Valentine Meal Vlog and Recipe

Be My Valentine... watch Cornwall College chef lecturers Mark Devonshire and Philip Oakes vlog on preparing and cooking a special Valentine's meal. 

These two courses are perfect for your Valentine, and will help add heat to any romantic evening. The beef carpaccio is delicate and tasty, while the red thai curry main course is aromatic and spicy.

The curry is light and creamy, but not too indulgent. The secret to making an amazing thai curry is to use plenty of aromatics (like onion, ginger and garlic) and full-fat coconut milk for richness. You can make your own paste or buy a Thai red curry paste. Enjoy...

Beef carpaccio

Ingredients

150g/5½oz good-quality fillet steak

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

½ tsp dried chilli flakes

salt and freshly ground black pepper

To garnish

½ lime, juice only

Handful of rocket

Shavings of parmesan

Salt and black pepper

Method

To begin with roll the fillet steal in crushed salt and pepper, place on a hot grill and chargrill until all side are marked. For the carpaccio begin by placing the steak between two sheets of silicone paper and flattening it out with a meat mallet or rolling pin. Place the beef onto a baking tray and place in the freezer to firm up but not freeze completely, about 20-30 minutes.

In a bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar and chilli flakes and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

To serve, remove the steak from the freezer and slice thinly with a very sharp knife. Arrange the slices on a plate, drizzle over the chilli dressing and garnish with rocket, parmesan and a squeeze of lime juice

Thai red curry 

Ingredients

2 shallots or 1 small onion

1 stalk lemongrass

1 tbsp vegetable oil

3-4 tsp red Thai curry paste

1 tbsp fish sauce

Fish sauce

1 tsp sugar

4 freeze-dried kaffir lime

Lime leaves

400ml can coconut

Coconut milk

20g pack fresh coriander

4 spring onions

10 sugar snap

6 fine free bean

6 baby sweetcorn

20g coriander

Method

Peel shallots or onion and cut in half from top to root. Lay the cut sides flat on a board and thinly slice. Very finely slice the lemongrass, starting at the thinner end, stopping towards the base when it gets tough (often described as ‘woody’ and white in the centre).

Heat the oil in a wok or large saucepan for a couple of minutes until the oil separates (it looks more liquid at this point). Add the shallots or onion. Fry for 3-5 mins, until soft and translucent. Stir in the curry paste and cook for 1 min, stirring all the time.

Add the vegetables and stir until they are coated. Add the lemongrass, fish sauce, sugar, kaffir lime leaves and coconut milk. Bring slowly to the boil, and then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 15 mins until the chicken is cooked. Stir the curry a few times while it cooks, to stop it sticking and to keep the vegetables submerged.

While the vegetables are cooking, strip the leaves from the coriander stalks, gather into a pile and chop very roughly. Taste the curry and add a little more curry paste and salt if you think it needs it. Stir half the coriander into the curry and sprinkle the rest over the top. Serve with Thai jasmine or coconut basmati rice.

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