Even if you don’t have a life partner to shower your attention on, it doesn’t mean you can’t be in love with something. Delicious food is extremely fulfilling and it will never leave its dirty socks lying around!
Crème Brûlée for Two
- 600ml cream
- 50ml whole milk
- 1 vanilla pod, split, seeds scraped out
- 5 egg yolks
- 75g caster sugar
- Additional caster sugar for the crust.
Pour the cream into a saucepan and add the vanilla seeds scraped from the pod. Also add the pod and bring the mix slowly to the boil.
Place the caster sugar into a mixing bowl with the yolks and the milk and whisk together. When the cream mixture is at a boil, remove from the heat and pour the mixture through a sieve onto the egg yolk mixture. (This removes the vanilla pod and any additional foreign matter from the scraping of the seeds). Stir thoroughly for a minute or two to dissolve the sugar.
Pour the sieved mixture into individual crème brûlée dishes. It should make four to six servings, depending on the size of the dishes. Place these filled crème brûlée dishes into a deep baking tray and pour hot water into the tray until the water reaches halfway up the sides of each dish .
Place this tray into the preheated oven and cook the crème brûlées for about 30 to 35 minutes until set firm, but still with a slight wobble. Remove the crème brûlées from the dish of water and allow to cool for 20 minutes on the bench.
Sprinkle additional caster sugar on top of the brûlées and caramelise the sugar under the gas flame of a grill or using a small cooking blow torch.
Chicken and Shrimp Lumpia
1 packet rice paper wrappers for spring rolls
250g chicken breast, boiled whole and then sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed and chopped finely
1/4 fresh purple cabbage, washed and shredded finely
1 carrot, cut into very thin strips
1/4 Lettuce, washed and shredded finely
1/2 red capsicum cleaned and sliced finely
cashew nuts roasted and finely chopped
salt and pepper
60ml cooking oil
1 white onion, sliced
Fresh coriander
Fresh mint
250g shrimps, shelled
100 ml sweet chilli sauce
Called many names by many nationalities, Lumpia is the Filipino name of something very similar to traditional Vietnamese Spring rolls — a distant cousin of the shwarma, filled crepes and many other rolled delicacies.
Chop the boiled chicken breast and season lightly with salt and pepper.
Heat a saucepan with oil and sauté the chopped garlic and sliced onions. Add the chicken and shrimp and quickly stir fry.
When chicken and shrimps are cooked, add the carrots and cabbage. Season the mix to taste with additional salt and pepper and toss over the heat. Remove to cool.
To roll the lumpia
Fill a large bowl with ice cold water. Unwrap the wrappers and dip them one at a time into the ice water to soften. Lay the wrappers flat on the work bench which has been covered with plastic wrap to protect the food preparation surface.
Sprinkle some of the chopped, fresh lettuce on top of the wrapper, followed by a tablespoon of the cooked chicken shrimp filling. Add some picked mint and coriander leaves, some sliced capsicum and sprinkle with chopped cashew nuts. Sprinkle a little of the sweet chili sauce over the filling components last. Leave about four centimetres uncovered on each side. Fold uncovered sides inward and then tightly roll the wrapper up. Repeat this for the remaining wrappers and mixture.
Serve the lumpia fresh, whole or cut in half and serve with a dipping sauce.
For romance, take one Lumpia and share with your partner by eating from both ends until you meet in the middle!
Chocolate Truffles
150g unsalted butter, softened
500g dark chocolate
200ml whipping cream
sifted cocoa powder, for rolling
Chop the chocolate roughly. Place it into a glass or plastic bowl and melt in a microwave by giving 20 second bursts and stirring between each until the chocolate is melted completely.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, place the softened butter and whip using a whisk attachment until the butter is pale and almost white in color.
Add the melted chocolate to the whipped butter and continue mixing until it is completely combined. Scrape down the bowl and continue mixing.
With the machine on slow speed, begin adding the cream to the chocolate butter mixture until it is completely incorporated. Scrape down the bowl and place the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a plain round piping tube/nozzle.
Pipe small balls of truffle mixture onto a prepared tray covered with parchment paper.
When all the mixture is piped, place the truffles into the refrigerator for 30 minutes to firm.
Remove them when firm and roll in cocoa powder. Dust off most of the coca powder and serve these truffles with coffee. Leave prepared truffles in the refrigerator for 20 minutes before serving with coffee or as a treat.
Valentine’s
Breakfast Pancakes
300g plain (all-purpose) flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
500ml laban or buttermilk
2 eggs
60g unsalted butter, melted
Mix all of the dry ingredients together. In another bowl, mix together the laban, eggs and the melted butter.
Put the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, stirring lightly until moistened and leaving small lumps.
Have a warmed frying pan on the stove, not too hot, or set an electric frying pan to 375 degrees Celsius. Spray the frying pan with baking spray and pour approximately half a cup of mixture into a round pattern in the heated frying pan.
Cook for two to three minutes and then test if the pancake is cooked by lifting one side to see the color. If it is golden brown and holds together then use a spatula to quickly flip the pancake and cook the other side until also golden brown in color.
Cut the pancakes into heart shapes using a cookie cutter and serve with whipped butter and maple syrup or fresh fruit for a romantic breakfast in bed.
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