This week in the kitchen

Monday/10-Jan-22: Made a loaf of Easy French Bread (Electric, p62) (Basic/Rapid/M/d/-). 

Dinner from the freezer tonight, some vaguely SE Asian tuna patties. Served with Thai-Style Dipping Sauce (web) as suggested. This was a bit salty and a bit sweet even though I cut back the sugar. Then there was, more or less, Cilantro-Lime Sweet Corn (web) with canned corn. And some whole-grain basmati trio rice. 

Tuesday/11-Jan-22: An old favorite for dinner, Warm Broccoli and Potato Salad (MDSalads, p15). This is my go-to recipe where there are potatoes and broccoli hanging around needing to be eaten. Good stuff.

Wednesday/12-Jan-22: Made a loaf of English Muffin Bread, (BigGerman, p15) (Basic/Rapid/M/d/-) this morning. Picked up an order from Intermarché Drive.

Dinner was Roasted Tilapia with Orange-Parsley Salsa (CL/mar09; web), using cod instead of tilapia, which generally isn't sold here. This was fairly boring, if pretty. Served with the last of some frozen mixed veggies. (What we didn't eat, Buddy was happy to finish.)

Thursday/13-Jan-22: This morning I started a batch of Crockpot Texas Chili from an old printout of chili recipes. This is supposedly from the Texas Beef Council. I haven't been able to find the recipe online. Meanwhile, it had to cook so long, I decided to make something else for tonight's dinner.

So we had Scallops in a Creamy Dill Sauce (RezaRice, p62). This was tasty, with a good sauce, if not as quick as I expected. Served with Gram Flour Coated Zucchini (P&S, p101). This is a recipe I saved from a recycled book. It's pretty good and not too hard. And brown basmati rice. Pretty good dinner.

Friday/14-Jan-22: So, it was Crockpot Texas Chili for dinner. Ed liked it; I didn't. The recipe is very similar to my standard one, except for the dark beer added. I think that's the taste I didn't like. There's lots of leftovers to freeze, sigh. Served with tortillas and guacamole and some English cheddar, which was the wrong cheese.

Saturday/15-Jan-22: Made a loaf of French Bread (Tender) (BMB, p21) (Basic/Rapid/S/d/-). This is apparently the first time I've made this loaf.

Dinner was Chicken Cutlets with Roasted Red Pepper & Arugula Relish (web). This was quite good. The relish/salsa was a nice touch. (I didn't add the extra sugar to that.) Served with some minted carrot coins and whole wheat penne. Good meal.

Sunday/16-Jan-22: Yesterday's French Bread (Tender) was quite good. It's a shame that it's a small loaf, like all the ones from that cookbook.

Inventory fail today. Went to get falafels from the freezer for dinner and there were none to be found. Ed went for pizza, in not the best weather, icy and foggy. It was much colder in Montbron than here. Will have to replan the falafels after our next Driver orders.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/6-Dec-21: Dinner was a half recipe of Risotto with Baby Artichokes (Verdura, p234). This was nice, in spite of the tedious preparation needed for the artichokes. Then a plain salad.

Tuesday/7-Dec-21: Tonight's dinner was pork chops that were marinated in charmoula from the freezer. Served Orzo Salad with Peppers and Feta (web). I made this a side for two by quartering the recipe (halved for two, halved again to make an ample side). Might be nice to roast the bell peppers rather than sautéing them. Good stuff.

Wednesday/8-Dec-21: Dinner was a recipe recommended by Jacky, Creamy Turkey and Wild Rice Soup (web; GD; notes). I made the stock in my usual way from leg bones of our Thanksgiving turkey legs. The soup is delicious, and used up my stash of wild rice. Guess I'll have to get more before long. Recipe onto DMA list.

Thursday/9-Dec-21: Shopping today.

Dinner was Fresh Tuna Burgers with Ginger & Cilantro (EAT-L; web; GD; notes). The Fine Cooking version (on the web) suggests serving with a Thai-Style Dipping Sauce (web), which would have been nice. I made four patties and have frozen two. Using "sushi-grade tuna" for the burgers strikes me as silly. Any tuna you would grill is fine. The recipe calls for 3/4tsp of salt for the four burgers; I used on 1/2tsp and we both found them a bit salty. Otherwise very good. (For the second night in row, recipe goes onto DMA list.) Served with Thai whole-grain trio rice, and some corn tarted up very loosely following this recipe. All was good.

Friday/10-Dec-21: Dinner was Aubergine au Four aux Pois Chiches Fumés (web). Turned out pretty good. The recipe asks for a big eggplant to serve two; I had a 500g package of two (bio), so we had one each. I used ground roasted cumin instead of plain ground cumin.The recipe asks for over a cup of water for the tahini sauce; I used maybe half of that, adding just enough to make a nicely runny, but not too runny, sauce.

Saturday/11-Dec-21: Dinner was Red Wine Braised Mushroom Sauce (EW/sep14; web). As suggested, I added some crème fraîche and served over noodles (flavored with cèpes). This was quite good, and easy to assemble. I used up all the shrooms in house, brown mushrooms (champignons de Paris) and shiitakes. Then a big salad.

Sunday/12-Dec-21: We haven't been to the boulanger lately, and I'm getting tired of frozen ciabattas, so I made a loaf of an old favorite, English Muffin Bread (BigGerman, p15), using 2cups T65 (bread) flour and 1cups T110 (light whole wheat) flour. We'll see how it turns out in the morning.

Dinner was an old recipe, Pecan Over-Fried Chicken (MC; FamilyCircle/sep97; web). The web version is more or less the same. Very tasty. Might cook on the rack under the broiler, or even a rack in the onion would keep the bottom from being gummy. Probably better to chop the pecans finely; I'm afraid they've gummed up my spice grinder. Very tasty, tender, and ujuicy kip filets. Served with some lightly buttered new potatoes and steamed chunks of snijbonen (haricots coco plat).

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/11-Jan-21: Baked the Overnight Boule this morning. (Changed the name to reflect the shape.)

Dinner was Green Eggs & Ham Soup (web), a halfish recipe. There's a bit of soup left that might turn up as pasta sauce or another soup before long. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/12-Jan-21: Made some Easy Blueberry Cobbler* (myweb) from my Do-me-again list. Remarkably good for as easy as it is.

 

Dinner was a halfish recipe of Chicken Potpie (CL/apr07; web), really a turkey potpie, using brick/briq for the topping instead of phyllo. Livened up the gravy with a bit of cayenne (just a bit, not enough to make it hot). And, of course, some blueberry cobbler, with fresh cream, for after.

 

Unfortunately, to use up odd bits from the freezer, I've just planned a meal for later this week, a kind of a seafood potpie, with brick for the topping. Think I might need to move that out a bit.

Wednesday/13-Jan-21: Defrosted some rumsteack; it was supposed to be a thick chunk but was a thin sheet instead. Cut it into bits and marinated in my meat marinade. Dusted (most of) these with flour and browned in a cast iron skillet. Deglazed with water and a bit of a beef boullion cube to make a little sauce. Served with Clothilde Dusoulier's Perfect Roasted Potatoes (web) and some roasted broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. Finished the blueberry cobbler, with fresh cream, for after.

Thursday/14-Jan-21: Made a loaf of German Rye Bread (BigGerman, p254) (Basic/Rapid/M=1.5#/d/-). Used the Basic cycle, rather than Whole Wheat, thinking there was only 1/2cup of rye flour vs 3cups of bread flour. If I remember, next time I'll try the WholeWheat setting.

 

Dinner was Salmon Scallopini with Almond Orzo (web). Yummy stuff. Interesting to cut the salmon fillet into 1/4" slices to be sautéed. Nice sauce too. Served with steamed broccoli bit with garlic and red pepper flakes steeped in olive oil with lemon juice. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after. 

The bread is delicious, a tall loaf, but not fluffy/soft. Might try it with T110 flour next time.

Friday/15-Jan-21: Dinner was Cajun Shrimp Linguine (web), using whole-wheat spaghetti. Pretty good stuff. A salad would have been nice, but the salad maker was out of oomph. Unoriginally, there wasa pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Saturday/16-Jan-21: Started another loaf of German Rye Bread (BigGerman, p254) (WW/Rapid/M=1.5#/-/-). Used T110 flour.

 

We brought dinner from a local restaurant. Had to pick it up before the 18.00 curfew. Nice to have a delicious meal with not more work than setting the table.

Yogurt on overnight

Sunday/17-Jan-21: The rye bread with all T110 (light whole wheat) flour is not as high and not quite as tasty as the one with T65 (bread) flour; might try a mixture of these next time.

 

Off-plan tonight, got started late and didn't feel like cooking what I'd planned. Instead we had Spaghetti with Zucchini and Lemon (MW@Home, p195). Easy and tasty stuff. Some mini HD ice cream cups for after.

 

Have been throwing away lots of recipes. The upstairs bins are well over half empty. Small progress. There really are too many recipes that need to be cooked.

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/21-Dec-20: Picked up an order from Leclerc today.

Made three labels for the Chipotle-Fig Jam yesterday, but only two arrived downstairs. A mystery. The jam is more than set now, so the extra sugar with pectin wasn't needed. Oh well.

Dinner was a half recipe of Roasted Cauliflower Gigli with Pine Nuts and Currants (web), using cockscombs (galetti, I think) instead of gigli. This was interesting, with the currants. I wasn't sure, but it left a pleasant taste in the mouth. Then a salad. Then we finished the bread pudding.

Tuesday/22-Dec-20: Before dinner, I started a loaf of English Muffin Bread (BMB, p17). This loaf sank a lot again even though I reduced the amount of water. I've read before that sunken loave often have too much liquid, but I'll need to investigate that again. 

Leftover cornbread stuffing for dinner, with more gravy. HD mini ice cream cups for after. That's all.

Yogurt on overnight.

Wednesday/23-Dec-20: Using up my last skinless, boneless chicken thighs (not easily found here), dinner was a half recipes of Ginger Chicken (30MinInd, p42; cookbooker). Served with plain basmati rice and Karhai Broccoli (MJ@Home, p148). Some mini HD ice cream cups for after.

Overnight Bread on overnight.

Thursday/24-Dec-20: Baked off the Overnight Bread. So easy, so good.

Picked up an order from Intermarché Drive today. Ordered 200g of salmon; asked for 300-350g in the comment. (Next lump to order was 400g, too much for two.) We got 440g. Needed only 125g for dinner, so I froze the larger piece.

Dinner was a halfish recipe of Tagliatelles au Saumon et Poireau; (VPG); can find it on the web although the clipping says the recipe can be found on their site. Not. Still, it was easy and good. I used way more curry powder than asked for the full recipe. Then a salad. Some chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Didn't have the oomph to make the bûche for tomorrow. Hope I manage to get everything done on the day.

Friday/25-Dec-20: Started a bûche this morning, then discovered that Ed had neglected to get the next block of butter out of the freezer when he refilled the butter dish. Oops. Replan. This was our meal. 

Yogurt on overnight.

Saturday/26-Dec-20: 

I was busy all day cooking and pooped by the time we sat down to eat. This was our meal.

Should start bread to bake in the morning, but really have no energy.

Sunday/27-Dec-20: Made some 100% Whole Wheat Bread (BigGerman, p81) (WW/Rapid/M/-/-). Used the end of the jar of honey, about 3tbl rather than the 1/4cup asked. This was an improvement. The best whole wheat bread. 

For lunch we had meatloaf sandwiches and a slice of bûche.

Dinner was Chipotle-Lime Cauliflower Tacos (web). Sounds a bit weird but it was good. Served with some of my refried black bean mix, a quickie sort of guacamole, jalapeño strips, feta, cilantro, and corn tortillas. And another slice of bûche.

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/14-Dec-20: Made up some turkey stock today. Still on the way to a dinner of cornbread stuffing. Didn't get the cornbread made, so it might be another day yet.

Used some of the confiture de myrtilles that came with our gourmet panier (substitute for this year's old folks' dinner) to make Jam Tea Cake (MC). Pretty good stuff.

Dinner was a halfish recipe of Curried Crab (Oriental, #77). This turned out ok, but the recipe is a mess. The picture shows a reddish curry; instead it was yellowish (turmeric). Whole spices are added (fenugreek seeds and peppercorns) that should have been ground. It wants you to make coconut milk from scratch. The total liquid would give you soup rather than a curry. Still, it was edible. Served very basmati rice, with some Karhai Broccoli (MJ@Home, p148). Then some Jam Tea Cake. We're full.

Tuesday/15-Dec-20: Finished off the turkey stock and picked the bone; might made some turkey salad for lunch from these bits. Froze up the turkey bits I sliced off the bone yesterday; at least two meals there.

Didn't get cornbread made and didn't feel like making my alternative, so I made Curried Lamb in Pita Bowls (Desperation, p196) with ground beef. This is easy, fast, and good. Jam Tea Cake for after. We're stuffed.

Wednesday/16-Dec-20: Last night I measured out the dry ingredients for a loaf of bread. This morning I realized that, since it was a whole wheat bread, it wouldn't be ready before I had to leave. Duh. So. Instead I made a 3# loaf Authentic French Bread (Magic, p22) (Basic/Rapid/M/d/-), with the addition of 1/8tsp of baking soda, since that seems to be the difference between this and "English Muffin Bread". I was in a hurry and didn't run my poor old machine empty for a bit at the start. Mistake. Out with the dough; let it run a bit, then start it up again. Good bread in the end.

Off to get a haircut in the afternoon.

Dinner was a halfish version of Easy Smoked Sausage Skillet (web), sort of. Garlic, minced not crushed; fresh broccoli; long-grain brown rice instead of instant. Easy and pretty good. More tomato sauce might be good. A bit of smoked paprika might be good. Some Lindt chocolate squares for after.

Thursday/16-Dec-20: Made a loaf of 100% Whole Wheat Bread (BigGerman, p81) (WW/Rapid/M/-/-). Yesterday's French bread, is just so-so, but this one is delicious. A surprisingly high loaf, given it's 100% whole wheat. 

Worked a lot on the meal plans for our holiday meals. Leclerc Drive's site has been down all afternoon and evening, so that makes things a bit difficult.

Dinner was Easy Falafel Curry (web). This was easy and pretty tasty. It should have served three, but the two of us ate it all. Over long-grain brown rice. A pair of of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Friday/18-Dec-20: Picked up an order from Intermarché today. They had lamb legs on a really good sale, so I got one of those even though the freezer is more than full.

Made a pan of cornbread for tomorrow's stuffing dinner.

Dinner was a halfish dose New England Fish Chowder (EAT-L). Pretty good stuff. A pair of of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Saturday/19-Dec-20: For the last two Thanksgivings, we've missed out on Chef Paul Prudhomme's Cornbread Dressing (MC; web), a holiday favorite. So tonight we had that for dinner. I used the turkey stock I made for the dressing and to make some gravy. (Following Hom's definition in HomVeg, i.e., chicken stock is vegetarian, I'm going to call this a veggie dinner.) Yum. Mini HD ice cream cups for after.

Sunday/20-Dec-20: I used the ends of two breads to make some Double Boiler Bread Pudding (MC; HandyBook) today. Good stuff. But I forgot again to actually make some bread. And my stash in the freezer is getting low. Not wanting to go into the grocery till a couple of weeks after the holiday, so I need to be careful here. 

Also made a recipe of Homemade Chipotle Fig Jam (web). I made about 1.5 recipe since I had a 500g package of fig*. My few licks were pretty tasty, but it didn't seem to set up properly. In the end I added more lemon juice and some sucre pour confiture. We'll see how it turns out. Had a look at Juipter-Saturn while this was going. *I had a failure of arithmetic when I ordered the (bio) figs. After using one package, I still have four more to use.

In the end, I didn't feel like making what was on the plan for dinner and neither of us felt like going for pizza, so we had the leftover Curried Beef with Pita. And some bread pudding. We're full.

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/9-Nov-20: Dinner was a half dose of an old Allerhande recipe, Farfalle with Smoked Salmon Sauce and Broccoli (MC). Didn't really have enough salmon, but that was okay. Used mafalda, which is much nicer, instead of farfalle. Mini cups of HD ice cream for after.

Tuesday/10-Nov-20: Yogurt on overday. 

Made a loaf of Italian Bread (BigGerman, p17) (Basic/Rapid/L/d/-). All T65 flour.

Dinner was Sheet-Pan Harissa Chicken with Carrots and Cauliflower (web). This was good, It's easy to make, but takes a bit of time. It's a one-dish meal. I had four thighs, so made a half recipe. The half dose of the marinade was just enough for the thighs; I had to make up a bit more for the veggies. We pigged out for afters and had 1) a cube of Pavé s'Affinois (cheese), 2) a slice of the new bread (yes!), and 3) two squares of chocolate.

Wednesday/11-Nov-20: Dinner was an halfish dose of Butternut Squash with Pecans and Blue Cheese (web), made with the remains of last week's potimarron. Unfortunately some of the squash got a bit past the done state. Served over short-grain brown rice. Good as a whole; would have been better without burnt squash. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Thursday/12-Nov-20: Picked up a grocery order from Intermarché today, so it was fish for dinner. 

We had Trota Salmonata all'Aceto Balsamico (TuscKitch, p139), with regular salmon instead of salmon trout. I thought about doing it in a skillet like last week's one-sided salmon, but instead baked in it in the oven. It was good. Served with polenta and steamed broccoli.

Friday/13-Nov-20: Made another loaf of Italian Bread (BigGerman, p19) (Basic/Rapid/M/d/-), this time using 2cups bread flour (T65) and 1cup white whole wheat flour (T110). I didn't remember that I'd made the large loaf last time, so there are two variables in this loaf.

Dinner was a half recipe of Farfalle with Cauliflower and Turkey Sausage (web; CL/dec08). Pretty good stuff, and easy. I used more sausage than asked (four of six in the package, the other two will make sandwiches for lunch), but it didn't feel like too much. Should have made a salad, but was too lazy.

Saturday/14-Nov-20: Made up the chocolate broth for tomorrow's ice cream, and put the chickie on to marinate. No more oomph for cooking, so it was pizza for dinner.

Sunday/15-Nov-20: Made a 1-1/2# loaf of DeDe's Buttermik Bread (MagicHints, p142, which is slightly different from the same recipe in Magic, p16) (Basic/Rapid/M/d/-). I used 2cups of bread flour (T65) and 1cup of white whole wheat flour (T110). Good stuff.

It was a special meal today because it was Ed's birthday and we couldn't go out. We started with artichoke bottoms, spread with green tapenade, topped with a bit of chabichou (a localish goat cheese), run under the broiler till it's all melty and the cheese is turning browning. 

Our main was Butterflied Grilled Chicken with a Chile-Lime Rub (web), with the chicken cooked like this. Very yummy it was. We had grits, and broccoli-and-corn for sides. 

Dessert was Aztec "Hot" Chocolate Ice Cream (Scoop, p29), which is still yummy.

We ate well, but no pictures.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #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/2-Nov-20: Picked up an order from Leclerc today.

Another week, another day when I didn't feel like making what was on the meal plan. Sigh. Instead we had Warm Broccoli and Potato Salad (MDSalads, p15), an old standby. Satisfying and good, as always. Store-bought riz au laits for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/3-Nov-20: Dinner a halfish dose of Pappardelle with Butternut and Blue Cheese (web). Used a potimarron instead of a butternut; half of the cubes went into the freezer. Roquefort for the cheese, because that's what there was. Pretty good stuff. The other pair of store-bought riz aus laits for after.

Wednesday/4-Nov-20: Made a loaf of Buckwheat Bread (BigGerman, p38) (WW/Rapid/M/-/-). Very tasty, nice texture

Dinner was a halfish recipe of Grenadins de Porc à la Crème (VPG; web), thick slices of varkenshaas with a sauce of crème fraîche and shrooms. Served with the last of some kind of pasta, I think it was kind of whole wheat fusilli, not very tasty. And some corn, peas, and red bell pepper (from the freezer, that). Some squares of chocolate after.

Thursday/5-Nov-20: Picked up an order from Intermarché Drive today.

Dinner was a half recipe of Saumon à l'Unilateral Chardenoux (BistroWells, p145), skin-on salmon fillets cooked in butter without turning. Served with Smoked Potatoes (BistroWells, p146) as suggested. Then a salad of sucrines, beets, and onion with some of the dressing left from Monday's broccoli-potato salad. Some chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Friday/6-Nov-20: Dinner was a halfish recipe of Chicken Fajitas with Spiralized Zucchini and Peppers (Spiral, p126). Pretty good, if not fantastic. The recipe isn't very well written, e.g., ingredients whose use is divided between steps are not indicated as divided. I used my new Oxo spiralizer (single blade). I gave the electric one to a charity shop, a big clunky thing (four blades) that I didn't use very much. The Oxo one is small and make better spirals for just a bit of effort. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Saturday/7-Nov-20: Made a loaf of Buttermilk Bread (BigGerman, p18) (Basic/Rapid/M/d/-). Pretty good stuff. Made with 2cups T65 (bread flour) and 1cup T110 (white whole wheat flour). 

Dinner was Egg Noodles with Goat Cheese Sauce (web). This was simple and good, but I forgot to notice that it was meant as a starter, not as a main. Followed by a big salad. Then Ed had some bread with more goat cheese. And some mini HD ice cream cups for after.

Sunday/8-Nov-20: Yesterday's Buttermilk Bread being almost gone, I made a loaf of Oatmeal Bread (BigGerman, p26) (Basic/Rapid/M/d/-).

After last night's dinner, I developed an itch for something Thai or otherwise SE Asian. We had a halfish recipe of Spicy Ground Chicen—Laab Gai (Delightful, p91). This was pretty darn good, in spite of the face that I was out of limes. (Used lemon juice instead.) Served with Thai Cucumber Salad with Peanuts (web), my go-to Thai salad recipe. For "dessert" we each had a slice of Oatmeal Bread.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #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/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/7-Sep-20: Easy dinner tonight. Ravioli à la Panna using raviolis filled with ham, peas, and mozzarella. Made a big salad with the rest of yesterday's arugula, and a big home-grown tomato. Used some of the tomato slices to make mini insalatas caprese with a bit of leftover mozzarella from the fridge. That's all, we were full.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/8-Sep-20: Dinner was a halfish dose of Cardamom Chicken Stew in the Indian Style (BigFlav, p304). The original recipe wants 12 thighs for four people. That seems excessive; we usually do four for two. Very tasty. Might be better to remove the skin for cooking, since we don't usually eat skin cooked in this way. There was lots of liquid left, and I'll freeze a bit to use for something else. Served with plain basmati rice and some Zucchini in a Yogurt Dressing (SpiceKitch, p58), an old favorite. We're full, no dessert needed.

Wednesday/9-Sep-20: Late lunch made for a late dinner. :-( We had Crispy Scallops (web; online). (I got the recipe for the scallops, without the salad, from EAT-L. The salad isn't very appealing to me.) These were good. Served with grits and Zucchini Carpaccio with Avocado, Lemon Thyme, and Pistachio Oil (VegHarv, p214), which is a favorite nowadays. My lemon thyme died, so it was plain thyme, and I didn't have time to chop some pistachios (a nice crunch), but it was still good. Used my Dutch kaaschijfje to slice the zukes. That's all.

Thursday/10-Sep-20: Made a loaf of Oat Bread (BigGerman, p29) (Basic/Rapid/L/d/-). Very tasty. Hope it holds up over the next days better than the Oatmeal Sesame Bread did.

Dinner was pork ribs (a rare find at the grocery) à la Leo Koning (e.g.,a ton of salt,a half ton of cayenne; with a nod to Chef John I supplemented this with some garlic powder and black pepper. Cooked on low low low until they're done, several hours). A nice messy dinner once in a while, but the first time since we've moved, since finding unadulterated ribs is an unusual happening. Usually they're already marinatee, and perhaps cooked, Mexican or whatnot. Served with Clothilde Dusoulier's Perfect Roasted Potatoes (web). And Madhur Jaffrey's Zucchini and Feta Cheese Salad (WorldVeg, p640). We're stuffed.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/11-Sep-20: Dinner was a half recipe of Chickpea Dumplings in Curried Tomato Sauce (EW/oct19; web. I used a single can of tomato pulp (supposedly seedless), rather than the two tomato-y cans indicated. Pretty good stuff.

Saturday/12-Sep-20: Ed picked up an order from Intermarché Drive today.

Dinner was Baked Salmon with Herb Tahini (web). This was good, even though I see that I forgot the pine nuts in the herb topping. Served with Moroccan couscous and leftover zucchini-feta salad. Then a plate of sliced tomato from the potager, with S&P and olive oil and basil. Yum. Some cookies for after.

Sunday/13-Sep-20: Put the meat for Beef Tikka (RezaSpice, p100) on for its first marinade fairly early (for me). Went away for a while. Made the second marinade and added to the meat. Ed bbq'd this perfectly. Not the best written recipe, but really delicious. Served with (MJ's Simple Buttery Rice with Onions (out of my head) and Pan-Grilled Zucchini (MJ@Home, p173), an old favorite. Rather than using a frying pan, I sprayed the zucchini slices with oil and grilled them on the grill pan that came with the stove. All was good.

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/31-Aug-20: Picked up an order from Leclerc Drive today. Mostly staples, not much food-to-eat.

Dinner was a halfish dose of Spicy Garlic Chicken Penne with Peas (web; cookbooker). This was a hit. Then a simple salad with tomato and onion. (Last week I accidentally bought two sacks of lettuce and an extra packet of sucrines, when I already had one to use. We are over-endowed with lettuce-y things.)

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/1-Sep-20: We ate from the freezer tonight. There was Roasted Eggplant & Meat Sauce for pasta. Since we've had pasta two nights in a row, I decided to serve this over polenta, which was a good idea, except that I seem to have put in too much water and it took forever to get done. Quite tasty. Then a salad, again with tomato, onion, and carrot. It's late and we're full. Nothing further.

Start overnight bread.

Wednesday/2-Sep-20: Dinner was a halfish dose of Puy Lentil, Red Onion and Feta Salad (Flavours, p198. This was ok, but nothing special. Some mini HD ice cream cups for dessert.

Thursday/3-Sep-20: Dinner was, more or less, Mauritian Prawn Curry (web). Not bad stuff. Over basmati rice. With Zucchini in a Yogurt Dressing (SpiceKitch, p58), an old favorite, using zucchini from the garden. We were full.

Friday/4-Sep-20: Decided that reading a cookbook at bedtime isn't really a good idea. Some of the books are too large to hold easily and getting to stickies can be difficult, especially with a cat sitting on your chest. Down to the living room, I think.

Picked up an order from Intermarché today.

Made a loaf of Cornmeal English Muffin Bread (BigGerman, p151) (Basic/Rapid/L/d/-), a lovely, big loaf.

Dinner was Papillote de Cabillaud à la Mangue (VPG). I love things in papillote, but this was pretty boring. The rosemary didn't work. Can't imagine that the suggested vanilla would have added anything. Mango is tropical. A squirt of lime juice would have been good. Red pepper flakes maybe? Anyhow it was edible. Served with basmati rice, as suggested, and steamed broccoli. Some HD mini ice cream cups for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Saturday/5-Sep-20: Dinner was Grilled Pork Tenderloin 'Saltimbocca' (web). This was good; the sauce was so-so and unneeded. Served with some Po' Cousin Paella from the freezer (more of that for another day) and carrot sticks cooked with mint. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Sunday/6-Sep-20: Made a loaf of Oatmeal Sesame Bread (BigGerman, p29) (Basic/Rapid/L/d/-). I've made this before and noted that the sesame taste is too strong, so for the large loaf, I cut the sesame seeds back from 1/3cup to 2-1/2tbl. The large loaf came out beautiful and high.

Dinner was Za'atar Roasted Carrots and Chickpea Yogurt Bowls (web). This is supposed to serve four; the two of us ate it all. I used only a quarter of the yogurt and we thought that was fine. Used arugula instead of kale, which isn't available and I don't especially like. Good stuff.

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/24-Aug-20: Made a loaf of English Muffin Bread (BMB, p17) this morning. Good stuff.

Leftover pizza for dinner. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/25-Aug-20: Started Crock Pot Picadillo (web). I had 700g of 5% ground beef, so made about a 2/3 recipe. Pretty good stuff. I didn't serve over brown rice as suggested, but with corn tortillas (now that I've found some good mail-order ones). And a side of guacamole. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each later.

Wednesday/26-Aug-20: Dinner was about a third of Ayam Masak Rose—Braised Chicken and Peas in a Coconut-and-Chili Sauce (TLPacSea, p61), using four thighs. This was really good. The meat is not browned, which I found a surprise. I think I would take the skin off before cooking; I did remove it before serving. Served over basmati rice. Ed said it's a 5-star dish.

Served with our favorite Thai Cucumber Salad with Peanuts (web). I got the chili out of the freezer, but forgot to cut it up, so the salad was quite soothing after the chicken dish.

Thursday/27-Aug-20: Made the 1-3/4-2# loaf of Classic Whole Wheat Bread (BigGerman, p81) (WW/Rapid/L/-/-). That was a seriously big loaf. I expect the 1-1/2# loaf will still be big. Tasty.

Made a batch of Mango Plum Jam (SmallBatch, p51; cookbooker). Used only 2 cups sucre de confiture, which was a good amount tastewise, even though it's a bit runny.

Dinner was Carrot and Coriander Soup (Fancy, p39). Delicious. A whole recipe served two as a dinner soup. Would be a nice soup in small cups as a starter.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/28-Aug-20: Finished reading Pure&Simple last night. Wasn't very impressed. Have marked a few recipes to try. There are lots of ingredients, primarily veggies, that aren't available here and I don't recall seeing them in NL. Oh well.

Pick up an order at Intermarché today. I ordered carrots when we didn't need any. Maybe we'll have lots and lots of Carrot and Coriander Soup.

Dinner was Asian Grilled Salmon (web), on the bbq. This was easy, fast, and tasty. Served with trio rice and Chinese Eggplant with Garlic Sauce (web). I used most of the white eggplants from the potager. (Bought by mistake, these are much better the the tiny white "ur" eggplants which are very bitter). Having no black vinegar right now, I used malt vinegar, which seemed to work quite well. Anyhow, this was tingly and tasty. We're full.

Saturday/29-Aug-20: Made a batch of Marcella Hazan's famous Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter (ClassicItal, p152) from my over-bought stash of grappe tomate. Soon I need to start making sauce (passata, I think) from the tomatoes from the potager.

Dinner was Indonesian Beef Satay (Wolfert, p72). The bbq chef burnt one side so the meat was pretty overcooked. No pindasaus, since neither of us especially like it. Difficult to say much more about it. Used some green beans to make a halfish recipe of Tumi Buncis (SriOwen, p195). Pretty good, although my beans were a bit old. Dressed up the remains of yesterday's eggplant sort of like Gorentg Terong—Fried Aubergines (SriOwen, p192). Worked pretty good. And some basmati rice. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Sunday/30-Aug-20: Took a load of stuff off to a charity shop today. Ed managed to lose one of his hearing aids along the way!

Dinner was a halfish dose of Garlic, Caper & Lemon Linguine (magazine clipping from Jamie, I guess; scanned). Easy and tasty. For a side, I sliced up one of our home-grown tomatoes, topped with a bit of olive oil, S&P, and torn basil. Yum. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

I'm reading my next cookbook at night right now. This works because it's a rather small book. Won't be handy at all for a bigger one. Will have to find another solution for cookbook reading.

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/27-Jul-20: Picked up an order at Leclerc Drive after my French lesson.

Finished off yesterday's salads for a late lunch, so I wasn't very hungry for dinner.

We had a halfish dose of Spinach Ravioli with Zucchini Ribbons (web). Easy, fast, pretty good. Followed by a salad using up the dressing from the broccoli-potato salad. Followed yogurt and store-bought raspberries.

The yogurt that sat out overnight wasn't bad at all. I expected it to be pretty sour.

Tuesday/28-Jul-20: For dinner, I rubbed some of my pork rub spice mix onto two boneless chops. Served those with spaghettis courts and some mixed vegetable (steamed broccoli, canned corn, and strips of roasted bell pepper from a jar). We were full.

Wednesday/29-Jul-20: Made a loaf of Oregano Herb Bread (BigGerman, p243).

Really didn't feel like cooking today, so an easy dinner, off piste. Made Spaghetti with Pecorino and Black Pepper (MW@Home, p194). It's so easy and so good. As suggested I made a salad of sliced tomatoes, with some basil and some kalamatas. Some mini HD ice cream cups for after.

Thursday/30-Jul-20: A hot, hot day. I picked up an order from Intermarché this morning. I made the time a bit earlier than usual, hoping to get some of their homemade nems. I'm beginning to think these don't really exists.

Dinner was Salmon, Avocado, New Potato Salad (web), which wasn't bad. Unfortunately, my avocados were over the hill, so I just got what I could out of them. I broiled the salmon rather than bbq-ing it. Have enough dressing left for two big salads.Thought the white balsamic vinegar (end of my bottle) was too sweet; sherry vinegar might be better. Some St Felicien cheese with Oregano Herb Bread for after.

Friday/31-Jul-20: This morning I figured out, too late, that I could start Overnight Bread in the morning and bake it just before bedtime. Another day.

Another hot, hot day. Dinner was Syrian-Style Lentil-Tomato Soup (Beans, p61). Really good stuff. Mini HD ice cream cups for after.

Yogurt on overnight. Stirred up some Overnight Bread.

Saturday/1-Aug-20: Really didn't feel like cooking tonight and got to it late. We had One Pot Spicy Thai Zoodles (web). It's advertised to serve four. I make half, and that would have served one really. Mini HD ice cream cups for after again.

Sunday/2-Aug-20: Dinner was a half dose of Greek Lamb with Potatoes & Olives (web). Easy and yummy stuff. I had only one tomato, when I should have had two, but exact measurements are not an issue here. Would be easy to make this for one too. The meat could be beef or pork or even dark meat chicken maybe. Takes a bit of wall clock time, but most of it is baking.

For dessert, a bit belatedly, there was, sort of, Peach Cobbler (web). I overlooked the instructions for the cobbler dough, so this bit is a bit flat. I used only 1/2 cup sugar in the filling and a short 3 tbl sugar for the dough. Wasn't very pretty, but tastes good

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 5; #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/20-Jul-20: Dinner was a half version of Melting Mushroom Swiss Burgers (Ainsley1, p27. Pretty good as burgers go. Served with the frites leftover from our take-out burgers last week. I put them, frozen, onto a baking sheet under the broiler. Worked quite well. Some mini Häagen-Dasz ice cream cups for after.

Tuesday/21-Jul-20: Dinner was Mediterranean Chicken Gyros (web), a thirdish version with two kip filets. Not especially authentic, but easy to make and tasty. Served with flour tortillas instead of pitas.

Yogurt on overnight. Yogurt and bread happened last week, but didn't seem to get recorded.

Wednesday/22-Jul-20: Made a loaf of Buckwheat Cornmeal Bread (BigGerman, p38) in the ABM. Pretty loaf. We'll see how it is tomorrow

Dinner was Thai Crumbled Beef in Lettuce Wraps (web). I made about a two-third recipe (with 250g instead of 350g of ground beef). Easy and very good. Leaves of butterhead lettuce, rather than iceberg. Thinking this wasn't enough for a proper dinner, I made a quarter recipe of Summer Shrimp Pad Thai (web), sort of. Didn't want to open a can of corn for just a little bit, so omitted that. Used tiny shrimp rather than largish ones. Pretty good, worth an appearance as a main course we thought.

Thursday/23-Jul-20: Went to make dinner and discovered I was missing some critical ingredients. Replan.

Instead we had a half dose of Fagioli Toscanelli con Tonno— White Bean and Tuna Salad (TLItal, p6). This was good, maybe could use a smidge more lemon juice. I used canned beans and frozen parsley, since I'm out of that. I've made similar dishes before. Makes a very nice salad dinner on a hot day.

Finished a bit of goat cheese for after. While the Buckwheat Cornmeal Bread is tasty, I can't say it's the best bread for cheese, being a bit crumbly.

Friday/24-Jul-20: Ed picked up an order at Intermarché for dinner. Salmon comes in 200g and 400g lumps. Usually I ask for 400g, then write in the comments that I'd like 300-350g. That seems to work. (If I don't write, we can get over 500g, which is a lot for two people.) This time I ordered 200g and wrote that I'd like 300-350g. And we got 200g on the button. So a bit of a replan for dinner.

We had Salmon and Broccoli Pasta (web), which was good if nothing wow-ful. For after, I made some Chocolate Tapioca Pudding following my formula.

Started Overnight Bread (web).

Saturday/25-Jul-20: Oops, ran out of gas while the oven was pre-heating for Overnight Bread. Changed the bottle and started again.

Dinner was Warm Broccoli and Potato Salad (MDSalads, p15). This is an old favorite. All the ingredients were available, so there it was. More tapioca pudding for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Sunday/26-Jul-20: Oops, I counted out the hours on the yogurt maker, but didn't manage to press the Go button. Started about 9:30. Will order some new starter, since I expect this batch will have aged significantly overnight.

Dinner was chipolatas from the bbq. Served with Green Zucchini Salad (web), a loose quarter recipe. Also some Olive Rice Salad (MC). This is a favorite recipe collected a long while ago, reputedly from Nava Atlas. No red bell pepper, so I used some roasted from a jar. Finished the tapioca pudding. We're stuffed.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #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/6-Jul-20: Today I went to pick up our order at Leclerc Drive, then went into the shop—yes, inside the grocery! Lamb is on sale this week and I wanted a shoulder. So did a lot of people apparently; there was an empty place where the packages should have been. Did get some lamb chops, but that was my bonus. Also restocked my spice cabinet, picking up the next jar for eight spices.

Dinner was Shrimp and Broccoli Alfredo (web). This was tasty. It's hard to tell from the recipe how many it's supposed to serve. I used about half the shrimp, two-thirds of the pasta, and all of the sauce. Then some store-bought (!) riz au lait.

Tuesday/7-Jul-20: BookChatters this morning. For dinner we had a take-out pizza—the first time I haven't cooked our meal since 5-March, four months and a day ago. It was wonderful. :-) 

Wednesday/8-Jul-20: Meant to take a package to be returned to Amazon today. When I went to double-check the address, I discovered it had to be there before noon. Oops. Tomorrow.

Dinner was Veal Niçoise Style (web). I had about half again as much veal as she asks, so increased that much. I had a regular portion and Ed ate the rest. (He needs to maintain his weight.) Served over Spätlze (MW@Home, p203), nice, chewy stuff it is. Needing veggies, I also made a little salad of grated carrots with a really lemony vinaigrette, served over some leaves of sucrine (kind of mini-romaines). Some St Maure for after.

Thursday/9-Jul-20: Made some Buckwheat Bread (BigGerman, p38), WW/Rapid/L/-/-. Oops, forgot to put in yeast! Have a lump. We'll see how it is at breakfast.

Made up a double dose of Herb Salt (Art, p172) to replenish my supply.

Hot today and I didn't feel like cooking what I'd planned. We had a big salad, then some cheese for after.

Friday/10-Jul-20: The yeast-less bread is, um, interesting. Looks a bit like roggebrood,but without the big grains of rye. Tastes okay, but not the best for a sandwich. I'll make this one again soon, with yeast.

Off to Orange today to get another Airbox as a tide-me-over for the bad internet we're having. Wouldn't have G4 as the only internet solution, but when wired doesn't work, it's an alternative. Stopped by Leclerc on the way home. There were lamb shoulders and I got two for the freezer. Will make one of them soon, when I can decide among the recipes I've got flagged.

For dinner we had spinach-ricotta dumplings from the freezer with tomato sauce, also from the freezer. And a big salad. And some store-bought mousses, chocolate noir. Store-bought desserts twice in one week, rather than twice in one month. That's what happens when you haven't been inside a store for months on end.

Saturday/11-Jul-20: We're getting short on fruit, so Ed picked up an order from Intermarché Drive today. And that meant fish for dinner.

Which was Cabillaud en Papillote à la Salsa Verde (web; VPG; strangely this magazine clipping came from VPG, but the same recipe is on the Régal site). This was pretty good. The sauce was flat parsley, cornichons, capers, vinegar from the cornichon jar, and some olive oil all blended up. Some small potatoes, roasted, for a side. We finished off some St Maure for after.

Sunday/12-Jul-20: Buckwheat Bread (BigGerman, p38) on again today, WW/Rapid/L/-/-, this time with the yeast.

Dinner was a halfish dose of Chili Rubbed Pork with Mango Salsa (web). Needless to say I didn't use McCormick's own chili seasoning, gluten-free or otherwise. I used some spicy pork rub I made up in a huge quantity a while ago. Somehow I neglected to notice that the pork was supposed to be barbecued. Instead I cooked it in the oven: empty skillet into oven preheating to 450F/220C; added the varkenshaas and cooked about 20min. Good it was. Also the mango salsa. Made up a sort of pilaf with rice and vermicelli for a side. For dessert, we had Sautéed Bananas (MW@Home, p320) over vanilla ice cream. This is kind of Bananas Foster without being flambéed. Easy and tasty.

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/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/16-Mar-20: Dinner was a halfish dose of Black Pepper Chicken (RezaSpice, p98; cookbooker). It was tasty, but the recipe seems very badly written/edited. Should cardamon seeds be measured/ground with the pods or extracted from the pods? (I put in four pods and ground them all.) Ground cinnamon is included with the spices to be ground, while ground turmeric is included with the next stuff for the marinade. Why? Whole black peppercorns are included with the spices for cooking the chicken. Some of those were still pretty crunchy when served. Slit green chiles are added at the end of the cooking, just before cooling. What do these add? (I didn't add them.) Served this with Saffron-Roasted Cauliflower (RezaSpice, p123; cookbooker). And some plain basmati rice. Some chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/17-Mar-20: Now we're really stuck at home, as Macron announced last night. We can go to work, to the doctor and other health-related places, to buy food, to assist a family member, or to exercise (by yourself). Ed went off to the pharmacy in the morning before the rules went into affect so we're stocked up.

Working on using up veggies in the fridge, tonight we had Spaghetti with Zucchini and Lemon (MW@Home, p195), which is an old favorite. Then some ice cream with almost defrosted blueberries.

Wednesday/18-Mar-20: Lovely warm sunny day today.

Dinner was Gemelli with Anchovies, Tomtatoes and Mascarpone (web). Instead of cherry tomatoes I used the rest of the canned pulp (about 1cup altogether) from Saturday. Then we finished the St Maure cheese. Then we had some chocolate-covered corn flakes. We're full.

Thursday/19-Mar-20: Busy day in the kitchen.

Since bread is getting to be an issue, I made some Authentic French Bread (Magic, p22). This is the recipe I used to do by heart. Not any more. Had trouble finding it too. My poor old bread machine is having trouble browning bread, unless I didn't set the darkness properly.

Our main was a half dose of Barley Pilaf with Green Beans, Mushrooms, and Pesto (VeryBest, p182), with snijbonen and one haricot vert for the greens. Good stuff. Half of what should  six., was a good, but not generous, meal for two.

Being short on eggs, I searched for an eggless cake and made an Eggless Chocolate Cake (web), using only 3/4cup sugar (sucre de canne), and mixed all in the Kenmore. It's supposed to be better tomorrow, but wasn't half bad today. The end of the mascarpone gave us each a big spoonful as a topping, since I didn't make a frosting or glaze.

Friday/20-Mar-20: Dinner was a halfish dose of Asparagus Hash, a recipe I collected from EAT-L in 2009. I think it was meant as a side dish for four, but a half recipe was a nice main for two. I made some tomatoes stuff with feta, minced black olives, fresh mint from the garden, grated lemon rind, and couscous (lacking cucumber) as a go-with. More chocolate cake for dessert. Very good the second day; not dried out as I expected.

Saturday/21-Mar-20: Woke up to find no water coming from the faucets. It seems there was a problem at the treatment place near Montemboeuf and all of Condadeuil is dry. It came back on about 16.00. Whew.

Meanwhile, I replanned dinner to avoid using water. I mixed together some defrosted ancho/adobo sauce, canned white beans, and hominy, then sautéed some chicken leg bits with garlic, cumin, and oregano. Thickened the stew a bit with cornstarch and served over defrosted polenta squares. Filling and not at all bad. Made a halfish version of Mexican Potato, Carrot, and Pea Salad (365Mex, p70). This was good, but we were so full we couldn't finish it. Then some chocolate cake and ice cream for dessert.

Sunday/22-Mar-20: For tomorrow's breakfast, I made some Semolina Bread (BigGerman, p77). Although it's only the medium-sized recipe, the loaf is really tall (AH stock jar for comparison.)

My poor bread machine isn't very happy, I must say. Maybe now is the time to replace it, since I'll probably be using it a lot in the next months.

Dinner was a more-or-less whole recipe of Cabbage with Peas—Bund Gobi and Mater (web). The recipes is supposed to serve 3-4; we thought two was a bit skimpy. Served over short-grain brown rice. Finished off the Eggless Chocolate Cake, with some mascarpone cream. This cake was a hit.

Yogurt on overnight.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 5; #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/5-Mar-18: Our meal was Nigel Slater's Carrot and Cardamom Soup with Herb Ricotta Dumplings (web). The soup was tasty but disappointing as a whole. I made a half recipe, which turned out to be skimpy for two, and the liquid wasn't deep enough to cook the dumplings properly. We each had a hard-boiled egg to supplement the meal.

Tuesday/6-Mar-18: Dinner was Garlicky Chicken with Lemon-Anchovy Sauce (web), an instant hit. This was exceedingly yummy. Ed thought it was a trifle salty; I didn't especially, but will be careful salting the chicken next time. Served with orzo, dressed up with lemon juice and parsley, and steamed asparagus. (Lately asparagus has been appearing in 400g packets rather than 500g. With 500g, you can get a side for two dinner; with 400g you either have one meal with abundance or two skimpy ones.)

Wednesday/7-Mar-18: Shopping today.

Dinner was chili from the freezer, filled out with hominy also from the freezer, and some guacamole, accompanied by Cayenne Cornbread (BigGerman, p182). We were stuffed.

Yogurt on overnight.

Thursday/8-Mar-18: Off to Audilab today and finally got my hearing aids straightened out. Then a quick trip to Leclerc to pick up frozen spinach which I seemed to be out of unexpectedly.

Our meal was a half recipe of Gratin de Pomme de Terre, Saumon et Épinards à l'Aneth (VPG; web). This was quite good, and easy, but takes some wall clock time. Cut my potatoes on the mandoline to get them really thin; another 5 minutes cooking might be nice to be sure they're done. Served with a salad, then some store-bought rum-raisin riz au laits.

Friday/9-Mar-18: Roasted a chunk of potimarron (a winter squash, we'll pretend it's pumpkin) for tomorrow's meal.

Leftover pizza for our meal.

Meanwhile, I made Yogurt Cake with Ouzo-Lemon Syrup (O&C, p520).

Saturday/10-Mar-18: Pasta today, yay! I made a half recipe of Creamy Pumpkin Sage Fettuccine (web). This was pretty good. For the pasta, you essentially replace one of the eggs with 2tbl of pumpkin purée and a pinch of turmeric. Pretty color; easy to handle. The sauce is pumpkin and cream, stirred into sautéed minced sage leaves. Simple and good. Then a salad.

Sunday/11-Mar-18: It was supposed to be a quickish meal today, but I failed in that. We had Chicken Neo-Avgolemono (O&C, p409; cookbooker). This was edible but disappointing.

Served with a pilaf, Baklar Enginar—Artichoke Hearts with Broad Beans (Meze, p77), and Jazar Atariyah—Spiced Carrots (Meze, p76). The artichoke/fêve dish was disappointing. The carrots were good. Both of the meze dishes were supposed to serve 6; I made a third of each recipe. A single serving of the artichoke dish was once bottom and a dab of favas. A single serving of the carrot dish was two carrots.

Made up some Pickled Red Onions (O&C, p79) for tomorrow.

Yogurt on overnight.

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