120 Romantic recipes to make for someone you love (including yourself)

Coq au vin, paired with a French Connection Cocktail

SERVES 6-8

30g Dried wild mushrooms 1.3kg Large bone-in

chicken thighs

Kosher salt

¾ Cup freshly ground

black pepper

½ Cup cubed pancetta

or bacon

1 large red or yellow onion,

chopped into 1.5cm pieces 2 medium carrots, cut

into bite-sized pieces 5 Large cloves of garlic,

peeled and gently smashed 2 Tbsp tomato paste

3 Cups dry, fruity red wine 1 Cup low-sodium

chicken broth

2 Bay leaves

4 Fresh thyme sprigs

6-8 Fresh parsley sprigs,

for garnish

Place the dried mushrooms in a small bowl and pour enough boiling water over the top to cover them. Set aside.

Place the pancetta or bacon in a deep skillet (large enough to accommodate the chicken) over medium heat, and cook until browned for five to seven minutes. Add the onions and cook for another minute, until the onions begin to soften. Meanwhile, pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Push the pancetta and onions to one side of the pan. Turn the heat up to medium-high, add the chicken, skin-side down, in a single layer (in batches, if necessary), and cook until the fat is rendered and the skin is crisp and golden brown, for about six to eight minutes. Flip the chicken skin-side up and drain off any excess fat.

Add the carrots, garlic, tomato paste, wine, chicken broth, bay leaves and thyme. Lower the heat so that the liquid barely simmers.

Cover and cook until the chicken is cooked through and an instant-read thermometer reads 73°C, around 20 minutes.

Transfer the chicken pieces to a serving platter. Skim any excess fat off the top of the

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liquid. Remove the mushrooms from their soaking liquid and add them to the pot. Pour the mushroom liquid through a fine sieve or cheesecloth (to remove any grit) and into the pot. Turn the heat up to high and boil the mixture until the sauce is reduced by a third to a half, depending on how much time you have. Remove the bay leaves and thyme.

A few minutes before serving, put the chicken pieces back into the sauce to reheat. Serve each chicken thigh topped with a ladle of sauce and garnished with chopped parsley leaves or a whole parsley sprig.

French connection cocktail

The French Connection is the ultimate after-dinner cocktail. Sip and taste it slowly.

25ml Disaronno

50ml Cognac

Orange zest

> Pour the mix into a heated balloon glass for cognac, and garnish with orange zest.

Stuffed brinjals with herbed bulgur wheat, paired with a classic gin and tonic

SERVES 12

6 Small brinjals

5 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tsp sea salt

½ Tsp crushed black pepper 1 Tsp za’atar spice

1 Cup dry bulgur wheat

1/2 Cup fresh parsley, tightly

packed

¼ Cup fresh coriander

leaves, tightly packed

¼ Cup spring onions, thinly

sliced (about 2 stalks) ¼ Cup toasted pine nuts,

plus more for garnish ¼ Cup pomegranate seeds,

plus more for garnish

1/2 Lemon, zested and juiced

> Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Wash the brinjals and slice them in half, lengthwise. Using a paring knife, score the brinjal halves with diagonal crosshatches taking extra care you don’t cut through the skin. Drizzle each brinjal half with about a half-tablespoon of olive oil each. Season with the salt, pepper and za’atar spice. Bake, cut-side up, for about 45 minutes, or until the brinjals are completely soft.

While the brinjals are baking, place the dry bulgur wheat in a medium-sized bowl and pour boiling water over the top to cover by 1cm. Place a kitchen towel over the bowl and let stand for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove the towel, fluff the bulgur wheat with a fork and taste. If the grain is still hard, recover the bowl with the kitchen towel and check it again after five minutes.

Finely chop the parsley and coriander. Once the bulgur wheat is soft, drain any excess water. Toss the bulgur wheat with the parsley, coriander, spring onion, pine nuts, pomegranate seeds, lemon zest and juice, and the remainder of the olive oil. Season with sea salt to taste.

Transfer the cooked brinjals onto a platter and spoon the herbed bulgur salad over the brinjals. Garnish with pine nuts and pomegranate seeds.

Classic gin and tonic

50ml Wixworth gin

200ml Tonic water

A lime, sliced or pomegranate wheel, for garnish

> Build all ingredients in the glass over ice and serve in a tall glass or large wine glass.

Prosciutto and rocket pizza, paired with Ayama vermentino

450g Pizza dough, at room temperature, divided into two equal pieces 2 Tbsp olive oil

½ Cup tomato sauce

1 ½ Cups shredded

mozzarella cheese

8 Thin slices prosciutto

A few big handfuls of rocket > If you have a pizza stone, place it on a rack in the middle of the oven. Heat the oven to 280°C (or maximum oven temperature) for at least 30 minutes.

If transferring the pizza to a stone in the oven, assemble on a well-floured peel or cutting board. Otherwise, assemble on the surface you will be cooking on (parchment paper or a baking sheet). Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll or stretch it into a 25-30cm circle. Brush the edges of the dough with a tablespoon of olive oil. Spread half of the tomato sauce over the rest of the dough. Sprinkle with about a quarter of the cheese. Place four slices of prosciutto on top of the dough, ensuring even coverage. Sprinkle with another quarter of the cheese.

Bake pizza until the edges are lightly browned, and the cheese is bubbly and browned in spots, approximately six minutes at 280°C. Remove from oven to a cutting board, scatter half of the rocket over the top, and cut and serve immediately. Repeat with the remaining dough and toppings.

2017 Ayama vermentino

> In November 2014, Ayama Wines planted two hectares of the first Vermentino grapes in South Africa, which are originally from Sardinia.

A glass of classic Sardinia Vermentino offers lively aromas of pear, white peach, lime and pink grapefruit with subtle notes of crushed rocks and citrus zest. On the palate, Vermentino is almost always dry and somewhat oily, with flavours of grapefruit and citrus, and a crushed, rocky minerality and saltiness. On the finish, it can be a little snappy and bitter, similar to the taste of grapefruit pitho, or, if it’s riper, fresh almond.