Heart sushi to almond kesar phirni: Craft the perfect Valentine's Day feast for your loved one

Are you pressed for time and yet wish to surprise your beloved with toothsome bites? Fret not - we've got you covered. Whether you're planning an intimate dinner for two or a cozy evening in, check out these exclusive, last-minute Valentine's Day recipes shared by Chef Deepak Gore and Team Escobar with Midday.

Be it breakfast in bed, or a romantic dinner at home, or simply craving a sweet treat to share, these recipes are designed to spark joy and ignite the flames of love. So, roll up your sleeves, grab your apron and let's whip up crafty meals from scratch.

Heart-Shaped Asparagus Sushi

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup uncooked sushi rice
2 tbsp. rice vinegar
2 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tbsp. granulated sugar
1 tbsp. toasted sesame oil
2 tsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. ichimi togarashi
2 Pacific sushi nori sheets
8 oz. sushi-grade tuna, cut into 8 (4-in. long x 1/2-in. wide) slices
1 small English cucumber, cut into 8 (2-in. long x 1/4-in. wide) sticks
1 medium avocado, thinly sliced into 16 slices
Pink pickled ginger, wasabi paste, soy sauce, for serving

Method:
Rinse the rice until the water runs clear.
Bring 1 1/2 cups water and rice to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat.
Reduce heat to medium; cover and cook for 20 minutes.
Remove from the heat; cover and let it sit for another 10 minutes.
Using a wooden spoon, stir vinegar, salt, and sugar into the rice. Let it cool to room temperature, about 50 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Chill for 1 hour.
Whisk together sesame oil, soy sauce, and togarashi in a small bowl; set aside.
Using wet hands, spread about 1/3 cup of the chilled sushi rice in an even layer on a bamboo sushi rolling mat wrapped with plastic wrap.
Place 1/2 of a nori sheet on the rice, then place 2 tuna slices lengthwise across the nori sheet.
Brush the tuna with 1/4 of the sesame oil mixture.
Place 2 cucumber sticks and 4 avocado slices lengthwise beside the tuna slices.
Using the bamboo roller, roll the sushi into a roll. Then, use your hands to press the rolled sushi into a teardrop-shaped roll.
Repeat the process with the remaining ingredients to make 4 rolls in total.
Carefully transfer the teardrop-shaped rolls to a cutting board.
Sprinkle black sesame seeds evenly over the sushi rolls; slice each roll into 8 slices.
Place 2 teardrop-shaped pieces together on a serving platter to form a heart; repeat with the remaining pieces. Garnish the serving platter with ginger and wasabi; serve with soy sauce.

Valentine's Dumplings

Ingredients:
For the dumpling wrappers (if making your own):
2 cups potato starch
1 cup wheat starch
¾ cup hot water
2 tsp. beetroot juice

For the dumpling filling:
6 ounces Chinese cabbage
½ medium carrot
¼ of a small yellow onion
2 fresh shiitake mushrooms
⅓ block firm tofu
1½ tbsp. soy sauce
½ tbsp. Shaoxing rice wine (optional)
¾ tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
Vegetable oil for cooking

Method:
For the dumpling wrappers (if making your own):
In a heatproof bowl, mix together both the starches - potato and wheat.
While mixing, drizzle in the hot water and beetroot juice.
Continue mixing the dough until it starts to come together and is cool or comfortable for you to handle. Knead the dough until almost smooth.

For the filling:
In a pan over medium high heat, add a generous amount of vegetable oil.
Add the cabbage, onion, carrot, mushrooms and a light sprinkle of salt and cook until all the vegetables are just tender.
Let the vegetables cool down and then transfer to a bowl. Drain any excess liquid.
Add the crumbled tofu to the cooked vegetables and season with the soy sauce, Shaoxing cooking wine (optional), salt, and sesame oil. Adjust the seasoning as needed.

For the assembly:
Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, roll it into a thin circle - about 2 to 2½ inches in diameter and 1 millimeter thick. Use small quantities of flour, as needed, to prevent sticking.
Repeat this step twice to have a total of 3 wrappers.
Line the 3 wrappers horizontally with about ¼ inch of the edge overlapping each other.
Lightly brush the overlapped section of each wrapper and gently roll over it with a rolling pin.
Place a thin line of the filling along the middle of the wrappers, then fold the dumpling wrappers in half, lengthwise.
Starting from one end of the wrapper, slowly roll the dumpling to the other end to create a rose.
Brush some water on the end, if needed, to help the dough adhere at the end.
Pinch the edges or the "petals" of the rose to make it thinner and more petal-like.
Lightly grease the bottom of the dumpling and place into the steamer. Repeat these steps with the rest of the filling and wrappers, and place the dumplings at least ¼ inch apart. Keep the steamer covered at all times when working on the dumplings to prevent the wrappers from drying out.
Place the steamer over boiling water and steam for about 7 minutes or until the interior dough is cooked through and no longer opaque. Serve immediately with chili oil.

Strawberry Cheesecake

Ingredients:
Biscuit Base:
200g Marie biscuits
120 g unsalted butter room temp

Cheesecake Filling:
500g Mascarpone cheese, softened
2 tbsp yoghurt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup whipped cream
1/2 cup caster sugar (superfine sugar)
Zest of 1 lemon

Strawberry Topping:
500g /1lb strawberries
2 tbsp. lemon juice OR water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp. cornflour/cornstarch
2 tbsp. water

Method:
Preheat the oven to 160 C/320 F (standard) or 140 C/295 F (fan/convection).
Get a 20cm. / 8″ springform cake tin.
Turn the base upside down, butter lightly and place a square piece of parchment/baking paper on the base. Then clip into the springform pan - excess paper will stick out.
Butter and line the side of the pan.

Cheesecake Biscuit Base:
Break up the biscuits roughly by hand and place in a food processor.
Blitz until you get fine crumbs. Add melted butter, briefly blitz until dispersed and it resembles wet sand.
Pour into the prepared cake tin. Use a spatula to roughly spread it out over the base and up the walls.
Use something with a flat base and vertical edges, like a measuring cup, to press the crumbs up the wall almost to the top of the sides, and flatten the base.

Filling:
Use a mixer or beater to beat the cream cheese until just smooth, no longer than 20 seconds on speed 4. (You do not want to aerate the cheesecake filling as it causes cracks when it bakes).
Add the sugar, beat for 5 seconds on speed 4 until just incorporated.
Add vanilla, yoghurt and lemon zest. Beat until just combined, 10 seconds at most on speed 5.
Add whipped cream, one part at a time, beat in between until just combined (5 seconds each), and after the last part, beat just until the cream is fully incorporated.
Pour into the prepared crust and bake for 55 minutes. The top should be a very light golden brown, not cracked, and near perfectly flat. It should jiggle slightly when you gently shake the pan.
Cool the cake in the oven with the door open and then refrigerate for 4 hours or more in the pan.
Remove the sides and use the excess paper to slide the cheesecake off the cake pan. Then slide the cheesecake off the paper.

Strawberry topping:
Place chopped strawberries, vanilla, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan. Stir and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
Simmer for 10 minutes until the strawberries break down.
Mix the cornflour with water, add it to a saucepan and stir.
Add halved strawberries and cook for 1 minute to soften. Sauce should be syrupy - remove from the stove and cool. It will thicken as it cools.
Once cool, stir. Adjust the thickness to make it the right "oozing" consistency with a tiny touch of water. Be careful not to add too much!
Spoon onto the cheesecake so it's covered with a single layer of strawberries. Flip strawberry halves so they are facedown and refrigerate for 2 hours or more.Slice and serve with remaining Strawberry Sauce!

Recipes by Team Escobar

Almond Kesar Phirni

Ingredients:
4 cups full cream milk
1 cup whole almond
1/3 cup Sugar or as per liking
Saffron strands
A pinch of green cardamom powder
Rose petals for garnish

Method:
Blanch 1 cup of almonds for one minute, strain it and pull out the skin. Keep it aside.
Grind peeled almonds in a mixer till coarse texture (like broken wheat).
Boil 4 cups full cream milk in a non-stick pan and reduce it to ¾ of milk on medium flame with continuous stirring.
Add ground almonds and cook it till they become soft.
Add sugar and mix well.
Add few strands of saffron and a pinch of green cardamom powder. Mix well.
Wash it in a water-soaked clay pot or regular small bowls and keep it in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours.
Garnish with sliced almonds, a few rose petals and saffron. Serve cold.

Recipe by Chef Deepak Gore, Tata Sampann In-house Culinary Chef