FOOD:

VALENTINE’S DAY SEEMS to have slipped into obscurity this year, which may be one good side effect of the recession. A few days ago I was wandering around the local vegetable shop, desperately trying to remember what it was I could not return home without (milk, bananas) when my eyes caught sight of shiny hearts, glittery boxes of chocolate and sad looking squished teddies, declaring themselves in love with anyone that passed by. It took a moment or two for the penny to drop. The cogs in my head noisily started to turn, and I started a process of elimination: Christmas is over, it’s too early for Easter, and I haven’t seen too many Americans in search of leprechauns, so Paddy’s Day is out. Ah yes! Valentine’s Day is here.

The fact that it seems to be relatively low key this year is a reason to celebrate. It also means that I have not had to accessorise this delicious chocolate cake or lamb dish with red and pink or take a picture of it being ladled into a bowl covered in love hearts. Phew.

The lamb dish is great for a large group and I would serve it with some couscous, quinoa or wild rice. The chocolate cake is much better served the day after it’s made, when it takes on a really rich fudginess. But if you don’t want to wait, just whack it into the fridge as soon as it cools down and if it gets even a few hours’ chilling, you’ll be delighted with the result. I was rather sceptical of it when we first made it, as I thought it was going to lack body, due to the amount of boiling water added to it. But boy was I wrong. It is a great cake.

Lamb and apricot tagine (serves six)

This is adapted from a Jo Pratt recipe. We used diced leg of lamb

Few glugs of olive oil

1kg diced lamb

Salt and pepper

2 onions, peeled and chopped

4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

5cm knob of ginger, peeled and chopped

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tbsp harissa

1 litre chicken stock

350g dried apricots

4-6 large tomatoes, roughly chopped

100g green olives, stoned

100g shelled pistachios

1 bunch of coriander

Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-based saucepan and brown the lamb well on all sides. Season generously. After a solid five minutes of stirring and browning on a relatively high heat, you should have a good colour on the meat. Add the onions, garlic and ginger and cook out for another minute or two, until the onions start to soften and caramelise. Add the spices and harissa. Mix really well and cook out for another few minutes so that the spices and harissa coat the meat. Add the stock.

Put a lid on the pot, turn down the heat and simmer for at least an hour, stirring occasionally and making sure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pot. After the lamb has undergone the first hour of cooking, you can cool it down and leave it overnight for the flavours to develop. Allow at least another hour of cooking time the next day. If you want to make it all in one go, add the apricots, tomatoes, olives and pistachios and cook, without a lid, for another hour. At this stage it should have reduced to a nice consistency and the flavours should be really good. The bottom line is that the lamb needs to cook for at least two hours in total, which can be done in one go, or split over two days. The harissa gives it heat with body rather than outright fire, but feel free to add more. Garnish with the coriander.

Rich flourless chocolate cake

This is adapted from a Sophie Dahl recipe.

300g dark chocolate

225g caster sugar

180ml boiling water

225g butter

6 eggs, separated

2 tsp instant coffee

1 tbsp vanilla extract

To serve

200ml cream

2 tbsp icing sugar

1 tbsp vanilla essence

250ml creme fraiche

50g dark chocolate

Preheat an oven to 180 degrees/gas four. Grease a 23-centimetre spring-form cake tin. Break the chocolate into squares and put them into a food processor, along with the caster sugar. When this is ground up quite fine, keep the motor running and pour in the boiling water, which will melt the chocolate. Then add the butter in chunks, the egg yolks, coffee and vanilla extract.

Turn the motor off when the mixture is smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they are stiff. Fold the egg whites into the melted chocolate mix. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, put it on a baking tray (which will make it easier to move in and out of the oven), and bake for 45 to 55 minutes. A skewer should still come out fudgey if inserted to check if it is ready. The cake will puff up and, once taken out of the oven, will start to collapse. It also won’t look that appetising, but have faith. It needs a wig (ie frosting) and some chilling time. Whip the cream, sugar and vanilla essence until fairly thick and then gently add the creme fraiche and give it a light whisk. When the cake is cold, slather it with the cream and grate the dark chocolate on top.

See also itsa.ie