Show your love to that special someone this valentine’s day with this deliciously seductive selection of recipes.

Mix and match from starters, mains and desserts, stuffed full of aphrodisiacs, to create the perfect romantic meal for two.

Stunning starters

 

Pink Lady Apple and Salmon Ceviche

An easy yet impressive starter to make for your loved one. The fresh salmon is “cooked” in the acidity of the lime and orange juice and is them complimented by the additional flavours of Pink Lady apple finely sliced, cucumber, chilli and coriander.

 

 

Serves: 2

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Marinating time: 15 minutes

 

You’ll need:

125g fresh skinless fillet of Scottish salmon

juice of 1 limes

juice of ½ orange

½ Pink Lady apple

¼ cucumber peeled in stripes

1 ½ spring onions finely chopped

1 green chilli deseeded and finely chopped

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

5g coriander leaves only

What to do:

Slice the salmon fillet as thinly as possible and put in a dish. Pour over the lime and orange juice. Put in a cool place for 15 minutes while you prepare the rest.

Cut the apple into quarters and remove the core. Then cut each piece into 10 thin slices, pile a few together and cut into 3 angled pieces across. Put with the fish and very gently turn in the juice.

Cut the cucumber in half and scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon. Cut the pieces in half again length ways and chopped into 5mm slices. Add to the fish and apple along with the chopped spring onions and chilli. Turn the mixture gently to coat in juice and leave for 5 minutes.

Lift the mixture out of the dish onto a serving platter using a slotted spoon, so a lot of the juice is left behind. Spoon over the oil and scatter over the coriander leaves to serve.

 

Tenderstem, Horseradish, Pink Lady Apple and Toasted Hazelnut Salad

This recipe is a great example of vegetables as comfort food- it’s sweet, satisfying and tangy. Hazelnuts are an excellent source of the minerals manganese, selenium and zinc, which are said to be key minerals necessary to maintain male potency.

 

Serves: 2

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 1 minute

You’ll need:

50g natural yoghurt (Yeo Valley is best)

25g creamed horseradish sauce

1 tbsp Rapeseed oil

20g toasted hazelnuts

1 Pink Lady apple

16 stems Tenderstem broccoli

1 tsp Rapeseed oil

A pinch of sea salt

100g Watercress

What to do:

Place the yoghurt, horseradish sauce and 1 tbls of rapeseed oil in a bowl and whisk to combine.

Crush the hazelnuts into chunks and set aside.

Core the Pink Lady apple and slice thinly.

Heat 1 tsp of rapeseed oil in a medium sauce pan until very hot and then add the Tenderstem. Immediately cover with a lid and shake it well to turn over the florets.

Cook on full heat for 30 seconds and then shake again.

Cook for a further 30 seconds and remove from the heat. The Tenderstem should have crisp, golden brown bits and be vibrant green. The texture should be al dente. If it is still not gone golden return to the heat in 15 seconds bursts until it is ready.

Sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt and toss one more time.

Place a pile of watercress on each plate, lay the Tenderstem over the top and sprinkle the apple and hazelnuts over the top. Dress generously with the horseradish, yoghurt sauce and serve whilst still hot.

recipe from: www.tenderstem.co.uk

 

Beetroot soup with goats cheese croutons

One of the earliest known benefits of beetroot is its use as an aphrodisiac during the Roman times. And it wasn’t all folklore as it has been found to contain high amounts of boron, which is directly related to the production of the hormones that control your sex drive.

 

 

Click HERE for the recipe

 

Tenderstem, Beetroot & Toasted Seed Salad with Lemon Dressing 

Show a little tenderness to the one you love with this delicious tenderstem salad.  See the video above which shows how quick and easy this is to make!

 

Serves 2

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 5 minutes

You’ll need:

 100g Tenderstem, stems cut in half

40g mixed seeds (e.g. sunflower, pumpkin, sesame)

½ tbsp Kikkoman Soy Sauce

125g plain cooked (vacuum packed) beetroot, drained and cut into wedges

Small bunch fresh chives, snipped

For lemon dressing:

1 tbsp cold pressed rapeseed oil (we used Hill Farm Oil)

Juice ½ lemon, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper & sea salt, to taste

What to do:

Make the dressing by whisking together the rapeseed oil and lemon juice to taste. Season with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt. Set aside.

Steam or boil the Tenderstem® for 3 to 4 minutes until just tender but with a little bite.

While the Tenderstem® is cooking toast the seeds by tipping them into a small frying pan. Add Kikkoman Soy Sauce and cook over a medium heat, tossing regularly to coat all over, for about 3 minutes until the seeds are crisp and golden.

Take care not to burn them or they will taste bitter.

Arrange the cooked Tenderstem® and beetroot wedges on a plate, drizzle over the dressing and sprinkle over the toasted seeds and chives. Serve immediately.

 

Recipe by: www.lovebeetroot.co.uk

 

Magnetic mains

 

Pappardelle of Shallots, Wild Mushrooms and Tarragon

Chef Paul Collins says: ‘ Pappardelle of Shallots’ We say: ‘ Shallot and mushroom pasta’. If the way to a person’s heart is through their stomach this dish is bound to win you some love.

 

 

Click HERE for the recipe

A Warm Radish, Halloumi, Potato and Cherry Tomato Salad with a Mustard and Dill Dressing – served with ham

Colourful and deliciously warming, this salad has a beautiful balance of flavours. Mustard is believed to be an aphrodisiac and it supposed to stimulate the glands and increase desire.

 

Serves: 2

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

You’ll need:

100g new potatoes, sliced

75g mixed radishes, cut in half

50g cherry tomatoes cut in half

½ tbsp olive oil

100g Halloumi sliced

A slice or two of ham per person

For the dressing:

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

½ tbsp red wine vinegar

½ tbsp Dijon mustard

Small bunch of dill chopped

Salt and pepper

What to do:

Place the new potatoes in a medium sized pan, cover with cold water, and lightly salt. Bring to the boil, and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until cooked. Drain and set aside.

In a medium sized bowl mix together the olive oil and vinegar, then add the Dijon mustard and dill.

Add the new potatoes, radishes and cherry tomatoes to the dressing, mix and season well.

Heat the olive oil in a medium sized non-stick frying pan and cook the Halloumi on both sides for 1 minute until golden brown.

Add the Halloumi to the salad and mix gently, then divide between 4 plates and serve immediately, with a slice or two of ham.

Recipe by: www.loveradish.co.uk

 

Shallot Lyonnaise Potatoes & Sauce Vierge

The herbs in this dish are where the aphrodisiac effects lie. Basil is said to stimulate the sex drive and boost fertility, whilst producing a general sense of well-being for body and mind. Tarragon is considered a “warming herb,” great for building up some body heat.

Serves 2

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

You’ll need:

2 x Salmon fillet or meat fillet of your choice, roasted or grilled

For the potatoes:

200g new potatoes

2 large or 4 small echalion (banana) shallots, chopped

10g flat leaf parsley, chopped

25ml vegetable oil

13g butter

For the sauce vierge:

2 large or 4 small echalion (banana) shallots, chopped

100g olive oil

100ml white wine

5g basil leaves

3g French tarragon

10g chives

Juice of ½ a lemon

1 large tomato, skinned, deseeded and chopped

What to do:

Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water. Whilst they are cooking peel and chop the shallots quite finely.

Fry half the shallots in a pan with half the oil and cook until translucent. Add the white wine and reduce until almost all has evaporated. Once cooked add the rest of the olive oil to “cool it down”.

Wash, pick and chop all of the herbs and add the basil, tarragon and chives to the cool oil along with the lemon and the fine chopped tomatoes. Check and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

Drain the cooked potatoes and peel and cut in half lengthways.

In a non-stick pan add the vegetable oil and allow to get hot. Then add the peeled potatoes and start to sauté off, once they start to take on a little colour, add the remaining half of the chopped shallots.

Season with salt and pepper and add the butter, continue to cook until the potatoes are thoroughly coloured and the shallots are cooked.

Add the chopped parsley and remove from the heat, drain on to clean kitchen paper

Arrange the potatoes straight onto plates and drizzle the sauce over them.

Serve with roasted salmon fillets or another fish or meat fillet of your choice.

Recipe devised by Chef Paul Collins

Recipe by:www.UKshallot.com

Lime and coriander chicken and Tenderstem rice salad

The book of The Arabian nights tells a tale of a merchant who had been childless for 40 years and but was cured by a concoction that included coriander. That book is over 1000 years old so coriander as an aphrodisiac dates back far into history.

 

Serves 2

Cooking & Preparation time: Ten minutes

You’ll need:

100g Tenderstem, cut into 3cm lengths

200g Greek yogurt

1 ½ tbsp fresh chopped coriander, plus extra to serve

7 Mint leaves cut into thin strips

Juice and zest of 1 limes

2 cooked Chicken Breasts, sliced

250g cooked rice

40g toasted flaked almonds

3 sliced green spring onions

What to do:

Steam or boil the Tenderstem for 3-4 minutes until tender.

Meanwhile, mix together the yoghurt, coriander, mint, lime juice and lime zest and leave to infuse for a few minutes.

Put the chicken, rice, cooked Tenderstem, almonds and spring onions in a large mixing bowl and season. Add the yoghurt dressing and combine the ingredients together.

Serve with a sprinkling of chopped coriander.

Recipe by: www.tenderstem.co.uk

 

Desirable desserts

Pink Lady Apple Galettes with Vanilla Chantilly

A very easy yet impressive dessert with exotic almond and rose water scented frangipane hidden under the apple. Through antiquity, almonds were regarded as fertility symbols. The aroma of almond supposedly arouses passion in females — or so thought the poets and scribes. The scientists say that almonds provide high doses of vitamin E, magnesium and even fibre. Therefore, there seems to be something in the almond myths after all.

 

 

Makes: 4 x 15cm galettes

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 23-25 minutes

 

You’ll need:

100g ground almonds

80g icing sugar sifted

3 tbsp rosewater

500g block of puff pastry

4 Pink Lady apples (each quartered and cored)

2 tbsp English runny honey warmed

Icing sugar to dust

For the Chantilly cream:

150 ml double cream

1 tbsp icing sugar sifted

½ a length ways split vanilla pod seeds scraped out

 

1 large baking tray

 

What to do:

Preheat the oven to Gas mark 7/220C/fan oven 180. Mix the almonds, icing sugar and rosewater together in a bowl to create a frangipane mix.

Cut the pastry into 4 pieces and roll out one at time to a shape large enough to take a 15 cm fluted or plain round cutter. Stamp out the circles and put on the baking tray and prick all over with a fork to within 1cm of the edge. Put in the fridge to chill.

Cut each apple quarter into 3 wedges and toss in a bowl with the warmed honey.

Divide the frangipane between each pastry circle and spread to within 1cm of the edge. Arrange the apple wedges on top and bake for 10 minutes. Lower the oven to Gas mark 6/200C/fan oven 170 and bake for 13-15 minutes or until the pastry has puffed up and the apple is tinged golden in parts.

Meanwhile make the Chantilly cream. Whisk the cream, icing sugar and vanilla together, chill until ready to serve.

When the galettes are ready dust with icing sugar and serve with the Chantilly cream.

Recipe by: www.pinkladyapples.co.uk

Meringues with Poached Pink Lady Apples and Sorbet

This is the simplest of sorbets and the great thing is you can make every part of this dessert in advance. Serve up this delicate dessert to the apple of your eye this valentine’s day.

 

Makes: 4

Preparation time: 15-20 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour

You’ll need:

For the meringues:

2 large egg whites

Pinch of salt

110g caster sugar

1 oven tray lined with baking parchment

For the Sorbet:

4 Pink Lady® apples each cut into 8 wedges, cored and sliced into 5mm pieces

100g caster sugar

100 ml water

Softly whipped cream to serve

What to do:

Preheat the oven to Gas mark 3/160C/fan oven 150.

Put the eggs whites in a bowl with a pinch of salt and whisk until soft peaks form when the whisks are lifted. Add the sugar a few tablespoons at a time whisking well between each addition until stiff and glossy.

Put a small blob of meringue at each corner of the oven tray to secure the paper. Put 4 mounds of meringue on the paper and using the back of a spoon push into an approximately 10cm circle making a slight indent in the centre.

Bake for 10 minutes, lower oven to Gas mark 1/4/100C/fan oven 100 and bake for 1 hour until they lift off the tray easily. Cool on a wire track and store in an airtight container.

Meanwhile to make the sorbet and poached apples, put the apple slices in a large pan with the sugar and water. Cook covered on a medium heat for 10 minutes until soft.

Remove 24 apple slices, put in a bowl and reserve.

Tip the rest of the apples into a processer and blitz to a puree. Freeze the puree overnight. Blitz again in the processor until smooth and paler and refreeze for a minimum of 4 hours.

To serve spoon some softly whipped cream over each meringue and top with the reserved apple slices and add a scoop of sorbet.

Recipe by: www.pinkladyapples.co.uk

 

Viva Strawberry & Passion Fruit Cupcakes

Strawberries gained their reputation as an aphrodisiac due to their large number of tiny seeds symbolizing fertility. Strawberries contain more vitamin C than any other berry. They also contain a good amount of potassium, folic acid and some iron and fibre. So strawberries can aid in boosting an otherwise lacklustre libido by providing essential vitamins and minerals needed to supply energy and keep the fires burning.

 

Click HERE for the recipe

Our Ultimate Beetroot & Chocolate Cake

Chocolate, the king of natural aphrodisiacs, contains a host of compounds including anandamide, the psyochoactive feel-good chemical, and PEA (phenylethylamine), the “love chemical,” which releases dopamine in the pleasure centers of the brain

 

 

Click HERE for the recipe

 

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