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How To: Make A Romantic Dinner for Your Honey


Posted the05/11/2008 By Food Lovers Like Me (Visit website)



One of the most loving gestures you can make toward your mate is to make them a meal. It's such a nurturing, intimate, filling and fulfilling act. Food made with TLC always tastes good. One of my avid readers recently asked me how to put together a romantic meal for her significant other, and I promised her I'd answer sooner rather than later. I meant to get to it yesterday, but there was this matter of a presidential election that had me a bit preoccupied...

So here goes! Following are my tips on how to make a simply smashing romantic meal:


1. Make something that's different from the everyday. For me, this means food like lamb chops or Cornish hens (recipes to follow below). Any other day, I'm serving up BJ Warehouse-size portions of food for my family of four. But when the occasion is special and the mood is romantic, less equals more. Besides, you don't want to stuff yourselves so much that the night ends with the two of you flopping down on the couch, barely able to move. Not so romantic, I'm thinking.

2. Set the tone by setting the table. Paper plates and napkins just won't cut it. Break out the nice silverware. Use a cloth tablecloth with coordinating napkins (make sure they are pressed to remove all the creases). Add special touches such as napkin rings, placecards that you have written out by hand, small votive candles (stay away from scented--you don't want it to compete with the scent of the food), rose petals floating in small bowls, or a low floral arrangement (anything too large will overwhelm the table and interfere with the intimate setting). You'd be amazed at the great tableware and silverware you can find at discounters like Home Goods, Marshall's, TJ Maxx, even the clearance bin at Bed, Bath and Beyond or the housewares section of a department store. Or scope out vintage stores. All are good places to find unique, special elements you can use to set the table without spending a bundle.

3. Save a step for the two of you to share. There is nothing sexier than watching your honey work his/her way around the kitchen. And if your kitchen is cozy, and you two just happen to keep bumping into each other, well then, all the better:) So maybe you chop the veggies for the salad and they toss; you slice the pie, they scoop the ice cream; you serve, he clears the table; she washes the dishes, you dry them. Working together as a team--what could be more romantic?

As for the meal itself, I suggest starting off with a salad (it's healthy, and it's light--bagged salad is fine, but a freshly-made salad is SO much more flavorful). Move on to a main course of manageable portions (meat dish, baked potato, haricot verts or roasted asparagus), and finish with a fun dessert (chocolate cake with raspberry drizzle; pie a la mode).
Following are two easy-as-you-please recipes for you to serve as part of a main course. I usually trot these out when we have the house to ourselves and I want to make the night special. I hope they'll help you create some special memories of your own:

BROILED LAMB CHOPS WITH PARSLEY, SAGE, ROSEMARY AND THYME
Serves 2
Ingredients:
4 lamb chops, washed and patted dry
A few sprigs fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions:
Remove stems from herbs. Combine all four, chop them finely and place in bowl. Add olive oil to herbs and mix thoroughly. Marinate lamb in herb mixture, keeping it in fridge for at least 2 hours. Preheat oven broiler on low. Remove lamb from bowl and discard marinade. Place lamb in greased broiler pan; cook about 8 minutes each side or until desired doneness.
Hint: This herb combination also goes well with chicken thighs.
LEMON TARRAGON CORNISH HENS
Serves 2
Ingredients:
2 Cornish hens, rinsed and patted dry, innards removed
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of one lemon
Zest of ½ lemon
Salt and pepper
4 sprigs fresh tarragon
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 365 degrees F. Use a small paring-size knife to lift and separate the skin of the hens away from the breast until there is enough room to place herbs in-between skin and breast. Create a lemon-infused basting oil by pouring 2 tablespoons of the olive oil into a small bowl, then slowly squeezing in the juice of one lemon, whisking to blend the two as you go. Grate zest of ½ lemon, add to basting oil, then add salt and pepper to taste. Blend well. Using a basting brush, coat the breasts with basting oil underneath the skin, then baste the outer skin with the oil all over. Place 2-3 tarragon sprigs underneath the skin of each hen. Bake hens for approximately one hour, occasionally spooning the pan juices over the meat to keep the meat flavorful and moist. Let rest about five minutes before serving so juices can settle. Serve with yellow rice.
Hint: Spoon remaining pan juices over rice as a light gravy.




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