Dinner for two: Romantic dinner recipes
Why spend Valentine’s Day in an overcrowded restaurant, waiting for mediocre food? Or buy that overpriced box of chocolates and cheesy Valentine's Day card when you can have the perfect Valentine’s Day at home?
Because the quickest way to someone’s heart is through your kitchen, we’ve compiled some of the most delicious and romantic dinners for every couple.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, divided
- About 45 medium shrimp peeled, deveined, shells reserved
- 2 bay leaves, divided
- 2 carrots, peeled, chopped
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- ½ cup brandy
- ¼ cup long-grain white rice
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- ¼ teaspoon (or more) cayenne pepper
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh chives
Directions:
1. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add shrimp shells and cook, stirring frequently, until they begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Add 1 bay leaf and 8 cups water. Simmer uncovered for 25 minutes. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a large bowl. Strain, discarding solids.
2. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally, until just opaque in centre, 3-4 minutes. Transfer shrimp to a plate. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter to same pot. Add carrots, celery, and onion and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until very soft, about 20 minutes.
3. Remove pot from heat; add brandy. Return pot to heat and stir until almost evaporated, 2-3 minutes. Add rice and tomato paste; stir for 1 minute. Add shrimp stock, remaining bay leaf, parsley, thyme, and ¼ tsp. cayenne. Simmer uncovered until flavours meld and rice is soft, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Reserve 4 shrimp for garnish and stir remaining shrimp into bisque. Remove parsley, thyme, and bay leaf.
4. Working in batches, purée bisque in a blender until smooth. Pour through a fine-mesh strainer set over a clean pot. Discard solids in strainer. Stir in cream and reheat bisque over medium heat. Add lemon juice. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and more cayenne, if desired. 5. Mince reserved shrimp and mix with chives in a small bowl. Place 1 heaping tablespoon shrimp mixture in the centre of large, shallow soup bowls. Ladle bisque around garnish and serve.
Do Ahead: Shrimp stock can be made 3 days ahead. Let cool slightly; chill uncovered until cold, then cover and keep chilled.
Ingredients
- One can of crushed tomatoes
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 medium onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- Pinch red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves, stems removed & chopped finely
- 1 tsp salt, or to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
- 2 large handfuls spinach, roughly chopped
- 1/2-3/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
- Pasta of your choice
Directions:
1. Chop onion and garlic. In a large skillet, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil. Add in the onion and cook over low-medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add in the minced garlic and cook on low for another 4-5 minutes until the onion is translucent.
2. Add in the oregano, salt, and black pepper. Stir well. Cook on low for a few minutes. Now add in the crushed tomatoes, chopped basil, and nutritional yeast. Stir. Bring to a low boil and then simmer on low for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, cook your pasta.
3. Stir in the chopped walnuts and the chopped spinach. Cook for about 10 minutes longer on med-low. Serve over pasta and garnish with basil leaves and additional walnuts. Makes about 3.5 cups sauce.
Ingredients
- 3kgs Short ribs
- Salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- 1 medium pear, peeled, cored, and chopped coarsely
- ½ cup coconut aminos
- 6 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
- 3 scallions, roughly chopped
- 1 hunk of ginger, about the size of your thumb, cut into two pieces
- 2 teaspoons of fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon coconut vinegar, rice vinegar, or white balsamic vinegar
- 1 cup chicken or bone broth
- Small handful of roughly chopped fresh cilantro
Directions:
1. Preheat your broiler with the rack 6 inches from the heating element. Season the ribs liberally with salt and pepper and lay the ribs, bone-side up on a foil-lined baking sheet.
2. Broil the ribs for 5 minutes and then flip them over and broil for another 5 minutes. Stack the ribs in a single layer in the slow cooker. 3. Toss the pear, coconut aminos, garlic, scallions, ginger, fish sauce, and vinegar in a blender and puree until smooth. Pour the sauce evenly over the ribs and add the broth to the pot. Cover with the lid, set the slow cooker on low, and let the ribs stew for 9-11 hours.
4. When it’s time to serve the ribs, remove the meat from the slow cooker and place them on a serving platter. Let the braising liquid settle for 5 minutes and then ladle off the fat if you wish. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper and pour a cup of sauce over the ribs. Sprinkle on the chopped cilantro and serve the remaining sauce on the side.
Ingredients
- Fingerling or other small potatoes, halved lengthwise
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Coarse salt
- 3/4 cup crushed black peppercorns
- 3 boneless New York strip steaks, excess fat trimmed
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Chopped fresh parsley, for serving
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees. Place potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet and toss with 1 tablespoon oil; season with salt. Roast until golden brown and crisp, about 35 minutes, flipping halfway through.
2. Meanwhile, spread peppercorns on a large plate. Season steaks with salt, then press into pepper, coating both sides. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil and butter over high. In 2 batches, cook steaks until medium rare, about 8 minutes, flipping once. Let rest on a cutting board, 5 to 10 minutes.
3. Discard fat from skillet, lightly wipe with a paper towel to remove any loose pepper, and heat over medium. Add wine and cook, stirring and scraping up browned bits with a wooden spoon, until wine is reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add cream and cook until sauce coats back of spoon, about 4 minutes. Stir in mustard and season with salt.
4. Slice steaks against the grain, divide among four plates, and top with sauce. Serve with potatoes
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
- 2 ounces 70% dark chocolate, chopped
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 large eggs, separated
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter and sugar four ramekins, as desired. Beat egg whites with the sugar at medium speed, until they just hold stiff peaks.
2. Mix chocolate and heavy cream and microwave for 30 seconds. Let sit for another 30 seconds and stir until combined (if chocolate is not fully melted, microwave for an additional 15 seconds). Allow to cool for a minute and then stir in the egg yolks.
3. Fold the chocolate mixture into the egg whites. Fill 4 ramekins almost to the top. Bake approximately 12-12 minutes, or until the soufflés are puffed and just set. Serve.
Bon Appetit!