This week in the kitchen

Monday/25-Nov-19: Stir-fried veggies tonight, using up the teriyaki sauce I made on Friday. Added some strips of cooked pork from the freezer. Over plain rice. Pretty good stuff. Chocolate-covered corn flakes.

Tuesday/26-Nov-19: Dinner was, sort of, Nigel Slater's Chorizo, New Potatoes and Cucumber (web). The recipe is a good idea, but a little weird. It calls for 600g of chorizo for two people. I used a 200g link, and that was plenty. And only 250g of potatoes. I probably used about 350g; I stopped when they started rolling off the scale. But the effect was quite nice. Ed thought it was pretty enought for a picture.

For dessert there was Crème au Chocolate Express (web, VPG). I might write this one up to save since it was easy and tasty. I made a half recipe of what was reported as 6 servings; we will have 4 servings out of the half.

Wednesday/27-Nov-19: Dinner was a halfish recipe of Lillian's Tasty Noodles (HomTrav, p214). This was pretty good and helped by a dose of my homemade habernero sauce. Without thinking, I made rice as a go-with; will freeze this up for another time. Then we had the last two portions of the chocolate pudding.

Thursday/28-Nov-19: Not the Thanksgiving we'd planned, with a trip to Bordeaux. But nice enough, a bit tiring for the over-ambitious cook. Ed thought we'd do our shopping today, rather than tomorrow as planned. So rather than a quickie dinner (with maybe a quick trip to the local butcher for some turkey scallops), it turned out to be a bit more elaborate. At Leclerc, I spotted a goat cheese topped with cranberries. On toast, that turned into our starter with a bit of arugula, walnuts, and lemon vinaigrette.  For the main, there were individual versions of Shane's Arrosto di Tachino con pancetta ed Erbe Aromatiche. I've done this before. Still good. And there was, of course, some Cranberry-Port Relish (MC). And smashed sweet potatoes and steamed snijbonen. Made a nice gravy to go with all using chicken stock and the herbed wine that the turkey cooked in and some pleurotes. For dessert, I made a Pumpkin Cake (MC) which will take us a week to get through. We're full. I'm tired.

Friday/29-Nov-19: Dinner was a halfish recipe of Madras Fish Curry (Foolproof, p46), with swordfish. Yum. Not too hard to do; takes a bit of time. Served with Stir-Fried Cauliflower with Green Chilies (Foolproof, p90). Also good. With plain basmati rice. Some mini ice creams for dessert.

Yogurt on overnight, with a new starter.

Saturday/40-Nov-19: Both of us feeling icky today, Ed with his fungus bum, me with sinus or a cold. Yesterday I thought it was just because I was cleaning dusty stuff; today it's still there. Haven't gotten better or worse, but sinuses are burning.

Dinner was One-Pot Bacon Chipotle Mac & Cheese (web). I made essentially a whole recipe for two, with maybe just over 3 cups of milk. Used lardons for the bacon. Lots of cheese and chipotle. Pretty good stuff. Interesting thing about this recipe is that the pasta is cooked in the milk for the sauce. Then a mixed salad, with leftover cabbage, arugula, lettuce, and all the goodies. Some chocolate covered cornflakes for after. We're full.

Sunday/1-Dec-19: Dinner was pasta with some veg sauce from the freezer. It was good. I made a salad, but we didn't eat it. Two chocolate squares for after. (We're mostly eating the pumpkin cake for breakfast.)

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 3; #3 COOKBOOK: none
Cookbooks of the month: n/a
This month: #4 PASTA: no for November, no for December; #5 BREAD: yes for November, no for December; #6 GUESTS: no for November, no for December
This year: #7 PROJECT: no

This week in the kitchen

Monday/18-Nov-19: Used up odd bits of stuff from the freezer to make Poor-Cousin Paella (Secrets, p249). Make a whole dose and we've got half in the freezer for another time. Some squares of chocolate for after.

Tuesday/19-Nov-19: Off plan today. Found a recipe to use up odd bits in the fridge and we had a halfish recipe of Broccoli, Mushroom, Spinach and Cheese Pasta (web). Pretty good. We have a bit left, so the half recipe would probably have served three, rather than the four suggested by the recipe. I forgot to notice the breadcrumbs on top, but remember thinking as I put it in the oven that breadcrumbs might be nice. Oh well.

Wednesday/20-Nov-19: Tonight the two of us ate a half dose of Shrimp, Saffron and Preserved Lemon Mac and Cheese (web). (The half dose should have served 3.) I choose this because it sounded rather improbable. And it was. Okay to eat but don't need to do it again. Followed by a simple salad. Then a pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each.

Yogurt on overnight.

Thursday/21-Nov-19: Shopping today.

Dinner was a half recipe of Fish Steamed over Vegetables and Fresh Herbs (Essential, p434). This was okay, but nothing special. Served with Potato "Tostones" (Flattened Potatoes) (Essential, p301), as suggested. These were good (especially good because I used duck fat rendered from the magret we had recently), but tedious to make. For dessert, I bought some gateau de fromage. Delicious but filling.

Friday/22-Nov-19: In the morning, I made a half batch of Bold Teriyaki Sauce (web). Part will go into the crockpot that I'll start tonight for tomorrow' meal; the rest will go into some stir-fried Chinese-ish veggies soon.

Dinner was Tuscan beans from the freezer, topped up with canned tuna, lemon juice, and a bit of olive oil. Served that with some lettuce topped with the rest of yesterday's veggies dolled up with a bit of vinaigrette.

After dinner, I froze up gaboons of chicken stock, mostly in 1-liter jars since there weren't many smaller ones available.

And started a crockpotful (a half recipe since I have only a 3-quart crockpot) of Slow Cooker Thai Pulled Pork (web). My pork had no bones. This has to cook 10 hours, so should be ready. After that the meat has to be shredded and the sauce fiished with peanut butter (not "natural" it says — why? that's all we have in the house, so that's what it will be) and lime zest and juice. Smells good already.

Saturday/23-Nov-19: Served the Thai pulled pork with white rice and steamed broccoli as they showed on the site. Yummy stuff. Another meal in the freezer.

Sunday/24-Nov-19: Dinner was kip filets with a yummy basting sauce from the freezer. Cooked four kip filets; the other two will be used in the next couple of weeks. Served with a half dose of Parsley Salad with Bulgur, Mint, and Tomatoes (BigFlav, p216). This was good, made with lime juice instead of lemon, because there was some in the fridge leftover.

Yogurt on overnight.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 4 #3 COOKBOOK: n/a
Cookbooks of the month: none
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: yes; #6 GUESTS: no
This year: #7 PROJECT: no

This week in the kitchen

Monday/11-Nov-19: We had an early meal today so we could go see a film. There was Rice with Black Pepper Sauce (Savory, p253). I didn't use the mortar and pestle for the herbs, just chop-chop-chop. Gave the pepper corns (all 2tsps) a spin in the spice grinder. Used about half mozzarella and half Abondance for the cheese. I think this would be good with short-grain brown rice, although no longer quick. Started with a simple salad.

Tuesday/12-Nov-19: Dinner was Harissa Lamb with Chickpeas (web). This was good, but I thought it a bit too sweet. Maybe a handful of raisins would have been better apricots. Served with Moroccan couscous (store-bought mix) and snijbonen in chunks with a squirt of lemon. Some chocolate-covered cornflakes for after.

Wednesday/13-Nov-19: Buddy to the vet again today, and me to get haircut. Dinner was leftover enchilada casserole with a new dose of guacamole. Mini ice creams for dessert. We're full.

Yogurt on overnight.

Thursday/14-Nov-19: Shopping today.

Dinner was Salmon Chowder (web), sort of. Lots of changes. I used fresh cauliflower, boiled for a bit with some potatoes that needed using. No leftover mashed potatoes, used some potato flour. It was good, nice on a cold-blustery evening.

Friday/15-Nov-19: Lovely lunch out for Ed's birthday. Nothing further happened in the kitchen.

Saturday/16-Nov-19: Our meal was Golden Cauliflower and Rice Pilaf (VegHarv, p144). This was good, but not really a meal. Like most French recipes, curry powder is just waved at the dish, without adding a strong flavor. Followed by a salad. Then various chocolatey things for after.

Sunday/17-Nov-19: Made some Römertopf bread today, based on One Perfect Loaf (ClayCook2, p126). This is a popular recipe. First I put the water in the bowl to the mixer, then turned around to get the yeast and couldn't find it. I looked in the freezer but didn't see yeast. I searched all the Ivar shelves thinking the jar might have been displaced. Finally I looked again in the freezer and there it was. Duh. So I continued. I used T110 flour (semi-whole wheat, whatever that means), using all that was specified plus about 1/2cup T65 (bread flour) to make the dough a proper dough. (I used the mixer and dough hook for all the mixing.) I forgot to soak the pot before the end of the first rising period so had to extend that. Finally got it in the oven. We had come slices with our dinner. It was good. The Römertopf makes a funny shaped loaf with its flared sides.

Yogurt on overday. I seem to have unplugged the yogurt maker when I unplugged the mixer, not sure how or why. Plugged it back in and guess at a time to finish.

Dinner was a halfish recipe of Bacon, Spinach and Fromage Blanc Frittata (web). In the end I didn't really follow the recipe. Baking the eggs for 35min didn't see like a good idea. I cooked all on the stovetop (cast-iron skillet, covered) for 10-ish minutes till it was set, then added the cheeses and popped under broiler. Instead of the cloth-bound Cabot cheddar cheese from Jasper Hill, I used store-bought old mimelotte. The frittata was edible, nothing special. Both of us were fairly full so we didn't have any kind of a dessert.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 4; #3 COOKBOOK: none
Cookbooks of the month: n/a
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: yes; #6 GUESTS: no
This year: #7 PROJECT: no

This week in the kitchen

Monday/4-Nov-19: Dinner was a halfish dose of Easy Italian Sausage and Potato Skillet (web, collected from EAT-L). I used my home-made Italian sausage. Pretty good stuff. Ed used some hot stuff on it, but I didn't think it was needed. Then we had some more of yesterday's chocolate cake. Yum.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/5-Nov-19: Dinner was Feta-Brined Roast Chicken (web), which was pretty good, if not great. Served with Clotilde Dusoulier's Perfect Roast Potatoes and some steamed broccoli. Finished off the chocolate cake for after. We're full.

Wednesday/6-Nov-19: Shopping today.

For dinner we had Tilapia Curry with Broccoli (MC, originally from a Dutch mailing list), a one-dish meal over rice. Used cod tonight. Very easy, very good. Some store-bought trio riz au lait for after.

Thursday/7-Nov-19: Dinner was Late Summer Vegetable Enchilada Pie (web). This was was okay, nothing special We'll have at least one meal out of it. I thought the sauce had a bit too much of the tomatoes, but it was good enough. With some guacamole. Mini ice creams for dessert.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/8-Nov-19: Ed got his hearing aids today.

Using up the once-lost-now-found magret, tonight's dinner was, more or less, Canard à la Moutarde, Tabasco et Miel (web). This recipe wanted one magret per person. That's way too much for most people; usually two people share one, and that's what we did. I cooked the magret as Patrice Wells instructs in VegHarv: score the fat side, heat dry skillet over high heat, turn to medium, 8min on the fat side, 3min on the meat side, 3min on fast side, let it rest 10min, then slice. The recipe wanted to go in the oven for the second three minutes. I poured the fat into a bowl to cool; maybe I can use it for something in the next days. Then I deglazed the pan with the marinade. Also I didn't add the extra bit of honey. It was all delicious. Unfortunately, I let the zucchini slices cook too long, so they were a bit soft. Served over polenta. We were nicely full.

Saturday/9-Nov-19: Before starting dinner I made Jam Tea Cake (MC, collected long ago from EAT-L), I made this to use up some apricot jam. A nice little cake that can be assembled while the oven heats up.

Dinner was a half recipe of One-Pot Creamy Mushroom and Spinach Orzo (web). An instant favorite, comfort food for cold and wet weather. After that we had a piece of cake, also quite good.

Put chicken to marinate and yogurt to drain for tomorrow's meal.

Sunday/10-Nov-19: Dinner was a half recipe of Chicken Broiled with Lemon and Yogurt Marinade (EastMed, p313), known as Golden Chicken in Macedonia, says Wolfert. Served with Macedonian Black Olive and Scallion Salad (EastMed, p151); this was good but more like a relish than a real salad. No scallions here; I used shallots instead. As suggested in the headnote, I made a dish with boiled potatoes and onions (more shallots) with oil, vinegar, and garlic. The recipe called for rehydrated hot peppers; I used harissa instead. I also grilled some eggplant slices that had been coated with harissa. We were full. We each had apricot cake for breakfast, sowe had two chocolate-covered madeleines each for afters.

Yogurt on overnight.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 3; #3 COOKBOOK: none
Cookbooks of the month: n/a
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: no; #6 GUESTS: no
This year: #7 PROJECT: no