The Last Two Weeks (Part 1)

I have no idea where the last fortnight or so has gone. Okay, that’s an over-exaggeration – I know exactly where it went, but such quick passing of time still freaks me out, as it draws ever closer to the end of term. Here’s a summary of relatively interesting and vaguely relevant things that have happened recently:

My dad came to stay!

Almost two weeks ago, my dad had to go to a National Trust conference event in Swindon, and as our home in East Yorkshire is pretty far and my student flat in Bristol is rather near, it seemed sensible that he should stay with me for a couple of days (especially as you can’t really travel from the north to the south west and back in a day). It felt bizarrely grown-up having one of my parents to stay, as my home life and uni life rarely cross-over. I definitely enjoyed it though – we watched about three hours of 30 Rock and Dad cooked me a steak, plus we finally fulfilled a long-held joint ambition to visit Thali Cafe.

Something of a Bristol institution, there are four cafes dotted around the city, all serving authentic Indian food. We went to the Clifton branch, and were definitely not disappointed. Rather than having a massive serving of curry and a huge plate of rice, for around £8 you get a small bowl of delicious, subtly spiced curry (I had lamb, my dad had fish) surrounded by other dishes of basmati rice, tarka dahl, vegetable subji, Keralan salad and homemade chutney. It was just as filling as the giant portions you normally tend to get at Indian restaurants, but far more exciting to eat, as there was such an interesting range of textures and flavours. They do a killer mango lassi (almost as good as the Mumtaz in Bradford), plus the staff were all really friendly and the decor was very cool (even if there was a mannequin that scared the bejesus out of me). It’s definitely worth a visit!


I went to a comedy night!


In first year, I joined improv comedy society, mainly because my now-best friend Emily wanted to. Two years later, she's the president of ImprovSoc and has performed with them in Edinburgh, so it was a good call for her (I stopped going after first year. I didn't get on with it so much, and workshops always seemed to clash with me going to comedy gigs, especially last year). Anyway, to support Emily, I do still go to a few improv shows and ImprovSoc are pretty good (look at their YouTube channel!). 


They've also recently taken over the running of a comedy night at The Hill pub in the Cotham area of Bristol, punningly called Hill-arity (the pub does really good pizzas too). I went to review it for Inter:Mission, in my capacity as comedy editor, and really enjoyed it. Thankfully, Emily wasn't performing, so there wasn't a massive conflict of interests, but I did know some of the people who were in the show, and found it quite difficult to balance not hurting their feelings and giving an honest critique of the gig. I didn't lie, but I think I did tend to err on the side of being nicer (partly because I was afraid some kind of comment storm like this would happen). Anyway, the review of Hillarity is here. 

I wrote an essay!

It was 3000 words on Moll Flanders and the dominance of women in the eighteenth century novel (I like writing about women). I did pretty well on it. That is all.

I saw a film!

As a post-essay treat, I went to Bristol city centre with some of my lovely course friends. We hung around the German Christmas market (which made me miss my friend Louise, who’s on her year abroad in Regensburg) and I ate freshly made donuts, whilst three of my friends awkwardly ate huge bratwursts near some vegan protesters. Slightly chilly, but full of delicious food, we then went to see My Week With Marilyn – a really sweet movie about the filming of The Prince and The Showgirl. It was quite a light film (which was just what we needed after the gruelling mental exertion of an essay hand-in) but the central performances were all amazing, especially Michelle William’s Marilyn. I wrote a much more articulate review for Inter:Mission (you can read it here). Then we had mulled Somerset cider and talked about murder mysteries. It was a lovely day.

I ate more Indian food!

We tried out the Indian takeaway near our flat – Bristol Raj. It was nice, and the prices were pretty reasonable, but it just couldn’t compare to Thali Cafe. I had quite a big portion of chicken shashlik, which had a good ratio of chicken to vegetables, but wasn’t quite as spicy or flavourful as I would have liked. The garlic rice was tasty though, and the naans were soft and doughy. Plus, the guys at the restaurant also gave us a couple of free poppadoms. However, unless it was just for convenience, I’m not sure if I’d go again, as I know there are better Indian food outlets near us (and not just Thali Cafe).

This concludes week one. I’ll post my accounts of last week’s fun shortly– it includes me eating even more food and seeing another film. Oh the excitement!

Turkey and Halloumi Skewers

Much as I love wholesome, wintry food like Toad-in-the-Hole and stew, it's getting to the time of year when those kinds of dishes feel just a bit too heavy. Turkey is fairly cheap and very good for you, and halloumi is one of the few cheeses I actually like, so I combined the two to create some vaguely Mediterranean skewers:

Quantities are fairly variable, and much like a soup or stew, you can use up any slightly past-their-best veg. To make 2 skewers I used:


For the skewers:
2 handfuls turkey breast, diced
125g halloumi cheese, cut into chunks
4 small button mushrooms
1/2 courgette
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 red onion
4 cherry tomatoes


For the marinade:
8 tbsps olive oil
3tbps lemon juice
3 tbsps fresh mint, roughly chopped
2 tbsps fresh coriander roughly chopped
1 spring onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
Pinch of cayenne pepper

• Mix all of the marinade ingredients together in a bowl. Add the turkey and halloumi to the marinade, making sure all the pieces are well covered.
• Leave for at least 30 minutes to marinate (or if you're rushed for time, leave for as long as it takes the to prepare the vegetables).
• Chop all of the vegetables (apart from the mushrooms and cherry tomatoes) into chunks.
• Thread the chunks of vegetables, turkey and halloumi onto skewers (if using wooden skewers, soak them in water for at least 20 - 30 minutes before use).
• Place the skewers under a hot grill until the turkey is cooked al the way through and the halloumi is beginning to brown (approximately 10-15 minutes), turning occassionally.
• Serve with cous cous or rice and natural yoghurt.

 [N.B. I imagine this would work well on a barbecue, or even with a griddle pan, though I have't tried it myself]

Students! If you're worried about budgetting for this, leave out the halloumi and buy reduced or on offer veg and poultry. Cous cous is a bit more expensive than rice, but it fluffs up so much that a normal sized packet will last a good few months. Plus you can make it in a mug! (Fill the mug 1/3 of the way up with cous cous, then pour over enough boling water to cover, put a clean teatowel over the mug, then leave for 5 minutes. Done.)

Also, I can definitely recommend Sainsbury's Basics natural yoghurt (or equivalent own brand yoghurt). It tastes no different to the more expensive Sainsbury's yoghurts and I'm fairly sure it's actually the same yoghurt with different packaging (I have stood in the aisles and done the slightly nerdy packet comparisons)

Mission Burrito

Earlier this week, I was lucky enough to go to the recently opened Mission Burrito on Park Street to review it for Itchy Bristol. I've been wanting to go there since I read on Bristol Culture about the free burritos they gave out on the first day, which I was sad to miss, still being at home in Yorkshire at the time.

My official review for Itchy is here. As you'll read, I certainly wasn't disappointed. The food was delicious, if a little bit unevenly temperatured, but I think that's only to be expected when there was such a varied mix of hot and cold food. For instance, my burrito was filled with pork, rice and black beans (all hot) and sour cream, guacamole, salsa and cheese (all cold). As tasty and filling as that combination was, it did mean you were never sure if the next mouthful would be warm or cool. But really, as far as criticisms go, it was hardly a major problem (although my lovely dining companion Emily did suggest that they might consider popping the finished burritos in an oven (a la Subway) for a little bit, to get a more even temperature and so the cheese would melt a little bit). 

Otherwise, I really did love Mission Burrito. It's a little on the expensive side for someone on a student budget, so a trip to MB would be definitely be a treat, but the food is such good quality and the staff were so friendly that I think it's worth it.

Pancake Day!

Happy Pancake Day/International Women's Day!

As much as I like pancakes (one of my childhood obsessions was the now sadly closed Dutch Pancake House in Manchester), I am not very good at making them. It's not the mixing or the frying of the pancakes that I can't deal with, it's the flipping. I've just not got the confidence to do an assured flip (I'd be a letdown Blue Peter presenter on the Shrove Tuesday episode). This poses no problem when I'm at home, as my mum is a champion pancake maker, but as with last year I'm stuck here is Bristol. My fear of dropping the pancake is compounded this year by the fact that the hob in our flat is a gas one, and a combination of pancake and flames is not one I really want to experience. And I refuse point blank to buy pre-made ones.

However, I am a dab hand at making American pancakes, which, as well as appealing to my Americophile tendencies, are flipped with a spatula, meaning I much less likely to set myself on fire. Therefore, sacrilege as it probably is, my pancake of choice today will most likely be American. Oddly though, the best American pancake recipe I've found is from one of the most decidedly English cookbooks that I own: The Dairy Book of Home Cookery. It's an old-fashioned, but adorable, book that was first published in the 1960s and features recipes for dishes such as Party Gammon and Jugged Kippers, but also really reliable recipes for more classic dishes. My family's copy is so well used that it's falling apart at the seams, so my mum and I hunted down an elusive extra copy for me to take to Bristol (we eventually found one in a garden centre). 

So here, based on that recipe, are the pancakes I'll be making today:

225g plain flour

4 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp caster sugar

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

350ml milk

25g melted butter (plus extra for frying) 

• Whisk eggs, melted butter and milk together in a jug.
• Add flour, baking powder, sugar and salt to the milk mixture (you could sift them in, but I've found it makes very little difference). Whisk vigorously til well combined - the batter should be a similar consistency to natural yoghurt. Add more milk if too thick or flour if too thin, though it's better to err on the side of it being too thick.
• Heat a little butter on a medium heat in a non-stick frying pan and when hot, pour out rounds of about 12cm/5ins. If the batter is thick enough, it should spread naturally into a smooth-edged circle.
• Cook until the surface of the pancakes looks bubbly, then flip with a spatula and cook until golden.
• Repeat making 10-14 pancakes.
  

I like to eat mine with a little bit of extra butter spread on the top, or sometimes with bacon, though they're probably nice with maple syrup and cream (these pancakes do not lend themselves to eating healthily).  Enjoy pancake day - whatever nationality of pancake you choose to have!