Monday/28-May-18: Started another batch of Ratio bread.
Our dinner was a half-dose of Bobotie (200Budget, p136; cookbooker), made up in individual casserole dishes. A bit odd, but very tasty. Followed by salad. Then some chocolate corn flake cookies.
Tuesday/29-May-18: Pizza tonight. It always takes longer than I expect, but I never remember to start earlier. And a problem with the pizza dough made it even longer. I made, more or less, Artichoke, Goat Cheese, and Olive Pizza (BoldVeg, p195; cookbooker). That's all we had.
Wednesday/30-May-18: Shopping today. Some impulse buys with sale stuff. The season for green asparagus seems to be over; still some fat white ones, but we prefer the green ones.
Dinner was Salmon with Yogurt-Curry Sauce (web); pretty good stuff. Served with polenta and peas with pearl onions.
Thursday/31-May-18: Jiggled the meal plan today and ended up with Mediterranean Shrimp Pie with Feta Crust (PotPies, p152). Not really a pot pie, but tasty. Because feta doesn't really make a satisfying crust, we sliced some bread for soppy. Then a big salad. For dessert, some locally made chocolate-dipped madeleines that were on sale this week.
Friday/1-Jun-18: Ed worked at Cath's doing some tiling today while I did stuff around the house. She fed up so he wasn't very hungry for dinner.
Which was Sriracha-Soy Sauce over Egg Noodles (VT; web; cookbooker). Used 300g of fresh tagliatelle with all the sauce. This was a good dinner for two, although Ed couldn't eat all of his, so I'll have it cold for lunch tomorrow.
Saturday/2-Jun-18: Ed did more tiling today and came home pooped. I defrosted the chest freezer, also pooped. (The leftover noodles from yesterday were good cold.)
Dinner was Thai Green Curry Pork Tenderloin (web). This was supposed to served three, but the two of us did a fine job on it. The meat and its sauce were delicious. Served with Chinese 4-Ingredient Fried Cabbage (web), which was pretty so-so. And rice. For dessert, a mixed fruit salad. We ate tastily.
Sunday/3-Jun-18: Dinner was Buttery Garlic Herb Chicken with Zucchini (web; cookbooker). Easy and very yummy. Served with Clotilde Dusoulier's Perfect Roasted Potatoes (web; HandyBook). Nice dinner, outside under the pergola, watching the rain.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH:4; #3 COOKBOOK: yes
Cookbooks of the month: BoldVeg and 200Budget for May/bye for June
This month: #4 PASTA: yes for May/bye June; #5 BREAD: yes for May/bye for June; #6 GUESTS: yes for May/bye for June
Monday, May 28, 2018
Monday, May 21, 2018
This week in the kitcchen
Monday/21-May-18: Stormy day today, with a swarm of bees, who disappeared just before the beekeeper arrived, just to make it interesting.
Our meal was Carrot-Lentil Soup with(out) Rosemary-Garlic Croutons (BoldVeg, p52). (Didn't have the oomph for the croutons, but it wasn't a big problem.) Pretty good soup. Served with Baguette Sandwiches with Asparagus (web; cookbooker). All good.
Tuesday/22-May-18: Our meal was a half recipe of Chipotle Shrimp Coleslaw (web), served over long-grain brown rice. We bought thought the coleslaw might be a bit weird, but very good. The brown rice gave a nice underlying chew to go with the crunch. I had just less than 150g of frozen cooked shrimp and was too lazy to open another package. More would have been better. Still, a tasty and enjoyable meal. Mini ice cream bars for dessert
Wednesday/23-May-18: Shopping today.
When we got home, I made some guacamole to eat with Doritos that Cath got us.
For our meal we had Fish in a Green Sauce (Foolproof, p50), made with tuna. This was yummy. The sauce was a bit runny because I added too much water. As sides there were Stir-Fried Cauliflower with Green Chilies (Foolproof, p90) and Potatoes with Cumin (Foolproof, p94). The cauliflower was good. My medium cauliflower, though, was about 1.7kg; I'm wondering where Jaffrey finds large ones weighing 450g? I used about 300g of florets, which was a bit much for the two of us. I had some nice newish potatoes, so didn't peel them. No matter. We ate generously and well.
Thursday/24-May-18: Pasta today. I made Southwestern Corn Pasta (PastaMach, p73; cookbooker). Served with Cilantro Pesto from the freezer. Pretty good stuff. Then a big salad. Then Ed made a little fruit salad (apples, strawberries, and banana) with mascarpone cream. We ate yummily.
Friday/25-May-18: Our meal today was Stir-Fried Thai Green Curry Chicken with Aubergines (HomTrav, p152), over rice. This was quite tasty. I used about half the meat (skinless, boneless thighs) with more or less all the sauce. Fast if you don't count roasting the eggplant, which you can do ahead. Ice cream for dessert.
Yogurt on overnight
Saturday/26-May-18: Stormy day today. Many electric outages. There was an outage of several second which turned the stove clock off. When stove clock isn’t set the ovens don't work. Oops.
I started a loaf of bread based on Ratio. I'd typed out the recipe, but managed to get the ingredients not in order of use, so ended up with too little salt, and almost too much yeast. (That's when I realized something was wrong.) The yeast seems to be working at least a bit in the loaf-to-be. The bread is in the fridge overnight to be baked tomorrow. Think my yeast is on its last legs. There is a bit of activity in the bread, but I couldn’t get much proofing action in. Will toss it.
Our dinner was Spicy Pork Rolls with Minted Yogurt (200Budget, p130; cookbooker). This was super yummy with turkey scallops, rather than pork, and no minted yogurt. We're a bit short on veg this week, but I found this easy and delicious recipe for Roasted Thai Curry Cauliflower (web). And then there was rice. We ate well. Even though we've had Thai two nights in a row.
Sunday/27-May-18: Finished off the Ratio bread. Pretty darn good stuff.
More storms this afternoon.
Our meal was Ten-Minute Asparagus and Brown Rice (web). Nothing 10-minute about it if you make your own brown rice. I liked this; Ed didn't. Oh well.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 5; #3 COOKBOOK: yes
Cookbooks of the month: BoldVeg and 200Budget
This month: #4 PASTA: yes; #5 BREAD: yes; #6 GUESTS: yes
Our meal was Carrot-Lentil Soup with(out) Rosemary-Garlic Croutons (BoldVeg, p52). (Didn't have the oomph for the croutons, but it wasn't a big problem.) Pretty good soup. Served with Baguette Sandwiches with Asparagus (web; cookbooker). All good.
Tuesday/22-May-18: Our meal was a half recipe of Chipotle Shrimp Coleslaw (web), served over long-grain brown rice. We bought thought the coleslaw might be a bit weird, but very good. The brown rice gave a nice underlying chew to go with the crunch. I had just less than 150g of frozen cooked shrimp and was too lazy to open another package. More would have been better. Still, a tasty and enjoyable meal. Mini ice cream bars for dessert
Wednesday/23-May-18: Shopping today.
When we got home, I made some guacamole to eat with Doritos that Cath got us.
For our meal we had Fish in a Green Sauce (Foolproof, p50), made with tuna. This was yummy. The sauce was a bit runny because I added too much water. As sides there were Stir-Fried Cauliflower with Green Chilies (Foolproof, p90) and Potatoes with Cumin (Foolproof, p94). The cauliflower was good. My medium cauliflower, though, was about 1.7kg; I'm wondering where Jaffrey finds large ones weighing 450g? I used about 300g of florets, which was a bit much for the two of us. I had some nice newish potatoes, so didn't peel them. No matter. We ate generously and well.
Thursday/24-May-18: Pasta today. I made Southwestern Corn Pasta (PastaMach, p73; cookbooker). Served with Cilantro Pesto from the freezer. Pretty good stuff. Then a big salad. Then Ed made a little fruit salad (apples, strawberries, and banana) with mascarpone cream. We ate yummily.
Friday/25-May-18: Our meal today was Stir-Fried Thai Green Curry Chicken with Aubergines (HomTrav, p152), over rice. This was quite tasty. I used about half the meat (skinless, boneless thighs) with more or less all the sauce. Fast if you don't count roasting the eggplant, which you can do ahead. Ice cream for dessert.
Yogurt on overnight
Saturday/26-May-18: Stormy day today. Many electric outages. There was an outage of several second which turned the stove clock off. When stove clock isn’t set the ovens don't work. Oops.
I started a loaf of bread based on Ratio. I'd typed out the recipe, but managed to get the ingredients not in order of use, so ended up with too little salt, and almost too much yeast. (That's when I realized something was wrong.) The yeast seems to be working at least a bit in the loaf-to-be. The bread is in the fridge overnight to be baked tomorrow. Think my yeast is on its last legs. There is a bit of activity in the bread, but I couldn’t get much proofing action in. Will toss it.
Our dinner was Spicy Pork Rolls with Minted Yogurt (200Budget, p130; cookbooker). This was super yummy with turkey scallops, rather than pork, and no minted yogurt. We're a bit short on veg this week, but I found this easy and delicious recipe for Roasted Thai Curry Cauliflower (web). And then there was rice. We ate well. Even though we've had Thai two nights in a row.
Sunday/27-May-18: Finished off the Ratio bread. Pretty darn good stuff.
More storms this afternoon.
Our meal was Ten-Minute Asparagus and Brown Rice (web). Nothing 10-minute about it if you make your own brown rice. I liked this; Ed didn't. Oh well.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 5; #3 COOKBOOK: yes
Cookbooks of the month: BoldVeg and 200Budget
This month: #4 PASTA: yes; #5 BREAD: yes; #6 GUESTS: yes
Monday, May 14, 2018
This week in the kitchen
Monday/14-May-18: For tonight's meal we had Sweet-and-Sour Cabbage with Peanut Sauce (BoldVeg, p135; cookbooker) with Red and Green Polenta (BoldVeg, p176; cookbooker) as suggested. The cabbage was an interesting dish, a little weird at first, but grew on you. Mini ice cream bars for dessert.
Tuesday/15-May-18: Worked on the meal plan (and list) today, trying to use up as many of the veggies in the fridge as possible.
For our meal, we had Pasta with Asparagus-Lemon Sauce (web). This was quite good. I made all the sauce with half the pasta. The pasta (malfada) was generously sauced, but not excessive. Following some of the comments, I used the zest of a whole lemon and added the juice to the sauce, and I roasted the tips with a minced shallot and garlic cloves. Very tasty. Served with a made-up salad of grated carrot, cuke that was quartered and finely sliced, radish, and a bit of onion, all with a lemon vinaigrette. Quite good it was. Some goat cheese for dessert.
Yogurt on overnight.
Wednesday/16-May-18: Shopping today.
When we got home, to use up some of the buttermilk, I made Buttermilk Coffeecake (TLSouth, p119).
Our dinner was Salmon with Lime Courgettes (200Budget, p178). The salmon was ok, but the zucchini was very good fun, cut in long thin strips, sautéed, and tossed with lime zest, juice, and chopped mint. Served with orzo. The coffeecake for dessert was a hit.
Thursday/17-May-18: Breakfast for dinner today. I made Ned and Crescent's Favorite Multigrain Pancakes (Gospels, p205)—a whole dose and then froze half for another meal. Served with some of the chamomile syrup from Saturday.
Friday/18-May-18: Busy afternoon cooking:
Yogurt on overnight.
Saturday/19-May-18: We went to Gamm Vert today and bought some plants, geraniums, three hanging pots, etc. For our meal, I marinated two kip filets as in Chile-Soaked Grilled Chicken (BigFlav, p180), without the accompanying the Indonesian Catsup, that we didn't think was needed last time I made this. The chicken was good. Served with asparagus, simply grilled with salt and pepper, and penne of red lentils and carrots. Then a salad of romaine lettuce. Then some Buttermilk Ice Cream (MC), kind of tan colored because I used sucre de canne, rather than white sugar.
Sunday/20-May-18: We lunched at La Bellone today, before going to Chalais for a concert. Nothing happened in the kitchen.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 4; #3 COOKBOOK: yes
Cookbooks of the month: BoldVeg and 200Budget
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: no; #6 GUESTS: yes
Tuesday/15-May-18: Worked on the meal plan (and list) today, trying to use up as many of the veggies in the fridge as possible.
For our meal, we had Pasta with Asparagus-Lemon Sauce (web). This was quite good. I made all the sauce with half the pasta. The pasta (malfada) was generously sauced, but not excessive. Following some of the comments, I used the zest of a whole lemon and added the juice to the sauce, and I roasted the tips with a minced shallot and garlic cloves. Very tasty. Served with a made-up salad of grated carrot, cuke that was quartered and finely sliced, radish, and a bit of onion, all with a lemon vinaigrette. Quite good it was. Some goat cheese for dessert.
Yogurt on overnight.
Wednesday/16-May-18: Shopping today.
When we got home, to use up some of the buttermilk, I made Buttermilk Coffeecake (TLSouth, p119).
Our dinner was Salmon with Lime Courgettes (200Budget, p178). The salmon was ok, but the zucchini was very good fun, cut in long thin strips, sautéed, and tossed with lime zest, juice, and chopped mint. Served with orzo. The coffeecake for dessert was a hit.
Thursday/17-May-18: Breakfast for dinner today. I made Ned and Crescent's Favorite Multigrain Pancakes (Gospels, p205)—a whole dose and then froze half for another meal. Served with some of the chamomile syrup from Saturday.
Friday/18-May-18: Busy afternoon cooking:
- Made some Favas and Pearl Onions with Olives and Herbs (VegA2Z, p66). Favas from the store this week; pearl onions left from last week. This recipe has in interesting way to treat the onions. You pour boiling water over them, then cut off the bottom and peel. (I only cut off the top if it was "ugly.") Peeling is much easier this way—hooray! The favas were cooked (steam-sautéed) without peeling the individual beans. I added extra olives because I thought the dshes needed them; Ed thought it was too much. This was an okay dish. Think I prefer my favas peeled and bright green.
- Mama's Garlic Coleslaw (MC; HandyBook).
- Baked Potatoes on the Grill (MC), but cooked in the toaster oven. Two smallish potatoes for the two of us. I found it way too much.
- Craig Claiborne's Ultimate Hamburger (Tabasco, p88). Still a good way to do a hamburger.
Yogurt on overnight.
Saturday/19-May-18: We went to Gamm Vert today and bought some plants, geraniums, three hanging pots, etc. For our meal, I marinated two kip filets as in Chile-Soaked Grilled Chicken (BigFlav, p180), without the accompanying the Indonesian Catsup, that we didn't think was needed last time I made this. The chicken was good. Served with asparagus, simply grilled with salt and pepper, and penne of red lentils and carrots. Then a salad of romaine lettuce. Then some Buttermilk Ice Cream (MC), kind of tan colored because I used sucre de canne, rather than white sugar.
Sunday/20-May-18: We lunched at La Bellone today, before going to Chalais for a concert. Nothing happened in the kitchen.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 4; #3 COOKBOOK: yes
Cookbooks of the month: BoldVeg and 200Budget
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: no; #6 GUESTS: yes
Monday, May 7, 2018
This week in the kitchen
Monday/7-May-18: Our meal today was Prawn & Crab Cakes with Chilli Jam (200Budget, p182; cookbooker). For a veggie side I made some Stir-Fried Mixed Vegetables (ThaiCC, p80). And some plain rice. Pretty good meal. For dessert we had more of the Chocolate-Glazed Banana Cake. Yum.
Tuesday/8-May-18: Our meal was Rosemary-Flavored Chickpea and Spinach Soup (WorldVeg, p598; cookbooker). Finished off the Chocolate-Glazed Banana Cake.
Wednesday/9-May-18: Shopping today.
Our meal was Fish Kebabs & Spring Onion Mash (200Budget, p174). The kebabs were good, and the smashed potatoes with crème fraîche, chopped cilantro and red chili, and spring onions were a treat. Some roasted asparagus on the side. For dessert, some store-bought rice puddings.
Cookcooks: I've done two recipes from 200Budget, but there will be none from BoldVeg. We're outing three times in the next days, with company on the remaining days.
Yogurt on overnight.
Thursday/10-May-18: We ate at a local Sanglier à Broche repas today. We're stuffed. Nothing happened in the kitchen.
Friday/11-May-18: Chopped up lots of vegetables for Marinated Vegetables à la Greque (VegFeasst, p76; cookbooker) and put them on to marinate.
For dinner, we had hamburgers at the bar where No Direction was playing their last gig with Albie. Nothing further happened in the kitchen,
Saturday/12-May-18: Cath and Hannah for dinner. We started with the Marinated Greek Vegetables. These were good. Served with some sliced baguette to soppy up the marinade. For our main, there was Asparagus-Ricotta Phyllo Tart (VT/may08; web; cookbooker). Put a bit of lightly dressed mâche with some cherry tomatoes on the plate. Dessert was Pears in Chamomile Syrup (O&C, p553; cookbooker). Everything was yummy.
Took the extra baguette and the last bit of tart to Vanessa.
Yogurt on overnight.
Sunday/13-May-18: I had some of the marinated vegetables over a bit of mâche for lunch. Pizza after Ed's concert. Nothing further happened in the kitchen.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 3; #3 COOKBOOK: yes
Cookbooks of the month: BoldVeg and 200Budget
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: no; #6 GUESTS: yes
Tuesday/8-May-18: Our meal was Rosemary-Flavored Chickpea and Spinach Soup (WorldVeg, p598; cookbooker). Finished off the Chocolate-Glazed Banana Cake.
Wednesday/9-May-18: Shopping today.
Our meal was Fish Kebabs & Spring Onion Mash (200Budget, p174). The kebabs were good, and the smashed potatoes with crème fraîche, chopped cilantro and red chili, and spring onions were a treat. Some roasted asparagus on the side. For dessert, some store-bought rice puddings.
Cookcooks: I've done two recipes from 200Budget, but there will be none from BoldVeg. We're outing three times in the next days, with company on the remaining days.
Yogurt on overnight.
Thursday/10-May-18: We ate at a local Sanglier à Broche repas today. We're stuffed. Nothing happened in the kitchen.
Friday/11-May-18: Chopped up lots of vegetables for Marinated Vegetables à la Greque (VegFeasst, p76; cookbooker) and put them on to marinate.
For dinner, we had hamburgers at the bar where No Direction was playing their last gig with Albie. Nothing further happened in the kitchen,
Saturday/12-May-18: Cath and Hannah for dinner. We started with the Marinated Greek Vegetables. These were good. Served with some sliced baguette to soppy up the marinade. For our main, there was Asparagus-Ricotta Phyllo Tart (VT/may08; web; cookbooker). Put a bit of lightly dressed mâche with some cherry tomatoes on the plate. Dessert was Pears in Chamomile Syrup (O&C, p553; cookbooker). Everything was yummy.
Took the extra baguette and the last bit of tart to Vanessa.
Yogurt on overnight.
Sunday/13-May-18: I had some of the marinated vegetables over a bit of mâche for lunch. Pizza after Ed's concert. Nothing further happened in the kitchen.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 3; #3 COOKBOOK: yes
Cookbooks of the month: BoldVeg and 200Budget
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: no; #6 GUESTS: yes
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