New Year's Day 2019

Magret Seche Stuffed with Foie Gras with Roquette and a Lemon Vinaigrette Caille Rôtie à la Sauge, Baies Roses, Jambon Cru et Chaîtaigne Potatoes Stuffed with Leek Mousse Steamed Broccoli and Carrots Domaine Laubarel L'Aubarèl 2016 Balsamic-Roasted Pears with Pepper and Honey

For a starter we had slices of magret seche stuffed with foie gras from out, along with some rucola and a lemon vinaigrette. I bought the magret at our local shop recently. Trimmed most of the skin/fat before serving since neither of us are too fond of that.

Our meal was Caille Rôtie à la Sauge, Baies Roses, Jambon Cru et Châtaigne (VPG; web—this is the same recipe from another magazine). I left the pink peppercorns sitting on the counter, so I added them to the bone sack for my next batch of stock. Potatoes Stuffed with Leek Mousse (Dinners42, p84) was such an odd recipe I figured I needed to make it—a potato cut into a hollowed out block filled with a creamy leek sauce. Tasty, but kind of silly really. Too much potato (for my taste) in the end. Accompanied by some plain steamed broccoli and carrots sticks dressed with a bit of lemon juice.

The wine was one of our favorites from our Gaillac visit, Domaine Laubarel L'aubarèl 2016, 100% Mauzac grapes. Gaillac seems to have really good whites but so-so reds.

Our dessert was Balsamic-Roasted Pears with Pepper (web). Yes, the plate is definitely a bit crowded. Curiously the pepper in the title was left out of the ingredient list and I didn't notice the instruction to add it till just now. No manchego cheese available in rural French groceries, so I served this with tomme de brebis (I had a chunk in the freezer) and the last bit of Beaufort left from Bill's visit. The tomme was quite good with the dish; the Beaufort didn't work as well. Strange because that is a favorite eating cheese while the tomme isn't.

Christmas dinner 2018

Ribbons of Smoked Salmon with Warm Potato Pancakes and Dill Cream Magret de Canard Façon Wellington Roasted Broccoli with Lemon-Garlic Vinaigrette Château La Colombière Les Frontons Flingueurs 2016 Pannacotta au Lait d'Amande Vanillé et Sauce Chocolat

Another depressing holiday. Today was the first sunny day in ages. Guess I'm feeling less gloomy today than in preceding days, but still not happy. (I made this candle at a recent candle-making course.)

For a starter we had Ribbons of Smoked Salmon with Warm Potato Pancakes with Dill Cream (Dinners42, p49). I first saw this recipe as Galette de Pomme de Terre, Saumon Fumé et Fromage Frais (VPG; download), then discovered the Dinners42 recipe that is very similar, and a little "fancier." Potato pancakes with smoked salmon and a dilly cream sauce. Easy and surprisingly good, but not very photogenic. I think next time I'll just make a few smaller pancakes, rather than big ones cut in wedges.

We didn't make it to the big marché de noël again this year, which was okay since I had already planned Magret de Canard Façon Wellington (VPG; download). I made a half recipe of this, which was a bit too doughy. The pastry, store-bought, was lined with a buckwheat crêpe; neither were home-made. The dish was delicious, but extremely filling. Although half a magret is usually a good portion for one, with the pastry and filling of mushrooms and foie gras, I think a thick slice per person would suffice. As a side there was Roasted Broccoli with Lemon-Garlic Vinaigrette (EW/sep-oct17; web). This seemed like a good idea, but really didn't work. After more than 30 minutes the broccoli was still crunchy, even the floret part. The vinaigrette was good, but the dish was a disappointment.

The wine was one we bought when we visited the Toulouse area, Château La Colombière Les Frontons Flingueurs. When we tasted wines at the Maison des Vins in Fronton, we'd done four, and I asked for one more, something different. This was what was offered. A hundred percent Negrette grape, and really nice. This is the third, and last, bottle we bought. More expensive than the others we bought there but worth it.

For dessert, there was Pannacotta au Lait d'Amande Vanillé et Sauce Chocolat au Lait  (VPG; web; download) which was very tasty. (The web version is almost exactly the same, but not quite.) The almond milk I found was sweetened, so I reduced the amount of sugar I added. Neither of us likes milk chocolate, so I used dark chocolate. At the last minute I added at bit of cream to the melted chocolate, rather than water that I see now is asked in both recipes. As soon as I stirred in the cream, the melted chocolate thickened, so it wasn't exactly a nice thing on which to serve the delicate and delicious pannacottas.

After a late and lazy start to the day, dinner was late, but we enjoyed it!

Christmas dinner 2015

Beet Consommé with Vegetables, Salmon, and Scallops Cocotte Luté de Pintade aux Citron Confits Perfect Roasted Green Beans Alsace Pinot-Noir Pecan Pie Bread Pudding

Ed set the table more than two hours before dinner was served and was clearly quite anxious to get that wine poured.

We started with Beet Consommé with Vegetables, Salmon, and Scallops (p113, Dinners42). The consommé was made from shredded beets and fish stock. The vegetables were an asparagus spear, a carrot stick, and a small potato each. (Now I see there was supposed to be a leek too. I bought one, but forgot to cook it. That's really okay because the plate is quite full.) There were two chunks of salmon and a scallop to go with those in each plate. A pretty nice soup course. The the beet consommé went especially well with the scallop.

For the main, I chose Cocotte Lutée de Pintade aux Citron Confits. I collected this recipe from C&V. On close reading, the recipe looked a bit odd. The photo clearly shows a bay leaf, thyme, and rosemary and these ingredients were not listed. Plus the cooking time was only one hour, which just didn't seem right for a whole bird. So I looked it up online and found the same but different recipe on the magazine site. The lutée in the title means the pot is sealed with a "rope" of flour and water dough. My tajine was just the right size.

Inside is a nicely cooked guinea hen with potatoes and preserved lemons. Very tasty it was. Served with Perfect Roasted Green Bean (MC, HandyBook).

The magazine article recommended an Alsace pinot-noir to go with the bird. This is a light red wine that indeed went well with the bird, although not as well with the soup. (Online crozes-hermitage was recommeded. No idea what that is.)

Dessert was Pecan Pie Bread Pudding (web), which turned out pretty good. I used sucre de canne (brown sugar) in the egg mixture and reduced the amount to 1/2 cup. Served with a store-bought topping of cream-and-marscapone. Doesn't look like much but it was tasty.

A small but nice dinner.

Christmas dinner 2014

Fig Stuffed with Foie Gras and Salad of Watercress  Nori Fettuccine and Shrimp with Garlic-Chili Butter Sauce Spicy Rack of Lamb with Thai Red Curry Sauce Haricots Verts with Sesame Oil Basmati Rice Mango Ice Cream Sandwich with Macadamia Nut Cookies and Tropical Fruit Compote

Bits of this meal got prepared over the preceding days. On the day itself, I got a typical late start and puttered away most of the afternoon. Nothing rushed and everything came together at the right sort of time.

We started with figs stuffed with foie gras, bought at the marché de noël on Sunday, one each, accompanied by a bit of watercress with vinaigrette. Forgot to take a picture of this, so you'll have to imagine a salad plate with a fat fig and a bit of green beside it.

For the next course there was a pasta dish from a mangled recipe (Dinners42, p91; cookbooker). There should been opihi, a Hawaiian limpet, but there were no limpets at the shop (lots of other crustaceans, so maybe they're not in season). Shrimp was given as a substitute, so shrimp there was. The pasta has nori sheets ground up with the flour and sesame oil as the fat (no eggs). Very tasty.

For the main, there was a lovely rack of lamb (6 points) with a tasty sauce (Dinners42, p93; cookbooker). Since the menu I was following didn't include vegetable matter, we had some haricots verts and a bit of basmati rice on the side (but no pictures) of those.

We finished off a bottle of red wine that we won in a charity hamper. The matching rosé, which we took to the choir party, was not bad at all, so we gave the red a chance for this meal. Not the best choice. It was definitely so-so. Drinkable but nothing interesting.

Dessert (Dinners42, p95; cookbooker) was good, if a bit oversized. There's a layer of mango purée at the bottom, then two halves of an ice cream sandwich, topped with some tropical and not-so-tropical fruit (mangos, kiwis, and some mixed berries). Rather than having a whole ice cream sandwich each, we could have split a single one and been fine. A super idea, though, especially because the real work can be done days before.

Altogether an enjoyable meal.

This week in the kitchen

Monday/22-Dec-14: Dinner was a halfish verison of Tuscan Broccoli Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese (web), a recipe from Green Giant, using one of their products that I don't think I would buy after looking at the ingredients. Anyhow, I just kind of winged it vaguely using what I had. It wasn't bad.

Made up the soup for the mango ice cream for Thursday's meal.

Tuesday/23-Dec-14: We thought we'd do our shopping a day early to avoid the rush. Ha. We've never seen the parking lot so full. The shop was full but all the aisles were open, so there was little waiting time.

In the afternoon I made apple butter and the macadamia nut cookies for the ice cream sandwiches for our xmas meal. Not the prettiest things ever, but they'll do.

Dinner was Gegrilde Sliptong met Avocado-Citroencrème (web), that's grilled Dover sole with avocado-lime cream. Don't know if it was Dover sole, but it was some kind of sole. Lots of little pieces. Had do grill two batches of them. The sauce was interesting and we used it over broccoli and rice too. Then we split a classic magnum.

After dinner, I churned the mango ice cream, made up the sandwiches (three of them, rather than only two), wrapped them individually, and popped them in the freezer. We had one cookie each leftover. (We had split one earlier.) Actually the cookies were pretty good and easy to make. If I do them again, I'll make them smaller.

Wednesday/24-Dec-14: Off to the butcher to pick up our lamb rack this morning. Isn't it pretty?

Emptied the freezer to make chicken stock, which is in the natural refrigerator outside overnight.

Made Christmas Eve Beet Soup (Barszcz Wigilijny) (TLQuint, p15; cookbooker) for dinner tonight. Didn't make the "dumplings" go-with but used cêpes-filled ravioli instead. Pretty good, easy to make but takes lots of clock time (could be done a day before). Then a salad. Then some store-bought vanilla rice pudding (really good stuff).

Made pasta for tomorrow's dinner.

The tree is up and decorated. It's missing balls I've hung every year since 1969 I think. And it's got the puny European lights instead of the cheerful American ones. Next year we probably won't bother at all. Made me sad.

Thursday/25-Dec-14: Yogurt on overday. I got it mixed but forgot for an hour and a half to start it, so it will be a late night tonight waiting till it's done to put it away.

Boiled up the chicken stock and froze it.

Worked on our xmas dinner most of the day. No big hurry, just getting everything done. By about 7.30p, which isn't too bad for us.

Had lots of ideas this year, but settled on a three-course menu from Dinners42 (cookbooker), a gift book I've never used before. We had a pre-starter with a foie gras-stuffed fig each that we got at the market on Sunday. Oh my, these are good. One is plenty. (I've got four more in the freezer now for another "event"—they come in a six-pack.)

This is the kitchen with most of the prep work almost done. (Pasta exposed for the photo; yogurt jars finishing drying after the dishwasher.) The bone booties are ancient; I've been toting that half-used box around for ages.

Ready to eat ...

All cleaned up and ready to put away, which will happen tomorrow morning.

Friday/26-Dec-14: A lightish dinner tonight, P.F. Chang's China Bistro Garlic Noodles (web; cookbooker). This is all over the web, all with the same poor instructions. Pretty good to eat though. For dessert we had some store-bought panna cottas with mango-passion fruit sauce that was a bit too sweet.

Saturday/27-Dec-14: We had our main meal in the afternoon so we could go to a movie in the early evening.

We had a half recipe of Tuna-Swiss Baked Patties (CL88, p125), which turned out pretty good. I've never been very good at patty things, but these held together pretty well. I put one egg yolk (hard to halve a yolk) in the patties and used the white to hold on the breadcrumbs (panko). Served with steamed asparagus and trio rice. For dessert, I used up some leftover evaporated milk to make Memaw's Pet Milk Pudding (web). Easy and not bad. Seemed a bit thick to me and not as creamy as my mother's recipe (which doesn't invove evaporated milk).

Sunday/28-Dec-14: Dinner was a half recipe of Saucy Chicken Gyros (web), tasty and quite easy to make. It would be fast if you put the chicken on to marinate in the morning or evening before. Didn't make the tapenade, but opened a jar. For dessert, we had more pudding, with mixed berries.

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