This week in the kitchen

Monday/29-Jan-18: Our meal was leftover cheese enchilada stack and Spanish rice, with a new dose of guacamole.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/30-Jan-18: Both of us feeling pretty bad with cold, or flu perhaps?

Our meal was a half recipe of Roasted Butternut Squash Curry with Garlic and Tomatoes (MadeIndia, p61) with Golden Garlic Raita (MadeIndia, p178) served over brown rice. The curry was yummy. Used canned tomatoes, that supposedly had been deseeded, but seeds were visible when I opened the can; we'll see how that goes. The raita was a nice sauce that isn't necessarily Indian.
 

Cookbook: Having dashed through HomTravels, I'm not sure I want to use that for February. Didn't find it as interesting as some of his other books. Also he wants a lot of lemongrass and I'm almost out, and not likely to be near a store that sells it in the next bit of time. Considering another book to grab here.

Wednesday/31-Jan-18: Shopping today, hard work since neither of us a feeling tip-top.

Dinner was Thai Green Fish Curry (30MinCook, p117). Ed like this more than I did. The recipe calls for a block of creamed coconut, which I've never seen or even heard of. Instead I used 200ml of coconut cream and 200ml of coconut milk, which was too much liquid. I thought it was okay, but nothing special. As a side, there was a halfish recipe of Cauli Thai Salad (web), to use up some of the cauliflower hanging around. This was pretty good, although it was quite hot since I used a whole red chile rather than a half of one.

I bought a mango intending to make a little mango tart with a bit of pie crust still in the fridge. It didn't look very appetizing when I got it out, so it got recycled. I chopped up the mango, added some coconut, macadamia nuts (that had been in the freezer for ages), lime juice, and a dab of honey; then served this over the last of the ice cream I made last week. Pretty good stuff.

Cookbook: Think I've settled on SlowItal for next month's book. Decided on a recipe of Sunday's meal, and found similar recipe in PCGourmet and SlowItal, but decided that the slow cooker one would be more interesting to try out.

Thursday/1-Feb-18: Both of us still feeling sicky.

Our meal was Kaye's Veg and Feta Gratin (MC). I almost always use broccoli for this. Is there a better vegetable? And then a big salad.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/2-Feb-18: Still sicky.

Our meal was Chicken Thighs Marsala for Two (web). I didn't put it in the oven, but cooked it covered on the stovetop. Served with pasta and carrots/peas/corn. Good stuff.

Saturday/3-Feb-18: We're both still coughy. Yesterday Ed asked for soup. Today we had soup: chicken stock with broccoli and some cooked chicken bits. Pretty good, especially with a squirt of chipotle tabasco. Some butter cookies for dessert.

Sunday/4-Feb-18: My original plan for the day was to start a crockpot when Ed got up to leave for choir practice, leaving me time to work on a project; when he got back, dinner would be ready so we could eat and go to a movie. Forgot to replan when Ed decided not to go to practice. And neither of us felt like coughing through a movie.

Dinner was Sweet Potato Macaroni & Cheese (EW/jan-feb14; web). I didn't use the bread crumbs. This was so-so. The peas were a nice touch. A slog of cayenne, or maybe chipotle powder, would have helped. Then a salad, a bit bare with only walnuts. Then a dessert loosely based on a half recipe of Coffee Ricotta Mousse (MW@Home, p307). Using a 250g carton of ricotta that didn't get used for whatever it was intended, I stirred in 1/4cup powdered sugar, 1/2tsp vanilla extract, and 1tbl Kahlua. Needed to whiz it with the staff mixer, but that was in the dishwasher and I was too lazy to correct that.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 5; #3 COOKBOOK: yes
Cookbook of the month: MadeIndia
This month: #4 PASTA: yes for January, no for February; #5 BREAD: no for January and February; #6 GUESTS: yes for January, no for February

This week in the kitchen

Monday/13-Nov-17: Cooked up some potatoes and used the leftover lamb to make Lamb Hash (30MinCook, p179). Used the Penzey's seasoned salt to spice it up. Good it was. Then a salad. Then some mini ice cream bars Haägen-Dasz for me and Magnum for Ed.

Tuesday/14-Nov-17: Soup for lunch, made for the leftover broccoli soup, a potage of beef juice, goat juice, potatoes, and carrots from the freezer, and a bit of kippe fond from the freezer. Added some artichoke ravioli for something to chew on. Pretty good it was. And filling.

Wednesday/15-Nov-17: Ed's birthday lunch today, so nothing happened in the kitchen. Did the shopping though. Bought yogurt so we can have some for breakfast. I should have made it yesterday, or even this morning, but was too lazy or out of time. Used one of the pots as a new starter, since it was available, although there was no particular reason.

Yogurt on overnight.

Thursday/16-Nov-17: Dinner was Baked Orange Roughy Italian-Style (MC 2BT), with haddock/églefin. Simpe and pretty good, although the fillets were pretty bony. Served with trio rice and steams gesneden snijbonen. Mini ice cream bars for dessert.

Friday/17-Nov-17: Using up a 125g package of brick, I made a two-third-ish recipe of Courgette and Chick Pea Filo Pie (web). Well sort of. I defrosted the chickpeas and got them out of the fridge, but forgot to add them to the courgette mixture. Maybe time to make some hummus tomorrow. Made a salad for today, but we were too full to it eat. Into the fridge with that.

Saturday/18-Nov-17: Forgot to buy sweet potatoes for tonight's meal, so replanned with Pork Medallions with Olive-Caper Sauce (MC; web) which we've had a couple of times. This time Ed though there were too many olives, but was happy to eat them with the salad. I used orzo instead of vermicelli for the side. I liked the whole thing. Then yesterday's salad.

Yogurt on overnight.

Sunday/19-Nov-17: Last minute replan today so I could  make something quick before going to visit friends. We had Thai Black Pepper Chicken (MC; web) made with 250g skinless, boneless chicken thighs and all the sauce; only one chili. Yummy over basmati rice with Broccoli in Oyster Sauce (Delightful, p58). Häagen-Dasz mini cups for dessert.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 3
This month: #3 PASTA: no; #4 BREAD: no

This week in the ktichen

Monday/21-Nov-16: Lunch out today. Fruit for dinner.

Started some chicken stock. Made cornbread. Put chicken on to dry-brine for tomorrow.

Tuesday/22-Nov-16: Stopping today. Still a mess at Leclerc. Where is stuff? Ed and I both picked up packaged veggies, not seeing the loose kind. Then he spied what he was after on another aisle, and there was mine too. Loose (vrac) and packaged versions of the same veggie not together. Still haven't found the little section that used to be at the end of the flours that had yeast and baking powder and other such baking needs, all hung in small packets. And nine things on my list were not present. Maybe the first time I've ever noticed that there were no limes at all to be had. They haven't had the feta I like for at least two weeks, maybe three. Very annoying experience. Definitely considering moving primary shopping elsewhere

Froze up the stock.

Dinner was, sort of, Cajun Dry-Brined Roast Chicken Inspired by Zuni Café (web). I used the rub, but spatchcocked the chicken and cooked in a cast iron skillet, pressed in the oven. Quite yummy it was, and the three of us ate it all.

The method is basically this: Apply rub/seasoning to spatchcocked chicken and let it rest in the fridge overnight. Oven to 400F. Add a bit of oil to hot skillet and brown the chicken for 5 minutes, skin-side down. Turn the chicken over and top with another heavy skillet. Into the oven for 40-45minutes. Perfect.

Served with polenta and Baked Eggplant Slices (TooMany, p114), which wasn't as good as usual. I suspect something to do with the mayonnaise I used, Maille, which was the first non-canola/rapeseed oil mayo I found. (I've got another from a health food store.)

Bill had an ice cream bar for dessert. Ed and I had nothing.

Wednesday/23-Nov-16: Lots of Thanksgiving cooking today.

Used up the rest of the lamb for dinner to make Lamb in Spiced Gravy (30MinCook, p179). Yummy, served over rice. Vanilla ice cream with crème de cacao for dessert.

Thursday/24-Nov-16: Bill requested a proper roast turkey for Thanksgiving, so that's what we had. I asked the butcher for 4kg; came home with 5.2kg. When I went to pick it up this morning, the butcher asked if I wanted him to truss it. I said Well, ok. He took a ginormous needle threaded with string and ran it through the turkey side to side, through one wing, the body, and out on the other side, then back and tied off.

Then he tucked the “ankles” together, went through one drumstick and out the other, then back.

Not any kind of bird trussing I’ve ever seen, but very sturdy.

Planned on cooking the turkey in the right oven, but it wouldn't get up to temperature. We were about an hour late for dinner, after I finally realized it wasn't heating and then got the left one heated up. Now I'm thinking that's why the cheesecake took so long to cook last night, that the oven was never quite hot enough. Started the puff and the dressing in the right oven, but moved them to the left one when I took the turkey out. All came out okay in the end, just late.

Friday/25-Nov-16: Thanksgiving leftovers for dinner. We've finished half the turkey now. The cranberry sauce was pretty well wiped out, so I made another dose of Cranberry-Port Relish (MC).

Put a pork loin on to brine for tomorrow's dinner.

Saturday/26-Nov-16: We hit a couple of marchés de noël today, and came away with some xmas gifts—in support of a worthwhile charity, even better.

For dinner there was Chile-Brined Roasted Pork Loin (web), which turned out quite good. Served with some steam/sautéed potatoes and canned corn (there being no corn on the cob at the grocery this afternoon). Finished off the pumpkin swirl cheesecake for dessert.

Yogurt on overnight.

Sunday/27-Nov-16: Lunch with Bill before the train. Nothing further happened in the kitchen.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 0
This month: #3 PASTA: no; #4 BREAD: no; #5 FotW: no for November/December

This week in the kitchen

Monday/11-Jul-16: Picked more than a quart of blueberries at friends' house while watering plants. This being a busy week, I'm not sure when I'll have time to do anything with them.

Dinner was Seekh Kebabs, Jeera Rice, Gujarati Carrot Salad, Cauliflower Relish, and Naan, all from 30MinInd.

Tuesday/12-Jul-16: Busy day today. BookChatters for me in the morning. Then both of us went to Soyaux, gassed up, pick up an order from Carrefour Drive, had lunch. Then I had an ENT appointment for checkup and to get a new T-tube in my left ear; appointment at 14.15, got in about 15.15, then a half hour wait for the local anesthetic to take effect, sort of, finally done about 16.00. A bit of shopping at Grand Frais, then homewards.

Dinner was Bean Salad with Shrimp and Curry Yogurt (web). A bit of an odd recipe. First, it's green beans, rather than cannellini or some such. Second, it's supposed to serve four, apparently as a main. Never. We had it all, served over brown rice, making a light, tasty meal for two. Too much honey. Too little curry powder. Pretty good.

Wednesday/13-Jul-16: Ate out at a music evening tonight. Nothing happened in the kitchen. Including the yogurt I was supposed to do.

Thursday/14-Jul-16: Yogurt on overday.

Made Sour Cream Fresh Blueberry Cake (MC), an old favorite, and left half with Shirley and Terry. Still have 4cups of blueberries to use.

Dinner was Salmon in Banana Leaves, Broccoli Sabzi, and Coconut Rice, followed by, yes, Sour Cream Fresh Blueberry Cake. Ed served this with cream, but I thought that was unnecessary gilding of the lily.

Friday/15-Jul-16: Off for a haircut this morning. Before I left, I started Vaguely Vietnamese Slow Cooker Pork Tacos (web), which was, yes vaguely Vietnamese. And not bad. Served with whole wheat flour tortillas and the accompanying slaw, which was ok. Should have grated the carrots and cuke. No Asian pear and didn't add anything sweet to compensate. Went well with the pork, which will serve only four, not 6-8 as advertised.

Yogurt on overnight.

Saturday/16-Jul-16: Made Bluebard Jam (SmallBatch, p37). Used a full packet of Vitpris pectin (~35g); it might be a bit stiff. Or not. And sucre de canne. Made four AH jars; two in the freezer, one for Shirley and Terry, one for us.

Dinner was a halfish recipe of Braised Chicken with Preserved Lemon and Olives (web) with three chicken thighs. (Lately chicken thighs come packaged in threes, rather than fours, which is somewhat annoying.) This was quite good, in spite of the fact that I forgot to add the "herb sachet" to the simmering chicken and sauce. (Have added that to the leftover sauce for when I rewarm it.) The chicken was browned, then braised, then cooked in the oven. It came out with a really crispy skin. Altogether very tasty. The recipe suggested serving with roasted potatoes or boiled noodles, neither of which appealed. I made some whole wheat couscous. Then a big salad, using the the blue cheese dressing. Then the rest of the blueberry cake.

Sunday/17-Jul-16: This morning I put lamb chops on to marinate for our dinner of Kashmiri Lamb Chops and Jeera Potatoes. Served this with Green Peas in a Creamy Sauce (Q&E, p87). After we ate, we went to the movies, hoping for ice cream cones, but there were none tonight, so we had mini magnums when we got back.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 2
This month: #3 PASTA: no; #4 BREAD: no; #5 FotW: no for Jul/Aug

This week in the kitchen

Monday/25-Apr-16: With Madhur Jaffrey's help, this evening I scratched that Indian food itch while building up Ed's hemoglobin. Dinner was Kheema Matar—Ground Meat with Peas (MJ1, p44) served with Peelay Chaaval—Aromatic Yellow Rice (MJ1, p153) and Pyaz Ka Laccha—Onion Relish (MJ1, p174), followed by Seviyan Ki Kheer—Vermicelli Pudding (MJ1, p192). All was good. I've made the ground meat before, also with beef. It's very easy and has lots of relatively unattended time. The Onion Relish, an old favorite, was a suggested go-with. I thought about making parathas, but made the rice instead. And the Kheer—I think I've finally got it nailed. The trick is to follow her timings precisely. Duh. If you cook it longer, it's still tasty, but is too thick. (Need less sugar than asked, though.) Had a starter of Charentaise melon with pineau, which didn't really fit and is a bit early, but was nice.

Tuesday/26-16: We ate lunch out today and then did a bit of sightseeing near Angoulême. When we got home, we had nibbles for dinner; there were tomatoes and radishes, and pâté, cheese, and ham with cornichons. That was all.

Wednesday/27-Apr-16: Made apple butter.

Tonight Ed's trying out with a new choir that's doing a concert in July. This choir meets on Wednesday evenings, so we'll be having our Wednesday main meal in the daytime for the next couple of months. Today we had Sriracha Lime Chicken Skillet (web) with Zucchini with Cilantro Sauce (MWLowFat, p335) and Coconut Rice (i.e., rice cooked with coconut milk and water). Pretty good all of it. I used bone-in chicken thighs instead of boneless ones for the "skillet"; this was fine. A bit of cheese for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Thursday/28-Apr-16: There was an earthquake in La Rochelle this morning, +/-5.0 depending what you read. Bill said he thought he might have felt it while I was in the shower. Shortly after that, I was sitting at the computer and an empty box fell off its perch; I thought it was Sophie (who routinely knocks thing off their perches), but she, but she wasn't there.

I went to the butcher to get beef for tonight's dinner and to the boulanger (who was actually at the butcher's when I got there) to get bread and croissants. While we all went to Montbron for the afternoon, I left Aiguillettes de Boeuf aux Oignons (VPG, web) in a low oven. Leaving Ed at choir practice, Bill and I did a little sightseeing then stopped for tea and coffee at a local shop. Then we picked Ed up and came home to find the house smelling quite delicious. Served the beef with smashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. The beef was so-so, somehow drier than expected. For dessert, some magnums of various sorts.

Friday/29-Apr-16: We had lunch out before we took Bill to the train. Then we did our shopping. As long as Ed is in the extra choir, it looks like Friday will be our shopping day. Surprisingly it has been unexpectedly uncrowded.

Ed mowed today, and discovered that the tomatoes and eggplants we set out last week have all died. (Unhappy face.) They were looking very happy just two days ago. Maybe they froze. We had a night that went down to 1C near the house; maybe it was colder down below. There are no more organic ones to be ordered. Searching for regular ones.

Only fruit needed this evening.

Saturday/30-Apr-16: Dinner was Herbed Salmon with Garlic Cream Sauce (30MinCook, p118), with trio rice and steamed/grilled broccoli. This is a really nice way to make salmon; not the first time I've made it. For dessert, the end of the kheer.

Yogurt on overnight.

Sunday/1-May-16: Ed found Sophie this morning with a gaping hole under her left front leg, so off to the vet with her. (Could be an ex-abscess, but it's hard to think we'd have missed just a big one.) Then on to Montbron to hear a friend's band playing. Looked for the bric-à-brac that was supposed to be there too. For the second time we couldn't find it. Drove all over the place and can't figure out where they hide these things. No signs to help. A Montbron weirdness.

For dinner, I used up the last of the thawed lamb with Lamb in Spiced Gravy (30MinCook, p179), made with less lamb this time and less water/stock. Really tasty. Served over/next to Indian Mashed Potatoes (Q&E, p50), an old favorite. For dessert, I made some vanilla pudding from my mother's pie filling/pudding recipe. (They're the same except the pie filling uses three egg yolks—the whites are for meringue—while the pudding uses one whole egg.) Made with sucre de canne (brown sugar), so the taste was good, but the color is a bit odd. Served with some sliced strawberries.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 1
This month: #3 PASTA: no; #4 BREAD: no; #5 FotW: no for April/half-May

This week in the kitchen

Monday/28-Dec-15: Clearing out the pantry night. Baked potatoes with pyramid goat cheese and cheddar and lardons. Steamed asparagus with a bit of lemon juice. A strange salad of leftover green beans and chopped walnuts with a dressing of pyramid goat cheese, olive oil, and cider vinegar. Worked really well. Followed by more pecan pie bread pudding.

Thinking I had the meal plan ready, I meant to make the shopping list today. But I didn't, so I didn't. Maybe tomorrow. Ed's ready to wait till Thursday afternoon to shop, since it was relatively empty then last week.

Tuesday/29-Dec-15: Dinner was, more or less, Thai Chicken Salad (30MinCook, p98; cookbooker). I used duck aiguilettes (the long, narrow muscle behind the breast proper). Oops, we're out of carrots; used some peeled broccoli stems for the extra crunch. No mint either, but—surprise!—there was some outside. (There really shouldn't be mint at this time of year.) Ed thought it was almost uneatably salty. I thought it was salty, but not that bad. But very tasty.

Then we finished off the pecan pie bread pudding. I didn't make the version with corn syrup, which would have tasted more pecan pie-ish, I suppose, but we did like the nuts. Next time I make my double-boiler bread pudding, I'll put some nuts in with the caramel.

Yogurt on overnight.

Wednesday/30-Dec-15: Shopping today. Cilantro was in short supply. There was a space labelled Coriander at Leclerc, but it was really Cerfeuil (chervil). The nearby Casino was closed for their very long lunch break. Found two small packages at Intermarché.

Dinner was Fish Gyros with Cucumber Tzatziki Sauce (web). Tonight's fish was lieu noir again. I made all the sauce, more or less with half the fish. Served in pita bread things, oval rather than round. Good, easy, very fast. With some store-bought rice puddings for after.

Ed started on tiling over the kitchen sink this afternoon. Hooray!

Thursday/31-Dec-15: Our New Year's Eve dinner got its own post.

Friday/1-Jan-16: We had our first meal of the year out today, and very nice it was.

Saturday/2-Jan-16: Dinner started with a half recipe of Potage Parisien with Sorrel Cream (Essential, p148; cookbooker). This is a really yummy soup, easy and relatively fast to make. This was a recommended starter for Scallops with Pea Purée (Essential, p429; cookbooker). This was okay, nothing special. For dessert, we had the last two laits du riz from shopping day.

More tiling done today.

Yogurt on overnight.

Sunday/3-Jan-16: Eating from the freezer tonight. Two little lamb pot pies, in small square casseroles, topped with squares of pâte feuillittée. Good stuff. Then a salad, with the sauce from the lime-marinated scallops as dressing. And a mini-mag for after.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 UNUSED: no; #3 GRAINS: no; #4 VEG/FISH: 2
This month: #5 PASTA: no for December, no for January; #6 BREAD: no for December, no for January #7 FotW: yes for November/December, no for January/February

This week in the kitchen

Monday/27-Apr-15: Made some Croutons (Art, p172) with bread left from Saturday's apèro.

For dinner, there was pasta with a red pepper sauce from the freezer. Then a big salad. Then more of the cheese from the cheese box. That was all.

Tuesday/28-Apr-15: Yogurt on overday.

Cleaned the shelf with baking supplies today and found one unopened package of chocolate chips and three open ones! Time for some baking. With almonds, of which I also have a surplus.

Dinner was Hoisin Chicken with Walnuts and Mushrooms (30MinCook, p147), which was okay but nothing special. As sides there were basmati rice and Hot and Spicy Wrinkled Beans (Chinatown, p106), which I've made a couple of times now.

Wednesday/29-Apr-15: Shopping today.

Dinner was Chipotle Lime Salmon (web). Can hardly beat this, fast, easy, good. Served with brown rice and a made up avocado salad/salsa. For dessert some little crème caramels courtesy of Bonne Maman.

Thursday/30-Apr-15: Dinner was Mafalda Corta with Sausage in Saffron Cream Sauce (web), really good stuff, fast and easy. I recently learned that mafalda is the name for one of my favorite pasta shapes, the one I call mini-lasagnas. Then a smallish salad, topped with some of Monday's croutons from the freezer. Then the last two little crème caramels.

Friday/1-May-15: Holiday today and the weather has turned rainy. For a week or more. Sigh.

Dinner started with (sort of) Globe Artichoke Salad with Preserved Lemon Mayonnaise (web). Not globe artichokes, but the little violet ones. Didn't make my mayo from scratch, but added the minced preserved lemons to the end of a jar. No peas shoots (ha), but part of a sack of mixed lettuces. Wasn't bad though. For the main, there was a half recipe of Baked Orzo, Broccoli, and Cheese (VegClass; cookbooker). It was pretty good, a one-dish dinner kind of thing. For dessert, there were some apples baked in the Romertopf. I looked at several recipes, and then did my own thing. Good they were.

Yogurt on overnight.

Saturday/2-May-15: Hmm...the yogurt had separated, first time that's happened. Seems to be caused by "cooking" it too hot (in the machine?) or too long (the same time as I've been using). A puzzle. Supposedly it's edible, by draining or stirring, but I still saved enough of what I had left to make a new batch.

Had our main meal at midday today, a half recipe of Baked Chicken Scampi with Potatoes and Zucchini (web). Not sure what was "scampi" about it, but it was good. The instructions aren't very good, at least the version I got via email, but it's worth doing. As a go-with, there was Belarussian Carrot Salad (web), which was a nice carrot salad, although it didn't go all that well with the casserole. The carrots marinated for only about 30 minutes, not 3 hours or more. Oh well. It was still good.

I haven't spent lots of time working on my recipe backlog, but I have been pretty vicious clearing out various stacks around the house. One folder, I ended up tossing all that I'd collected. I'm working on my bedside stack, six years' accumulation, picking up random handful every few days and saving or tossing. Tiny progress.

Sunday/3-May-15: Yogurt on overday, using the bit I saved from the previous batch. The separated batch is pretty sour.

Dinner was a half recipe of Cajun Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo (web; cookbooker). Really yummy this. And a salad. Then we split a magnum classic. We'll probably stop getting these; the chocolate is not very good and the ice cream just so-so. A shame since they used to be worth a walk across Amstelveen to get some of an evening.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 UNUSED: yes; #3 GRAINS: yes; #4 VEG/FISH: 4
This month: #5 PASTA: no for April; no for May; #6 BREAD: no for April; no for May  #7 FotW: no for March/April; no for May

This week in the kitchen

Monday/6-Apr-15: Tonight's dinner called for a whole wheat pâte brisée, but I couldn't find a recommended recipe and in the end didn't feel like making even a regular pastry, so defrosted a store-bought one instead. Even though it was a recommended brand, it's still not as good as a homemade one, so that was a weak point in the Broccoli and Olive Tart (p66, Pickford; cookbooker) that I made. This was a pretty good tart, deserving a better crust. The bell peppers and olives really complemented each other and broccoli is always good in this kind of a thing. A stronger goat's cheese might be nice. Followed by a salad. We were full (since we ate 3/4 of the tart meant for four).

Tuesday/7-Apr-15: Yogurt on overday. Shopping today.

Dinner was Ancho-Honey Pork Tenderloin with Cheese Grits (web). The recipe is meant for four; we ate all of it. My varkenshaas  (filet mignon de porc) was a bit smaller than asked, but it was still a lot. Bought a huge sack of spinach, which sautéed down to a spoonful each; that was the suggested side. Afterwards, we finished off the kheer.

Wednesday/8-Apr-15: Dinner was a half recipe of Panko-Crusted Baked Salmon (web). Panko is so convenient for a crispy crust, but what's in the stuff? Think I might need to worry about it a bit.) I did it under the broiler rather than in the oven, and left it at the highest level. The fish was great, but the panko burnt black. Will try this again, either in the oven as directed or on a lower level under the broiler. Served with brown rice and asparagus. No dessert.

Thursday/9-Apr-15: Brette was due at the Angoulême train station at 19.24. I had dinner planned and mostly ready for our return: Pear Shrimp Salad (MC 2BTried; web) for a starter; Slow-Roast Lamb (Diaries, p62) with smashed potatoes and steamed broccoli for the main; cornuelles for dessert. Showed up at the train station, but no Brette. Home again, turn of the lamb (and eat some), discovered Brette's at the train station in Bordeaux (no more trains tonight), off to Bordeaux to get her, home again at 1.30. Start yogurt, put lamb in fridge, go to bed.

Friday/10-Apr-15: Made some more lamb stock from bones in the freezer.

We had lunch out. For "dinner", we had the Pear Shrimp Salad (I made a half recipe for the three of us); this was pretty good. Then some cheese and wine. Then the cornuelles. We're stuffed, all of us.

Tomorrow I'll defat the lamb stock, cut the rest of the lamb off the bone, and freeze together, except for some sandwich makings. And I'll make some broccoli-potato salad with the potatoes and broccoli. And that will be the end of that dinner.

Saturday/11-Apr-15: Made up some Warm Broccoli and Potato Salad (MDSalads, p15). Had that for lunch along with the Moroccan olives that Brette brought.

Cut the lamb off the bone. We munched a bit. I froze up a packet of slices and a packet of bits (pot pie?) for the future and left a plate in the fridge for munching in the next days. Ended up with over 2cups of stock that will make the gravy for open-face sandwiches perhaps and for pot pies.

Brette and I ate out at a Rock Bottom concert, while Ed was feeling poorly.

Sunday/12-Apr-15: Yogurt on overday.

Brette and I had Spicy Indian-Style Scrambled Eggs (web) for lunch before I took her to the train station to start her return to Morocco.

For dinner, I used one lot of the lamb roast to make Lamb in Spiced Gravy (30MinCook, p179), which is pretty good stuff for minimal effort. Served over whole-wheat couscous.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 UNUSED: yes; #3 GRAINS: yes; #4 VEG/FISH: 2
This month: #5 PASTA: no; #6 BREAD: no; #7 FotW: no for March; no for April

This week in the kitchen

Monday/2-Mar-15: Cooked Jody's xmas lima beans today, intending to use some of them for dinner, but they weren't quite done when we were ready to eat, so I froze them up in small batches. Uncooked they were pretty, white with red markings. Cooking they look a lot like big flat red beans. Taste better than regular limas.

An easy dinner tonight. Soup from a tasty, if bitter, Ancho Bisque from the freezer, with a big can of corn added (a regular size, rather than the tiny ones that serve two), some merguez sausages in chunks, and a can of black beans, lacking limas. It wasn't bad. The corn helped with the bitterness.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/3-Mar-15: Dinner was a half recipe of Lemon Chicken (TLWest, p57). (I wonder how many recipes from how many different cuisines have this title?) Any recipe that uses Angostura bitters has to be worth a try, right? I used four thighs rather than cutting up a chicken. Didn't much like the sugar in the sauce and this meant I couldn't dump the extra bit into the freezer bag with bird bits for the next batch of stock. Served with more steamed gesneden snijbonen and brown rice. For dessert, we had some Angel's Dreams.

Wednesday/4-Mar-15: Shopping this afternoon, a bit late since Oscar had an emergency trip to the vet after a cat fight.

Dinner was more or less a half recipe of Polenta with Creamy Mushroom Sauce (web). Was pretty good, although we thought the tarragon was a bit strong. No polenta-in-a-tube here (that I know of, and I probably wouldn't buy it anyhow), so I made polenta ahead of time and let in cool in a dish in the fridge before baking it. This kind of thing would work with any tasty sauce, since polenta is good for that kind for thing. Then a salad. Then some store-bought vanilla yogurts, which were good. Actually I thought I was buying little rice puddings, but these were still good.

Thursday/5-Mar-15: Cleaning cookbook shelves again. Found enough cheese recipes and info clippings that it seems like a small notebook might be in order. Found two books to give away. A mere drop in the ocean. But found a group that I haven't used much that I might try in the next months, as candidates for giving away if I don't find them useful.

Dinner was Creamy Salmon with Lemon and Fresh Dill (web). Easy and pretty good, although the cooking time must be wrong. At a temp like 425F, fish will be done in about 10min per inch of thickness. In 35-40min it must be crisp all the way through! Served with brown rice and a little carrot salad. With a bit salad of rocket and mâche after. Then some squares of chocolate with hazelnuts.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/6-Mar-15: Dinner was Lime-Curry Orzo (FF&S, p136), a whole recipe to serve two instead of four. I misread the instructions and put the spices in together with the ginger, S&P, and lime juice, but it was still quite edible. A bit odd, the curry spices with black olives and feta, but it worked okay. Served with a salad as suggested. Some squares of chocolate with hazelnuts later.

Saturday/7-Mar-15: We misunderstood about going to a movie today, so instead of going to an early  movie and having dinner on our return, we went to a later movie and had our main meal early.

For our meal there were Balsamic Lamb Steaks loosely based on (30MinCook, p180), about as easy it as can get. As go-withs, I sautéed some boiled potatoes and made Creamy Broccoli and Carrot Slaw (web), which was pretty darn good. For dessert, we had some cookies in the car on the way to the movie.

Sunday/8-Mar-15: Dinner was a half dose of an Ottolenghi recipe, Gigli with Chickpeas and Za'atar (web; cookbooker). Pretty good, if a bit dry as chickpea-y things can be. For a side, there was a half recipe of Tomatoes, Preserved Lemons, and Sweet Red Peppers (Morocco, p86; cookbooker), which was remarkably good in spite of wimpy tomatoes and roast red peppers from a jar. Must try this again in the summer. (This book has a number of really good salad recipes.)

Didn't work on my recipe backlog this week, unless you count gathering binder clips and writing paper clips on the shopping list.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 UNUSED: yes; #3 GRAINS: yes; #4 VEG/FISH: 4
This month: #5 PASTA: no; #6 BREAD: no; #7 FotW: yes for February; no for March

This week in the kitchen

Monday/6-Oct-14: We had lunch out today with friends. In the evening there was only popcorn.

Tuesday/7-Oct-14: Yogurt on overday.

VIsited a health food store and Grand Frais after my quarterly visit to the ENT today. Result: impulse buys, meaning replanning of next week's menus.

Dinner with Easy Marinated Griddled Chicken (web), which was good enough, if nothing spectacular. Served with some butternut squash gnocchi from the freezer with sage butter sauce and steamed broccoli. That was all.

Wednesday/8-Oct-14: Shopping today.

The first of my impulse buys appeared as dinner tonight as Pappardelle with Zucchini Blossom Sauce (web), interesting but nothing special. Then an old favorite Cold Beetroot with Cream (Pomiane , p180). For dessert, I had a small third of a magnum classic and Ed had the rest.

Thursday/9-Oct-14: The last time I made jam a couple of months ago, I re-used Albert Heijn jars. At least one of them sealed! It could have happened before, but we happened to be sitting in the room and heard it pop. Just remembered that this morning. Why?

So, IHCC being through with Nigel Slater, I've put my books back on the shelf. And they don't fit. I got one new book just before this challenge started and I guess that's the odd one out now. But I've got three more on order, waiting for the paperback editions due out later this year. Where are they going to go?

For a munchy while dinner was finishing up, I made Spicy Cucumber Wedges (MJ1, p172). The main was Fish FIllet in an Indian Way (30MinCook, p124), which was tasty, but a bit odd. The fish weren't really fried as described, but simmered in the sauce resulting from the yogurt and the cilantro sauce. As sides there were a half dose of Stir-Fried Green Cabbage with Fennel Seeds (Q&E, p88) and Turmeric Rice (Q&E, p100). We didn't think we wanted some for afters, but later decided that a bit of brie would be nice. Seems odd after an Indian-ish meal, but it worked.

In last week's shopping, I bought a cabbage. We've had three meals from it and there's still a chunk to use. I miss our Dutch greengrocer who would sell us a half cabbage or whatever.

Friday/10-Oct-14: Another impulse buy from Tuesday, a half recipe of Leek and Chanterelle Tart (Sunset, p298). The chanterelles we know in English are called girolles in French. I bought chanterelles jaunes, which have orange-yellow stems and brown caps. These were cheaper than the girolles, but still good. A nice tart, easy to assemble. Then a big salad. No dessert.

Saturday/11-Oct-14: Nothing in the kitchen today. We went to Poitiers for a concert and an overnight.

Sunday/12-Oct-14: We'd intended to go to another concert this afternoon and a pizza afterwards, but neither of us slept well last night, and we didn't feel like going out. So we ate from the freezer.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes/; #2 VEG/FISH: 3
This month: #3 PASTA: no; #4 FotW: no; #5 BREAD: 0

This week in the kitchen

Monday/8-Sep-14: Dinner was a halfish recipe of Curried Quinoa Salad with Lentils and Sun-Dried Tomatoes (web). It was pretty good. I only partly followed the recipes. Soaking quinoa? Nah. Soaking my oven-dried tomatoes? Ditto. Otherwise it was quite good.

Yogurt on overnight, as I remember. There were thunderstorms and all computing was shut off.

Tuesday/9-Sep-14: Lunch out today with friends. No interest in food in the evening.

Wednesday/10-Sep-14: Shopping today.

Dinner was a half recipe of Filets de Sole Bonne Femme (TLProvFr, p38), which was not as good as it should have been. The sauce was too heavy. I looked in my Larousse Gastronomique and it seems the sauce shouldn't have had cream, which makes sense to me. Just the thickened fish cooking juices (wine and water). Served with some boiled, parley potatoes and broccoli.

Two squares of hazelnut-chocolate each after.

Thursday/11-Sep-14: Yogurt on overday.

Shopping yesterday, I bought a 5kg box of plum tomatoes for €5. They're meant for preserving, but many of them are just as good as what you buy to eat. Have been busy seeding and cooking those down. Eight little ziplocs with 1 cup each. We're pretty well set for tomato sauce/purée now.

Dinner was Californian Chicken Salad (MC; web). I've had this recipe for ages; collected it before I started recording when and where I got it. (The web link is a copy of what I have.)

Sophie's got something wrong in her left hindquarter. Off to the vet tomorrow.

Friday/12-Sep-14: Started chicken stock rather late today since we went to the vet with Sophie in the morning. Will boil it up again tomorrow and maybe again on Saturday before freezing it.

Dinner was planned for IHCC, but I forgot to bring my camera down. Think my commitment to this is getting low. The next chef is someone I've never heard of, Diana Henry. Definitely a miss. Time to get back to seldom used books.

The unphotographed dinner was Red Lentils with Turmeric and Mustard Seeds (30MinCook, p232; cookbooker). We shared a classic magnum for dessert. Then walked Pogo. Then fed Harriet.

Saturday/13-Sep-14: Dinner was Hot Aubergine and Cheese Sandwiches (30MinCook, p35; cookbooker). Then a salad. No dessert needed.

Sunday/14-Sep-14: Yogurt on overday.

Finished off the chicken stock today. Froze up 12 cups altogether. Didn't have enough lids for my freezer tupperwares, so had to do some 3-cups and some 2-cups.

Dinner was Chicken Kebabs with Thai Chile-Plum Glaze (web). Easy and good. Served with brown basmati rice and Broccoli in Oyster Sauce (Delightful, p58). A tasty dinner. No dessert.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes; #2 VEG/FISH: 4
This month: #3 PASTA: no; #4 FotW: yes; #5 BREAD: no

IHCC: Serving Up Salads!

This week it's salad time with Nigel Slater and it's definitely salad weather outside. Being a bundle of indecision, I ended up making two Slater salads this week.

The first one was Goat's Cheese and Fruit from The 30-Minute Cook (p92). This is a salad of fresh fruits, with a dressing of balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, and walnut oil, topped by a crottin melted on a toasted baguette slice. Red currants and raspberries were the best looking fresh fruit at the shop this week, so I used that combination. This was good, but a bit odd. Should it be a salad starter or a combined cheese-dessert course? We both liked the bits individually, but thought the combination was odd. Maybe it would work better with autumny fruits like pears and figs, but there's still the question of what course it should be. Odd or not, we enjoyed it.

This evening we had A Refreshing Salad for a Hot Day, the July 19 entry from The Kitchen Diaries (p231). Well, sort of. Slater asks for a cantaloupe; I got a charentaise melon. (I live in the Charente, so this is local food here. Cantaloupes are rare.) Instead of Parma ham, I used slices from a dried French ham that a neighbor won in a lottery, but didn't want. There was no arugula/rocket in the shop so I used some leaves from a garden lettuce that is bolting. All served with a simple dressing of lemon juice and olive oil with salt and pepper. Only when I went back to the kitchen to see if the main course was ready to come out of the oven did I realize that I'd neglected to add the mozzarella slices to the salad. So we used those to wipe up the bit of dressing left on our plates. The mozzarella was good by itself, and probably better if I'd managed to actually include it in the salad.

Last week I didn't post my dish, but you can see what other folks made Off the Spice Rack at I Heart Cooking Clubs. And be sure to check out what folks are doing for Serving Up Salads this week. 

IHCC: Starters & Nibbles

Starters and nibbles this week. Nibbles I'm not so good at, but starters are always nice. I often try to follow the French still of meal planning where you have a starter, a main, and an after, either cheese or sweet. This doesn't work all the time, but it's a pattern I try to keep in mind.

A browse through my Slater books turned up Goat's Cheese and Olive Aubergines in The 30-Minute Cook (p33). This is meant as a main dish for two, where you each get a whole eggplant to yourself. I scaled it back so I could serve it as a starter.

Since I needed just two thickish slices of eggplant, rather than frying then, I just brushed on a bit of olive oil and cooked them under the broiler. They ended up with quite nice grill marks which are invisible in the finished dish. Once the slices are done, you simply spread on a thick layer of green tapenade, top with a bit of goat cheese (I used little rounds of cabécou), sprinkle with a bit of Parmesan, and pop them back under the broiler till the cheese is nicely melted. Serve warm.

Only after I scaled the recipe back did I realize this is very similar to a recipe that I picked up from a French cooking magazine for a munchy that can be served with your aperitif or as a starter. That uses artichoke bottoms, either fresh (eh) or frozen (yes!), instead of the eggplant. This is a nice variation, since it can be easily picked up with the fingers for munching. An artichoke bottom is less floppy than a slice of cooked eggplant. I've done this with both green and black tapenade, and prefer the green for the less assertive taste in this case.

Check out this week's I Heart Cooking Clubs to see what kind of nibbling other folk are up to.

IHCC: Budget-Friendly Dishes

There wasn't that much time this week to wander around looking for budget-friendly recipes. I did remember, though, that chicken livers were a significantly cheap menu item (about €1 for a tub that's more than enough for two people). I'm not actually a chicken liver fan, but DH loves them and I indulge him periodically.

In The 30-Minute Cook (which is currently my go-to book for those what-on-earth-am-I-going-to-cook-tonight moments), Slater has a section on chicken livers, with several good ideas. The recipe I chose was Chicken Livers with Vinegar and Onions (p201), which is a speeded-up version of a recipe of the same name from Paula Wolfert's The Cooking of Southwest France.

A problem was that I had no chicken livers in the freezer and there were none to be found at our primary grocery this week (both gizzards and hearts, gésiers et coeurs, were there aplenty). Today I asked DH to stop at another grocery following his choir practice to see if they had some livers. But I neglected to specify raw livers. He returned late, bringing a packet of ready-cooked livers in duck fat, making my theoretically cheap dinner somewhat more expensive at €2.50. So some quick changes were needed.

You start by slicing two onions thin, then sautéing them for 15 minutes in butter and olive oil until they're soft. (Since my livers came complete with duck fat, I reduced the butter here as much as I could.) Then add some chopped anchovies and sauté a bit longer. (In my rush, I forgot this step, but think it would make a nice addition. We're neither of us anchovy fans, but melted into a sauce like this they add a nice depth of taste. After the fishy smell has gone out the exhaust fan.)

Meanwhile, toss the livers with flour and sauté them in butter till golden on each side. I skipped this step and just added the livers, remvoing as much fat as possible, to the onions. Red wine vinegar is used to deglaze the chicken-liver-frying pan. After the livers were warm, I pushed them and the onions to one side and deglazed that pan, although there wasn't really much to deglaze. Finish the sauce with a knob of butter (I skipped this) and season with salt and pepper.

Slater suggests topping with a bit of chopped parsley and serving with toasted French bread. I used toasted French ciabattas. Does that count?

If I'd had raw chicken livers, this would have been a significantly cheap and tasty meal. Onions, butter, olive oil, flour, even parsley and anchovies, these are all found in the larder and add relatively little to the cost. Maybe it would have been €2 for the dish, plus another €2 perhaps for the ciabattas. (Yes, they're expensive, but they keep well in the freezer for when we're out of bread.)

I've added Wolfert's recipe to my short list, since I'm curious to see how this should really taste. Wolfert suggests serving this either a main or a starter.

Check this week's I Heart Cooking Clubs post to see how other people are being good to their budget.

IHCC: Veg Out!

We have a visitor this week who isn't really keen on eating his vegetables, so I try a bit to make them a featured part of our meals. In The 30-Minute Cook, I found Escalope of Pork with Asparagus and Cheese, which sounded especially promising because I recently bought some pork scallops on sale and they were in the freezer wanting to be used.

Slater apparently has a soft spot for canned asparagus, which I find pretty disgusting. I couldn't see what the big deal was about asparagus until I was served some fresh from the garden. There's a world of difference, and all for the better. This week at the shop there were only white asparagus. We usually prefer green and they would certainly make this a more colorful dish.

The pork scallops are beaten out to about 1/4" (if they're not already that thin), then dipped in flour and fried in olive oil and butter for a few minutes on each side. They're then laid on a baking sheet, topped with the asparagus (canned ones drained or fresh ones steamed) and some grated cheese (your choice—I used comté, which I usually have in the freezer), then popped under the grill for a few minutes. While the cheese in melting, make a bit of pan sauce by deglazing the pan with Marsala. (I didn't have any so used the evening's red wine.)

I didn't have as much cheese as Slater asks, but it was more than enough. He definitely likes his cheese.

Check this week's I Heart Cooking Clubs to see what veggie treats other folks are cooking up.

This week in the kitchen

Monday/19-May-14: Potatoes to use up? Broccoli to use up? The go-to recipe is Warm Broccoli and Potato Salad (MDSalads, p15). Since there was lots to use up, two of us ate a whole recipe. That's all.

Tuesday/20-May-14: Tamale Pie from the freezer for dinner, along with a little salad of avocado, tomato, and cilantro. That was all.

Wednesday/21-May-14: Yogurt on overday.

BIll arrived this afternoon. For dinner we had chicken noodle soup from the freezer, "enhanced" with some potatoes. Then a salad. Then a chunk of nameless cheese (I've forgotten the name) that I got at the market in Angoulême on Saturday. Then some eclairs that Ed and Bill bought at a boulanger on the way back from the train station.

Thursday/22-May-14: Lunch out with Bill today before Ed went to choir practice and Bill and I went shopping. For our evening meal we had fruit, cheese, and rillettes, followed by cream puffs Ed bought at our local boulanger.

Friday/23-May-14: Dinner out before a concert this evening. Not much happened in the kitchen.

Saturday/24-May-14: Yogurt on overday.

For a starter tonight we had Artichokes Stuffed with Shrimp and Green Goddess Dressing (TLAmer, p70). Then there was Escalope of Pork with Asparagus and Cheese (30MinCook, p187) for next week's IHCC, accompanied by boiled potatoes, buttered and parslied. (We were all full afterwards.

Sunday/25-May-14: For dinner Ed barbecued chicken thighs that had been stewing for a day in a marinade from the freezer, then basted with pomegranate molasses just before serving. For sides there was polenta and Green Beans with Garlic and Preserved Lemon (WorldVeg, p205), me declaring my preserved lemons "done" a few days before the appointed time. None of us felt like anything afterwards.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes; #2 VEG/FISH: 2
This month: #3 PASTA: no; #4 FotW: no; #5 BREAD: 1

IHCC: Weeknight Favorites!

I'm getting the feeling that most everything I try in The 30-Minute Cook will turn into a weeknight favorite. Everything I've tried has been fast, by definition, and tasty. Today was shopping day, which means fish for dinner. This time we had Grilled Fish with Chermoula (p124).

Slater asks for you to cut some white fish fillets into 3cm cubes to marinate, then thread onto skewers for grilling. The best-looking white fish available looked like panga, which is too thin to cut into cubes and skewer. Instead I cut each fillet into half longways. The fish is marinated for as long as you can manage, overnight, a few hours, or even 20 minutes (which is the only option that makes it truly fast). I put my fillets on to marinate just after we got back from the shop, so they had two or three hours of sitting. The final cooking is just a few minutes under the grill.

The chermuoula is easy to assemble but takes a bit of chop-chop-chopping; a small onion, flat-leaf parsley, coriander leaves are mixed with garlic cloves crushed with salt, some powdered saffron, paprika, chili flakes, lemon juice, and olive oil. Toss this with the fish bits and leave them to rest and absorb flavor.

If you have cubes of fish, you could thread them onto skewers. I just put my fillets under the broiler. They got done while I plated the rest of the meal, new potatoes (as suggested) and some haricots jaunes. And very tasty they were.

(I did not line the potatoes up in tidy rows on purpose. They aligned themselves as if by magic.)

Visit this week's I Heart Cooking Clubs to see what other folks are making for their weeknight meals.

This week in the kitchen

Monday/28-Apr-14: Clear on the fridge night. Roasted some asparagus, broccoli, and tomatoes and served them over the re-warmed spoon bread with a sauce of garlicky-lemony goat cheese. Pretty good it all was. The spoon bread reheated surprisiningly well

Tuesday/29-Apr-14: Shopping today.

Dinner was Fried Fish in the Moroccan Style (30MinCook, p120) with lieu noir, which is saithe or pollack, depending where you look. Tasty way to do fish, if a bit too fried for me. For sides there were half doses of Tunisian Potato Salad with Cumin (MedLight, p117) and Spicy Carrot Salad (MedLight, p114). A nice dinner.

Wednesday/30-Apr-14: Made some Oven-Dried Tomatoes (MC HandyBook). Wonder why I bought only 7 tomatoes instead of 8 to fill the tray?

Just under the wire, we had fresh pasta tonight, tagliatelle with Broccoli in "Hot" Pink Tomato Sauce with Basil (PeV, p63). Good it was. Making pasta isn't all that hard, it's the clean-up that's so boring. Flour all over the pasta maker, the counter, and the floor. (Pogo took care of the floor. Raw flour?) Served with a simple salad of the end of a sack of roquette, the end of a head of lettuce, and a few leaves off the new head of lettuce.

Yogurt on overnight. Tomatoes on a plate in the big freezer to freeze individually.

Thursday/1-May-14: Leftover Tandoori Turkey Roll from the freezer tonight, along with Green Beans with Mushrooms (Q&E, p86) and Turmeric Rice (Q&E, p100). Both of these I've made many times, although this is may be the first time with I've included the tomato (seeded) in the green beans; it's actually fine without this. We split a classic magnum for dessert.

Friday/2-May-14: Worked late on our French taxes this afternoon, so had to jiggle the schedule a bit. Ended up making tomorrow's planned dinner tonight, one for IHCC. Served the potatoes with a big salad. Nothing else needed.

Saturday/3-May-14: Dinner was a halfish recipe of Coconut Pecan Crusted Chicken served with Sweet and Spicy Apricot Sauce (web). Now, I couldn't find the sweet chili sauce from Thai Kitchen, of course, so I substituted sriracha mixed with a bit of confit de piment d'Esplette that I found hiding in the back of a cupboard waiting to be used (piment d'Esplette being a Basque chili with just a tickle of hot). I thought it was pretty good; Ed thought it was so-so. But, I like apricot and he doesn't, so that could be the difference. Served with coconut rice and some steamed broccoli topped with a dab of sesame oil, sesame seed, and garlic.

Sunday/4-May-14: Yogurt on overday. Today's major deal was defrosting the fridge. Why do I dislike this job so much?

Better weather tomorrow, so I postponed a bbq dinner. Instead I sautéed a pair of duck breast scallops, served with polenta and a little pan sauce of chicken stock (which is brewing on the stove) and balsamic vinegar. Then a big salad. Then some defrosted mixed berries over ice cream. That's all folks.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes; #2 VEG/FISH: 4
This month: #3 PASTA: yes for April/no for May; #4 FotW: yes for April/no for May; #5 BREAD: 0 for April/0 for May

This week in the kitchen

Monday/21-Apr-14: Dinner was Sticky Soy-Hoisin Chicken Thighs (web; cookbooker) which was pretty good. Used five thighs and all the the sauce for the two of us; there was plenty of sauce, but not a superabundance. Served with coconut rice and some yellow green beans from the freezer, cooked in sesame oil and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds and amchoor at the end. For dessert, I used up a tub of ricotta that I defrosted for something that didn't get done and made my version of Coffee Ricotta Mousse (MW@Home, p307).

Tuesday/22-Apr-14: Shopping today. Bought some organic lemons to make preserved lemons. Picked up a pair of coquelets then asked at the butcher's counter if they had pigeonneaux. Yes they did, so I bought two and froze the coquelets. Them-thar pigeons were expensive! Stay tuned.

Dinner was Spiced Fried Fish (30MinCook, p120) made with swordfish, which was on sale today. Fish strips tossed with lime, spices, and besan, then deep fried. Yum. Served with Carrots with Mustard Seeds (30MinCook, p47) and Pan-Fried Potatoes with Browned Onions and Garam Masala (RealCook, p244). For dessert we had fresh strawberries with Old-Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream (TLAmer, p106). Forgot to take a picture till it was too late.

Wednesday/23-Apr-14: A lovely lunch out today, courtesy of Groupon. We didn't need to eat anything for the rest of the day.

Thursday/24-Apr-14: Yogurt on overday. Another IHCC dinner tonight, with Chicken and Rice Salad (Diaries, p187; cookbooker). We finished off the ice cream when I got back from line dancing.

Friday/25-Apr-14: The day got late, so what was on the plan (and defrosted) will move to tomorrow. Instead there were Zucchini Bread Pancakes (web). Good there were. I made a whole recipe, expecting leftovers to freeze, but we ate it all. A bit much, but oh so good.

Saturday/26-Apr-14: Made up some Preserved Lemons (Couscous, p31) which now need to get shaken daily for 30 days before using.

American food from TLAmer tonight. Served the squab and spoon bread with Grilled Asparagus (30MinCook, p31) and Cold Beetroot with Cream (Pomiane, p180). We were full. No dessert.

Sunday/27-Apr-14: Intended to make pasta today, but it looks like Ed finally managed to share his cold-crud with me, and I'm feeling like s***. So I made the sauce to go with the strangely named Whole Wheat Spaghetti (XSpecCP, p99). This isn't a crockpot dish (except to keep it warm) and all you do is cook some store-bought whole wheat spaghetti, but there's a nice sauce of sautéed leeks, goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, olive, lemon zest, and lemon juice. I made a little salad of rocket and a chopped up beet and the rest of the dressing from Pomiane's beet dish. Split a Magnum classic for afters. Hoping to feel better tomorrow.

Yogurt on overnight.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes; #2 VEG/FISH: 3
This month: #3 PASTA: no; #4 FotW: yes; #5 BREAD: 0

IHCC: April Potluck

This week has been full of Nigel Slater dishes, a potluck spread over several days, thanks to The 30-Minute Cook. This is my newest Slater cookbook and looks like it will be a favorite.

Tuesday was shopping day, which means fish for dinner. Herbed Salmon with Garlic Cream Sauce (p118) was this week's choice. Strips of salmon are rolled in chopped herbs (a mix of tarragon, chervil, dill, parsley, whatever you have) and sautéed in garlic butter. When this fish is done, crème fraîche or some other creamy thing is stirred in to make the sauce. Then a squeeze of lemon to brighten it all.

Could hardly be easier to make and very good to eat. I served the fish with roasted asparagus, the first from our garden, and orzo.

Then I addressed the on-going project of reducing the freezer backlog. This book has a great section on lamb, including things to do with cooked lamb. 

First there was Lamb Hash (p179). You need cooked lamb, shredded, and cooked potatoes, chopped. Fry an onion in drippings or butter, stir in a spoonful of flour, then add the lamb and potatoes with lots of salt and pepper. Pour some stock over it all, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes or so. Stir and simmer a bit more. It's ready to eat when most of the liquid is gone. Ed asked what it was flavored with — nothing but salt and pepper. But good it was.

For the rest of the lamb, there was Lamb in Spiced Gravy (p179 again), a sort of Indian curry-ish dish. There's much more lamb in this than in the hash (350g vs 225g) which actually seemed like too much as i was serving, but nobody complained about the quantity. This again starts with frying an onion in butter; I used grapeseed oil instead to make it a bit lighter on the animal fat. Then add lots of garlic, cayenne, ground coriander, tomatoes (I used puréed tomatoes from last fall's harvest), and stock for a 10-minute simmer. Stir in some sour cream (crème fraîche again) and garam masala, then lay the sliced meat in the sauce to simmer longer.

I served this over basmati rice along with Green beans with Ginger from Madhur Jaffrey's An Invitation to Indian Cooking (p151), which could also be part of the potluck. 

Visit this week's I Heart Cooking Clubs to see what other folks have made for this month's potluck.