This week in the kitchen

Monday/27-Sep-21: I froze up six 1-cup and two 2-cup jars of chicken stock today.

Dinner was Smoked Salmon, Dill, and Goat Cheese Quiche (web). The filling was delicious. I used a store-bought pie crust, which was a bit like cardboard. Next time I'll make a proper one. Meant to make a salad, but didn't have the oomph. We finished the Plum Torte for after.

Tuesday/28-Sep-21: Did a little inventory of what needs to be used in the fridge, then rearranged the meal plan for the days until we shop and some after. 

Dinner started with artichoke bottoms (didn't use all of the defrosted ones for last week's fish), topped with tapenade (a new one from Maille with black and green olives) and a slice of goat cheese (leftover from last night's dinner), popped under the grill. Then there was a halfish dose of Shredded Chicken and Lemon Grass Soup (Ainsley2, p30; cookbooker). Good stuff. For after we had cornets that I bought at a boulangerie in Montbron.

Wednesday/29-Sep-21: Got the list finished today. Dinner was Casserole of Lamb, Mushrooms, and Bulgur or Barley (Tenth, p278), with barley. I thought this was quite good; Ed thought it lacked something. Followed by a little salad with sliced cucumbers and roast beets tossed with the creamy cilantro sauce from last weekends chicken. Some store-bought vanilla yogurts for after. 

Thursday/30-Sep-21: Dinner was Broccoli Cheese and Potato Soup (web). This was pretty darn good. I didn't use anything no-fat, of course. Cheese was comté and something unlabelled that might have been an English cheddar. Or not. Would be better to remove some solid veggies at the end, buzz the soupy part smooth, then add the veggies back. Some dark chocolate "roses" for after (that's chocolate-covered cornflakes).

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/1-Oct-21: Shopping today. The store is busy on Fridays, but sometimes it's the day.

Dinner was a half recipe of Grilled Swordfish with Pesto. I collected this recipe a long time ago, before I started recording where I collected them. Although it appears to be from a Food Network show, I haven't been able to find it online. Essentially it's swordfish steaks marinated in ginger, garlic, lime juice, ad thyme, then grilled and topped with pesto for serving. It was good. Served with trio rice and steamed snijbonen in chunks.

We had two really ripe small bananas, so I made a half recipe of Best Banana Bread (GD; GD) that I made a whole recipe of recently. This was good; we ate it all for dinner. 

Saturday/2-Oct-21: Dinner was a half recipe of Baked Rice with White Beans, Leeks and Lemon (web) again, this time a variation with chickpeas and harissa and preserved lemon suggested pretty well. Leeks sautéed rather than roasted. Used long-grain brown rice. This was good, although the rice wasn't quite done in 40min. A nice meal. For after we had the éclairs that I got at the boulangerie yesterday.

Sunday/3-Oct-21: Tonight's dinner was a half recipe of Andouillette de Canard au Poivre Vert (web), using the last of the andouillettes de canard that I impulse-bought a while ago. This was yummy. Served with tagliatelle as suggested (have a lot of that leftover) and some gesneden snijbonen. Then some store-bought riz au lit for after.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 5; #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/18-Jan-21: Steam-hard-boiled some eggs this afternoon.

Dinner was Curried Parsnip Soup (Ainsley2, p31). Easy and pretty good stuff. Served with a hard-boiled egg. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Started Overnight Boule.

Tuesday/19-Jan-21: Baked off the Overnight Boule this morning.

The cook was having another off day. Quite late, we had Chicken with Morels (How2Eat, p151), two thighs for four people. Yummy. Take a bit of time to be ready, but nothing difficult. Served with some pasta to soak up the delicious sauce and some steamed broccoli. 

I see I need to find a DMA dish for this week.

Wednesday/20-Jan-21: Off the plan today. I really didn't feel like separating eggs and all that rigamarole for a soufflé-ish thing. Instead I steam-hard-boiled more eggs and made Hard-Boiled Eggs Masala (Q&E, p41). Served over plain basmati rice. And, yes, a pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Thursday/21-Jan-21: After 13 hours the yogurt was not "done" this moring. Most of the jars were still liquid. Cooked them for another eight hours and they seem somewhat better. What's going on?

Made a loaf of German-Style Whole Wheat Bread (Rustic, p150) (WW/Rapid/M=1.5*/-/-). This is one of the first recipes I've seen that asks for "light whole wheat bread", exactly what T110 seems to be. Adding 3tbl of bread flour to 3-3/4cup of T110 seemed a bit silly. Smells really good cooking. A huge loaf appeared at the end.

Dinner was about a 2/3 recipe of Mijoté de Veau au Chorizo (VPG; couldn't find on web), a slow-cooked stew of veal, chorizo, and tomato sauce. I added some smoked paprika along the way. Served over brown rice, although polenta might have been nicer. Pretty good stuff. Mini cups of Häagen-Dazs ice cream for after.

Friday/22-Jan-21: Picked up an order from Intermarché today. Seems like I accidentally deleted the fish from the basket. Replan. Instead we had choucroûte garni, that I bought for the next days. We're full.

Saturday/23-Jan-21: For a late lunch, we had, sort of, reuben sandwiches with some of the leftover sauerkraut, lunchmeat ham, gruyère, and this quickie Russian dressing (which was very good). Open-faced, heated in the toaster oven to warm everything and melt the cheese.

Sunday/23-Jan-21: Made a loaf of DeDe's Buttermilk Bread (MagicHints, p142) (Basic/Rapid/M/d/-). Lovely high white bread loaf. Dark wasn't really needed; strange because my machine tends to make very light-colored loaves.

Dinner was a DMA, Cajun Salmon Burgers* (web), really good and easy. Made up a sort of guacamole, as suggested, for a side, and some canned corn, and some couscous. For after, there was a sort of blueberry tart, using up the mascarpone in the fridge, very loosely based on this recipe. I didn't make the pastry, but used two formerly frozen squares of pâte feuillettée. Blueberries with a tad of sugar for the topping. Yummy, if not especially pretty.

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: 9; #8 NEW: 1

This week in the kitchen

Monday/11-Mar-19: Soup and sandwich for dinner tonight. The soup was Hot Bloody Mary Soup (Ainsley2, p27; cookbooker). Pretty good this was. I roasted the tomatoes and chili in the morning so it was fairly quick to make. I used chicken stock instead of vegetable stock. Made a whole recipe and will freeze about half. The sandwich was Tuna with Capers, Olive and Lemon (web). pretty good. Made a half recipe with the large can of tuna we get here, and we ate almost all of it. On toast with a bit of mâche. (I see a slice of tomato in the pic on the site. That would have been a nice addition.)

Tuesday/12-Mar-19: Rusty to the vet again. He's improving, but needs will have his antibiotic for another week.

Dinner was Broccoli with Roasted Peppers, Olives, and Feta Cheese (Savory, p188; MC). Old favorite, good stuff. Over short-grain brown rice. Some mini ice cream bars for dessert.

Wednesday/13-Mar-19: Shopping today.

Dinner was a half recipe of Dijon Salmon with Green Bean Pilaf (web; cookbooker). This was very good. Made a salad from leftover mâche and leftover butterleaf lettuce; the dressing included the last bit of the sauce on the fish. The some chocolate-covered madeleines.

Thursday/14-Mar-19: Steam hard-boiled six eggs today to make Egg Pickle of India (Mustard, p152). Never heard of this (but have since found recipes for same on the web), so had to make it. Now have to wait seven days to try it.

Dinner was a half-recipe of Chicken Dijon (Mustard, p162). Very good it was. Served with mini ravioles, basilique from Provence, and Shredded Zucchini (MW@Home, p87) using some shredded zuke that had been in the freezer a bit too long. Chaource for afters. We're full.

Friday/15-Mar-19: Dinner was Buckwheat Spätzle (PastaBible, p123; cookbooker). The sauce (ham, spinach, cream) was good, but the spätzle were too heavy. Then a salad. Then the last of the chocolate-covered madeleines.

Saturday/16-Mar-19: Made up some Chocolate Tapioca Pudding (HandyBook) while prepping for dinner. We had a halfish recipe of Garlic and Herb Roasted Shrimp, a recipe I collected from EAT-L in 2015. Pretty yummy, this is supposedly from an Ina Garten book, Make It Ahead. With trio rice, steamed broccoli, and a demi-baguette for soppy. All good.

Sunday/17-Mar-19: Made up some Spicy Ham Spread (Mustard, p156; cookbooker) this morning. This was ok, but not great.

Disappointing dinner tonight. Made a half recipe of Braised Lamb with Maftoul and Chickpeas (web). A waste of four beautiful lamb chops. Edible, but not as flavorful as it should have been. I made some grated carrot salad as a side, to go with the carrot in the braise. Chocolate tapioca pudding for dessert.

Yogurt on overnight.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 4; #3 COOKBOOK: yes
Cookbooks of the month: The Incredible Secrets of Mustard
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: no; #6 GUESTS: yes
This year: #7 PROJECT: no

This week in the kitchen

Monday/19-Nov-18: Dinner was Black and Blue Cajun Chicken Sandwich (Ainsley2, p12; cookbooker) with a toefje salad on the side. Chocolate covered madeleines for dessert.

Tuesday/20-Nov-18: Caught another teeny mouse overnight. Wondering if we've got a small opening to the outside world in the kitchen somewhere.

Had one thing planned, then decided to use us some stuff in the fridge. Made a pasta (casareccia) with goat cheese, broccoli, shooms, kalamatas, onions, garlic, red pepper flakes, etc. Comfort food. Then a salad. Then a pair of chocolated covered madeleines, finishing off that package.

Wednesday/21-Nov-18: Caught another teeny mouse today.

Made Pumpkin Flan (MC) to take to Rosemary's tomorrow.

Shopping today.

Dinner was Fish Stew—Mr A.R. Sunil's Fish Moilly (MJFlavs, p25), made with lieu noir, on special today. Quite good it was. Easy and relatively fast to make. Served with plain basmati rice and Tangy Green Beans with Ajwain and Ginger (SpiceKitch, p38) made with snijbonen, haricots coco plats, whatever those might be in English. And some Cachumber (MJ1, p172). We were full, but still has some semoule au lait from the shop after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Thursday/22-Nov-18: Up early. Made Double-Corn Muffins (MC) to take to Rosemary's.

Off to Rosemary and Philippe's for Thanksgiving, picking up Cath on the way. Nothing further happened in the kitchen.

Friday/23-Nov-18: Made Pear Bundt Cake (MC) to use up pears in the fridge.

Dinner was Pesto Turkey Kebabs (200Budget, p183). Pretty tasty, if not quite as pretty as the picture. For sides there was trio rice and a mix of veggies—broccoli, mushrooms, corn, left-over turkey filling. Bundt cake for dessert was very more-ish.

Saturday/24-Nov-18: Tonight I made real use of the spiralizer. There was a half-dose of Malaysian-Style Zucchini Noodles with Greens and Shrimp (Spiral, p122). Ed didn't realize there was no pasta, only spiralized zukes. Pretty good as a whole. Then some Mothais Charentais, an especially nice goat cheese that comes on a chestnut leaf. Then more of the Pear Bundt Cake.

Sunday/25-Nov-18: Caught another small mouse this morning. Think I've neglected to record a few. This was the third or fourth for the week.

Dinner was Lemon Chicken (Fancy, p111). I've made this before, in 2012; it's still good. Served with Dusoulier's Perfect Roast Potatoes and a little salad of grated broccoli stems and carrot with a lemon vinaigrette. Then we finished the Mothais Charentais. Then I had my last slice of Pear Bundt Cake, while Ed saved his for breakfast.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 3; #3 COOKBOOK: yes
Cookbooks of the month: Nothing Fancy
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: yes; #6 GUESTS: yes

This week in the kitchen

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

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

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

Yogurt on overnight.

Wednesday/17-Oct-18: Shopping today.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/3-Sep-18: A been-there-done-that dinner, but still good. There was Spice-Rubbed Grilled Chicken Breasts with Sweet and Hot Peach Relish (BigFlav, p178). Even though I made half the rub, I still have put some in the freezer for another bbq. And Roast Beet and Carrot Salad with Lemon-Mint Dressing (BigFlav, p204), which I made for the third time, about 12 years apart each time. And Parsley Salad with Bulgur, Mint, and Tomatoes (BigFlav, p216), which I've made several times lately, and years before previously. All good.

Tuesday/4-Sep-18: Dinner was a halfish recipe of Grilled Shrimp Skewers over White Bean Salad (web). Nice, summery meal. Small ice creams for dessert.

Still haven't figured out what cookbook to use for this month.

Wednesday/5-Sep-18: Shopping today.

Decided that my newest Deborah Madison cookbook, Vegetarian Suppers, will be this month's cookbook. An easy choice, but I already had one of those recipes on the plan for this week. Have marked lots of things to make, so it should work out.

I baked the rest of the Beet and Feta Samosas, straight from the freezer, for our starter. Since I again had a half of a red bell pepper to be used up, I made another batch of Fresh Red Chutney with Almonds (Q&E, p114). Our main was Yoghurt Fish (MJFlavs, p152) which was disappointing. Rather blah in spite of all the spices that went in. Served with plain basmati rice and Gujerati-Style Green Beans (MJ1, p102), made with snijbonen. We each had a nectavigne for dessert. What's that? A kind of nectarine with dark flesh and skin. Unusual taste, but good.

Thursday/6-Sep-18: For a starter, there were some figs with goat cheese and a drizzle of honey and some chopped walnuts, all in the oven for a bit at 400F. For a main there was a half recipe of Summer Potatoes Stews with Eggplant, Peppers, and Olives (VegSups, p172). I spiffied this up with some piment d'Espelette and smoked paprika. Served over brown rice, which was really too much. I suspect this might serve six since we didn't manage to finish the half recipe. Good stuff, though. I had a peach for dessert.

Friday/7-Sep-18: Munchies for dinner at The Tempest. I did make up some things like the cherry tartlets that I made a week or so ago, but folded them up like samosas. Oops, the cheese melted out, so we scooped into little tupperwares and called it cherry-mascarpone crunch. The taste was fine. Otherwise nothing happened in the kitchen.

Saturday/8-Sep-18: Dinner out tonight. Nothing happened in the kitchen except ...

Yogurt on overnight.

Sunday/9-Sep-18: Oops, I defrosted the wrong kind of kip thighs for dinner, bone-in instead of bone-out. Replan.

Deseeded a mess of tomatoes from the garden to make up into tomato purée. Much work, only 1-1/2 cups in the end.

Dinner was Jamaican Jerk Chicken (Ainsley2, p74). This was easy and delicious. Served with polenta, corn on the cob (who plans a meal with two corn dishes?), and a made-up cucumber and red onion salad. All good. Served with one of our vacation wines, Les Frontons Flingeurs, which went well with the spicy chicken. Ice cream (bar and cup) for dessert. I'm stuffed.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/13-Aug-18: Dinner was Sweet and Spicy Lo Mein Noodles (BigFlav, p274). I made a whole recipe, which serves four; the two of us ate about two thirds of it. I was worried about using the raw veggies, but they provided a pleasant crunch with the noodles. It's puzzling to me why the recipe has you make so much sauce and then uses only one cup. I made a half recipe of the recommended Sweet and Hot Sesame-Spinach Condiment (BigFlav, p362). This was an interesting idea, but way too salty, even though the soy sauce was low-salt. I used the max amount of Tabasco and neither thought it that hot. We were full.

Tuesday/14-Aug-18: Yogurt on overday.

We had lunch near Ed's archery lesson. Nothing further happened in the kitchen.

Wednesday/15-Aug-18: Somebody (who, me?) forgot that this was a holiday, so there was a quick rearrangement on the meal plan.

For dinner we had Grilled Open-Faced Eggplant Sandwiches with Black Olive Relish and Fresh Mozzarella (License, p39). I made a whole recipe; we are well-filled, but the two of us ate almost all of it. I thought the black olive relish might be too strong, but it all went together well. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for dessert.

Thursday/16-Aug-18: Shopping today.

For dinner there was a halfish recipe of Creamy Salmon Spaghetti (Ainsley2, p54). This was interesting because the fish isn't really cooked, as a thing by itself. Cream, garlic, and tomato paste a brought to a boil, then the heat is turned off and the first is added. Worked amazingly well. This is added to just-cooked spaghetti (I used whole wheat) with some grated Parmesan for serving. Good enough, but nothing special. We had our starter after, insalata caprese with home-grown tomatoes,  two tiny Beefsteaks, no especially tasty. Then a salad. For dessert, I made some cherry tart things, very loosely based on this recipe. I made four to use up half the left-over filo I had. Very nice they were. I used ground almonds between the layers of filo. Added some almond extract to the mascarpone mixture as shown in this recipe, but that wasn't needed at all. Use nine (frozen) cherries per tart, rather than the skimpy three in the recipe. Good stuff, although a bit hard to eat.

I see that I've really not been keeping the lists of cookbooks I'm reading and recently read up-to-date. Started VegSups today. It looks really promising.

Friday/17-Aug-18: For our meal, I made a half recipe of Tuna and Chickpea Salad with Pesto (web), served on a bed of lettuce. This was good, almost very good. Needed some zing, tabasco or some red pepper flakes perhaps; maybe some feta too. For afters, I had an ice cream cup and Ed had a mini Magnum.

Yogurt on overnight.

Saturday/18-Aug-18: Nice dinner with Laura and Ralph tonight. Took a bottle of Château Larou Les Complices.

Nothing much happened in the kitchen.

Sunday/19-Aug-18: Early meal before a play in the early evening. We had Crab Salad with Fennel (PatSalads, p90), which was good, but not a keeper.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 5; #3 COOKBOOK: yes
Cookbooks of the month: Big Flavors of the Hot Sun, License to Grill, Thrill of the Grill
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: no; #6 GUESTS: no

This week in the kitchen

Monday/19-Feb-18: Leftover meatloaf (yummy) for our meal, with boiled buttered potatoes and steamed broccoli. An old-fashioned and satisfying meal.

Tuesday/20-Feb-18: Our meal was Tagliatelle with Prosciutto and Peas for Two (web). Easy and very good.

Wednesday/21-Feb-18: Shopping today. We had Gruyère Cracker-Crusted Haddock (Ainsley2, p47), a halfish recipe with haddock/eglefin. We both took a bite and said, Hmm, this could do with a bit of lemon. And, yes, a good squeeze of lemon, brought this from ho-hum to quite tasty. Served with Sweet Potato and Coriander Mash (Ainsley2, p116), which was pretty good. Chopped coriander is tossed in with the sweet potatoes at the last minute, just before draining them; then all is mashed with crème fraîche. Then a salad. Then some store-bought desserts, vanille semoule au lait. We ate well.

Thursday/22-Feb-18: Defrosted the meatballs from Asian Spaghetti and Chicken Meatballs (web) and remade the rest of the recipe. These meatballs are delicious and need to be made in bulk. For dessert, part of a prune tart that I bought on sale yesterday.

Friday/23-Feb-18: Fresh pasta today, served with Cauliflower with Prosciutto and Olives (SlowItal, p182; cookbooker). (Fresh home-made pasta is awfully good. Fresh from the grocery is not nearly as good.) A little odd to me to cook cauliflower like this in the crockpot, but it worked quite well. Then a big salad. We were full.

Saturday/24-Feb-18: Went to make a lamb dish for our meal, but found the lamb hadn't defrosted yet. Instead we had the meal for tomorrow's plan, Bahama Mama Shrimp Flambe (EAT-L, unable to find on the web). Served over long-grained brown rice, with some broiled zucchini chunks that had been tossed with a Trinidadian spice mix from the cupboard and a dab of olive oil. Some ice cream bars for dessert.

Sunday/25-Feb-18: Made some Rice Pudding (MC) to help use up our excess of milk.

Our meal was Greek-Style Lamb Parcels en Papillote (Ainsley2, p93; cookbooker). This was yummy; it's a shame that the meat was overcooked. As suggested, served with Mama's Greek Butter-Bean Salad (Ainsley2, p112). Butter beans are apparently lima beans. Yuck. I used muguets from a jar. (Haven't discovered an English name for these; they look like cannellini on steroids.) Anyhow, that was a super salad; it would be good as a main-dish salad, or to take to an event. (I've enjoyed this Ainsley Harriott book so much I've ordered the first one.)

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/22-Jan-18: Our meal was Tikka-Tomato-Veggie-Lentil Soup from the freezer, a container that was lost, but recently re-found. Not very soup-like. Served over brown rice, with the Lime Pickle that I made a while ago and the Mango Chutney that I made a week ago. This wasn't bad.

Tuesday/23-Jan-18: Used up some a mix of apples to make some Apple Butter. Haven't done that in a while.

Our meal was Cheese Enchilada Stack, a recipe I got from EAT-L. It's very much like Mama's cheese enchiladas, but stacked in a casserole rather than rolled. This is actually easier to assemble and serve and eat; we both thought this is a better way to make this dish. And Mama's Spanish rice, with lots of veggies, onion, carrot, bell pepper, peas, corn. And guacamole.

Froze up the vanilla ice cream and we ate some of that for dessert.

Yogurt on overnight.

Wednesday/24-Jan-18: Our meal was Escalopes de Veau aux Coulis et Éclats de Chorizo (VPG); unfortunately VPG doesn't post their recipes online. This was easy and tasty, made in an unusual (to me) way. You brown a bunch of slices of chorizo, then purée most of them with some crème fraîche to make the sauce. Brown the veal scallops, then serve with the sauce over tagliatelle topped with the bits of chorizo that didn't get puréed. I made a bit of grated carrot salad from a veg. Should serve this as an entrée, but we always serve pasta as the first and salad or whatever as the second.

I also made a Tarte au Mascarpone (web), using up mascarpone, a some of my surplus of powdered almond, and a home-made pastry from the freezer. We were full, though, so will wait till tomorrow to try this. One of the eggs I broke for this was double-yolked.

Cookbook: Still have several more recipes to do from MadeIndia; this will slide into February too. For February, I think we'll go a bit Oriental with HomTravels and maybe other Hom books if that works. That gives me time to get a bit organized for a month of tajine recipes from whatever books I can find recipes in.

Thursday/25-Jan-18: Shopping today.

In the afternoon we had small pieces of the mascarpone tarte with our afternoon tea&coffee. Pretty good it was. Slight taste of lemon; it might be nice with vanilla or almond extract.

Our meal was Asian Salmon Laksa (Ainsley2, p28; cookbooker), a nicely spicy soup over rice noodles. It was easy and very yummy. Afterwards we thought this one recipe was worth more than the €1 we paid for the book.

Friday/26-Jan-18: Still no news from the washing machine people. Or the vet. Ed went to the laundromat while I started our meal. There was:

• Roasted Tamarind Chicken with Honey and Red Chili (MadeIndia, p94). There were three chicken thighs for two, weighing slightly somewhat more than the recipe asks for two. I didn't add all the honey, and would cut it back slightly more, to two tablespoons perhaps. Otherwise this is extremely easy and very tasty. The sugar-coated skin was very crispy. 
• Roasted Cauliflower with Cumin, Turmeric and Lemon (MadeIndia, p191). This was pretty tasty. The lemon juice should be tossed with the roasted cauliflower, rather than just sprinkled on.
• Mint and Yogurt Chutney (MadeIndia, p219; cookbooker). This could definitely be improved upon.
• Rice with Peas—Tahiri (MJ1, p149). An old favorite. The rice didn't get soaked this time, but what the heck, its still good.

Yogurt on overnight.

Saturday/27-Jan-18: Added some skinless, boneless chicken thighs to the leftover juice from the Chicken Marbella and served that over brown rice. Not bad for a quick meal.

Sunday/28-Jan-18: Lovely lunch at Cath's today. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/15-Jan-18: Our meal was Chilli Crab Linguine with Vodka (Ainsley2, p44), the first thing I've made from this book, and off to a good start. Easy, fast, and very tasty. Then a salad. Then more of the chaource. Then some of our yummy 85% chocolate truffles.

Tuesday/16-Jan-18: A halfish version of Coconut and Tamarind Chicken Curry (MadeIndia, p96), accompanied by plain rice and Karhai Broccoli (MJ@Home, p148). All was good.

Wednesday/17-Jan-18: Ed had a dentist appointment this morning and we shopped right after that.

Made up some Great-Grandma's Mango Chutney (MadeIndia, p215). We'll see how that is in a few days. First taste was a bit salty, and I under-measured the salt.

Dinner was Spicy South Asian Roasted Fish (web; cookbooker), half the fish but all the sauce. Very yummy this was. And easy. Used some chopped lemongrass I discovered in the freezer when I defrosted. Served with rice and Thai-Style Broccoli with Garlic (web). For dessert, we had some slices of a small 3 Kings' Cake.

Thursday/18-Jan-18: Froze up eight 2-cup tupperwares of chicken stock this morning.

Fresh pasta for our meal, topped with the sauce from Trenette al Pesto di Noci (ClassPasta, p96; cookbooker). The sauce was good, but nothing special. Then a salad. Then some store-bought chocolate and hazelnut mousse-y thingies; yummy they were.

Friday/19-Jan-18: The part for the washing machine came as I left for Pilates. On my return, Ed said it didn't fix the problem—it's time to order a new one. (The Samsung machine is less than three years old. :-( ). Started looking for ratings. Then off to French. Then cooked our meal of Brochettes de Canard au Sésame (MC; originally from a flyer). (Haven't been able to find this on the web; chunks of marinated magret on skewers with slices of apples.) I did forget to sprinkle with the sesame seeds when it were done, but it was still yummy. Served with trio rice and carrot slices.

Spent the rest of the day until quite late looking for washing machines. Ed did a load of towels at the laundromat.

Saturday/20-Jan-18: Another depressing gray and drippy day. Ordered a washing machine. Still not sure when it arrives. In spite of Ed's visits to the laundromat, we will be buried in laundry soon.

Our meal was a half recipe of Risotto-Stye Pasta with Caramelized Onions (web), with a salad. Before the cheese (bleu d'Auvergne) was added, I thought the onions were too sweet. Ed didn't like cheese; I did. Oh well.

Sunday/21-Jan-18: Company tonight. Spent most of the day in the kitchen.

Made batch of ice cream "juice" using the basic recipe from the manual for our old machine, just in case the tarte tatin didn't work. Made the pastry for the tarte tatin.

Cath (returning from her UK trip) and Nancy (with Neil in the UK) arrived for:

• A starter of Smoked Salmon Salad with Dill (BEFCC, p35). A very nice little starter, we just had on tweede kerstdag, tasty and easy.
• For a main, there was Chicken Marbella (SilverPal, p142; MC; cookbooker), served with polenta. I made this dish a long time ago. Recently found the recipe in Mastercook; since then I've gotten the cookbook. Used twelve chicken thighs, making a more or less complete recipe. Didn't notice that I was supposed to marinate the chicken overnight. It was fine with only a couple of hours in the sauce. Very yummy.
• For dessert there was Tarte Tatin au Camembert (VPG), a recipe I collected recently because it sounded so odd. Tried (and failed) to find the recipe online, but discovered there are lots of similar recipes out there. Quite good this was.

A nice menu for company since the only last-minute thing was polenta, and assembling the starter.

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