Every February, during the month of love, people usually distribute flowers, chocolates, or greeting cards. Why don’t you try something different at home and serve up a delicious meal for your loved one?
Below, chef Lerato Zondi, a 25-year-old who graduated from Capsicum Culinary Studio in 2014, has come up with an exclusive recipe for Valentine’s Day that you will love.
As the founder of Otarel Eats, Zondi's goal in life is to not only challenge South Africans to be more open-minded to different food from around the world, but more importantly, to introduce the world to South African food and flavours.
She says food is a labour of love, and this Valentine’s Day, we should celebrate the seasoned textures of love with a dish that explores all your senses.
Pork fillets with orange and star anise sweet potato
Serves: 2
Ingredients
250g pork fillet cut in half
2 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and crushed
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp crushed chilli
½ tsp ground ginger
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp crushed black pepper
20ml olive oil
20ml butter
For the sweet potato
Ingredients
250g sweet potato, chopped into pieces
Juice and peel of one orange
2-star anise
1 tbsp honey
30g salted butter
60ml cream
250ml water
20ml oil
Salt and pepper to taste
⅛ onion
For the pickled carrots, pearl onion, and tender stem broccoli
Ingredients
250g baby carrots
250g tender stem broccoli
½ cup white wine vinegar
½ cup water
60g sugar
1 cardamom pod
For the red wine sauce
250ml beef stock
120ml red wine
4 sprigs of thyme
2 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon of sugar
25ml of cold diced butter
5ml mustard
Method
Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Mix all the spices with half the olive oil. Pat the fillets dry and spread over the spice blend. Marinade for at least 30 minutes. In a pan, bring the rest of the oil to medium heat, ensuring the pan is hot before searing the pork fillets until both sides are brown. Sear one side a little longer to form a crust. Add a spoon of butter and baste before putting the fillets in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove, baste again and set aside to rest.
Chop the sweet potato and slice the onion. Sautée the sweet potato and onion in the oil with salt and pepper. Add boiling hot water, orange peels, and star anise. Once tender, add the cream, butter, and the juice of the orange and simmer for 3 minutes. Take out the star anise and orange peels. Blend and pass through a sieve.
Blanch carrots and tender stems in salted water. Drain and set aside. Add vinegar, water, sugar, and cardamom pod to a pot and bring to a boil before pouring over blanched vegetables.
Crispy vegetable chips from your local shop.
Deglaze the pork pan by adding red wine and beef stock and heat until liquid is reduced by half. Add thyme, chopped garlic, sugar, and mustard, and simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the butter. This will thicken the sauce. Add salt and pepper if you desire, but there should be flavour from the pork seasoning in the pan.
To assemble: Using a tablespoon, spoon the purée just off centre of the plate and drag along to form a smear. Add a little sauce in the middle of the plate and place pork on top. Do not hide the vegetables or group them in one area of the plate but use a zig zag pattern (see picture) to create a nice pattern. Add the pickled onions and crispy vegetables last.