Be My Valentine....

At the end of last year I jumped on board with the talented Kelly Searl from Pony Rider and we did a bunch of recipes for the festive season to showcase the Pony Rider collection and to give everyone some inspiration for the parties that were to follow at that time of year, I thought I'd share a few recipes here to celebrate Valentines Day.

Going with the pink theme we have the Rose Water Lemonade, Oysters with Ruby Granita, Buffalo Mozzarella salad and of course my Rosewater Marshmallows from my latest project Black Pantry.

Enjoy!

Sparkling rosewater lemonade

1 ½ c caster sugar
2 c boiling water
2 c lemon juice, strained
3 tsp rosewater essence
2 drops red food colour, optional
Fresh mint leaves and ice cubes to serve

Place sugar in a large heatproof jug or bowl
Add boiling water, stir until sugar dissolves, chill fro an hour or until cold
Stir in lemon juice and rosewater
Add 5-6 cups sparkling mineral water, adjust to taste, refrigerate until chilled
Add food colour to create rose colour, if desired
Add a handful of fresh mint and ice cubes to serve

Buffalo mozzarella, heirloom tomato and sumac salad

2 c wild rocket
4/ 5 ripe heirloom or regular tomatoes, thickly sliced
250 g buffalo mozzarella, roughly torn
½ c basil leaves, freshly torn
¼ c pomegranate seeds
Extra virgin olive
Good quality red wine vinegar
Good pinch sumac
Sea salt and cracked black pepper

For this salad you can add extra mozzarella or tomatoes depending on your size crowd, this quality will serve around 4 people.

 On a serving platter, sprinkle with washed wild rocket, then scatter tomatoes over
Add torn buffalo mozzarella, then basil leaves
Toss pomegranate seeds on top and sprinkle with sumac
Season with salt and pepper to your liking

Ruby grapefruit granita with oysters on the half shell

12 freshly shucked oysters
2 ½ cups ruby grapefruit juice, room temp
1c boiling water
1/3 c castor sugar
Mint leaves to garnish

Combine juice, water and sugar
Whisk until sugar has dissolved
Pour liquid into 13 x 9 inch baking tray
Freeze 3-4 hours
Remove from freezer and scrape with fork until you have about 12 tsps granita
 Place oysters on a serving tray and spoon 1 tsp granita on each oyster, sprinkle with mint leaves and serve

Photos thanks to Chris Searl, Flowers by The Flower Drum, gorgerous talent, Captain and The Gypsy Kid.