A valentine you enjoy, too

You plan on making a romantic dinner this Valentine's Day with your valentine. You also want to spend some quality time with that person.

Right?

That's one of the keys to making a romantic dinner, said Susan Maddox, chef and co-owner of Le Titi De Paris in Arlington Heights.

Maddox, offers some tips on how to prepare and spend time with your valentine and not be a slave to your kitchen. She shared ideas for a three-course romantic dinner recently at the Vernon Area Public Library in Lincolnshire.

Her three-course menu includes salad, a salmon entree and dessert to make Valentine's Day or any time.

The salad dressing, sauce for the salmon, cookies and passion fruit creme all can be made ahead she said.

Married to Michael, also a chef, Maddox said making dinner ahead of time allows a cook to enjoy time with that special person and dinner.

"You can actually enjoy your Valentine's Day versus being in the kitchen and slaving over the stove," she said.

Here are some of her tips:

The salad

The salad can be served in the spring, too, with fresh strawberries, Maddox adds. And the dressing makes a great balsamic vinaigrette to marinate meat.

When serving, she told the audience, always serve it on a platter. If you use a bowl, nobody is going to see it.

"If you spread it onto a long white platter and put everything on top of it, it is a total ta-da," she said.

The entree

Another key when making the meal: improvise.

For the entree, if you don't like or have salmon, use anything that sautes well such as red snapper, tilapia or halibut. Instead of spinach, use broccoli slaw, risotto or pasta as a bed for the fish. If you don't have raspberries, cherries work in the sauce.

"Once I'm home and I'm in my jammies if I don't have raspberries, I am not serving raspberries," she said. "Use what you have at home. Make it easy, convenient."

Darcie Dawson, who attended the program with a friend said Maddox's program may encourage her to be more adventurous when creating dishes in the kitchen.

"I follow the recipe to a T. To be a great cook, you have to be more adventurous," said Dawson, who lives in Lincolnshire.

Maddox offered a date night tip when making the fish; sear it, put it on a sheet pan and put it in the refrigerator for up to an hour.

"Go upstairs and get beautiful and you can bake it later," she said. By sauteing early, she said the cook avoids smelling like fish for the date.

At her restaurant, several items are made from scratch including candied nuts that go into the salad and the stock used for the sauce. But as a busy mom of two, even she sometimes cheats.

Buy canned broth, the lower sodium is better and buy candied nuts or any variety at the store to make the meal easier, she said.

"I was asked one time can you use beer nuts," she said. "I have some rules."

The dessert

Maddox said she likes to use what she calls cheaters. For the dessert, prepare the almond cookies and put ice cream inside instead of preparing the passion fruit creme.

To make a fancier presentation for a date, layer the cookies with the creme and raspberries to make a napoleon.

Many foods will help enhance the romantic mood including serving the passion fruit creme to dip strawberries. Or make a chocolate fondue for two.

"This is Valentine's Day, so we can have butter, heavy cream and all of the above. There is a rule," she said.