Friday, December 6, 2013

Romantic Dinner For Two - Easy to Cook and Lovely to Eat

Spring is here and love is in the air, so why not treat your beloved to a romantic dinner a deux? After all, there's no finer way to your loved one's heart than through their stomach. I'm thinking along the lines of 70's retro 'Surf & Turf.' The good news is this easy 3 course dinner won't break the bank or require you to spend hours at the stove. Apart from the steak, everything else can be made in advance, so if you want to up the anti and impress your sweetheart, be sure to make the bearnaise sauce to serve alongside the steak. So for starters it's prawn cocktail, main course is the perfect steak served with triple cooked french fries & bearnaise sauce followed by a dessert of 'petit pots au chocolate.' More on that later...Here's Your Cooking Order To Prevent Panic!Morning or Day Before:Make the dessert & refrigeratePrep the French fries up to stage 3 & refrigerateEvening:Bring the steak up to room temperature - 1 hr aheadMake up the prawn cocktails & refrigerateMake the bearnaise sauce and keep warm - ? hour before servingCook the steaks and heat the oil for the final chip frying stageFry off the chips for 5 minutes while the steaks are restingThis chocolate dessert is so unbelievably easy to make yet decadently rich with a creamy silky texture. Who needs complicated when love is in the air?Let's Start With Dessert...Petit Pots au ChocolateIngredients:4 oz dark chocolate minimum 80% cocoa6 fl oz or ? cup half and half cream2 tbsp caster sugar2 tbsp Baileys liqueurHere's What You Do:Break the chocolate into tiny pieces (a food processor is best as it reduces the chocolate to a powder), but you could put it in a bag and bash with a rolling pin). The point is it make the pieces small so the melt faster. Heat the single cream and sugar in the microwave (or on the stove) until it just reaches boiling.Tip the chocolate into the hot cream and stir until melted, it will immediately thicken. Add the Baileys liqueur and stir well. Pour into two small dishes and refrigerate for several hours. There! Told you it was easy!!!Now for the prawn cocktail.A cool, spicy & succulent starter. What's not to like? To get the perfect combo you want one third each of prawns, lettuce and sauce.Ingredients:? lb small cooked Candian prawns4 Romaine lettuce leaves6 baby cherry tomatoes? lemon2 level tbsp good quality mayonnaise1 level tbsp ketchup1 tsp Dijon mustardPinch cayenne pepperHere's What You Do:Tip the prawns into a sieve and leave to drain. Shred the lettuce leaves and put aside. Slice or quarter the cherry tomatoes (a serrated knife is best for this) and put with the lettuce. Mix the mayonnaise, ketchup and Dijon together in the bowl. Now zip it up with a dash of cayenne and a squeeze of lemon - not too much - about 1 tbsp otherwise the sauce will be too runny. Stir in the prawns, lettuce and tomato coating them well with the sauce. Spoon into sundae glasses, decorate with a slice of lemon and refrigerate until needed. Now for the French fries. Lets be honest, you can't beat homemade fries. Triple cooked are super crispy and the best in the business.Ingredients:3 large floury potatoesSea salt1? pints vegetable or sunflower oilHere's What You Do:Peel the potatoes then trim off their rounded sides and square them up. Cut into ? inch thick slices lengthways and then again into strips, giving you fries.Place the fries in a saucepan, cover with cold water and leave to soak for 10 minutes. Next, rinse them thoroughly, cover with fresh cold water and add a dash of salt. Place over a high heat and when they come up to the boil, cook for 5- 7 minutes. Pierce the centre with a knife, they want to be softish but not fully cooked.Drain into a sieve and run under the cold tap to stop further cooking. Pat dry with a cloth then arrange on a tray lined with absorbent kitchen paper and stick in the freezer for 30 minutes. After 25 minutes, fill a saucepan a third full of oil and place on a medium heat. Now test cook a French fry first. The oil is ready when it surrounds the French fry with 100's of tiny bubbles. Don't overcrowd the pan or the temperature will drop. Otherwise fry them in small batches, for approx 3-4 minutes and remove with a slotted spoon when they're just starting to colour. Drain onto fresh sheets of absorbent kitchen paper and allow to cool for 10 minutes before returning to the freezer for half an hour. (You can prepare the French fries up to this stage and keep refrigerated for 24 hours if necessary.The Next NightTake the steaks out the refrigerator an hour before you plan to sit and eat.Make up the prawn cocktail.Now start the bearnaise sauce.This classic French sauce is the perfect companion to steak and not bad with chicken, fish and vegetables either. It's made the same way as a hollandaise, but don't let that put you off because this recipe is pretty much bomb proof! All that's required is a little patience and some low heat!Ingredients:2 medium egg yolks - room temp1? sticks unsalted butter1 shallot or a few onion sliceslarge handful fresh tarragon1 tsp black peppercorns4 tbsp white wine vinegarsaltHere's What You Do:Melt the butter over a low heat or in the microwave until it becomes liquid. Remove from the heat and let it settle, then strain off the clear golden liquid into one of the cups and put aside. Discard the milky sediment. Finely chop the tarragon leaves, put aside 1? tbsp and tip the remainder into a small saucepan. Add the vinegar, peppercorns, onion or shallot and boil over a high heat for approx 5 minutes or until the liquid has reduced to a tablespoon, then pour through a tea strainer into the second cup and put it aside.One third fill a saucepan with hot water and place over a high heat. Separate the eggs and tip the yolks into the bowl. Add the vinegar reduction and place over the saucepan of water. Immediately reduce the temperature to a low heat. Whisk the yolks until they become very light and fluffy - approx 5 minutes then turn off the heat and continue whisking, keeping the bowl over the saucepan of hot water.Next, very slowly start dripping the liquid butter onto the yolks, whisk continuously until smooth. Continue adding the butter in this way - little by little and all the while whisking briskly until the sauce is thick - approx 10 minutes. Don't worry if the sauce seems thin to begin with, it will gradually thicken up as you add the butter. Keep the sauce warm over a pan of hot water but off the heat, otherwise it will split. If the sauce gets too thick add a splash of hot water.Put two plates in a low oven to warm.Time To Cook The Steak!Place a dry frying pan over a high heat until it's searing hot (you want to hear a 'sizzle' when the steak makes contact with the pan. If it doesn't the pan isn't hot enough). Rub the steaks generously with oil & season with sea salt and black pepper. Cook the steaks in a dry pan without oil or butterTurn down the heat slightly once your steaks are seared on both sides.Guide To Cooking TimesThe times given are a guide only and refer to a sirloin steak approximately 1? thick. Different cuts or thicker steaks will require longer cooking times and thinner steaks less. Remember to take your steaks off the heat BEFORE they are ready, as they will carry on cooking. The table below gives you rough cooking times.1? Thick steakCooking Time(per side)RestingTimeTotal CookingTimeRare2 minutes4 minutes8 minutesMedium3 minutes4 minutes10 minutesWell Done4 minutes2 minutes10 minutesWhile your steaks are cooking remember to reheat the oil for your French Fries. It must be very hot with a slight haze coming off it. Once the oil is hot and the steaks are resting, submerge the French fries into the hot fat and fry until crisp and golden - approx 5 minutes, then drain onto absorbent kitchen towel and season with a grinding of sea salt. Assemble your steak, French fries and b?arnaise sauce on a warm plate and enjoy.!

Uma Wylde is a natural born cook. She specialises in creating stunning tastes. If you're having trouble getting food to taste the way you want it to or are just bored cooking the same old things, try following some of her carefully explained recipes at http://www.umawylde.com. Unlike traditional recipes, which often leave you dangling, hers show you how to bring the whole meal together, so everything turn

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