[Valentine's Day] How to prepare a 3-course romantic dinner - Qiu Qiu Food

Happy Valentine’s Day! I decided to come up with this 3-course V-day friendly dinner just to give people some ideas if they want to prepare a romantic and impressive dinner for loved ones. All three dishes I chose are simple yet delicious. And they look so beautiful that people may actually believe that they’re from restaurants.

To be honest, for me, V-day is just a random Tuesday. So if you don’t have a lover, just treat yourself. Being single does not make the food less enjoyable.

The Menu:

I designed and drew the menu myself. I think hand drawn menu will make the dinner even more romantic and memorable.

Starter: healthy version creamy mushroom soup served with garlic bread

I think soup and crispy garlic bread match perfectly. The moment when you dip the garlic bread into the warm creamy soup… Needless to say how delicious it would be. The food will speak for itself.

To make crispy garlic bread, simply combine appropriate amount of melted(or soft) butter, parley, minced garlic and salt, depending on how much bread you wish to prepare. Spread the butter mixture on any bread you prefer (sliced baguette, ciabatta etc.). Bake at 350 ºF until golden (usually less than 10 min).

Creamy mushroom soup (light version) for one:

150g mushrooms
50g chopped onions
150ml broth of your choice (I used chicken broth)
125ml milk (you can replace 50ml milk with cream)
1tbs flour
8-10g butter
minced garlic, parsley, salt, pepper

Instructions:

melt the butter, add chopped onions, minced garlic, parsley, saute.
when onion turns translucent, add sliced/chopped mushrooms and saute over medium heat.
when mushrooms shrink, add flour
quickly mix the flour with the other ingredients
pour in broth and milk/milk+cream
keep boiling until the soup becomes creamy, add salt and pepper to taste

Garnish with chopped chives/ parsley if desire. You can also drizzle olive oil or cream to make it look better.

Warm, creamy and filling soup, golden crispy garlic bread. Love myself so much 🙂

Main: Sea scallops with asparagus and miso paste

So easy, looks very classy though.

Ingredients:

fresh sea scallops
asparagus
minced garlic
lemon juice
white wine
salt, pepper
butter
white miso paste

Instructions:

melt butter in a small pan, add minced garlic
add sea scallops and asparagus, switch to medium heat. Add about 1/2 tbs white wine and lemon juice on the scallops (to get rid of the fishy taste).
Turn the scallops over once they become golden on one side. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Remove the asparagus once they’re cooked (large scallops may take longer to cook). Do not overcook the scallops, remove them from heat once both sides are golden.
The miso paste is mainly for the purposes of garnish. Simply combine white miso paste with water and mix well.

Yum.

Dessert: deconstructed cheesecake with crumble and berries

I think “deconstructed” desserts are becoming really popular. They do indeed look a bit fancier. I used crumble to replace traditional graham cracker crust in cheesecakes because I quite like the almond scent it contains.