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Valentine’s Day: Don’t fail to kiss the cook

By Kim Davaz

Based on “The Best Places to Kiss Northwest” travel guide, Carol Freiberg’s “The Best Places to Kiss Cookbook” will give you plenty of romantic ideas for St. Valentine’s Day.

Romance is in the eye of the beholder. One person’s romance might be a secluded coastal inn, another might prefer a city hotel with lots of room service. Someone else might find a trip to Jerry’s for Moss-B-Gone and a big broom very romantic.

Jerry’s Home Improvement stores didn’t make the list, but plenty of places in the southern Willamette Valley did, including Marché and King Estate Winery - great places for a romantic splurge.

An index in the back lists the reviewed restaurants, wineries and lodgings from “The Best Places to Kiss.”

A trip to Seattle several years ago included a family birthday dinner at one of the guide’s romantic restaurants, El Gaucho. (It’s featured recipe is Chateaubriand for Two.) The review says it’s windowless and might get a little noisy.

The noise there wasn’t memorable for me, but it was so dark, they provided little flashlights to read the menu. Staff members escorted women to the ladies’ room. The level of darkness seemed less romantic than secretive, a benefit if perhaps you’re there with someone you ought not to be and don’t want to be recognized.

The recipes in the book are divided by type of meal, with an additional section on desserts. Ideas for romance appear in occasional shaded boxes within the recipes, including simple ways to say, “I love you,” and tips on how long different varieties of flowers last.

One of the boxes in the “Desserts” chapter has a list of 10 romantic movies. The first two movies that popped into my head, “Moonstruck” and “Truly, Madly, Deeply” might not be old enough to be considered classics, but any movie you never tire of watching is a classic in my book.

Use a bit of common sense when reading the recipes. Bachelor’s Pasta in “Main Dishes” says it makes two servings. The sauce calls for 8 cloves of garlic and 2½ cups of penne pasta. That would probably be enough pasta for six, and that’s a whole lot of garlic. As long as both people are eating it, that much garlic might be fine. Try 2 to 3 cloves to start. You can always add more. Then again, maybe that’s why this pasta is named for a bachelor, not a fiance.

The recipe for Ultimate Whipped Cream in “Desserts” is to be served with spiked Fireside Coffee. It says to whip the cream for 7 minutes at medium speed until it forms stiff peaks. Don’t walk away from a mixer bowl for 7 minutes while it’s whipping cream. You might come back to find butter in your bowl. Half that amount of time is probably more than enough.

Across from the Fireside Coffee is a shaded box with an excellent, very simple recipe for chocolate fondue. Melt 8 ounces of the chocolate of your choice (it calls for semisweet) in ½ cup of cream that was brought to a simmer and removed from the heat. Add 1 tablespoon of your favorite liqueur. Use as a dip for fruit, baked goods, marshmallows and fingers, or pour it over ice cream.

Be creative with the recipes. Think of using them at times other than as suggested by their placement in the book. Mount Ashland Inn’s pears and goat cheese with toasted pine nuts, warm honey and grated orange peel (the description gives you the recipe) is listed as a salad, but would be equally as good as a dessert.

Breakfast for dinner can be very romantic, not to mention delicious. The recipes in the “Breakfast & Brunch” section would be very nice any time of the day.

Dreamy Brulée French Toast from The Dreamgiver’s Inn in Newberg is in the “Breakfast & Brunch” section, but this is a great example of a dish that would work any time of the day, especially when served with the suggested apple chicken sausage or pepper bacon. This French toast has the added benefit of needing to be refrigerated for 8 to 24 hours after assembling, so all of the work, not that it’s really much work, happens well before the meal. It also may be reheated.

Dreamy Brulée French Toast

Serves 6.

• ½ cup (1 stick) butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons corn syrup
• 1 loaf French or Tuscan-style bread
• 5 eggs
• 1½ cups half-and-half
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon Grand Marnier or orange zest
• ¼ teaspoon salt

In a small, heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and corn syrup and stir until smooth. Pour into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Cut six 1-inch slices from the center of the loaf of bread. Arrange the bread slices in one layer in the baking dish, squeezing them slightly to fit.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, vanilla, Grand Marnier and salt until well combined; pour evenly over the bread. Cover and chill at least 8 hours and up to 1 day.

Bring the bread to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Bake, uncovered, in the middle of the oven until the French toast is puffed and the edges are light golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. Serve immediately.

Kim Davaz writes a biweekly cookbook review column for The Register-Guard.

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