This week in the kitchen

Sunday morning I defrosted some kip filets and put them to "marinate" for Delicious Chicken Bits (p14, Q&E x1/2). After the Langlais concert in Lesignac, I finished these off, serving with Green Beans with Mushrooms (p86, Q&E x1/2) andTurmeric Rice (p100, Q&E x1/4). Didn't have enough frozen green beans, so topped these up with frozen peas; worked fine.

Monday I defrosted the pie crust in the freezer and made a tart of use-me-ups (broccoli, mushrooms, onions) with two eggs and a soft goat cheese pyramid. Not bad at all. Served with salad.

Tuesday I made onion bhaji (p20 Q&E, more or less) and the Fresh Green Chutney (p113 Q&E) with mint from the garden and the rest of the first box of cilantro. Had planned to follow this with the leftover broc-shroom tart, but neither of us were that hungry. Instead we had some cheese and then a mini-Magnum while we walked in the garden.

Wednesday, shopping. Tuna on sale, oh boy. Grilled Tuna Steak with Nectarine-Red Onion Relish (p103, Thrill); served with buttered orechette. Then Camembert, followed by some "napoleon" cookie/cakes bought on sale today that turned out to be pretty good. (Then we went out see the ISS and shuttle fly by.)

Bought more cilantro, still have still have two boxes to use.

Thursday was an easy night. Made a mess of guacamole to go with the leftover enchiladas.

Having Hazan's book in the kitchen for Cooking Italy, means I'm using it for other stuff too. Friday was Grilled Chicken all Diavola, Roman Style (p337, ClassicItal). Lacking time I did it under the broiler. For the first bit, I had the rack too close to the flame and the skin was burnt. We don't generally eat the skin, so this wasn't a problem. I put as much as possible of the crushed peppercorns under the chickie's skin on the breast and legs. It wasn't notably pittig from the peppercorns, but one tablespoon for a whole bird isn't that much. Served with polenta and leftover nectarine-red onion relish; salad for starter. We'll probably do this again on the bbq.

Saturday, I picked the meat from the chicken and made a dinner salad with rucola and a dressing with mayo, cilantro, lime, and some sauce from a jar of chipotles in adobo. Yum.

Sunday, another easy dinner — the leftover broccoi-shroom tart and another rucola salad. The crust is still nice, flakey and tasty. Amazing. Made a batch of apple-plum butter, since we're down to the dregs on the current jar. Our neighbors left a big box of potatoes on our doorstep, so that needs to be eaten in the next week or so.

Didn't get my Cooking Italy assignment done this week. The spinach is defrosted, so it's crespelle for dinner tomorrow night.