Valentine's Dinner for One

Hi everyone and happy Valentine’s Day!

If you follow me on Instagram (@diaryofahopefulcook), then you know that historically I have not had the most…positive opinions of Love Day. I always thought I was above being cynical because I have been single every time the day came around but it turns out that I am only human so even I can get a little bit bitter. It wasn’t until I got older and I became really close with my group of friends that I started to understand that Valentine’s Day could have multiple meanings. For us, it’s always been a time to remind each other just how much we care and wishing for the year to continue to be one of self-love and growth. Therefore, in the spirit of self-love, I decided to do a Valentine’s Day dinner–for–one.

On paper, I understand that sound extremely sad but in reality it’s not. There is no need to wait for a significant other to visit a restaurant that has been on your bucket list for ages. Nothing is stopping you taking yourself to the cinema to see that film if none of your friends can make it. It is perfectly okay to make yourself a three course dinner on Valentine’s Day to show yourself some love and attention. It is also perfectly acceptable to keep all those leftovers for yourself because no one else helped you make it so no one else is entitled to eat it. #winning

If you are a relationship, this blog post is still suitable for you. As you may or may not know, I live at home with my parents and my little brother so nine times out of ten anything I make for the blog will usually be the family meal that night. Therefore, while my dishes are intended for one person, they can very easily be scaled up to feed multiple people.

All that being said, let me talk you through the three courses I designed:

Starters – don’t bother, buy something!

I definitely feel like as a food blogger, it’s not wise to start advising my readers to buy premade starters but I have to be honest. I love being in the kitchen and I love cooking but if I am just making food for myself, I like to take shortcuts wherever I can in order to increase my “chill” time. Part of self-love is knowing when you need to act and when to take a step back and for me the starter course is a great place to take that step back. I went to Sainsbury’s and bought a few antipasti bits (minus the meat) that I really enjoyed. I bought the stuffed vine leaves, ricotta stuffed cherry peppers & slow roasted cherry tomatoes with mozzarella balls. Simple yet effective. And if you are feeling so inclined (as I was when I was taking photos that day), you can arrange your antipasti in pretty terracotta tapas bowls over a nice Valentine’s Day looking scarf and look really bougie on Instagram. There are no rules here! Go to the shops and get whatever light nibbles you like to snack on, stick them in a pretty bowl and that’s your first course done.

Bougie plates make everything look fancy

Mains – steak and potatoes

Why mess with a classic? I personally do not order steak when I go to restaurants. Mainly because I like my steaks cooked well done and I feel thoroughly ashamed at making a decent chef overcook a piece of expensive meat because I don’t like blood on my plate. Therefore, if I ever eat steak, I usually cook it at home where I don’t feel judgemental eyes boring into my soul. There are a couple of options when you are purchasing a steak but I do believe that if you are going through all this trouble to make yourself a nice dinner, you should buy the best quality meat you can afford. I suggest going to your local butchers (support local businesses) but you can find some really good quality meat in supermarkets. The best cuts to go for in this dish would be sirloin or rump as it would be pan-fried.

I adore Tex-Mex cooking so I have a dry rub mix that I’ve developed over the years for family barbecues. It works okay as a dry rub when you are frying meat but I would suggest removing the brown sugar as I feel that makes the meat caramelise to quickly and you don’t get the deep dark crust you want on the meat before the sugars burn. I’m the type of cook that seasons from my soul which basically means I don’t measure anything so I do not have the exact ratios for the spices in this rub but I can give you a rough idea. It essentially contains:

3 tablespoons ground cumin and ground coriander

2 tablespoons garlic granules

2 tablespoons onion granules

1 to 2 tablespoons paprika (sweet smoked paprika is great if you have it but just use 1 tablespoon)

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon light brown sugar

and a lot of salt and black pepper.

Then all you have to do is mix the rub together, massage that lovingly into your meat, try and wait at least 30 minutes to an hour for it to marinate and then pan fry it to your liking. Plus, you will always have some leftover spice rub which is great for the next time you’re cooking meat.

For the potatoes, in the spirit of Tex-Mex cooking I chose to make a potato salad. This might have been heavily influenced by the fact that I had an entire bag of baby potatoes in my cupboard which was starting to sprout but when life gives you lemons… you make potato salad! The dressing for my salad is pretty classic and straightforward. You mix mayonnaise with lemon juice or white wine vinegar, add some chopped parsley and season to taste. I used to add chopped gherkins and mustard but my little brother did not like the vinegary shock so whenever I cook for him I take them out. However, I suggest adding the gherkins because they taste amazing in any potato salad.

Once you’ve got your meat cooked and your potatoes dressed, that’s your main course served!

On a side note, eagle eyed readers may notice that the photos in this blog look like slices of beef as opposed to a steak. You would be correct. As I was done for family, I chose to purchase a brisket which I cooked in the pressure pot since it does require a more low and slow method which I did not have time for. I use the same rub but I braise the brisket in beef stock with chipotle paste and tomato paste until tender.

Who needs vegetables anyways?

Dessert – “I came across this particular tart many years ago…”

Five points to your Hogwarts if you can guess where the above quote came from. I wanted to keep dessert fairly simple because no one really has time to be making technical desserts on a Monday night (a really awkward day for Valentine’s Day). Therefore, an easy lemon tart that would impress yourself and anyone else you choose to share it with this super accessible. My secret? Buy a premade pastry case.

People can have their own opinion about whether or not it is cheating to use premade elements in the dessert. However, since you are the only person eating this dish it honestly doesn’t matter! Therefore, unless you have some point to prove to the pastry gods, please go and get yourself a premade case so that all you have to do is make the filling. The rest before the filling comes from Sorted Food and all I did was scale it down by half as the cases I bought were a bit shallower than the dish they used. And as I said above, there will be leftovers so just imagine how nice it would be to get home from work this week knowing that there is a portion of lemon tart – which you made by yourself – waiting to reward you for making it through another day. If that is not self love, then I don’t know what this…

All tarts need a cup of tea. Scientific fact

This blog post was less about offering you three recipes (or two since I had no intention of making a starter from scratch) but an opportunity to give you some ideas. These were dishes that I wanted to have but the whole point is to make food that you enjoy eating. Whatever it is that gives you a feeling of comfort and love. The biggest takeaway that I would hope you get from reading this blog is that you don’t need anyone else to receive an act of love, you just need to be willing to put in the effort of showing love to yourself – hopefully on a daily basis.

However, if you do want the recipes for anything in this blog post please let me know. I can consult the Spirit of Seasoning in my soul and try and jot down some exact ratios for consistency purposes!

I hope you will have a wonderful Valentine’s Day full of love and good energy and I’ll see you in the next post.

Lots of love,

Mary