Cooking for the date??or Dream Dinner with your date...a new menu

You know, I love to cook. Sometimes, for friends, for colleagues, for family members, specially the loved ones[though in my family, whatever, I cook ...all goes to my & my bro's stomach!!] ...equally, these days I dislike cooking for myself[Better buy it from outside ...n have it!!!].
How about cooking for your date???Cooking for the date is always sexy & romantic too. No matter how poor you are in cooking[I definitely consider my readers are not as versatile as I am in culinary skills, except those in the business & the *wannabes*], even if you give it a try, I am sure your date will be impressed. Keeping in mind that date will lead to romance[unless, you are dating a poor guy or a hopeless girl!!!], I am interested in putting aphrodisiacs in the menu. For long, seafoods have been considered aphrodisiacs[If you dont know the meaning of this word, "Aphrodisiac", please go through your dictionary!!!]. I have included them in the first course--both oysters & scallops.
The next course...mains. A simple stuff...slow roasted pork[I love pork..n also cooking pork!!However, make sure your date is not a muslim, rastafaria, or 7day adventist!!] with a glaze of honey. To go alongside, spinaci alla romana,with apple confit & jacket potatoes.
For desserts??I love desserts as you know. Here I come with trio of Chocolate[Chocolate is so sexy..isn't it??Some people also call it as aphrodisiac!!]
Your question may be..have I cooked for any date??Well..no as of now. But I would love to cook this menu for my date[Sigh... :P] & impress her...[U never know... :)].Recipes...below. Dont ask for pictures. I haven't cooked it...but if I cook it ever, even for me & not for my date, I will put up the pictures & share with you all!!!
So the menu is

Oyster & Scallop Soup

Homemade Tagliatelle

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Slow Roasted Loin of Pork

Apple Confit, Spinaci alla Romana, Jacket Potatoes

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Trio of Chocolates

Chocolate-Lemon Pannacotta, Chocolate Orange Sorbet & Mini Chocolate-Passionfruit Tart

Oyster & Scallop Soup
Ingredients:
Fish stock-100 ml
Fish Veloute-150 ml
Home-made Tagliatelle-50 gm[or ready made]
Peeled Cucumber-1/2
Oysters- 2 large, shelled & juices reserved
Scallops- 2 large
Lemon juice-1/2 of a lemon
Chives- 1 tsp, finely chopped
Butter- 2 tsp
Seasoning- As required.
Caviar-5 gm
Method:
1. Cut the cucumber in 2 inch lengths & slice off the four edges around the seeds. Discard the square seed block & cut each slice in thin julienne strips & keep aside.
2.Poach the cucumber in little stock for about 2-3 minutes & keep warm.
3. In a heavy saucepan, bring the fish veloute, rest of the fish stock to a boil. Add in the reserved oyster juice & turn to very gentle simmer. Poach the oysters for about 30 seconds. Add scallops & cook for further 30 seconds. Add lemon juice, chives & season. Set aside in a warm place
4.Cook the tagliatelle in boiling water. If using fresh, then for about 30 seconds or if using ready-made dry, then for 6-7 minutes or al-dente.Drain & lift up a half of the pasta with a fork & roll into a spiral.
5.Push the spiral off the fork into the centre of a large, warmed soup bowl, & then put some cucumber strips on top.
6. Using a slotted spoon, remove the oysters & scallops from their poaching liquid & arrange them neatly around the pasta. Bring the soup back to boil & spoon it over the shellfish & garnish with a little caviar on top of the shellfish. Serve immediately.

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Slow roasted loin of Pork
Ingredients:
For the pork
Pork Loin- 400 gm
Seasoning- as required
Melted butter- 50 gm
Thyme- 1 tsp
Honey- 2 tbsp
Method:
1. Marinate the pork with seasoning & herbs. Preset the oven to 150 Deg C. When ready the roast, put in the oven & keep on basting with melted butter till well-done. Once ready, brush with hot honey & keep warm.

For the Apple confit
Ingredients:
Granny Smith Apple- 2 nos.
Lemon Juice-1/2
Sugar- 1 tbsp or more if required
Water- 100 ml
Cinnamon Stick-1 no.
Butter- 10 gm
Method:
1. Peel & core the apple. Reserve the core & peel.
2. Bring the water to a boil with cinnamon, core & the peel.
3.Cut the apple into medium dices. Heat the butter in a pan & brown the apple a little. Once browned, pop-in them in the boiling water & add-in the sugar also. Cook till done, but not mushy.
4.Let it cool down in the water itself. Keep aside.

Spinaci alla Romana
Ingredients:
Spinach- 500 gm
Olive Oil- 25 ml
Pork Fat- 25 gm
Pine Nuts- 10 gm
Raisins-10 gm
Seasoning- As required
Method:
1. Trim, wash & blanch the spinach. Refresh in cold water & drain again. Remove the excess water out of the spinach, but dont make it dry.
2. Heat the oil in the pan & render fat from pork. Remove cracklings, if any.Add the spinach, pine nuts & raisins till hot.
3. Season & keep hot.

Jacket Potatoes
Ingredients:
Potatoes- 2 no.
Aluminium foil- enough to wrap each of the potatoes
Seasoning- to taste
Parsley- to garnish
Sour cream- 2 tbsp
Melted Butter- 2 tbsp
Method:
1.Preheat the oven at 175 Deg C. Wash & wrap the potatoes with aluminium foil.
2.Cook the potatoes in the oven till cooked. Keep it warm, with the wrap on until ready to serve.
3. Once ready to serve, cut a cross like "X" on top of the potatoes & squeeze from the bottom of the potatoes with four fingers, until some cooked potato comes out.
4. Dot with the melted butter, seasoning, a blob of sour cream & garnish with chopped parsley or chives.

Assembling:
Onc ready for plating, slice the pork loin in thick chunks & put them on the bed of spinach. Saute the apple confit till colored on sides & put them around the pork & the jacket potato on one-side.

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Trio of Chocolates

Chocolate-Lemon Pannacotta
Ingredients:
Fresh Cream-150 ml
Lemon-1/2
Dark Chocolate- 25 gm
Sugar-40 gm
Gelatin-15 gm
Method:
1.Soak the gelatin in enough cold water to cover & allow to bloom. In the meantime, heat the cream & add in the chocolate, till well-dissolved. Add the zest of lime, while cream is hot & add in the sugar & mix well.
2. Add the gelatin & mix well with the cream & allow to cool in a bed of ice & keep on mixing. Once cold, add a squeeze of lemon juice.
3. Pour them in prepared ramekins/moulds & allow to set for at least 3 hours in freezer.

Chocolate-Orange Sorbet
Ingredients:
Zest of Orange[Ideally Mandarin]- 2 nos
Sugar- 50 gm
Water- 125 ml
Cocoa Powder- 25 gm
Dark Chocolate- 45 gm
Salt- A pinch
Essence of Vanilla - 1/2 tsp
Method:
1. Heat 75 ml of water, sugar, cocoa, salt all together & bring to a boil, whilst mixing all of them. Once they come to vigorous boil, allow to boil for a minute & take it off the heat & mix in the chocolate, vanilla & the orange zest.
2.Pass the mixture through a blender & chill. Process the rest in an ice-cream maker, as per manufacturer's instructions.
[N.B.:This will yield 200 ml sorbet & you need only two scoops of it!!!]

Chocolate-Passionfruit Tart
Ingredients:
Readymade tart-shell- 2 nos[10 cm diameter]
Dark chocolate- 40 gm
Passionfruit- 1 nos
Eggs-1 nos.
Sugar- 20 gm
Flour- 20 gm
Method:
1.Heat the chocolate in double boiler with the rest of the ingredients, till the mixture starts to thicken. Once thick, allow it to cool down.
2. Once cold, pipe them in the tart shells & serve cold.[Optionally, you can heat them & serve them warm].

Assembling:
In the dessert plate, demould the pannacotta & put the tart on side of the pannacotta. Put a scoop of sorbet in between & garnish with fresh mint & assorted berries.

When I write such stuff, it reminds me of a small incident. This year on V-Day[Its a kind of a D-Day...!!] I was chatting with a fellow staff, who was interested about my valentine[I hope he is not a gay!!!!]. I said, "No, I dont have". He said, "Why chef...??You are good...". Haha..I know..that I am good..sometimes too good.... :P

Enjoy the dinner with your date....