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I can’t understand why the start of the year is generally regarded as a period of relative culinary darkness. The sweet treats and romantic meals of Saint Valentine’s Day are no sooner over than another culinary opportunity looms in the form of St David’s Day. And then there’s Mother’s Day and Easter, both of which also offer delicious excuses to eat fantastic food.

When the Principality celebrates the day of its patron saint this Sunday, I’ll be jumping on board, too. Wales offers some fabulous local produce, including the leek – one of the country’s national symbols – and it’s perfect partner – salt-marsh lamb.

A slow-roast shoulder would be my cut of choice, coupled with some mustardy creamed leeks, or maybe some of the slender baby ones, griddled and served with a piquant caper and lemon dressing to cut through the richness of the meat.

Black beef have been bred in Wales for at least a thousand years, and to my mind there’s no finer Sunday lunch than roast rib with all the trimmings, including a hefty dollop nose-stinging horseradish. If you’re aiming for true authenticity choose a Welsh version of that, too.

Or try adding a twist to a classic dish, like lamb studded with salty anchovies, or softened leeks baked in a tart with a punchy cheese like Gorwydd Caerphilly or organic Hafod cheddar and some bacon.

Happy St David’s Day!

For a Valentine’s Day dessert you need a bit of a treat – something sweet, delicious, and perfect for sharing. A little wicked indulgence.

If you’ve decided to prepare the healthy main course I suggested yesterday then you deserve something naughty, like this twist on the classic Eton Mess. Crumbled muscavado meringue, sharp winter rhubarb and a lick of thick, luscious double cream- is there a more perfect combination?

Like the main course this is a make-in-advance dish, ensuring you can concentrate on romance rather than the cooking. The meringues can be prepared the day before as can the rhubarb and the cream. You could even use shop-bought meringues if you’re really pushed for time.

Rhubarb Mess

Chef’s tip: An egg white a few days old will increase in volume much more than a fresh one and should be at room temperature for best results

Ingredients

For the meringues

• 2 egg whites
• 60g muscavado sugar
• 60g caster sugar

For the rhubarb

• 150g rhubarb
• 1 tsp sugar
• 30ml water

• 100ml double cream

This quantity will make more than enough meringues for the recipe, but a single egg white is a pain to whisk and leftover meringues are great!

Method

To make meringues, first preheat oven to 100ºC. Whisk egg whites in an electric mixture until they form soft peaks. Keep whisking while adding the sugars a tablespoon at a time until the mixture is glossy. Using a dessert spoon drop large spoonfuls of meringue on a greaseproof sheet. This quantity will make about 8-10 meringues. Bake for two hours, then allow to cool.

Cut rhubarb into inch-long pieces and poach gently with sugar and water in a saucepan for around ten minutes, turning occasionally, until soft but not collapsed. Set aside to cool.

Whip cream until it forms stiff peaks.

To serve, crumble two meringues per person into a large bowl, fold in the cream and spoon over the rhubarb pieces (save the liquid and use in cocktails or pour over yoghurt). Serve with two spoons…

If you’re planning on whipping up something special for your love on February 14, you want to be with your Valentine rather than slaving over a hot stove. So my prepare-ahead menu is a delicious solution.

I’ve planned it so you can relax and enjoy an evening of fabulous food together without needing to clock watch or dash off to the kitchen every five minutes. And both the dressing and the noodles (pictured) can be prepared the evening before.

The main course is fresh, yummy and light enough to leave you with room for the extra-special pudding I’ll be bringing you later this week.

Serve a glass of chilled pink champagne beforehand and you’ll be seeing smiles for quite some time.

Seared salmon with soba noodles and pickled ginger

Ingredients

• 2 salmon fillets, skin off, weighing approximately 200g each
• 1 pack soba noodles
• 4 spring onions
• a few sprigs of coriander

• about ten pieces of pickled ginger
• 2 tbs sesame seeds, preferably a mixture of white and black
• lime wedges, to serve

For the dressing

• juice of 1 lime
• a pinch of caster sugar
• 2 tbs sesame oil
• 2 tbs soy sauce
• ½ inch ginger, grated

Method

For the dressing, whisk all dressing ingredients together.

Cook soba according to the packet instructions. Usually this involves immersing them in boiling water for five minutes, then draining and running under cold water. If you’re doing them the day before wait until cool and then place, covered, in the fridge.

You’ll need to bring them to room temperature to serve by leaving them out for an hour or so.

On the night finely slice spring onion, chop coriander and roughly chop pickled ginger. Add these to the soba along with dressing and sesame seeds.

Heat a griddle pan over a high heat and sear salmon for four or five minutes on each side until cooked. Alternatively you can use a frying pan or cook them in the oven on a greased baking tray for ten minutes at 180.

Divide noodles between two plates and serve salmon on top and the lime wedges on the side. Scatter over a little extra coriander.

Sometimes
cast aside for jazzier, more stylish veg like broccoli or fine green
beans, root vegetables play a large part in the food I cook at home.
I rarely go a day in winter without using them in some form or
another. From a grated celeriac salad tarted up with a wholegrain
mustard vinaigrette to a luxurious, simple roasted parsnip soup with
parmesan and double cream, these humble veg are wonderfully
versatile.

It’s
strange how often we take them for granted, though. A carrot always
resides in my fridge, ready to be tossed through a Thai salad and
served with sticky rice or just steamed to accompany sausage, mash
and onion gravy.

Then
there are the oft overlooked roots like beetroot, radishes and
artichokes, all of which are equally useful and often better tasting than their more common cousins.

The
Turks make a great dish with the gnarly earthy ‘chokes, braising
them with rice in copious amounts of olive oil before spiking them
with lemon juice and a sprinkling of parsley. It’s a delicious dish,
particularly when the vegetables have been left in the ground for
some time, getting sweeter and sweeter.

In
France radishes are finely sliced and served on bread with lashings
of unsalted butter and lots of sea salt, or braised with butter and
sugar.

Beetroots,
as you may have noticed from reading this blog, are a firm favourite
of mine and super versatile. Roasted, boiled, soused, or raw, their
uses are virtually limitless. Try baking tiny peeled ones in a bag
and then serving them with a great spoonful of crème fraiche or a
few shards of parmesan for a perfect, simple side.

I was lucky
enough to be invited to lunch at Petersham Nurseries yesterday by my
good friend Sarah. Part nursery, part café and part restaurant the
it’s a great place to eat as it’s set in fabulous surroundings right
by the river in Richmond.

Head chef Skye
Gyngell has cooked for many a famous face – regulars include the
Jaggers and Richard E Grant – and her food’s astounding. It follows
an ethos close to my own heart, good ingredients, treated simply.
It’s the sort of food we could and should be cooking at home – the
types of dishes that use few processes and make good sense.

I won’t tease you
with details of the meal, but having had a quick chat with a pal I’ve
managed to procure a recipe for Sarah’s starter – lomo on
bruschetta with tomatoes, olive oil and garlic. It’s a recipe that
lives and dies on the quality of its ingredients and is resplendent
in its simplicity.

Lomo on toasted bruscetta with tomato,
olive oil and garlic

Lomo is cured pork loin, available from good
delis. If you can’t get it, try using serrano ham, the
juniper-flavoured Tyrol ham known as speck, or pancetta

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 4 thick slices of chewy peasant style
  bread

• 8 slices lomo an 8^th
  inch thick

• 1 jar of good quality tomatoes

• 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil

• 1 small bunch of thyme

• 2 fresh bay leaves

• Sea salt and freshly ground black
  pepper

• A further two tbs or so of extra virgin
  olive oil

• 1 clove garlic peeled but left whole

Method

Place a small pan over a medium heat. Once
hot add the first lot of olive oil and warm though. Add jar of
tomatoes and season with a good pinch of salt and a little pepper.
Add bay and thyme and cook gently for 20 minutes, stirring
occasionally until tomatoes are thick and reduced to a glossy colour.

Remove from heat and allow to cool to room
temperature.

Grill bread on both sides until golden
brown. Remove and rub each piece gently with the whole clove of
garlic.

Spoon over a little of the cooled tomatoes
and spread as if it were jam then drizzle over the remaining olive
oil and place the lomo on top.

Serve immediately while bread is still warm.