Shetland inspired Valentine's menu

Course: Main
Servings: 4
Prep Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• Freshest scallops - 150 grams (corals removed, scallops cut up finely)
• Red onion - 1/2 (very finely chopped)
• Red chilli - 1/2 (very finely chopped)
• Salt - 2 pinches
• Limes - 2 (grated rind and juice)
• Fresh green coriander - small bunch

Instructions:

1. Prepare all ingredients and mix together very well - you can put everything into a tight lidded plastic box and shake well to distribute all flavours.
2. That's it!

Course: Main
Servings: 6 people

Ingredients:

• Courgettes - 1 kilo
• Rocket or red salad leaves - 225 grams
• Olive oil - 3 tbsp (extra virgin)
• Lemon - 1 (rind and juice)
• Maldon salt and freshly ground pepper -
• Parmesan - 100-175 grams (shaved with a peeler)

Instructions:

1. Trim the ends off the courgettes and slice thinly at an angle into ovals.Place them into a bowl.
2. Pick over the rocket or salad leaves , wash and dry them thoroughly.
3. Mix together the olive oil,lemon rind and juice, salt and pepper and pour over the courgettes. Leave to marinade for 5 minutes
4. Put the salad leaves or rocket onto 6 small plates and arrange courgettes on top.Grind a little more pepper on and scatter the shaved parmesan over the top and serve immediately.

Course: Main
Servings: 4 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours

Ingredients:

Short Ribs

• Shetland short ribs - 4 (about 1.5 kilos)
• dried cepe mushrooms - 8-10 grams
• olive oil - 2 tbsp
• red onions - 2 medium (halved and thinly sliced)
• sweet red pepper - 1 (deseeded and finely chopped)
• chestnut mushrooms - 250 grams (finely sliced)
• tomato concentrate - 1 tbsp
• dried thyme - 1/2 tsp (or oregano)
• bay leaf - 1
• salt - 1/2 tsp
• freshly ground black pepper -
• water -
• parchment paper -

Polenta

• polenta - 1 cup
• boiling water - 3 cups
• salt - 1/2 tsp
• butter - 2 tbsp
• Parmesan cheese - 1/2 cup (grated)

Instructions:

1. Put the dried cepes in a small saucepan, cover with about a cup of water and bring to the boil. Cover and remove from the heat. Put aside to soak.
2. In a large skillet or saucepan with a well fitted top, saute the onions until lightly golden.
3. Add the chopped peppers and continue to saute for a few more minutes.
4. Remove these from the skillet & add the short ribs for browning. There should be enough oil left in the pan, but add a little if not.
5. Brown the short ribs until well caramelized. Add back the onion mixture & stir.
6. In the meantime, remove the soaking cepes from their liquid with a slitted spoon & rinse off any dirt. Add to pan.
7. Strain the soaking liquid through a fine sieve into the pan.
8. Add the tomato concentrate, herbs, salt and pepper. Add enough boiling water just to cover & bring to the simmer.
9. Fit a piece of parchment paper over the ingredients in the pan. Cover bake at 130 C. for 2 ½ - 3 hours.
10. At 2 hours, check for water and add the sliced mushrooms. Continue braising until tender.
11. Serve with polenta and vegetables of your choice. Broccoli or kale would be nice.
12. To prepare the polenta, boil the water and salt in the saucepan. Slowly stir in the polenta & continue to stir until smooth. Add the butter and stir until the consistency of thick porridge. Add the grated Parmesan.

Course: Main
Servings: 8 people
Prep Time: 35 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

• Aubergines - 3 medium
• Mushrooms - 1 kilo (sliced)
• Shetland butter - 100 grams
• Onion - 1 large (chopped)
• Garlic - 2 cloves (crushed)
• Tomato puree - 200 grams
• Parsley - 100 grams (chopped)
• Fresh basil leaves - 1 tbsp (chopped)
• Fresh oregano - 1 tbsp (chopped)
• Ground cinnamon - 1-2 tsp
• Red wine - 125 ml
• Bread crumbs - 150 grams
• Parmesan or cheddar - 150 grams (grated)
• Free range eggs - 4 whole
• Shetland butter - 125 grams
• Plain flour - 125 grams
• Shetland Dairies milk - 500 ml
• Free range egg yolks - 4

Instructions:

1. Slice the aubergines about 1 cm thick and place on a baking sheet that has been lightly oiled, sprinkle with salt and pop into the oven 190 c /gas 5 for about 15 minutes or until tender.
2. Into a large saucepan that has a lid, melt the first lot of butter and add the onion and garlic pop the lid on and sweat together until they are soft. Add the sliced mushrooms.
3. Now add tomato puree, parsley, basil, oregano, salt and pepper, cinnamon and red wine and cook util the liquid is absorbed.
4. At this time you can check the aubergines and if they are cooked remove from the oven and put to one side until needed.
5. Meantime take another saucepan and melt the next lot of butter, add the flour and cook out the roux. Remove from the heat and slowly add the milk, when incorporated put back on to the heat and bring to the boil, stirring all the time. When sauce has come to the boil turn the heat down and simmer for 2 minutes to cook completely. Remove from the heat and add the 4 egg yolks (save the whites in a separate container as they can be used to make a pavlova another day!)
6. Now back to the mushroom mixture and if the liquid has been absorbed add the breadcrumbs, cheese and whole eggs.
7. You are now ready to assemble the moussaka. Find a large ovenproof dish and lay half the aubergines in the bottom, cover with half the mushroom mixture and repeat this. Cover the top with the white sauce (you can at this point add more breadcrumbs and cheese, but i find it unnecessary) place into the oven and bake for 35 minutes covered and a further 15 minutes uncovered.
8. Sometimes I make the dish with courgettes, or a mixture of both aubergines and courgettes. Breadcrumbs can be replaced with rice or corn crumbs and the flour can be gluten free. Generally I serve it with a large mixed green salad tossed in french dressing.

Course: Main
Servings: large tray - at least 12 servings
Prep Time: 20-30 minutes
Cook Time: 20-30 minutes

Ingredients:

• Tushkar Oatmeal Stout - two bottles
• dark chocolate - 230g
• white chocolate - 130g
• butter (unsalted) - 90g
• plain flour - 120g
• cocoa - 80g
• salt - ¼ teaspoon
• caster sugar - 200g
• eggs - 4 large
• chocolate chips - 150g
• vanilla essence - ¾ teaspoon

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 200C/180C fan. Line an oven safe, high sided baking dish roughly 3x9inch with tin foil and grease well.
   
2. First transfer the two bottles of Tushkar to a pan and simmer gently for around 15 minutes or until the beer has reduced by half, aiming for around 300ml of liquid for the brownies. Once reduced leave to cool. While the beer is reducing melt the dark chocolate, white chocolate and butter in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Be careful not to allow the bowl to touch the simmering water. Remove from heat once combined and leave to cool. Combine the dry ingredients, the flour, cocoa and salt. In a large bowl beat together the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy then fold in the cooled, melted chocolate. Next fold the dry ingredients through the mix followed by the Tushkar reduction and vanilla. Mix gently but thoroughly, the final batter should have quite a runny consistency.
   
3. Pour this mix gently into the lined baking dish, sprinkle over the chocolate chips and bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes. The brownies are ready when the mix has risen slightly and set. Leave to cool if you have the willpower!
   

Course: Main
Servings: 12 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

For the Chocolate Coconut Almond Crust

• Coconut flakes - 1 cup
• Almonds - 1 cup (soaked and dehydrated)
• Cacao powder - 3/4 cup
• Himalayan crystal salt - 1/4 tsp
• Medjool dates - 6-8 (pitted)

For the Filling

• Cashews - 2 cups (soaked for 2 hours, rinsed and drained)
• Almond milk - 1.5 cups
• Lemon juice - 1 cup
• Blonde coconut nectar - 1/2 cup
• Rice syrup - 1/4 cup
• Himalayan crystal salt - 1/4 tsp
• Coconut oil - 3/4 cup (warmed to liquid)
• Lecithin powder - 3 tbsp
• Lemon zest - 1.5 tsp

Topping

• Raw Chocolate - (grated)
• Fresh Fruit of Choice - (sliced)

Instructions:

1. Process the coconut flakes and almonds in a food processor fitted with an S blade until they are finely ground.
2. Add the cacao powder and Himalayan crystal salt and continue to process.
3. Add the dates, one at a time, until the mixture sticks together.
4. Press the crust into the base of a 9 inch springform pan. Set aside.
5. In a high speed blender, blend all the ingredients for the filling except for the coconut oil, lecithin and lemon zest until smooth.
6. While the blender is still running, add the coconut oil and lecithin and continue to blend until even smoother.
7. Add the lemon zest and blend for a further 2 seconds.
8. Spoon the filling over the top of the crust and chill for a few hours.
9. Grate some raw chocolate over the top of the cheesecake and arrange fresh sliced fruit to serve.

Course: Drinks
Servings: One long cocktail
Prep Time: 10 minutes

(limoncello and rhubarb syrup should be prepared in advance)

Ingredients:

• 50ml Shetland Reel gin

• 15ml homemade limoncello*

• 12.5ml fresh lemon juice

• 12.5ml fresh lime juice

• 25ml rhubarb and rose syrup**

• 25ml Shetland Farm Dairies cream

• 25ml egg white

• Chilled soda water to top

Instructions:

1. Place a tall glass into the freezer to chill.

2. Place all ingredients into a shaker, then fill with ice. Shake hard until the shaker is frosted all over.

3. Strain the mixture back into the other half of the shaker to remove the ice, then shake again to froth the cocktail.

4. Remove the glass from the freezer and add a little bit of soda. Strain in the cocktail mixture (slowly, as this will react volcanically). Place back in the freezer for around a minute for the foam to firm up.

5. Finally, remove from the freezer and slowly top up with soda - the head should protrude out of the glass like a marshmallow. Garnish with rose petals.

   *For the homemade limoncello: Use the peels (without any pith) from around 8-12 lemons per 700ml bottle of vodka. Place the peels into a non reactive sealable jar/container and pour the vodka over. Leave this to steep/infuse for a month. Strain off the peels, then put liquid through a coffee filter to clarify. Alternatively, use shop bought limoncello but it won't be as nice.

   **For the rhubarb syrup: use three red stalks of Shetland rhubarb (roughly 100-200g) and chop into one inch pieces. Take a couple handfuls of beach rose petals (the kind that grows on bushes throughout Shetland with a strong rose scent and flavour) and add both to a saucepan with a pinch of salt. Weigh around 300g of sugar and 200g of hot water and combine with the rhubarb and rose. Place over a medium heat and stir to dissolve the sugar. Continue to stew the mixture until you can smell/taste the rhubarb and the rose. Remove from the heat and allow to cool a bit before straining and bottling (should be roughly 250ml worth). The syrup should last in the fridge for at least a couple of weeks.

Servings: 1

Ingredients:

• 35ml Shetland Reel Original
• 15ml grappa
• 15ml rhubarb syrup*
• 15ml rose-hip liqueur
• 5 inch-cubes ripe melon (such as cantaloupe)
• 25ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Melon slice and a few drops of bitters to garnish

Instructions:

1. Put the gin and grappa into a shaker along with the melon.

2. Muddle the melon, then add the rhubarb syrup, rose-hip liqueur and the lemon juice.

3. Add an ice cube to the shaker and "whip-shake" for 10-15 seconds.

4. Half fill a tall glass with crushed ice, then double strain the drink into the glass. Top up with more crushed ice to create a small mound on top.

5. Carefully drizzle with a few drops of bitters, add a thin slice of melon to garnish and serve.
   
   *For the rhubarb syrup: Put equal parts rhubarb and sugar with half a part water in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and then remove from the heat. Allow to cool, infusing the rhubarb, before straining and bottling.