Valentine’s day is just around the corner, wow your loved one with our easy, but impressive menu. The following is a simple but delicious menu to get you into the right mood.
Parma-wrapped Baked Fig
An incredibly sensuous fruit, fit even for Cleopatra.
6 figs
Handful flaked almonds
Greek honey
Salt
Parma ham
Mascarpone
Salad leaves
Balsamic syrup
- First, heat a dash of olive oil in a pan, throw a handful of flaked almonds in with a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of Greek honey
- Fry until the almonds turn golden brown, spread on a plate and leave to cool
- Quarter your figs (3 per person) without cutting through all the way and wrap half a slice of parma ham around the base of each
- Stuff each fig with half a teaspoon of mascarpone and drizzle lightly with more honey.
- Bake on 200C for 7 minutes
- Serve on a bed of salad leaves, top with the almonds and drizzle with balsamic syrup
Smokey Salmon with Avocado and White Chocolate Sauce and Asparagus
Avocado is the true forbidden fruit of the Aztecs. Asparagus, meanwhile, is packed with potassium, calcium and vitamin E. Richard Burton (Hollywood’s ‘greatest lover’) referred to them as a ‘lascivious’ vegetable.
2 shallots
White wine
Green & Blacks white chocolate
1 avocado
Double cream
Chives
2 salmon fillets
Smoked paprika
Olive oil
Asparagus
Salt
- Start by preparing the sauce:
- Heat a dash of olive oil in a pan and add 2 finely chopped shallots with a large pinch of salt and cook until translucent
- Add 200ml white wine to the pan and boil until reduced by half
- Throw in 100g Green & Blacks white chocolate (there are vanilla seeds in it!)
- Add the flesh of one avocado, chopped, 100 ml of double cream and chopped chives
- Blend until smooth and keep warm
- Sprinkle two salmon fillets with a generous pinch of salt and sweet smoked paprika
- Heat a large dash of olive oil in a frying pan until smoking and add the fillets
- Brown the salmon on both sides and then bake in a preheated oven (180C) for 15 minutes or until the flakes of the flesh are well defined and the fish feels springy to the touch
- Serve with pan-fried asparagus (dash of olive oil in a hot pan and a pinch of salt for 6 minutes)
Chocolate and Hazelnut Truffles
Chocolate was often deemed sinful by the Church until 17th Century. The perfect finish
200g Double cream
200g dark chocolate
3 tblsp Hazelnut liquor
Clotted cream
Chopped hazelnuts
- Warm the double cream in a pan
- Break up the dark chocolate into a food processor and, whilst it is running, pour in the cream
- Add Frangelico (hazelnut liquor) and a spoonful of clotted cream
- Keep in the fridge overnight (or at least for 3 hours) and roll into truffles in the afternoon before your dinner (for extra crunch, roll in chopped and toasted hazelnuts)