Dining out on Valentine's Day is the pits, as least in my opinion.  Generally it's a set menu, tables are crammed in right next to each other making intimate conversations, well, not so intimate, you are rushed through the meal so the restaurant can turn the table, and so forth.  So I generally like to cook my special someone dinner at home.  I start off with grand plans of a four-course feast culminating in a flaming baked Alaska, and by end of the entire production there are pots and pans scattered everywhere and I am exhausted!

To remedy this I developed a very easy and super streamlined Romantic Dinner for Two in the February Martha Stewart Living. The dishes rely on simple, high-quality ingredients that are prepared by the experts, like the steamed seafood from your local fish purveyor, or easily transformed by you, as in the silken Chocolate Pots de Creme.  All it takes is a little time at the market purchasing the right ingredients, a bare minimum of effort in the kitchen, and of course finding the right person to dine with!

See the complete Valentine's Day menu and recipes.