With Valentine’s Day just around the corner and romance in the air, are you ready to dazzle your sweetheart with an elegant meal just for the two of you? A romantic evening doesn’t always have to be a candle-lit dinner at an expensive restaurant. With a little planning and some personal touches, you can create a memorable event in the intimate comfort of your own cradle.

To quote the modern French playwright Jean Anouilh (1910-1987), “Love is, above all, the gift of oneself.”

So, go all out and give of yourself. Things that come from you, or are made by you, will mean more than store-bought cards and boxed commercial chocolates.

What could be more personal than a hand-written invitation for a cozy dinner, tucked under the pillow, or a blank card, scribbled with your favorite love poem and decorated with pictures, placed next to the dinner plate?

Regardless of how long you’ve been together with your beloved, a perfect way to show how much you care is by planning a special dinner you can share with each other. But you don’t want to kill yourself in the process. A menu that looks scrumptious and tastes great can be easy and prepared at least partially ahead so that you can spend most of your time tête-à-tête, sipping wine, listening to your favorite music or conversing leisurely.

In Rome, St. Valentine’s Day was known as Lupercalia — a romantic and pleasure-loving occasion. You can create the ambiance by serving dinner in a room with a romantic setting. A glowing fireplace, soft music, fresh flowers, scented candles and a special table cloth will all help to create an ambiance.

Oh, don’t forget to turn off your cellphones - and unplug the phone !   

You need to do some planning and preparation ahead of time so that on this special evening everything will work out smoothly.

I prepared the following menu as an inspiration to show how taking a few shortcuts doesn't necessarily diminish from the results, or the spirit of the occasion.

Orange and Fennel Salad

1 small fennel bulb, trimmed and thinly sliced

1 medium orange, peeled and sliced into rounds

1 Tbsp. olive oil

juice of 1 lime

Salt and pepper

1 tsp. finely chopped fresh parsley

1 Tbsp. sweetened dried cranberries

In a small mixing bowl, combine olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper. Whisk to emulsify. Add fennel and toss to coat. Transfer fennel to a serving plate. Arrange orange slices. Sprinkle chopped parsley. Top with sweetened cranberries and serve.

Poached Salmon in Puff Pastry with Hollandaise Sauce

2 (4-oz.) salmon fillets, skin removed

2 shallots, sliced

fennel fond (trimmings from the salad)

3 sprigs fresh dill

6 sprigs fresh parsley

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

3/4 cup white wine

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 package frozen puff pastry, thawed in the refrigerator

1 package Hollandaise sauce mix (I used Knorr)

In a saute pan, add the white wine, olive oil, shallots, parsley and dill sprigs, and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer gently for 5 minutes.

Add the fish to the pan and spoon the poaching liquid over the fillets. Cook uncovered until the salmon is firm and cooked through, about 8 minutes. If the poaching liquid doesn’t cover the fish, spoon the liquid over the fillets as they cook. Allow the fillets to cool in the pan liquid, covered to prevent drying.

Meanwhile, roll out the refrigerated puff pastry to a 12-inch by 1/4-inch thick square. Cut the square into two equal triangles.

Pat a salmon fillet with paper towel and place on the pastry from the middle to one corner. Fold over the remaining part to form a smaller triangle. Press the edges with a fork. Do the same with the other. Brush tops with a beaten egg. Set on a parchment paper-lined tray. You can prepare everything up to this point earlier in the day and refrigerate. Bake in a preheated 375 F oven for 20-25 minutes. (Use a toaster oven if you wish).

Prepare the Hollandaise sauce just before serving, according to package directions. Spoon over salmon in puff pastry with steamed asparagus or snow peas.                                    

Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes

What is a Valentine’s dinner without chocolate? These chocolate cakes, with warm, molten chocolate inside, can be prepared a day ahead, poured into custard cups, covered with plastic film and retrieved from the refrigerator refrigerated 30 minutes before you are ready to bake them.

5 ounces semisweet chocolate

Grease four 3/4 cup individual souffle dishes.

In a small saucepan, over low heat, melt butter and chocolate, stirring until the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat.

In a mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, beat together the eggs, additional egg yolks, sugar, vanilla, and instant coffee powder about 5 minutes or until the mixture is thick enough to form a ribbon when the beaters are lifted from the bowl. Gently fold in the chocolate mixture with the flour, mixing just until combined.

Pour batter into prepared baking dishes, cover tightly with plastic foil and refrigerate. You can prepare the batter as much as 24 hours before serving. Remove baking dishes from the refrigerator to stand at room temperature for half an hour before baking.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F .

Arrange baking dishes on a large pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the top is just barely set. (A toothpick poked into the center of one of the cakes will come out with batter attached.)

Cool for 5 minutes, and carefully loosen the sides of the cakes by running the blade of a knife around the inside surface of the dish. Turn out onto individual serving plates and serve immediately with whipped cream fresh red berries.

 Wishing you joy, laughter, love, and a most memorable Valentine !

Füsun Atalay ~ 2010