Soon it will be Valentine's Day. A perfect day for temptation. Valentine's Day has been celebrated for hundreds of years. Who was Saint Valentine? Some believe he was a Christian priest who, under threat of death, refused to renounce his faith and became a martyr. According to the most popular theory, Valentin was a priest in Rome under Emperor Claudius II. The emperor needed soldiers for his army and so refused to marry the young men of the city, because everyone had to join the army. But Valentin defied the emperor and secretly married young couples. When Claudius heard of this, he had Valentin arrested. The emperor decided that the priest should be beaten to death with clubs and then cut off his head. Legend has it that Valentin befriended the jailer's blind daughter. He performed a miracle that gave the girl her sight again. Before he was beheaded on February 14, 269 AD, he wrote a love letter to his girlfriend, which he signed "From your Valentine." Valentine was canonized by Pope Gelasius in 498 and February 14 was St Valentine's Day. Over the years, this has become the day for the exchange of declarations of love, little love poems and simple gifts. And St. Valentin has become the patron saint of lovers. The custom of sending each other Valentines originated in the United States in the 1800s. Invite your loved one to a love dinner on February 14! You can get a recipe for a menu for two here:
60 g flour
½ tsp baking powder
1 dl milk
1 tablespoon of water
1 egg
30 g melted butter
2 spring onions
1 raw potato
60-100 g Tabasco
Salt and white pepper
Creme fraiche
Loddekuit
Red onion
Chervil
Lemon
Grate the potato and let it drain slightly in a sieve. Mix the flour and baking powder, stirring in the milk little by little, along with the water and eggs. Stir in the melted butter. Finely chop the spring onion and mix in. Let the batter stand for 20 minutes. Mix in the grated potatoes, season with salt, freshly ground white pepper and a few drops of Tabasco. If the batter is too thick, thin with 1-2 tablespoons of milk. Bake in the waffle iron until golden brown and crispy. Serve immediately. Place 1 tablespoon of crème fraiche on each waffle heart, garnish with 1 tablespoon of capelin, sprinkle with finely chopped red onion and garnish with fresh chervil. Lemon is included.
20 raw scampi
1-2 tablespoons butter
1 shallot
½ red bell pepper
½ yellow bell pepper
½ green bell pepper
Some fresh mushrooms
½ tsp. fish stock
¼ cup brandy
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 dl cream
1 tomato
½ bunch parsley
1 tablespoon dry sherry or vermouth
cayenne pepper
Salt pepper
1 tablespoon cold butter
Cooked rice
8 green asparagus
1 plate of puff pastry
Grated cheese
Peel and grate the tomato and cut the meat into cubes. Chop parsley and onion. Cut the mushrooms into slices and the bell pepper into small cubes. Heat the butter in a frying pan. Fry the onion and bell pepper for a few minutes without discolouring. Crumble in the stock cube. Turn the heat to high and add the scampi, cook for a few seconds. Pour over the cognac and flambé. Extinguish the flames with a lid. Add mushrooms and tomato paste. Add the tomato flesh and parsley, stir in the cream and bring to the boil. Scampis get tough if they cook for too long. Season with sherry, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Finally, stir in 1 tablespoon of cold butter. Peel the bottom of the asparagus and cook in salted water for a few minutes. Cook rice. Let the puff pastry thaw for 20 minutes. Press out hearts with gingerbread moulds, brush with beaten egg or some milk and sprinkle with grated cheese. Bake for 15 minutes at 200 degrees.
2 dl cream
4 egg yolks
75 g sugar
Pastis or other spirits as a flavouring
Chocolate hearts for decoration
Whip the cream. Beat the egg yolks and sugar in a food processor. Let the machine run for a while so that you get an airy egg dose. Stir in the cream with a light hand and season with about 1 tablespoon of pastis. If you don't have pastis, you can try whiskey or other spirits. Pour into portion molds and place in the freezer. You can easily make chocolate hearts for decoration by melting 2-3 squares of chocolate in a plastic bag in the microwave. Cut a small hole in the tip of the bag and make hearts on a rock lined with baking paper. Let it harden. Remove the parfait from the freezer a few minutes before serving.
