This week in the kitchen

Monday/20-Sep-21: Yogurt on overday. Put a rouelle de porc on to brine for tomorrow's dinner. 

We both had dentist appointments this afternoon, so I planned for a dinner that didn't require lots of chewing. We had Risotto con Spinaci (TuscKitch, p122), which was better than I expected really. The spinach was added at the beginning of cooking and I was afraid it would be mushy and unpleasant tasting, but it was fine. Luongo has you make a risotto by puttig the rice and all liquid in the pan at once. I added the stock bit by bit as I usually do. (Ed threw away the extra stock, which I was going to use for a little lunchtime soup. I'm out of stock in the freezer now, so need to make some more.) For after we had boulangerie-bought chocolate-pear toetjes.

Tuesday/21-Sep-21: Dinner was a Pork Roast (Everlasting, p169), accompanied by smashed sweet potatoes and buttered sweet corn. We're full. 

Wednesday/22-Sep-21: Leftovers tonight. We had the rest of the Clafoutis Courgettes. Then a sort of insalata caprese with our (only!) tomato from the potager this year, a beefsteak. With mozzarella and the last of the basil plant. And a pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Thursday/23-Sep-21: Shopping today. I really do have to stop buying meat from the anti-gaspi bin. The freezer is getting full of this stuff. Plus varkenshaas were on sale (who can pass those up) and merguez too. 

Dinner was Fish with Artichokes & Capers (MWClass, p365). This was okay. Served with lots of little buttered potatoes. Some store-bought dark chocolate mousses for after.

Friday/24-Sep-21: Time to catch up on some of the cookbooks I've been reading.

I finished Salt Fat Acid Heat, by Samin Nosrat, a while ago. This is a very good good book, more how to think about cooking and the use of the titled ingredients than recipes. 

Finished My New Mediterranean Cookbook, by Jeannette Seaver, not too long ago. Seaver wrote one of my favorite French cookbooks, Jeannette's Secrets of Everyday Good Cooking. Haven't cooked from this one yet, but it looks promising.

In between, I read a borrowed quickie, Pepys at Table, with recipes from the 17C adapted to the modern kitchen. A fun read, if nothing that attracted me to cook.

Recently, needing a cookbook to read on the way to grocery shopping, I grabbed The Book Lover's Cookbook, by Shaunda Kennedy Wenger and Janet Kay Jensen. Turns out I've already read this, but forgot to take the dot off the spine. A mildly interesting book, but I doubt I'll finish it again. Need to think more carefully about my next read.

Dinner was Linguine al Cavolfiore (MC; an old mag clipping). Haven't made this in a long time, a shame since it's good stuff. Then a salad. Then a pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each.

Saturday/25-Sep-21: Busy day. I've got a pot of chicken stock going. Meant to freeze it up today, but didn't get that done. Made some Oven-Roasted Tomatoes; these are now in the freezer on a plate. 

Made Original Plum Torte (web) aka Purple Plum Torte (Essential, p763). Not quite following the more recently published version from the web, I reduced the sugar even further, to 2/3cup. This was fine. This is easy to make and delicious. 

Our main was a half version of Moroccan-Spiced Roast Chicken with Creamy Cilantro Sauce* (web), using 4 thighs rather than a whole chicken. Cooked in a skillet in the oven. Very tasty, the skin was crispy and tasty. We couldn't eat a whole pound of potatoes. Served with little violet artichokes (web), a recipe from a friend. Still a bit fiddly to do (lots of trimming), but the whole thing is edible which is nice. Plum Torte for dessert, of course.

Sunday/26-Sep-21: Didn't get the chicken stock put up yet again. But Ed's gotten the kitchen hot water heater replaced, so tomorrow this might get done. (Unfortunately the water heater isn't a geyser, like we had in NL, but a small 35-liter water heater that serves the kitchen and the Tardis in our bedroom.)

Dinner was a half-dose of Evan's Lamb Curry (Tenth, p232). This is in the using-up-leftover-lamb category. It was ok, nothing special. Served over brown basmati rice. Beforehand we munched on some Spicy Cucumber Wedges (MJ1, p172), an old favorite. And Plum Torte for dessert.

Another week without a photo. :-(

Yogurt on overnight.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 4; #2 PHOTO: no; #3 *DMA: yes
This month: #4 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG1: yes; #6 BACKLOG2: yes!; #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/11-May-20: Dinner was a half dose of Cauliflower Gratin with Tomatoes and Feta (VC4E, p281; cookbooker), served over short-grain brown rice. This was good, quite satisfying.

Put a rouelle on to marinate, as in (Everlasting, 169). (That's a slice out of a ham, this one about 1.3kg.)

Tuesday/12-May-20: Ed picked up an order from Leclerc Drive today. Luckily it’s cool out, so much of the order can sit outside to decontaminate.

Dinner was a half dose of Zucchini Potato Bake (web). We got two main dish servings of this and will have it again as a side dish. Good it was. Made up a little salad of the asparagus stems that didn’t make it in yesterday’s tart, plus a small handful of fêves from the potager, and some radishes. That didn’t seem like enough, so I added some couscous. With a dressing of lemon juice and olive oil. Turned out pretty good.

Started some of Susan Dunaway's No-Knead Bread.

Wednesday/13-May-20: Baked the bread this morning. Had a mix-up with timers and took the lid off too soon. Put it back on when I realized what I'd done. It was still okay.

For dinner I roasted my pig bit (Everlasting, p169). It was good. Roast the potato bits left from the mandoline yesterday as a side. Then a salad. Munched on more pork during a quiz. Saved the bone and meat bits to make some bean soup before long.

Thursday/14-May-20: Used up the rest of the cauliflower today, making Roasted Cauliflower, Chickpeas, and Olives (MC; CL/mar10; web). Served over pasta, as I have before. Good stuff. Have a bit left that will appear in a salad perhaps. Cookies for dessert. I guess I should make some kind of dessert at some point.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/15-May-20: Went to make bread today and can't find my folder of ABM breads, with notes, that I've been cooking from. Printed it out again. Sigh.

Ed went off to Intermarché for groceries today. Lots of veggies, fish, some meat, some fresh cheese.

Dinner was Whole Grain Linguine with Salmon and Asparagus (web). Used spaghetti rather than linguine, since that's all I have that's whole wheat. Not bad stuff, although it's hard to believe that would serve 6-8 people. I made more or less a whole recipe (more salmon even, less pasta) and it served two generously. Then a big salad. Some cheese for after.

Late in the day, I made some Taste of Italy Bread (MC) in the bread machine. Used bread flour to make up about a quarter cup shortage of semolina flour. The loaf is huge.

Saturday/16-May-20: Don't like the Italian herbs I used in the bread, but the bread itself is nice. Since I can't get good Italian herbs here (French-style Italian herbs taste more of Provence, with lavender, I think), I need find a recipe to make up some of my own regularly.

Before starting dinner, I made some Apricot Pecan Scones (web), with the Apricot Honey Butter. Cut the sugar back to 1/4cup.

Dinner was Prawn and Fish Couscous (Flavours, p87; cookbooker). This was ok, but nothing special. The scones were very good, though.

Sunday/17-May-20: Finally the the fridge and its freezer defrosted today. That's been wanting for a while.

A smish-smash of a dinner tonight. Leftover asparagus tart. Leftover roasted cauliflower, chickpeas, and olives. Leftover zucchini-potato bake. A small salad of beet and sucrine lettuce. And apricot-pecan scones for after. We're full.

Yogurt on overnight.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 6; #2 BACKLOG: no
This month: #3 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #4 SHORT: no; #5 LONG: no
On-going: #6 READ; #7 RECYCLE; #8 NEW

This week in the kitchen

Monday/2-Dec-19: Hard-boiled (steamed) some eggs today.

Dinner was Curried Cauliflower Bisque (VegPlanet, p110). Made a whole recipe so we have lots in the freezer for another time. Served with tuna salad sandwiches. A square of chocolate for dessert.

Tuesday/3-Dec-19: Yogurt on overday.

For dinner we had some of the tiny Drôme raviolis (from the freezer) with pesto, along with the salad we didn't eat a couple of nights ago, topped with cooked chicken breasts.

Wednesday/4-Dec-19: Using-up-veggies fried rice tonight, very loosely based on Fried Rice (MW@Home, p230). Used cooked brown rice from the freezer. This worked fine, but would have been easier if I'd given it a chance to defrost. For half the rice, made up all the tofu marinating sauce with lots of garlic-chili sauce. Made a flat omelet of one egg. Then a red bell pepper and some snijbonen. Then some oesterzwammen and the end of a zucchini. Pretty good it was.

Thursday/5-Dec-19: Shopping today.

Dinner was a half dose of Garlic Butter Salmon in Foil (web). This was yummy, but took about 30min to cook, maybe because I put the packets in a casserole dish rather than on a baking sheet. Served with trio rice and steamed broccoli, all topped with the delicious herby garlic butter. Vanilla ice cream and (defrosted) blueberries for dessert. But later we had some chocolate-covered madeleines.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/6-Dec-19: Diner was a half recipe of Boudin Noir aux Pommes (web), which was good, if cholesterol-enhancing. Then mashed potatoes, with cream since that was out for the boudin. And some peas and shallots. For after we had some P'tit Basque cheese. Whew.

Saturday/7-Dec-19: Choucroute dinner at a local restaurant. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

Sunday/8-Dec-19: Really didn't have the oompth to make what was on the plan for today, so I made tomorrow's meal, "Barbecued" pork sandwiches, cooked pork from the freezer with Vinegary Barbecue Sauce (Everlasting, p193), topped with some of Mama's Garlic Coleslaw (MC, Handybook). Some mini ice cream cups for dessert — very nice for our tingly tongues.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 4 #3 COOKBOOK: n/a
Cookbooks of the month: none
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: no; #6 GUESTS: no
This year: #7 PROJECT: no

This week in the kitchen

Monday/5-Dec-16: Dinner was Pasta with Sardines (Everlasting, p185), which was easy and wasn't bad at all, considering I'm not overly fond of the strong taste of sardines. Then a salad. And we had mini magnums for dessert, Ed a classic, me a white.

Tuesday/6-Dec-16: Off to the vet this a.m. for Oscar's shots. Blood tests revealed failing kidneys (not unusual in 9yo). We have medicine and special food for him now.

For dinner, I turned the turkey chili sort of thing I made last week into a tamale pie, adding chopped black olive to the chili and using the cornmeal mush part from Tamale Pie (OldLaurel, p299). Served with a salad of avocado, tomato, shallot, lime juice, and cilantro. Pretty good, and especially good on the tamale pie. No dessert needed.

Wednesday/7-Dec-16: Shopping today, really late.

Dinner was Roasted Salmon with Thyme and Honey-Mustard Glaze (web). Pretty good even though I forgot and used plain Dijon mustard rather than "country Dijon", which I'm sure would have been better. The recipe calls for the fish to be cooked at 450F for 26 minutes? Twenty-six? That's more than twice too long. Yuck. Served with some boiled potatoes (rattes) and Pan-Grilled Zucchini (MJ@Home, p173), which I did under the broiler, with the rack in the lower position. Go the timing exactly right, not that I noted the time, but they were perfect. Some store-bought "rice cakes with caramel" for dessert. Yum.

Yogurt on overnight.

Thursday/8-Dec-16: Small chats with Sydney and Jody today. Leftover tamale pie for dinner, along with salad of avaocao, tomato, shallot, lime juice, cilantro, etc. No dessert needed.

Friday/9-Dec-16: Quick dinner tonight, but tasty: One Pot Parmesan Pasta (web). The pasta was kind of cooked risotto-style, with liquid being added by the ladleful along the way. A neat idea, but the cooking time for the pasta is way off; mine was ready about 12-13 minutes, where the recipe ask 18-20! Could add mushrooms, or other veggies to the mix. Served with a salad. A square of chocolate for after.

Saturday/10-Dec-16: We had our main meal early today, so we could go to a movie. We had Butternut Squash Tarte Tatin (web), which was pretty good, but I'm not sure what was gained by turning it upside down so the pastry was on the bottom when it was served. I've put the leftovers in pastry-side up. Then a big salad. I rolled out the extra pastry and lined a small tart dish. Then made a filling of a chopped up apple, some cinnamon and cardamon and a spoonful of brown sugar. Served with a dollop of crème fraîche. Not bad at all.

Sunday/11-Dec-16: Went to a couple of xmas markets today. Didn't buy anything. Lot of nice Stuff to buy, but we don't need any more Stuff. I'm trying to get rid of it!

Dinner was Pastasotto et Se Boulettes de Boeuf à la Moutarde Amora (VPG, web). Except this originally came from an Amora mustard ad, but I got it from VPG. Sh, don't tell, I used Maille Dijon instead of Amora. By sheer coincidence, this is the second pasta-cooked-in-a-risotto-fashion meal I've made this week. Pretty good, except that salt was nowhere an ingredient and it was needed. (I don't add salt to my chicken stock.) The meatballs were especially. Mustard, herbes de Provence, dried parsley flakes, one egg, and some chapelure (bread crumbs). (It was supposed to be two egg yolks, but I didn't want to deal with yet more extra whites, so I used a whole egg. Worked fine.)

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/29-Jul-13: Working on our blueberry surplus, I made some Blueberry Scones (MC) this afternoon. Pretty good, they are.

The hot weather may be gone for a while, but there are still cantaloupe to use up. Tonight's dinner was Melon, Zucchini, and Pancetta Salad (PatSalads, p22). Pretty good it was too. I had only mâche and arugula, too much probably; the bitterness of a bit of frisée would probably have been nice. No honeydew melon, just a charentaise melon, which is similar to cantaloupe. Quite a nice salad. For afters, we ate a bit of goat cheese.

Tuesday/30-Jul-13: Pasta night. Made Dilly Pasta (PastaMach, p72) with Shrimp Dill Sauce (PastaMach, p135). The pasta had dried dill in it, but not much added flavor. The sauce was so-so, not one to do again.

Wednesday/31-Jul-13: Shopping today. Not very big in volume, but lots of money involved.

Dinner was Salmon & Avocado Salad (PatSalads, p80). I liked it, but Ed thought there was too much balsamic in the sauce. Which was interesting because there was none. I was thinking the sauce (mirin and soy) went very well with the smoked salmon, while he thought it overpowered it. I thought it would be a nice starter, in smaller portions, for an Asian-ish meal.

Thursday/1-Aug-13: Ed's Montbron choir had a picnic today, so I was up (relatively) early to prepare our food. First there was Cantaloupe Soup (Picnic, p25), which was tasting good up to the point of adding the balsamic vinegar. That changed the color and didn't enhance the flavor. For the main, there was some old favorites, Spicy Grilled Peppered Lamb Skewers (BigFlav, p142) along with the recommended Green Grape-Parsley Relish (BigFlav, p77) and potato salad à la Joy of Cooking, requested by Ed. Yesterday while shopping, I noticed cheesecake in the fresh cheese section and bought us a chunk for dessert. Yum.

Friday/2-Aug-13: Yogurt on overday.

The blueberry harvest is in full swing, so lots to use up. Dinner was Chicken & Blueberry Pasta Salad (web), a surprising combination, chicken breasts, pasta, feta, and blueberries, but it worked well. A simple salad to follow, then cheese, trying to use up what we didn't eat with Jody and Steve. After dinner we picked another pint or so of blueberries. There will be another batch to pick, but may not as much.

Saturday/3-Aug-13: Made up some Vinegary Barbecue Sauce (Everlasting, p193) for tomorrow's dinner. Finger-licking good.

Dinner was Pasta with Summer Vegetables in a Spicy Peanut Sauce (MC 2BTried). Not as spicy as advertised. Not bad altogether. Then some crêmes brulées from the freezer for dessert.

Sunday/4-Aug-13: Tonight we had sort of pulled pork sandwiches, some cooked pork from the freezer that soaked overnight in the Vinegary Barbecue Sauce, got reheated, and served in ciabattas. Now, that's a really good sauce, sweet and sour and spicy. Served with Mama's Garlic Coleslaw (MC, HandyBook) and some Oven Roasted Corn that was supposed to be amazing, but wasn't really.

Yogurt on overnight.            

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