The older I get the more I think that this Valentine's Day thing is just a commercial trick to get us all to spend money on things we would normally just walk past. Yet, on the other hand, I remember Valentine's Day at varsity and the whole of Stellenbosch just being one big mass of flowers and giggling students. So call me a sucker for love, but maybe forcing us all to be a little mushy one day of the year is not too bad, is it?
Valentine Menu
- Salmon and Potato starter
- Chicken with Goat's Cheese and Pistachios on Moroccan Couscous
- Rose Posset
- Strawberry Cheesecake
Smoked Salmon and Potato starter
The recipe is so easy, but I will share with you anyway.
Ingredients:
- Baby potatoes - boil in lightly salted water until cooked. Cool.
- 250g cream cheese
- Fresh chives - finely chopped
- Smoked salmon
- Caviar
Moroccan Couscous ( For the Chicken with Goat's Cheese and pistachios, click here!)
Serves four
Ingredients:
1 cup couscous- 2T olive oil
- 1 medium onion - chopped
- ½ tsp dry fine ginger
- ½ tsp dry coriander
- ½ tsp fine cinnamon
- ½ tsp fine cumin
- ½ cup raisins or sultanas
- 8 Turkish apricots - chopped
- 8 fresh dates - chopped
- ½ cup shelled pistachios
- Salt and pepper
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 tsp rose water
- ½ cup chopped fresh coriander
- 1 cup fresh rose petals
- 1 handful of pomegranate pips
Heat a skillet on the stove and add the oil. Saute the onions with all the dry spices and, lastly, add the couscous and continuously stir the couscous until it is coated with the oil and the spices. Add the chicken stock and cover with foil and leave for about 20 to 30 minutes. After the allowed resting time, use a fork to fluff up the couscous and add all the other ingredients. Season and adjust seasoning if needed.
Rose Posset
Serves four to six
Ingredients:
- 2 cups cream
- ½ cup caster sugar
- Juice and zest of 1 lemon
- 1 cardamom pod - crushed
- ½ tsp rose water - use 1 tsp if you like a strong rose water flavour
Pour the cream into a pot with the crushed cardamom pod, bring to the boil and boil for about three minutes. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice and rose water and pour into four small glasses or six shooter glasses. Allow to set in the fridge. Serve with crystallised rose petals.
Strawberries filled with Cheese-less Lime Cheesecake
Makes about 20 to 25 strawberries
Ingredients:
- 20 to 25 big strawberries
- 250ml Orley Whip
- ½ of a 379g tin of condensed milk
- Zest and juice of 1 lime
- Juice of 1 lemon
Take a very sharp paring knife and hull the strawberries and hollow them out even bigger. Be careful not to cut through the bottoms. Keep the strawberries in the fridge and mash up the hollowed out bits. Mix the condensed milk, juices and zest as well as the strawberries. Whip the Orley Whip until it forms stiff peaks and fold into the condensed milk mixture. Allow to set for a while. Spoon into a piping bag and fill the strawberries. Place the tops of the strawberries back on and serve.
For more recipes go to My Easy Cooking.
