Entertaining isn’t always a big party with expensive food and decadent decorations. Creating the perfect dinner for your spouse is the most important party you will ever throw - and Valentine's Day is the perfect night to test your chops.
The color scheme for Valentine’s is already built in and so much fun to plan around. I started with fabric I found at Calico Corners as a tablecloth and added really simple paper decorations.
Decorating the table does not have to be elaborate or expensive to be festive. Paper lanterns, paper cones full of flowers, and paper hearts are so simple you can do them right before dinner. The paper elements get dressed up on the table when scattered among pink ribbons and strands of beads.
Flowers are synonymous with Valentine’s Day – but can be so expensive. Choose a selection of flowers in pinks and red (even carnations look great scattered through an arrangement). I chose to arrange the flowers in my collection of antique cranberry glass, which I also used for champagne glasses.
Don’t forget a little gift. Extravagant boxes of jewelry will never be turned away, but a box of really good chocolate won’t either. I used a gold permanent marker to monogram the top of a box and filled it with my favorite chocolates. Simple, delicious, and darling on the table. Mark the top with the initials of your friends and use them for place cards.
For Valentine’s Day this year, surprise your friends who most deserve a break with a lovely evening made just for them.
Menu:
Sesame Steamed Broccolini
Herbed Couscous
Rosemary Skewered Scallops
Bacon Wrapped Beef Tenderloin
Chocolate Cake
Tips:
- Don’t open an entire bottle of champagne if it’s just the two of you. Toast with a half bottle before dinner and move on to red wine for the ‘main course.’
- Set the table first thing in the morning (or the night before). Then you are ready to just cook dinner when you get home from work.
- If you are serving, pick up a white apron from the restaurant supply store. Using fabric paint and a stamp, customize the front with your name or a favorite image.
- Homemade Chocolate Cake is to die for. But if you don’t have time, pick one up from the grocery store and decorate the top with fresh flowers.
- For a fabulous chocolate cake, pick one up at Metropolitan Market
- Really great ingredients hardly need seasoning and are simpler to prepare because of that. Buy better and save time
Recipes
Sesame Steamed Broccolini
1 bunch broccolini
4 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, crushed
salt and pepper
Clean and trim broccolini. Toss broccolini with oil, seeds, and salt and pepper in a bowl. Place in a steamer basket and cook over boiling water for about five minutes – or until broccolini is tender when poked with a fork.
Herbed Couscous
2 tablespoons butter
¼ sweet onion, chopped
1 tablespoon crushed fennel seed
1 cup couscous
1 ¾ cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
Melt one tablespoon butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and fennel seed and cook until onions are translucent. Add couscous, chicken stock and salt. Cook until all liquid is absorbed (less than five minutes). Remove from heat and stir in herbs with remaining butter. Serve hot.
Rosemary Skewered Scallops
6-8 scallops
2 thick branches of rosemary
salt and pepper
Skin off rosemary leaves leaving the top two (or so) inches on the branch. Pat scallops dry and skewer scallops on rosemary branches. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat and place scallops in the pan. If your pan is not well seasoned, use a spray cooking oil to ensure scallops don’t stick. Cook about 2 minutes on each side until all translucency is gone. If you are unsure, cut one open to check.
Bacon Wrapped Beef Tenderloin
2 Tenderloins of beef
4 Strips of slab cut bacon
Salt and Pepper to taste.
Wrap two strips of bacon around each tenderloin securing with butchers twine or toothpicks. Sprinkle each side of the meat with salt and let stand. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. When the pan is hot, place meat in the pan and let sear. The sear will be complete when the meat does not stick to the pan anymore. Season raw side with pepper. Flip and sear on the other side. Turn heat down and finish cooking until done to your liking. Use a thermometer if you have any doubts.
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