Pancakes - traditional or innovative?

Throughout the day I've seen people's opinions going back and forth on Twitter, Facebook and in the office about how one should have pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. Now I'll admit, I'm a fan of the lemon and sugar. It's nice and easy and the lemon cuts through the richness of the pancake perfectly. But what it doesn't make (unless you eat a whole pile of them) is a meal. So there's definitely an excuse for at least one savoury option. I usually end up cooking pancakes for a group, this year my housemates and a few others so it's worth having a little variety. Here are my ideas if you want to have a little something different. Photos will be up later on Twitter and Facebook.

Ham and Gruyere - sprinkle the grated cheese onto the pancake whilst it's still cooking in the pan to get it to melt in slightly.

Marmalade and Dark Chocolate - This seemed to be the dessert of choice in every restaurant in Croatia when I was on holiday there a few weeks ago. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of hot water and warm the marmalade in a bowl in the microwave for a few seconds to make it spreadable.

Cherry and Almond - When I've done this before I've used tinned cherries as it's much cheaper. Mix equal parts butter, sugar and ground almonds and bake on greaseproof paper for 10 mins on 200C then crumble over the pancakes and cherries.

A Valentines Dinner

Forgotten to book a table? Bit late now!

Luckily you can still cook something at home to impress your loved one. And the plus side is that it will be a hell of a lot cheaper than going out to a restaurant.

Here's a menu that's sure to put you both in the mood! I calculated this menu at about £35 in total, and that was from Ocado. The timings I've given are for an 8pm dinner for two people with a little leftovers, perhaps an energy boost later in the evening? ;)

Pomegranate and prosecco cocktail

Avocado, sun dried tomato and parma ham salad

Chicken Aurora

Roasted new potatoes

Braised asparagus

Layers of chocolate and raspberry

Here's what you'll need to buy:

1 bottle of prosecco
1 carton pomegranate juice

1 avocado
1 small tub sun dried tomatoes in olive oil
parma ham
rocket

2 chicken breasts
2 red peppers
olive oil
1 onion
1 clove garlic
150ml single cream
1 stock cube
100ml water
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 small bag new potatoes
1 pack asparagus

1 carton fresh raspberries
2 tbsp icing sugar
200g dark chocolate
150ml single cream

1815: Melt the chocolate and cream together in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Make sure the water doesn't touch the bowl.

1830: Blitz half the raspberries with the sugar and push through a sieve. Set to one side. Pour the chocolate mix into two ramekins and place in the fridge.

1845: Preheat the oven to 220C. Chop the peppers and the onion roughly into inch square pieces. Add in the garlic clove whole.  Toss in the olive oil and season. Do the same with the potatoes separately. You can then either use a large roasting tin and separate them with some foil in the middle, or use two separate tins.

1900: Put the potatoes and peppers/onion mix in the oven. Heat a little oil in a large frying pan or hob proof casserole dish and add the chicken breasts. Brown them on a medium heat, turning frequently.

1930: Remove the pepper mixture from the oven and pour into a saucepan. Turn the oven off but leave the potatoes in there. Add the stock cube, paprika and water, stirring until the stock cube is mixed in. Blitz until smooth as possible and pour through a sieve to get rid of the pepper skin. Stir in the cream, and pour over the chicken breasts. Cover and leave on a very low heat on the hob.

1945: Peel and chop the avocado and arrange on a plate with the rocket, sundried tomatoes and parma ham. Pour about 1/3 of a glass of pomegranate juice and top up with prosecco. Pour the raspberry coulis mix over the now set chocolate ganache and scatter with raspberries before putting back in the fridge.

2000: Serve the salad and drink.

The chicken will sit happily if covered on a low heat for at least 30 mins. Approximately 15 minutes before you serve the chicken, heat a griddle pan with a little olive oil and cook the asparagus. The dessert can be served at any time over the evening.

Recipe: Cranachan Truffles

Decided to make some truffles for my friend Simon for his birthday (late as well!) and thought, what does he like? When we used to live together we'd get through a fair amount of whiskey in front of our (working!) fireplace so I thought I'd try for something to evoke that. Cranachan in its traditional form is raspberries in honey and raspberry jelly or coulis with whisky infused whipped cream and toasted oats. Looks really pretty in a glass. I tried whiskey truffles by Matthieu de Gottal at the London Chocolate Festival in Islington in December and although mine are by no means as sophisticated as his, it really is a great combination of flavours.

These are simple truffles and I really would recommend using the best ingredients you can.

200g very dark chocolate (something like Green and Black's is ideal for this)
50g butter
50ml whiskey (Glenfiddich single malt in my case!)
2 tbsp dried raspberry pieces
2 tsp honey (I went outrageous and used Manuka honey as I happened to have some in)
50g rolled oats
4 tbsp cocoa powder
edible gold spray
gold draguees

Melt the chocolate and the butter together in a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of water. Make sure the water doesn't touch the chocolate or it will go grainy.

Heat a small frying pan and toast the oats until slightly browned. Keep a close eye on them, they will burn very easily if not moved around the pan. Once they're done, grind to a fine powder with a pestle and mortar.

Slowly add the whiskey and the honey to the chocolate mixture and stir in the dried raspberries. Mix in the oat powder and leave in the fridge for a few hours until more or less solid. Break up with a spoon and roll small truffle sized balls in the cocoa powder until coated. Place each truffle in a petit four case and spray with the gold spray (for that added bling!) I topped mine with a gold draguee as well.