For Love’s Sake
Chef Nkesi shares on how to Wine and dine your significant other with easy steps to preparing a gourmet three course meal.
Spending quality time with your significant other goes a long way. It strengthens intimacy, serves as an escape from the stress of married life, and gives you room to be free with each other. Also, these dinners, don’t have to be super expensive nor excessively formal, they can be prepared at home; today’s recipe is an example of such.
1. Goat Cheese and Crispy Duck Salad
What You Need
100 g soft goat cheese mould
Mixed salad leaves
Balsamic vinaigrette
Smoked duck breast thinly sliced (you can substitute with bacon or pancetta)
One strong green tomato
How To
In a salad bowl, mix your salad leaves
Pan sear your smoked duck breast until crispy as you would with bacon
To assemble your salad, put about 2 handfuls of salad leaves on your plate, cut your goat cheese about 1 inch thick and add to your plate.
Cut up the green tomatoes into 8 wedges and add to your plate. You can now add your crispy fried duck breast, toss together and drizzle the balsamic vinaigrette.
And that’s it, simple quick and delicious!
2. T.bone Steak With a Cherry Tomato Sauce and Creamy Mash
What You Need
T-bone steak
8 Cherry tomatoes
4 Tbsp. Butter
Half a cup white wine
¼ cup chopped parsley
2 Tbsp. chopped shallots or onions
1 tsp. honey or agave
4 large potatoes
2 tbsp. cream cheese
Cracked black pepper and salt to taste
How To
Peel the potatoes and add to a pot of cold water and boil until potatoes are ready.
Whilst your potatoes are boiling make your sauce. Cut the tomatoes in half and then heat a pan, add 2 tbsp. butter, chopped shallot and cherry tomatoes. Cook until the tomatoes are soft and caramelized, and then add your white wine to de-glaze the pan, season with salt and black pepper, set aside.
For your steak, season with salt, black pepper and honey, heat your pan and drizzle a little oil on it. When your pan is nice and hot put your steak in and cook for 2 and a ½ minutes on both sides if you want it nice and medium. You can cook for longer if you want it well done, or less if you want it rare. When your steak is ready set aside in a plate, cover with foil and allow to rest.
Back to your potatoes, when there are ready and still hot, in a bowl, pass it through a potato ricer, I suggest you pass it through twice until nice and smooth, add your cream cheese and remaining butter, season with salt and pepper.
To assemble, place potato mash on one side of your dinner plate and the steak on the other side. To finish, drizzle your cherry tomato sauce on the steak and mash and enjoy!
3. Grilled Peaches and Cream
What You Need
2 peaches
2 tbsp honey
A tub of mascarpone cheese
2 cups whipping cream
Half cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Thinly slice your peaches, and drizzle with honey and a little oil. Heat up a grill pan and grill your peaches until lightly caramelized, not too soft.
In a bowl, add mascarpone, sugar, whipping cream and vanilla, using a hand mixer, whisk mix until stiff but fluffy, cover with cling film and refrigerate until very cold.
To assemble, place peaches on a plate, top with cream mixture. At this point you can drizzle chocolate sauce or salted caramel sauce, whichever is your preference and top with nuts or popcorn.
So there you have it, have a wonderful time out.
