Make sure you've got the recipe for Valentine's love

THANKS to the vagaries of our calendar it turns out that we're spoiled for food-related dates over the next few days. Tomorrow is Valentine's Day when romantic dinners for two are very much on the menu, while Shrove Tuesday follows along two days later, which means pancakes. As most of us will have probably spent January watching the pennies while counting the calories, it's fine to allow ourselves two days of legitimate gastronomic indulgence this week.

February the 14th provides a welcome boost for grateful restaurateurs. Bearing that in mind, if you haven't already booked a table in your partner's favourite eatery then you may have left it too late. This needn't necessarily mean that you're in the doghouse or dumped come Monday, however. Candles and soft music at home combined with a couple of hours work in the kitchen could still create a romantic success.

If your relationship is at an early point or perhaps still in the theoretical stage then it's surely a good idea to make some subtle enquiries about your dining partner's culinary likes and dislikes before you concoct your menu. And since romance is in the air you may be tempted to fill your shopping basket with some of the traditional Valentine's Day ingredients that allegedly provide those fabled aphrodisiac qualities, such as oysters, lobster, asparagus and chocolate. The scientific claims behind some of these ingredients may be fairly dubious but should you decide to go down that route their reputation will undoubtedly get your romantic point across.

Whatever ingredients you decide to utilise, you should perhaps resist the urge to impress and keep things relatively simple. A starter such as a salad or a tartlet and a cold dessert like a dark chocolate pot can be pre-prepared during the afternoon, while choosing a main course such as rack of lamb that can be cooked slowly in the oven or pan-fried cod with chorizo that can be produced in four or five minutes will leave you relatively free to be the charming host. You'll have less chance of a successful evening if you spend the time sweating in the kitchen.

Once you're sitting in the living room with coffee and liqueurs the pressure will be off and you can quietly congratulate yourself on a culinary job well done. And if you can successfully cook your way out of a potential Valentine's Day crisis, whipping up some pancakes for a couple of days later should prove a walk in the park.

• Andy McGregor is chef/proprietor at Blonde Restaurant, 75 St Leonard's Street, 0131-668 2917

RECIPES

Asparagus, bacon, egg and rocket salad, lime and coriander dressing, serves 2

Ingredients

100g fresh asparagus

3 rashers back bacon

2 eggs, hard-boiled and shelled

100g fresh rocket, washed

150ml mayonnaise

juice from 1 lime

1 tbsp fresh chopped coriander

salt and ground black pepper

Method

Chop asparagus. Blanche in boiling water for 2 mins. Grill bacon, then dice. Cut eggs into 4 wedges. Combine mayonnaise, coriander and lime juice. Season. Add water until dressing will run off a spoon. Mix asparagus, bacon and rocket then divide on to plates. Arrange egg wedges around leaves. Drizzle with dressing.

Chocolate and Amaretto pot with white chocolate sauce; passionfruit puree, serves 2

Ingredients

175g good quality dark chocolate, broken up

3 eggs, separated

1 tbsp caster sugar

1 tbsp Amaretto (Disaronno)

100g white chocolate drops

150ml double cream

For the puree:

flesh from 2 passionfruit

100g caster sugar

Method

Put dark chocolate, sugar and Amaretto in a mixing bowl over a pot of simmering water. Whisk until melted and combined. Whisk egg whites until stiff. Add egg yolks to chocolate mix. Take off heat then fold in the egg whites until smooth. Pour into two ramekins leaving a little space. Allow to cool then refrigerate for 1 hour. Place the white chocolate and double cream in another bowl over a pot of simmering water, whisking until melted. Take off the heat and keep at room temperature. Place the passionfruit flesh and sugar in a small pot and simmer until the sugar is melted. Cool. When serving, pour the white chocolate sauce over the top of the ramekins then drizzle the passionfruit puree around the plate.