Lovers' Day - St. Valentine

It's amazing how many heart-shaped chocolates, boxes and all other kinds of items pop up at this time of year. I'm sure that giving someone a heart-shaped box of chocolate will show them that you love them or care about them.  In Italian the words used to distinguish have a deeper meaning - ti amo (I love you), ti voglio bene (i wish you well) but the latter, even though the actual translation means i wish you well means that i care for you, I'm fond of you.

So even though most shops and card adverts specify that Valentine's Day is not just for lovers, i do agree with them even though their motifs behind this generous feeling are completely different.  Valentine's Day is there to take a moment and reflect on the people we love. There is really no need to go overboard and spend hundred and thousands of Euros but it's nice to actually have a day where we celebrate love in all it's permutations.. love between partners, siblings or even colleagues! 

I just happen to be in the capital of chocolates this week so there is an extra dose of heart-shaped chocolate delicacies around me this week.. and even though I'm sure they are delicious and that they might be using the finest ingredients, I always preferred flowers on this special day.

The thing with chocolates is that we are quite accustomed to buying chocolates on a regular basis and I'm sure that most of you have bought chocolates for yourself... maybe even hid them to enjoy alone! Well it is quite rare for me to buy flowers for myself, so that is a kind of treat for me!

Having said all this I must also add that I always stay away from restaurants on this "Special Occassion!"... the set menus are so off-putting and I always preferred a nice home-cooked meal even if it a simple plate of pasta!  For those of you looking for inspirations on what to cook on this lovers day, I had some recipes published in the Best Buy Supplement which was out with The Times on Wednesday 10th.

Being a Sunday though, how about impressing your partner with a breakfast in bed?... some pancakes spread with Nutella would be nice or even some warm toast and a nice coffee served on a tray!

post a comment below if you need some inspirations.... I'll be more than happy to give you a helping hand!

Baked Curry

I was looking for something easy to prepare with a packet of 500g minced beef. I wanted something simple to prepare and yet delicious; something that is low in fat, low in Glycemic index and at the same time something warming for these cold winter days.

As I searched through my stash of recipes I came across a curry recipe there was no turning back. A little tweak here and there and this is the end result.

As I write this article I'm sampling it and I can assure you that if you love curry and have little time to cook your mid-week supper, then this dish is for you. Here is what you need to make enough for 2 to 3 or to make a dish for 1 which you can eat over 2 days.

500g minced beef

1 large onion – finely chopped

3 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons curry paste – medium

2 tablespoons of mango chutney

1 teaspoon cinnamon powder

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon mustard powder

Fresh ground pepper

1 teaspoon rock salt

½ cup sultanas

1 cup oats

2 eggs

1 cup milk

4 beef tomatoes - sliced

Cook the onion and the garlic in a pot and once they start to soften, add the minced beef. Make sure to mix the mince whilst it's cooking so that it will not clump up.

Now add the curry paste and cook for about 2 minutes before adding the mango chutney and the dried herbs and spices.

Lastly add the sultanas and remove the pot from the heat. Stir in the oats and place the mixture into a baking dish about 20cm x 15cm. Arrange the cut tomato slices over the mixture.

Now in a separate bowl, mix the milk and the eggs together and pour the mixture over the tomatoes.

You can bake it at this point or else you can allow it to rest for about 1 hour and bake later.

Once you are ready to bake, preheat your ovens to 160C and bake until the top custard has hardened and is nice a golden.

Gorgonzola & Pear Canapé

Start off your Christmas meal with something different this year. Pears are in season and i managed to find some nice firm ones which were still sweet on the inside. Mixing pears with blue cheese is aperfect combination as the freshness of the pears will clean your palate from the rich blue cheese flavour.

You can buy some vol-au-vent cases for this recipe or simply use puff-pastry. Some brands of puff pastry are also sold ready rolled out, so all you have to do is cut the circles and bake!

200g puff pastry

200g gorgonzola

2 fresh large pears

1 tablespoon honey

To make the pastry base, just roll the pastry out and cut into neat squares or circles. Make sure to keep the sizes of your pastry base small as these canapé need to be held comfortably in one hand whilst holding your drink with the other.

Once the pastry is cut, place it on a baking tray and cook in a preheated oven at 160C.

Whilst the pastry is still warm, place a small piece of gorgonzola cheese on top, about the size of a teaspoon. Drizzle a bit of the honey and then top with thin slices of pears.

These canapé can be served warm or cold.

This article has been previously published in the Best Buy Supplement, out monthly with The Times.