Dear men, there are very few times in the year when you are expected to get your act together and put a little thought and effort into making the old lady feel special. The first is on her birthday, obviously. The second, your anniversary. The third, is Valentine’s day (unless you lucked out and she doesn’t give much of a stuff about Valentine’s Day, or you’re Japanese – in which case your lady should be buying you chocolate).
Sorry. We, too, think it’s a complete drag, but if the love of your life likes this sort of thing, there is nothing else to be said or done… Except, there may just be a way to do this without selling out too much, or forking out too much either! How about rolling up those sleeves and making a real effort, instead of booking a restaurant last minute and then picking up a gift which, admit it, you haven’t actually put any thought into. Right? (Yes, we know what we’re talking about because we are wise and worldly.) So here’s the proposition: take the afternoon off from work and go home to cook your girl a romantic meal with genuine love in it. And as much as we like the idea of you bungling about hopelessly in the kitchen, we also sympathise with your efforts and good intentions. So to make your lives easier, we’ve gone and collected some recipes that are simple but guaranteed to inspire a spicy evening.
Fresh oysters with beetroot shallot vinaigrette
This recipe was provided by TOAD’s Best Seafood restaurant winner of 2011. Finz, at the Beach Rotana, also happens to be one of the most romantic spots in the capital. Their specialty outlet chef, Anja Van Zyl, has provided the recipe for a dish that’s meant to be eaten raw, so it barely requires much effort at all.
Ingredients
6 fresh oysters
1 large fresh beetroot, peeled and trimmed and cut into dice
100ml olive oil
30ml red grape vinegar
5g salt
2g freshly ground pepper
2g of chopped shallots
Preparation
1 For the vinaigrette mix the beetroot, olive oil, vinegar and salt together and marinade for 24 hours in the fridge
2 Strain the solids from the vinaigrette
Presentation
1 Open the oysters and arrange on an ice platter
2 Fill a shooter glass with the beetroot vinaigrette, sprinkle in the chopped shallots and some freshly ground black pepper and place the shooter glass in the center of the ice platter with the oysters
3 Serve with lemon wedges
Anya’s tips
Oysters go great with rye bread, so you can serve this on the side. Also, because you’ll be eating them raw, it’s very important that they are fresh. When buying the oysters, make sure they are heavy in weight – which means they have a lot of liquid in them. When you open them up they should be glassy in colour and smell fresh like sea-water. If they look dry it’s no go.
Chocolate-cherry lava cake with soused cherry ice cream
The second recipe is for dessert –because the focus on Valentine’s Day ought to be on all things sweet. Gentlemen, this will require a little more effort than our first recipe, but with so little to do for the mains, you can afford the time. It comes from the revolutionary kitchen (and new cookbook) of ‘culinartist’ chef Georges Mokbel. The best thing about this recipe is that Georges has told us how to do it gourmet style.
Soused cherry ice cream
Ingredients
2 cups dried, tart cherries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Rind of 1/2 orange
3 tbsps vanilla extract
1 pint store bought vanilla ice cream
Preparation
1 Stew the cherries by combining the first five ingredients and 1¼ cups of water in a small saucepan
2 Stir to dissolve the sugar and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes
3 Turn the heat off, cover loosely with a lid and set aside to reach room temperature
4 Divide the soused cherries into two equal parts
5 Gently fold the first part into the vanilla ice cream and put back in the freezer until ready to serve
6 Reserve remaining half at room temperature for topping
Chocolate Lava Cakes
Ingredients:
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 sticks, plus 3 tbsps unsalted butter, cubed, plus 1 additional tablespoon for the cake pan
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
6 large egg yolks
1/3 cup all purpose flour, sifted plus additional for the pan
Confectioner’s sugar (for garnish)
Fresh mint leaves (optional)
Preparation
1 Mix the cake batter by combining chocolate and butter in a dry, heat-resistant bowl
2 Stirring constantly, melt over a pan of simmering water making sure that the base of the bowl is not touching the water (or melt in a dry microwavable bowl in the microwave over medium heat for one to two
minutes stopping every 10 seconds to stir)
3 Once melted, set aside to reach room temperature
4 Meanwhile in a separate clean bowl whisk egg whites to soft peaks using an electric or manual whisk
5 Separately, beat egg yolks, sugar and vanilla extract until dissolved and opaque
6 Pour roughly half of the chocolate mixture into the egg yolk and stir to temper eggs, then stir this mixture back into the chocolate until fully combined
7 Using a spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the melted chocolate and the egg yolk mixture
8 Delicately fold in sifted flour
9 Butter and flour eight round, four-inch individual cake molds
10 Pour in the batter and refrigerate for one to two hours
11 Preheat oven to 180°C
12 Bake 10-12 minutes until the top of the cakes set and start to crack
13 Place the cakes on a cooling rack and allow to cool for 10 minutes
Presentation
1 Using some of the soused cherry sauce, draw a thin line across each plate close to the edge
2 Unmould the cakes directly on to the centre of each plate
3 Place about one tablespoon of soused cherries on the side of the plate and top with a scoop of soused cherry ice cream
4 Top each ice cream scoop with additional soused cherries
5 Garnish with a mint leaf on tops of the soused cherries and lightly dust the corner of the cake and mint with powdered sugar
6 Serve immediately
Georges’s tips
The chocolate lava cakes may also be cooked in large muffin or flexible oven-proof rubber tins. When baking them, remember that you are looking for a dry shell and a warm and molten centre. This recipe is for 8 mini cakes.
