When I met my fiance, Jason, I was a hopeless (and hungry) bachelorette.

He likes to joke about the first time he opened the refrigerator in my apartment. It contained three bottles of Heineken, several gourmet mustards, a hunk of very moldy cheese, and a few plastic containers full of unidentifiable leftovers.

I had just graduated from college and was working weird hours, so I always ordered takeout. When I tried to cook, the smoke alarm went off without fail, even when I made Kraft dinner. So I didn’t. I was living the life of a single working girl, and the only “domestic” thing about my life was my Martha Stewart subscription.

Slowly, Jason worked his way into my life, and into my kitchen. I’d come home from work at 11 p.m. to find a shrimp cocktail waiting on my candlelit kitchen table. On one of our first dates, we went for a hike. When we got to the top of the hill, Jason unwrapped an exquisite picnic lunch, with fruit, vegetables, homemade dip and sandwiches.

He clearly knew that the way to my heart was through my stomach. But it wasn’t always a direct route. Like cooking, love isn’t always perfect, but you can’t let burnt toast or bland soup ruin the whole meal. You need to improvise, substitute, spice it up or do without. You also need to give each other space – whether it’s in the kitchen or in the relationship. After a while, you learn what works, and more important, what doesn’t.

It’s been almost five years since we met, and I’ve ventured beyond takeout, but Jason still takes care of the fine dining. He says cooking gives him the chance to create, to experiment and to make something delicious for the people in his life.

For Valentine’s Day, I asked him to develop a menu for a romantic dinner so I could share it with Bangor Daily News readers. He wasn’t thrilled with the idea of having his picture in the paper, and it was the worst possible time for him to take a day off to cook. But he did it anyway, and he did it in style.

It’s an eclectic selection of dishes that mirrors the way he cooks: inspired, improvisational, and international. He started with focaccia with sea salt and fresh dill, a twist on his usual rosemary focaccia. He followed that up with a sinfully rich appetizer of Lobster Thermidor, a classic French dish that combines morsels of lobster with a creamy cheese sauce.

Next came Jason’s famous Celery Bisque. The secret ingredient was ground cloves, but that’s as much as he’ll allow. He won’t give out the recipe for any of his soups. Sorry.

After a glass of wine, he put “Closing Time,” his favorite Tom Waits record, on the turntable. It warmed him up for the salad course. He sauteed jumbo shrimp in garlic and lemon juice and served them hot atop a bed of spring mix, with crisp crumbled bacon.

We actually shared the kitchen to prepare the main dish: Pan-Seared Maine Sea Scallops in Tangerine Brandy Cream. I did the pan searing (I’m pretty good at turning food brown, after all) and he took care of the sauce. It tastes better if you start the sauce early and keep it on very low heat while preparing the rest of the meal.

He did save the best for last, however. Nothing could top his Cinnamon Creme Brulee, except for a candy-sugar heart that made the dessert that much sweeter.

In a strange role reversal, he set the smoke detector off twice while torching the creme brulee. It was good for a laugh, but he’s still the gourmet cook in our relationship, and I’m still not.

I have gotten past the Kraft macaroni and cheese thing, though. Now I use Annie’s Shells and Cheddar. It seems to be working – the last time I made a box for dinner, Jason proposed.

Dill and Sea Salt Focaccia

Makes 1 loaf, serves 8

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons Fleischmann’s yeast

1 cup lukewarm water

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 small red onion

3 sprigs fresh dill weed, chopped

1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

oil for greasing

Sift flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the yeast, then make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour in the water and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Mix well to make a dough, adding a little more water if the mixture seems too dry.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Punch and knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for 2-3 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F and grease a baking sheet. Roll the dough into a 1/2-inch-thick circle, transfer to the baking sheet and brush with the remaining oil. Halve the onion and chop it into thin slices. Press the slices lightly over the dough, with the dill and sea salt.

Using a finger, make deep indentations in the dough. Cover the surface with oiled plastic wrap, then leave to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. Remove and discard the plastic and bake the loaf for 25-30 minutes, until golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve in slices or wedges.

Adapted from “Fat-Free Italian: Healthy Ways with a Favourite Cuisine” by Anne Sheasby (Hermes House).

Lobster Thermidor

Makes 2 servings

1 live lobster, about 1 1/2 pounds

3/4 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon brandy

1/4 cup milk

3 tablespoons heavy cream

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/4 lemon

salt and white pepper, to taste

grated Parmesan cheese

fresh parsley and dill to garnish

Bring large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Put the lobster into the pan head first and cook for 8 to 10 minutes.

Cut the lobster in half lengthwise and discard the dark sac behind the eyes. Then devein. Remove the meat from the shell, reserving the coral and tomalley, then rinse the shell and pat dry. Cut the meat into bite-size pieces. Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring, until slightly golden. Pour in the brandy and milk, whisking vigorously until smooth, then whisk in the cream and the mustard.

Push the lobster coral and tomalley through a sieve into the sauce and whisk to blend. Reduce heat to low and simmer gently for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until thickened. Season with salt and pepper and squeeze in the juice of 1/4 lemon.

Preheat the broiler. Arrange the lobster shells in a gratin dish or shallow flameproof baking dish.

Stir the lobster meat into the sauce and divide the mixture evenly between the shells. Sprinkle lightly with Parmesan and broil until golden. Serve garnished with herbs.

Adapted from “French: Delicious Classic Cuisine Made Easy” by Carole Clements and Elizabeth Wolf-Cohen (Hermes House).

Warm Shrimp Salad

Makes 2 servings

6 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 pieces bacon, fried until crisp

spring mix

1 lemon, quartered

1 lime, quartered

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon butter

crushed red pepper flakes

sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Over medium-high heat, saute shrimp and garlic in butter until shrimp turns pink, about 5 minutes. Add red pepper flakes. Squeeze in juice of 1/4 lemon and saute 1 more minute. Season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Arrange spring mix on salad plates. Place warm shrimp on spring mix and garnish with lemon and lime wedges, to use as dressing.

Recipe by Jason Lainsbury

Pan-Seared Maine Sea Scallops in Tangerine Brandy Cream

Makes 2 servings

Cook’s note: This sauce tastes better if prepared early and left over very low heat while the rest of the meal is cooking.

1/2 pound large Maine sea scallops, (buy scallops specifically labeled “no water added”)

4 tangerines, peeled and separated into segments

31/2 tablespoons butter, divided

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 lime, quartered

pinch of ginger

2 tablespoons brandy

In food processor or blender, puree tangerine wedges. Melt 11/2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan over low heat. Stir in cream. Add tangerine puree, brandy, and a pinch of ginger. Stir together. Squeeze in juice of 1/2 lime. Cook over low heat for 1/2 hour, stirring occasionally. Strain puree and reserve sauce. Return sauce to burner over low heat.

In a heavy skillet, heat remaining 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat until butter turns slightly brown. Add scallops and cook until golden brown on one side. Turn and cook until golden brown on other side and scallop no longer is translucent in the center (about 5 minutes per side, depending on whether you’re using a gas or electric range). Be careful not to burn the scallops.

Arrange scallops on 2 plates and drizzle with sauce. The sauce should be fairly thin. If you prefer a thicker sauce, make a roux by melting 1 tablespoon butter in a small saucepan, adding 1 tablespoon flour and cooking until paste turns golden. Slowly stir in cream mixture and whisk until smooth.

Recipe by Jason Lainsbury

Cinnamon Creme Brulee

Makes 4 servings.

Cook’s note: It is preferable to use a blowtorch rather than the broiler to melt the sugar in this recipe. The small “creme brulee” torches sold at cooking supply stores generally aren’t up to the task. This recipe works best if the custard is refrigerated overnight. Coffee or vanilla beans can be substituted for the cinnamon.

2 cups heavy cream

4 large egg yolks

1/3 cup granulated sugar

cinnamon sticks

Sugar in the Raw, about 1 cup

Red cake-decorating sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Whisk together cream, egg yolks and granulated sugar in a large bowl. With a cheese grater, grate cinnamon stick over mixture until its presence is visible. Strain through a fine sieve and pour into four shallow ramekins or custard cups.

Place custard cups in a metal or glass baking dish. Pour hot water into baking dish until it comes halfway up the custard cups. Cover baking dish with foil poked with holes and place in oven. Bake at 350 degrees F until custard sets and center of custard jiggles slightly, between 30 and 45 minutes.

Allow custards to cool and place in refrigerator for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight. When ready to serve, sprinkle Sugar in the Raw over top of custards in a single, thin layer. If desired, decorate center of custard with cake sugar in the shape of a heart. Torch until sugar melts, or place under broiler for 1 minute, taking extreme care not to curdle the custard. Serve.

Recipe by Jason Lainsbury