Easy Valentine’s Day menu

The menu

• Drinks and cocktails

  Cosmopolitan

• Starters & nibbles

  Hazelnut butter grilled scallops with salad

• Main course

  Chargrilled steak with beer, mustard and watercress salad

• Desserts

  Pistachio and chocolate soufflé

Menu ingredients

Serves 2

• Fruit and vegetables

  • squeeze fresh lime juice

  • twist orange peel, to garnish

  • 1 shallot, peeled, finely sliced

  • ½ lemon, zest only

  • 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh chervil

  • 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh chives

  • 1 Little Gem lettuce, leaves separated

  • 1 punnet pea shoots

  • 1 bunch watercress, leaves only

• Tins, packets and jars

  • ½ tbsp wholegrain mustard

  • 2 tbsp English mustard powder

• Cooking ingredients

  • 1 tsp olive oil

  • 45g/1½oz hazelnuts, finely chopped

  • salt and freshly ground black pepper

  • ½ tbsp good quality white wine vinegar

  • 1½ tbsp good quality rapeseed oil

  • 150ml/5f loz cider vinegar

  • 5 tbsp caster sugar

  • 60g/2½oz yellow mustard seeds

  • 25g/1oz brown mustard seeds

  • 2 tbsp olive oil

  • salt and freshly ground black pepper

  • 2 tsp cider vinegar

  • 1½ tbsp rapeseed oil

  • salt and freshly ground black pepper

  • 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out

  • 30g/1oz caster sugar

  • ½ tbsp cornflour

  • 15g/½oz milk chocolate, melted

  • ½ tbsp cocoa powder

  • 30g/1oz pistachios, finely chopped

  • icing sugar, to dust

• Drinks

  • 35ml/1½fl oz vodka

  • 25ml/1fl oz cranberry juice

• Dairy, eggs and chilled

  • 75g/2½oz butter, softened

  • butter, for greasing

  • 100ml/3½fl oz double cream

  • 50ml/1¾fl oz milk

  • 1 free-range egg yolks

  • 2 free-range egg whites

• Meat, fish and poultry

  • 6 scallops, cleaned

• Other

  • 15ml/½fl oz orange liqueur

  • 110ml/4fl oz beer

  • 2 x 250g/9oz ribeye steaks

  • ½ small wholegrain loaf, cut into 1.5cm/3in cubes

By James Martin