This week in the kitchen

Monday/29-Nov-21: Dinner was Shrimp and Corn Chowder (web). This was pretty good. I did cut the shrimp in half, since whole, they seemed too big for easy eating. I made a whole recipe, which will serve two easily. Not sure if the added flour serves any purpose beyond making the chowder a big on the thick side.

Tuesday/30-Nov-21: Started some turkey stock with the legs bones from out Thanksgiving meal. 

Dinner was Leftover Lamb Tagine (web). This wasn't bad. I was glad I didn't add any honey, since the apricots made it quite sweet enough. Served with whole wheat couscous and Moroccan Carrots (1Good, p59), which has become a favorite.

Wednesday/1-Dec-21: Dinner was Curried Fried Rice (MW@Home, p226). This is easy and pretty good. Long-grain brown rice. 

Thursday/2-Dec-21: Shopping today. 

Dinner was Apricot Dijon Glazed Salmon* (web; GD). This was good again, also easy and fast. Served with orzo haricots verts. 

Friday/3-Dec-21: Off to have my haircut today, so an easy dinner. We had tongue with a grainy mustard sauce from a can. Served with Spätzle (MW@Home, p203) made with T110 flour ("light" whole wheat); the batter needed a bit of extra milk. These were okay, but white flour is better. Also some steamed snijbonen in chunks. Tasty dinner for little work.

Saturday/4-Dec-21: Dinner was a half dose of Skillet-Toasted Penne with Chicken Sausage (CL/Jan-Feb14; web). This was pretty good. I used poultry sausage that were grilled in the summer. The pasta is toasted in a skillet and cooked rather like a risotto. No idea what a Calabrian chile is, so I chopped up a red (Indonesian?) chile, deseeded. Then a salad. 

Sunday/5-Dec-21: When it got time to make dinner, I didn't really feel like cooking and wasn't very hungry. So I used up some odds and ends from the fridge to make open-faced sandwiches. Sliced onion, lardons, the last half of a red bell pepper, some mushrooms, all topped with a bit of mozzarella and toasted. Not bad. Then we ate half a little Langres cheese. That's all. Somewhere in there the fire/CO detector in the kitchen started going off, we're hoping it was just the batteries being a bit low (even though they were replaced less than a year ago).

A loaf of Easy French Bread (Electric, p62) on overnight. I usually do this bread on Rapid, but Rapid can't be done on the timer. We'll see how it goes.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #2 PHOTO: no; #3 *DMA: yes
This month: #4 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG1: yes; #6 BACKLOG2: no; #7 RECYCLE: 11; #8 NEW: 5

Thanksgiving 2021

Buttermilk-Brined Turkey BreastRoasted Turkey LegsGravyChef Paul Prudhomme's Cornbread DressingSweet Potatoes With Cranberry Chutney Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad with Pears, Toasted Almonds, and Parmesan Mercurey 1e Cru, Château de Santenay, Les Puillets 2015 Pumpkin Pie

Between Oscar's illness and Covid isolationism and my disorganization, we had a fairly small Thanksgiving meal. I didn't manage to order a turkey in time, so I bought two turkey breast "roasts" and two turkey legs. The roasts were a single filet, rolled, barded and wrapped in an elastic stocking sort of thing. I unwrapped these and brined as in Buttermilk-Brined Turkey Breast (web; GD). Before cooking, I made a little green "paste" of chopped rosemary, sage, parsley, and garlic with a bit of olive oil. I spread this on the underside of the breasts, topped with a slice of dried ham, then rolled them up and wrapped them in their stockings for roasting. For the Roasted Turkey Legs (web; GD; notes), I pretty much followed the instructions. The gravy I made from the turkey leg cooking skillet. It was tasty, but a bit on the salty side from the rub. The breasts were fantastic, with moist and tasty meat; this is worth doing any time of year. The legs were a bit dry. 

Chef Paul Prudhomme's Cornbread Stuffing (GD, notes) is an old favorite, delicious stuffing. New on the menu were the Sweet Potatoes With Cranberry Chutney (web; GD). The chutney was good with the sweet potatoes and most everything else on the plate. This may come around again. Also new was the Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad with Pears, Toasted Almonds, and Parmesan (web; GD) This sounded a bit odd, but was definitely a hit.

No picture of the Pumpkin Pie (GD; notes). It was good. 

We both enjoyed the meal and were thoroughly stuffed at the end. A small dinner, but still there was lots of foo.

This week in the kitchen

Monday/22-Nov-21: Dinner was Smoked Trout Chowder* (web; GD; notes). I put this on the meal plan because I'd collected the recipe from the web. Then I discovered it was already on my DoMeAgain list. It's good stuff.

Made Cornbread (Joy, p578) for our Thanksgiving stuffing today.

Realized this weekend, I was confused about my two backlog goals. In fact, I'm quite far along with BACKLOG1, clearing out the upstairs stacks of recipes. I've been taking a handful of recipes every evening, tossing most and saving a few. I will have to keep pushing on this to get the bins all clear by the end of the year. I have worked a bit on the old binders downstairs, but nothing major has happened.

Tuesday/23-Nov-21: Shopping today. I asked at Leclerc for a turkey, but I should have ordered last week. Meanwhile our local butcher hasn't called to say he's gotten one for me. So I bought two thighs and two breast roasts (i.e., the breast filet barded and rolled up with twine. I'll figure out some way to cook those (after disassembling the "roasts"), to serve looking like a turkey. 

Dinner was Cabillaud en Crumble de Jambon Cru* (web; GD). The topping for this is quite nice; I used smoked paprika tonight. Served with Thai trio rice (being out of the normal stuff) and steamed snijbonen in 1" chunks. No dessert needed.

Wednesday/24-Nov-21: Some cooking for Thanksgiving cooking today. Didn't get as much done as I'd planned, so tomorrow will be busy. Seems like there was something else, but I can't think of it. 

• Made a double batch of Tart Dough (Tenth, p256), one for the freezer, one for tomorrow.
• Put my turkey breasts to marinate for Buttermilk-Brined Turkey Breast (web). My two breasts were about the weight of the one breast asked in the recipe.
• Made the chutney for Sweet Potatoes with Cranberry Chutney (web). Wasn't especially impressed with this, but maybe it will be better tomorrow.

Dinner was Roast Za'atar Chicken Thighs with Broccoli & Potatoes (web; EW/nov21). This, a one-dish meal, was good, although some of the broccoli stems and potatoes were not quite done.

Thursday/25-Nov-21: Didn't get enough done yesterday, so there was lots of cooking today. In the end a nice Thanksgiving meal, with lots of leftovers.  

Friday/26-Nov-21: A frustrating day today. We had a very late lunch of stuffing, then later we each had a slice of pie. That was it. So much for the meal plan.

Saturday/27-Nov-21: I picked the meat off the turkey legs and froze most for later use. Dinner was Thanksgiving redux. All still good.

Sunday/28-Nov-21: Dinner was Pesto Turkey Kebabs (200Budget, p183). This is fairly quick and easy to make, except that I put the mozzarella I bought last week into the freezer, rather than leaving it in the fridge, so it took a bit of time to defrost and chop it. Very tasty, if not as pretty as the picture. Served with Thai trio rice and Parmesan Carrots with Lemon-Parsley Dressing (web; CL/mar17). This was tasty, and just a bit more work than usual.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #2 PHOTO: yes; #3 *DMA: yes
This month: #4 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG1: yes; #6 BACKLOG2: no; #7 RECYCLE: 11; #8 NEW: 5

This week in the kitchen

Monday/15-Nov-21: We had lunch out for Ed's birthday today. Not much happened in the kitchen.

Tuesday/16-Nov-21: Baked a loaf of Abm Whole Wheat Bread (MC) since we don't seem to be making a trip to the boulanger in the near future.

Dinner was Cabbage Diet Soup (web), which was fairly boring as soups go. There's lots left to freeze; thinking some sausages might sliced into it on the reprise. 

Wednesday/17-Nov-21: Dinner was Roasted Chicken Thighs with Pear-Mustard Sauce (web). The chicken was good, but the sauce only so-so. Interesting though. Served with trio rice and steamed broccoli. 

Thursday/18-Nov-21: Shopping today. It's much better on Thursday, than on Friday after a holiday. 

Dinner was Salmon with Green Mango (Mahi Aam) (RezaRice, p63). This was pretty good. Served with Lemon Rice (web), which was good. And Pan-Grilled Zucchini (MJ@   Home, p173), an old favorite. A nice meal altogether. 

Friday/19-Nov-21: Dinner was Turkey Dumplings with Spicy Broth  (Ainsley3, p98). This was good, if a trifle salty (less soy sauce next time). It's more like lunch rather than dinner, so I served some grilled cheese sandwiches with beaufort (a swiss-y cheese) and finely 

Saturday/20-Nov-21: Dinner was a half recipe of Spicy Pork Rolls with Minted Yogurt (200Budget, p130), with turkey scallops instead of pork, and with satay sauce. The scallop rolls are delicious; no sauce is needed. Discovered I hadn't bought trio rice last time, but Thai trio rice, not quite the same. Actually that was appropriate for this meal, quite good. Also made a half dose of Thai Cucumber Salad with Peanuts (web). Tasty meal. 

Sunday/21-Nov-21: Dinner was the Smoky and Hot Bulgur Chili variation of Bulgur Chili (H2CEV, p557). The bulgur isn't a bad substitute for ground beef. This wasn't bad, but I'm not overly fond of chili with tomatoes. Made a whole recipe, so there's lots leftover for the freezer.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #2 PHOTO: yes; #3 *DMA: no
This month: #4 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG1: yes; #6 BACKLOG2: yes; #7 RECYCLE: 11; #8 NEW: 4

This week in the kitchen

Monday/8-Nov-21: I was busy ironing and binge-watching season 2 of Broadchurch till too late to cook, so we got pizza from a nearby food truck.

Tuesday/9-Nov-21: Third covid vaccine today. The doctor said I'd probably have the same reaction as last time. Replanned meals for the next two days with that in mind.

Dinner was a half dose of Salade de Riz au Magret de Canard Séché (web), using up some peppered, dried duck breast from the freezer. This was pretty good. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Wednesday/10-Nov-21: Both of us suffering a bit from the third covid vaccine, so very simple cooking. Dinner from the freezer, Mijoté de Veau et Chorizo. Served over polenta with some lemon-sprinkled steamed broccoli. That's all folks. 

Thursday/11-Nov-21: Dinner was a halfish recipe of Sri Lankan Runner Bean Curry (web). I use more than half of the snijbonen, and it was a shortish meal for two. Expect that three servings is more reasonable for a whole recipe. Still, it was good. 

Friday/12-Nov-21: Shopping today. It was a hard one, with about a thousand people shopping on the day after a holiday, and we had lots more to shop for since I couldn't order at the Drive (cell phone died), and Leclerc has rearranged everything, so I walked aisles over 10min till I found where they've put the toilet paper. Exhausting.

Dinner was late because everything took me a long time to do. I made a whole recipe of Fish Kebabs (web), made with salmon and cod. The patties wouldn't hold together at all, so I added an egg to the mixture; that helped a lot. Ed liked these a lot; I thought they were so-so. Served with Spiced Snake Beans (RezaRice, p117), made with haricots verts; these were not a hit. And brown basmati rice. And Tomato, Onion and Green Coriander Relish—Cachumber (MJ1, p172), which is always good. Some store-bought crème caramels for after.

Saturday/13-Nov-21: Dinner was Spicy Jerk Pork with Pepper Fried Rice* (web; GD). (The bell pepper bits look huge compared to the bits of meat, but it really wasn't that way.) Still tasty.

  

Followed by a simple salad. 

Sunday/14-Nov-21: I used the rest of yesterday's varkenhaas to make Pork Tenderloin Diane (MC), which is an old favorite. Served with grits, and steamed snijbonen tossed with lemon juice, and Raw Beet Salad (web; GD), a new favorite. A nice dinner. 

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 2; #2 PHOTO: yes; #3 *DMA: yes
This month: #4 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG1: no; #6 BACKLOG2: no; #7 RECYCLE: 11; #8 NEW: 4

This week in the kitchen

Monday/1-Nov-21: If we hadn't been able to find a lunch venue last Friday when Chris and Amy arrived, I'd planned to make a crockpot dinner for them. Instead we had that tonight. I made a full recipe of Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef* (web; GD; notes) and froze half for another time. Served with rice and (somewhat over-)steamed broccoli.

 

No dessert for me since I'll have a blood test in the morning.

Tuesday/2-Nov-21: Dinner was Chinese Broccoli (MC). This was easy and tasty, if a trifle salty. Served over long-grain brown rice. We finished the vanilla-almond ice cream for after.

Wednesday/3-Nov-21: Dinner was a half dose of Mediterranean Chicken with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Artichokes, and Capers (web; GD; notes). This was easy and yummy. Served with trio rice. Some store-bought crème caramel for after. 
. 
Thursday/4-Nov-21: Shopping today. Needed a cabbage, but there were no more of the nice flat ones. Too bad. 

Dinner was Tarragon Salmon (web), thank you, Nigella. Easy and very nice. Served with short-grain brown rice and Frosted Cauliflower, a recipe I got from EAT-L. We liked this well enough, that I'll type it up to save. For after we had an apricot and an anise cookie; the apricot ones are good, the anise ones are especially good, and I don't really like anise. 

Friday/5-Nov-21: Dinner was A Night in Tunisia Pasta (with Harissa, Broccoli, Cauliflower)* (web; GD). This was good and spicy. Then some Häagen-Dasz mini ice cream cups for after.

For a coming meal, I made a half recipe of Atjar Tjampoer (web). Made a pretty full liter jar's worth. Looks good. We'll see.

I really need to get busy recycling cookbooks. Have a lot of candidates, but need to do the job.

Saturday/6-Nov-21: Dinner was a half recipe of Nasi Fantasie (web; Allerhande; GD; notes). This isn't very highly rated on the AH site, but we thought it was very good, tasty and satisfying. I forgot to get some kroepoeky things which would have been nice as a go-with. Used brown basmati for the rice. Used this recipe for the Pisang Goreng. No bakbanaan this week, so I used a green banana instead. It was smallish, cut longwise, then in halves. Not sure the lengthwise cut was necessary. A bit more might have been nice, so a bigger banana, or two small ones perhaps.The atjar hadn't really set long enough, but wasn't bad at all.

  

A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Sunday/7-Nov-21: An early meal today so we could go to a concert. We had store-bought falafels with store-bought kebab breads, served with Tzatziki (O&C, p465), Tahini Dipping Sauce, Variation: Falafel Sauce (WofE, p360), and Green Pea Hummus (web; GD)

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 4; #2 PHOTO: yes; #3 *DMA: yes
This month: #4 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG1: yes; #6 BACKLOG2: no; #7 RECYCLE: 11; #8 NEW: 4