Friday 28 September 2012

Terre a Terre, Brighton

Better Batter with Lemony Yemeni Relish
Whilst down in Brighton for Lib Dem Conference I had the pleasure of eating at Terre a Terre not once, but twice. The first time was a work meal so I wasn't really able to take photos but it was delicious-especially the Cocky Cauli and Ginger Bhajis.
This time I went for the Better Batter Lemony Yemeni Relish (left) which was basically veggie fish and chips (with halloumi instead of fish). It came with crushed peas which were lovely, and they were the highlight of the dish. It felt pretty unhealthy, and whilst it was nice I probably wouldn't choose it again.

Pidgin English
I would, however, choose the Pidgin English, which the OH wisely scoffed. I barely got a look-in, but the brief taste I did have was delicious. The photo on the right doesn't do it justice-taken on a Blackberry camera-sorry! The pastilla-type package was crispy brik pastry (like filo) stuffed with cheese, olives and sultanas (they like their weird flavour combos but, trust me, this one works).

After my halloumi and chips I didn't dare hit the churros, although I have been dreaming about them ever since. Whenever I can get back to Brighton I am hitting those hard-with chocolate and salted caramel dipping sauce? They sound divine.
Frangipane Sizzle Dates
Whilst I woefully dreamt of churros, the OH scranned this plate of Frangipane Sizzle Dates, which didn't come looking as I'd imagined it would. I thought it would be a frangipane tart, but instead it was quite a small portion of marzipan-stuffed dates. Ok, so I didn't try it (and he said it was nice) but it was definitely not churros! For more chocolatey action, check out their chocolate week, running from October 8th-14th
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Peanut butter choc chip cookie dough bites

This recipe is from Erin's website Texanerin and I came across it after a naughty friend of mine pinned it onto pinterest. It's a grain-free recipe and has no sugar, so fits my current bill in terms of being loosely "healthy". Well, they don't taste healthy, but since the main ingredient is chickpeas (yeah, weird right?) I guess they sort of are. It makes for a bit of a wet texture, but I am seriously impressed with the finished results-they taste amazing! Melty choc chips and a good kick of peanut butter mean you don't really notice they have chickpeas in them. The recipe makes around 14 mini bites, but I think I might eat them all in one go. Only kidding, but they are good.

Ingredients
140g can of chick peas, drained and patted dry (don't throw them into the sink like I did)
2 tsps vanilla extract
165g natural peanut butter (or thereabouts-this seems like a lot to me, and I LIKE peanut butter) 
1tsp baking powder (I used bicarb, it turned out fine)
90g dark choc chips (I used Waitrose cooks essentials-pretty yum)
3 tbsp agave (Erin uses honey but agave seemed healthier) 

Method

Preheat your oven to  175°C. Combine all the ingredients, except for the chocolate chips, in a food processor and process until very smooth. Make sure to scrape the sides and the top to get the little chunks of chickpeas and process again until they're combined. Put in the chocolate chips and stir it if you can, or pulse it once or twice. The mixture will be very thick and sticky. With wet hands, form into 1 1/2" balls. Place onto a piece of parchment paper. If you want them to look more like normal cookies, press down slightly on the balls. They don't do much rising. Bake for about 10-15 minutes. Yields about fourteen 1 1/2" cookie dough balls.

The Gate, Islington

Mezze
Oh my gosh, what can I say? The Gate is a vegetarian restaurant (don't stop reading, don't stop reading!) that my OH has been going on about for years. Only prob? It's in Hammersmith. Doh. And I don't like to travel too far out of zone 1 or north london (ha) so we've never been. Until the nice people who manage The Gate decided to open another branch in Islington, just for me!

We popped in after work one Thursday and were offered a table which was only available until 8pm (it was 7pm when we arrived). We can eat fairly quickly, and were pretty hungry so we agreed and were pleased the service was speedy enough to allow us to neck a couple of yummy cocktails (a fresh raspberry bellini and the egyptian iced tea which I highly recommend. Drool.)

cous cous crusted aubergine
We wanted to try the mezze, which was 3 for £10, so asked for it on the side to make sure we had time to eat it. You could have it as a started or main though, as you can choose as many dishes as you want. The roasted sweet potato with tahini was gorgeous, as was the tempura (I think it was artichoke?) and the thai salad excelled itself, despite being the one I was least eager to try. It was tangy and crisp and really tasted as good as a dish you might get in Bangkok (where I think I had the best food of my life, although Singapore comes close).
corn cake and grilled veggie stack


For mains we chose the polenta and corn cake, which came stacked into a high tower with grilled veg including tomatoes, aubergine, sweet potato and artichoke. Dolloped around the edge was a mix of beans, sweetcorn and chilli, taking on a rustic, mexican salsa theme. I was feeling pretty smug that I had chosen the best dish, until at half time (ding ding) we swapped and I tasted the wonderment which was the cous-cous crusted aubergine. Looking like some weird sort of nut cutlet I wasn't expecting much, but the flavours were amazing. It was like an aubergine sandwich, stuffed with cream cheese and slivered almonds which gave it a great crunchy texture, juxtaposed with the creamy cheese which had been injected with a good kick of spice.  A little guacamole and red pepper sauce on the side made the dish complete and I was very happy to finish this off, even if it did seem tu be by far the less healthy of the two. 

No time or room for dessert, but the options looked and sounded delicious. Next time I will come even hungrier and-not that I can wait for it- the Christmas menu looks so good I am definitely booking in for that now. 


My obsession with Fro Yo


My first taste of frozen yoghurt, or Fro Yo as I like to call it, was in Sao Paulo, Brazil. I wanted to shout out to the entirety of Chinatown "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE" although my fear of getting arrested in foreign countries prevented me. The OH and I fought of the creamy, swirly dessert, which we'd topped with goodness knows what. Probably, knowing us, a heap of nuts, something that looks a bit healthy like blueberries and then a shed load of caramel sauce. I blame him. Anyway, when I realised that a sex shop in Islington had been turned into a similar-style fro yo bar I had to check it out. The style of fro yo parlour is important, because it's better to be able to help yourself and pay by weight (although this can be frightening-take a credit card) than to have to ask a server for a flavour and then each item you want to add. I find this way more intimidating, and also am scared to ask for too many things in case they start to wonder why you've bothered to go for the "healthy" option of fro yo when you want to add any combination of: chocolate, chocolate, nuts, syrup, maybe some more, ummm, chocolate...

Samba Swirl is great. It let's you choose what you want, mix up different flavours. You can even have the person at the counter stick your creation in some sort of tardis and swirl it all together. I think the man who set the business up has started to think i'm stalking him on Twitter, so I've stopped asking him for peanut butter-related items now. Sad face.

There's not a lot fro yo can't make better. It tastes bad (as in naughty), but they tell me it's good (ok, so clearly not the bits of flake the I'vegone for in this pic on the right) and almost fat free. Samba Swirl do some great flavours, including Dulce de Lece (Argentinian caramel-lush), Peanut Butter and High Road Chocolate which tastes just about as rich and yummy as it sounds.

Kids love fro yo too, which is a shame because it means I can't get my fix quick enough during school holidays or between about 3.30pm and 5pm when they leave school. Huh.

My advice-get thee to a fro yo bar neat you pronto. But don't get in my way ;)

Healthy Chocolate Tart

Here is my healthy chocolate tart-well, the meagre remains of it, since I'm so lazy I didn't get around to a) putting it on a plate and b) taking a photo of it just after I made it. It's a refrigerator cake, so you don't get that "bing, it's done" moment, which is the point where I'd be wanting to grab a camera. Still, it was my first attempt for a while at something healthy and although fairly labour-intensive it was quite satisfying as a chocolatey culmination to a meal. It lasted me so long I was kind of bored by the end, and was mashing it up with 0% fat greek yoghurt and peanut butter (which would be the key ingredient I'd try and amalgamate into the recipe next time).

The recipe was at the back of Zest magazine (so healthy, me) and is taken from the The Guilt-Free Gourmet  which I have subsequently ordered-excited much? I did amend the recipe slightly, as I couldn't find any date syrup or carob powder (I used more agave syrup and cocoa powder instead) and also I felt the ingredients were getting a bit too expensive (and when am I going to use date syrup again?)

The healthy bit is that it's pretty much free from everything: dairy, wheat, sugar. It's totally vegan and the crushed up oat cakes in the base (along with pecans) are about as naughty as it gets. I put the recipe as I made it into My Fitness Pal and it came out at 4000kcals for the whole lot, which I thought was loads until I worked out that it could serve around 14-16 people. Well, maybe not according to my OH, but 16 versions of me, anyway. Divided by 16 made each portion 253 kcals and 3 grams of protein, so not too bad. The avocados in the topping give it a lot of calories, but add "healthy" fats. I've not noticed my hair becoming shinier since consuming the entire thing, but give it time.

The recipe:
For the base
150g pecans
125g oat cakes
1tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp agave syrup
2tbsp coconut oil
3 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder

For the topping
3 avocados
6 tbsp cocoa powder (or 5 cocoa, 1 carob)
9 tbsp agave syrup (or 6 agave, 3 date syrip)
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp coconut oil

Top with shavings of dark chocolate if desired (I did not desire this!)

Method

Toast the pecans then crush them with the oatcakes. Blend with the dates (chopped and pitted), 3 tsp cocoa powder, 1 tsp vanilla essence, 2 tbsp agave, 2 tbsp coconut oil (you might need to melt this) until fine. Press into the base of a lined 20" springform cake tin and refrigerate for 30 mins until set.

Meanwhile, blend the flesh of 3 avocados with 9 tbsp agave, 2 tsp vanilla extract, 6 tbsp cocoa powder and 4 tbsp coconut oil (melt in a  pan first) until smooth. smoother on top of the base and refrigerate for another  2 hours. Shave extra chocolate on top if desired.

Sunday 2 September 2012

Kings Cross Ice Cream Festival

 This weekend the clever fellow on the left hosted the first ever  ice cream festival in Kings Cross, in the lovely new Granary Square. Just around the corner from us, the new development which is transforming the patch of land at the back of Kings Cross station next to York Way (and over the Eurostar lines)  was a great place to hold the event, although I'm clearly biased! The family event went down very well, and some ice cream  vendors sold out completely on the first day. Kids enjoyed the dancing fountains and petting zoo, and I particularly enjoyed meeting this chap (I love goats).


The Granary Square "beach" complete with sand carving sofa
With many different ice cream sellers to choose from I was fascinated by the liquid nitrogen-frozen Custom Creams, especially as they were offering peanut butter. This was really yummy and very creamy, though for me they could have added even more PB. The OH went from freeze-dried bacon and maple syrup, which has crushed up bits of bacon crumbled on top. He was keen to move on and try more flavours, so hit up the Sorbitium van (run by the former head chef of the Petersham Nurseries) for the weird (and he thought wonderful) combo of roasted banana and halva. Not my cup of tea, but he enjoyed the mushy, sweet mix which I have a feeling would go down well with small children requiring a sugar hit. 
After all that, he still had room for the "healthy" option of fro yo from Daisy Green, which we are big fans of. The cute ice cream van pimped with grass on top and replete with very smiley cow (Daisy, obvs) was touting fat free treats, but with the addition of oreos, popping candy and gummy bears to name but a few. To follow on the naughty theme, he plumped (sorry) for a topping on brownies, marshmallows, flaked almonds and chocolate fudge sauce, ending up with a concoction that was probably equally as calorific as any of the other choices. Still, it tasted good.
Yum fro yo-although not so healthy with brownies, marshmallows, nuts and choc sauce!


I was after a salted caramel affair to end my treat session, and after overhearing whispers from other patrons I went for La Gelateria's Salty Caramel, with some Nocciola (hazelnu) both of which were delicious. Their chedder cheese and black cherry seemed to be a hit too, and if I had another day to sample their finest I'd be trying a raspberry sorbet/pina colada sorbet medley, just to be that little bit healthier you understand! I really hope the organisers bring this festival back, it was a great 2 days, and the space lends itself to foodie gatherings and little markets. Go on people, make us locals happy. 


Bintang Kentish Town


Ravenous en route home from my little nephew's house - where he helped me work up an appetite by bouncing excessively in a musical spaceship thingy (don't ask...) - the OH and I dropped into Bintang, a casual little restaurant on Kentish Town road, touting a range of south-east asian menu options. I could have summoned up the strength for a cocktail, but the only drink options were soft ones (although I gather they do BYO with corkage fee from other reviews I've read).



Pad thai? or is it
Luckily the food came super fast, including some yummy blue cheese wontons, which we ate so quickly I didn't even manage to snap. Tasty, despite not having much filling, they came with a great dipping sauce which tasted like a honey-soy mash-up. Next up were 2 huge plates of noodle-based dishes, a prawn melee (I can't remember what they called it, maybe gilli gilli?) and an aubergine and tofu pad thai. As you can see from the pictures, I think they maybe got it the wrong way around, because the prawn dish definitely tasted like the pad thai I know and love, so I had to sneakily try and steal it from the OH whilst making him eat the other dish, which was a bit too sweet for my tastes. 
Sundried tomato and basil roti-delish!
The piece de resistance was the roti, which was small but amazingly delicious. We went for sundried tomato and basil, which was decidedly un-asian, but I'm all for fusion. The sundried tomato tapenade was smeared over the top of the buttery (read: seriously calorific), flaky roti and it tasted grrrreat.  I'd go back for that alone (would it be wrong to just order 7 roti?)  It looks like they do takeout  too, so maybe that'll get around the need to order mains?