This week in the kitchen

Monday/23-May-22: Dinner was an old favorite, Chicken Diane (MC; GD). With that was Parmesan Carrots with Lemon-Parsley Dressing (web; CL/mar17) and some spaghettis courts. HD mini cups of ice cream for after.

Tuesday/24-May-22: Dinner was a half version of Moroccan Fish Tagine (web; GD). I used my tagine instead of a Dutch oven. Although I doubt this is very authentic, it was quite tasty for minimal work. Served with Moroccan couscous. Strawberries and cream for after.

Wednesday/25-May-22: I had a bit of surgery today to get another set of extra-long T-tubes in my ears. Dinner was simple, Vegetable Soup with Spicy Merguez Sausages from the freezer, and a chocolate-covered madeleine for after. 

Thursday/26-May-22: For lunch we had Clean-the-Fridge Pasta, which turned out pretty good, but more a bit more than intended. Dinner was light, Scrambled Eggs with Cauliflower (WorldVeg, p528), a sort of Indian scrambled eggs that was quick and tasty. Originally I was looking for a frittata sort of thing and found Frittata de Cavolfiore (Artusi, p134), where he recommends boiling the cauliflower first. Since I don't think cauliflower gets done in the two minutes that Jaffrey recommends, I did this and it worked great. Quite tasty it was. 

Friday/27-May-22: Dinner was Turkey-Lentil Curry (GB), made with turkey oysters. Added some frozen peas to give some veggie matter and color. Served over brown basmati rice. A chocolate-covered madeleine for after.

Saturday/28-May-22: Dinner was Spice-Crusted Pork Tenderloins with Banana-Date Chutney (License, p150), which I've made several times before. The chutney was from the freezer, leftovers from the last time I made it. Didn't bbq but started under the broiler and finished in the oven. Served with some canned black beans and some tarted up (grated lime peel, lime juice, a pat of butter, cayenne, and chopped cilantro) canned corn. Followed by some strawberries and cream. (Buddy has discovered that our potted strawberries are bearing. Our crop is reduced.)

Sunday/29-May-22: Dinner was a halfish version of Curried Brussels Sprouts (MC; AH), using up more of my frozen Brussels sprouts. Served over small servings of whole wheat spaghetti. Pretty good stuff, an easy. A chocolate-covered madeleine for after.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 2; #2 PHOTO: no
This month: #3 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG2: no; #6 BACKLOG3: no; #7 RECYCLE: 0; #8 NEW: 3

This week in the kitchen

Monday/16-May-22: Dinner was about a third recipe of Balsamic Roast Pork Tenderloin (web). (The recipe is now titled Pork Piccata, but it's the same thing.) This was easy with a tasty balsamic sauce. Serve with trio rice and steamed asparagus. For a starter, there was Smoked Salmon Salad with Dill (BEFCC, p35). With smoked salmon, fennel, and cucumber, this is an easy and tasty starter. A chocolate-covered madeleine each for after.

Tuesday/17-May-22: Ed picked up orders from both Drives today.

Dinner was Creamy Lemon Salmon  (web).This was easy to put together, with a yummy cream sauce. (I used chicken stock, from my second to last jar of AH gevogelte fond.) Served with Broccoli and Brussels Sprout Delight (web) and some whole wheat spaghetti. I used bsprouts from the freezer, so jiggled the recipe a bit to account for that. This was pretty good. No dessert.

Wednesday/18-May-22: Busy day with ophthalmologist appointments and a lecture in the afternoon. Dinner was easy and nice, Spinach & Artichoke Chicken (web; GD). I lost track of halving the recipe after the spinach, so had too much artichoke hearts (is that possible?), but this wasn't really a problem. Served with a side of wholewheat spaghetti. Strawberries for dessert.

Thursday/19-May-22: Dinner was a halfish recipe of Buttery Scallops with Lemon and Herbs (web). This was good, but the stove ran out of gas in the middle of cooking so the scallops didn't get seared a they ought to have been. Served with polenta and steam broccoli. A chocolate-covered madeleine each for after.

Friday/20-May-22: Tonight we had tamales, from a can, with guacamole and refried beans made from the rest of last weekends black beans. 

Saturday/21-May-22: For dinner I made a Leek Tart (Seaver2, p110). (The dough for this is almost the same as My Basic Pie Crust (Secret, p38), made with cream cheese.) After I got this in the overn, I thought it was a bit unsubstantial for a main dish, so I grabbed some veal scallops from the freezer and made Veal Scallopini Piccata (web). This was good and easy. No proper dessert.

Sunday/22-May-22: We had a lovely lunch out today before a concert in the early evening. Later we had a big bowl of popcorn for TV watching.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #2 PHOTO: no;
This month: #3 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG2: no; #6 BACKLOG3: no; #7 RECYCLE: 0; #8 NEW: 3

This week in the kitchen

Monday/9-May-22: For dinner there was a turkey breast roll left from Thanksgiving. I read that turkey reheats best in its gravy. Having none of that, I made a white gravy (chicken stock, cream, and a splash of white wine) which was pretty good after doctoring. Served with spaghettis courts (which isn't really spaghetti) and some fava beans. We were full, so no dessert.

Tuesday/10-May-22: We picked up orders from two Drives today. Intermarché was out of the fish I ordered, but Ed bought some at the little market near our favorite boulangerie. 

Dinner was Thai Fish Cakes with Sweet Chili-Lime Dipping Sauce (web). These were pretty good. Served with brown basmati, and my standard Asian-ish salad, Thai Cucumber Salad with Peanuts (web). For after we had store-bought yogurt with cream of chestnuts. Tasty dinner.

Wednesday/11-May-22: Barbecue tonight. We had Grilled Chicken with Lemon and Couscous (Diaries, p258), more or less. I used skinless, boneless chicken thighs sprinkled with Penzey's Quebec Beef Spice (also good on chicken). Ed grilled asparagus, eggplant (for the couscous), and the chicken. Tasty dinner. One chocolate-covered madeleine each for after.

Thursday/12-May-22: Didn't feel like making what was on the plan tonight, so there was an old and easy favorite, Curried Penne with Shrimp (365OneDish, p49), with whole wheat penne. And one chocolate-covered madeleine each for after.

Friday/13-May-22: Recombobulated the meal plan today when I realized that I'd forgotten to remember than I needed to start tonight's dinner yesterday. Oops.

Tonight we had Easy Mushroom and Black Bean Chilli (web). This was simple and very good. Served with short grain brown rice and a dollop of crème fraîche. We each had a mini Häagen-Dasz ice cream cup for after.

Then I started the sauce for tomorrow night's meal.

Saturday/14-May-22: Dinner was Mushroom, Olive, and Caper Sauce for Pasta (MedHot2, p23) served over casareccia. Then a salad. When we split a strange little sweet that we bought at a market today. The pasta sauce is interesting. It's served cold, or lukewarm by the time it's mixed with pasta, a bit sour from the vinegar, a bit spicy from the peppers, almost a bit too salty from the kalamatas. Still, the effect was nice. Might put some cauliflower in with it for the next round.

Sunday/15-May-22: Dinner was a pot of black beans cooked in two lots of "salty pork-cooking juice" from the freezer. Salty it was. I should have taken just one lot and added that amount of water again. Did discover that a bit of acid (cider vinegar, lime or lemon juice) helps cut the salt). I had a plain yogurt for after to soothe my tastebuds.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 4; #2 PHOTO: no;
This month: #3 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG2: no; #6 BACKLOG3: no; #7 RECYCLE: 0; #8 NEW: 3

This week in the kitchen

Monday/2-May-22: It was a clean-out-the-fridge dinner tonight. The ends of two soups (turkey-wild rice and pea&carrot); three lamb chops; a little salad from the leftover couscous; a salad-salad using more of the dressing from the beets; bits of grillons and terrine; all the small bits of cheese. We're full. 

Tuesday/3-May-22: Dinner was Vegetable Soup with Spicy Merguez Sausages (web; GD; notes). This is a versatile recipe, a tasty way to use up odds and ends of vegetables. I used carrots, leek, zucchini, and potatoes. My celery was dead, so I added some dried celery leaves. Made a whole recipe and have lots to freeze. A chocolate-covered madeleine each for after.

Wednesday/4-May-22: Dinner was a half dose of Oven-Baked Salmon with Charred Onions & Old Bay Radishes (web). Except for the charred onions, this was pretty good. I followed the recipe's timing for the onions and they were too black, giving a bitter taste to the "sauce" made from them. Served with orzo, followed by a salad with freshly made Croutons (Art, p173). A chocolate-covered madeleine each for after.

Thursday/5-May-22: Dinner was a half dose of Lemon and Thyme Chicken Caprese (web). This was pretty and good. For a starter there was Zucchini Carpaccio with Avocado, Lemon Thyme, and Pistachio Oil (VegHarv, p214), which I've made several times now. Think my lemon thyme didn't make it through the winter, at least neither plant that's alive has a lemony smell. Too full for an after.

Friday/6-May-22: Dinner was Tagliatelle with Prosciutto and Butter (web). This was easy and yummy, but not for every day because of the fat content. Then a salad. A chocolate-covered madeleine each for after.

Saturday/7-M May on-22: Really didn't feel like cooking tonight. Pizza it was.

Sunday/8-May-22: The ABM made a loaf of Whole Wheat Bread (Fleischmann's) (MC). Steam-boiled some eggs, thinking to have tuna salad with our soup dinner, but decided against that. 

Dinner was Shaker-Style Soup (Monastery, p72). This was really easy and tasty, kind of a dill-flavored cream of tomato soup. For after we had some store-bought chocolate mousse things.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 2; #2 PHOTO: no;
This month: #3 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG2: no; #6 BACKLOG3: no; #7 RECYCLE: 0; #8 NEW: 2

This week in the kitchen

Monday/25-Apr-22: We ate from the freezer tonight, Creamy Turkey and Wild Rice Soup, along with some cheese and onion sandwiches. A dark chocolate-covered madeleine each for after.

Tuesday/26-Apr-22: Chris, Jacky, and Hitomi arrived today. 

Dinner was Za'atar Lamb Chops (web; GD); these were yummy as usual. Served with Moroccan couscous (store-bought mix) and two little salads that I've made before, Grilled Red Pepper Strips with Pomegranate and Cumin (EastMed, p154) and Grated Cucumber Salad with Oregano (Morocco, p75). For after there was Cheesecake Ice Cream (Scoop, p62), served with some frozen raspberries. This is a really rich and delicious ice cream, a bit lemony, which was tempered by the raspberries. Delicious.

Wednesday/27-Apr-22: Lunch out today. Cheese and charcuterie for our evening repas.

Thursday/28-Apr-22: Lunch out today. Cheese and charcuterie for our evening repas. Pretty boring, eh?

Friday/29-Apr-22: We had lunch in today between a visit to the Victor Hugo market and the Maison Soulat, the reincarnation of our local coop winery that was wiped out in the big hailstorm in 2018.

For a starter we had a sort of insalata caprese with the beautiful yellow tomato Jacky bought at the market, kind of a surinamse salad. 

 

Our second starter was Salade de Mache au Betteraves (BEFCC, p32), an old favorite. For our main, there was Lemony Chicken Saltimbocca (web; GD) with whole wheat spaghetti. No time for dessert before going off to taste wine.

In the evening there was cheese and charcuterie yet again, with a charentais melon and pineau, and some canelés. 

Saturday/30-Apr-22: Lunch out today. Left the girls at the train station to return to Paris and thence to Texas. 

Sunday/2-May-22: Dinner was Salade met Falafel en Blauwe Kaas (Tip/aug01; web); Tip Culinair is a now defunct Dutch cooking magazine. Fast to make and tasty, but the recipe for two could easily have served three and maybe four. For a starter we had an little insalata caprese with a Coeur de Boeuf tomato. The tomato was relatively tasteless compared to yesterday's yellow beauty. We finished with melon and pineau.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 1; #2 PHOTO: yes;
This month: #3 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG2: yes/no; #6 BACKLOG3: no; #7 RECYCLE: 0; #8 NEW: 2