A Valentine meal for My Sweet

I’ve never been a big fan of Valentine’s Day. Am a hopeless romantic but I suddenly turn weak when I see the much-vaunted romanticism displayed to the extremes in other people. I also dislike the traffic, chaos and mad rush associated with this overrated Day of Hearts. As a result, I wouldn’t it be nice if some of us can just “eat in” instead of “dine out” on V-day, to save oneself the time, stress and energy?? (saving it for later,duh. ) Just got the idea of serving My Sweet some online cuisine, since I don’t have flowers or chocolates to give him On this special day. This can’t be a one-way street, right?

Some important things to remember when you’re setting the mood for culinary romance at home:

1. Set the mood. Spruce up the table with flowers and candles, even if it has to be Liwanag Candles. Ugh.

2. Don’t cook something that will take too long or is too complicated. That will take the fun out of it, we tell ya! You are meeting your beloved, not his ancestors. I like handling fish since it can cook in 10 minutes. Be creative and multi-task. By all means, chop the greens while the soup is boiling and your entree is baking in the oven. That’s three dishes at one time!

3. The appetizer is you 😛 By all means, don’t come out of the kitchen frumpy and smelling of garlic and onions. Remember to shower, gargle, spritz up, wear something earthshaking-ly sexy… whatever it takes to compete with the main course. Huh. 😛

The menu:

Soup: Garlic-Cheese Chowder

Saw this recipe in a supermarket leaflet and I absolutely liked how this went. Noticed that My Sweet can’t live without soup to kickstart his meal and this has got to be it. Down-home comfort food and easy to make!!! Plus it incorporates two of my favorite ingredients: garlic and cheese.

Greens : Kani Fruity Salad

Gotta have a salad because Teh Sweet can’t live without it, again. I even remember how he savored the camote tops salad in Batanes with our very own shrimp paste or bagoong! This salad dish was adapted from the Good Housekeeping cookbook. The original recipe called for mango but I substituted it with melon, grapes and of course greens. Drizzle with dressing (garlic, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, salt & peppper), toss, mix and you’re ready to go!

Entree : Baked Fish Fillet with Native White Cheese (kesong puti) and vegetables
Crab and Cream Pasta

A simple fish fillet dish you can pop in the oven, made creamy by some home-made wasabi dressing. Generous bits of native white carabao cheese (kesong puti) melting on the surface makes this fish irresistible. With grilled or pan-fried slices of zucchini and tomato on the side.

What can I say? This sinful pasta made of cholesterol- laden crab paste (taba ng talangka) is just delectable! Surely you wouldn’t mind having this indulgence once in while?! This one’s made of cream, milk, cheese and bottled crab paste…. definitely a variation from the usual Italian pastas. Add the white wine if you like.

Recipes for these dishes coming in my food blog soon.

Dessert is really up to you 😛 but it would be good to nibble on store-bought truffles like these ones..they’re even infused with liquor (think about Cointreau and champagne). Add to these grapes and berries and wine …the perfect clincher to a heady evening.

* Sniff…am working on V-Day and My Sweet is a thousand miles away. Natch, make it “sick with flu symptoms on V-day!”…. that’s moi 🙁

Happy Heart’s Day everyone! Hope you like this feast on our little online table…and many more love to come! 😛