Go the extra mile with a home cooked valentines  recipe

 This tasty three course menu is bound to woo your Valentine this Sunday. Using luxury ingredients and spending time making this valentines recipe by hand you will make your loved one feel extra special.  Prepare the Wellington the day before to ensure a stress free day. The recipes have been adapted to serve 2.

Appetizer
Pan-fried scallops served with toasted chorizo dressed with a rocket garnish
Main course
Beef wellington with horseradish mash, seasonal veg & gravy
Dessert
Lemon posset served with fresh raspberries

Pan-fried scallops served with toasted chorizo dressed with a rocket garnish

This quick and easy starter is bursting with flavour. Simple to cook and looks impressive.

Ingredients

Handful of rocket
Lemon to serve
1/8 tsp smoked paprika
1/8 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp garlic powder
Half tbsp salted butter
Half tbsp olive oil
50g Chorizo sausage (not the deli kind, the actual sausage) chopped into 2cm pieces
8 Scallops

Method

As the scallops cook so quickly we will start this recipe by dressing our plates. Take half a handful of rocket on each plate and gently twist up so that the rocket becomes a sphere shape, put a lemon wedge on each plate.
Place the oil in a small bowl and mix in the spices. Put oil and butter in pan, start to heat on a very low heat for a minute – until the spices start to cook. Add the chorizo to the pan. Cook for apx 2 mins or until the chorizo has started to soften.  When the chorizo has softened remove from pan with a slotted spoon, leaving the chorizo juices in the pan. Gently place the scallops in the pan, ensuring they don’t touch each other.
Sear on each side for 90 seconds. They should have a slight golden crust with a translucent centre.
Using tongs gently place 4 scallops on each plate, spoon the chorizo mixture on top and pour over the juices from the pan. Serve immediately.

Beef wellington with horseradish mash, seasonal veg & gravy

This luxurious main course is a lot easier to make then you would think. Prepare in advance to ensure you have time to make it look perfect. Serve with the horseradish mash recipe below & seasonal veg.

Ingredients

For the beef wellington
500g Aberdeen Angus fillet steak
2 tbsp. olive oil
140g coarsely chopped mushrooms
25g butter
1tbsp thyme
60ml dry white wine
8 slices prosciutto
300g puff pastry
Plain flour for dusting
2 egg yolks beaten

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 200C.
Lightly brush the fillet of beef with olive oil season with pepper. Place in a medium sized roasting tray. Times may vary depending on the thickness of your beef, but as a guideline for medium rare roast for 15-18mins or for medium 20-22mins. Remove from the oven to cool, then chill in the fridge for 20 mins.
Whilst the beef is chilling in the fridge heat 2 tbsp. of olive and the 25g of butter and in a large pan. Add your chopped mushrooms and thyme and cook until soft (about 10 minutes).Season well. Pour over your wine and cook for a further 10 mins or until all the wine has been absorbed. The mixture should hold its shape.
Overlap two pieces of cling film covering a large chopping board. Lay the prosciutto on the cling film, slightly over laying each other. Spread half of the mushroom mixture over the prosciutto, then sit the chilled beef fillet on it, cover the fillet with the remaining mushroom mixture. Use the cling film’s edges to wrap the prosciutto around the fillet, then roll into a sausage shape, twisting the ends of cling film to tighten it as you go. Chill the fillet while you roll out the pastry.
Roll your puff pastry onto a lightly dusted work surface. Roll your pastry large enough so that it can be wrapped around your beef fillet and will close at the ends. Slice rolled out pastry in two, making one side slightly larger than the other – the smaller one will act as the base, and the larger one as the top, so cut size according to the size of your fillet. Brush the smaller piece of pastry with the beaten egg yolk. Unravel the fillet and place on the centre of the pastry that you have brushed with the egg yolk. Carefully cover the fillet with the remaining pastry, sealing the sides well by pressing the pastry hard, cut off any major excess and seal the edges with a fork or pinch. Chill for at least 20 mins or up-to 24 hours.
Brush the beef wellington with the remaining egg yolk. Cook until pastry is golden and crisp. Again timing may vary depending on the thickness of your fillet but as a guideline cook for 20-25 minutes for Medium rare or 30-35 mins for medium.
Allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with seasonal veg.

For the Mash

3 Large Maris piper potatoes peeled and chopped to 1inch pieces
40ml thick double cream
20g salted butter
1 heaped tablespoon of creamed horseradish
Corse salt and pepper to taste
Place the peeled and chopped potatoes into a medium pan with salted water and bring to boil. When boiling reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 mins or until soft.
Whilst the potatoes are boiling, warm the cream with the butter until melted and set aside.
Drain the potatoes and place into a mixing bowl. Pour the heated cream mixture onto the potatoes and mash well.
Fold in the Horseradish and season well.
Set aside.

Lemon Posset

This zesty lemon dessert is the perfect way to finish off your meal. Serve with fresh raspberries.

Ingredients

200ml double cream
4 tbsp. caster sugar
3 tbsp. lemon juice (about 2 lemons), plus zest 1 lemon (you can add more of less depending on how lemony you like it)
Few raspberries to serve

Method

Bring the sugar and the cream to until just boiling. Then briskly boil for 2 and a half minutes, stirring constantly.
Turn off heat, and stir in the lemon juice. Pour the cream and lemon mixture through a sieve into a jug.  Add most of the zest, saving 2 pinches to use as garnish once chilled.
Pour mixture into 2 glass ramekin’s or small cocktail glasses. Leave to chill for at least 2 hours (or overnight if you are making it in advance)
To make the possett extra special serve with a few raspberries.