This week in the kitchen

Monday/24-Jan-22: Tonight we had more or lesss the dinner I'd planned for new year's day meal. For a starter there was Tzatziki au Coulis de Poivron et Jambon d'Aoste (VPG; web). This was quite nice. I put too much of the tzatziki in the verrine, so the layer of coulis was a bit thin. But, tasty it was and worth a repeat. The main was Slow-Roast Spiced Lamb Shoulder with Sumac Onions (web; web). This was delicious. Tomorrow I'll finish taking the meat off the bones. 

Tuesday/25-Jan-22: Picked up an order from Intermarché Drive this morning (and Ed made another trip to the brico). Then made an order for Leclerc Drive for tomorrow morning.

Dinner was Classic One-Pan Spanish Cod with Potatoes & Peas (web). This wasn't too hard, and was quite good. It's a one-dish meal, so that's all we had.

Wednesday/26-Jan-22: Dinner was Runner Bean & Prosciutto Pasta (web). This was easy and quite yummy. And a one-dish meal.

Made a loaf of Bill Hatcher's Italian Bread (MC) (Basic/Rapid/M/d/-).

Thursday/27-Jan-22: Brought in hamburgers this evening. Disappointing.

Friday/28-Jan-22: Dinner was a half dose of Spice Brit's Pork Chop Chow (Ainsley3, p144), grilled pork chops with a beet chutney with creamed new potatoes. Pretty good. A simple salad for after.

Saturday/29-Jan-22: Dinner was a halfish recipe of Black Bean Tostadas with Slivered Cabbage, Avocado, and Pickled Onion (VegSups, p167), served with avocado-less Salsa Cruda (VegSups, p118) as suggested.

Sunday/30-Jan-22: Dinner was more or less Mushroom Ravioli Divan (365Veg, p84), using whole wheat spinach and cheese ravioli. I've written a recipe for an easy Alfredo sauce in the margin, which is better than store-bought stuff. Pretty good stuff altogether. A salad after would have been nice, but my salad mojo is having a day off.

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

This week in the kitchen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/3-May-21: Made a loaf of ABM bread, Light Rye (Electric, p64) (Basic/Rapid/M/d/-). Ed really liked this last time I made it. We'll see how he feels tomorrow.

It was a Greekish meal tonight. Our main was Greek-Style Roast Leg of Lamb (web). This was extra yummy. I wonder why we don't roast a leg of lamb more often. It's a bit expensive, this 2.2kg leg probably cost 20-ish euros. But we'll have 4 meals for 2 from it. That ends up about €3 per serving. That's not much. 

For one side, I used the rest of my gignate beans (where did I get them? I need more) to make a third recipe  Greek Butter Beans (Gigantes Plaki) (web). (My third recipe will serve four, maybe three would do. They must mean it as a main dish.) The other side was a halfish recipe of Carrot Salad with Fresh Fennel, Dried Figs, and Preserved Lemons (O&C, p199; GD; cookbooker). I liked odd combination, Ed not so much. No dessert needed (we had banana bread for lunch).

Tuesday/4-May-21: Dinner was Oven-Dried Tomato Tart with Goat Cheese and Black Olives* (web; GD). I used tomatoes from the freezer that I'd already oven-dried. The tart was good again. Should have made a salad, but didn't. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after. 

Wednesday/5-May-21: Leftovers for dinner. We had the lamb and beans, reheated. Plus the carrot, fennel, and dried fig salad, which lasted quite well. I steamed some green beans and made up a little sauce for them, adapted from fancy Greek salad, of mayo, lots of lemon juice, a teeny minced garlic, capers, and dill. Worked pretty well. More fridge clearing for dessert. I had a packet of croissant dough, the kind you spiral open and out pops the dough. I made two squares of the dough, pinching seams together as best I could. The filling was a tub of ricotta, sweetened with a spoonful of honey and tartened up with some lemon juice. Then baked in the oven with the leftovers. Wasn't bad, if a bit too much. Actually the filling was quite good. I won't buy the croissants again.

Thursday/6-May-21: Having finished the Light Rye bread (Ed still likes it, and it held up well), I made a loaf of Easy French bread (Electric, p62) (Basic/Rapid/M/d/-). Very good for lunch sandwiches.

Pickups from two Drives today. Dinner was a halfish recipe of Roasted Salmon with Asparagus, Lemon and Brown Butter (web). This was good. Served with spaghettis courts. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Friday/7-May-21: Yogurt on overday. Off for our second vaccinations today. 

Dinner was Lazy Lucious Lamb Biryani (Ainsley3, p133). This wasn't really as fast as you'd expect from this book. It was okay, but nothing special. He calls for no salt at all, which is strange. I started adding when I realized, but didn't get it there. We've lots of leftovers, so an easy meal if the cook isn't feeling well in the next days. Served with Cachumber—Tomato, Onion and Green Coriander Relish (MJ1, p172), an old favorite. Some store-bought vanilla yogurts for after. 

Saturday/8-May-21: So I'm having the sleepy exhaustion response to the vaccination. 

Made a loaf of Easy French bread (Electric, p62) today.

Didn't feel at all like cooking like cooking, so we had the rest of the Oven-Dried Tomato Tart with Goat Cheese and Black Olives for dinner. Along with a small salad. Nothing else needed.

Sunday/9-May-21: And leftover lamb biryani today. With a pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

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: no; #6 BACKLOG2: no; #7 RECYCLE: 11; #8 NEW: 3

This week in the kitchen

Monday/19-Oct-20: Picked up an order at Leclerc Drive today. 

Dinner was a half dose of Pasta Cream Bean Dream (Ainsley3, p148). The beans were some of the snijbonen we got at Carrefour last week. This was easy, fast, and yummy. Some chocolate-covered madeleines for after. 

Mixed beans to soak for tomorrow.

Tuesday/20-Oct-20: Off for new glasses this morning and to the doctor this afternoon. 

Made a beany soup with ancho-soaking liquid from the freezer. Good stuff. I also defrosted some pork-cooking liquid, but it was too much for the beans I have. Later. Some store-bought chocolate mousses for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Wednesday/21-Oct-20: Made a loaf of English Muffin Bread (BMB, p17). Even though I  measured the water short as I usually do, the loaf was still caved in. But tasty. I'll cut it back further still next time. Would like to make this as a larger loaf; the only thing I don't like about this book is that all the loaves are small.

I couldn't find the cookbook I was meant to cook dinner from, so quickly assembled another menu. We had Cajun Salmon Burgers (web), as patties, without a bun. And Mama's Garlic Coleslaw (HandyBook). And some grits. Some store-bought riz au laits for after. Still haven't found the cookbook.

Thursday/22-Oct-20: Dinner was Cauliflower, Garlic and Turmeric Soup (web). On her site, lots of people liked it, but I didn't find it a Nigella hit. The potato made it gooey. It was in desperate need of salt and pepper (my bouillon cube was salt-free). A good shot of jalapeño tabasco didn't hurt (Ed used regular tabasco). Served with tuna salad sandwiches.

Friday/23-Oct-20: Made a loaf of English Muffin Bread (BigGerman, p15) (Basic/Rapid/M/d). This is very similar, but bigger, than the loaf from BMB. It’s one I used to make a lot in NL. 

Dinner was Creamy Coq au Vin with Mustard and Mushrooms (Mustard, p161). I used only two kip filets, but made all the very yummy sauce. This was very good. Served with long-grain brown rice and some carrots and snijbonen chunks with lemon juice and home-made seasoned salt. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after. 

Saturday/24-Oct-20: Picked up an order from Intermarché doay, so there was fish for dinner tonight. We had Seared Salmon with Pesto Fettuccine (web). This was easy-easy and a passable meal. Lacking  whole wheat fettuccine, we had whole wheat spaghetti. Then there was one of those Frenchish grated carrot salad. And mini HD ice cream cups for after.

Sunday/25-Oct-20: Dinner was, sort of, Papa's Posole (MC). Shortly before the computer that ran Mastercook died, I had moved Soups&Stews from my main cookbook to a separate cookbook. And forgot about it, causing a small panic when I was looking for this recipe. I made a halfish recipe using the last of the sauté de porc that I bought recently. (The rest got made into some of Hazan's Italian Sausage.) Used some pork-cooking juice from the freezer for the stock. Started in the morning and finished the cooking in the crockpot while we were out. Some guacamole and tortillas as go-withs.

Yogurt on overnight. Overnight Bread on, yes, overnight.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 4; #2 BACKLOG: no
This month: #3 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #4 SHORT: no; #5 LONG: no
On-going: #6 READ; #7 RECYCLE; #8 NEW

This week in the kitchen

Monday/29-Jun-20: Tired day. Picked the remains of the chicken and we'll have two more meals of it. Tonight was, very loosely, a half dose of Gratin de Pâtes au Poulet et Maïs (VPG). Can't find an online version of this, an annoying "feature" of VPG recipes. Didn't have enough of a grating cheese to make the sauce, so I used a pyramid (goat) cheese, cutting back on the cheese a bit. Since there were peas and corn in the dish, I didn't make any kind of a side. For afters we had a nectarine with some vanilla shortbreads.

Started a batch of Dunaway's bread.

Tuesday/30-Jun-20: Baked off the bread. Yum.

Used up the rest of the baked chicken to make a halfish dose of Avocados with Curried Chicken, a recipe, probably from a a magazine in the late 70s. It's still good. For after, we finished off the Vanilla Pecan ice cream that was incorrectly delivered, with the last bit of coconut left from the chicken toppings.

Wednesday/1-Jul-20: This was a hippie meal to use up veggies in the fridge. Instead of stir-frying, I roasted carrots, broccoli, zucchini, and one lone potato with lemon thyme and chunks of lemon. Served over brown rice with feta. The rest of the vanilla shortbreads with a nectarine and cream for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Thursday/2-Jul-20: We had the leftover chicken and pasta gratin for dinner, with a big salad. then the rest of the vanilla pecan ice cream with a nectarine.

Friday/3Jul-20: Didn't start bread last night. Instead I made English Muffin Bread 2 (MC) in the ABM during the day.

Ed picked up an order from Intermarché Drive today, so it was fish for dinner.

Which was was Old Thymy Salmon with Lemony Mashed Peas (EW/mar20; web). This was pretty good. Should use Old Bay seasoning more often, I expect. The peas were ok, only a little odd. Served with some spaghettis courts. For after, we had two mini HD ice cream cups.

Saturday/4-Jul-20: Dinner was Grilled Sesame Chicken Skewers (License, p111; cookbooker). This was really tasty. As suggested, served with Pungent Carrot and Cucumber Salad with Ginger and Garlic (License, p308; cookbooker). And plain basmati rice. Tongues burning from the salad, we had mini HD ice cream cups for after

Sunday/5-Jul-20: Dinner was a half dose of Simple Smokin' Paella (Ainsley3,p81). Used allumettes fumées for the smoked ham and smoked paprika. I forgot the peas! It was good, anyhow, although the peas would be nice. Then a salad. Then strawberries and cream. We've eaten well.

Yogurt on overnight, as well as a batch of Overnight Bread (web), which is what I've decided to call Susan Dunaway's No-Knead Bread with my changes.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #2 BACKLOG: yes
This month: #3 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #4 SHORT: no; #5 LONG: no
On-going: #6 READ; #7 RECYCLE; #8 NEW

This week in the kitchen

Monday/1-Jun-20: Dinner was a half dose of Sweet Potato-and-Red Lentil Curry (web; CL/sep17), served over brown rice as suggested. I see now I forgot to add the coconut milk and cider vinegar. These might have helped, since I found it pretty blah; Ed liked it, though. Not sure why this was a crockpot recipe; it's something that cooks up easily on the stove in the time the rice got done. We were full.

Tuesday/2-Jun-20: My book group met today. The first time I've been out with people in two months.

Dinner was Chicken Schnitzel with Bacon and White Wine (web). I used lardons for the bacon. This was pretty good. Served with orzo and some steamed broccoli and asparagus. (The broccoli came complete with with big caterpiggle under the wrapping.) Some cookies for dessert.

Yogurt on overnight. Susan Dunaway's bread on overnight.

Wednesday/3-Jun-20: The bread wouldn't come out of the pot again. It turns out Ed hasn't been oiling the pot (cast iron) every time he washes it. I wonder how long it will take the pot to regain its seasoning? Won't be making that bread for a while.

Dinner was Fettuccine alle Zucchine e Zafferano—Fettuccine with Courgettes and Saffron Cream (ClassPasta, p91). Used tagliatelle from the freezer. Pretty good. Went to make a salad but the lettuce was not in good shape. Vanilla Pecan ice cream for after.

Thursday/4-Jun-20: Another load of grocery shopping today.

Dinner was a halfish recipe of Tzatziki Fish Tacos (web; cookbooker). I had slightly over half the fish and used all the rest (flour, panko, etc.); made about 2/3 of the tzatziki, because that's how much one of my jars holds. Cooked in the oven. This was yummy.

I intended to make a rhubarb crumble for dessert but this recipe for Crumble Fraise et Rhubarbe (web; cookbooker) came across my path and having strawberries in the groceries I made this. I used all 500g of the strawberries, plus about 325g of rhubarb. Cooking time seems too long; the crumble was a bit burnt. Otherwise very good.

Friday/5-Jun-20: Make more Abm Whole Wheat Bread (MC) (WW/Rapid/M/-/-) this morning. Good stuff.

Made a halfish dose of Admired Avocado Salsa Pasta (Ainsley3, p69). This was okay, nothing special. More strawberry-rhubarb crumble for dessert.

Saturday/6-Jun-20: Dinner was a two-thirds recipe of Stuffed Aubergines with Couscous (web). This was almost really good. The filling was stuffed into eggplants cut like baked potatoes, rather than halved, which would have been better. My eggplants had really bitter skin, so we peeled that off at table. The recipe doesn't say what to do with the flesh you scooped out of the eggplant. I chopped mine up and added it to the skillet before the ground beef. Used sambal and a squirt of lemon juice for the aci biber salçasi. Finished off the strawberry-rhubarb crumble for dessert.

Sunday/7-Jun-20: Made a loaf of Authentic French Bread (Magic, p22) (Basic/Rapid/M/d/-) for tomorrow.

Needed to use up the rest of the ground beef from yesterday and had two ideas. One of them needed potatoes and I have some to use up, so we had a half dose of Shepherd's Pie with Chipotle-Cheddar Mashed Potatoes (web). This was very yummy. I used mature English cheddar from the freezer, rather than American cheddar. And I used a whole chili in adobo there should have been only a half. Good stuff. Then a salad. We're full.

Yogurt on overnight.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 4; #2 BACKLOG: yes
This month: #3 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #4 SHORT: no; #5 LONG: no
On-going: #6 READ; #7 RECYCLE; #8 NEW

This week in the kitchen

Monday/30-Mar-20: Ed picked up an order from Leclerc Drive today. Most of it is sitting in the cool outside. (It snowed today!)

Dinner was an oldie but goodie, Sharon Frye's Pork Tenderloin Diane (MC). Served with "short spaghetti", and steamed carrots and a few oldish haricots plats coco. For desert there was vanilla ice cream with crème de cacao.

Tuesday/31-Mar-20: Today's loaf of bread was a plain white loaf from the Panasonic book: Basic/Rapid/L/d. It smells good and is a lovely, high loaf. I'm going through my T65 flour at a prodigious rate.

Dinner was Nigel Slater's Spring Cabbage, Cream, and Bacon (web). This was okay. I see now I added too much of the green peppercorns, which was our only criticism on the dish. Some vanilla ice cream with pineau after. Can't say that worked especially well.

Wednesday/1-Apr-20: Dinner was a half recipe of Red Curry Shrimp Cakes (CL/apr18, web). This wasn't bad at all, but the half recipe should have been four patties rather than two. Served with some store-bought nems (spring rolls) from the freezer, plain basmati rice, and (more or less) Thai Cucumber Salad with Peanuts (web). This was not much more difficult than the easy recipe I usually use, but much more tasty. Some chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Thursday/2-Apr-20: Dinner was Lemon-Almond Pork Chops (MC), easy and nice. Served with sautéed zucchini, mushroom, and onion. Didn't much like the Italian spice mix I used on it. And some smashed potatoes. For dessert, there was Far aux Pruneaux (VPG; web), which was easy and very good.

Friday/3-Apr-20: Dinner was Pasta with Courgettes (web), followed by a salad made from one sucrine (two to go). We finished the far for dessert. That was good stuff.

Made a loaf of 100% Whole Wheat Bread (MC), a really nice whole wheat bread, a bit crumbly but very tasty. WW/Rapid/M/-.

Saturday/4-Apr-20: Ed picked up an order from Intermarché Drive today. No broccoli, but lots of asparagus. This order was more fresh stuff, veggies, fish, and meat, than canned goods.

Dinner was Herb Butter Salmon and Asparagus Foil Packs (web); this was good, but the asparagus weren't quite done. Served with short-grain brown rice. Then some Cold Beetroot with Cream (Pomiane, p180). This is an old favorite; I usually serve it as a starter, but that didn't work tonight. For dessert, some strawberries (gariguettes) and vanilla ice cream.

The latest bit of Italian herbs I have is not very good to my mind. I'm not sure where this came from. Like the French "Italian herbs", it has an odd taste, a taste of Provence perhaps, but not Italian. For the herb butter, I made up an Italian herb mix. This was easy: equal amounts of dried herbs basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, and marjoram. Good enough to do again.

Sunday/5-Apr-20: Dinner was Cod Kebabs with Aztec Salsa (Ainsley3, p82; cookbooker). This was ok, but doesn't need to be made again. Made a salad, but we were full of veggies, so didn't eat it. Some chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Made a loaf of Za'atar Bread (BigGerman, p239); Basic/Rapid/M/d.

Yogurt on overnight.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 4; #2 BACKLOG: no
This month: #3 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #4 SHORT: no; #5 LONG: no
On-going: #6 READ; #7 RECYCLE; #8 NEW

This week in the kitchen

Monday/23-Mar-20: The Semolina Bread I made yesterday is good, but quite crumbly. It's not dry, it just crumbles.

Dinner was Bacon Wrapped Spring Chicken (web), definitely a hit. Instead of an jalapeño, I used one of the long chiles that Leclerc sometimes has in the summer; yellow, it was, and I probably added a trifle too much cayenne to compensate for it not being the proper thing. No matter. Delicious was the result. Served with trio rice and steamed broccoli. The sauce went well with everything. Some St Felicien for dessert.

Tuesday/24-Mar-20: Made up some garlic oil, vaguely following a internet recipe: Put 80ml olive oil and three smallish garlic cloves in a small saucepan. Bring to oil to a boil, turn the heat down and simmer about 5min; the garlic cloves will brown. Turn the heat off; the garlic continues to cook. Put the oil in a small jar; an old spice jar works. (The instructions said to slice the garlic and put it in the oil. I didn't do this.)

Make up a batch of taco seasoning (HB). Might make some chicken taco meat with some of it soon.

Dinner was Pasta with Porcini Mushroom Sauce (MW@Home, p192), using up some of the shrooms I have on hand. Pretty good it was. We finished the St Felicien for after. Then we finished the chocolate-covered corn flakes. We're nicely full.

Wednesday/25-Mar-20: Ed went to get our order at Intermarché Drive this morning. We disinfected all and put most of it up.

Made a loaf of Oat Bread (BigGerman, p29). Made a medium loaf ; my oat bran was expired, but smelt ok so I used it; used the vital gluten. Very high loaf, very tasty. It was so good, we had it for dessert.

Dinner was Rocky Road Potato Cod (Ainsley3, p89). Used lardons for the streaky bacon. Good it was. Bread for dessert.

Thursday/26-Mar-20: My, my, is that Oat Bread good.

Dinner was Teriyaki Salmon & Mango Salsa (web). This was pretty good, although the salsa was pretty assertive, since I didn't deseed the chili. Served with real basmati rice, and steam broccoli. Some HD mini ice cream cups were just the thing for dessert.

Friday/27-Mar-20: Made up some Prune Bread (BMB, p96), first time. Why don't people like prunes. I had to eat some while pitting and quartering them.

For dinner, I used my last three lasagna noodles to make, more or less, a third recipe of Lasagna with Spicy Roasted Cauliflower (web). For the marinara sauce, I made a half recipe of this, also from NYT and very good. Then a salad. Yay! Thank you, Intermarché Drive*. I used the ricotta to make, sort of, Coffee Ricotta Mousse (MW@Home, p307). Used a bit of Kahlua for this. Pretty good, although the texture was a bit grainy since the ricotta had been frozen.

*I'm a bit worried because I haven't had an email from Leclerc Drive for the order I placed to be delivered Monday. Can't get to the site; they simply can't keep up with demand right now, and haven't been able to fix the situation in the last week and a half.

Saturday/28-Mar-20: In the afternoon, I made some Easy Chocolate Shortbread (MC), a recipe that worked the last time I made it, but not this time. The dough wouldn't come together, so I added some cream cheese (maybe 2tbl) to make that happen. The result is tasty, but like eating chocolate-flavored sand.

Dinner was Stir-Fried Pork and Green Beans—Muu Pad Tua Fak Yaw (ThaiCC, p42). This was pretty good. Made a small dent in the huge pile of green beans we got from Intermarché Driver, and used the tail of the varkenshaas, the rest of which will appear somehow in the next days. For after, we had chocolate sand with vanilla ice cream.

Sunday/29-Mar-20: Made up another loaf of Authentic French Bread (Magic, p22), Med/Rapid/Dark, with 100% T65 (bread) flour. Dark, it’s not. And a bit of a lumpy, one-sided loaf; maybe it wanted a bit more water.

I used up the last bits of cauliflower and broccoli to make a half dose of Penne with Cauliflower Sauce (PastaHarv p68). I used cascareccia, although I think the mini-lasagnas, mafaldas, might have been better. Still, it was a pretty good. For dessert, we covered the rest of the chocolate shortcaket things with cream and gobbled them up.

Yogurt on overnight.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 4; #2 BACKLOG: no
This month: #3 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #4 SHORT: no; #5 LONG: no
On-going: #6 READ; #7 RECYCLE; #8 NEW

This week in the kitchen

Monday/9-Mar-20: Dinner was, sort of, Spicy Orecchiette with Chicken Sausage and Kale (web). More or less the whole recipe for the two of us. Arugula instead of kale. Only 6oz of orecchiette. 300g of sausage. Not bad. Some store-bought apricot tartlets for after.

Tuesday/10-Mar-20: Got the list made today so we can shop on Thursday as usual.

Dinner was Spicy Syrian-Style Lentil Soup—Shawrbat Addas Majroosha (Beans, p60; cookbooker. This was really good. I added only about 6 cups of liquid, 2 cups of that was chicken stock. The 8 cups of water asked would have make a really thin soup. Delicious and I've lots leftover to freeze. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for dessert.

Yogurt on overnight.

Wednesday/11-Mar-20: I had a haircut appointment this afternoon, but mistook the time I needed to leave, so ended up with the afternoon free. Dinner was a quickie, Tortilla with Felafel, Avocado, and Mint (MC), using the lovely felafels that we can get at Intermarché lately. Some Häagen-Dasz ice cream cups for after. Then a bit of Tomme de Savoie.

Thursday/12-Mar-20: Shopping today.

Before dinner I made, more or less, Pineapple Upside Down Cake (web), macadamia nuts instead of cherries and less sugar than asked.

Dinner was Citrus-Crusted Cod with Cajun Spuds (Ainsley3, p88). This was good, but nothing special. I cooked the cod under the broiler, rather than sautéing crumb-side down first and baking the rest of the time. Used regular  tomato paste, rather than sun-dried tomato paste (really?). Added some cilantro to the tomato-onion relish. The cajun spice on the potatoes seemed to disappear. Served with steamed broccoli, as suggested. The pineapple upside down cake was good; we ate half of it!

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/13-Mar-20: Dinner was a halfish recipe of Paprika Chicken Thighs with Brussels Sprouts (web). This was easy and good, and maybe the last Brussels sprouts of the season. Served with some teeny potatoes, buttered, and a little salad of grated broccoli stems with some of the yogurt sauce left from the felafels. For after, we finished off the pineapple upside down cake.

Saturday/14-Mar-20: It's pie day, so before I started dinner, I used two carrés feuillettés to make two little pies. The creamy bit was mascarpone with a sack of vanilla sugar, some lemon peel, and some ground coriander. Mixed the blueberries with some raw sugar and lemon juice. Pretty good.

Dinner was Asparagus and Crab Linguine with Lemon Chilli and Basil (web). Oops, I forgot the basil. I didn't seed the chili either, so it was nicely zingy. Too lazy to seed and cut up tomatoes, I used canned pulp. The asparagus can't get done in the advertised time; steaming or boiling them a bit first would be nice. Still, it was good.

Sunday/15-Mar-20: Off to vote for mayor today.

Dinner was Pork Medallions with Red Wine-Cherry Sauce (Cl/jul17; web). I made a whole recipe and we ate about two thirds of it. Four servings would have been a bit dainty. Served with trio rice and snijbonen. Followed by some St Maure cheese, and then a pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each. Well-fed little piggies, we.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 4; #2 BACKLOG: yes
This month: #3 GUESTS: no
This year: #4 SHORT: no; #5 LONG: no
On-going: #6 READ; #7 RECYCLE; #8 NEW

This week in the kitchen

Monday/3-Feb-20: Dinner was a halfish dose of Coquilles St. Jacques et Poireaux avec Pernod—Scallops and Leeks with Pernod (Franey, p134; cookbooker). These was really delicious, even though I neglected to stir in a bitter butter at the end. Served with the recommended Riz au Four—Baked Rice (Franey, p135; cookbooker), a third recipe was good for two, and Courgettes au Citron—Zucchini with Oil and Lemon (Franey, p59; cookbooker). No dessert.

Tuesday/4-Feb-20: Dinner was Spaghetti with Pecorino and Black Pepper (MW@Home, p194). Why haven't I made this before. Easy and delicious. Not elegant, but very satisfying. I used Parmesan instead of pecorino, because there was no pecorino at the store last week, and I don't usually have it on hand. Then a salad. The some St Felicien. We ate well.

Wednesday/5-Feb-20: Dinner was a halfish dose of Turmeric Roasted Chicken and Sweet Potatoes (web), with four quite-large-for-here chicken thighs. Pretty good it was, and easy.

Yogurt on overnight.

Thursday/6-Feb-20: Shopping today.

Dinner was a half recipe of Wan Kai Thai-Style Red Curry (Ainsley3, p75). Served with rice and with steamed snow peas. Some store-bought custard after.

Friday/7-Feb-20: Dinner was a two-thirds-ish dose of Portobello Shepherd's Pie (web). Not Portobello's, but I won't tell if you don't. It was pretty good, and we've got enough for another night. During the day used some threatening-to-go-stale bread to make some Double-Boiler Bread Pudding (MC, HandyBook); we had some of that for dessert.

Saturday/8-Feb-20: We had a nice Thai meal today, cooked for a charity by Reza Mahammad. No further food necessary.

Finished off  Bocaux & Verrines on the way to our meal. Some interesting recipes, all of them serving six. Some of the portions really look like main dishes rather than starters or finishers.

Yogurt on overnight.

Sunday/9-Feb-20: We meant to go to a concert this afternoon, but Ed's still a bit coughy, so we decided not to go.

Our meal was leftover shepherd's pie, with some steamed broccoli and a little beet salad. (The beet salad was really little; I accidentally served it all to myself.) Then some bread pudding; it's going to give six servings this time.) We're full.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 5; #2 BACKLOG: no
This month: #3 GUESTS: no
This year: #4 SHORT: no; #5 LONG:/no
On-going: #6 READ; #7 RECYCLE; #8 NEW