This week in the kitchen

Monday/29-Oct-18: Caught a kitchen mouse last night. Let her out into a field on the way to pick up the cats.

Suppose I should cook from Floyd in the next days, but I can't face him again. That's a book that's going to get recycled. For November, I've chosen Nothing Fancy, by Diana Kennedy. This was a really good read and there are lots of tagged pages, but I've not used it much. That took a bit of rearrangement of the meal plan, but it's done.

Dinner was Broccoli Cornmeal Cakes from the freezer, warmed not quite enough in the toaster oven, topped with pyramid goat cheese and lardons. Then a big salad.

Put pork on to marinate for tomorrow.

Tuesday/30-Oct-18: This morning there was a second and third mouse in traps. Ed let them go out the high road.

Ed's cold hit me today. Yuck.

Dinner was Ancho- and Chipotle-Rubbed Pork Loin (MC). I forgot that it was done in the Romertopf and took over an hour to cook, so dinner was quite late. Served with polenta and steamed broccoli. Mini ice cream bars for dessert.

Wednesday/31-Oct-18: Shopping today. Exhausting.

Yummy dinner. We had Tamarind Fish (MJFlavs, p154; cookbooker) with salmon, which was really delicious. Served with Whole Potatoes with Tomatoes (MJFlavs, p162; cookbooker), first time I've made this. Quite good they were, and not too hard. The other side was Gujerati-Style Green Beans (MJ1, p102), made with snijbonen, aka haricots coco plat, whatever those may be in English. That's an old favorite.

Thursday/1-Nov-18: Trapped two more mice today, and found another one dead, half-eaten, under the ironing board. That's six live and one dead.

We had an anniversary meal at the new Cambodian take-away restaurant in La Rochefoucauld. Very good.

Cooked some long-grain brown rice for coming meals.

Friday/2-Nov-18: Yet another mouse today. That's seven. They seem to be getting smaller. If mom's still around, she's really wily.

Dinner was a half recipe of Spicy Jerk Pork with Pepper Fried Rice (web). Used leftover varkenshaas from Tuesday's meal. Think I've made this before with shrimpers. Pretty good tonight. Some ice cream for dessert.

Saturday/3-Nov-18: We didn't catch a mouse last night, but I did see one peeping around as I was sitting at the kitchen table.

Had the idea to make Kennedy's whole wheat pasta today for my cookbook project, but 1) the counter is full of stuff that should be in the mouse-eaten shelves and 2) I really didn't feel like it. Instead I made a have dish of Tonnarelli ai Gameri e Funghi (ClassPasta, p104), served over mushroom pasta, kind of a fusilli shape. Not the right one, but tasty. Then a big salad. Then some chocolate-covered corn flakes.

Sunday/4-Nov-18: Again no mouse caught.

Busy day in the kitchen. I made my Apple-Plum Butter (MC; HandyBook), actually using plums this time. And a half-dose of Banana-Ginger Chutney (VegPlanet, p44), a recommended go-with for the patties. Half, but still a huge amount. And Sourdough Starter (Fancy, p129; cookbooker). Will be a week before I can make use of it.

Dinner was Jamaican Burgers (VegPlanet, p372). I've made these before and they're still good. Serve with Banana-Ginger Chutney, which was very good. And leftover hominy heated with the leftover sauce from Monday's pork. All were good.

Discovered this evening that the guy who still hosts, but no longer maintains, Cookbooker wants to give it up. :-( Don't know what's going to happen there. There is an alternative, but it's paying now, and was never as nice as Cookbooker was.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 4 #3 COOKBOOK: no for October, yes for November
Cookbooks of the month: Floyd's India for October, Nothing Fancy for November
This month: #4 PASTA: no for October, no for November; #5 BREAD: no for October, no for November; #6 GUESTS: no for October, no for November

This week in the kitchen

Monday/22-Oct-18 - Saturday/27-Oct-18: In The Netherlands, or on the way back. Nothing happened in the kitchen, although the kitchen mouse was very busy. Ed didn't want to leave the traps set, to avoid finding a dead mouse upon our return.

Sunday/28-Oct-18: Home again. Dinner from the freezer: chorizettes, chorizo-flavored chicken sausages bought at a marché des producteurs this summer; and hominy from the freezer with canned chopped chiles; and Shredded Zucchini (MW@Home, p87), with zucchini from the freezer.

Tomorrow morning we pick up the kitties and do a small shopping at Intermarché.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 0; #3 COOKBOOK: no
Cookbooks of the month: Floyd's India
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: no; #6 GUESTS: no

This week in the kitchen

Monday/15-Oct-18: Lunch out for our anniversary today. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

Yesterday we took a load of books up to the Hope charity shop. I came home with not one, but two new cookbooks. One is Soups from the Good Food series; I have several of these now, picked up here and there, and they look quite good. The other is called Flavours of the Sun, which looks promising.

Tuesday/16-Oct-18: Another winner dinner from Ainsley Herriott. I made Crusted Roast Rump Steak with Crispy Speckled Onions Rings (Ainsley2, p80; cookbooker). One what I thought was a biggish onion served the two of us for onion rings. The first time I've made onion rings actually. Didn't expect the rings would be soaked in milk. Messy cooking, but delicious. I made all the topping for my two steaks, that was fine. As go-withs I boiled, then sautéed some potatoes (need to use them up) and a little salad of broccoli stems. Some St Félicien for after. We ate well.

Yogurt on overnight.

Wednesday/17-Oct-18: Shopping today.

Dinner was Spicy Fried Fillets of Fish (Floyd, p118). Tuna was the best looking fish of the day, so that's what we had. This was pretty good, although the recipe was screwy, calling for a huge amount of green chiles. I used two and a bit for my half recipe; it was nicely hot. I used leftover potatoes from yesterday to make Yellow Rice with Potato and Cumin (SpiceKitch, p64), one third of the rice with half the spices. The other side was Green Peas in a Creamy Sauce (Q&E, p87). These are both tried-and-true recipes. There was faux-kheer for dessert, riz au lait with a sprinkle of cardamom.

Have to say this was probably my favorite thing I've made from Floyd. There recipe is iffy, but it made up quite nicely. I'm pretty well committed to recycling this book (the first one I've found to recycle on my cookbook-a-month quest), but think I'll save this recipe, with modifications.

Thursday/18-Oct-18: Packing related activities all day today.

Made some cilantro pesto to use up supply in fridge. Froze it.

Washed and dried most of lemons (instructions) and froze them. We'll see how that works.

Dinner was Artichoke Spaghetti (Art, p59), made with canned tuna, a really old favorite. Then a big salad. Then a pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each.

Friday/19-Oct-18 - Sunday/21-Oct-18: Off to The Netherlands for a visit. We did nothing in the kitchen.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 2; #3 COOKBOOK: yes
Cookbooks of the month: Floyd's India
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: no; #6 GUESTS: no

This week in the kitchen

Monday/8-Oct-18: Tonight was supposed to be a beef with coconut from Floyd, but we left the coconut out of the fridge and it turned yucky pink. Instead there was a halfish recipe of Goan Beef Vindaloo (Floyd, p135). We thought it was pretty so-so. There's a bit left, which Ed insists I put in the freezer, rather than tossing. And plain basmati rice. And a halfish recipe of Spicy Sweetcorn—Makai tamatar nu shak (Floyd, p169). This is pretty good, but not wonderful. We finished a bottle of Larou with the meal, which went quite well, although it may have been we couldn't really taste it. Mini ice cream bars for after.

Tuesday/9-Oct-18: Dinner was Thai Black Pepper Chicken (MC), with Broccoli in Oyster Sauce (Delightful, p58) and Cucumber Salad (Delightful, p51), all tried-and-true recipes. I forgot to take the mango ice cream out as we sat to eat, so we had chocolate-covered madeleines instead.

Wednesday/10-Oct-18: Shopping today. No fish for dinner, but leftover Cabbage and Leek Gratin, which gratedGruyère on top. Still good. Such a simple thing. Mango Ice Cream with fresh mango chunks for dessert.

Thursday/11-Oct-18: My day for the ENT today, which means shopping at Grand Frais and Biocoop (health food). Decided I couldn't face another Floyd recipe this week, so we bought some veal scallops (on sale) and some corn on the cob (not on sale, but looked good). Ed saw someone with a jar of jalapeños and thought he'd like some nachos, so I ran to get some English cheddar. Later I discovered tomorrow was Floyd night, but I moved tonight's meal to tomorrow. After the nachos, neither of us were very hungry so we just had the corns on the cob. Then some chocolate-covered madeleines for dessert. (These were a summer sale thing, made locally, and really delicious and chemical free. We've only got one more sack left. :-( )

Yogurt on overnight.

The kitchen mouse seems to have ceased its activities. Can't really explain. Thinking of refilling the cabinets. Did see a mouse running along the house as we returned from doctor/shopping trip.

Friday/12-Oct-18: Early meal today, a half dose of Garlicky Chicken with Lemon-Anchovy Sauce (web). Cut my chicken into bits and didn't bother with the oven bit. Very yummy. With "short spaghetti" that looks like graminge and steamed broccoli topped with lemon juice. (Went to put this on my DoMeAgain list and discovered that it was already there. We had this in March. Liked it then too.) We've eaten well.

Yogurt on overnight.

Saturday/13-Oct-18: Dinner was a half dose of Pasta with Sausage & Sun-Dried Tomatoes (web). My tomatoes were oven-dried and frozen, so I warmed a bit of olive oil with some finely sliced garlic and red pepper flakes. Used casareccia for the pasta. Then a big salad. We were full.

Sunday/14-Oct-18: Made a Tarte Poire Chocolat (VPG). This was okay, but nothing special. Used a store-brought graham cracker crust rather than a pâte sablée.

For dinner there was Very Spicy, Delicious Chickpeas (WoE, p86; cookbooker). Very delicious, yes. Served over round-grain brown rice.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 2; #3 COOKBOOK: yes
Cookbooks of the month: Floyd's India
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: no; #6 GUESTS: no

This week in the kitchen

Monday/1-Oct-18: I'm enjoying my project of cooking from unused cookbooks. So far, I haven't really found any books I'd like to get rid of, only ones that need to be used more. I think this will be an Indian month. Floyd's India, by Keith Floyd, comes highly recommended, but I've never really gotten into it. Will try this month.

Dinner was Hunter-Style Pasta Sauce from the freezer, over pasta. Followed by a big salad. Followed by two mini ice cream bars.

Put chicken thighs to marinate for Thai Barbecued Chicken (MC) tomorrow.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/2-Oct-18: Ed barbecued the chicken, an old recipe but still delicious, while I made, sort of, Hot & Sour Stir-Fried Vegetables (Delightful, p55). We both like veggies done like this, and I like that the recipe can be varied with whatever you have at hand. And there was plain basmati rice. For dessert, I made Tarte Amandine aux Figues, from a recent VPG. I didn't have enough figs, according to the recipe, so I used (frozen) cherries for one half. Something was very wrong with this recipe. I added an extra egg, but the batter was still stiff. I probably could have used only the figues, a bit more sparsely distributed. Not as intended, no doubt, but the result is quite tasty.

Wednesday/3-Oct-18: Shopping today.

First outing with Keith Floyd was not especially successful. The main was a half dose of Fish Curry Bengal-Style—Doi Macchi (Floyd, p124) and it was not very good at all. I suspect something is wrong with the recipe. The whole recipe (I made half) asks for 25g of turmeric; that's 8-1/3 teaspoons! My half recipe would be more than 4 teaspoons. Turmeric gives a nice edge is small doses, but the 1 teaspoon I added made it way to bitter, overwhelming any other tastes that were present. Not a nice main course. For a side there was Spiced Beetroot—Subzi Poriyal (Floyd, p153) which was pretty good. But, the recipe says it serves 4-6; I made a short half and it would have served 3-4 without a problem.

Thursday/4-Oct-18: Dinner was Cabbage and Leek Gratin (VegSups, p18). This seems like a simple dish, but it was delicious. Then we had some peaches getting close to their end with the end of the fromage blanc from last week.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/5-Oct-18: Dinner at Cath's tonight. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

Saturday/6-Oct-18: Another disappointing meal with Keith Floyd. Our main was a halfish dose of Spicy Prawns with Mango—Jhinga Thokku (Floyd, p118; cookbooker). For a side there was Runner or Green Beans Foogath (Floyd, p158; cookbooker). Maybe this was meant to be a main dish. It calls for 1kg of beans (I used runner beans) for 4. At 200g, I thought the pile was more than enough for two. (I usually get 150-200g of green beans as a side for two, but this was a side including potatoes.) The measurement of cumin seeds was way off; I used 1/2 teaspoon for my 200g of beans. Per the instructions, the potatoes will cook al dente with just a few drops of water. Not at my house. Three dried chiles (half of what was asked) made the pretty attention-getting. In the end, it was pretty good, but we couldn't eat all I made. And some plain basmati rice. Mini ice creams for dessert.

Sunday/7-Oct-18: Big lunch out today. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 3; #3 COOKBOOK: yes
Cookbooks of the month: Floyd's India
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: no; #6 GUESTS: no