If chef Jack Conley were preparing a romantic Valentine’s Day meal for someone special, he would arrange for the two of them to share the whole experience.

“The whole idea is spending an evening together, so why not prepare the meal together? It’s a nice opportunity to talk and to set a romantic mood for the meal,” he said.

Keep the menu simple and work toward a bit of elegance. A red table cloth with some pink rose petals scattered about, a few candles, preferable in glass chimneys, some nice china and silver go a long way to create the perfect ambiance.

“The meal could begin with a spinach salad with a warm gorgonzola and sun-dried tomato dressing and fried polenta. It’s a nice winter dish. It’s warm. The dressing warms the spinach, so it’s really nice,” Conley said.

You can’t go wrong with an entree of steak and shrimp. Conley combined the two with a steak-shrimp cake stack with sides of roasted potatoes, asparagus and julienned red and yellow peppers.

“These are comfort foods that are good any time, and they’re relatively easy to put together. It makes a really nice presentation on the plate. For Valentine’s Day at home, I would recommend serving one plate and sharing the meal together.”

What’s Valentine’s Day without chocolate? Cheesecake, maybe? Why not combine the two? Dip the cheesecake in a chocolate ganache for the perfect dessert. Add a thick chocolate brownie dipped in ganache, and the double chocolate treat is sure to be an aphrodisiac with no equal.

“You need a little decadence on Valentine’s Day, and chocolate provides that better than anything else I can think of in a dessert line,” Conley said.

He shared these recipes, which are part of the menu at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center, where Conley is the executive chef.



Spinach salad

with a warm

gorgonzola dressing



1 1/2 cups baby spinach

4 pieces of Asparagus

1 quarter of a small red onion (Julian )

4 cherry tomatoes, quartered

1/2 cup chicken broth

3 tablespoons gorgonzola cheese (can sub blue cheese)



Sauté asparagus in olive oil for about 2 minutes. Add onions and tomatoes in same sauté and keep cooking for about 1 minute.

Add chicken stock and gorgonzola cheese and cook until boiling. Pour over spinach.

Cook polenta as instructions on package.



Steak and shrimp

cake stack



One 8-ounce filet

5 jumbo shrimp (peeled and deveined, keep shells)

1 egg

1 cup heavy cream

Salt and pepper

1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

1 teaspoon mustard

1 cup bread crumbs

1 tablespoon chopped onions

1 tablespoon chopped green peppers

2 ounces tomato paste

Shrimp cream sauce



Take shrimp shells and roast in pot for about 20 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook until black on bottom of pan. Add 6 cups water and simmer until reduced by half. Strain broth to get rid of shrimp shells.

Pour broth and cream in pot and simmer low until thick. Salt and pepper to taste.

Shrimp cake

Take shrimp and remove tail then chop into 1/2-inch pieces. Mix shrimp, bread crumbs, green peppers, onions, Old Bay, mustard, egg, and mix in bowl.

Take mixture and form into 1-inch high disk.

Put oil in sauté pan and fry shrimp cake until golden brown and at a temp of 145 degrees F. (will come up to temp when you cook steak).

Put on paper towel to drain grease.



Steak stack

Cut filet in half. Grill to one temperature below desired temperature. For example, if you want medium, cook until medium rare.

Place one steak, then shrimp cake, then other stack on top of each other.

Place stack into a 450-degree oven for about 3 minutes. Pull out and rest for about 3 minutes. Serve with sauce over stack





Chocolate-covered

cheesecake bites

served with ice cream

and a red wine reduction sauce



Cheese cake bites

Take cheese cake and mix with a beater — crust and all — until semi-smooth. Form into desired shape and freeze for 1 hour. Melt chocolate and dip cheese cake into it. Cool and serve.



Red wine sauce

8 cups of red wine

1 cinnamon stick

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

Boil ingredients in pot until reduction is syrup consistency. Pour sauce over ice cream.

— E-mail:

bdavis@register-herald.com