A VALENTINE’S DAY DINNER
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How shall I dine thee? Let me count the ways. Sure, some couples' idea of a romantic dinner is low lights, high prices, candles and candy. But for others, “that’s amore” is a quiet night at home and dinner prepared for each other.
As I’ve aged, truer love has shifted from picking up the check to cooking my valentines’ favorite foods. So, this old luv has some menu ideas for whoever’s cooking.
And the theme is red, the day’s signal color.
Red Nibbles: Delish starters. Here’s a new recipe a click away for Radishes “in the French way” (not what you might be thinkin’, tsk, tsk), raw and roasted both. Or prelude the meal with a raw Beef Carpaccio, red as all gitout. Or a soup of Cioppino that I developed a couple of Valentine’s Days ago. It’s terrific for setting the mood. And it’s way red.
Red Mains: A new recipe’s on-site for a homemade pizza, splotched in red marinara sauce, “Grandma-Style Mozzarella Pizza.” (Make Lidia’s Homemade Marinara if you don’t have some of your own at the ready.) Red meat evening? A new recipe on-site for Beef Ribs Agrodolce comes from the heartland of romance, Italy.
Lamb two ways (serve it rare to medium rare for the best tastes and the best “reds”): a French-based recipe from BSJ and his brother, Marc, for Gigot d’Agneau; as well as a super-umami’ed Roast Leg of Lamb Roman-Style. Again, those Italians . . .
Red Side: Nothing redder ’n beets. Go for another new recipe here for Beets Roasted in Foil and Buttered, adapted from Mark kBittman and moit. Full stop; end of discussion about vegetables.
Red Sweets: Yet again another new recipe on-site for Red Velvet Cake (reddened with beets? hahaha, yes!). Or Pears Poached in Cherry Juice and Chinese Five-Spice. These pears are so beautiful a presentation that she, he, they will swoon. Right? Ain’t that the idea?
Wines: Never mix anything with wine but love. The association of wine and St. Valentine's Day goes back to the ancient mid-February pagan festivals of the Lupercalia. They were wine-filled and Dionysian, full of ribaldry and revelry. All about wines for Valentine’s Day giving, feasting, and ribaldry here.