cheese in the morning and refrigerate all until needed. When ready to serve, mound the lettuce on plates, artfully top with the other ingredients and drizzle with the dressing.

The main course sounds -- and is -- fantastic: sumptuous seafood for two. It's similar to a style of preparation I've featured in past columns. I like the technique because all you do is arrange fine seafood in a baking dish, top with a pleasing wine mixture and bake. No flipping required and in about 10 minutes you'll have a splendid seafood feast with juices you can dunk sliced baguette in.

In the morning, you could put the wine, butter and flavourings in the pot, cover and refrigerate until ready to heat and pour over the seafood. You could also put the seafood in the baking dish and cover and refrigerate until ready to top with the wine mixture, and bake.

The side dishes I chose were saffron rice and asparagus. You could cook the rice in the morning, cool it to room temperature, transfer to a serving dish and refrigerate until needed. To reheat, simply pop in the microwave a minute or two. You could also get the asparagus oven-ready in the morning and cover and refrigerate. When needed, top it with the olive oil, vinegar and seasonings and finish in the oven.

My dessert course is sublime and ultra easy. The preparation involves going to your favourite bakery and getting two squares or wedges of decadent brownie. For each plated dessert, set one of those brownies on a bed of sliced and sweetened strawberries, spiked, if desired, with orange liqueur. The brownie then is topped with a scoop of store-bought mango sorbet and a mint sprig.

You could flavour the berries an hour or so before needed and keep refrigerated. If you're a real keener, you could also line a small plate with plastic wrap, set the scoops of sorbet on it, and keep them frozen until ready to set on the brownies.

In terms of timing, just before sitting down to enjoy the salad, I would preheat the oven to cook the main course. When the salad is done, put the seafood and asparagus in the oven, tidy the salad plates, and get the table ready for the main course by getting out hot mats, serving plates and utensils. When the main course is done, serve the dessert whenever you're ready for it.

With regard to wine, brut sparkling wine would work with all courses. Or, you could start with a glass of bubbly, perhaps have a glass of chardonnay with the main course, and then have a splash of orange liqueur with dessert.

Valentines dinner for two

-- Salad greens with apple, walnuts and brie

-- Sumptuous seafood for two

-- Saffron rice and roasted asparagus

-- Deluxe brownie dessert

Salad greens with apples, walnuts and brie

Start a romantic meal with this palate-awakening salad topped with crisp apple, creamy cheese and rich nuts.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: None

Makes: 2 servings

1 tbsp cider vinegar

45 ml (3 tbsp) extra virgin olive oil

5 ml (1 tsp) Dijon mustard

10 ml (2 tsp) honey, or taste

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 litre (4 cups) baby salad greens, washed and dried

12 to 16 thin, half slices of red apple

30-45 ml (2 to 3 tbsp) walnut pieces

75 g brie cheese, cut into small cubes

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a small bowl. Season the dressing with salt and pepper. Divide and mound the salad greens on 2 salad plates. Top with the apples, nuts and cheese. Drizzle with salad dressing and serve.

Sumptuous seafood for two

Here's an easy-to-make, deluxe mix of seafood that deliciously serves two. Seafood is naturally salty, so I've not added any additional salt in this recipe.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 11 to 13 minutes

Makes: 2 servings

60 ml (1/4 cup) white wine

30 ml (2 tbsp) butter

15 ml (1 tbsp) fresh lemon juice

1 garlic clove, minced

pinches paprika, cayenne pepper and dried tarragon

1 100-115 g (31/2 to 4 oz) lobster tail (thawed if frozen), split in half lengthwise

4 large scallops

4 large shrimp or prawns, peeled with tail portion intact

1 170 g (6 oz) fish filet, such as halibut, cod or salmon, cut in half

15 ml (1 tbsp) chopped fresh parsley

Preheat the oven to 230 C (450 F). Place the butter, wine, lemon juice, garlic, spices and tarragon in a small pot. Set over medium heat and heat 3 to 4 minutes, just until the butter is melted. Remove pot from the heat.

Use a paper towel to pat and remove any excess moisture on the seafood. Arrange seafood, setting the lobster cut side up, in a single layer in a shallow-sided baking dish (my round dish was 25 cm -- 10 inches -- wide). Drizzle seafood with wine/butter mixture. Bake 11 to 13 minutes, or until the shellfish and fish are just cooked (see Note). Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Note: When cooked, fish and shellfish should feel slightly firm, not hard, a sign you have overcooked it, and not soft, a sign it's not cooked through. When cooked, the flesh will also lose its translucency and become opaque. When fish is cooked it will also slightly separate into flakes. With some oily fish, such as salmon, white deposits of fat will seep out between the flakes when it's cooked.

Saffron rice

Golden rice to serve alongside the seafood.

Preparation time: 2 minutes, plus steeping time

Cooking time: About 18 minutes

Makes: 2 servings

2 ml (1/2 tsp) saffron threads (see Note)

30 (2 tbsp) very hot water

15 (1 tbsp) olive oil

185 ml (3/4 cup) long grain white rice

310 ml (11/4 cups) cold water

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Crumble the saffron into a small bowl. Pour in the hot water. Let saffron steep 10 minutes. Heat the oil in a small pot set over medium-high. Add the rice and cook and stir 1 minute. Add saffron and its liquid, 310 ml (11/4 cups) cold water and salt and pepper. Bring the rice to a boil. Now cover, reduce heat to its lowest setting and cook 15 minutes, or until rice is tender. Fluff rice with a fork and serve.

Note: Saffron threads are sold in small bottles or containers in the herb and spice aisle of most supermarkets. You'll also find it at fine food stores. Keep leftover saffron stored in an airtight container in a cool, dark and dry place. It will keep for many months.

Roasted asparagus

Once in the oven, the asparagus has the same cooking time as the seafood, so you can start cooking both at the same time.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 12 to 14 minutes

Makes: 2 servings

12 to 14 asparagus spears, stems trimmed

22 ml (11/2 tbsp) olive oil

15 ml (1 tbsp) balsamic vinegar

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 230 C (450 F). Bring a wide skillet of water to a boil. Add the asparagus and cook 2 minutes, until bright green, but not quite cooked through. Drain well, cool asparagus in cold water, and then drain well again. Place the asparagus in a casserole dish just large enough to hold it in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar; season with salt and pepper. Roast 11 to 13 minutes, or until hot and delicious.

Deluxe brownie dessert

This easy-to-make, deluxe dessert sees store-bought brownies plated and adorned with sweetened strawberries and sorbet.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: None

Makes: 2 servings

8 small to medium fresh or frozen (thawed) strawberries, sliced

15 (1 tbsp) icing sugar

150 ml (1/2 oz) orange liqueur, or to taste (optional)

2 squares or wedges of brownie

2 scoops mango or other fruit sorbet

2 fresh mint sprigs

Place strawberries and icing sugar in a small bowl and toss to combine. Flavour with orange liqueur, if using. Divide and spread the strawberries on two dessert plates. Set a brownie on each plate. Set a scoop of sorbet on top of each brownie. Garnish each plate with a mint sprig and enjoy.

Eric Akis is the author of the Everyone Can Cook series of cookbooks.

-- Victoria Times Colonist

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 8, 2012 C1