Valentine's Day Dinner

Firstly, let me start this post by coming out of the closet:  I dislike Valentine's Day.  I don't like the idea of being romantic only on one random day a year.  I think you should buy your wife/girlfriend/partner flowers whenever you feel like it, and not when a calendar tells you to.  I don't like the wave of tacky red/pink rubbish that invades the shops from New Year onwards, and I particularly don't like the idea that people actually buy that stuff.  (Who in their right mind would want to express their love through a gift of a cuddly red devil with a satin cape embroidered with the words Be Mine?  I genuinely saw that on sale in a supermarket this year.) 

I'm also not a fan of going out to eat on Valentine's Day.  I love going out for dinner, and nothing ranks higher on my date-o-meter than an intimate meal for two in a cute, cosy restaurant, but I'd rather go on another day when there's less chance of being surrounded solely by other couples also feeling the pressure of Being Romantic. 

This is why, every 14th February, you'll find B and I at home in our pyjamas, cooking up something special.  While I don't like Valentine's Day providing a reason to be romantic, I do very much like it providing a reason to eat ice-cream.

On the menu this year.....

...an avocado and pink grapefruit salad, with a chili and coriander dressing.  (Via Hugh.) 

This was a lovely, fresh way to start the meal - the grapefruit's zinginess is balanced out by the creaminess of the avocado, and the dressing counteracts the sweetness of the fruit.  And doesn't it look beautiful on the plate?  Like a little bit of summer.  Oh summer!  We miss you!

To follow, we had Dover sole grilled with vermouth and parsley butter:

And broccoli, and chips.  In fairness, we really didn't need the chips at all - the fish turned out to be surprisingly substantial and filling.  But we ate them anyway (we're troopers that way). 

To finish, we had peach melba, which neither of us have ever made before.  It was easier than we'd thought.  Although we didn't skin the peaches, and we really should have, because trying to wrestle a peach with its skin on when only armed with a spoon is somewhat messy.

To make a peach melba, you poach the peaches in water, sugar, and vanilla.  Then you serve them with masses of vanilla ice-cream, and a raspberry sauce which you make by blitzing a punnet of fruit in your food mixer.   Can you think of a more perfect dessert?  Sugar, fruit, and ice-cream.  Sublime.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone.  May your boyfriend/girlfriend/lover/spouse surprise you with flowers for no reason, whisk you out for a romantic dinner just because you've had a long week at work, and never, ever give you a cuddly devil in a satin cape.  Cheers!