Medallion steak chilli

In supermarkets you sometimes see beef labelled 'medallion steak'. This isn't a term you find on typical lists of steak cuts, and it's cheap, which facts together made me rather suspicious of the claim 'ideal for frying' on the packet. It looks to me a lot like skirt, or onglet, which can be served as steak but is inclined to be tough. In England skirt is more usually used for pies and the like.

Given all this, I decided to braise it, and as I fancied something vibrant I went for a tomato chilli. The usual drill - sear, brown the onions and spices, and immerse the meat in this mixture in a low oven all day. It was still quite fibrous, so I think it would definitely have been tough served as regular steak. It was also rather dry, so another time I'd up the cooking fat.

Moroccan chicken

This is something I make from time to time, usually using leg portions. Normally I brown the chicken, then subject it to the slow braise treatment with assorted veg and north African-ish spices (chilli, paprika, cumin, garlic, ginger, caraway, lemon). This time I'd planned to do it that same way, but events conspired to mean I had to do it more rapidly, in a hot oven. It wasn't as good; the chicken didn't have time to get really soft and fall off the bone, and the flavours didn't mix and meld so well. Maybe, too, because I was in a rush I forgot some vital ingredient. Anyway, it was perfectly good, but not so good as it could have been, which is always a disappointment.

However, all was not lost. There were some dregs of vegetables and sauce left over. I mixed this with some beaten egg and chopped spinach and made a sort of frittata for breakfast. Now that was good.

Almond pancakes

Shrove Tuesday. Pancake day. Given the day I thought I'd try this out; it's just ground almonds and eggs, and beaten egg white (because I happened to have an extra egg white lying about). Don't need any extra liquid as you do with regular pancakes.

I don't think it would be possible to make the traditional thin pancakes that cover a whole pan by this method; they come out small and thick like Scotch pancakes, though lighter and fluffier with the egg white. A nice breakfast, occasionally, with cream and blueberries and maple syrup.

Lunch of random leftovers

Cauliflower, a little rice, mixed together and baked with an egg and cheese. Something between a gratin and a strange pizza on a plate, I suppose.

Caribbean style fish curry with plantain

I've never cooked Caribbean food, in fact I've haven't even eaten much of it. So I have to begin with the proviso that I am most definitely no expert.

So, that said, this meal started with the plantain. I've never cooked that before, either, but I'm always looking to try new things, and plantain sounds like quite a good sort of carb - high in starch and low in fructose. So I planned to fry it, sliced, in coconut oil. I thought I'd do some sort of curry to go with it, and given the plantain, I thought it would be appropriate to make it a Caribbean-style curry. So I after a few look-ups I made up a sort of jerk seasoning mix - cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, chilli, thyme - and used this for a curry base with onions, coconut and tomato paste, in which I cooked some white fish.

I can't say how authentic this was. I think it was a bit too sweet; I should have used allspice, but I didn't have any. Perhaps a bit more chilli would have helped, too. All the same, it was pretty good.

Sauerkraut

Real sauerkraut is not just pickled cabbage, it's fermented cabbage. That probably sounds a bit unpleasant if you're not used to the idea of traditional foods, but it's actually how all pickles were made, in days gone by. Rather than pickling in vinegar, the fermentation process produces lactic acid, which then does the pickling for you instead of the acetic acid, or vinegar.

Homemade sauerkraut isn't much like the stuff you buy at the supermarket. That may not have been fermented at all, and if it was it's been subsequently heated in the packaging process. That doesn't just affect the texture and flavour (it cooks the cabbage, and sauerkraut should be crunchy), it kills the lactobacilli. Yes, traditional sauerkraut is also a free probiotic!

All you need is cabbage, salt and a big glass jar. Plus flavourings - caraway and juniper are traditional, but you can also use fennel or coriander seed, black pepper, even chilli. I used red cabbage, rather than white, simply because it looks pretty. Simply shred the cabbage, mix it with plenty of salt (three tablespoons per 5 pounds of cabbage is typical) and the flavourings, and then into the jar. Press it all down firmly. For the first day or two, check it regularly. If enough liquid to come above the level of the cabbage hasn't emerged by then, top it up with water and a bit more salt. It's important to use boiled (and cooled) or filtered water for this, to remove the chlorine - otherwise you'll kill those lactobacilli.

Then you just leave it for a couple of weeks at room temperature. After that it's ready. Store it in the fridge or somewhere cool. It keeps for ages - I've eaten a batch that was at least eighteen months old and it was just fine.

Breakfast: eggs

My favourite thing to have for breakfast at the moment is still custard. I've been refining the recipe for that, but I don't have it every day. Eggs usually feature in some form. Today I baked a large field mushroom with butter and some frozen spinach, plopped in a couple of eggs, and back in the oven for a couple of minutes with a little cheese on top.