Food & Drink
Valentines Day Dessert
I don’t know about you but cooking for people and feeding them is how I show them how much they mean to me. Nothing makes me happier than to see someone’s face light up when my latest concoction is put down in front of them.
That’s what most of you are going to be doing this weekend - I’m guessing – planning a romantic meal – for once I’m going to be doing the opposite. Valentine’s Day is the one day of the year in our house where we put the pots and pans away and head down to sit on the beach with a fish supper & a sneaky bottle of bubbles. Proper champagne flutes mind you, ‘cause I’m romantic like that!
But you know me – I’ve always got to have something in the back pocket and this simple but fantastic dessert is the perfect thing to have stashed in the fridge as a wee surprise when you get back.
The perfect thing for this is the fantastic early Rhubarb that you can find in Sainsbury’s at the moment – a beautiful pale pink and more tender and sweet that the fruit you get later in the year. What could be more romantic than that?
Cut the rhubarb into even sized lengths and place in an ovenproof dish with a couple of tablespoons of soft brown sugar and some strips of orange peel. Cover tightly with foil and cook in a moderate oven for 1 hour. Sprinkle over a chopped up nugget of stem ginger and leave to cool.
When it’s cool – layer the rhubarb and ginger mix in tall wine glasses, alternating each layer with a generous dollop of Sainsbury's Natural Greek Style Yogurt that’s been sweetened with a little of the rhubarb juices. Finish it off with some crumbled up Marks & Spencer Stem Ginger cookies for a little crunch. Whack them in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
If that doesn’t earn you a few brownie points I don’t know what will.
Perfect Match
It has to be bubbles for Valentine’s Day – and pink ones at that! Marks and Spencer Colle Del Principe Prosecco is fantastic and if you top the glass up with a little of the rhubarb and ginger syrup you get the perfectly pink tinged cocktail!