Sat 18 - Marmalade, Leftover Beef & Chatkhara

After pizza at Franco Manca yesterday I wandered a few shops further into Brixton Market and came across the Wild Caper Deli, from where I bought half a Cafone sourdough bread for £2.  I had a thick slice of this with some salted butter and the marmalade I made last week.  The marmalade worked out well, just the right consistency, though I'm a bit gutted that the oranges weren't bloody enough in colour to affect the end result.  It just looks like marmalade.  No problem really.  I forget how much I like marmalade for the six months a year when I've run out of it.

Next up, for lunch I made a sandwich from the leftover rump steak that I couldn't finish at Santa Maria Del Sur on Thursday.  I was a bit bemused last week when I read this article in the Evening Standard praising doggy bags as if they're some sort of new trend.  If desired, I've have always requested them and have never been refused, though maybe that's because the kind of places where food I take food away from (i.e. cuisine that's still desirable even an hour after being cooked) are the kind of places that specialise in takeaway food, so they're set up for it.  Who'd want to takeaway a half eaten Eggs Benedict, or the deflated remains of a passion fruit souffle?  Not me thanks.  Back to the sandwich; Cafone bread, thinly sliced clot rump beef, horseradish mayo, watercress, and some dressed cherry tomatoes on the side.As simple and as tasty as it sounds.  The bread from Wild Caper is superb.

Went out to watch some comedy (Daniel Sloss, go see) and consume quite a few beers after this, and to the relief of restaurant owners, waiters and you innocent diners across London, decided against a drunken meal at your favourite haunt / place of employment, opting instead for a Kofte kebab from the Chatkhara Indian casual restaurant / takeaway in Clapham South.  They also have branches at the Elephant & Castle and Tooting, and each branch is equipped with a tandoori oven which I frequently see them using to pre-roast chicken and lamb, and in which they also freshly cooked the naan-style bread in that my two Kofte were wrapped in.  It was finished with crunch cabbage, salad, cucumber, onions, garlic sauce and a smidgen of chilli sauce.  At two in the morning and after consuming my own weight in booze I don't think I can fairly assess this food, but for what it's worth, tasted good and was really spicy.  I don't know if the spice was coming from the tiny bit of sauce or from spicing within the Kofte itself, but it certainly brought me back to life.  I should add that this cost me £2, which is a genuine bargain.  They seem to make all their own food here, which makes me want to go back as much as the price does.