I want to cook my man a romantic 3 course meal, any suggestions? recipes? tips?

Serve food you can eat with your fingers such as king prawns in a nice flavoured butter, or tacos, cream filled choux buns etc. and eat by candelight, close together so you can help clean each other up.......I want to cook my man a romantic 3 course meal, any suggestions? recipes? tips?
No, but that is such a sexy thing to say. You have no idea!I want to cook my man a romantic 3 course meal, any suggestions? recipes? tips?
This is a simple meal that anyone can prepare: appetizers of brie, crackers and smoked salmon or prosciutto with a lemon zest herb butter, and lime-marinated scallops








Make the herb butter in advance. At least an hour before you make it, set the butter out at room temperature. About an hour before dinner, take the herb butter out of the fridge so that it comes to spreadable consistency; set the brie out at the same time. Assemble napoleons just before dinner.








Herb butter





1/2 stick butter (4 tablespoons), softened


1 teaspoon Dijon mustard


1 teaspoon capers, drained and very finely chopped


1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh dill tops


1/2 teaspoon lemon zest (wash and dry the lemon; grate about 1/3 of its surface, using a light touch to remove the yellow surface, not the bitter white part underneath. Save the lemon to grate a little more zest for garnish, and for juice for the main-course avocado, below.)





Napoleons





8 large round crackers, such as Breton wafers


Small wedge brie, rind cut off and discarded, cut into pieces roughly the size of the crackers


8 thin slices smoked salmon (or prosciutto), of a size that will fit neatly on a cracker.


In a small bowl, mash and stir the softened butter with a plastic spatula or a spoon or fork until it鈥檚 creamy. Add mustard, capers, dill and lemon zest and mix well. Refrigerate, tightly covered, for an hour or two or overnight.





Just before serving, spread each cracker generously on one side with the herb butter.





Start with one cracker, butter side up. Top it with a piece of brie. If you鈥檝e bought sliced salmon, cut it to a size that will fit neatly atop the brie; if unsliced, slice it as thinly as possible and trim it to fit if necessary. Top with another buttered cracker, another piece of brie and another slice of salmon. Garnish with a little dab of butter, a teeny dill feather, 3 capers and a little lemon zest. Repeat to make a total of 4 napoleons.





Prosciutto variation


Use unflavored softened butter, substitute thinly sliced prosciutto for the salmon and add thin pear slices. Omit garnish.





Lime-marinated scallops





Serves 2, very generously, as a main course


Shopping: At the fresh-seafood counter, see if you can get bay scallops that are about an inch long and 3/4-inch thick; I found some at Central Market. If all they have is the itty-bitty bay scallops, go with the larger, pricier sea scallops. Have them packed on ice to take home.





You鈥檒l also need a couple of limes, a red bell pepper and a bunch of fresh cilantro (produce department). Note: Cilantro is a love-or-hate herb; find out if your loved one loves it. If not, get Italian (flat-leaf, not curly) parsley.





Also get a small head of butter or Bibb lettuce and an avocado. Buy the avocado a day or two early; you may not find a ripe one (yielding to slight pressure but not mushy), and a hard avocado needs a couple of days at room temperature (not in the fridge) to ripen.





Get some good-quality rolls or a crusty European-style loaf of bread.





Preparation tips: Grate the zest from the lime before you halve it. You鈥檒l get more juice if you zap the lime for about 45 seconds in the microwave and/or roll it, pressing down hard with your palm, on the counter before you halve it. Sticking the tines of a fork into the pulp while you鈥檙e squeezing it will make juicing easier.





1 pound large bay scallops or sea scallops


Grated zest of 1 lime


1/4 cup lime juice (squeeze directly into a measuring cup; limes vary widely, and it may take up to 2 limes)


1/2 medium red bell pepper, cut into very fine dice (slice it into thin matchsticks, stack together and cut crosswise)


Several sprigs cilantro or parsley (pluck off the top leaves and use as many as will loosely pack into a half-cup measure), roughly chopped


Several unblemished leaves butter or Bibb lettuce, washed and dried


Ripe avocado


2 teaspoons lemon juice


Freshly ground pepper, optional





If sea scallops are very large, slice into uniform pieces roughly 1 by 3/4-inch. Place in a non-metal bowl. Add zest; strain lime juice over scallops; add bell pepper and cilantro; toss gently so the lime juice coats all the scallops. Cover tightly and refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours before serving.





To serve, place a couple of lettuce leaves on one side of the plate. Halve the avocado and remove the pit. Gently make parallel vertical slices about 1/4 inch apart, down to the peel. Scoop the flesh from the peel in one piece with a large spoon and separate the slices (or peel each half and then slice). Fan slices in a semicircle on the other side of the plate from the lettuce. Drizzle 1 teaspoon lemon juice over them (a grinding of pepper is optional). Mound scallops in center of plate. Repeat with second plate. Garnish with cilantro
Check out this page:





http://www.gourmet-food-revolution.com/r鈥?/a>





It has a fab 3 course menu. Nice and easy to prepare, but very impressive. Plus lots of tips, timetable, planning notes etc.





Enjoy!