Valentine's Menu
Valentine’s Menu
STARTER
Gambas Al Ajillo
Celeriac Soup with Sage and Hazelnuts
MAIN COURSE
Steak Au Poivre
Lobster Linguine
DESSERT
Hot Chocolate Hazelnut Puddings
Caramel Tiramisu
Cocktails
Sparkling Rhubarb Cocktail
The Smokey
Gambas Al Ajillo
Serves 2
INGREDIENTS:
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, sliced
½ tsp dried chilli flakes
6 fresh raw prawns or 12 shrimps, raw shrimps, peeled with tails on
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped
2 slices of sourdough bread
Sea salt, freshly ground
black pepper
METHOD:
1. Place a frying pan over a medium heat and pour in the olive oil. Next, stir in the sliced garlic and dried chilli flakes and cook for one minute, then tip in the fresh prawns or shrimps. Season with salt and pepper, toss and cook for a minute on each side, until they just turn pink.
2. While still over the high heat, pour the juice of one lemon over the cooked prawns and sprinkle over the chopped flat leaf parsley, and toss.
3. Toast or griddle the sliced sourdough bread and place them on your serving dishes. Drizzle a little good-quality extra virgin olive oil over the toasts and spoon the prawns on top, scooping up all the juices from the pan to trickle over the dish.
CELERIAC SOUP WITH SAGE & HAZELNUTS
Serves 2
INGREDIENTS:
25g salted butter
1/2 celeriac, peeled and chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1 onion, peeled and chopped
38g hazelnuts
500 ml vegetable stock
50ml crème fraiche
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the sage and hazelnut topping
38g hazelnuts, crushed
1 tablespoons fresh sage
1 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
METHOD:
1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat. Stir in the chopped celeriac, celery, onion, and hazelnuts. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir well, lower the heat, cover with the foil of your butter wrapper, then pop the lid back on and let it simmer for 15 minutes.
2. Next make the hazelnut and sage pesto by toasting the hazelnuts for three minutes in a dry pan on a high heat, this will release all the oils and the flavour. Then finely chop the fresh sage and add to the olive oil . To crush the hazelnuts place them on one side of a tea towel and then cover with the other side of the tea towel and bash with a rolling pin. Once crushed, add them to the olive oil and sage. Mix well and set aside.
3. Then add the stock to the vegetables that have sweated down and cook together for another 15 minutes.
4. Pour the cooked vegetables, stock and hazelnuts into a food processor and blend until smooth. Then put the liquid back onto a low heat, stir in the crème fraiche and heat it through for two minutes.
5. To serve, drizzle the sage and hazelnut pesto on top
Steak Au Poivre
Serves 2
INGREDIENTS:
2 x Steaks
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp oil
For the Peppered Sauce
¾ cup/185 ml beef broth
½ cup/125 ml heavy cream
3 tsp coarsely crushed whole black peppercorns
METHOD:
1. Firstly, remove the steaks from the fridge and put on a plate. I like to do this at least 30 minutes before I cook them so that the meat comes up to room temperature – it will result in a more tender meat.
2. The sauce is so simple to make. Just place all the ingredients in a saucepan, over a medium heat and stir. Once the sauce starts to come to the boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Taste and add more black pepper if you wish.
3. Heat a griddle or frying pan over a high heat, until smoking hot. Lightly brush the steak with a little olive oil and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place the prepared steaks on the hot pan, and cook to the following times.
Medium-rare: 2 minutes on each side
Medium: 2½ on each side
Medium-well done: 3 minutes each side
4. Let the steaks rest for about three minutes before serving, to allow the juices that have been drawn to the surface to relax back into the meat.
Lobster Linguine
Serves 2
INGREDIENTS:
250g linguini
100g unsalted butter
2 shallots, finely diced
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
2 cloves garlic, crushed
50ml white wine
200g tinned cherry tomatoes
2 lobster tails, cooked and chopped
1 tbsp flat leaf parsley
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
METHOD:
Place a large saucepan of salted water over a high heat and stir in the linguini. Keep stirring for the first two minutes, this will stop the pasta from sticking together. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and set side, keep back a few tablespoons of the pasta cooking water, which you can use to stop the pasta from clumping together pasta.
While the pasta is cooking, place a frying pan over a medium heat and melt the butter. Then stir in the chopped shallots, chilli flakes and garlic and let them cook for about one minute.
Next add the white wine and leave to cook for another two minutes or until the alcohol has evaporated. Next stir in the tinned cherry tomatoes, season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and cook for one minute. Then add the chopped lobster tail and the flat leaf parsley to warm through.
Lastly place the saucepan with the pasta over a low heat and stir in the lobster sauce, and continue to stir until all the sauce has coated the pasta.
Hot Chocolate HAZELNUT PUDDINGS
Serves 2
INGREDIENTS:
15g butter
50g blanched hazelnuts, chopped
90g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), broken into chunks
2 eggs, separated
50g caster sugar
25g plain flour
METHOD:
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Grease 2 ovenproof china cups or small ramekins with the butter, then sprinkle one-quarter of the finely chopped hazelnuts evenly around the inside of each, setting aside another quarter for topping the puddings.
2. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water (don’t let the base of the bowl touch the water).
3. While the chocolate is melting, in a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and the remaining 50g hazelnuts together. Whisk the melted chocolate into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the flour.
4. In another very clean and dry bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff, then gently fold into the chocolate mixture.
5. Pour the pudding mixture into the prepared cups or ramekins and sprinkle the reserved hazelnuts on top. Stand on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 9–10 minutes.
Caramel Tiramisu
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS:
3 egg yolks
½ cup superfine sugar
1¾ cups mascarpone cheese
14 Savoiardi ladyfingers
½ cup cold strong coffee or espresso
1¹/³ cups cocoa powder
For the caramel
¾ cup superfine sugar
½ cup water
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ cup half-and-half
METHOD:
1. Place the egg yolks and superfine sugar in a large bowl and use a hand blender to whisk together until pale and thick. Add the mascarpone and whisk slowly until the mixture is pale and smooth.
2. To make the caramel, add the sugar and water to a saucepan, place over low heat, and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat to high and cook for 12–14 minutes, or until the syrup is light golden brown in color. Stir in the butter and cook for another 2–3 minutes or until the mixture is a caramel consistency. Stir in the cream, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the caramel is a thick consistency.
3. Dip the ladyfingers into the cold coffee and then place straight into four cocktail glasses to create the base layer. Alternatively, arrange the coffee-dipped ladyfingers in a large glass bowl to make one large tiramisu.
4. Spoon half the mascarpone mixture over the ladyfingers, followed by a layer of the caramel and a sprinkle of cocoa, and then another layer of the remaining mascarpone mixture and caramel. Finish with a layer of cocoa on top.
5. Cover and chill for an hour before serving.
SPARKLING RHUBARB COCKTAIL
Makes 8
INGREDIENTS:
750g / 5 cups + 2 tbsp rhubarb, trimmed and chopped
150g caster sugar
Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
Chilled sparkling wine, to top up
METHOD:
1. To make the rhubarb syrup, place the rhubarb, sugar and orange zest and juice in a saucepan and add a splash of water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer gently, uncovered, for 10–15 minutes until the rhubarb is very soft.
2. Strain the syrup through a fine sieve into a jug, pressing the rhubarb to extract all the juice, then leave to cool.
3. Pour a little of the rhubarb syrup into each glass and top up with chilled sparkling wine.
THE SMOKEY
Serves 2 (with a top-up for both)
INGREDIENTS
125ml/4oz Irish whiskey
4 dashes of Angostura bitters
juice of 1 lemon
juice of ½ orange
5 tablespoons of sugar syrup
2 organic or free range egg whites
ice cubes
2 orange slices, to garnish (optional
METHOD
Place the whisky, Angostura bitters, lemon and orange juices, sugar syrup and egg whites in a cocktail shaker with some ice cubes. Shake for 1 minute.
Pour into two chilled coupe glasses, then garnish each with an orange slice.
