Table for Two: Domini Kemp’s Valentine’s Day feast includes steak with sticky bourbon sauce and a truffle cheese fondue

Oh how we all dread Valentine’s night in hospitality. Rose petals, chocolate-dipped fruits, prosecco and a whole heap of pressure are piled onto this wretched night.

Maybe that’s just my 50-year-old cynicism. Regardless, do yourselves a favour this year: stay at home and whip up something properly delicious.

I would suggest you do a few bits the night before to alleviate the inevitable time constraints, allowing you to emerge from the kitchen looking victorious rather than sweaty. Marinating the steaks and par-boiling the spuds, as well as making the molten cakes and leaving them in the fridge until ready to bake, will get you ahead of the posse.

Mind you, there were suggestions made, after we photographed all the dishes, that after consuming this entire meal, you will be in a food coma. But that’s still a lot more romantic than heart-shaped chocolates and red roses. All recipes - naturally - serve two.

Steak with sticky bourbon sauce and best-ever oven chips

The key to the great crust on this steak is the marinade. It’s a complete cheat but really useful for home cooks as domestic hobs, which can be pretty weak in comparison to chargrills and commercial hobs, rarely get the same charred outside that tastes so good. The oven chips work a treat. They need a little bit of prep, but they’re really worth it.

Ingredients

2 thick cut steaks, around 200g each - ribeye, fillet or sirloin would all work

Good pinch of salt

Freshly ground black pepper

100g butter

For the marinade

80ml bourbon

5g powdered instant coffee

2 tbsp soft brown sugar

50ml olive oil

For the oven chips

6 potatoes, approximately 800g

1 tbsp white wine or malt vinegar

100ml olive oil

80g butter

Salt

To serve

Flaky sea salt

Freshly chopped herbs, like rosemary and thyme

Method

1. For the marinade, mix together the bourbon, coffee, brown sugar and olive oil. Place the steaks into a shallow dish or bowl, then pour the marinade mix over the steaks. Add a good pinch of salt and lots of ground black pepper, then turn the steaks over and press into the marinade. Leave overnight if possible.

2. Place a large pot of water over a medium-high heat and bring to the boil. In the meantime, prep the potatoes: peel and trim each into rectangular blocks, then slice into slim chunks - think dainty pinky finger in size - and rinse in a colander.

3. Add the vinegar to the water, then the potatoes and cook until still firm but with the rawness taken off them. Drain the potatoes then gently put back in the pan, cover with a tea towel and allow to gently cool off the heat. Pour about a third of the olive oil onto the potatoes to help them stop sticking and cool in the fridge overnight.

4. Make sure you take the steaks and potatoes out of the fridge about 30 minutes before cooking to bring them up to room temperature. When you’re ready to cook, heat your oven to 180C.

5. Pour the rest of the oil for the potatoes into a roasting tin and, once the oven is hot, heat up the oil for a few minutes in the oven, then add the chips. Cook for about 12 minutes, then remove from the oven, add the butter and gently toss the chips so they get well coated. Season really well with salt and cook, occasionally tossing, until golden brown. This should take about 25 minutes in total.

6. While the chips are cooking, grill your steaks. Place a heavy-based frying pan or chargrill pan over a medium-high on the stove and let it get really hot. Add the steaks - when you put the steaks down, you want to hear a really good sizzle - then half the butter. The pan may catch alight because of the bourbon, if this happens just let the alcohol cook off - which will only be a matter of seconds.

7. When the meat stops sticking to the base of the pan, turn the steaks over and add the other half of the butter. Baste the steaks regularly by spooning the butter over the meat, then keep turning over the steaks every ten seconds or so to distribute the heat better. When the steaks are cooked to your liking, remove from the pan and allow to rest.

8. To the same pan, add about 80ml hot water to deglaze – this will be your sticky juice for the sauce. Heat up the mix over a medium heat and season by adding more sugar, salt or butter to your liking.

9. Slice the steak and place on a serve on a big platter with the chips. Scatter over some flaky sea salt and some herbs, then pour the sauce into a small jug and serve.

Truffle cheese fondue

The key to a smooth fondue is using a bit of cornflour to ensure the cheese melts rather than congeals. Use any hard cheese that you like, including the bitty ends of wedges that are never going to get eaten. As long as you can grate it and you like the flavour, chuck it in. Serve with chunks of bread, crackers, baby vegetables or whatever you like dunking into cheesy goodness.

Ingredients

250g hard cheese such as Gruyère, Comté, St Gall, Montgomery’s cheddar

5g cornflour

1 tbsp sherry

100ml white wine

Few sprigs thyme

1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed

1 tbsp English mustard

1 tsp truffle oil, optional

Freshly ground black pepper

To serve

Baby vegetables of your choice such as peppers, carrots, radishes, peppers

Radicchio or other sturdy leaves

Crusty bread, torn, or crackers

Condiments as desired, such as mustard, flaky sea salt, fresh herbs

Method

1. First, get your accompaniments ready - you’ll want to enjoy the fondue as soon as it’s ready or it may congeal.

2. Next, grate the cheese and toss into a bowl with the cornflour. In a pot over a low heat, warm up the sherry, wine, thyme and garlic and bring to a simmer. Discard the thyme, then whisk in the mustard and once it’s hot, you’re ready to go.

3. Start adding the grated cheese to the pot, allowing a small handful to melt before adding more. Once all of the cheese has been added and has melted, season with truffle oil and black pepper.

4. Serve the fondue straight from the pot, family-style. It will get stodgy as the fondue goes cold, but you can gently heat it up again - it should melt and loosen up a bit. Leftover fondue can be chilled and sliced to go in the ultimate toasted sandwich.

Mini molten chocolate cakes with malted cream

Make these cakes in small ramekins and they will come away from the sides so that you can turn them out easily or serve them straight from the dish. If you make the mix the night before they’ll be ready to go in the ramekins for you to bake to order.

Ingredients

100g dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa), plus some optional extra pieces

50g butter

1 egg plus one egg yolk, beaten

60g caster sugar

15g flour

For the malted cream

100ml cream

1 tbsp Ovaltine

1 tbsp muscovado sugar

Small pack of Maltesers, crushed

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180C, if cooking immediately, and bring a pot of water to a simmer on the stove.

2. Break the dark chocolate into pieces, then place into a heatproof bowl with the butter. Set the bowl over the pot of simmering water and stir until everything is melted, then remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly.

3. Whisk the eggs, sugar and flour together until well combined and then add in the warm, melted chocolate mixture. It will go quite gooey, but mix with a whisk until smooth.

4. Pour the mixture into ovenproof ramekins or dariole moulds, then stick a square of dark chocolate into each cake and submerge by gently pressing down into the mixture. Place the ramekins onto a baking tray so that they can be transported easily. At this stage you can either cool the mix fully and store in the fridge overnight before baking the following day, or bake immediately in your preheated oven for about 12-15 minutes or until the edges are set.

5. While the cakes bake, make the malted cream. Beat the cream with the sugar and Ovaltine to soft peaks, then fold through the Maltesers. Once the cakes are baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Serve with a big blob of the malted cream and enjoy.