This was a cracking evening, being a full house with the theme being love/red/Valentine. It led to lots of delicious dishes on this loose theme with some food that would definitely be repeated.

Starters

Jane – Chilled beetroot soup

https://www.jamieoliver.com/inspiration/beautiful-chilled-beet-soup/

This was possibly more pink than red, but was certainly on the right lines. It was tasty and felt cleansing, and I added some caraway for an extra tang.

Julie – Burrata with sticky tomatoes

https://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/burrata-with-sticky-roasted-tomatoes-pine-nuts-and-basil/

This came from Delicious magazine, and it definitely was. The tomatoes were roasted with flavourings of balsamic, then there was a drippy green sauce with burrata on top, and some heart shaped croutons as the final touch.

Mains

Debrah – ‘Marry me’ chicken

https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a46330/skillet-sicilian-chicken-recipe/

This involved chicken, tomatoes, Parmesan and double cream. Absolutely delicious, on the strength of this dish, I’d marry her.

Tracey – ‘Marry Me’ tofu

Another wonderful dish, presenting tofu in a way that we all thought was a great improvement on previous encounters. The tofu was brined with herbs, then dried, coated with corn flour and then fried. It was reported to be a faff, but the results were great.

Sides

Janet – Shakshuka

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/healthy-shakshuka

This was from Good Food, and was the vegetable base without the eggs as it was a side dish. It was very spicy and smoky from the paprika, and beautifully red!

Justine – Red rice salad

https://www.recipetineats.com/wild-rice-salad/

This was really tasty with a variety of flavours, and involved pomegranates, which are thought to be the food of love.

Pudding

Sue – Lemon posset tart

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/lemon_posset_tart_with_94633

A Mary Berry gem, lovely and lemony with a satisfyingly crisp bottom. Sue had made a heart of raspberries on the top which finished it beautifully, both thematically and for flavour.

Karen – chocolate mousse

This came from the Times cookbook from the 1970s, a mousse that was very light and Karen reported it to be simple to make. Some lovely little hearts on the top closed our romantic evening off.