Valentines Day is almost here again.

Feb 10, 2015

The time has come again to start thinking about Valentine’s Day. Forget roses and a box of chocolates get creative and spoil her to a beautifully cooked meal paired with some beautiful wines. You don’t have to be a chef to make amazingly tasty food just keep it simple, buy quality ingredients and do it well. For a starter try gambas al pil pil which is Prawns gently cooked in olive oil, garlic, chopped chilli and finished with chopped parsley. Eat this with some nice crusty bread to soak up the flavoured olive oil and wash down with a couple of glasses of Cuatro Rayas Verdejo from Spain, a lovely crisp refreshing white wine with beautiful citrus notes for €15. gambas pil pil

For your main go for Bavette Steak with Chimichurri. Chimichuri is a sauce made from parsley, garlic, chilli, red wine vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper. Marinade the steak overnight keeping some aside to pour as a sauce once the steak is cooked. If you have bbq handy that would be perfect otherwise a griddle or large frying pan, cook rare/medium rare as all steak should be, rest and slice thinly pouring the remainder of the marinade over the steak. Wash this down with a big dark Malbec like Esprit de Flore from Cahors in France for €15. chimi

Now I don’t normally do deserts I tend to leave that to the professionals but what could be easier than strawberries dipped in chocolate. Push the boat out, try a mixture and get good quality. What better to match than a glass of bubbles, from Bordeaux or if bubbles aren’t your thing then a glass of Beaujolais Nouveau a light fruity young wine with a lovely strawberry flavour for €15 choc straw