Valentine’s Menu: Garlic Bread Bruschetta, Peppercorn Steak & Mousse

Preheat oven according to packet instructions

• Place 6 rounds of garlic bread onto a baking tray and place into the oven for 5 - 10 minutes.
• Add the cherry tomatoes into a sieve sitting over a bowl. Season generously with salt and stir to combine. This will get rid of the excess moisture.
• After 5 minutes, add the cherry tomatoes into a bowl with the diced red onion. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil into the bowl and stir to combine.
• Scatter the tomato mix over the toasted/grilled bread. Top with fresh basil leaves and an optional sprinkle of pepper.

Ensure that your steak is left at room temp at least 30 mins before cooking.

• Start by heavily salting boiling water in a medium saucepan. Add the potatoes into the pan and cook for 15-20 minutes or until fork tender.
• Meanwhile, season your steaks with salt and pepper on both sides. Preheat your pan so that it’s really hot.
• Add rapeseed oil/vegetable oil into your pan and once the pan is smoking hot, add your steaks. Depending on how rare you want your steaks & the thickness of your steaks, cook time will vary. I seared the first side for 1 minute and the second for 30 seconds for medium rare with my steaks.
• Set the steaks aside to rest. Reduce the heat to medium/low and deglaze the pan with a spatula. Add optional butter into the pan along with half a red onion, coarse pepper and dried thyme. Season with salt and cook for around 4 minutes, or until softened.
• Pour the cream, soy sauce and red wine vinegar into the pan and cook until slightly reduced, around 2 minutes. If you like a loser sauce, add a few tbsp of water until you get your desired consistency.
• Reserving some of the salty starchy water, drain your boiled potatoes. Add around 2 ladles of water and a few knobs of butter, then either blend with a hand blender or use a potato masher until smooth.
• Serve a swoosh of mash, your steak (sliced into strips against the grain) and a big drizzle of pepper corn sauce. Top with finely chopped fresh basil.

• Use a hand blender or whisk to whip the double cream, until a whipped cream consistency is achieved.
• After this, separate the egg whites from the yolks. Don’t throw the yolks away, save them for a carbonara!
• Whisk the egg whites until you achieve stiff peaks, this is when you lift the whisk up and the egg white holds it’s shape (=forming a peak.)
• Melt 90g of the chocolate in the microwave for 30 seconds and then stir and repeat for another 30 seconds.
• Combine the melted chocolate and cream first by whisking together and then fold in the egg whites slowly to keep it aerated.
• Pop in the freezer for half an hour to set or fridge for an hour, then when it’s time to eat add some chocolate shavings. Dig in!