An Indian Summer

Barbeque fans lend me your ears (well eyes I guess). There is more to BBQ life than burnt sausages and suspect chicken drum sticks. Just look at the success of Grill Stock, a festival celebrating all that is BBQ that was so popular they now have two venues in Bristol (one at St Nicholas’ market and one at The Triangle). They offer a delicious slice of USA BBQ including pulled pork, babyback ribs and beef brisket to satisfy your meaty desires. Not your usual home BBQ cooking fare but why not? Here is another option for you, an Indian BBQ using one of the best meats going, leg of lamb and everyone’s favourite BBQ banana skin chicken.

The Prep

Your first job is making your marinade for the lamb and chicken. This is an easy process that you should really do the night before to get it on the meat overnight. However, if like me you forget these things or don’t plan that far in advance in really doesn’t matter if you don’t get it done until lunch time the day of the BBQ. For the lamb marinade you need to smash up:

·         4 garlic cloves

·         1 whole chilli

·         A chunk of fresh ginger

·         1 tsp turmeric

·         1 tsp paprika

·         I tsp garam masala

·         1 tsp cumin seeds

Once this is pretty much a paste add about 5/6 desert spoons of yoghurt so you have plenty to cover the lamb.

Now, the only tricky bit of the whole process, butterflying the lamb leg. You need to run a very sharp knife around the bone to get it out with minimal loss to the meat. Your biggest waste will be around the knuckle but don’t stress too much you shouldn’t lose too much. Once the bones out open up the fatter end of the leg so you can roll the meat out in a fairly uniform thickness. Slather the marinade all over both sides of the meat so none is uncovered and leave for as long as you can before cooking it.

The chicken will be cooked on skewers so soak these for a bit in cold water to stop them catching alight on the grill. The marinade is a mix of dry spices and yoghurt. You need to add:

·         1 tsp ground cumin

·         1 tsp ground ginger

·         1 tsp garam masala

·         1 tsp salt

·         1 tsp black pepper

·         2 tsp paprika

Mix up again with yoghurt and pour all over some chunks (2/3cm) of chicken breast. Once these are marinated, again for as long as possible, push onto the soaked skewers with some chopped up peppers and onions.

You now have a whole lamb joint and batch of chicken skewers ready to BBQ. I served this with a simple carrot and cucumber salad, an Indian style potato salad, naan breads and raita.

The Cooking

Get your BBQ fired up and nice and hot. The beauty of caking the meat in all that yoghurt is the acid in it will start to break down the meat and therefore it cooks quicker. You’re going to get the lamb on first as it will rest whilst the chicken cooks. Slap it right in the middle of the grill cooking for a good 5 minutes before turning. Ignore your mates telling you its burning, it is but that’s not a problem at all. Turn it over and keep it in the centre for another 5 minutes. It will look black as hell on both sides now but do not worry. Move the meat right to the edge of the grill and close the lid. Keep this shut for 5 minutes then turn it again and close the lid again.

Your meat has now had 20 minutes of cooking time and should be taken off the grill onto a board of plate and covered in foil for at least 15 minutes to rest. Trust me, underneath that charred, blackened exterior is a deliciously tasty, juicy, pink leg of lamb.

The chicken is pretty straightforward, chuck the skewers on the grill, stick pointing out, rotate them as soon as the meat starts to char on that side. About 10 minutes of turning and they are about done (depending on the size of your chunks of course).

That’s it. Grab a cold Kingfisher (it’s more refreshing than Cobra) and enjoy with friends. Try it, I promise it’s gooooood! The BBQ revolution is upon us, don’t get left behind.

A study in sobriety

I should make a few things clear from the outset of this particular entry. Firstly, I am not T Total or allergic to alcohol or anything else that prevents me from drinking. Secondly, I am not preaching that this is the way everyone should live and you drunks and binge drinkers out there are getting it all wrong. I like a drink, I enjoy the taste of most alcoholic drinks and the feeling of being drunk. This was merely an experiment to see first-hand what it is like to go for a night out in town without the booze.

The Hypothesis

It is possible to have a good night out without drinking. The lack of alcohol should not prevent having a good laugh and a bad dance.

The Method

The meeting point was pre-arranged to be The Apple, the targeted end point was Pam Pam’s, the rest of night was open to interpretation.

The Apple is a great venue for a sunny day/evening offering a plethora of ciders to suit any palate. The temptation to sample one of these was pretty high after a rather sweaty walk but this subsided relatively quickly as a cold drink of any nature was all that was required. An unexpected problem with the plan did however quickly become evident. “Why aren’t you drinking?” seemed to be bugging quite a few of the 14 people out for the night. It was a fair question as a sober person can raise a number of issues to a drinker, mainly the question mark over their ability to get involved with the night and the fact they are going to be aware of and remember the stupid stuff people do and say. With that in mind I figured I had to stick to the plan of being childish enough to match the drinkers and honest enough to know I have done and said enough stupid stuff in my time so give them a bit of break.

After The Apple we ventured toward town via the waterfront. Now this would not normally be the first option for a night out, however I could sympathise with the designated organiser as pleasing 14 people with demands of cheap booze, music and outside space is not easy. Lloyd's Bar it was. Always a busy venue but tonight I could really appreciate the variety in the clientele. Not a real surprise that the vast majority leaned toward (some fully embraced) the ‘chavier’ end of the social spectrum but the age range was huge. Everyone from apparent first time drinkers to people that could well have been their parents/grandparents were there. This place also seemed to highlight something that has become increasingly evident over the last couple of weeks, a lot of people do not know how to dress in hot weather. Despite the negatives there were still rays of light emerging from my current surroundings. It was only about 10pm and already people were drunk enough to dance meaning when Jay Z’s Encore and R Kelly’s Igniition were played I had carte blanche to rap along and ‘dance’ without fear of looking foolish, or any more foolish than anyone else did. This was the point at which I thought my experiment was going to be a success, as soon as the barrier of sober dance moves had been crossed there was surely no turning back.

As the group moved outside drinking games began. Playing drinking rules when you’re on Coke and energy drinks is liking shooting fish in a barrel, for someone as competitve as myself this is a good thing. Two vessels, Howzat and M.I.N.E are incredibly easy when you are sober and it is very funny enforcing the rules to people that cannot believe how many times they were being caught out.

Time to move on and we started the hike up Park Street. A note at this point, drunk people are very slow movers and so it was sometime later before we approached Pam Pam’s. The obligatory queuing outside even though you know it’s not that busy inside was made even more laughable when we joined the 9 other people in the club. I have honestly never seen the place so quiet, I normally have a good night here but the only good thing at 11.45pm this Friday was the amazingly cool air conditioning.  With bar prices now at a premium I felt very happy to pay £1.50 for my bottled water as people were starting to lose faith and heads started to drop. It is at this point when you will come to a cross roads, accept the night has potentially ended early or power through it at the bar. Being male I have rarely, if ever, gone down the first route and it seemed my friends were keen for option number two. Time to leave and find cheaper booze ASAP.

La Rocca, one of my least favourite clubs in Bristol provided the final test of my sobriety. Packed to the rafters, cheesy music and nasty drinks promotions, we hit the bar and then the dance floor. Battling for space to throw some shapes and now having to literally fight off some of the worse for wear revellers who seemed to think I was keen to have utter nonsense screamed at me from very close range the night was starting to get away from me. At 1.45am I was done and headed back down Park Street and into the centre to find my car and head home.

The streets of Bristol were alive with people, I’m not sure I have ever really appreciated it before but there was something quite comforting about the amount of the people around. The warm glow of yellow street lights and the summer weather made for a relatively relaxing stroll. Fair play to Bristol, for a city centre at 2am there was little sign of trouble, aggression or anything along those lines making it feel quite safe. That being said I still feel like this feeling of safety is gender specific and after two stories of women being assaulted in town this weekend I don’t think I would want my wife wandering around alone at night.

The Conclusion

A night out off the booze can still most definitely be a good night. Provided you have; the right mind set, the right people and the right venues there is absolutely no reason you wont have a laugh.

The Evaluation

Being sober is no bad thing. You save money and feel totally fine in the morning it’s a win win. I think if the you can convince yourself your rubbish sober dancing is actually no worse than your ‘great’ drunken dancing you will be just fine. Good company and a good atmosphere are way more important ingredients for a night out than booze it seems. 

'A rose by any other name'...

A miserable evening in June, obviously. What better way to forget about the delights of the UK's summer rain then to find a good pub serving tasty food with a live band. The destination for this evening, The Rose of Denmark, Bristol.

I booked this with some trepidation having never stepped foot inside the place before and on this occasion I would be 'treating' the wife so it had to be good. Not that she is hard to please but you don't win the same kind of brownie points if the night is a bit of a flop. I had seen on their website that they have live music once a week at 8.30pm so booked to eat at 7pm so as not to miss out. As a result the place was pretty quite, bar one other couple and a few local drinkers. Nevertheless the drink options were good, 4 different guest ales and a range of your regular ciders and lagers on tap, as was the the bar menu. I went for a Masala Burger with fries, my wife the Ploughman's (an option with an array of sub options, she went with porcini polenta, Spanish omelette and brie).

The portions were generous (and I am greedy) and tasty with the presentation in keeping with the overall shabby chic style of the place. The burger was spiced pleasantly to set it apart from a regular beef burger and the fries were proper, crispy fries, not like these massive wedges of potato masquerading as chips. The ploughmans looked great with all the additional sides of pickles and garnishes you would expect and satisfyingly thick cut white bread. Cutlery was served in an old style metal tankard and ketchup in a little glass kilner jar on the side giving the pleasing little touches you hope for when eating out in a pub. The service was from the bar and the staff were very warm and friendly. On top of this it was a great value night, the total bill coming in at just over £30.

As we finished our food at around 8pm the place had started to fill and there was a very easy going, relaxed vibe. The music blended in with this and created the kind of atmosphere that made you feel at home in the surroundings of exposed brickwork fire places and chesterfield sofas. It is not a huge place but there seemed to be plenty of space for people in groups, couples or on their own to find a spot to chill out and enjoy the music. We were treated to a three piece band of piano, violin and trumpet which provided two hours of entertainment without being so obtrusive you couldn't hear each other speak but not so quite they demand silence.

Overall I would definitely recommend this place to fellow Bristolians looking for a good value night of relaxed entertainment.