Valentines Day Menu Ideas

Valentine's Day Recipes

Win Love with Food

Valentines Day is generally the most romantic day of the year. Romantic dinners, the exchange of small tokens of affection, handwritten notes or romantic cards can all play a role in helping people express their love for each other.

Don't forget to plan something special for your loved one! If you do forget, the rest of February could be very cold.

Let me help you plan for your evening of romance.

Prepare an extraordinary, romantic meal that will help you express your love. Select the perfect cocktail, entree, side dish and dessert from the suggested Valentine's Day Menu. With these recipe suggestions you will tell your Favorite One - "I Love You."

Plan the entire Valentines Day for romance. Use your best tableware, just the right stemware or glassware, candles, fresh flowers and a beautiful tablecloth.

Or, as an alternative, decorate with tea lights and place colorful placemats on your coffee table with several cushions on the floor (kids in bed?).

All of these Valentines Day menu suggestions will ensure you do not leave your valentine alone too long. Some of these items you should prepare in advance (yes, I'll explain what and how).

Then you can focus on enjoying dinner ...not to mention the fun that will follow!

If both you and your loved one like to cook, plan and prepare the Valentines Day meal together! Oh! What fun!

And please remember, the little touches make all the difference. Warm the plates in the oven and be sure to add attractive garnishes. Keep the food portions small and enjoy your meal at a relaxed pace to avoid feeling too full.

The goal is to create a Valentines Day meal that excites - not one to put you both to sleep.

Valentines Day Menu Ideas

Cocktail Ideas - Classic Cocktails - Sophisticated - International. Each Is a Favorite Restaurant Drink Recipe

Cosmopolitan
Manhattan

Appetizer Ideas

Crab Cakes. Enjoy these crab cakes with a glass of Pinot Grigio
Bread With Pesto & Mozzarella. French Bread or Artisan Bread. Enjoy this appetizer with either Merlot or a glass of Chardonnay.

Salad Ideas

Gorgonzola And Pear Salad With Sugared Walnuts
Salad of Wild Greens with Sugared Walnuts and Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing

Entrée and Starch Ideas

Beef Tenderloin with Bleu Cheese Butter

A fairly thick cut but not a large portion. Savor every bite! And slowly sip a glass of Merlot wine.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes. This is an absolutely wonderful recipe for garlic mashed potatoes. It is a favorite restaurant starch recipe.

Chicken in Brandy Cream Sauce

Besides the brandy and cream, the sun-dried cranberries are an important ingredient in this secret restaurant recipe. Chardonnay wine or White Zinfandel go well with this deliciously rich entree.

Traditional Mashed Potatoes

These potatoes will love it if you marry them with a little brandy-cream sauce from your chicken entree

Seafood Fettuccine

A signature restaurant recipe - a favorite restaurant pasta recipe with almost any combination of seafood you like best. Try a glass of Chardonnay! and some Garlic Bread

Dessert Choices

Either of these desserts can (should) be made ahead, making one less thing to prepare on the evening you cook your Valentine dinner.

Kahlua Mousse. A recipe for the coffee and Kahlua lovers in the world. It is a light, creamy, wonderful finale to dinner.

New York-Style Cheesecake. Yes, this is easy to make and you will have some left over for the next day. Having a piece (or two) the next day may mean your Valentines Day Events get extended!

Dessert Beverage Idea

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cocktail. Try this restaurant recipe - it is "dessert in a glass!" Serve this famous restaurant drink in a champagne flute. Great eye appeal. What an end (beginning?) to a beautiful evening! What a great Valentine's Day.

Oh! Did I forget the promised schedule for putting this fabulous Valentine's Day together! ? Of course not.

Valentine's Day Menu

Preparation Schedule

Four to Five Days In Advance of dinner:

Print the recipes you have selected
Purchase needed liquor and wine: 2 one ounce bottles of brandy if you chose to prepare the Chicken In Brandy Cream Sauce. 1 bottle of Kahlua for the Kahlua Mousse. Creme de almond, creme de cacao and creme de menthe for the Chocolate Cover Cherry. Liquor for Cosmopolitan or Manhattan. Wine you wish to serve with your selected entree.
Prepare your Bleu Cheese Butter and/or your Gorgonzola Butter and put in freezer
Prepare your sugared walnuts and store them in an air tight container (these can also be purchased if you are short of time)
Purchase or select the candles you wish to use
Select the dishware and glassware you intend to use (appetizer plates, salad and dessert dishes, dinner plates or pasta bowls, stemware, tablecloth or place mats and a vase for fresh flowers)
Purchase a Valentines Day Card or better yet, I think, write a special note to your Valentine

One or Two Days before Dinner:

Purchase the groceries you need for the recipes you selected (do not purchase seafood more than one or two days ahead)
Purchase fresh flowers
Prepare New York Cheesecake if that was one of the recipes you selected for Valentines Day

One Day before Valentines Day:

Peel and cut potatoes, place them in a sauce pan and cover with cold water and a lid and refrigerate
Prepare Kahlua Mousse and pour or pipe into dessert glasses or dishes, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate
Set table (if possible, even after dinner for next day)

Got the flowers and card?

Valentines Day:

Early in day -

Prepare crab cakes, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate
Prepare garlic bread
Place greens for salad in a salad bowl, cover with film wrap and refrigerate

One hour before show time -

Cut bread for appetizer, place on sheet pan and cover with plastic wrap
Place ingredients, except ice, for drinks in a shaker or other container and refrigerate
Uncork red wine and allow to "breathe" for a time before serving
Uncork white wine just before serving

Show time:

Add ice to the beverage shaker or container, shake and strain into appropriate glass (martini glass), serve or pour wine and serve if not having a cocktail
Fry crab cakes and serve with selected sauce or spread French or Artisan bread with pesto sauce and top with cheese and finish under the broiler until cheese is melted and then serve

Show time continues On Valentines Day:

(Remember - take your time, relax - no one is in a rush

Put potatoes on to cook, adding 1-2 teaspoons of salt (if serving potatoes)
Place garlic bread in pre-heated 325 degree F oven until hot (turn oven down to 250 degrees F to hold the bread if you are not ready for it)
Finish the salad you selected, plate and serve to table
Mash the potatoes and hold in oven, crockpot or over low heat while you prepare the entree
Cook steaks or chicken or fettuccine recipe, plate and serve
Serve dessert when you are ready for it