Want to keep things cosy and celebrate St Valentine’s with your loved one at home? Maxine Brimmer shows that even the biggest kitchen klutz can shine with a few simple tips.

Keep it simple and use fresh local strawberries, which are already available on the market.

Love it or loathe it, Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, so prepare yourself for an explosion of roses, hearts and teddy bears as the big day looms on the horizon.

Let’s be frank: Valentine’s is not for everyone and there’s nothing wrong with that. However, just because crowded restaurants and overpriced champagne cocktails aren’t your idea of the perfect date, it doesn’t mean the night’s got to be a total bust.

Crack out the candles and don your apron – there’s no reason you can’t have a beautiful dinner for two at home.

Whether your love is a quiet homebody or a high-spirited party animal, no one can resist the comforts of a good, home-cooked meal. Plus, you score extra points for being thoughtful without having to break the bank by splurging on a meal for two at a restaurant packed full of couples having the exact same ‘unique’ romantic experience as you.

A good meal doesn’t have to be ridiculously complicated, so don’t get scared of the idea just because you’re no Michelin Star chef. Just be sure to pick something that you feel reasonably confident preparing – and maybe to be extra safe, have a practice run a week before the big night.

Unless you’re a reasonably confident home cook, impressive fine-dining classics such as lobster or oysters should probably be crossed right off your list of possibilities. However, the old classic ‘surf and turf’ might be just up your alley. Traditionally, the ‘surf’ component of the dish can be made up of prawn or shrimp, which are a fair bit simpler to acquire and cook than lobster, particularly if you happen to be in possession of a barbecue.

You can pick up cleaned, peeled prawns from most good fishmongers, and grilling them really just as easy as sticking them on a skewer and placing them over the flames with maybe a few drops of lemon juice and some garlic for flavour.

Dessert is purely an indulgence… and that’s kind of what romance is about, isn’t it?

If you don’t have a barbecue available at home, you can pan-fry shrimp or cook them under the grill in your oven for equally tasty results.

The ‘turf’ step should be a nice cut of beef – but don’t let the idea of a steak send you running for the hills. Take a deep breath, relax and repeat after me: steak is not your enemy. A good steak does not require a huge amount of attention. In fact, the less you do with it the better in most cases.

Go for a good cut, like fillet or ribeye, or maybe pick up a nice big t-bone for two to get that Bistecca Fiorentina experience. A nice cut of beef will have flavour to speak for itself, but you can enhance that by rubbing salt and pepper all over the outside of the steak. You can also opt to lightly brush it with some good olive oil.

A steak is one of those things that seems thoroughly complicated but in reality is very simple to prepare

Once you’re ready to go, you can either fry the steak in a pre-heated pan, or flame grill it over an open flame. Keep in mind that with a two-centimetre-thick steak, you will need to cook it for two minutes on each side to achieve a perfect medium rare. Allow your steak to rest covered in foil for three to five minutes following cooking, to let the juices settle.

Want a recipe that looks impressive to the untrained eye while also being easy to the untrained hand? Look no further than that family lunch favourite – the humble roast chicken. Here are the three simple steps to a roast chicken dinner: Step 1: season it. Step 2: stuff it in the oven. Step 3: prepare for praise. It is really that easy.

Rub the chicken liberally with salt and pepper. Let it sit in your fridge like that for a day if you’re really thinking ahead, then season it some more just before it’s about to go in. Stuff the cavity with wedges of lemon, garlic cloves and some fresh rosemary, then chuck it in a roasting tray with your vegetables of choice and brush with some melted butter to allow the skin to crisp as much as possible.

Crank your oven up to about 220 degrees and (once it’s nice and hot) just shove that chicken in there and congratulate yourself. It will take up to 90 minutes to cook that chicken through, giving you plenty of time to get all dressed up and woo your date with the smell of your delicious cooking. To ensure a bit of extra flavour and moisture, baste the chicken in its own juices a few times during the cooking process.

Of course, you know that Valentine’s Day is all about the dessert, so don’t think that you can get away without it. If we’re honest, even those of us who love sweets passionately know that it’s not an essential part of your daily life – and that’s precisely what makes it a necessity on Valentine’s Day. You need regular, balanced meals every day of your life and there is absolutely nothing glamorous about that.

Dessert, on the other hand, is purely an indulgence… and that’s kind of what romance is about, isn’t it?

Trawl the internet and you’re bound to find a million-and-one bright pink recipes ready to make. But you can’t go wrong with an old classic.

Thanks to our fabulous climate, a few boxes of local strawberries have already started to take up shelf space in local supermarkets.

Huge, blood red, and putting all foreign contenders to shame, you can’t beat Maltese strawberries. Best of all, it only takes a bit of melted chocolate to transform these delicious fruits from a sweet snack into a Valentine’s Day favourite.

All you need to do is chop up a bar of semi-sweet chocolate, and melt it slowly in the microwave, pausing every 30 seconds to stir. Then just dip in your strawberries and set them down on a wax paper baking sheet until dry.

Feel free to customise them with sprinkles, crushed nuts or even more chocolate.

George Bernard Shaw once wrote that there is no sincerer love than the love of food. But try to keep your date in mind while you’re swooning over your own culinary achievements.