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Terre á Terre is an incredibly successful restaurant in Brighton. It's a restaurant that in many ways has elevated vegetarian food, making it well, sexier. No hemp, no hippies, no sticky tablecloths, no iffy music. It's amazing that there aren't more veggie restaurants like this one, because the concept is simple; to treat food like any other top quality restaurant, sans meat. No apologies and no substitutes. Just well presented and with original thought that keeps people going back again and again.

So I was interested to hear they had released a cookbook as I think they may well be one of the first Brighton restaurants to do so. Cracking it open, I couldn't remember being so excited about cooking from a book. The photography is truly a feast for the eyes. I mean, for one, the food has all been styled vertical, standing proud as punch on the plate. Perspex sheets give the food a glossy, sexy edge, a contrast to the typical styling for this genre where natural, homely and rustic is the norm.



The instructions at first glance will really put the willies up you, especially as most recipes span over two pages, but on closer inspection you will see that the recipes are all broken down into separate elements that you can include or exclude. If you go through it all you'll see that the components themselves are generally not that difficult either, just be careful as some parts will need making ahead and refrigerating, setting or cooling etc.



This is not really my sort of everyday food (or I doubt many peoples) but it really inspires you to hone down your cooking techniques. I see it as an achievable challenge as it is approachable and not some uber-chefs' ridiculous egotistical instructions including lots of equipment that most restaurants even will not own. The copy is warm, friendly and encouraging.

I really wanted to cook the Elephant and Rocket Oil Twice Baked Soufflé which is a twice baked Jerusalem artichoke soufflé, wrapped in hazelnut and rosemary parchment pastry with elephant garlic velouté and rocket oil. I mean look at it:



Unfortunately, and after a bit of advice from the restaurant direct on Twitter, I was unable to get some of the ingredients. But I will conquer this bad boy one day when I can get the garlic in season.

So what to cook? In true end of the pier Brightonian humour, I went for the Bum. A sweet sheep's milk cheesecake, with sambuca-soaked sultanas, served with lemon rosemary syrup and warm walnut biscotti. I chose this as like some of the other recipes, it champions local produce, in this case the amazing Sussex Slipcote cheese. This is in some ways my perfect "Happy Ever Afters" as I'm often torn between a cheese board or something sweet. This combines the two successfully, packing in a hell of a lot of flavours and textures. I'll also be making the biscotti again on their own, just to have around the house for coffee dunking.



Recipe: Bum


This book has really reignited my passion for the restaurant, and I really think will be a book to benchmark vegetarian cooking (hence the italic The in the title). A perfect gift and reading for both vegetarians and carnivores alike.

Terre á Terre, The Vegetarian Cookbook is published by Absolute Press and costs £20.00.

With thanks to Absolute Press for this review copy and all the dreadful Bum puns.

I needed to find a decent place to eat at 3pm in London on a recent trip up. Seemingly this is no easy challenge. All the good places understandably shut between lunch and dinner and the prospect of eating in some mediocre chain establishment sank my little heart. To the rescue came Dehesa, a Spanish/Italian charcuterie and tapas bar. Hurrah!

I love tapas, but so often all I get a reheated little plates of overpriced food yet I try and try again. And sometimes it pays off.



Things however did get off to a lukewarm start. The Padrón Peppers (£3.65) that I had been hearing so much about were not the taste sensation I was expecting. Pleasant yes, but I was left wondering what the hype was about. But then came in the Courgette Flowers with Monte Enebro and Honey (£7.40). On the face of it it seems a little on the expensive side for two flowers but my goodness, worth every penny once you taste them. The inside of the flower revealed gorgeous, salty, gooey goat cheese that worked incredibly well with the sweetness of the honey. Amazing. Quite possibly the nicest thing I have eaten for a while.



Also good were the three Manchegos with Membrillo (£7.15) - one of my favourite cheeses next to Pecorino, Chorizo a la Plancha (£4.00) had a super kick and as I have said before the oil released from grilled or fried chorizo is one of the best tastes out there. Fact. The Prawns a la Plancha with Saffron Potatoes, Piquillo Peppers and Chilli (£6.75) won prettiest plate.

I've never had duck livers before I don't think so I ordered them here with Manzanilla, Caramelised Onion, Raisins, Pine Nuts and Migas (£5.75). I loved the sweetness of the dish but they were served very, very rare and although tender, chomping down on raw liver is not my idea of fun. Cooked a bit more for my liking and this would have been a great dish. What WAS a great dish was the Confit of Old Spot Pork Belly with Rosemary Scented Cannellini Beans (£6.25). Crispy crackling and soft, sweet pork. And I'm totally stealing the idea of the rosemary scented beans too.

We also had a Classic Tortilla (£4.00) which is always good, Patatas Fritas with Romesco Sauce and Alioli (£3.50), the sauces being better than the potatoes which were glorified chips really and I wasn't keen on the olive oil served with the Chargrilled Country Style Bread (£2.50).

I did eye up the charcuterie selections where you could choose from either Italian or Spanish meats but I really couldn't eat a single bite more.

Lovely interior, really nice staff in a great location which is open all day at the weekends. A perfect place for a very late and long lunch. So late in fact that it ran right into my next meeting with friends for dinner. Ooof.

At £70 for 3 people with only two glasses of wine ordered in total, it isn't the cheapest lunch in London but is a price definitely worth paying. After eating so well at Dehesa I would love to try out their sister restaurant Salt Yard on my next trip up.

Dehesa
25 Ganton Street
London W1F 9BP
+44 (0) 20 7494 4170

When Mr Graphic Foodie temporarily worked in sales in London (which included selling his soul) there were certain perks. One of these came from a chap he used to work with called Edward, who made the most wonderful sweet treats and brought them into work for everyone to share. Due to the amount of people working in the office only a select few got a taste of these, and I soon realised that when Mr GF brought me home a little taster of these cakes and cookies that it was a real sign of true love as he often had to forgo a taste himself. Can't say I would have done the same for him!

This chocolate pot was one of my favourites and luckily Mr GF got the recipe from Edward before he left. Edward, I never met you or know where you are but thanks for the recipe and hope you don't mind me posting it here! Share the love and all.

This recipe is so easy, something between a chocolate fondant and chocolate cake. The textures of this dessert are fantastic, the richness of the chocolate, the chewiness of the crushed amaretti biscuits and the gooeyness of the centre.



The flowers are a bunch of Fairtrade roses and lisianthus sent to me by Interflora. Thanks very much. Mr GF may share his food but he seemingly hasn't figured out how to order flowers so it was a real treat! Anyway, I like Fairtrade products because the price paid to the producers and workers includes a premium that is invested in projects that benefit workers and their families. Schools, health centres, facilities - that sort of thing. Nice Interflora are doing the same.

Inspired by the flowers, I decided to use a Fairtrade dark chocolate flavoured with cardamom, ginger, cinnamon spices and orange oil (from the Co-op) which worked really well but also good is just a plain chocolate that I normally use.

Makes 2

Ingredients
45g Plain chocolate (or flavoured - one with rose may be nice, I love the Organic Seed and Bean Company's Fairtrade chocolate with Rose)
45g Butter
1 Large egg
45g Caster sugar
12g Plain flour
15g Amaretti biscuits, lightly crushed
1/2tsp Vanilla extract
A little extra butter and sugar to line the ramekins

You will need 2 ramekins, about 7cm diameter.

Method
Preheat the oven to 190C or 170C fan.

Gently melt the chocolate and butter over a low heat.

Beat the eggs and vanilla together and then stir in the flour and sugar.

Add the egg mixture to the chocolate mixture, mixing thoroughly and then fold in the crushed amaretti biscuits.

Butter and sugar the inside of the ramekins and pour in the mixture.

Place the ramekins on a tray and bake for 10-15 minutes until they have risen.

Served immediately, they should still be nice and gooey in the middle.

Now here really is an alternative for pancake day! Crespelle are the Italian version of pancakes but use a standard pancake batter recipe. They are often stuffed and rolled to be used in place of cannelloni sleeves in recipes but can also be stacked or folded into triangles. The crespelle create a lighter, softer and slightly fluffier version of oven baked pasta dishes.

For this recipe I've stuffed the crespelle with a tasty mixture of smoked pancetta, garlic, thyme and celeriac but a wide range of ricotta based fillings could be used, from a classic ricotta and spinach to wild mushrooms and truffle.

Again, this was a recipe for Morrisons who gave me a celeriac as the seasonal ingredient to work around for their Seasonal Pancake Challenge. The ingredient was originally supposed to be Jerusalem Artichokes which will also work well in this.

And if you missed yesterday's post and fancy something sweet for pancake day, I included a recipe for Sicilian Cannoli inspired Pancakes filled with Sweet Ricotta, Vanilla, Orange and Toasted Almonds served with Clementine Sauce.

Serves 3-4 people

INGREDIENTS

Crespelle
120g plain flour
2 Eggs
300ml Milk
Olive oil

Filling
Olive oil
125g Smoked pancetta, cubed (or lardons or chopped streaky bacon)
200g celeriac, cut into 5mm cubes
1 clove of garlic, crushed
3 Generous sprigs thyme, leaves removed
250g Ricotta
60g Parmesan, freshly grated
Seasoning

Béchamel sauce
25g Butter
25g Plain flour
250ml Milk
Seasoning
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

Tomato sauce
Olive oil
Half an onion, chopped finely
400g Tinned whole tomatoes
Fresh basil, 6 leaves
Seasoning

METHOD

Make the Pancake batter. Sift the flour into a bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the eggs and beat with a fork. Gradually beat in the milk until you have a smooth batter. You may want to use a whisk at this point. Pop the batter in the fridge for 30 minutes. Meanwhile you can make the filling and the sauces.

Make the tomato sauce. In a saucepan heat a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onion and fry until translucent, making sure it does not brown. Add the tinned tomatoes, crushing them with the side of a wooded spoon to break up. Add one heaped tablespoon of tomato puree and cook for 20 minutes. Add the basil leaves and season and continue to cook for another 20 minutes or until thick and reduced.

Make the filling. Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan and add the pancetta cubes. Fry gently for 4 minutes until the fat melts out. Add the cubed celeriac, crushed garlic and thyme leaves and continue to fry until the celeriac softens. In a bowl place the ricotta, Parmesan and the pancetta mixture. Season well and combine thoroughly.

Make the béchamel. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour until smooth. Continue to cook for a couple of minutes. Add the milk gradually, whisking the whole time. Continue to whisk until the sauce begins to boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Season and add a pinch of nutmeg.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F

Make the crespelle. Using a piece of kitchen paper, scantily coat the base of a 10cm frying pan with a little olive oil. Ladle in just enough batter to thinly coat the base of the pan. Cook for a couple of minutes until golden. Turn (or flip if your fancy) and cook the other side. The batter should make eight crespelle.

Pour half the béchamel into the base of an ovenproof dish. Place an eighth of the ricotta mixture into the centre of each crespelle and spread. Fold in half then half again to form a triangle. Place in the ovenproof dish on top of the béchamel. Repeat with the remaining crespelle, overlapping them slightly in the dish. Pour over the remaining béchamel and bake for 30 minutes.

Reheat the tomato sauce if needed.

Serve the crespelle with the tomato sauce.

Shrove Tuesday falls upon us on the 16th of February this year. Traditionally Shrove Tuesday was celebrated as the last indulgence before lent as pancakes contain butter and eggs, forbidden during this time of abstinence. So if you're going to indulge, do it properly!

This post comes to you in two parts, today is a sweet recipe and tomorrow a savoury, oven baked version, both with an Italian twist. I produced both recipes for Morrisons, who gave me a few seasonal ingredients to work with as a base for a pancake recipe. For this version I received clementines and almonds.

These sweet pancakes were inspired by my favourite pastries of all time, Sicilian cannoli. No matter how many I eat I just can’t get enough of these crisp, fried pastry tubes filled with sweetened ricotta and candied peel with the ends dipped in either crushed pistachios, chocolate curls or finished with a glace cherry. Gorgeous!

I decided to work the clementines and almonds into a sweet ricotta filling, the crunch of the pastry replaced with the texture of toasted almonds and clemetine sauce in place of the citrus candied peel.

Although there seems to be quite a lot of stages just for some humble pancakes, each component is incredibly easy and quick. As the batter stands for 30 minutes, the filling and the sauce can be made. Alternatively the sauce can be made in advance.

Serves 4 people (2 pancakes each)

INGREDIENTS

Pancakes
120g plain flour
2 Eggs
300ml Milk
Very small knob of butter

Clementine sauce
4 Clementines
100g Caster sugar
60ml Cold water

Filling
250g Full-fat ricotta
40g Icing sugar
A vanilla pod, seeds scraped out
Grated zest on an orange
A little grated nutmeg
80g flaked almonds

To assemble
A handful more of toasted flaked almonds
1 clementine, cut into segments

METHOD

Make the Pancake batter. Sift the flour into a bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the eggs and beat with a fork. Gradually beat in the milk until you have a smooth batter. You may want to use a whisk at this point. Pop the batter in the fridge for 30 minutes. (Meanwhile you can make the clementine sauce and the ricotta filling.)

Make the Clementine sauce. Peel and segment the clementines. Place the sugar and water in a pan and bring to the boil. Continue to boil until the liquid has reduced by a third. Add the segments to this syrup and cook down for a couple of minutes. Leave to cool. Once cooled, blend to a purée. Pass through a fine sieve, reserving the liquid and discarding all the pith and segment skins.

Make the filling. In a dry frying pan over a moderate heat, toast the almond flakes well (also toast the additional almonds for the garnish). Set aside. Place the ricotta in a bowl. Beat in the icing sugar, seeds from the vanilla pod, orange zest and nutmeg. Stir in the toasted almonds, keeping back those set aside for garnishing.

Make the pancakes. Heat the butter in a 10cm frying pan. Ladle in just enough batter to thinly coat the base of the pan. Cook for a couple of minutes until golden. Turn (or flip if your fancy) and cook the other side. Keep the pancakes warm until you have made all eight.

Assemble. Spoon an eighth of the ricotta filling in the middle of a pancake and fold the sides in to form a square parcel. Repeat with all the pancakes. Place two pancakes on a plate per person, drizzle with the clementine sauce and top with the reserved toasted almond flakes and some clementine segments.