Chef George Georgiou’s Valentine’s Day menu

Published: 13 February 2013

If you’re a bit of a lastminute.com type this menu from George Georgiou, executive chef at Silverstar Casino will ensure you impress your partner with a special home-cooked meal this Valentine’s Day.

He has aptly named the dishes ‘Love at first sight’, ‘Cupid’s arrow’ and ‘My sweetheart’. If you’re a novice cook perhaps attempt only one of the dishes, for example the dessert, but if you’re an experienced cook you can certainly tackle all three scrumptious dishes.

Chef George has used ingredients such as strawberries, chocolate and salmon. He took inspiration from the Mayans and Aztecs who considered chocolate and strawberries to be an aphrodisiac.

George Georgiou is a member of the South African Chefs Association and a member of the Gauteng committee. In August 2011 he broke the world record in the longest cooking marathon for an individual, where he cooked for 36 hours and two seconds nonstop.

The menu

Starter – Love at first sight

Smoked salmon and dill terrine with pickled celery salad, crispy capers and crème fraiche.

Main course – Cupid’s arrow

Grilled pepper crusted beef fillet on rosti potato and mushrooms with hazelnut crêpe net and blueberry glaze served with green beans, cherry tomatoes and cardamom infused carrot puree.

Dessert – My sweetheart

Strawberry and dark chocolate terrine accompanied by a shot of strawberry mousse served with strawberry ice cream.

Starter: Love at first sight

Ingredients

• 160g Smoked salmon
• 20g Fresh roughly chopped dill
• 125g Butter
• 5g Capers
• Rocket
• Crème fraîche
• 40g Celery stalks thinly sliced
• 40g Thinly sliced and deseeded cucumber
• 20g Onions thinly sliced
• Mustard seeds
• Bay leaves
• Cloves
• Castor sugar
• White wine vinegar
• Chives for garnish (optional extra)

Method

Salmon Terrine

• -Layer a shallow tray with plastic wrap, making sure that the sides are also covered
• Melt butter in a pan and infuse with chopped dill
• Line the bottom of the tray with a layer of salmon, brush with dill infused butter, make alternating layers of this until you have a height of about 20mm
• Press down with something heavy and refrigerate until set
• Cut into a rectangular shape and serve

Pickled celery salad

• -Bring one part vinegar, two parts sugar and pickling mix to a boil until the sugar has dissolved and the herbs infused . Cool down
• Add onion, cucumber and celery to the pickling solution and pickle for a few hours, serve when ready

Garnish

• -Deep fry capers in oil and set aside on a paper towel to drain access oil
• Clean rocket and chop chives to be used as garnish

Assemble plate as per picture

Main: Cupid’s arrow

Ingredients

• 2 x 150g Beef fillet
• 200g Potatoes grated
• 20g Onion grated
• 50g Mushrooms sliced
• Diced onion
• 200ml Red wine
• 100g Knorr Demi glace powder dissolved in hot water
• Hazelnut
• 3 Egg whites
• 100g Blue berries frozen or fresh
• 1 Tot brandy
• 60g Castor sugar
• 120g Green beans
• Cocktail cherry tomatoes
• Butter
• Cream
• Cardamom
• 120g Carrots
• Oil for grilling
• Salt
• Crushed pepper

Method

• Mix grated potato with grated onion and season well with salt and pepper
• In a pan with oil, place a ring cutter (making sure this is also oiled) filled with the potato mix to your desired height. Grill until golden so that it keeps its shape, remove the cutter and brown the other side. Set aside for later
• In a pot sauté onions, carrots, cardamom, a little water and seasoning, simmer until cooked and the water has evaporated. Puree the mixture in a food processor until mashed and then add butter and cream until smooth, adjust the seasoning. Strain through a fine sieve to get rid of the lumps
• In a pan combine the blue cherries with sugar. Once the sugar has dissolved flambé with brandy. In a food processor blitz the mixture and strain. What you’ll be left with is the blue cherry syrup. Cool and keep aside for later
• Roast the hazelnuts in an oven at 180 degrees Celsius until golden brown. Cool them down slightly, while still warm peel by rubbing them together. Roughly chop them and set aside
• Clean, trim and blanch the greens
• Season and roll fillet in crushed pepper, grill to the desired stage. In the same pan, sauté onions and mushrooms and set aside. Deglaze the pan with red wine, add Demi glace mixture and reduce until the correct consistency has been reached to make the sauce
• In a pan sauté onions with green beans and cherry tomatoes
• In the meantime whisk egg whites until stiff peaks form. When the plate is assembled, brown the egg white under the grill to form the crêpe net

Assemble as per picture

Dessert: My Sweetheart

Ingredients

• 750g Dark chocolate
• 1l Cream
• 100g Sugar
• 40g Gelatine powder
• 25g Instant coffee powder
• 6 Eggs
• 400g Fresh strawberries
• 250ml Cream

Method

• Soak the gelatine in 250ml cream and add instant coffee powder. Dissolve the chocolate over medium heat and add the gelatine, cream and coffee mixture. Cool down
• For the chocolate curls, pour some chocolate onto a marble slab and cool down. With a pallet knife scrape the chocolate to form curls
• In a bowl, cream the eggs and sugar with a whisk
• In another bowl whip 1l cream until stiff peaks form
• Fold the cream and egg mixture into the cool chocolate mixture
• Spoon the mixture halfway into a mould
• Line the side with half cut strawberries and then fill up the mould with the remainder of the mousse, chill overnight

Shot of strawberry mousse

Ingredients

• 30ml Cream
• Gelatine powder
• 20g Castor sugar
• 50g Fresh strawberries liquidized
• 30g Castor sugar
• 100ml Cream

Method

• Soak the gelatine in 30ml cream and then dissolve over medium heat. Cool down
• Place liquidized strawberries in a pot with 20g sugar and bring to the boil, reduce until syrup consistency and cool down
• In a bowl whip the 100ml cream adding 30g sugar slowly until stiff peaks form
• Fold the cream, liquidized strawberries (make sure you leave some behind for the top of the mousse and to drizzle over the ice cream) and gelatine mixture together
• Spoon the mixture into a glass and top up with strawberry syrup

Strawberry ice cream

Ingredients

• 500g Fresh strawberries liquidized
• 150g Sugar
• 15 Medium egg yolks
• 250ml Milk
• 5ml Vanilla essence
• 750ml Cream

Method

• Put the cream, milk, liquidized strawberries, sugar and vanilla essence into a pot and bring to the boil, stirring constantly until the sugar has dissolved
• Take off the heat and cool down to lukewarm and then add the egg yolks
• Place the pot in a water bath over low heat and constantly stir until thickened (custard consistency)
• Take off the heat and cool down
• Place the mixture in an ice cream machine to make ice cream or alternatively place in the freezer and whisk the mixture often until ice cream is made