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/5-Jul-21: Used some cooked lamb from the freezer to make a double dose of Eggplant Stuffed with Lamb, Red Pepper, and Rice (Tenth, p279). We had a smallish eggplant each, which was quite a lot, with a bit of arugula salad with walnuts and feta. Some chocolate-covered madeleines for after. This was a packet of double-chocolate ones, with chocolate cake instead of vanilla. Not an intentional purchase, but not bad.

Tuesday/6-Jul-21: I had lunch out after BookChatters, expecting to have eat from the salad bar. But the salad bar was missing, Covid perhaps? So I had a plat+dessert, and no room for any more food. Ed got a nice leftover from the freezer.

Wednesday/7-Jul-21: Dinner was a halfish dose of Pasta with Tomato, Fennel Seeds and Anchovies (web). This was good, with not too much fennel. Some double-chocolate madeleines for after.

Thursday/8-Jul-21: Shopping today. It seems the store is less crowded on Thursday than on Wednesday. The boulangerie is open too. We may change our default shopping day. 

Dinner was Zucchini Noodles with Spicy Peanut Sauce (web). This was yummy, but can't the zoodles made it any kind of special. I think the sauce with rice noodles would have been better. For the protein, salmon was good, but it would work with shrimp or even chicken or pork. To try again, I think. Store-bought egg custards with caramel for after.

Friday/9-Jul-21: Out to the boulangerie (for bread and creampuffs for dessert) and the boucherie (for a piece of meat for Monday's dinner this afternoon.

Dinner was Stuffed Zucchini (Delightful, p62; cookbooker). This was pretty good. Recipe was supposed to serve 2-3, but will serve four; one zuke in the freezer. Served with my standard Thai Cucumber Salad with Peanuts (web; GD; HB) and plain basmati rice. Altogether pretty good. Creampuffs for dessert.

Put the meat for Monday's meal on to marinate. Yes, three days marinating was asked.

Saturday/10-Jul-21: We had a bunch of tomatoes sitting around needing to be used, so I made a batch of Hazan's famous Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter (ClassicItal, p152). 

We ate lunch so late that at dinner time neither of us was really hungry. I got a packet of capelletti with jambon cru from the freezer and topped those with some of the newly made tomato sauce plus a splash of cream. Some store-bought chocolate-covered madeleines for after. 

Now to adjust the meal plan. 

Sunday/11-Jul-21: Dinner was Runner Bean Tortilla with Tomato Salad (web; GD; GD). This was very good and satisfying. The tomato salad was good too. For dessert, we finished the lemon sherbet with an apricot.

Another week without a picture. Too bad.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/15-Feb-21: Dinner was a half dose of Sheet-Pan Chicken Thighs with Potatoes, Fennel, and Mustard-Beer Sauce (web). Good stuff. Ed declared it a 5* recipe. I didn't cook in a sheet-pan but in a cast iron skillet where everything fit. The skin was crispy. The sauce delicious. We saved the rest of the sauce for our lunch sandwiches. 

Then a salad. Some store-bought vanilla riz au laits for after. Should have made bread this afternoon, or at least started an Overnight Boule. but didn't feel like it.

Tuesday/16-Feb-21: We took three boxes of books to a charity shop today. Small reduction in the household supply of books. I keep on working at this. 

Dinner was late, Winter's Warmest Pork Loin (Desperation, p254). Served with polenta and steamed broccoli. Not realizing how little time the cook had for other activities while cooking the pork, I started the broccoli too late, so the meat cooked at bit to long. This was an interesting idea, but neither of us were excited by it. Some mini ice cream cups for after. 

Started an Overnight Boule with Rye.

Wednesday/17-Feb-21: Baked the Overnight Boule with Rye. It's good.

For dinner, I made a fish pie, loosely following this recipe, but using small shrimp, small scallops, some squid rings, and some smoked trout for the fishy bits in the filling. Instead of puff pastry for the topping, I used wadded up disks of brik/brick/brique. It was pretty good, if a bit salty from the trout. A salad after. Then some bits of St. Nectaire.

Thursday/18-Feb-21: Picked up groceries from Intermarché, so it was fish-for-dinner.

We had Spicy Salmon and Couscous Bowls (web), that's with Israeli couscous and turnips. Pretty good stuff. Served with a simple Thai-ish salad, loosely based on Cucumber Salad—Yaam Taeng Kwa (Delightful, p51). This recipe calls for way too much sugar; I wonder if they wrote tablespoon when they meant teaspoon? It was pretty good as I made it. 

Friday/19-Feb-21: Dinner was Risotto with Sausages (ClassItal, p257). (This is for the rice theme on Cooking Marcella Hazan, a Facebook group that's trying to revive itself.) Rather than pork sausages, I used some andouillettes de canard from the freezer (impulse buy), and thus, used chicken stock rather than beef stock. 

Followed by a big salad. No dessert needed. 

Saturday/20-Feb-21: The bread machine made a loaf today after Ed first the gear in the pan again. There was Light Rye (Electric, p64) (Basic/Rapid/M/d/-). Skipped the caraway seeds, but added 1tbl of gluten; 2tbl+1tsp of sucre de canne. Good stuff.

Dinner was Bangkok Shrimp* (web). The recipe is really Bangkok Beef; I use shrimp instead, adding the (cooked, almost unfrozen) shrimp when the veggies were done. Some some store-bought vanilla riz au laits for later.

Sunday/21-Feb-21: Dinner was a halfish recipe of Marinated Lamb Chops (web; CL/apr11). This was easy and good. Served with Eggplant with Pomegranate Sauce (EastMed, p155), sort of. I cut my eggplant ovals into long half-ellipses. Sprayed with olive oil and broiled rather than baking. And some potatoes: I peeled and chunked them, then boiled almost done; drained well; shook in the sieve, then finished in butter and olive oil. Pretty good they were. Some Angel Kisses (cream and crème de cacao) for after.

Overnight Boule with Rye on overnight.

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: yes; #7 RECYCLE: 9; #8 NEW: 2

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/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/12-Oct-20: Picked up an order from Leclerc today after French. Mostly staples.

Dinner was a half recipe of Chicken Breasts Cooked in Mustard and Yoghurt (Flavours, p168). This was easy, just a few minutes to assemble the marinade, and very tasty. Might do it again with pork chops before long. Served with Cauliflower Cachumbar (MJ@Home, p242), which I've made before with grated broccoli stems. This was good, but a might tingly because the chili I used was unexpectedly hot. And some trio rice. Some store-bought riz au lait for after.

Tuesday/13-Oct-20: Not a good day altogether. Gloomy.

Dinner was a half dose of Moroccan Chickpea Tagine with Harissa (MC), an oldy-but-goody recipe I've made several times. Made a little garlic-yogurt sauce to take the heat off the cachumber, but we didn't need any more food. The other two store-bought riz au lait for after.

Mixed up some Overnight Bread.

Wednesday/14-Oct-20: Decided during the day what we would eat, meal planning being a bit behind schedule.

We has a halfish recipe of Sauted (sic) Shrimp with Lemon Grass—Pad Pak Goong (Delightful, p71). This was pretty good considering how easy it was. Next time I might mince the lemongrass, rather than leaving in it 2" lengths. Served over basmati rice with Thai Cucumber Salad with Peanuts (web). I've put this in my HandyBook, since it's my go-to recipe for a SE Asian salad. Used my last bit of red onion for the shrimp, so used several shallots for the salad. A pair of chocolate-coated madeleines each for after.

Thursday/15-Oct-20: Lunch out today. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

Friday/16-Oct-20: Did a little touristing, then picked up an order at Carrefour Drive. They had lieu noir for fresh fish, although not the dos (back) that I usually get at Leclerc. I trimmed the bony bit off, leaving the dos. I cut two servings from it and put the rest in the freezer. 

We had Nigel Slater's Hake with Pea Salsa (web). This was ok. The pea salsa was too sweet, I'm not sure if it was the peas themselves or if the vinegar (white wine) was too sweet. Edible, but nothing to do again. Served with taglitelle. And a pair of chocolate-coated madeleines each for after.

Saturday/17-Oct-20: We had lunch late, and the kitchen was still a wreck this evening while Ed was fixing a leak. I made a quickie dinner, Spaghetti with Pecorino and Black Pepper (MW@Home, p194). Used whole wheat spaghetti. This is really yummy for minimal work. For dessert we had yogurt with blueberries.

Sunday/18-Oct-20: A use-me-up dinner tonight. Along with whole wheat couscous, we had Spicy Cucumber Wedges (MJ1, p17), leftover Cauliflower Cachumber with the garlicy yogurt sauce I madeup, South Indian-Style Green Beans (MJ@Home, p147), and Carrots with Cilantro (MJ@Home, p149). All things we've had before, and very tasty. Some mini HD ice cream cups for after.

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/8-Oct-18: Tonight was supposed to be a beef with coconut from Floyd, but we left the coconut out of the fridge and it turned yucky pink. Instead there was a halfish recipe of Goan Beef Vindaloo (Floyd, p135). We thought it was pretty so-so. There's a bit left, which Ed insists I put in the freezer, rather than tossing. And plain basmati rice. And a halfish recipe of Spicy Sweetcorn—Makai tamatar nu shak (Floyd, p169). This is pretty good, but not wonderful. We finished a bottle of Larou with the meal, which went quite well, although it may have been we couldn't really taste it. Mini ice cream bars for after.

Tuesday/9-Oct-18: Dinner was Thai Black Pepper Chicken (MC), with Broccoli in Oyster Sauce (Delightful, p58) and Cucumber Salad (Delightful, p51), all tried-and-true recipes. I forgot to take the mango ice cream out as we sat to eat, so we had chocolate-covered madeleines instead.

Wednesday/10-Oct-18: Shopping today. No fish for dinner, but leftover Cabbage and Leek Gratin, which gratedGruyère on top. Still good. Such a simple thing. Mango Ice Cream with fresh mango chunks for dessert.

Thursday/11-Oct-18: My day for the ENT today, which means shopping at Grand Frais and Biocoop (health food). Decided I couldn't face another Floyd recipe this week, so we bought some veal scallops (on sale) and some corn on the cob (not on sale, but looked good). Ed saw someone with a jar of jalapeños and thought he'd like some nachos, so I ran to get some English cheddar. Later I discovered tomorrow was Floyd night, but I moved tonight's meal to tomorrow. After the nachos, neither of us were very hungry so we just had the corns on the cob. Then some chocolate-covered madeleines for dessert. (These were a summer sale thing, made locally, and really delicious and chemical free. We've only got one more sack left. :-( )

Yogurt on overnight.

The kitchen mouse seems to have ceased its activities. Can't really explain. Thinking of refilling the cabinets. Did see a mouse running along the house as we returned from doctor/shopping trip.

Friday/12-Oct-18: Early meal today, a half dose of Garlicky Chicken with Lemon-Anchovy Sauce (web). Cut my chicken into bits and didn't bother with the oven bit. Very yummy. With "short spaghetti" that looks like graminge and steamed broccoli topped with lemon juice. (Went to put this on my DoMeAgain list and discovered that it was already there. We had this in March. Liked it then too.) We've eaten well.

Yogurt on overnight.

Saturday/13-Oct-18: Dinner was a half dose of Pasta with Sausage & Sun-Dried Tomatoes (web). My tomatoes were oven-dried and frozen, so I warmed a bit of olive oil with some finely sliced garlic and red pepper flakes. Used casareccia for the pasta. Then a big salad. We were full.

Sunday/14-Oct-18: Made a Tarte Poire Chocolat (VPG). This was okay, but nothing special. Used a store-brought graham cracker crust rather than a pâte sablée.

For dinner there was Very Spicy, Delicious Chickpeas (WoE, p86; cookbooker). Very delicious, yes. Served over round-grain brown rice.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/1-Oct-18: I'm enjoying my project of cooking from unused cookbooks. So far, I haven't really found any books I'd like to get rid of, only ones that need to be used more. I think this will be an Indian month. Floyd's India, by Keith Floyd, comes highly recommended, but I've never really gotten into it. Will try this month.

Dinner was Hunter-Style Pasta Sauce from the freezer, over pasta. Followed by a big salad. Followed by two mini ice cream bars.

Put chicken thighs to marinate for Thai Barbecued Chicken (MC) tomorrow.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/2-Oct-18: Ed barbecued the chicken, an old recipe but still delicious, while I made, sort of, Hot & Sour Stir-Fried Vegetables (Delightful, p55). We both like veggies done like this, and I like that the recipe can be varied with whatever you have at hand. And there was plain basmati rice. For dessert, I made Tarte Amandine aux Figues, from a recent VPG. I didn't have enough figs, according to the recipe, so I used (frozen) cherries for one half. Something was very wrong with this recipe. I added an extra egg, but the batter was still stiff. I probably could have used only the figues, a bit more sparsely distributed. Not as intended, no doubt, but the result is quite tasty.

Wednesday/3-Oct-18: Shopping today.

First outing with Keith Floyd was not especially successful. The main was a half dose of Fish Curry Bengal-Style—Doi Macchi (Floyd, p124) and it was not very good at all. I suspect something is wrong with the recipe. The whole recipe (I made half) asks for 25g of turmeric; that's 8-1/3 teaspoons! My half recipe would be more than 4 teaspoons. Turmeric gives a nice edge is small doses, but the 1 teaspoon I added made it way to bitter, overwhelming any other tastes that were present. Not a nice main course. For a side there was Spiced Beetroot—Subzi Poriyal (Floyd, p153) which was pretty good. But, the recipe says it serves 4-6; I made a short half and it would have served 3-4 without a problem.

Thursday/4-Oct-18: Dinner was Cabbage and Leek Gratin (VegSups, p18). This seems like a simple dish, but it was delicious. Then we had some peaches getting close to their end with the end of the fromage blanc from last week.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/5-Oct-18: Dinner at Cath's tonight. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

Saturday/6-Oct-18: Another disappointing meal with Keith Floyd. Our main was a halfish dose of Spicy Prawns with Mango—Jhinga Thokku (Floyd, p118; cookbooker). For a side there was Runner or Green Beans Foogath (Floyd, p158; cookbooker). Maybe this was meant to be a main dish. It calls for 1kg of beans (I used runner beans) for 4. At 200g, I thought the pile was more than enough for two. (I usually get 150-200g of green beans as a side for two, but this was a side including potatoes.) The measurement of cumin seeds was way off; I used 1/2 teaspoon for my 200g of beans. Per the instructions, the potatoes will cook al dente with just a few drops of water. Not at my house. Three dried chiles (half of what was asked) made the pretty attention-getting. In the end, it was pretty good, but we couldn't eat all I made. And some plain basmati rice. Mini ice creams for dessert.

Sunday/7-Oct-18: Big lunch out today. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/3-Apr-17: Earlyish meal today. We had Orecchiette with Ricotta, Broad Beans and Mint (Diaries, p194; cookbooker). Didn't use orecchiette, but my mini-lasagnas, malfada, I think they're called. This was good. First favas of the year. Then a salad. That was all.

Tuesday/4-Apr-17: A bit of a replan tonight since I had defrosted kip filets that I didn't really need. Dinner was Cashew Chicken Coconut Curry (web); I collected this recipe in 2014. My printed copy says to use broccoli or red bell pepper; having a red bell pepper needing to be used, that's what I did. Either broccoli or a combination of broccoli and red bell pepper would be fine. Turns out I didn't have enough cashews, but it could only have been better. Served the curry over leftover Cilantro-Lime Black Bean Rice from the weekend. Also had some asparagus and mushrooms that needed using. A quick search turned up Asian Asparagus and Mushrooms (web). This was easy and quite good. A nice meal altogether; we were full.

Yogurt on overnight.

Wednesday/5-Apr-17: Shopping today.

Dinner was Visburgertjes (web), about a 1/2 recipe with 300g lieu noir. Good, they were. Served with Broccoli in Oyster Sauce (Delightful, p58) and Cucumber Salad (Delightful, p51). Ed thought the salad made a nice abstract picture:

For dessert we had some store-bought torsades, a twisted pastry with some tiny chocolate chips.

Thursday/6-Apr-17: Early meal today. We had Goan Pork Vindaloo with Potatoes (web). This is a Madhur Jaffrey recipe; I haven't yet found it in any my books, but haven't done an exhaustive search yet. Anyhow, it was very good. Did it in the pressure cooker; it wanted a bit more water than she says. I added some extra, but it should have been a bit more still, at least one cup altogether. Ground peppercorns with the first batch of spices rather than grinding them separately. Used the full 1tsp of cayenne; it was hot but a long way from too hot. Altogether good. For a side there was Tangy Green Beans with Ajwain and Ginger (SpiceKitch, p38), an old favorite, still good.

Friday/7-Apr-17-Sunday/9-Apr-17: Spent these days in Bordeaux, a long weekend to see Yo-yo Ma perform with Kathryn Stott, with three good meals tossed in.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: yes; #2 VEG/FISH: 2
This month: #3 PASTA: no; #4 BREAD: no

This week in the kitchen

Monday/5-Apr-16: Yes, that Beefsteak Pie has come in handy. We had the rest of it for our lunch today, along with a melange of sautéed veggies. And a mini magnum for after.

Tuesday/5-Apr-16: Dinner out in Limoges tonight, prior to a concert. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

Wednesday/6-Apr-16: Dinner was a half recipe of Gnocchi met Citroenricotta (AH, web); seems to be from a 2007 issue! I had some store-bought gnocchi in the freezer and used them up for this. Pretty good and easy. I did forget the grated cheese at the end, but neither of us missed it. Then a big salad. For dessert, I mixed the rest of the ricotta (which was a bit grainy from being frozen) with a bit of crême de framboise and used that to top some frozen, defrosted raspberries. Not perfect, but quite edible.

Thursday/7-Apr-16: Couldn't manage to shop yesterday, and was looking forward to shopping at Intermarché today while Ed was in choir practice because there was tuna on sale. Not. That was at Leclerc where the tuna was on sale. Got salmon instead. Solo shopping takes a lot longer than the two of together. Intermarché has quite a few things that Leclerc (our regular grocery) doesn't: hoisin sauce, 10% white vinegar (known to us as schoonmaakazijn). Their veggies are pretty good quality, but the selection is limited. Except that they frequently have very nice looking corn on the cob; impulse-bought some of this today. A better selection of Magnums too. But other things are really limited in choice. Definitely worth going to occasionally, but not sure about making it our regular store.

I saw my second hoopoe of the season today, Ed's first, on the way home from shopping.

Seems like Vanessa is keeping two chickens now. They've found a hole in the fence and have come into our yard two evenings. Really cute. I do like chickens. I went over to a neighbor to ask if they were missing any hens. He said no, but Vanessa had two now. Hope they last longer than the kitties. Ed has closed the hole in the fence.

Dinner was a halfish recipe of Thai Salmon Cakes with Basil Lime Mayonnaise (web). Very good. Not hard, but time-consuming. The Basil Lime Mayo (aioli, they call it) with store-bought mayo was finger-lickin' good. Served with basmati rice tossed with a bit of rice vinegar, and some Cucumber Salad (Delightful, p51). For dessert, some store-bought framboisiers, which were definitely passable. (There were only two, so I figured they were ours.)

Put the chicken for Citrus-Marinated Game Hens (Picnic, p14) on to marinate overnight. There were no game hens, not even a coquelet (which I've used before for this recipe) at the store yesterday, so I got the smallest chickie I could find, at 1.1kg.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/8-Apr-16: Cooking day. Started Parmesan Meat Loaf (MikeRoy, p64) in the crockpot. Made this ages ago, and we found it a really yummy meat loaf. But the sauce has tomatoes and we've only recently discovered Ed can have deseeded ones.

Then made Ed's "picnic" meal for tomorrow's singing workshop and my daytime meal. Cooked the chickie halves by broiling them, three 10-minute stretches (last one a bit short), skin-side down, skin-side-up, skin-side down. About halfway through the middle stretch, I moved the broiling pan onto the bottom of the broiler rather than the rack.

Then roasted (i.e., broiled) some bell peppers, one for Couscous Salad with Roasted Peppers (Picnic, p16) and one for something else. Then made the couscous salad. Then made Marinated Green Beans with Toasted Almonds (Picnic, p18). Having no walnut oil in house, I used avocado oil for this; not sure it was a good idea. Meanwhile, I also made Chocolate Bread Pudding (TLNewEng, p132).

Dinner was meatloaf with some steamed broccoli and corn on the cob (GMO from Senegal, not seasonal or local, sorry, but delicious). For dessert there was, yes, Chocolate Bread Pudding, served with store-bought marsacpone-cream instead of heavy cream.

This was actually a bit of a strange recipe. First it called for fresh bread, which is exactly what bread puddings don't do. They're generally meant for using up odd bits of bread. The bread is shredded/crumbled very fine and makes a kind of bread mush with the milk. The result was tasty, but the texture wasn't especially nice, and a lot of liquid wept from the not-quite-custard.

Saturday/9-Apr-16: Oops, meant to buy eight plum tomatoes for oven-roasting, but seem to have only seven. They're in the oven roasting.

Ed ate only part of his chicken half today. I ate only the salads and was getting ready to start my chicken half when he got home. We'll save that for another day. I finished his while he gnawed bones, then we had some fruit, then we piggily finished the bread pudding. The chicken was extra yummy. Broiling worked very well. Not sure it would be a good idea with a bigger bird, but was fine with the small one I had.

Fourteen tomato halves with concentrated flavor in the freezer now. They smell delicious.

Sunday/10-Apr-16: Another, less elaborate picnic lunch for Ed's at his singing workshop. We both had Roasted Eggplant and Pepper Sandwich (Picnic, p23). I roasted the bell pepper on Friday with the one for the couscous salad and grilled the eggplant slices yesterday. Assembled the sandwiches thsi morning and added some basil leaves. Good. Accompanied by Cantaloupe Soup (Picnic, p25). It's a bit early for melons but there were some small ones in the shop. One small one made a nice bit of cold soup for each of us.

There were some munchies at the end of the workshop day, after a little concert. Nothing else happened in the kitchen.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 3
This month: #3 PASTA: no; #4 BREAD: no; #5 FotW: no for April/May

This week in the kitchen

Monday/25-Jan-16: Busy in the kitchen all afternoon. Made the pastry for our dinner quiche (with chopped rosemary). While I was at it, I made some Tart Dough (Tenth, p256) for the freezer. Then I made some Ricotta Pound Cake (MC). This is yummy, but the cooking time is wrong and I'm making a 2/3 recipe to use a single bakje of ricotta; I need to figure out the proper cooking time, then write this up as a new recipe, with the the proportions I'm using. If I ever get Mastercook or some replacement working again.

Dinner was Cauliflower, Chevre, and Onion Quiche (web), which was quite good, although I suspect it had too much Gruyère. (It calls for 225g, about 2 cups; I used most of a 250g block, but I'm sure it was closer to 3 cups.) And the goat cheese was not noticeable. I cut the tart into sixths, rather than fourths, and served with a very plain salad, using up the beet dressing.

Tuesday/26-Jan-16: Dinner was Chicken with Lemongrass, Thai Style (web); this was easy and pretty good. (I used the bit of curry powder.) Served with rice and Broccoli in Oyster Sauce (Delightful, p58). The broccoli was good, but didn't really go with the chicken dish, even though they're both Thai. Oh well. For dessert I defrosted some mixed berries and served them over chunk of ricotta pound cake with a toefje of whipped cream, using up the can we got for the holidays.

Started a potful of chicken stock.

Wednesday/27-Jan-16: Froze up lots of chicken stock.

Dinner was from the freezer. A bit of Indian-ish chickpea stew, thickened a bit more, made into kind of samosas with the last two squares of pâte feuillitée. And some curried split pea soup. The gas ran out, and the new bottle didn't work very well. Maybe the regulator needs to be replaced. Sigh. We finished off with mini Magnums.

Thursday/28-Jan-16: Yay, worked on the backlog today! Decided on a weird, non-consistent sort of organization (for desserts), but one that I think will work for me. Sorting today, with some trashing. Will make another pass through for serious trashing.

Dinner was leftover quiche, with a salad. And Mixed-Berry Dutch Baby (web) for dessert. I used mixed berries, not just raspberries and blackberries. Had some trouble getting the oven to temp; the right one takes a long time before it decides to starting heating serious.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/29-Jan-16: Dutch baby for breakfast. Shopping today. For the first time, there were bakjes of sliced onion, carrots, etc. A bid sad, since this is first step on the path to less home-cooked food.

Dinner was Pasta met Broccoli en Zalm in Romige Sauce (web). This was okay, but nothing special. I picked up a package of salmon trout, rather than salmon; don't think it made that much difference. Dutch baby for dessert.

Saturday/30-Jan-16: Early dinner so we can go out late, but the weather is so miserable it looks like we may stay home. We had a half dose of Creamy Pea & Chicken Stew (web). It was pretty good, although I forgot to add the Gruyère at the end. The timings are a bit odd: by the time the cauliflower was cooked, the peas were overcooked. The white cauliflower and the white bits of chicken breast looked remarkably the same, so sometimes you bit into something unexpected. Might be better with thigh meat, or pork, or lamb. Meant to served over brown rice but forgot, so we just had it plain. Then a big salad.

Sunday/31-Jan-16: Dinner was (sort of ) Slow Cooker Creamy Pumpkin Soup (web). Didn't use the slow cooker, but simmered on the stove till everything was done enough to whizz with the staff blender. Didn't use 29oz of pumpkin purée, but just over 2# of winter squash, peeled and chunked. Since this wasn't a purée, I used used a bit more squash than asked and added less of the stock. It was good stuff.

The gas is working better now. Ed thinks he blew into it, adding moisture, which has worked it's way out. No sign of our kitchen mouse.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: yes!; #2 VEG/FISH: 5
This month: #3 PASTA: yes; #4 BREAD: no; #5 FotW: no for Jan/Feb

This week in the kitchen

Monday/20-Jul-15: We had our main meal early today before going to a concert in the evening. I made the "An Hour in Provence" menu from RushHour, including Pan Bagna (p85; cookbooker), Romaine Salad with Garlic Dressing (p86; cookbooker), and Peach Compote with Basil (p87; cookbooker) A very nice menu with a very helpful timetable for getting it all done. Good results.

Tuesday/21-Jul-15: We'd planned on going to a movie this morning, but got in so late last night we blew it off. Still, I cooked up the crockpot dish I'd planned so we'd have dinner when we returned. Crockpot Balsamic Pork (web, although I got it in an email). Almost no work and delicious. Used up some little potatoes as crushed potatoes similar to what I made a week or so ago. Because it's so hot, I just finished them under the broiler, which works if you pay attention. They go very black really fast. And some of the leftover taboulleh.

Wednesday/22-Jul-15: Using up broccoli and potatoes, there was Warm Broccoli and Potato Salad (p15, MDSalads) for dinner. An old favorite. Still good.

Thursday/23-Jul-15: Wrapped up three days of cleaning today. But Peg&Jim won't arrive till tomorrow. Clean+1. Oh well. A nice dinner we had for them tonight. Marinating overnight there was Fiery Grilled Turkey Breast (web), which was yummy, but didn't not take the advertised 40 minutes to cook. Piggies that we are, we ate it all. Served with brown rice, which burnt because I was out of the room when the dinger went off. And a half dose of Cabbage Salad—Salad Galam (p50, Delightful; cookbooker). Yummy salad this, and not too much trouble. Some mini magnums for dessert.

Cooked some Slow Cooker Cardamom Rice Pudding with Fresh Peaches (web) during the day. It seems to have been designed for the newer, hotter cooking crockpots, since it wasn't done after the allotted time. Cooked in longer on High, rather than on Low, and it finally got ready. Put it in the fridge since P&J didn't arrive arrive today as expected.

Friday/24-Jul-15: Shopping this morning. Peg and Jim arrived in the afternoon. We missed boules, but went up to Chez Mamie's for a drink. Dinner was Espadon Grillé à la Sauge Frite (C&V, but not online afaics), grilled swordfish topped with fried sage leaves and fried lemon zest. Served with polenta and Baked Eggplant Slices (p114, TooMany), a really old favorite. For dessert we had the rice pudding from yesterday with slices of fresh nectarines.

Saturday/25-Jul-15: Picnic lunch today at Chris&Paula's charity "do" for Chernobyl kids. Dinner out with a band playing. Nothing much happened in the kitchen.

Sunday/26-Jul-15: Out again today. A quick dinner with a bit of soup from the freezer, then kind of sloppy Joes with the balsamic pork from Tuesday with some of Mama's Garlic Coleslaw (MC Handybook)

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/9-Mar-15: Dinner was a half recipes of Stir-Fried Chicken with Lemongrass and Chiles (Ga Xao Xa Ot). This was a recipe from Mai Pham's Pleasure of the Vietnamese Table that I collected from the LA Times in 2001. Can't seem to find a copy of it online nowadays. I've got it in my Mastercook 2BTried cookbook, and guess I'll have to keep it until I get a copy of that book. It was good. Not too hard. A lot of of prep work, then it all gets done lickety-split. Served with plain basmati rice and a quick Cucumber Salad (p51, Delightful). The salad was pretty spicy, so we soothed our tingly tongues with a magnum classic for dessert.

Tuesday/10-Mar-15: Worked a bit on sorting dessert recipes today. Think I'm waffling on the intent to sort into three groups (chocolate, fruit, other). Scones, for example. When I want scones, I don't care if they're fruit or not. I just want a scone. I kind of sorted through chocolate recipes (again), tossing quite a few. I still have to redo the rest, fruit and otherwise to see if I can figure out the most useful way to arrange them even if it's not overall consistent.

For dinner I grilled the pigeon sausages we bought at last summer's marché des producteurs. For sides there were smashed sweet potatoes (really smashed sweet potato, since it was one huge one that could have served three) and some steamed broccoli. For dessert we had some Buttermilk Chocolate Bread (MC 2BTried) with hazelnuts. Mixed it all the in cuisinart. Pretty good. (No clue when or where I collected this recipe, so it must have been some time ago.)

The continuing drama with Ed's Montbron choir continues and has been today's major "theme."

Wednesday/11-Mar-15: We had lunch at a swanky place with the Gourmet Club of the CLE (Charente-Limousine Exchange) today. For dinner we split an apple. (Shame about the buttermilk chocolate bread.)

Thursday/12-Mar-15: No choir for Ed today; shopping in the afternoon.

Dinner was Chili-Rubbed Tilapia with Asparagus and Lemon (web). Well, it wasn't tilapia, but lieu noir. It was pretty good for really easy. Served with some boiled potatoes (rattes). For dessert, the first strawberries (gariguettes) of the season with a scoop of ice cream and a dash of kirsch.

Yogurt on overnight. (Must have been another batch earlier in the week that I forgot to  note.)

Friday/13-Mar-15: Dinner was Lemon Spaghetti (FF&S, p138), easy, fast, and tasty. Then a big salad. That was all. FF&S is turning out to be an interesting book. Need to try a non-pasta dish now.

Saturday/14-Mar-15: Dinner was Seared Scallops with Brandied Leeks & Mushrooms (web). Didn't make the recommended barley side (which would have been this week's whole grain). Instead, served with noodles of cêpes, a kind of short tagliatelle. The dish was ok, but not quite right somehow. Ed thought the leeks were wrong, while I thought the sweet of the leeks went with the scallops, but the shrooms were wrong. Oh well. Good enough. The scallops themselves were quite good. For dessert, I broiled the last of the crèmes brulées from the freezer.

Sunday/15-Mar-15: Yogurt on overday.

Lunch today at a fête du cochon had, yes, lots of pork. Soup of boudin noir, a plate of charcuterie, and chunks of spit-roasted pig. Nothing happened in our kitchen.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/16-Feb-15: Dinner was a halfish dose of Easy Coconut Shrimp Curry (web). Easy indeed and pretty uninteresting flavorwise, but good enough for a quick dinner. Served with a halfish dose of Hot & Sour Stir-Fried Vegetables (Delightful, p55). Used cuke instead of zuke, since that's all there was. Pretty good, although not as tasty as it has been. Wondering if my fish sauce is getting old since it's almost at the end of the bottle. And basmati rice. Some frozen crèmes brulées for dessert.

Tuesday/17-Feb-15: Dinner was a halfish recipe of Chickpeas with Harissa, Basil, and Ham (Diaries, p153; cookbooker). The veggies (tomatoes and eggplant) have to roast in the oven for an hour or so, but otherwise this is quick and easy to prepare. I used chickpeas from the freezer, rather than canned. Made a nice one-dish meal. For dessert I made Easy Berry Cobbler (MC, HandyBook) using up a sack of blueberries and starting in on some raspberries.

Got my bread recipe clippings sorted out; now need to stick them in the notebook and add them to a Bread sheet in my spreadsheet. Small progress.

Wednesday/18-Feb-15: Shopping today. Bought some more dried morels since I didn't have enough for dinner. Expensive little buggers—much more than any other dried mushroom. Have been looking for dry sherry. Leclerc never seems to have it. Stopped at a cave to ask for it, and he explained that sherry wasn't available anywhere as it's not "in the culture." Oh.

Dinner was a halfish dose of Salmon with Red Wine-Morel Sauce (web), which was pretty good, except the piece of salmon I got was huge and we were both stuffed at the end of dinner. Served with parsleyed barley and steamed broccoli, as suggested. (Some sites say pearled barley is a whole grain and others not. I think not. Too bad. I'll have to buy some non-pearled next time.)

Thursday/19-Feb-15: Yogurt on overday, using the new starter I got yesterday. A new brand. My favorite brand has had only flavored versions of late. The house brand is OK, but I thought I'd try the new one. Can't say the lick I had was wonderful, but we'll see how it turns out.

Yummy pancakes for breakfast, Ned and Crescent's Favorite Multigrain Pancakes (Gospels, p205). (This seems to be the only recipe I've made from this book!)

Podded the mess of fava beans I bought yesterday.

Dinner started with the leftover Christmas Eve Soup (beets) from the freezer, with mushroom ravioli. Then there was Aiguillets de Canard au Poivre Vert (VPG) with brown rice on the side. Just noticed this recipe is marked "Light" although I can't imagine why. Duck breasts bits with crème fraîche? Admittedly I usually have light crème fraîche, but still. It was good, nevertheless. Then a salad. (Leclerc  hasn't been stocking the 100g sacks of salad, so I bought one of 60g and topped up with some leaves from a head of lettuce.) Didn't feel like dessert again. That poor cobbler will have to wait another day.

Friday/20-Feb-15: Not crazy about the new yogurt. Will go back to my favorite or the house brand when it's time for a new starter.

Cooked up some chickpeas for the freezer and for a coming dinner. Cooked and peeled a zillion fava beans (ok, it was more like 2 cups, but it seemed like a lot).

We had our dinner early since we're out at a concert this evening. Made a halfish dose of Slider Patties with Pomegranate Molasses (web; CL/may14). Had to "grind" my lamb in the food processor, but I'm discovering that works pretty well. These were good. As a side, I cooked some orecchiette, added the favas, some sliced mint, some grated parmesan, pyramid goat cheese (a bit out of date, but the package was unopened, so I assume it's ok), salt, and pepper. A lot of it, but it was good. Finished off the berry cobbler with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Saturday/21-Feb-15: For a starter tonight we had a small salad with a fig stuffed with foie gras. Bought a package of six of these for xmas. Still have two more in the freezer. For the main, I made a Ukrainian dish, Egg Noodle-and-Spinach Casserole (TLRus, p37). I made a full recipe, which is advertised as serving 6-8. I put it together in two 1-quart baking dishes and froze one of those. (Only one layer of spinach between two layers or noodles.) We easily ate all of one casserole as a vegetarian main one-dish main course. Very tasty. I used fresh noodles from the shop and only (the equivalent of) 3 10-oz packages of frozen spinach rather than 4, since it seemed like a huge amount. I expect this is meant as a side dish, but it was good as a main.

Sunday/22-Feb-15: Yogurt on overday. Meant to start a crockpot dish early this morning, but didn't get it going till after noon. Then the crock didn't turn on (sometimes the knob around Low is fiddly), so it was even later getting going. Sigh.

We were out during the day. When we got back I started Rye Bread (BigGerman, p251) in the bread machine. No vital gluten. Goofed by starting to add whole wheat flour when it should have been bread flour, so it was 2cups rye, 1cup whole wheat, and 1cup bread flours. Cooked on the fast white bread cycle. Pretty darn good, with a nice texture and crispier than usual crust.

The bread was to serve with Balkan Pork'n'Sauerkraut Dinner (TeenyCrock, p52), which was good, but made a ton. It said it serves 4-6 and it means it. I've put up two containers in the freezer for future meals.

We visited three mills on the Open Mill weekend today. Came home with a small walnut cake (mostly gone now after an afternoon snack and dessert), a loaf of walnut bread, and a loaf of plain bread. The plain bread has gone in the oven, we'll have some of the walnut bread for breakfast, then rye bread with our lunch sandwiches.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/25-Aug-14: Before dinner, I made some Blueberry Zucchini Bread (web).

For this week's pickled theme at IHCC, I made the Pork Chops, Mustard Sauce (Diaries, p51) again, this time with the cornichons included. Unfortunately, I don't feel like posting about it, so I'll just put the picture here and say we liked the cornichons in the sauce.

Served with Harictos Verts in Walnut Oil (Lunch, p216; HandyBook) and some nice garlicky smashed potatoes. Had some of the Blueberry Zucchini Bread for dessert. Very more-ish. Definitely a keeper.

Yogurt on overnight,

Tuesday/26-Aug-14: Shopping today.

Dinner was a half recipe of Fish Tacos (web) but with six tortillas between the two of us, since that's what was in the fridge. (These are French corn tortillas, which are not as good as the ones I get from the Netherlands; still one more dozen to use up before I can order again from the right place.) Made a Fresh Tomato Salsa as a go-with, but don't know where the recipe came from. Had a big salad as a go-with. We split a classic Magnum for dessert.

Wednesday/27-Aug-14: Dinner was Chicken with Mushroom and Lemon Grass (Diaries, p107), using up all the lemon grass I got recently. This was easy and tasty. For a side there was (sort of) Hot & Sour Stir-Fried Vegetables (Delightful, p55). I didn't have any cabbage or even another brassica, so just left that out. Pretty good anyhow. And some basmati rice. For dessert, a vanilla yogurt each. And a dog walk.

Thursday/28-Aug-14: Made some bread maker bread from the pain au levain mix.

Made a double batch of pâte brisée aka Tart Dough (Tenth, p256), one for dinner, one for the freezer. Dinner was Lemony Ricotta Summer Squash Galette (web), which was really nice. I used only zucchini, since yellow squash are only very rarely available here; the combination would be especially pretty. Finished the Basil Tabbouleh, which held up well, but didn't really go with the galette.

Friday/29-Aug-14: Yogurt on overday.

An easy dinner tonight. There was Curried Zucchini Soup from the freezer, needing only some salt, and grilled cheese sandwiches with bleu d'Aurillac and sliced tomatoes. Good stuff.

Beans on to soak overnight.

Saturday/30-Aug-14: Made some Cayenne Cornbread (BigGerman, p182) in the bread machine.

Beans were cooking most of the day and they still aren't done; wonder how old that package was? In the end I opened a can to make a soup for dinner to go with the cayenne cornbread. Both were good. Some double-chocolate mini-magnums for after. And then a walk looking for Sophie, out after dark again and all keyed up when we found her.

Sunday/31-Aug-14: The beans were improved by an overnight sit. Simmered them some more, then picked the meat off the ham bone and froze it all together for another day.

In the potager. we picked more cayenne (for the freezer), two spiny, fat cucumbers, and two eggplants. Time for some cucumber salad.

Dinner was pasta with Eggplant Sauce with Bell Pepper, Tomato, and Basil (MarCuc, p144; cookbooker). It was good. Two squares each of hazelnut chocolate for after.

I've not touched my Foods of the World cookbook for August, so I sort of arbitrarily declared August as a vacation month and shifted the rest out.

Sophie in late again.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes; #2 VEG/FISH: 4,
This month: #3 PASTA: yes; #4 FotW: ; #5 BREAD: 0

This week in the kitchen

Monday/18-Aug-14: A clear-the-fridge kind of dinner tonight. For the main there were Grilled Zucchini Pizza Slices (web) using some thick zucchini slices, no-tomato pizza sauce from the freezer, mozzarella, bacon (which is rather like Canadian bacon), pyramid goat cheese, chopped black olives, and Parmesan. Very versatile, this recipe, since you can use most anything to build the layers; we thought eggplant slices would make a good base also. There were two salads as go-withs. First, Betterave Rouge aux Noisettes (VPG; web), which is a classic sort of thing. I couldn't find hazelnuts (until I put the walnuts back in the freezer), but that was OK, since I don't have any hazelnut oil right now. But I do have walnut oil, so used walnuts instead. Then a made up salad with a home-grown tomato, a bit of home-grown cucumber, some home-grown basil, and shallot with a little vinaigrette. All good stuff if a non-traditional sort of dinner. Saved all the bits of leftover this&thats to use as a pasta sauce for a lunch in the new future.

Tuesday/19-Aug-14: Went to Intermarché after my physio appointment and bought some lamb on sale, some for a dinner this week and more for the freezer. Also got fish for tonight's dinner. Walking through the veggie section on the way to check out, I saw they had some nice-looking sweet corn, so bought a pair of ears. Not sure why this store frequently has corn in the summer, while Leclerc rarely does and it's usually pretty icky looking when they do. Then our regular shopping.

Came home and made Rhubarb Cobbler (web; cookbooker). Our main was a half recipe of Clam Shack-Style Broiled Fish (web) which was quite good. Might use another flavoring instead of paprika next time. Served with, yes, corn on the cob and Parmesan Smashed Potatoes (web), a really yummy way to bake potatoes, right up there (and similar to) Dusolier's Perfect Roasted Potatoes. Cobbler for dessert. We're stuffed.

Yogurt on overnight.

Wednesday/20-Aug-14: Used the rest of the rhubarb and some frozen blueberries (as instructed, since they're not in season at the same time) to make some Bluebarb Jam (SmallBatch, p37). Not sure I had enough pectin, so we may have some bluebarb sauce to deal with later. Somehow I seem to have repeatedly bought sacks of sugar with pectin and boxes of just plain pectin. A friend is making jams for a charity this year, so I gave her all this stuff, leaving only a half sack of pectin (expired, but I wonder if pectin actually expires?). Guess I ought to buy a bit again.

Dinner started with Soft Asian Summer Rolls with Sweet and Savory Dipping Sauce (web; cookbooker). We had three each instead of one, but they were good. My packet of rice paper circles fell to the floor at some point, so about a quarter of each one was broken off, making them rather difficult to roll. The main was a half recipe of Hot and Spicy Chicken with Lemon Grass (MaiPham, p128) served over rice. Good stuff. Originally I thought this wasn't going to be enough, so I made some Cucumber Salad (Yaam Taeng Kwa) (Delightful, p51). In the end, we didn't eat this (beyond a munch), so we put the cukes and onion in a jar with their sauce and the remainder of the dipping sauce to have in the next days. Then some rhubarb cobbler.

Should have put chicken on to marinate for tomorrow's dinner but didn't feel like it. Will have to do it first thing tomorrow.

Thursday/21-Aug-14: Got the chicken on to marinate this morning. It turned into a half recipe of Baked Chicken Curry (MJ@Home, p88; cookbooker), which turned out to be quite good. Served with plain basmati rice and Pan-Grilled Zucchini (MJ@Home, p123). For dessert there was Yogurt Custard (MJ@Home, p276). This was tasty and about as easy as can be: equal amounts of yogurt and sweetened condensed milk, stirred together, then baked in a bain marie.

Argh, this was supposed to be my IHCC contribution for the week and I forgot to take a photo. Sigh.

Friday/22-Aug-14: Haircut day. We're in the process of growing it out. Really like it for the last month. Not so sure of today's result. I see we're going towards the way I had it just before leaving Houston. We'll see.

We were supposed to go out to see a friend's band this evening but Ed's not feeling well, plus he's extra tired from all the shutter painting, so we stayed in. Dinner was Shrimp Panzanella (web; cookbooker), a lovely summer salad. Too bad the weather isn't summery. We ate outside, but it was a bit cool.

Saturday/23-Aug-14: Defrosted the big freezer today. Whew. A handful of stuff MIA, things that I forgot to remove from the spreadsheet when I used them.

Dinner was Salmon and Dill Fishcakes (Diaries, p161; cookbooker) made with the rest of the frozen salmon. Nice texture, nice salmon taste, but otherwise missing a bit of something. Served with cascareccia with a sauce made of a beet I roasted a while ago, red onion and garlic, and pyramid goat's cheese. That was pretty good. Ed thought they were both good, but didn't go especially well together. Finished off the Yogurt Custard for dessert.

Sunday/24-Aug-14: Bbq night, although Ed forgot so it was a bit later than planned. Dinner was Grilled Lamb Steaks with Rosemary, Garlic, and Red Wine (Thrill, p150). Good stuff. Served with two fo the suggested go-withs: Grilled Eggplant with Olive Oil, Parsley, and Capers (Thrill, p298) and Basil Tabbouleh (Thrill, p313). Both good. We each had a double chocolate mini Magnum for the after-dinner Pogo walk, looking for Sophie who's still not in.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/3-Feb-14: Dinner was Curried Zucchini Soup from the freezer, made with some of the summer bounty. As an accompaniment, I made banista (TLQuint, p6) a savory filo pastry filled with a feta-yogurt-egg mixture.

Tuesday/4-Feb-14: Had a day out with my drawing group today—shopping, not drawing. In the morning, I cranked up the crockpot and started a half recipe of Chicken and Chickpea Tagine (web), a half recipe with all the spices. Served with couscous and some roasted broccoli tossed with Moroccan spice (homemade for something or other). All pretty good.

Yogurt on overnight. Hoping it shuts off properly.

Wednesday/5-Feb-14: Yogurt was fine. Hope the business with not turning off consistently was a momentary aberration. Shopping today.

Dinner was (sort of) Schol uit de Oven (TLQuint, p35); that's plaice from the oven. There was schol last week, but not this week. I used panga instead, probably slight larger, so I cooked a bit longer. No Gouda; used Parmesan instead. This would probably work with any thin fish fillet. Or any thick fillet if you didn't fold it. Ed didn't like the bacon especially. Served with Dusolier's Perfect Roast Potatoes and some steamed broccoli. For dessert we had some yummy cheesecake I bought at the cheese counter.

Thursday/6-Mon-14: I had lunch out today. (Ed was supposed to come, but stayed home sickly.) For dinner he had two big bowls of Curried Zucchini Soup, and I had one smaller one. I saw from my notes that I added 50% to the curry powder; it's ok as is, but could take a bit more. Soup needed salt, but that's normal for the way I cook.

Friday/7-Feb-14: Dinner was El Labm el M'qali (Morocco)—Lamb with Lemons and Olives (TLQuint, p62), served over couscous. I used store-bought preserved lemons, since I don't have any home-made ones available. Good, but I think I would make thin slices of the lemon quarters rather than leaving them in big chunks. Fairly easy to make, although boning the lamb is a bit time-consuming. For a salad, I made Kiopoolu (Bulgaria)—Eggplant and Pepper Spread (TLQuint, p104), which was a pretty good salady sort of thing.

Saturday/8-Feb-14: Yogurt on overday.

Meant to make pasta for dinner, but did a bunch of "stuff" instead. So it was a half recipe of Fettuccine with Mushrooms and Asparagus (web) with linguine. Used up the end of the Toupargel frozen asparagus, which worked fairly well. Tasty stuff. Then a big salad. Then a dab of ice cream with our hazelnut chocolate squares.

Sunday/9-Feb-14: There's a new version of the old Impossible Pie recipe going around this week, although it looks a bit suspect to me. I can handle more butter and less sugar, especially the sugar part), but no baking powder or salt makes me wonder if it will work. I made one today with the baking powder. Still tasty. Like the reduced sugar.

Dinner was Thai Red Curry (web). Now that I look at the page again, I think it was meant to be served as a mug of soup. Otherwise, I can't imagine how it would served 12. I used only one carrot (instead of two), one zucchini instead of two (but these are bigger than the typical US ones), more green beans, and no baby corn; all this woudl be just short of a whole recipe. Served over rice. We might have had three or stretched to four servings. Easy, good, but nothing special. Kind of an old hippie veggie stir-fry, but with red curry paste and coconut milk. As a side, there was a half dose of Cucumber Salad (Delightful, p51) made with less sugar that asked; good stuff. Then Impossible Pie. We're full.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes #2 VEG/FISH: 4
This month: #3 PASTA: no, #4 FotW: no for SP, #5 BREAD: 0