Serve with love ...

Perhaps this is why one friend of mine prefers to steer clear of restaurants on February 14. For him, the most romantic table for two lies at home. In fact, if you forgot to make a restaurant booking, you could use his ruse for a great excuse.

The key is prior organisation, so you are free to focus on your loved one, not the cooking. You could go one step further and cook famous dishes renowned specifically for sharing.

A cold selection of meze sharing dishes could be prepared in advance, some of it even shop-bought from a good deli. For main course, focus on cooking a beautiful Chateaubriand of Scotch beef. Plenty of roasting (and resting) time for the meat allows you time to relax and cook some simple green vegetables. For dessert, nothing is more perfect for two than a Tarte Tatin, finished beforehand, served with a simple dollop of crème fraiche. Just add candles, Champagne and flowers.

Recipes serve two

Roast Chateaubriand

1 beef fillet head or Chateaubriand, 400-450g, trimmed of any outer sinew

2 red onions peeled and cut into sixths

4 cloves garlic (skin on)

Vegetable oil and butter for cooking

Several bushy sprigs of thyme

1 tbsp sherry vinegar

200ml red wine

1. Remove meat from fridge 30 minutes before cooking. Heat oven to 220C. Heat roasting tray in oven. After a few minutes, remove it and add two dsstsp oil, the thyme, the onions and garlic then return to the oven at once. Cook for five minutes, shaking the tray once or twice.

2. Meanwhile, heat a frying pan over a high heat and add two dsstsp oil. Season meat all over with sea salt flakes. Place meat in the pan and leave to sear on the first face for two minutes until well brown. Give meat a quarter turn with tongs and continue browning all over. Once browned, place onto the roasting tray in the oven. Cook for eight minutes, turn over then cook for a further eight minutes. This will give medium rare; add another minute to each side for medium, another for medium well and so on.

3. Once cooked, lift the meat onto a plate. Season lightly with fresh-ground black pepper lightly. Place onions and garlic with the meat. Cover with a loose tent of tin foil and rest for 15 minutes, turning the meat over once.

4. Place the roasting tray over a gentle heat, add vinegar and scrape at any sediment with a wooden spoon. Once the vinegar has boiled, add wine and reduce by three-quarters, then turn off heat. Add to the tray any juices that have collected under the meat. Transfer to a small jug.

5. Place the meat on a carving board and set on the table. Slice thickly and arrange on two warmed serving plates. Add chips, roast red onions and garlic, a green salad and a dollop of horseradish or mustard. Share the cooking juices and enjoy.

Pear tarte tatin

60g caster sugar

60g butter

5 pears, peeled

300g ready-made puff pastry

1. On a lightly floured surface, roll out pastry to £1 coin thickness then cut around with a 26cm dinner plate to form a perfect disc. Transfer this to a sheet of greaseproof paper on a baking tray and chill.

2. Slice the butter thinly and lay evenly across the base of an oven-proof frying pan, the inside measurements of which should be about 18cm. Sprinkle the sugar across the butter evenly.

3. Quarter each pear, cutting out the core, then arrange the pears around the pan, pressing them neatly in one overlapping ring around the outside, with a couple of pieces wedged into the middle to fill the space at the centre.

4. Cook gently over a moderate heat so the butter melts, forming a caramel with the sugar. The pears will begin to absorb a little of its colour. When the butter and sugar have formed a very dark brown layer, remove pan from heat; cool for 30 minutes.

5. Drape the rolled pastry across the pears; the sides should be wider than the pan. Using the tip of a small palette knife or spoon handle, tuck the pastry edge down between the sides of the pan and the pears, to form a lid that extends down by about a centimetre, around the sides. Can be done several hours in advance to this stage and refrigerated.

6. Pre-heat oven to 200C. Place pan on a baking tray to catch any escaping juices then cook in middle of oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 180C and finish cooking until pastry is golden brown (15-20 more minutes).

7. Remove from oven and leave to stand for 10 minutes. (Place a thick dish cloth on the handle to prevent burning: not a romantic look on Valentine's night.)

8. To serve: loosen the edges of the pears and pastry from the sides of the pan with a small palette knife or similar. Lay a wide plate over the pan and put a thick, dry cloth on the plate. Press down on it firmly with one hand. Hold the pan handle with your other hand with another thick dry cloth. Stand over the sink so escaping juices don't go everywhere: in one swift, decisive movement, turn the pan and plate over, so the pan is on top of the plate, catching the tart. Set the plate down on a counter, still holding the pan over the plate. The pan should lift off easily, leaving the tart behind, but if necessary, ease the tart out onto the plate with a palette knife. Spoon any caramel left behind over the pears. Serve at once with crème fraiche or ice cream.

Geoffrey Smeddle is chef patron of The Peat Inn, by St Andrew's, Fife, KY15 5LH 01334 840206 www.thepeatinn.co.uk