Please help me plan romantic birthday dinner for dh

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

thanks

I would like to make a really nice dinner for dh for friday. I've put friday afternoon aside to do the shopping and cooking but I can also pick up bits tomorrow morning for anything I need to do in advance. I'm a reasonable cook but more kind of homecooking rather than posh stuff. Happy to try making posh stuff though.

Looking for Starter, main and pud. not got an icecream maker.

nothing too spicy cos although dh loves it, it gives him hiccups. I can't eat coconut and dh isn't great with lobster or crab (violent upset tummy with it) no oysters either as we don't have anywhere decent locally to buy good seafood.

Over to you... (hopefully!)

Has he got any favourites that you don't have very often? My DH loves boeuf bourguignon but we wouldn't have that in the normal course of things, so I do it sometimes for a treat. Or a whopping great steak (rump for him, fillet for me) with 'proper' chips, bearnaise sauce, fried 'shrooms etc.

For a starter I would probably do an antipasto misto sort of thing, with prosciutto, salame, chorizo etc, olives, grissini, pate - just lots of stuff that you can just get out of the packet.

And perhaps a nice cheesecake for dessert? There is a very tasty easy-peasy one in Nigella Express. Or an apple pie/ crumble, or tarte tatin if you're feeling fancy!

TBH though, my DH would be happiest with a stuffed-crust meat feast from Pizza Hut

YOu need to do stuff that means you're not spending the whole evening in the kitchen, so you want at least a starter and a pudding that you've made in advance.

What about a pate? Home made chicken liver pate or mushroom pate is really easy and quick - and yummy with some fresh, crusty bread and some onion marmalade (which you can buy, you don't have to make it).

What about a creme brulee for pudding? Or - a ridiculously easy pudding is lemon posset. All that is is cream and sugar which is boiled for 3 minutes, with lemon juice stirred into it. As it cools it sets into a lovely custardy kind of texture. Serve it with langues de chat biscuits or little madeleines (I think that's what they're called).

Happy to supply recipes if you want to do any of these.

Mmmmmmmmmm to all of that!

Thank you both

dh does love pate and dd doesnt which means we don't have it very often. Stupid question, but where do I get chicken livers from? I get one with my chicken that I buy but I guess I'd need a few? Yes please to a recipe. I think I have some sort of dish I could put it in.

I'm not very good at creme brulee cos my grill isn't hot enough so in the past I've just ended up with a split overcooked mess. The lemon posset sounds interesting. I could make it in a wine glass. How could I make it really pretty?

Umami, dh does love steak and we don't have it very often at all. I'm not sure I'd be able to time chips and steak very well cos I've never actually made chips. we do have a chip pan but dh is our chip cook. I might have to have a sneaky practise one lunch time. (oh the hardship!)

I could get some watercress from riverford and try and use that in an interesting way.

dh does love cheesecake too. could do that. Will have to think about which one. Lemon posset would be lighter and mean that we were more likely to have a romantic ending to the evening....

He does like antipasti very much but its what we tend to have for our generic, lets have something really nice to eat.

maybe, earlier on in the evening I could lay out just a few olives and what not (have to watch dd otherwise she would scoff the lot!)

perhaps I need an aperitif type drink - how about a real martini when he gets home from work with olives?

Apparently, chips should be cooked at two temps - a lower temp to cook the potatoes through and then hotter to crisp them. You can do the first cooking and then 'hold' them for quite a while, I believe, so you could do the steak and then while it is resting for 5 mins, finish off the chips with their second cooking. Have you got a kitchen thermometer?

Something with some nice big tiger prawns? Wrapped in prosciutto and griddled?

Insalata caprese - nice tomatoes/ mozza/ basil - fairly light, won't weigh you down later
Or mozzarella in carozza if you don't mind being weighed down (om nom nom nom nom nomnomnomnomnom), but that is more of a faff.

I am soooooooo hungry now.

Treat yourself to a blow torch for brulees!

Thats true actually, I didn't think about resting the steak, as long as I kept the stuff I served with it nice and simple.

So sauces:
is bearnaise easy?
could do watercress - but..... never seems to come out tasting of anything more than spinach when I cook it.
pepper?
red wine thingy?

bugger hes back.
back later!

I would serve Champagne, personally.

recipe for lemon posset. Serving in a glass would be lovely - perhaps a couple of raspberries and a mint leaf on top for decoration?

Chicken livers you will find in the freezer aisle. This is how I make my pate:

Defrost the livers, and then put in a sieve, and rinse them.

Finely chop a medium onion and a couple of cloves of garlic, and fry gently in a mix of butter and olive oil.

Add the livers to the pan and fry till starting to brown on the outside. (Don't overcook them - it's better if they're just pink inside)

Season with salt, pepper and a little mace or nutmeg and some dried oregano or thyme (which ever flavours you prefer, basically).

Tip this into a blender, and then add a generous sloosh (technical term!) of brandy to the pan, stir and then add this to the blender as well as some double cream (about 4-6 tablespoons). Blend until you have a fine puree, then pour into a serving dish, and chilll till it sets.

If you're not confident about making chips, why not do wedges? Take 2 big potatoes; cut each one in half lengthways, and then half again, and then half again - so you get 8 thin wedges per person. Put them into a shallow oven tray and drizzle generously with olive oil, salt and black pepper. Turn them over to make sure they're coated in oil, then roast in a hot oven for around 30 minutes - check them after 20 minutes as you'll need to turn them over to make sure that they brown on both sides.

Someone does an easy bearnaise - probably Nige - I'll have a look in a bit! Nigella's recipe is here, approved by Nigel!

Could just deglaze pan with red wine, maybe some cream, peppercorns etc.

Creamed spinach?

I love petit pois a la francaise as a side dish.
Asparagus if you don't mind it coming from Peru or somewhere equally distant!
Purple sprouting broccoli?

Or - melt some blue cheese into some cream, season with black pepper.

Fantastic
I think I might try and keep the sauce quite light for the main course, bit worried about how much cream I'm ending up with. Very tasty, just a bit overly filling.

• back later when dh is having his bath.

those petit pois sound nice!
I think I'll see what looks good when I go shopping in terms of veg. not sure yet.

Thanks for the bearnaise recipe!

I reckon I'll be brave and go for the chips. It'll be ok.

Best to have chips for lunch every day this week one day to practice!

i made a posh meal for dh a few years ago - most of the suggestions are on this thread!

i did:
homemade liver pate on toast
asparagus wrapped in smoked salmon
homemade beef wellington (much easier than i thought and can prepare in advance!)
creme brulee
cheese and biscuits

FWIW dh reckons it was the best meal ever so you will earn major nice wife points good luck

Chips every day - oooo what hardship

I could try beef wellington, I do fancy trying it....

I hope dh does enjoy it. Last birthday he was nursing a very poorly me, was in bed for 2 weeks and missed valentines as well so I really want to do something nice for him.

Thanks for the good luck wish

Ooo, yummy yum. I absolutely second the suggestions for starter and main: chicken liver pate as per BIWI's recipe above, and Lemon posset to make ahead. I have done both of these with great success, and here's some tips.

Think ahead about presentation. For the pate, you can serve it three ways I can think of: 1. in a slice cut from a terrine dish, 2. in a little ramekin per person, 3. in a quenelle shape on the plate. My suggestion is (2) as the others require a bit of skill or luck to look right. I would put the little ramekin on a plate with some thin crostini or melba toasts, and some yummy bought onion marmalade. I can tell you how to make crostini if you like (really easy). Also to preserve the colour and improve presentation of the pate, pour a little layer of melted butter over the top of each ramekin before putting in the fridge.

For lemon posset, if you have martini glasses why not serve in that? You can jazz up with some very thin curly lemon zest on top, and make/buy some curly tuille biscuits which would be lovely with this.

I am not sure about the steak and chips idea for the main though - steak is tricky to get perfect and chips will take you away from the table and make you hot and red in the face (well, would me anyway). Ideally you want something that doesn't depend on getting the cooking right bang in the middle of what is supposed to be a relaxing meal. I'll put my thinking cap on in case I can think of any easy but yummy alternatives.

oh gosh, I would def appreciate any thoughts you have on a main that wouldnt have me getting all cross and sweaty. and me hissing 'I'm fine, just sit down and relax ' poor dh, can imagine it now!

Yes please to the crostini recipe (not sure what it is!) I hadn't thought about different ways to serve pate - you are very thorough!

Are tuille biscuits tricky?

I'm getting really excited about this now

I think I had better do the shop on thursday so I have time to concentrate on the cooking.

Yes, good idea beacause you also have to find time make yourself beautiful and sexy!

Crostini are just thin toasts. I buy a skinny french stick or similar shape. Sainsbury's actually have a ready-to-bake double pack of extra skinny ones which are perfect. Slice cross ways very thin (0.5 to 1 cm) and lay slices flat on an oven tray. Brush or spray very lightly with olive oil, lightly sprinkle salt and pepper, and bake at 130 C until toast like. I think it's about 15 mins but can't remember as I usually just watch and check as they can overcook easily. Store in an airtight container until needed (can keep for weeks).

To be honest I have never made tuille biscuits but last time I made lemon possett I decided I would make them to accompany next time. Apparently you can shape them into curls or twirls when just out of the oven by wrapping around a rolling pin or wooden spoon handle, which would look very impressive. Recipe here looks easy but maybe buy to be safe on this occasion?

Alternative main?
-Duck legs with orange glazed
-Potato dauphinoise
-Fine green beans
All prepare ahead apart from beans and it's all pretty fail safe. I can give you my recipes if needed.

Can see steak and chips might present some logistical problems. I would get stressed out by that.
What about fish of some sort for the main course? Cod wrapped in Parma ham? Or salmon en croute? I have a great recipe for baked salmon which you put in the oven on a bed of green beans, tomato and olives and a squeeze of lemon juice and olive oil and just bung in the oven. Very easy and delicious.

snickers that sounds utterly delicious - but more of a me thing than dh.

I think dh would love Ponymums duck legs - he does like duck very much! Yes please to recipe Good point about getting ready - hadn't thought about that bit!!

I found the chicken lives today (you were right BIWI in the freezer section) I've hidden them in the back of the freezer. I'm pretty sure dh won't be going in there. I also picked up plenty of butter and some flaked almonds (thought they would look nice on top of the lemon posset toasted.)

Got a nice bottle of wine in my pj drawer. Hope he doesnt go in there and get all alarmed

I did spot some nice looking little biscuits in m&s' window - some little almond thingies. Might get them on thursday.

Have lemons and double cream on order from riverford. Will add green beans if they have any. Do

Do potatoes for dauphinoise need to be floury or waxy? (normally I wouldnt care!)

Duck leg recipe:
-Buy two duck legs (Sainsbury's are fine and often on special)
-Prick the skin all over (I use one of those little corn cob holders but a small sharp knife or skewer would be fine)
-Sprinkle the skin with salt - rub it all over then wipe off any excess with a paper towel (don't want it too salty)
-Place the legs skin side up on a rack over an oven dish
-Cook at 190-200-ish C. You want the fat to melt away from under the skin and it will collect in the dish below. If the hot fat smokes you might want to carefully tip it away part way through cooking.
-At about 40-45 mins the skin should look crispy and the legs cooked. Spread a layer of orange glaze over the skin and return to oven for another 5 - 10 mins. (Cheat's orange glaze = nice marmalade with the lumpy rind bits removed.)
-Done!

I use waxy potatoes for dauphinoise, and lots of garlic. Allow plenty of time to get a good one - I cook for 75 mins in the bottom half of the oven, with foil over the dish for the first 60 mins. Since there's just two of you choose a small dish so you can get it nice and deep without having to slice potatoes for hours.

Good luck with it all!