Cooking a meal, whether on a date with someone you met through www.eharmony.co.uk or for your long-term partner, is a great way to create some romance. Here are four romantic meals to try: one each from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

English roast chicken with rosemary and lemon

A traditional English Sunday roast has always been the perfect opportunity to gather with the people you love and share in some good conversation. But who’s to say it has to be a Sunday – roasts can be eaten on any day of the week! Here is a great recipe for two.

Ingredients

20g pack rosemary
3 tbsp butter
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 lemon, zested and halved
½ small red chilli, deseeded and chopped
1 ¼ kg whole chicken, free range
4 medium carrots

Instructions

-    Pre-heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/ gas 5
-    Finely chop two sprigs of rosemary and mix with 2tbsp of the butter, along with the garlic lemon zest and chilli
-    Gently lift the skin away from the breast of the chicken and press the butter underneath
-    Use the remaining butter on the outside of the chicken
-    Stuff the lemon inside the cavity
-    Place chicken in roasting tin with the carrots
-    Season then scatter the remaining rosemary leaves
-    Roast chicken for 1hr 10mins to 1hr 30mins (or until the juices run clear)
Serve with a salad and mashed potatoes.

Irish stew

There’s nothing like a traditional Irish stew to warm up a cold winter night. It’s also a great meal to share together on a romantic evening. If you want to make a day of it and don’t quite know what should precede the meal, look for some date inspiration. If you live in Northern Ireland, for example, there are lots of tips for singles on dating sites like eHarmony – just visit the Northern Ireland page. Here is a simple recipe for two.

Ingredients

130g bacon, diced
500g lamb shoulder, cut into pieces
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 large onion, chopped
200ml beef stock
2 carrots, diced
1 large potato, diced
1 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
Half a glass of white wine
Seasoning

Instructions

-    Cook bacon over high heat until brown. Drain and leave to one side.
-    Cover the lamb with the flour and seasoning, brown over a high heat and place in a large casserole dish
-    Fry the garlic and onion until golden then add to the casserole, along with the bacon and stock. Simmer for 1 ½ hours.
-    Add the carrots, onions, potatoes, thyme, bay leaves and wine. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes until vegetables are tender.

Scottish Raspberry Cranachan

The Raspberry Cranachan is a traditional Scottish dessert, usually served on special occasions. When served at a wedding, a ring would be added into the mixture and whoever found it would be next to marry! Here’s how to make it yourself.

Ingredients

2 tbsp porridge oats
75ml whipping cream
75g fromage frais
1 tbsp clear honey
1 tbsp whisky
200g raspberries

Instructions

-    Toast the oats in a hot dry pan over medium heat until browned.
-    Whip together the cream and fromage frais, before stirring in the honey, whisky and 4 tbsp of the oats
-    Layer the raspberries with the cream mixture in 2 serving glasses, reserving some raspberries for decoration
-    Decorate with the remaining fruit and oats and serve

Pembrokeshire honey fudge crumblies

Honey biscuits are traditionally made in Wales around St David’s day – delicious to share, although you may not want to!

Ingredients

50g flaked almonds
75g Pembrokeshire honey fudge, chopped
200g plain flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
125g butter
125g light muscovado sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla essence

Instructions

-    Pre-heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4
-    Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs
-    Stir in almonds, fudge and sugar and mix well
-    Whisk the egg and vanilla essence and add to mixture
-    Drop 2 tablespoons at a time onto a lined and greased baking tray and bake for 12-15 minutes
-    Leave to cool for 10 minutes before serving
Resource box

Romantic recipes
BBC Good Food’s romantic recipes

Romantic dinners for two
Eating Well on making healthy recipes together

25 Best Romantic Desserts
Recipes from Real
4/14/2013 12:53:56 am

Thanks for the recipes. I need to try this by myself.

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7/28/2013 09:32:36 pm

That was one hell of a recipe, Barbara. I loved them all. My husbands favorite was the Irish stew and he had it like he had never eaten before! The Scottish Raspberry Cranachan was an awesome dessert and my grand kids loved them. All thanks to you Barbara!

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1/28/2014 11:31:40 pm

Interesting post, i love to visit your blog everyday

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