Love bites (+recipes)

Duck breast with pink peppercorns. Photo / Herald on Sunday

The way to the heart is through the stomach. Here is chef Anthony Joseph's four-course recipe for romance on Valentine's Day.

Anthony Joseph is a chef for Nosh food stores. Nosh has four stores in Auckland - Apirana Ave, Glen Innes, Dominion Rd, Mt Eden, Ponsonby Rd and Greenlane East, and a fifth at Matakana. noshgourmet.co.nz

Culatello and bocconcini

There's something decadent about wrapping sheer slices of fine air-dried ham around sweet, delicate mozzarella cheese. Maybe it's the expense, so why not go all the way: upgrade from proscuitto to culatello, the finest Parma ham made from the rump of the thigh, and use fresh buffalo bocconcini air-freighted from Italy. No recipe required - just drain the whey from four or five balls of cheese and unwrap about 75g of ham. You can tear them into smaller pieces if you want to while eating. Pick a few basil leaves and put some fruity extra virgin olive oil in a small dish.

Wrap the bocconcini, with a little torn basil, in slices of culatello and dip in a little oil on the way to your partner's mouth. Serve with a dry rose wine, or a chilled light red from the north of Italy.

Crayfish ravioli with prawns

This is the carb course. And no, you don't have to spend the whole day making the ravioli ... there are now excellent filled pastas on the market that cook in just a few minutes.

Wine? You can sneak a white in here - a full flavoured chardonnay would be delicious with the buttery prawns, or if you must drink sauvignon blanc, find one that's less acrid with a rounder Pouilly Fume style.

300g crayfish ravioli
300g raw peeled prawn cutlets
1 tbsp olive oil
Half a glass of white wine
75g butter, cold, in cubes
Fine zest of 1 lemon
Small bunch fresh herbs, roughly chopped: try dill, chervil, parsley, chives

Put a large pot of water on to boil, and when it does, cook the ravioli according to the instructions on the packet (probably 3 or 4 minutes). Drain well.

Meanwhile, heat a pan until very hot. Add the olive oil and the prawns, searing quickly on both sides. Season well with salt and pepper and the lemon zest and add the white wine, keeping the heat high so it quickly evaporates. Reduce heat and swirl in the butter so it emulsifies into a glossy sauce rather than melting. Toss through the drained ravioli and the chopped herbs and serve in a warmed dish with two forks.

Duck breast with pink peppercorns

Fresh duck is a luxurious and delicious meat, and the fat rendered during cooking a valuable bonus - keep it in the fridge for another time when you fancy the tastiest, crustiest roast potatoes. Salad leaves, tossed with a little fruity oil and seasoning at the last minute, cut the richness of the dish. Serve with a top-notch pinot noir.

2 fresh boneless duck breasts
4 shallots, peeled and sliced
Small bunch fresh thyme
1 ½ tbsp pink peppercorns (the ones in brine, drained)
75ml sweet vermouth or sherry
100ml veal (or beef or chicken) stock
100ml cream
Bunch of small watercress
2 Belgian endive (witloof) separated into leaves

Pat the duck dry. Pierce skin all over with the tip of a sharp knife to allow the fat to drain and the skin to become crisp. Season well with salt. Heat a heavy pan (preferably cast-iron) until very hot. Place duck, skin sides down, in the pan and immediately reduce heat to moderately low. Cook for 15 minutes until the skin is a deep brown and most of fat is rendered out.

Carefully tip the fat from the pan. Turn duck over, add the shallots and thyme and cook for a further 5 minutes. Remove the duck to a warm plate and allow to rest while you finish the sauce.

Add the liquor and peppercorns to the pan with the shallots and bring to the boil. Add the stock, and boil until reduced by half. Tip back any juices released by the resting duck and add the cream, simmering briefly.

Serve the duck thickly sliced on the sauce (minus thyme stalks) with a posy of the salad leaves alongside.

A date with a peach

Okay so the name is an old joke from a Christmas cracker but this really is a romantic fruit salad which can be sorted well in advance. And if things have become intoxicated already, it makes a fine breakfast. A glass of moscato - lightly sparking, floral and fragrant - is the perfect wine match either way.

2 large ripe peaches, preferably golden queen
1 ½ cups water
3 tbsp good liquid honey
1 vanilla pod, halved
1 ½ tbsp rosewater
Juice of 1 lemon
6 fresh medjool dates, halved and pitted
150g mascarpone cheese
¼ cup pinenuts, toasted

Halve the peaches and remove the stones. Bring the water, honey and vanilla pod to the boil then add the peaches. Reduce heat to a very low simmer and cook the peaches for 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Take peaches from the pot and when cool enough to handle, remove the skin. Simmer the syrup to reduce to about half a cup. Add the dates, lemon juice and rosewater and remove from heat. Return the peaches to the syrup. Serve at room temperature, topped with the mascarpone and toasted pinenuts.