Tweede kerstdag 2017

Smoked Salmon Salad with Dill Pork Loin Braised in Milk Charlotte de Chou et de Pommes de Terre—Cabbage Charlotte Italian Pear Almond Cake

A smaller meal for second xmas day than we had yesterday. We started with Smoked Salmon Salad with Dill (BEFCC, p35), which we've had before. It's still good and so easy to do.

For our main, there was Pork Loin Braised Milk (web). (Entirely coincidentally, the Italian Pear Almond Cake is from the same site, collected two years apart.) This was nice and made a delicious sauce.

As a go-with, I finally made Charlotte de Chou et de Pommes de Terre—Cabbage Charlotte (BEFCC, p41). I've had my eye on this recipe for a long time, but it wants a special occasion and a small charlotte mold to bring it off. I broke down and bought myself the mold recently. Isn't it cute?

This dish is kind of a fancy version of bubble and squeak; it's tasty, but you'd only go to this work for a special meal. I do like my little charlotte mold, though, and will have to find other things to do with it.

For dessert we finished off yesterday's Italian Pear Almond Cake, which lasted quite well. (Recipe says it doesn't keep.) This is supposed to serve eight. Those would be very delicate servings. Six would be better. We ate is as four servings. It's good.

Christmas dinner 2017

Seared Scallops with Mint, Peas, and Bacon Bricked Game Hens with Savoy Cabbage on Polenta Croûtes Brillat-Savarin Signé Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2014 Italian Pear Almond Cake

This is not our happiest holiday season. Beyond the interminably gray weather, which is not very cheery, we've lost two friends recently. We lit an extra candle on the table to remember Doug and Stevie, who was a good friend to my brother. I think we'll make this a tradition for our special meals, a candle as a small remembrance for those who were close but are now gone from our lives.

For a starter there was Seared Scallops with Mint, Peas, and Bacon (web). This is a pea sauce, topped with seared scallops then a garnish of peas, mint, and bacon (I used lardons). The serving sizes in the recipe are odd. For four people, the recipe asks for 12 scallops totaling 1-1/2 pounds. Now, I live right next door to the coast, so fairly well-supplied with seafood, and six scallops (for a half recipe) totaled 4-1/8 ounces, about a sixth of what was asked. Puzzling. With my six scallops, I made half the pea sauce. A very nice starter that is easy to make and very yummy.

We didn't make it to a marché de noël this year, so we didn't have any venison or other festive meat. Instead I made Bricked Game Hens with Savoy Cabbage on Polenta Croûtes (Polenta, p74). I cooked two coquelets, each about the size of a Cornish game hen, but we ate only one. (Ed used to easily eat a whole one, but we have leftovers for another night.) The cabbage was especially nice and easy, finely sliced, then sautéed with a bit of finely chopped shallot and chicken stock. When it's done-ish, stir in a spoonful of grainy mustard.

Then we finished the last little bit of Brillat-Savarin we had, on plain crackers.

The wine was, um, undistinguished, but we did manage to finish the bottle over the course of our meal. We both forgot to buy something nice at the shop this week, and our stash is almost empty so this was all that was available.

For dessert, there was Italian Pear Almond Cake (web) which was very tasty. This was supposed to serve eight, but the two of us finished off half. Oh well, supposedly it doesn't keep well, and I'd hate for it to go bad.

A nice meal altogether, accompanied only by Oscar, while Sophie slept upstairs.

This week in the kitchen

Monday/25-Dec-17: Our xmas meal got its own post.

Tuesday/26-Dec-17: Our tweede kerstdag meal got its own post.

Now we have lots of leftovers.

Wednesday/27-Dec-17: Leftovers with the bricks coquelets and the cabbage charlotte mold. Some ice cream bars for dessert.

Yogurt on overnight.

Thursday/28-Dec-17: Shopping today after Ed's early dentist appointment. This week there were more "exotic" foods, typical of the holiday season. Okra, even, if you like that. And the meat counter had lots of fancy birds, capons and regular chickens, each wrapped in a dish towel sort of thing, with tail feather, and feet, and sometimes heads showing. The better to choose what you want.

Our main meal was quite early, Roast Cod on Smoked Salmon and Cabbage Hash with Horseradish Butter (Raising, p40). Surprisingly tasty, this was. I cannot get a piece of cod to be nicely browned like that picture. It comes apart in big flakes. Still tastes good. The cabbage and smoked salmon and cod went together surprisingly well. I didn't see the bit about serving with plain mashed potatoes till it was too late, so served with bread.

Friday/29-Dec-17: Well, it was supposed to be fresh pasta today, but I didn't have the time, energy, or enthusiasm. Instead there was fresh (?), store-bought pasta from the freezer. We had Fettuccine al Limone (ClassPasta, p96), which was very good. And a big salad. Some mini ice cream bars for dessert.

Saturday/30-Dec-17: Make two lumps of Tart Dough (Tenth, p256; HandyBook), one for tomorrow's tart, one for the freezer. Make some polenta for tomorrow night's crostini. Our meal was leftover pork roast from tweede kerstdag and the rest of the cabbage-potato charlotte. We had ice cream at the movies.

Yogurt on overnight.

Sunday/31-Dec-17: Cath came to spend the night. For dinner we had Leek and Mustard Pie (Greens, p245; cookbooker) followed by a big salad and then some Three Kings' Cake (from a Chasseneuil boulangerie with a Harry Potter character as the fêve).

For munchies, I had way too much for three people. We nibbled on corn nuts before dinner, always a mistake. With South Pacific there was: more corn nuts Carrot sticks. Celery sticks. Grilled Polenta Crostini with Smoked Trout and Mascarpone (Polenta, p48) (used the smoked salmon left from Thursday instead of smoked trout). Didn't use: chaource, olives, artichokes with green tapenade and goat cheese. All those back in the fridge for future use.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 3
This month: #3 PASTA: no; #4 BREAD: no

This week in the kitchen

Monday/18-Dec-17: Soup for dinner. There was Mushroom-Barley Soup (MC) just for us. Good it was. And a bit of salad. And the last of the Mothais cheese. We've eaten well.

Tuesday/19-Dec-17: We're both feeling sorry because we wasted a sunny afternoon inside with a blah movie today.

Dinner was ravioli alla panna (they were Raviolis Gorgonzola+Jambon Cru) and salad. Mini ice cream bars for deesert.

Wednesday/20-Dec-17: Shopping today. You'd never know by Leclerc's selection that there was a holiday coming. In the past, the veggie area would be full of unusual vegetables and out-of-season fruits. Nice for a treat. There were some patridge in the meat cooler; I almost bought a pair but though better of it.

Roasted one and half red bell peppers from the fridge while getting dinner ready.

Dinner was Grilled Masala Salmon (MJ@Home, p46). It's easy and yummy. I made the recommended sides of Basmati Rice with Lentils (MJ@Home, p212) and South Indian-Style Green Beans (MJ@Home, p147). Have made all these before. Everything good.

There were some nice cheeses on sale from Nos Régions, so I got a bit of Brillat-Savarin and another of Chaource. I'm sure we'll manage to eat them before they expire. Neither are lait cru. We had a bit of the Brillat-Savarin for afters. Not the best ever, but not bad.

Thursday/21-Dec-17: Oscar off to the vet for surgery this morning. Yogurt on overday.

For our meal with had falafel (from the freezer) with garnishes suggeted by Falafel with Walnut Sauce and Garnishes (Savory, p274).  The Walnut Sauce with Fennel Seeds (Savory, p322) was quite tasty. Garnishes included sliced cucumbers, chopped tomatoes, kalamata olives, feta, and strips of the roasted red bell peppers I made yesterday. In pitas. We were stuffed. It might have been better to just serve it all as a salad.

Friday/22-Dec-17: Our meal was a half recipe of Twisted Noodles and Olive Sauce (Savory, p162; cookbooker). Then a big salad full of goodies.

Prepped the pie crust for tomorrow's tart.

Saturday/23-Dec-17: Finished off Winter Squash Tart (Greens, p246) to take to Cath's for meal with Hannah and Jem. A very nice tart, fairly easy to make. Used Jones' crust from the freezer, rather than the one in the book. And a bowlful of plain salad to which we added some walnuts. Cath made dessert. All was yummy.

Sunday/24-Dec-17: Put up a few decorations today. Not feeling very jolly.

Our meal was a half recipe of Pork Chops with Thyme Pan Sauce (CL/nov15; web). Served with smash potatoes and sauerkraut. Pretty good, if rather beige, dinner.

Yogurt on overnight.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 5
This month: #3 PASTA: no; #4 BREAD: no

This week in the kitchen

Monday/11-Dec-17: Went to make lamb chops today and discovered that I forgot to remind myself to put them on to marinate. Oops. Put them on to marinate for tomorrow, so they'll have almost 24 hours rather than only 8 hours.

Instead we had Copycat Panera Macaroni and Cheese (web). Wasn't bad at all. Actually the recipe is quite similar to the my usual mac-and-cheese recipe, without the minced onions. Both have too much liquid. Otherwise very tasty. Don't know Panera.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/12-Dec-17: The marinated lamb turned into Grecian Lamb with Herbed Yogurt Sauce (CL92, p158). The lamb marinated a bit longer than the recipe intended, but it was good. Served with the last of the Moroccan couscous I got from the health food store and Fassolakia Freska—Green Beans with Onion and Tomato (Meze, p79; cookbooker)

Wednesday/13-Dec-17: Dinner out this evening. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

Thursday/14-Dec-17: Doug's funeral today.

Dinner was Sarah's Slow Cooker Greek Chicken Gyros (web), made in the slow cooker. Served with flat breads (which I didn't bother to heat up, so they were a bit brittle), and chopped cuke, tomato, onion, and arugula.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/15-Dec-17: Soup for dinner, Pumpkin and Coconut Soup (SoupBible, p70). I made a full recipe. We ate all the solid bits and have quite a bit of flavorful broth in the freezer to use for something else. Not too hard to make, but took me a bit of time, especially for pounding the aromatics. Used raw frozen shrimp, not all that small. Used coconut milk and cream. Tasty and filling.

Saturday/16-Dec-17: Dinner out tonight. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

Sunday/17-Dec-17: Stamppot with zuurkool and smoked sausages for our meal today. Simple and delicious.

Yogurt on overnight.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 3
This month: #3 PASTA: no; #4 BREAD: no

This week in the kitchen

Monday/4-Dec-17: For our meal we had chicken with a satay marinade from the freezer. Used skinless, boneless kip thighs rather than kip filets, marinated then broiled. Then there was Coconut Rice (30MinInd, p100). Made a major goof on this when I added the shallots and garlic from the green bean recipe instead of the spicy stuff for this one. Stirred the spicy stuff into the cooking rice when I realized and sliced more shallots and garlic. And a little salad, a half recipe of Spicy Thai Cucumber Salad (MaiPham, p46), which was good as before; no peanuts or fried shallots for garnish.  And there was a halfish recipe of Thai Stir-Fried Long Beans (MaiPham, p169) made with haricots verts and no kaffir lime leaves. Chocolate cookies for dessert.

Tuesday/5-Dec-17: Lunch with BookChatters today. Ed ate from the freezer.

Lexi, our possibly new dog, a hand-me-down from a neighbor going back to UK to work, came for a visit.

Yogurt on overnight.

Wednesday/6-Dec-17: Shopping today.

Dinner was a halfish recipe of Masala Fish Steak (MJ@Home, p48), with lieu noir, filets not steaks. Disappointing really. Other things from this book have been excellent. This was uninteresting. As suggested, served with Zucchini and Yellow Summer Squash with Cumin (MJ@Home, p179). A half recipe with only zucchini, of course. This wasn't bad (Ed liked it a lot), but didn't really go with the fish dish. And some basmati rice with onions.

Thursday/7-Dec-17: For dinner, we had Craig Claiborne's Ultimate Hamburger (Tabasco, p88). These were really good, as before. Made up a little salad go-with, chunks of snijbonen (whatever is the English name of these?) with toasted walnuts, sesame seeds, slices of oven-dried tomatoes from the freezer, some gorgonzola, and lemon juice. Pretty good it was. Some store-bought custard (salted caramel) for dessert.

Friday/8-Dec-17: Oscar to the vet today for his shots. He got another cancer thing on his belly. Will have surgery next week.

Dinner was Prawns with Curry Saucy—Crevettes en Brochette à l'Indienne (BEFCC, p111). This was kind of so-so. Not sure how you serve sauce with shrimp on sticks. We managed, but it's not  that nice. Like most curried French dishes, the curry is pretty light, even though I used more than what was required for the half recipe I made. Served with a pilaf sort of thing and steamed broccoli. Store-bought custard for dessert. (Actually these weren't real custards, but yogurt-based. Maybe a new product line for La Fermière since they were on sale.

Saturday/9-Dec-17: Yogurt on overday.

Doug died this morning. We are heart-broken.

Quick dinner with sautéed slices of duck breast and a pan sauce of port and cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving. Served with orzo and steamed broccoli. Mini ice cream bars for after.

Sunday/10-Dec-17: Off the week's meal plan with One-Pan Chicken Thighs with Cilantro-Lime Black Bean Rice (web) for our meal, with a bit of pretty bare salad. Lots of rice left over for something.

Meanwhile for Cath's vegetarian daughter, arriving today, I made Kaye's Veg and Feta Gratin (MC) with broccoli. I'd forgotten about this recipe, which I adapted from a Cooking Light recipe. It's easy and good. And then some Mushroom-Barley Soup (MC), made vegetarian with paddestoelen fond and no Worcestershire sauce.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 2
This month: #3 PASTA: no; #4 BREAD: no