Wednesday is Valentine's Day. What better way to tempt your sweetheart for the evening's main course (so to speak) than with a romantic dinner and dessert?
Sweet temptation, indeed.
The menu:
- Salad of sliced avocados with balsamic vinegar
- Roasted Asparagus
- Baked fish with Honey-Mustard Sauce
- Chocolate-dipped Strawberries
Here's why I chose each of these for your sensuous Valentine's dinner.
Avocado: The Aztecs called the avocado tree Ahuacuatl or "testicle tree" because the fruit hanging in pairs on the tree resembled the male's testicles.
Slice and serve with a drizzle of balsalmic vinegar as a simple appetizer.
Asparagus: This is a straightforward example of sympathetic magic. The shape is certainly suggestive, don't you think?
Roasted Asparagus
1/2 pound fresh asparagus
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt to taste
Preheat oven to 500°. Wash and trim asparagus. Place in a single layer in roasting pan. Brush with oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast the asparagus in upper third of oven until tender, approximately 10 to 12 minutes. Serves 2.
Asparagus is high in vitamins A and C and is undoubtedly delicious. However, for a sizable portion of the population, eating asparagus has a peculiar effect: in the inimitable words of Benjamin Franklin, "a few stems of asparagus eaten shall give our urine a disagreeable odor." Approximately half of the people tested possessed a gene placing them among the - ahem - fragrant group. To add to the complexity, there's a different gene which seems to control the ability to smell the resulting sulfur compounds.
If you and your lover are in both the group that processes the sulfur compounds and those who can smell them, perhaps it would be wiser to substitute fresh green beans. They can be roasted in exactly the same way and taste delicious without the side effects.
Honey: Honey, known as an aphrodisiac since the fifth century BC, is rich in B vitamins (needed for testosterone production) as well as boron (helps the body metabolize and use estrogen). Some studies have suggested that it may also enhance blood levels of testosterone. n ancient Persia, couples drank mead every day for a month (known as the "honey month" -- a.k.a. "honeymoon") after they married in order to promote fertility.
Mustard: Like chiles, ginger, and other spicy foods, the heat of mustard was thought to stimulate the sexual organs and promote desire.
Baked Fish with Honey Mustard Sauce
- 2 catfish fillets (or other mild white fish)
- 1½ tablespoons honey
- 1½ tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 3/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- salt
- ground black pepper
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Rinse the fillets and pat dry; set aside.
- In a shallow bowl, whisk together the honey, mustard, and lemon juice.
- In a separate shallow bowl, combine the bread crumbs with the thyme and add a few shakes of salt and pepper.
- Dip each fillet into the honey-mustard sauce and then dredge it in the bread crumb mixture to coat both sides evenly.
- Place the fillets in a sprayed or lightly oiled baking pan and bake, uncovered, for 20-30 minutes, or until thoroughly hot and tender.
Serves 2.
All of this, of course, is mere preparation for the dessert:
Chocolate: Chocolate, originally found in the South American rainforests, was called "food of the gods" by the Mayans. Rumor has it that the Aztec ruler Montezuma drank 50 goblets of chocolate each day to enhance his sexual abilities.
Chocolate has been found to contain two naturally-occurring "feel good" chemicals, phenylethylamine and serotonin, which are released by the brain when we feel happy or are in love.
Strawberries: Another case of sympathetic magic, strawberries have been called "fruit nipples." Feeding them to your lover can be a sensuous experience.
Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries
- 8 ounces high-quality chocolate
- about 15 large strawberries
- Carefully wash and thoroughly dry the strawberries; refrigerate them until time to dip them. The fruit must be completely dry and chilled.
- Spread a sheet of waxed paper or parchment paper on which to cool the berries.
- Melt the chocolate in a double boiler and try to keep it just cooler than body temperature (86° - 88¼ if you have a candy thermometer) while you are working.
- Dip each strawberry about two-thirds into the melted chocolate. Allow excess to drip off and place on paper to cool.
Serves 2.
If you would rather not fool with dipping your own chocolates, a number of companies make high-quality chocolates truffles and other candies. These are from Godiva, but other recommended chocolatiers include
Instructions for making chocolate truffles -- they look quite easy to do -- can be found at epicurious.com and illustrated at Cooking for Engineers.
I must make a major confession here. I asked a number of friends and acquaintances to recommend chocolatiers because...
... I don't like chocolate.
After purchasing and taste-testing about $50.00 worth of expensive chocolate for this article, I can say that I still am not tempted by "chocolate" in general. However, I did like Godiva's Sugar-Free Dark Chocolate bar; it was neither too sweet nor too bitter. And Green and Black's Organic White Chocolate (yes, I know, it's not really chocolate since it has no cocoa solids) is incredible. The best of the dark chocolates was Newman's Own Sweet Dark Chocolate.
So what will my sweetheart be getting me for Valentine's Day, since he doesn't cook and I don't like chocolate?
He never forgets the roses.
-------------
Note on photographs: All photos used in this article are either my own copyrighted artwork or are licensed for non-commercial use from iStockphoto.