ESB's Restaurant gives us some ideas for home cooking this Valentine’s Day

Romance on the menu

Celebrate Valentine’s Day with a romantic dinner for two. The meal doesn’t have to be elaborate or time consuming, as long as it's something you both enjoy. So why not try our ‘Salmon Chanted Evening’. On the menu is salmon with stuffed brie for the main course and for dessert a warm chocolate pudding, yes it has to be chocolate! So set the table, get the flowers and light the candles. The mood is set...

Salmon with stuffed Brie and Cod
Ingredients
2 6/7 oz fillets of salmon uncooked
1 6/7 oz fillet of cod uncooked
2 oz brie cheese
1 egg
1/2 oz cream (pouring)
Salt and pepper to taste
Half the juice of a lemon by 2
2 oz breadcrumbs (optional)

Method
Cut an incision down the centre of the fresh salmon fillets, making sure not to cut the salmon in half and open out to give an envelope effect. For the stuffing place all the remaining ingredients (bar the crumbs and one half of the lemon juice) in a food processor and blend to a smooth paste for about 20 seconds. The mixture should be firm enough to pipe – if the stuffing looks wet, the crumbs can be added and the mixture blended for a further 10 seconds. Now, fill a piping bag with the stuffing and proceed to pipe the cod filling in the centre of the salmon fillet and refrigerate the prepared fish until required.

When cooking, preheat the oven to 175°C and place the salmon on a baking tray, squeeze the remaining lemon over the salmon and cover with tin foil, bake for 25 minutes. When cooked remove from oven and remove the tin foil. The fish should be firm to the touch – if the salmon looks slightly under done, it can be placed in the oven for a further five minutes.

Chocolate pudding
Serves 4
4 oz dark chocolate (75 per cent cocoa solids), broken into pieces
4 oz butter, diced
1 tablespoons brandy
2 oz golden caster sugar
2 large eggs, plus 2 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 oz (30 g) plain flour
Will need 4 individual pudding basins, capacity 6 fl oz, brushed with melted butter

Method Place the chocolate, butter and brandy in a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Keeping the heat at its lowest, allow the chocolate and butter to melt slowly; when fully melted it should be glossy and smooth.

Place the sugar, whole eggs, yolks and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl, which you should place on a tea towel to steady it. Whisk the mixture on a high speed with an electric hand whisk until it has doubled in volume – this should take roughly 10 minutes, depending on the power of your whisk. What you need to end up with is a thick, mousse-like mixture.

Now you need to pour the melted chocolate mixture around the edge of the bowl (it's easier to fold it in from the edges) and sift the flour over the mixture. Using a large metal spoon, carefully – but thoroughly – fold everything together for about 3 minutes. Now divide the mixture between the pudding basins (it should come to just below the top of each one).

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 6/400°F (200°C). Bake on the centre shelf of the oven for 12 minutes, after that time the puddings should have risen and feel fairly firm to the touch, although the insides will still be melting. Leave to stand for one minute before sliding a palette knife around each pudding and turning out on to individual serving plates. Serve immediately with some ice cream or fresh cream.

Jonathan’s recipe for pancake batter

It’s that time of year. How many can you eat? This is a simple recipe that you can't go wrong with, just have the sugar and lemon juice on stand by...

Ingredients
2 eggs
4oz/100g plain flour
300ml milk
Pinch of salt

Method Put all ingredients in food processor in the order above and blend for one minute until you have a smooth paste. Set aside and refrigerate until needed.

When cooking, have a nonstick pan hot and lightly drizzle some sunflower oil on it, then pour on a ladleful of batter and quickly tilt the pan around until the base of the pan is fully covered, cook for about a minute before flipping it over to the other side and cooking for a further half a minute, before sliding it onto a warm plate to serve.