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Editor’s Note: Every year Random Lengths offer Valentines Day recommendations for that special someone in your life. Last month, over dinner and a conversation with a friend who’s also a chef, I asked him what’s the best Valentines Day gift you give or do for your significant other. He was an older gentleman, so expected something corny.

He asked, “Is there a dish you know how to make really, really well?”

I nodded in the affirmative.

Then he said, “Well, make that for her, with candle light, a bottle of wine… the whole nine.”

He fulfilled my expectation of corniness, but after some thought, I decided that even corny ideas can be good ideas. I decided to enlist J.Trani’s executive chef, Justin Trani, as a guest writer, who it turns out has been building a loyal Twitter and Facebook following, dispensing culinary tips left and right like hot cakes. I have to admit, my friend’s corny idea was a good one.