This week in the kitchen

Monday/19-Jul-21: Dinner was Spicy Tuna Rice Bowl (web). This was tasty, if a bit of a light dinner. 

Served with Spinach with Sesame Seed Dressing (Andoh, p182) (not pictured). I liked this, it was especially good with the rice, but Ed didn't. Chocolate-chocolate madeleines for after.

Tuesday/20-Jul-21: Dinner was a half dose of a Mozzarella Sandwiches with Tomato-Green Olive Salad (Bishop, p178). Don't tell, I put a small square of a dried ham in each section with mozzarella. Actually a good sprinkle of Italian herbs might have been just as good. Easy to assemble and very tasty on a warm summer's eve. I meant to take a picture since the camera was still downstairs but forgot.

Put pork on to marinate for tomorrow's dinner.

Wednesday/21-Jul-21: Yogurt on overday.

Dinner was a half dose of Pork Carnitas with Caramelized Onions and Chipotle (CL/jan07; web). This was yummy and would be easy to finish the cooking in the crockpot, I expect. Made up some of Mama's Garlic Coleslaw (HB) with a pinch of chipotle powder to serve with it. And some sliced avocados and some corn tortillas, of course. There's plenty of meat and juice left for a lunch.

Thursday/22-Jul-21: Shopping today, followed late in the day by our first dental checkup in over a year.

Dinner was Feta and Herb Crusted Salmon* (web; GD). Quite good again. Served with orzo and steamed snijbonen. We ate well.

Friday/23-Jul-21: Recombobbled the meal plan today, since I couldn't get a varkenshaas today.

Dinner was a half dose of Fusilli with Grilled Eggplant And Pesto (Bishop, p157). Used cascarecce rather than fusilli. Pretty good stuff, and easy to put together. Served with a small insalata caprese. 

Saturday/24-Jul-21: Late lunch means late dinner. We had a half dose of Fettuccine with Beans & Pancetta (web). The "beans" are snijbonen. This was fast and amazingly tasty. A shaped pasta would be fine. With a long pasta, it might be better to cut the the snijbonen into narrow strips so that they mix better with the pasta. A pair of chocolate-chocolate madeleines after.

Sunday/25-Jul-21: Yogurt on overday.

Earlyish dinner, before our first concert in more than a year. We had a halfish dose of Thai Barbecued Chicken (MC; web). I collected this a long time ago, before I noted dates and places. Tonight used four chicken thighs and cooked under the broiler, for about 25min. Served with plain basmati rice and Cabbage Salad—Salad Galam (Delightful, p50). This is a really good, easy salad, although the amounts are a bit off. A small green cabbage, very thinly sliced, yields 2cups? I used about a quarter, maybe a third, of a small green cabbage and had about 4 cups. Made half the dressing for that plus 1-1/2 tomatoes and one carrot. Could have served 3-4.  

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/16-Nov-20: My sack of chicken bones in the freezer overfloweth, so I started a pot of stock today.

Dinner was Fennel-Leek Frittata with Goat Cheese and Black Olives (Bishop, p84; cookbooker). This was quite tasty, plus it was easy and quick. Then a salad. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/17-Nov-20: Made a loaf of Authentic French Bread (Magic, p22) (Basic/Rapid/M/m/-), with 2c T65 and 1c T110. This is the recipe I used to make by heart. It's supposed to be baked in the oven, but I don't believe I've ever done that. It comes out quite nice from the bread machine.

Dinner was Chile-Garlic Shrimp (MC; CL/apr08; web), a recipe I've made a number of times. Broccoli in the sauce, and served over brown rice. Spice chocolate ice cream for after.

Wednesday/18-Nov-20: I boned the leftover chicken from Sunday and we had soft tacos with guacamole and pico de gallo. Satisfying. And a pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Thursday/19-Nov-20: Made a loaf of Whole-Wheat Soda Bread (Magic, p66) this morning. Haven't tried it yet.

Dinner was soup from the freezer, and good it was. Followed by a big salad. And a pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Friday/20-Nov-20: Put a rouelle of ham on to brine today, following Adler's instructions (Everlasting, p169).

Picked up an order from Intermarché Drive today, so it was fish for dinner. I ordered three packets of four chicken thighs (three because thighs frequently don't show up, eve though ordered, and we're out), and was puzzled when there were four packets. Two of them, it turns out were short-life products, expiring today, and about a third the price. Quick into the freezer with them.

Dinner was a half recipe of Gratin de Poisson et Pomme de Terre (VPG). This was okay, if nothing special. Followed by a salad.

Yogurt on overnight.

Saturday/21-Nov-20: Brined the chunk of pork like Adler suggested, and cooked it the same way, Pork Roast (Everlasting, p169). Very yummy. Planned on smashed sweet potatoes as a go-with, but happened to read about using chopped broccoli sautéed in olive oil with garlic, served over linguine and sprinkled with chopped fermented black beans (Colwin2, p195), and did that instead, with tagliatelle. All was good. Buddy and Sophie enjoyed some fatty treats after. And a pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Started a batch of Overnight Bread.

Sunday/22-Nov-20: Baked off the Overnight Bread. Yum.

We're not sure why, but our Intermarché order also included a bos of tiny white tulips. These have prettily opened a pale pink.

Froze up almost four liters of chicken stock. I've boiled it up every day, and even added to it, but it's time to be finished. Smells good.

Dinner was Thai Black Pepper Chicken (MC), with skinless, boneless chicken thighs. (These are mightily have to come by here; only one more packet in the freezer and no way to get more, since they're not carried at any Drive that I attend.) Good stuff. I got this recipe ages ago from the Guild of Food Writers' site; it seems they no longer have recipes. Too bad. Anyhow, it's good. Served with Broccoli in Oyster Sauce (Delightful, p58), an old favorite, and plain basmati rice. Some mini HD ice cream cups for after.

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/17-Aug-20: I picked up an order from Leclerc Drive after my French lesson today. Before I left, I put the chicken for dinner, still half frozen, on to marinate.

Dinner was Tequila and Lime Chicken (web) with four good-sized thighs. This was really easy to assemble. I marinated in the same casserole dish the chicken cooked in. The thighs came out with beautiful brown and crispy skin. Very tasty. Served with guacamole, not my best. And some faux Spanish rice, no veggies, just rice. And grilled zucchini strips, sprinkled with fajita seasoning. And corn tortillas. Later, a pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Tuesday/18-Aug-20: Dinner was, sort of, Crisp-Crumbed Pan Pork Escalopes (Ainsley1, p81). I couldn't find the pork chops that should have been in the freezer, so I used turkey scallops instead. Later saw that Herriott suggests using turkey, chicken, or "frying steaks" as an alternative. Very tasty. Not sure why the meat is cut into strips, but the "fingers" were kind of nice. Next time I would salt the meat beforehand. I had over 300g of turkey scallops, so less than three quarters of the meat. Used panko instead of fresh bread crumbs. Needed to replenish the panko-parmesan mixture for the second batch. Turned out quite nice. Served with assorted roasted veggies, potatoes&carrots, broccoli&cauliflower, zucchini. These were nice. I'll make some kind of a salad from the leftovers.

Started Overnight Bread.

Wednesday/19-Aug-20: Baked off the bread today, although later than intended for several reasons. Still good bread.

Pizza for dinner. With grilled eggplant from the potager, zucchini, and broccoli. And mozzarella and goat cheese. And no-tomato pizza sauce. And black olives and garlic. Pretty good stuff.

Thursday/20-Aug-20: Dinner was Greek Salad with Marinated Radishes and Feta Cheese on Grilled Bread (Bishop, p124). Have made this before and it’s still tasty. And fairly quick. Häagen-Dazs mini ice cream cups for after.

Friday/21-Aug-20: Picked up an order from Intermarché Drive today, thus it's fish for dinner.

Meanwhile, I made a batch of Jacques Pepin's Fromage Fort (video, recipe). Froze two dishes of it. We had some on bread, toasted. Good stuff.

Dinner was Spicy Garlic Fish (web). This wasn't bad, although I think only 1/2-3/4tsp cayenne would suffice. Also 2 or even 3tbl lemon juice would be nice. Served over rice. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Saturday/22-Aug-20: Dinner was Shrimp, Lemon, Spinach Linguine (web). Pretty good stuff, although the recipe is slightly odd. Eight ounces of linguine for four people seems a bit skimpy; I used seven ounces for the two of us. Two hundred grams of frozen cooked shrimp. I used a whole lemon; probably half to three quarters would be better. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Sunday/23-Aug-20: Meant to make some plum jam today, but the mango I got from Leclerc didn't seem ripe enough.

Dinner was Nigel Slater's Roast Lamb with Coriander Seed and Rosemary (web). The meat was quite yummy. I also made the Creamed Butter Beans and Spinach that he suggests as a side dish. Instead of lima beans, I used half cans of borlotti and cannellini beans from the freezer. I supplemented spinach left over from last night with some frozen. Very interesting this was. We didn't need any more food.

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/13-Jul-20: French lesson today, then on to my ENT for a checkup delayed from March. I was pooped when I got back and took a nap.

For dinner, we had Jaffrey's Lamb with Spinach from the freezer, over plain basmati rice. We ate two servings, plus one I'd put aside for one of Ed's choir practice days. Those aren't going to happen again very soon.

Tuesday/14-Jul-20: Dinner was Thai Peanut Zucchini Noodles (web). It was quick to make and edible, that's all I'll say for it. Can't believe the recipe as written is supposed to serve three. The whole recipe might be skimpy for two. I thought it might be meant as a side, but it clearly says Main.

Wednesday/15-Jul-20: Ed went out and got hamburgers for dinner. Not sure how my tummy feels about that.

Thursday/16-Jul-20: Dinner was Slow Cooker Filipino Chicken (web), which is not just for the slow cooker, since she also gives alternatives for the pressure cooker and for cooking on the stove. I cooked on the stove, in a regular pot rather than a cast iron one. This pretty good stuff, easy to make. I used part of a chineeskool for the greens.

Friday/17-Jul-20: Ed picked up an order from Leclerc Drive today.

Dinner was Seafood and Pork Mu Shu with Hoisin Sauce and Napa Cabbage Wrap (Screamingly, p36). Used cabbage leaves for wraps but ate the end of it over rice. Pretty good stuff.

Saturday/18-Jul-20: Before dinner, I made a loaf of Best Banana Bread (web). Pretty good stuff, although it could have been baked a bit longer. Made it all in the Cuisinart, rather than mixing bits separately.

Dinner was a half dose of Penne with Tomato-Chipotle Sauce and Creamy Cheese (Bishop, p253), with casareccia for the pasta and feta for the cheese. Good stuff.

Sunday/19-Jul-20: Dinner was Creamy Roasted Carrot Dal (web). This was very good for not much work. I served over basmati rice; if I'd thought to start some long-grain brown rice first, that would have been nice.

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/9-Nov-15: Yogurt on overday.

For dinner I made a bean soup from a packet I bought in Tuscany: Minestrone all Contadina. It was a mixture of beans. The most prominent were that Italian specialty red/orange lentils, plu yellow split peas and mung beans. It also included (at least) adzuki beans, an unidentified small white/tan bean, small brown lentils, teeny black-eyed peas, and borlotti beans. All cooked in the pressure cooker with potatoes, carrots, and zucchini. Made a good soup, especially with a goodly slog of hot sauce.

Tuesday/10-Nov-15: Oops forgot to put the yogurt up last night. Time for a new starter.

Made apple butter.

Pizza out after Voce Concordiae's remembrance concert.

Wednesday/11-Nov-15: We ate today's meal at the remembrance day lunch in Montemboeuf. Absolutely no need for more food.

Thursday/12-Nov-15: Dinner was a half dose Fresh Chinese Noodles with Spicy Cabbage (Bishop, p251). No fresh Chinese noodles available, so I used linguine. Pretty good actually, although a bit dry. That's because I didn't see the instruction to add some of the pasta-cooking water to the cabbage, which was exactly what it needed.

Friday/13-Nov-15: We didn't make it shopping today, so I had to rearrange the Plan to make a meal based on what was in-house. What was that? More cabbage. So, dinner was a half version of Orecchiette alla Verza—Orecchiette with Anchovies and Savoy Cabbage (ClassPasta, p129). Pretty tasty, and easy. No dessert.

Saturday/14-Nov-15: Finally did our shopping for this week, after a stop at the optician to choose new frames for me (Ed's reusing his current ones).

Dinner was a half recipe of Zalm met Broccolipuree (web), which was easy and pretty good. (I broiled the fish, rather than sautéing it.) Served with a side of polenta, but actually it would have been better with a starter and then just the broccoli and fish on the plate. For dessert we had Egg Custard (MC). (Should be able to find this on the web, but haven't succeeded thus far.) I've made this before. It's quite easy. Strangely the recipe has not enough sugar, it needs to cook way longer than advertised, and it overfills the four six-ounce custard cups asked for. I used a yogurt jar for the last bit, making five custards in total.

Yogurt on overnight with new starter.

Sunday/15-Nov-15: We ate out for Ed's birthday today. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/1-Apr-13: There was an easy dinner tonight, that turned out surprising well, Baked Stuffed Chicken Breasts (web). Don't remember where I picked this up, since it's not a blog I watch ordinarily. Per person, open up one chicken breast half, top with some roasted red bell pepper strips, some asparagus (two stalks was all that fit nicely), and some blue cheeese. Tie it all up with string and bake for 30 minutes at 350F. Pretty, tasty, and easy. Served with some buttered, parsleyed potatoes (using up the potato supply), which were good, but weren't the right thing to serve with the chickie. Then a bit salad. Then we started on our chocolate easter bunnies.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/2-Apr-13: Use-up-leftovers dinner tonight. Pasta, broccoli, roasted red bell pepper strips, rest of chicken, with a sauce of onion and garlic, milk and mushroom-soaking liquid, plus a bit of goat cheese. All tossed together and baked for 25 minutes. Not bad at-all. Then more of our easter bunnies. Ed might have finished his, while I've got one more night (and only one, since I was piggy last night).

Wednesday/3-Apr-13: Shopping today. DInner was a half dose of Oven-Roasted Miso Sesame Salmon (SimpSups, p155). I liked, Ed not so much. Now I've got a jar of miso to use up. Accompanied by Pan-Asian Slaw (SimpSups, p212) and some tagliatelle dressed with Spicy Peanut Sauce (SimpSups, p256). No Asian slaw mix here, so made my own; this was quite good anyhow. Peanut sauce was okay; spaghetti, especially whole wheat, would have been better maybe. Q quick wash-up and out to a movie.

Thursday/4-Apr-13: Dinner was a half dose of Fusilli with Green Lentils, Root Vegetables, and Parsley-Caper Puree (Bishop, p353). Not bad, if a bit plainer than I expected.

Friday/5-Apr-13: The main was Buttered Prawns with Tomato, Olives, and Arak (Otto, p150) served with polenta. This dish starts off the new season at IHCC. This was followed by a rocket and mâche salad topped with warm cabecou on toast, cabecou being the local cheese where we visited on the weekend. A nice dinner.

Saturday/6-Apr-13: Ed finished in the kitchen very late, while I was ironing and watching a clock that neglected to spring forward. So, out with the planned dinner. Got Beans and Cauliflower from the freezer, warmed up, and served over couscous. Still a bit left for something.

Sunday/7-Apr-13: Went to our first bric-à-brac of the season today. A bit cool and breezy, but at least it was dry. A small one, and we didn't buy anything, but it was a nice outing.

Dinner was Baked Eggplant Stuffed with Curried Vegetables (Baingan ka Tikka) (web). I made a half recipe, using more or less all the spiced. It was good, but there's a similar sort of recipe in one of the Moosewood books, using potatoes instead of mushrooms, that I think I prefer. Served with some brown rice, followed by a salad. We ate some double-chocolate mini-Magnums when we took Pogo for a walk.

Yogurt on overnight. Authentic French Bread in ABM for tomorrow morning.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/11-Mar-13: Disappointing day floor shopping. Easy dinner. Sautéed some shallots and shrooms, added a bit of flour, then the sauce left from the turkey roll plus a bit of water from rinsing the pitcher. Plopped the turkey roll slices in this to warm up. Plus some trio rice and some steamed broccoli. For afters we had a bit of Langres, a cow cheese.

Tuesday/12-Mar-13: Dinner was Potatoes and Chard with Green Curry Sauce (Bishop, p408), which was unusual and quite good. Served with white rice as suggested, but think brown rice would have been nicer.

Wednesday/13-Mar-13: Shopping today. While packing groceries, Ed discovered the missing tomatoes that I bought last week and couldn't find. Since he didn't remember packing them, I just assumed, they'd gotten left behind somehow. I did look in the bag, but didn't find them. Bought more this week so need to be aggressive using them up.

Dinner was Salmon in a Vibrant Sauce (web), the vibrant sauce being cilantro, ginger, garlic, chilies, lime juice, and turmeric. Very good. And an interesting way to cook the fish. After the fish marinates in the sauce for ten minutes or so, some of the marinade is used to coat the bottom of a skillet topped by the fish and the rest of the sauce. Pop the lid on the skillet and cook 5-10 minutes until the fish is done. Easy and delicious. Served with trio rice and some sautéed veggies (zucchini and tomato).

Thursday/14-Mar-13: Twas a dinner for IHCC this evening. Topped off by Strawberry Crumb Pie (web), in honor of Pi Day. I made about a quarter recipe, since that's all the strawberries I had (yesterday's impulse buy). That was just enough for two. It was good too.

Friday/15-Mar-13: Dinner was Dan Barber's Cauliflower Steaks with Cauliflower Purée (web). This was surprisingly good. Served with a big salad with some lardons for a treat. Last bit of Langres for after.

Saturday/16-Mar-13: Cold, blowy day. I tossed the shrimpy salad thing that was on the menu plan and opted for Stir-Fried Shrimp with Broccoli and Garlic-Chili Sauce (MC). This is an old, very easy recipe from Cooking Light or some such, that I've adapted for two and spiced up a bit. Served over rice.

Sunday/17-Mar-13: Yogurt on overday.

Lunch with friends, followed by a concert. Just fruit for dinner.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/4-Feb-13: My Galloping Gourmet spurtle went missing last week. I miss it! I've crawled around on the floor looking under things but haven't spied it. Where has it gone?

Off to a movie in the evening, so we had our main meal in the afternoon. Intended to make a dish of baked eggs with my leftover filo, but opened the package to find it was moldy. Harumph. So scrambled the eggs instead. It was good.

Tuesday/5-Feb-13: Leftover night. Took the meat from the chicken Indian chicken and warm it with the leftover sauce. (I wonder if the stock from these bones will have an Indian flavor?)  Sort of made some Indian Mashed Potatoes (Q&E, p90), and then a halfish dose of Gujerati Carrot Salad (MJ1, p170). For dessert there was Chocolate Mousse (MC).

Some Whole Wheat Soda Bread (Magic, p66) in the ABM overnight, so we'll have bread for breakfast.

Wednesday/6-Feb-13: Well, I really liked the Whole Wheat Soda Bread, but Ed didn't ... at breakfast time. Later when I served a snack with a bit of tapenade on a slice of bread before dinner, he though it was great. Go figure.

Shopping today. Went for gas afterwords, just when all the pumps went on strike. Wasted lots of time and ended up getting gas elsewhere.

Dinner was Cauliflower Cheese Tart (web) which wasn't bad at all. Followed by a salad. Then some cookies. Boring, eh?

Thursday/7-Feb-13: Dinner for IHCC tonight. There was Pakistani-Style Grilled Lamb Chops (MJ@Home, p119) with Pan-Grilled Zucchini (MJ@Home, p173) and a quarter dose of Mushroom Pullao (MJ1, p152). For the zucchini, I halved them lengthwise and made 2-3" sections to grill—this worked quite well. I bought three lamb chops yesterday and what I thought was three chops in the freezer was actually five, so we had lots of meat, which turned out to be OK because Yvonne came by at dinnertime and helped us finish them.

Friday/8-Feb-13: Pizza, I thought (thinking of going out to get one). Pizza! said Ed (thinking of me making one). So pizza it was tonight, homemade, with grilled veggies and too much cheese on top. Oh well. For dessert there were some slices of tart I bought when I stopped at the boulangerie on the way home from my afternoon outing. Yummy, but way too rich. We could easily have split a single piece between us. Kind of a pecan pie, but with walnuts, topped with a layer of dark chocolate.

Saturday/9-Feb-13: Made some chicken stock that may turn out to be a bit Indian-flavored from last week's roast chicken. Set it in the outdoor refrigerator where it will likely freezer overnight. I'll have to thaw it to give it a taste before I freeze it up proper.

Also cooked 500g of black beans. Dinner was then a halfish version of Black Bean Enchiladas (Bishop, p337). Oops, used the full amount of beans instead of a halfish amount. Served with Mama's Spanish rice and some guacamole. I'm stuffed. Have a whole lot of beans to do something with now.

Sunday/10-Feb-13: Froze up chicken stock; tasted good and not all that much Indian. Froze up two times 2 cups of black beans. Used the rest (another 2 cups?) to make a soup using up lots of odd bits from the freezer, including a half cup of canned black beans, some thick slices of poitrine nature, a cooked smoked sausage, and some broth from cooking a little ham. That turned into a yummy soup; a trifle salty, perhaps, from the ham that was cooked in it, but still good.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/28-Jan-13: Yogurt on overday. Yippee—the brushes for the washing machine arrived. We're busy washing washing washing.

Ed went to a late afternoon at a movie and didn't get home to late, so we had soup for dinner, one of the zucchini ones that I made last summer and froze directly. Good it was, too. I'll have to remember to make this again.

Put on some No-Knead Bread (Essential, p670). This is the same Lahey recipe that I tried before, and maybe it looks a bit "shaggier" this time. It's supposed to sit in a warm room, 70F. Ha! I did set the bowl near the heater, which is off overnight. We'll see how it does.

Tuesday/29-Jan-13: Whoa, actually got some mending done today! Don't know what got into me. There are still two pairs of gloves with broken seams hiding in the pile from last winter. Sigh.

Well, shaggier was the bread maybe, but there was still no ball-forming for the final rise. Just a puddle on the counter. It bubbles up all nice, so I think the yeast is OK. After my last experience, this time I measured the water with a light hand and the flour with a heavy hand. Didn't seem to help at all. This went in the oven while I was preparing dinner.

Dinner was Skillet Chicken, Broccoli, Ziti, and Asiago Cheese. (I got this from EAT-L, but I just found it here.) Yummy stuff, a one-dish dinner cooked in a single pot. For dessert we had ... bread. First to wipe our plates, then just to eat. It may be a mess on the way to the oven, and it's certainly nothing like a boule, but it is yummy.

Wednesday/30-Jan-13: Shopping today. Found some 120g bits on non-GMO salmon (did we know that we needed to worry about GMO fish?) on sale because they expire tomorrow. Bought the last three and froze them. (I usually ask for 300-400g for the two of us.)

Dinner was Fried Fish Steaks (100Curries, p40; Q&E, p67) made with some lovely salmon. Not sure why I've overlooked this in Q&E. Someone recently made it for IHCC and I thought I'd give it a try. Good idea! Accompanied by Green Peas in a Creamy Sauce (Q&E, p87) and Indian Mashed Potatoes (Q&E, p90). All was yummy.

Thursday/31-Jan-13: Yogurt on overday.

Indian dinner for IHCC tonight, which took a bit of time to prepare. There was Whole Chicken, Baked in Aluminum Foil (Murgh musallam) (MJ1, p80) with Mushroom Pullao (MJ1, p152) and Spicy Cucumber Wedges (MJ1, p172). There should have been raita, but there was no yogurt in time. Some double chocolate mini-Magnums for dessert. How Indian is that?

Friday/1-Feb-13: Ed's off at driving class today; both of us up at 7am. DInner was a half dose of Mushroom Barley Risotto (Bishop, p358). It was good, but I'm not sure for all the risotto bother, that is was that good. Then a salad. That was all.

Saturday/2-Feb-13: The last day of driving class today. Whew! Dinner was a half dose of Linguine with Tuna Fish Sauce (PastaCarluccio, p24). This was surprisingly good, also fast; some ginger slices in the tomato sauce was a nice touch. Followed by a big salad.

Sunday/3-Feb-13: Finished off the zucchini soup today for lunch/dinner. Then went a movie. That's all.

Yogurt on overnight.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 IHCC/COOKBOOKS: yes, #2 VEG/FISH: 5
This month: #3 PASTA: yes for January/no for February, #4 BREAD: yes for January/no for February

This week in the kitchen

Monday/9-Apr-12: Heavy tourist day today. Had dinner out. Nothing happening in the kitchen.

Tuesday/10-Apr-12: Yogurt on overday.

Dinner was Lemon Chicken (Fancy, p111), a very good roast chicken recipe. Plus roasted asparagus. Plus Dusolier's Perfect Roasted Potatoes. No dessert, since we each had a cornuelle at lunchtime.

Wednesday/11-Apr-12: Shopping today.

For dinner there was Garlic Shrimp in Yogurt Sauce (MC) with Tangy Green Beans with Ajwain and Ginger (SpiceKitch, p38), along with basmati rice and naan. For dessert, we had tourteau fromagée.

Thursday/12-Apr-12: We had a nice lunch in Angoulême today. Dinner was Mushroom-Barley Soup (MC).

Friday/13-Apr-12: Lunch in La Rochefoucauld today, at a place that's gotten a bit fancier and now longer has sandwiches or other light meals. So dinner was a salad, Bulgur Salad with Grilled Zucchini and Onion, Middle Eastern Style (Bishop, p132). Quite nice it was, although the 9yo wasn't especially happy with the bulgur. I used one of the two overripe bananas for Chocolate Banana Snacking Cake (MC), which we had with a dab of vanilla ice cream.

Saturday/14-Apr-12: Dinner was a quarter Lamb Stew with Chickpeas and Pomegranate Molasses (CLmag/jan06). Didn't have enough couscous for a go-with, so I had my part over some bread scraps. Not sure this recipe really serve 8; 6 seems more like it. Then a big salad. And we finished off the last of the Chocolate Banana Snacking Cake with some ice cream.

Sunday/15-Apr-12: Yogurt on overday. Shopping on Wednesday turned up the season's first Roma tomatoes; those got oven-roasted today.

Dinner was, more or less, a half dose of Seafood & Egg Curry (Jamie), over basmati rice. Oops, inventory control failed and there were no scallops in the freezer, so I used a couple of extra shrimp. Good enough, but not a do-again.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes, but not posted, #2 BREAD: no, #3 SOUP: yes, #4 MIDDAY: yes, #5 VEG/FISH: 4
This month: #6 PASTA: yes

This week in the kitchen

Monday/27-Jun-11: Midday meal today, an old favorite. Warm Broccoli and Potato Salad (MDSalads, p15). This must be one of my most repeated recipes. The two of us eat all of the recipe made for 4. Yum.

The Whole Wheat Bread with Bran from yesterday is quite yummy.

Tuesday/28-Jun-11: Whew, hot weather over for now and today has had reasonable temps. So we had a barbecue. Spicy Pork Tenderloin (MC), with the tenderloin cut in five bits (tail and two sections sliced horizontally). Accompanied by a Nigella Lawson recipe, Watermelon, Feta, and Black Olive Salad (MC); such a odd combination, but it really works. And some corn on the cob Ed got at the shops. I puréed the rest of the watermelon to make sorbet in the next days.

Wednesday/29-Jun-11: Got back from Bordeaux today feeling kind of iffy in the stomach. Nothing in the grocery appealed for dinner (I'd planned to get something fishy). Instead we had rewarmed chicken tagine. I took the leftover couscous, added the curry sauce that came with the corn on the cob (yes, curry sauce with corn on the cob), some chopped cuke, shallot, red bell pepper, and chili pepper, along with a goodly squeeze of lemon juice. Not bad at all. Followed by a salad. A bit of store-bought ice cream with chocolate cookies for dessert.

A while ago, I read that French people don't cut their salad lettuce as served. They just use their knife and fork to fold it all up into a tidy bundle for sticking in their mouths. When we lunched at the bread fair, I happened to notice that this is indeed what happens. So we Americans were sitting there cutting our lettuce leaves into bite-sized chunks while our neighbors folded theirs.

Yogurt on overnight.

Thursday/30-Jun-11: Needed an early lunch today before our respective afternoon and evening outings and didn't plan for this, so fell back to an old, easy favorite, Broccoli with Roasted Peppers, Olives, and Feta Cheese (Savory, p188), served over trio rice. After I got back in the evening we had a plate of fruit and some goat cheese.

Friday/31-Jun-11 (aka 1-Jul-11): Today counts as last month for the pasta-this-month-goal. I've been planning this for a while, but things keep happening to stop me making it, so here it is for last month. I made fresh taglitelle and served it with Fettuccine con Carciofi e Mozzarella (Lorenza, p91, cookbooker). Fettuccine would have been better, probably, but I just felt like the wider noodle. Not my favorite sauce, but not bad. Then a big salad of roquette. Then a half dose of Watermelon Sorbetto (Scoop, p112, cookbooker).

Saturday/2-Jul-11: Dinner was Shredded Zucchini Frittata with Parmesan (Bishop, p169) made with our first zucchini, of which I neglected to take a photo. Accompanied Mildred Schulz's String Beans and Potatoes (GreeneGreens, p346), with very fresh young haricots verts from the veggie lady who shows up at local bric-à-bracs; this was good, but not quite the right taste for the Italian-ish frittata. Then we ate up the rest of the Watermelon Sorbetto.

Made some apple-rhubarb butter for Barbara and David; it's their rhubarb, after all. Got ready for some peaches and cream ice cream tomorrow night (their peaches too). Might try some peach butter with some of the remaining, and maybe freeze up the rest.

Sunday/3-Jul-11: Yogurt on overday. Started some peach butter this afternoon to use up the rest of Barbara's peaches. It's in the crockpot overnight, so we'll see how that goes.

More of Barbara's bounty ended up in a half-dose of Mile High Blueberry Muffins (MC). Isn't it nice to have friends with a surplus?

I couldn't find the clipping with the recipe that I intended to make tonight, so I ended up doing something inspired by Merguez and Sweet Potato Hash at food52. I started the onions cooking while my sweet potatoes boiled till partly cooked. After they cooled a bit, I cut the sweet pots lengthwise into planks. I used the two-burner grill pan to grill the planks and 6 links (300g) of turkey merguez while the onion caramelized. When the pots were done, I cut the planks in half at the "waist". Then I cut the merguez links into three chunks each, 1.5-2" long, about the same as the half-planks of sweet potatoes (which were on the small side to start with). Tossed all these together with the onion and rosemary. It wasn't hash, I guess, since the bits were too big, but it was quite tasty anyhow. Followed this by a salad of mâche and beets and other stuff. Then peaches and cream ice cream (made with half cream and half milk and it was fine).

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: yes, #2 SOUP: no, #3 MIDDAY: yes
This month: #4 PASTA: yes for June, no for July