A Carnivore's Veganuary Attempt

If you're a regular reader of my blog, I'm sure you'll know by now that I'm a pretty committed carnivore. I always like to eat ethically, and try to source my meat as locally as I can. However, I've still found myself buying New Zealand lamb and multi-packs of chicken breasts from the supermarket out of convenience, even if I disagree with it.

So,  with January being the month of ridiculous diets and abstinence from all things fun, I thought I'd use this excuse to try out being a vegan for a month. I ate as much as possible of the leftover Christmas cheese and meats, and settled in for the carbfest.

I wasn't too worried by the dairy-free aspect of things, as I'm not a huge milk drinker and hate creamy things. I love all vegetables except broad beans so I'm no salad dodger either. The first few days were the toughest, not because I missed anything, but because I stood in front of the fridge thinking "what on earth am I going to eat".

Breakfasts didn't change too much. A simple swap of almond milk from normal milk meant that my usual weekday breakfasts of porridge or protein smoothies weren't affected.

Weekend breakfasts actually got better. I'll never go back to a greasy fry up after making these on a rainy Sunday morning...

So many avocados and I've rekindled my love of mushrooms. Vegan tip: Linda McCartney sausages are a game changer. I searched high and low for a vegan friendly sausage for breakfast and these were the only ones I could find and they're actually really good.

Lunches were pretty boring and this is what I found hardest. I always take lunch to work, and I'm used to taking a salad with some protein on the top. I piled my salads high with houmous and falafels most days, but found the options limited.

The best days were when I cooked extra from my dinner the night before, such as veggie burgers or soup, that I could take with me.

I stumbled across Jamie Oliver's recipe for vegan burgers here, and batch cooked them one evening. Packed full of protein, they're really light and fresh, and I'll be making these in the summer. The best thing about them is that they're tasty in their own right, without trying to be a poor substitute of a beef burger. Great with sweet potato fries too.

It got a lot easier as the month went on. I quickly got used to cups of tea with almond milk, and I found that I really just didn't need the meat on my plate. Jacket potatoes piled high with veggie chilli, curries packed full of vegetables, and I didn't even miss it from my cooked dinners. Even Bisto's beef gravy is vegan (though most nan's would argue that it's not even gravy...)

I didn't eat out much in January due to it being a busy period in work, and also the post Christmas crunch on the pockets. However, I still managed to get some vegan friendly takeaways in, and some home made. Tarkha Dhal is one of my favourite Indian meals anyway (The Lahore do an amazing one) so I didn't miss out with this either. Plus a side of kale, because by now I was feeling pretty smug and virtuous.

I'm so glad that I did Veganuary, and it's really helped force me into the eating habits that I wanted to instil in myself, but laziness and convenience was standing in my way.

Everything got so much easier by the end of the month, possibly helped by the changes I noticed in myself and my body. I didn't lose any weight on the scales, which wasn't the aim anyway, but I felt a lot lighter and much less bloated. The fact that I found out that Oreos were vegan friendly probably didn't help my case here.

My skin cleared up almost instantly. I didn't get a single spot throughout the month, and my energy levels were through the roof. I don't know if this was because of the lack of animal products, the increase in vegetables or both, but the 3 o'clock slump didn't exist. I slept better and was a lot more alert in the mornings.

So where am I now, in March? It took me a while to eat some meat, and I have eaten meat since. However, I wasn't craving it like I did a glass of wine post sober October. I'm still only drinking almond milk, and I've only had the smallest bit of cheese that's not vegan. I don't suppose there's a label for it, but now I'm trying to only eat meat and animal products as little as possible and where I can be sure they're locally and ethically sourced.

I've found that I just don't need those products on my plate all of the time, every day. I used to base my meals around a tasteless chicken breast or a cheap steak, and this has given me the confidence to start cooking again properly, and using different flavours and ingredients.

I'm trying not to come across preachy, as I'm aware that some people close up their ears at the word 'vegan'. Hopefully this will help those who are just a little curious, or want to cut down even a little bit. I searched for blogs as I felt pretty helpless when I first started veganuary, completely unprepared.

Feel free to tweet me or comment below if you want to steal any recipe ideas! I'll try and pop some up on the blog from time to time.

Bistro 8, Blackwood

My blogging time has been limited lately, and with my job December and January are complete write off's. However, here I am, back in 2017 with blogging goals that I'll undoubtedly fail at but for now, here's some food!

I've been meaning to write about this place after each meal, and I've never gotten around to it. I dined here a couple of times in 2016 so this post will be a bit of a mish mash of all my visits!

Bistro 8 used to be a pub, and has now been converted into a bar & restaurant. They focus on good hearty, locally sourced food, with a slightly Spanish twist. They offer a tapas menu, a decent wine list (with wine glasses bigger than my head) and the garlic bread is worth a visit on it's own.

I've not yet had the full Spanish experience here, but they usually offer one of their tapas dishes as a starter, and the calamari has been a top choice each time. Dusted with a thin batter, they're never greasy. I am also a sucker for a thwack of garlic (sorry Mr P) and the aioli dip always hits the spot.

The spicy chorizo 'scotch' egg was lovely and crunchy on the outside, but a little too rich for me on the inside.

The Spanish chicken thighs were cooked well, with a lovely crunchy skin in a chorizo sauce. Roast potatoes were crispy but soft enough inside to mop up the sauce. However, the sauce lacked a bit of the spice and heat I was expecting.

They know how to cook a proper roast though. These roasties were enormous, crunchy and squidgy. Perfect.

There is a set menu available Mon - Fri (5 - 7pm) which at £12.50 for two courses is excellent value. We always come away feeling outrageously full for a midweek supper. They usually have a few curries on the set menu, and the Malaysian and Thai style curries really pack in the flavour.

The only thing that really irks me about the set menu is the number of main courses requiring a supplement. If you're going to have a set menu, then make it just that! Rant over.

What Bistro 8 does do well is good hearty, home cooked meals just like this lasagne. It was brought to the table still bubbling away and was layered full of vegetables and pasta in a creamy bechamel sauce. 

We've also visited on special occasions, such as Valentine's Day and Mother's Day, and they do really step it up a notch here. The sizeable roasties above were from a Mother's Day meal, as were these little goats cheese golden nuggets.

Our most recent visit was on Valentine's Day, and I normally try to keep my camera locked away over our meals for at least one day of the year, but this dessert was too good not to share. Prosecco and lemon candy cheesecake, with lemon sorbet. 

The cheesecake was super soft with a spongy base (which I enjoyed even though I'm more a fan of a buttery biscuit base) but the best bit by far was the lemon sorbet. So sharp yet sweet at the same time, it did exactly what it was supposed to do after all the rich food that went before.

Bistro 8 manages to make you feel like you're in a top class restaurant, but in your pyjamas. In a good way. The cosy bar downstairs, and the laid back décor with it's slight nods to the Spanish flavour, echoes the food style. It's a place you'd be equally comfortable dressed up, or popping in midweek straight from work for an indulgent midweek dinner. Which I thoroughly urge you to do.

I am determined to go back one day and enjoy it true Spanish style, on a lazy sunny day in the beer garden, with a jug of sangria and plate after plate of tapas. I also need to take a picture of the garlic bread, which I was annoyed not to find a picture of in my photo library. If you go, make sure you order it even if it's not strictly on the menu. It's more of a loaf, but it's one of my weaknesses and I just can't stop eating it even when my zipper has burst. 

Maybe avoid it on a first date though.

Hang Fire Southern Kitchen, Barry

Remember me? I'm sure that I used to be a food blogger, once upon a time! This year has been completely crazy. I've started a new job and had so much going on, that Sun Sea & Sara has taken a bit of a back seat. Lots of food and adventures since you last saw me, that's for sure. I've been taking photos and posting up on Instagram, so hopefully I'll try and catch up on the blogging!

I've been so busy in fact, that I've managed to visit the incredible Hang Fire Southern Kitchen twice and somehow not told you all about it yet. So grab a beer and prepare to get very hungry...

It's worth the wait that you'll inevitably have for a table. They're still so busy that they're very often fully booked, and unfortunately I live just too far away to risk a walk in. However, I'd wait months (impatiently, granted) to get my hands on these Louisiana hot wings again. They have this addictive spicy, almost vinegary sauce on them and I can't get enough. I had them on both visits...and now I'm writing this again I'm off to book another table for a third batch.

I'm trying so hard to describe how good these are, but you just have to try them for yourself. Whilst gesturing to everyone else on the table about how spicy and juicy they are, with hot sauce dribbling down your chin.

I'm getting ahead of myself here though. Just in case you've been living in a cave for a couple of years and haven't bought any food from a truck recently, let me fill you in on the Hang Fire story (short version). Sam & Shauna are two awesome chicks who gave up their careers to eat their way around the US of A in search of the most badass barbecue and bring it back to Wales. They've really been the firing force behind the Cardiff street food movement, and still are. 2016 has seen the opening of their first restaurant down the at the beautiful Barry waterfront, which is going from strength to strength, while still maintaining a presence on the street food scene.

Number one rule on the day of your visit: Don't eat a thing all day.

If you're going for starters, get the hot wings. I don't care about anything else. But if you're not feeling spicy, the lil cheeky pies are a cute plate to share.

On my first visit, my friend and I (who is my equal in stomach filling ability) knew there was only one option. The Big Pit Plate. A sharing plate for two. Or should I say plates.

The meats: Brisket, St Louis ribs, Andouille sausage, Carolina style pulled pork. Oh and a little pot of glorious burnt ends and pickles.

The Hang Fire ribs are indescribable if you haven't tried them yourself. Smoked low and slow the Hang Fire way, with the pink smoke ring and the dry rub on top. Melt in your mouth good, the meat just falls off the bone. Ditch the forks and get stuck in.

Oh and the pulled pork. Oh and the brisket. Oh it's just all so good. I might not have blogged in a while but I really am all out of words to describe this barbecue heaven that is HF. Just go and eat it all. Except those juicy burnt ends...they're mine. Prepare to fight your whole table over those.

Nothing at HF is an afterthought. Even the carb tray was a fantastic mix of sides. A pot of slaw and pit beans each, a slice of cornbread and perfect chips. The light and tangy coleslaw recipe is in their book (available on Amazon, but I got free with a £20 hug), I made it for a BBQ and even my mayonnaise obsessed friends and family loved it. It just goes so much better with the meat than the usual claggy stuff you buy in the shops.

Even the sauces are made to their own recipe, the espresso sauce being my favourite drizzled on top of the chunky beef brisket.

While us girls worked our way through the Pit Plate, the boys both went for the brisket. Complete with burnt ends and piled high on Texas toast (which I think is a slice of garlic bread to you and I). That ring of pink around the outside called the 'smoke ring' is a chemical reaction, and is the true sign of a low and slow smoking of the meat (which you won't find at certain "smokehouses" that pop up around town).

Second time around, it was just Mr P and I on my birthday. I picked out the flat iron steak which comes with the dreamy chimichurri sauce and creamy bone marrow butter. The steak was so thick yet cut like butter, and just melted in the mouth. Don't underestimate the chips either, I was still picking at these skin on beauties long after I'd run out of room.

Mr P went for something he'd always wanted to try, that American classic of chicken and waffles, but with a sweet potato fry swap.

The verdict - as with everything else at HF - was awesome. Not being completely new to the sweet & savoury aspect (obsessed with bacon and maple syrup pancakes), it was just how he imagined it. The fried chicken had a great crunch, without being too greasy. The coating had a good balance of spice, including a hit of black pepper that cut through the sweetness. The waffles were huge chunky things, and I did enjoy the one bite I was allowed...

The Hang Fire Southern Kitchen is everything I'd hoped for when I heard they had a restaurant. Aside from the utterly faultless food, the Pumphouse is beautiful and a Pinterest dream (check out the toilets). The staff are super friendly and there's just a good fun vibe about the place. Despite the fight to book a table, it's organised so that it never feels crowded. The drinks list is pretty hefty, with a good stock of craft beers such as Beavertown and Brewdog, which all go well with the food.

Grab some friends, and go book a table now here! Don't forget to end with a pickleback!

Urban Tap House, Newport

I love this place so much I kind of want to keep it all to myself so that I've always got a seat. But that wouldn't be fair on anyone, and besides, I talk about it way too much to keep it a secret.

Tiny Rebel and therefore Urban Tap House are easily the best thing to have happened to the 'Port in such a long time. Get your butt out of Friars Walk and up to the Market and try a pub where there's not a pint of Carling in sight and your dinner's ingredients are sat on a deli counter less than 20 metres away.

Mr P and I were after all of the carbs (as per usual) and decided on a pizza to share and some sides. I really fancied the breakfast pizza, but we compromised on the 'Signature' which was pulled pork, BBQ sauce and candied bacon dust (£9.95). Yes, I was sold on magical sounding bacon dust.

To cover all the necessary food groups we added some sweet potato fries (£2.50) and some pulled pork dough balls (£4.95).

In hindsight, the pizza might have been enough. Enough for three people that is. Gargantuan is the only adjective big enough to describe it. Oh, that and lush. The deep sweet and smoky BBQ sauce made with 'Dirty Stop Out' stout really elevates the pulled pork to another level entirely.

The sweet potato fries were the perfect balance of crisp and crunchy on the outside, but unlike so many other establishments who obliterate the potato element completely in the fryer, they still retained some soft sweet potato goodness.

Never ones to over dress or under order, us two. These dough balls had to come home with us and get devoured later on with a beer for tea instead, as they were just too much to fit in. Huge chewy doughy balls to pull apart and dunk in some more of that Dirty Stop Out BBQ sauce, filled with even more pulled pork.

The incredible Tiny Rebel beers are the other reason we keep coming back to Urban Tap House (both Cardiff & Newport). If you get a chance to try 'Stay Puft' when you visit, please do. It's a delicious marshmallow porter, and probably the most flavoursome pint I've ever had. It's glorious. It's like melted toasted marshmallows in an espresso. 

The menu will be undergoing a revamp soon, and as the majority of the produce comes from the Market next door there are always new specials to try out. There's a bunch of events coming up over the summer, and with a sizeable beer garden to soak up the sun, maybe I'll see you there eh?

Sunday Best - The Halfway House, Blackwood

Welcome to my new series - Sara's Sunday Best. I've recently had a lot of my friends and family asking about the best place for a good ol' Sunday roast and it set my blogger bells ringing. I decided to throw myself on the line for you readers, and set out to find the yummiest roast around.

My lovely arty husband helped me design the scoreboard below, and we chatted about the most important bits of a roast to be scored, and the ultimate score out of five. Out of five 'Nans' that is. I don't know if it's a Welsh thing, but the highest accolade you can ever get for a roast dinner is "That tastes just like my Nan's dinner" so the bar is set very high my friends.

Up first is The Halfway House, Blackwood (ish). Local for me, and only a few moments away from the Bryn Meadows Hotel & Golf Club. Thinking of where to go and get fed one weekend, we remembered the most amazing sandwich we'd had here a few years ago, and decided to go back and check out the full dinner.

We'd booked for 12.30pm, and when we got there it seemed almost deserted, and odd that although there were only the two of us, we were sat on a small 'in the way' table. However, by the time we sat and ordered, it soon filled up.

I was tempted by the pork belly, but in the end we both plumped for the roast lamb. Slightly odd to see such varying prices between the meats, but all in all reasonably priced for what came next. Cauli cheese was an extra at £2.50, which is a must for me when it's on the menu. Child prices are just out of shot, but they were £3 less than the adult price across the board.

Our food came out of the kitchen very quickly, and just kept on coming. Roasties, a crunchy stuffing ball, a yorkshire, carrot & swede mash and the roast lamb were plated up and given a lick of gravy to keep moist and warm.

Then out came a bowl of crisp cabbage, a mixed bowl of carrots and peas, an extra full jug of herby gravy and the cauliflower cheese. Mind your toes...

The lamb was faultless, plentiful and flavoursome. The carrots (both mash and boiled) were sweet, but I could take or leave the average peas. I'm not the biggest fan unless they're of the mushy or marrowfat kind. Cabbage was well seasoned and still had a bite to it.

The most important part...the roasties were pretty darn good. Not quite as amazing as our previous visit, but that sandwich held high expectations. Crispy on the outside, piping hot and smooth inside. The stuffing ball was different to any I'd had before, deep fried texture with a lot of spicing. A bit of a surprise, but a nice one.

 

The cauliflower cheese sauce was really flavoursome, and so pretty flecked with herbs. My only criticism was that it could have done with just a minute more under the grill for me.

Service was lovely and helpful, with offers of more of whatever we needed, but not intrusive. I do hate that I'm always asked "How's your meal" when I've inevitably got more than what's considered polite shoved in my mouth.

After all that food, we were full as eggs, but I started out the afternoon with ice cream on the brain and ice cream I was going to get. There were some interesting looking desserts on the menu, but we opted to share a mint chocolate sundae.

Pretty standard pub sundae affair, more than enough for the both of us at the £5 price tag. I didn't (probably stupidly on my behalf) realise that it came with chocolate ice cream too, which I hate, so I skirted around it and snarfed all the minty bits. 

Totally stuffed, the damage was £30.50 for the two of us, without drinks. I can't comment on the beer selection as we were both on driver duties, so cokes all round.

For the first time in the series... let's get the Nan Score!

(P.s. If you like the look of Mr P's handiwork, take a look here at what he gets up to when I'm blogging)

Feasting at Fistral

I think it's safe to say we filled our boots on our weekend away. My excuse is that we needed the extra padding against the bracing at Atlantic winds.... or that the food was just too good to resist.

We started our Saturday morning off in true lazy holiday style...full Cornish breakfast in bed with an unbeatable view.

However, the views and food downstairs in the restaurant are just as good. There's the usual cereals and fruits, a self serve buffet of full English items and cold meats, and you can also order from the hot menu. FYI, the eggs benny are awesome.

In between breakfasts, we found a food truck called Wild Foods, and devoured an incredibly crunchy wild garlic and nettle falafel. Very filling and just enough garlic to keep the vampires away.

Of course, who visits Cornwall without one of these? Heartbroken that my favourite pasty shop was shut, (I'm hoping that it was just for the winter) but this one filled in quite nicely.

Our deal included a 3 course meal on one night at The Headland, so Saturday night we stayed safe inside from the elements with a bottle of red to keep us warm.

Golden crunchy Cornish crab fritters with a creamy curried mayonnaise, with just enough spice.

Szechuan pork and spring onions. This dish was 100% prettier in real life than in this grainy light! A light and zingy starter with spicy marinaded pork.

Braised shin of beef, with a slice of fried polenta and garlic broccoli. The beef literally fell apart as soon as I stuck the fork in, and never underestimate the power of perfectly cooked broccoli! I could jump through the screen and eat this again right now.

The venison was pinker than the picture, and just as soft. The parmesan crisps added a nice crunch, and look striking, but are a lot harder to eat as a meal than they look.

I was a little disappointed with dessert. Cornish Gouda, quince jelly and biscuits. The jelly was both sweet and a little sharp, but that cheese barely stretched to two of the generic crackers.

Especially when over the other side of the table was this huge slab of sticky toffee pudding with popcorn ice cream. Deliciously sinful. It's probably a good job I only had a little slice of cheese, as Mr P was struggling and what kind of wife would I be if I didn't help out eh?

The restaurant is open to the public too, so if you're down this way at all, pop in for a cosy meal and nose around this beautiful building.