This week in the kitchen

Monday/5-Mar-12: Another noontime quiz today. We didn't do quite as bad as last time, but still not good. The substitute quiz setter is very Brit-centric, and downright wrong on some of the science questions, so it's been less fun of late.

Made some Apple-Plum Butter (MC), this time with plums, since we're almost out.

Since we had a big meal at noon, we weren't very hungry. I made a big salad of mâche and we called it dinner.

Tuesday/6-Mar-12: I bought a couple of cauliflowers on sale last week. The first one appeared tonight as Perciatelli with Cauliflower, Tomato, Sausage, and Pine Nuts (PastaHarv, p65), well, it wasn't perciatelli (or bucatini), but De Cecco's Ziti, which is fatter, long, and unwieldy. Made a whole dose of the sauce, so half went in the freezer to appear with another shape at a later date. Called it a one-dish meal, and that was it.

Wednesday/7-Mar-12: Shopped this afternoon, trying to get back on a weekday schedule, rather than weekends. (Working people, don't you just hate Little Old People who totter through the shops on the weekend when they could go any day of the week? We try to be good and stay out of the way.) Not much to get really. Ruby Red grapefruits were on sale two for 94 eurocents; I'd been thinking about them lately (how I could get some from Texas?), but will make do with two from Florida.

It was clean-out-the-fridge time for dinner. I roasted Brussels sprouts, half of the last of the the two-for-€2 cauliflowers from last weekend, broccoli, carrots, haricots verts, and snow peas. Served over brown rice, topped with a bit of feta. All yum. Have a bit of veg and rice left for ... a salad perhaps.

Hmm...still no bread on the plan. Also no unused cookbook dish (for new period starting Saturday). Might need to replan. This is all hard work without the netbook. New one has arrived, but I don't feel like dealing with it.

Thursday/8-Mar-12: Dinner was Lime-Marinated Grilled Shrimp (web, soon to be MC), a really simple and tasty way to to shrimp—marinate some shrimp for a half hour or so in lime juice, lime zest, S&P, cayenne, and olive oil (I added some chipotle powder); then skewer them and grill 2-3 minutes per side. Served with polenta, with a dash of cayenne added. Followed by a nice salad.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/9-Mar-12: Made Elizabeth Bard's Split Pea Soup (web) for dinner, interesting because it included fennel. Can't say it was wonderful, but definitely edible. Have some of the ham left and will add a sausage from the freezer for the leftovers. For afters we had some Mothais à Feuilleté, goat cheese from the Poitou-Charentes that is ripened on a chestnut leaf and is quite good.

Saturday/10-Mar-12: New netbook is a bust. Forgot about the French keyboard. Back to Amazon with it. Meanwhile Ed's installed a new hard drive in the old one, but we have no way to load an operating system. Getting behind on iPlayer too. :-(

Dinner was Lamb Cutlets with Chilli and Black Olives (web, soon to be MC; cookbooker). Served with Clothilde Dusolier's Perfect Roasted Potatoes (HandyBook) and a salad made from the leftover brown rice and roasted veg. For dessert there was Apple Frangipane Tart (MC, and old recipe from CLmag).

Oh dear, still no bread this week. Have a bread machine bagel recipe I've been meaning to try, but haven't gotten there yet.

Sunday/11-Mar-12: Today's walk had more food involved than we expected, so I recombobbled dinner plans. Made some Gingery Cauliflower Soup (Q&E, p11); we ate some and I froze the rest. Finished off the bit of Mothais, although I can't say more food was really required.

Put on some Buttermilk-Walnut Wheat Bread (BHGBread, p17) for overnight, without the walnuts, since I was too lazy to break them up and toast them. French buttermilk, or what I think is buttermilk, doesn't seem to be homogenized, so it pours out kind of lumpy. Works ok in cooking though. Used the bread flour from the mill. Didn't have any gluten, so hope that's enough.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes (posted last week), #2 BREAD: yes, at the last minute, #3 SOUP: yes, #4 MIDDAY: yes, #5 VEG/FISH: 3
This month: #6 PASTA: no

White Bread and Whole Wheat Bread

Bread Machine Cookbook
Better Homes and Garden (2001)
ISBN 0696213168

Here is a book that I bought by a mistake. I collected a good ABM recipe on a mailing list and liked it enough that I thought I'd get the book where it originally appeared. That's what this was supposed to be, but it wasn't. (It was Betty Crocker I meant to get, not Better Homes and Gardens.) The book itself is quite attractive; it has hardboard covers with a ring binding inside, so it lays flat and is easy to use. But I've never really found a recipe that said Make Me Now.

We were pretty well snowed in last week, making it difficult to get out to shop. One morning I missed the mobile boulanger who delivers bread — I met him while I was out walking Pogo, but had no change in my pockets, argh! — and we were pretty well out of bread, so I had the idea to make some whole wheat bread for our next day's breakfast.

Working on my project to try unused cookbooks, I picked up this book, found a promising whole wheat bread, and started assembling it. At one point I laid a measuring spoon down on the opposite page, and then started following that recipe. (I often use a measuring spoon to track ingredients in a printed recipe.) Result: white bread instead of whole wheat. Luckily the recipes are quite similar except for the flour and I could easily correct the difference.

That night, I set the ABM up in the living room, since the kitchen gets quite cold at night and I know that makes the machine unhappy. In the morning, we woke to the wonderful smell of baking bread.

ABM bread is not especially cool, but it's awfully handy when time and bread are short. And this was not at all a bad plain white bread. I might even make it again. But not before I make the bread I originally intended to make.

Having been diverted from the path towards a whole wheat bread, I went back a week later to try that. I made this bread using the Whole Wheat Rapid setting on my machine, so I'd be sure to have it out and cooling before bedtime.

This is not a 100% whole wheat bread, but half and half with regular flour. It's probably one of the best plain whole wheat breads I've made with the machine. It slices easily and tastes good. Another keeper. Looks like this book is rescued from the Recycle stack.

This post is linked to this week's Cookbook Sundays.

This week in the kitchen

Monday/20-Feb-12: Today's pubs, the weekly batch of advertising supplements that comes with the post, brought a flyer from Leclerc, the grocery where we shop most often, thanking all their local suppliers. Merci à Tous nos Producteurs Locaux! it says, with pictures of the suppliers and descriptions of their local products, Limousin beef, sausages or all kinds, rabbits, birds, fish, oysters, melons, asparagus, endives, mushrooms, fruits, nuts, bio milk, raw milk, cheeses, ice cream (I've never noticed locally produced ice cream, will have to look for this), spring water, pineau, wine, etc. Fun to read. Can't think of seeing this in the U.S., even at someplace like Whole Foods.

The evening quiz from two weeks ago was postponed till midday today, so that was our main meal. In the evening we made a tray of nibbles, fruit, carrots, almond-stuffed green olives, black olive tapenade, and some St Maure (a chèvre from Poitou), finished off by some of the chocolates we got as a booby prize at the quiz (fourth of four teams).

Made some Whole Wheat Bread (BHGBread, p9), for tomorrow's breakfast, the one I intended to make last week.

Tuesday/21-Feb-12: Now that was some darn good whole wheat bread!

Yogurt on overday. Started up another batch of Preserved Lemons (Morocco, p21) in anticipation of a Cookbooker challenge on this book.

Dinner was a half dose of Linguine with Lemon, Garlic, and Thyme Mushrooms (web), a really simple, really tasty dish. Served with a salad. Followed by the rest of the booby prize chocolates.

Wednesday/22-Feb-12: Shook up my preserving lemons this morning, first of thirty daily shakes. Made Oatmeal Cake (green book; MC), a recipe I've had for, oh, pushing fifty years (can you believe that?!). Instead of raisins, I used dried cranberries that we got from a Canadian choir we saw last year. The cake was largely devoured when we sat outside with friends for tea after a walk. (About this time last week, it was -15C overnight; today it was 15C in the afternoon.)

Did some Garlic-Herb Bread (Basic/Rapid/M/d) (MC), which was one of our favorites when I was ABM-ing regularly. Another more-ish bread, a bit wonder-bread-ish in texture, but oh so tasty. This accompanied Winter Squash and Leek Soup (Verdura, p170). A nice soup, but maybe not the best as a main-dish soup since it's fairly light and smooth. Only one more butternut squash in the cupboard!

Thursday/23-Feb-12: Dinner was a half dose of Chicken with Fennel, Preserved Lemon, and Olives (Morocco, p302; cookbooker), using up my last preserved lemon. (Thus, another batch on the way.) Served over basmati rice, with a side of Carrot Salad with Cumin, Cinnamon, and Sweet Paprika (Morocco, p79; cookbooker).

Friday/24-Feb-12: Last night my RSS reader delivered the recipe for tonight's dinner. I made a half dose of Creamy Chipotle Shrimp with Mushroom (web; cookbooker). Really tasty, an Ed favorite now.

Saturday/25-Feb-12: Impulse buy at the grocery ... I've been having an urge for ribs, so saw a poitrine de porc (in two pieces). This is the side/belly on a pig. The front half is like ribs with the stuff we'd call bacon still attached. The back half is just bacon. Unless I discover something new in the meantime, the front bit I'll just cook like ribs and give it a meaty gnaw. (The recipe I learned for cooking ribs: Oven on as low, about 250F. Sprinkle your ribs with a ton of salt and a half ton of cayenne. In the oven till them smell good, hours later. If you like you can finish off with a short stay on the bbq grill or under the broiler. Yum.)

Fish-and-chips (with mushy peas) at a local restaurant tonight. Nothing much happening in the kitchen beyond putting away the groceries.

Sunday/26-Feb-12: Yogurt on overday. Visited two mills today as part of open mills day and lunched at one of them. So we weren't very hungry in the evening. For a little starter/salad, I sliced a beautiful (for winter) ripe tomato I got for something and didn't use. (Too bad I didn't think to defrost some mozzarella earlier in the day.) Then a salad of rucola. And a bit of cheese after.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes, #2 BREAD: yes, #3 SOUP: yes, #4 MIDDAY: yes, #5 VEG/FISH: 3
This month: #6 PASTA: not yet

This week in the kitchen

Monday/13-Feb-12: Last night's bread was White Bread (BHGBread, p8). Pretty good.

Yogurt on overday.

Made a broccoli-pasta thing for dinner using a recipe from the web. Didn't know I could make a broccoli-pasta thing I didn't like. A big squirt of sriracha helped. Chocolate tapioca pudding for dessert.

Tuesday/14-Feb-12: We had a lovely Valentine's lunch at La Bellone. Some fruit for dinner, followed by a bowl of salt- and butter-free air-popped popcorn.

Wednesday/15-Feb-12: Made some Buttermilk Bread (MC) this morning. On Rapid, which probably isn't the best thing to do when you're starting with cold milk. Not bad though. This is the bread that I thought came from BHGBread but didn't. (Do I need another ABM cookbook, I wonder?) Very more-ish, this bread.

Didn't feel like cooking at all today. Defrosted the Curried Zucchini Soup from August for dinner. It wasn't bad, but not great. Lots of bright flavors, and the apple was a nice touch, but the flavor lacked some "depth" or something. Not sure if I saved the recipe, but I'm wondering if it was made with water, rather than with chicken stock. It needs a bit of salt, so I might stir in a bit of chicken bouillon powder when I reheat.

Thursday/16-Feb-12: Dinner was a half dose of Spaghetti with Olives, Capers, and Anchovies (30MinPasta, p121), which I see from cookbooker that I made last April. Didn't leave a mark in the book and didn't remember. Oops. Oh well, it's good, and it's really fast.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/17-Feb-12: Shopping at Leclerc today, where we found a new feature being introduced. At the entrance, you can get a handheld scanner that allows you to scan your grocery items as you pick them up (and pack them directly), then exit via a special lane, handing in your scanner to pay. We didn't try this today and are not sure how will this will work with our "team shopping" approach. And how can you pack things away properly until you've gotten it all? Another plot to reduce the number of employees, is this good?

Lots of meat unexpectedly on sale today. Now I have another chunk of goat in the freezer now, a pair of varkenshaasjes, and a bunch of lamb chops.

For dinner I made some bbq-sauce-like stuff, very vaguely following a recipe from the web, and added the shredded pork from last week's pork roast. Pretty good pulled pork sandwiches there. Served with Mama's Garlic Coleslaw. For dessert there was some of the raspberry sorbet lingering in the freezer topped by some defrosted raspberries.

Saturday/18-Feb-12: My supply being almost gone, I made up some Herb Salt (Art, p172).

Dinner was some Curried Zucchini Soup (indeed the chicken bouillon helped the flavor) accompanied by pulled pork sandwiches and coleslaw. Good stuff.

Sunday/19-Feb-12: When I did my inventory prior to going to the Netherlands, I didn't find any green peppercorns in the pantry. This week, when I cleaned the cupboard, I found two little jars hiding way in the back. So now I have three jars. And, as a start to my use-up-some-green-peppercorns quest, tonight's dinner was Gemelli with Shrimp and Green Peppercorns (web; cookbooker). Followed by a salad. Then the last of the tiny squares of cheese.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: sort of, #2 BREAD: yes, #3 SOUP: yes, #4 MIDDAY: no, #5 VEG/FISH: 3
This month: #6 PASTA: no

This week in the kitchen

Monday/6-Feb-12: Finished off the chicken stock this morning. Ended up with 11 cups in the freezer. Out of freezer containers now.

Simple dinner tonight. Defrosted some merguez de volaille and grilled them. Made mashed sweet potatoes from the enormous single pot that I bought last week. Then a salad with the marinated Brussels sprouts. These were better with just a dab of arugula and were rather overwhelmed by the plateful of mâche/arugula mix.

K's Sweet Potato Bread (MC, a smerge of two recipes) on overnight. Moved the ABM in by the pellet burner, since I know it's not happy baking in a cold room.

Tuesday/7-Feb-12: Wasn't it nice to awaken to the smell of fresh bread this morning! Ordinarily, when the ABM sits in the kitchen, the smell doesn't really reach us in the bedroom. It's a pretty golden color, but not especially sweet tasting.

Brought the frozen chicken half indoors this morning. In the afternoon, I picked the meat for tomorrow's dinner, then roasted the bones and popped them in the freezer.

For dinner I embellished a can of black beans, mashed it all up a bit, topped with bits of leftover polenta, then heated in the oven for a bit. Served with a salad of avocado, radish, and cuke, mixed with lime juice and crème fraîche. Pretty good for little effort.

Wednesday/8-Feb-12: Used the rest of the mashed sweet potato to make Southern Sweet Potato Pecan Bread (MC). That really was a big sweet potato! Good quick bread.

Somehow, when you eat lunch at 3pm, and have a quick bread snack after that, you just don't think about cooking dinner till too late in the day. So leftover pizza it was, warmed in the oven.

All our events are being cancelled, choir practice, line dancing, gardening club. I have a doctor's appointment in Angoulême in Tuesday, but think I'll call tomorrow to cancel that, since it doesn't look like the roads will be clear by then.

Thursday/9-Feb-12: Authentic French Bread from the ABM this morning, and never cut into it. It will still be good, but not great tomorrow.

A neighbor with a 4x4 braved the roads to go to the grocery. We got milk and lettuce; I forgot to ask for eggs, which we could run out of. Can't be too bad out there. Ed went to refill a prescription and it took him only two tries to get back up the hill in Mazerolles.

Repurposed leftovers for dinner tonight. Made a sort of hash/stew thing from the rest of the chicken, potatoes, and the bit of sauce remaining, with this and that thrown in. Served over the remains of the polenta. Not bad at all. A bit let from lunch in the next day. Then a salad.

Friday/10-Feb-12: We made a trip out today. Stopped at a grocery for eggs and a few other things, then picked up a load of sacks of pellets for the heating. Pretty scary driving on the little roads.

Tonight, the pork roast I found in the freezer when I defrosted was on the menu. Best Crockpot Pork Roast Ever (web). Best? Well, maybe; good for a crockpot recipe anyhow. (Part 2 of the recipe to come—"bbq" pulled pork.) Accompanied by steam/sautéed potatoes and carrots and Baked Eggplant Slices (TooMany, p114), using up the eggplant in the fridge. This is still one of our favorite eggplant recipes. Finished off the last of the vanilla fromage frais. Curious that if I'd made something like this, our servings would have been twice as large. Think we need to practice some portion control here.

Saturday/11-Feb-12: Still cold, soup weather. Dinner was Lentil Soup with Red Squash and Fennel (Verdura, p171; cookbooker).

A couple of days ago a friend ventured out for some shopping and I asked her to bring us 3 liters of milk. Instead she came with 3 2-liter bottles. So we're starting a use-up-the-milk project. Tonight was Chocolate Tapioca Pudding (MC). Easy to make and good. This will last us several days.

Sunday/12-Feb-12: Late lunch today. Topped some stale baguette with the leftover chicken hash and let it sit under the broiler for a bit. That and our usual fruit plate was lunch.

Had thought about making pasta for dinner, but we weren't very hungry, so we had just a salad. Then a bit of St Maure. Then some Chocolate Tapioca Pudding, small servings like the fromage frais toetjes we've been eating. We're full.

Bread on overnight, sitting near the heater again. We'll awaken to the smell of cooking bread. I intended to make a whole wheat bread, but laid a measuring spoon on the opposite page and started following the recipe for White Bread (BHGBread, p8). Very similar recipes and I hadn't gotten to the part where they diverge. Should be OK.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes, #2 BREAD: yes, #3 SOUP: yes, #4 MIDDAY: no, #5 VEG/FISH: 3
This month: #6 PASTA: no