My Valentine's Top 5

Kate Takes 5, thank you for getting me to come up with 5 wishes for Valentine’s, because it’s helped me to clarify my thinking on what I’d like cooked for me!

Music, the food of love?

1. My first wish is to not eat out at a restaurant on Valentine’s Day. I love going to restaurants, but on this one day, they become unbearable. Fawning service that’s on OTT sales mode, red heart-shaped-thingies and rose petals getting in the way of my wine glass, compulsory set menus, and smoochy couples everywhere. I love being at home instead, and this Valentine’s, I would like to savour this over an apéritif of campari and orange.

2. For starters, a small elegantly-dressed plate of succulent scallops grilled with pancetta, and served dotted with creamed corn and just a touch of caramelised onions.

3. For mains, a risotto bianco with home-made pesto (made with a pestle and mortar and not a food processor, thank you). Frangelico is really good at the risotto and pesto from Jamie's Italy, and it’s become his signature dish vis-à-vis our Aussie cousins (Musical Chef Senior, Musical Chef Junior, and Gum Tree) after he made it for them a few Christmases ago. Next to this, I’d love a chicory salad dressed in lemon juice and olive oil.

4. For dessert, since he’s cooked all this other stuff, I’d be more than happy with a shop-bought/heat-in-the-oven sticky toffee pudding. But it has to be a particular shop-bought sticky toffee pudding, namely the one from Cartmel that’s hand-made from real food (no E numbers, inverted syrups, hydrogenated fats, etc).

5. It’s been raining again in London, and I’m feeling a bit under the weather. So to help me fight off the bugs, a small hot toddy at the end wouldn’t go amiss!

I’m starting to think that stating one’s wishes clearly is the first step to making them come true…

Love

Truffle