Romantic Dinner Recipes for Two

• 2 large passion fruits, halved 1 pound pineapple, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 2 teaspoons sugar 4 ripe kiwis, peeled and quartered lengthwise
• Dash of lemon juice 1 large banana, cut into ¼ inch rounds
• 6 pitted prunes, halved

Place a fine sieve over a small saucepan. Scoop out the pulp from one of the passion fruits and press the pulp on the sieve to extract as much of the juice as possible into the saucepan. Add the sugar and a dash of lemon juice and heat moderately for 2 minutes until the sugar has dissolved. Transfer the passion fruit syrup to a medium bowl and set aside to cool. Scoop the pulp from the other passion fruit into the syrup and stir. In separate bowl, toss the bananas, the kiwis, the prunes and the pineapples. Add the passion fruit syrup, toss well and serve.

• 2 tbsp. butter, divided fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 3 tbsp. shallots, minced 2 (4 ounce) filet mignon steaks
• 1/4 C. fresh shiitake mushrooms caps 1/2 tbsp. soy sauce
• 3/4 C. dry red wine, divided 1 tsp. cornstarch
• 5 fl. oz. beef consommé 1 tsp. dried thyme
• fresh thyme (garnish)

Sauté the shallots and mushrooms with the 1 tbsp butter in a non-stick frying pan until tender, about 4 minutes. Add ½ cup of red wine, Marcella or Cabernet will do, and 3 oz of the consommé, simmer for an additional 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove the mushrooms and set them aside, then bring the sauce to a boil until it reduces to ¼ cup. Transfer the wine sauce to a medium bowl and the mushrooms. Meanwhile in a separate bowl, combine the soy sauce with the cornstarch and set it aside. Salt and pepper the filets to taste and sauté the steaks in the remaining butter over a medium heat for about 3 to 5 minutes on each side and remove them from the pan and keep warm. Add to the pan the rest of the red wine and consommé and bring to a boil for about a minute. Add the mushrooms and reduced wine sauce and bring to a boil again. Then add the cornstarch-soy sauce mixture and the dried thyme, stir for about a minute until the sauce has thickened. Place the steaks on the plate and cover with the mushroom wine sauce and garnish with fresh thyme. This dish is best served with baked potato and asparagus spears.