St Valentine’s Day Menu
by Assja Baumgärtner
Showing your beloved that you still love him (or her) doesn’t have to cripple your bank account. A celebration meal can do the trick very nicely, without financial panic. I’ve chosen three courses that are not difficult to accomplish but will certainly ensnare her/his senses all over again.
The quantities given are for 4 portions in case you want to share your celebration with another couple or with the family.
Making the soup on the previous day can make your logistics simpler on the day. You can reheat it before serving, but it’s best not to bring it to the boil again.
Potato Soup with Saffron
500 g potatoes (Maris Pipers are fabulou for soup)
1 small onion
25 g ghee or butter
250 ml single cream
600 ml vegetable or chicken stock
2 sachets of saffron
1 big onion
a bit flour
1 tbsp ghee, oil or butter
1 bunch of marjoram or dried marjoram
50 ml Vermouth (Martini, Noilly Prat or whatever brand), optional
½ lemon, grated zest only
Salt, freshly ground pepper
Peel the potatoes and cut them into small cubes. Peel also the small onion and chop it finely.
Heat the butter in a wide saucepan, add the potatoes and onions and fry for 5 minutes, stirring them constantly. Then pour on the cream and 50 ml of the stock, and add the saffron. If you’re using dried marjoram, this goes in now.
Let the soup simmer on a low heat for about 20 minutes. It will reduce, so you’ll have to add a bit more stock (just a spoonful each time). Make sure you stir the soup regularly, otherwise the potatoes will stick to the bottom. Once the potatoes are soft, add the rest of the stock, the chopped marjoram if you are using the fresh kind, and the vermouth.
If you are doing this on the previous day, that’s as far as you can go. If you are using it straight away, while your soup is simmering, peel the big onion and cut it into thin rings. Spread them on a board and dust them lightly with flour, then fry them in ghee, oil or butter until they are golden brown. Take them out and dry on kitchen paper.
Season the soup with lemon zest, salt and pepper. Before serving, sprinkle the fried onion rings on top and maybe add a little sprig of marjoram for decoration.
(This soup is not for those on a low fat diet. If you are being strong-minded, replace the cream with skimmed milk.)
Chicken (or Guinea Fowl) with Spiced Honey and Orang
1 free range (organic) chicken or 2 guinea fowls
4 branches of sage
salt
4 tbsp runny honey
4 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 oranges, grated zest and juice
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 pinch Garam Masala or Chines 5-spice or Thay 7-spice
1 pinch Cayenne
2 Oranges
12 cloves
Preheat your oven and a roasting tin at 180 C / 350 F / Gas 4
Rinse the bird with cold water and dry it with kitchen paper. Cut off any excess skin or fat. Put the sage into the cavity and salt slightly.
For the marinade mix honey, vinegar, zest and orange juice with the soy sauce. Add the spices and the Cayenne.
Brush the chicken all over with the marinade.
Halve the two oranges and stick the cloves into their surfaces. Put them together with the chicken into the roasting tin and place in the lower third of your oven. While roasting the chicken, brush it repeatedly with the marinade. Meanwhile, you can be preparing a salad and rice or potatoes to go with the chicken, and making the Tarte Tatin that will complete the meal (instructions follow.)
Your chicken is cooked when you can cut it easily and the juices run clear. (The best place to test is between a thigh and the body.) If you use an oven thermometer it should show the bird to be at 73° C. (The roasting time rule is 45 minutes + 20 mins per kg.)
Once the bird is cooked, let it rest for 10 minutes in the switched off but open oven. Cut it into pieces and set it back into the oven to keep warm. Mix the chicken juice left in the tin with the leftover marinade and warm it up in a small pan.
Serve the chicken pieces coated with the sauce on a large, warm dish. To go with it, you can use rice or couscous with almond slivers and the flesh from the two spiced oranges or little sesame potatoes (boiled small potatoes, drained and tossed in a little butter with sesame seeds) and a nice salad.
Small Tarte Tatin
For these little tartes I usually use small round gratin dishes of 12 cm diameter with a low rim (sort of quiche dishes). If you don’t have them, use a big one and make one tarte instead of four.
Caramel:
50 g sugar
50 g butter
a few drops of lemon juice
100 ml cream
Tartes:
4 cooking apples, pref. Bramleys
juice of ½ a lemon
1 pack puff pastry
In a wide sauce pan stir sugar, butter and the few drops of lemon juice on low heat until the ingredients have melted into a light brown caramel. Be careful that you keep the heat low, otherwise your sugar will burn. This process takes some time, so be patient.
Now remove from the heat and add the cream. Stir well and pour evenly into the coated or buttered gratin dishes.
Peel and core the apples, halve them and cut into relatively big slices. Brush them immediately with lemon juice to stop them going brown and arrange them in a circular pattern on top of the caramel.
Now roll out the puff pastry on a floured surface. Roll until about 3 – 4 mm thick. Prick with a fork at regular intervals. Cut out circles that are slightly bigger than the diameter of your gratin dishes. Place them on top of your apples and press them slightly down inside of the dish.
Bake the Tarte(s) Tatin in the oven (200C /400 F / Gas 5-6 for about 20 – 25 minutes.
Take the dishes out and immediately place a plate face down onto the gratin dish, then invert the two to and turn the tarte(s) out onto the plate. Serve still slightly warm with crème fraiche, custard or ice cream, or by themselves.
By contrast, here is a quick and easy recipe from Anne that will warm a non-festive day
