This week in the kitchen

Monday/31-May-21: I had an itch for duck not too long ago, so tonight we had Peppery Duck Steaks with Parsley Salad (1Good, p185). This was quite good. The "fluffy" parsley salad was surprisingly good. Served with steamed new potatoes from the potager (offspring of some sprouted red potatoes that got thrust into the ground) and Herbed Fava Beans (web, but the favas are overcooked then drowned in vinaigrette; MC; GD). The vinaigrette really blends nicely with the favas. 

The rest of the tapioca pudding for after.

Tuesday/1-Jun-21: Yogurt on overday. Baked a loaf of Easy French bread again. (It's good, have I said?)

Dinner was Stir-Fried Prawns with Fresh Asparagus (HotWok, p92). The asparagus I got this week were purple. As far as I can tell they taste the same. Good. Over plain basmati rice. For after, some chopped fruit (apple, peach, kiwi) with cream. 

Wednesday/2-Jun-21: Lots of veggies to use up, so I deviated from the plan (that's what it's for, isn't it?) to make something else. First I found this recipe for Blistered Runner Beans with Bagna Cauda (web). I had more veggies total than the 400g of snijbonen this recipe asks, but made half the sauce and that was sufficient. I "blistered" the snijbonen as instructed; I roasted (under the grill) a red bell pepper; I roasted (in the oven) some broccoli. Arranged these on a platter and poured the sauce over them.  Served over brown rice. Very satisfying dinner. Some chopped fruit with cream for after.

Thursday/3-Jun-21: Shopping in the store again. 

No asparagus this week; season over, I guess. Dinner was, sort of, Salmon with Fennel, Bell Pepper, Olives (web). Except I forgot to put a navel orange on the list, so used a lemon instead. This was pretty good, in spite of me. The fennel and bell pepper was an odd combination, but worked really well. Served with a shaped whole wheat pasta. For after, some store-bought riz au laits wtih chopped fruit, which was a good idea, but the crunchy fruit and the cream riz au lait didn't work well.

Friday/4-Jun-21: Tonight we had the leftovers from the chicken with onion-almond sauce. Served with Yellow Basmati Rice with Sesame Seeds (MJ@Home, p208) again; no soaking the rice this time. And South Indian-Style Green Beans (MJ@Home, p147) made with snijbonen. All was delicious. Some chocolate-covered madeleines for after. 

Saturday/5-Jun-21: Dinner was a half dose of Broccoli and Feta Frittata (web). This was pretty good even if some of the broccoli was a tad crunchy. Then a big salad. And some chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Sunday/6-Jun-21: Dinner was Chicken in a Creamy Parmesan and Sundried Tomato Sauce* (web; GD). This was good again. Served with some tagliatelle and a half recipe of Easy Roasted Asparagus and Carrots (web). This was okay, nothing special. Before starting dinner, I made Chenango Valley Chocolate Cake (EAT-L; GD). This was simple, easy to get into the oven before serious cooking started. Also delicious, light and fluffy. I didn't bother to frost it. Ed had it with some cream.

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; #6 BACKLOG2: no; #7 RECYCLE: 11; #8 NEW: 4

This week in the kitchen

Monday/8-Mar-21: I'm doing quite well clearing out old recipes. Ran across the folder of recipes I've entered into Mastercook, bundled by year, and have tossed most of that. Ed might one day fix the computer where my old Mastercook would run, but I doubt I'd enter any more recipes there. Might be nice to correct typos, though.

Yogurt on overday. Should have made bread, but that didn't happen.

Got two Drive orders made for tomorrow. I'm out and about on Wednesday, so we'll pick them up tomorrow instead of our usual Wednesday.

Used up a surplus of bananas to make The Best Banana Cake I've Ever Had (web). It's good enough, but can't say it's the best ever. Anyhow a change from the yogurt things we've been having.

Dinner was Skillet Spanakoptia (web). It was quite pretty, but my camera was upstairs, and I was too lazy to go up and get it. My filo had been in the freezer for a while, so was a bit crumbly, but filo really doesn't mind. The whole thing was yummy. I like the way it's cooked in a skillet. My 9" skillet was perfect. We'll only have four servings, when there should have been eight; that must be with side dishes, of which there were none here. Banana Cake for dessert.

Tuesday/9-Mar-21: Made a loaf of Buckwheat Bread (Magic, p73) (Basic/Rapid/M/m/-). It looks lovely, but won't get eating till tomorrow.

Made a half dose of Simple Beijing-Style Marinated Cucumber Salad (HotWok, p153) to go with tomorrow's dinner.

Dinner was a half recipe of Chicken Fesenjan (EW sep/oct17; web). I forgot the pomegranate seeds in the end, which make it a bit of a dull dish to see. Served with (store-bought) Moroccan couscous. Some Banana Cake for after.

Wednesday/10-Mar-21: Dinner was a halfish recipe of Quick-Braised Fish Fillets in Black Bean Sauce (web). I don't really see what's braised here. The fish are breaded (or, really, flour-glue pasted), shallow fried, then rewarmed in sauce. My breading was a failure, not a skill I've mastered. Altogether, the bits of fish (cod falls apart at the least provocation) warmed in the tomato-y sauce was quite tasty, but nothing I'd want to again. Served with the cucumber salad I make yesterday and Zesty Onion and Peas (HotWok, p178), both trusty recipes, and some plain basmati rice. A pair of store-bought yogurt desserts for after.

Thursday/11-Mar-21: Yogurt on overday.

Leftover Spanikopita for dinner; still good. Then a big salad. And some Banana Cake for after.

Friday/12-Mar-21: Busy day today. Ed took the car to a muffler place to have the mounts replaced. And about 15.30 the electricity for the house went out. Ed couldn't find the problem at first (and no dead mouse in the fuse box). I went to a neighbor and she called one and left a message asking him to come soon; later she brought the number of another one and I left a message on his answering machines, land line and cell phone. Ed finally discovered that the problem lay in one wall socket, the one that runs the freezer. He took that off, expecting to find a dead mouse there, but no luck. Tomorrow he'll replace the socket and hope that fixes the problem.

I started dinner while there was light outside and none inside. We had about a 2/3 recipe of Stir-Fried Prawns with Fresh Asparagus (HotWok, p92), which it looks like I haven't made since 1996. It was good again, served over plain basmati rice. We finished the Banana Cake for after.

Started an Overnnight Boule.

Saturday/13-Mar-21: Baked the Overnight Boule.

Clearing off the peninsula today, I found bags of dried apricots, prunes, figs, and a sack with four dates. I used these to make Stewed Dried Fruits (WofE, p388), which I made during IHCC's Madhur Jaffrey season.

Dinner was Shawarma-Spiced Grilled Chicken with Garlic Yogurt Sauce* (web). This was yummy. The photo showed it being serving with sliced cucumber, but the fridge is bare of cukes, so I sliced some radishes and red bell pepper for our veggie bits. Served with some pita/kebab breads and some Shredded Zucchini (MW@Home, p87). All was yummy. Dessert was a bit of vanilla ice cream with Stewed  Dried Fruits. Have to remember to make that more often; it's really nice and must be healthy.

Sunday/14-Mar-21: Today Ed discovered the electric problem was in the lamp that stood in the cookbook area. Twisted wires shorted out. Now looking for a new lamp.

Yogurt on overday. Powercut in the middle, so I had to restart. I'll save the ones from the last batch to make the next batch.

Dinner was a halfish dose of Greek Artichoke and Potato Stew (Ready, p140). This was good, but nothing special. Probably it was the little purple artichokes rather than the big green ones, which are not completely edible. Better still would be to use frozen artichoke bottoms. The sauce was a bit thin; I think a whole can of tomatoes for a half recipe would have been been better, thus, two cans for a whole recipe. I thickened with a bit of potato starch.

For after, there was ice cream with Stewed Dried Fruits again.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/6-Apr-20: When I ordered rumsteak at Intermarché, I neglected to say that I wanted a thick cut. What arrived was quite thin, so I searched for something else for dinner. I made Savoury Beef with Asparagus (HotWok, p98). I used to use this book a lot, but not so much since we've moved here. This was an untried recipe, perfect since we have a lot of asparagus right now. Pretty good it was. Then we had last night's salad, which I forgot at lunchtime. No dessert so far.

Tuesday/7-Apr-20: Used up the last bit of cabbage and the bird sausages from the freezer to make Sausage and Cabbage Pasta (web). This was easy and pretty good. Some chocolate-covered madeleine for after. We're getting low on these, and no way to replenish the stock.

Wednesday/8-Apr-20: Placed another order with Intermarché Drive, to be picked up Saturday.

Made some English Muffin Bread (MC) for tomorrow.

Dinner was, vaguely, Asparagus and Leeks on Toast (VegSups, p183). I used a (French) ciabatta for the bread. Goat cheese for the Fontina. Frozen spinach for fresh. Forgot the lemon juice at the end. Still it wasn't bad, surprisingly good even. Some chocolate-covered madeleines for after. These are getting scarce. We can't replenish till we can go into Leclerc.

Thursday/9-Apr-20: Made a loaf of Bill Hatcher's Italian Bread (MC) today.

Our first fresco meal today. Dinner was a halfish recipe of Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Lemon Tahini Dressing (web). This was unusual but good. I served over big lettuce leaves; used frozen parsley because I forgot to order the real stuff last time. It looks like I ordered plain vanilla ice cream, but we got vanilla pecan; we had that for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/10-Apr-20: This morning, I went off to pick up a package with flour and rice at a package depot place. The first time I've had proper shoes or jeans on in weeks. Five kilos of flour fills up my Tupperware Cake Taker.

Dinner was a half recipe of Linguine with Tuna Fish Sauce (PastaCarlu, p24), which we've had several times and remains good. Then a big salad. Then Nigella's Emergency Brownies (web; GoogleDrive), which were quite good. Ed had his with cream; I didn't.

Saturday/11-Apr-20: Ed picked up the Intermarché Drive order today. No strawberries, but we've got asparagus again. And fish for two nights.

While dinner was in the making, we munched on some Spicy Cucumber Wedges (MJ1, p172). We have a surplus of cukes for the next week or so. This is a start on using them up.

First of our fish dinners was Grilled Masala Salmon (MJ@Home, p46) cooked on the bbq. We've enjoyed this before; it's still good. Served with Potato Chaat (MJ@Home, p165) and Zucchini and Yellow Summer Squash with Cumin (MJ@Home, p174) (only zucchini). We've had both of these before too, and they were still good. For dessert there was Vermicelli Kheer (MJ@Home, p274). I've made a half recipe of this before, and remarked that it never really thickened. This time it set like glue. I think the store-bought vermicelli are not thin enough. Tastes good, though.

Sunday/12-Apr-20: Made some Authentic French Bread (Magic, p22) for our next bread.

Dinner was Fish Kebabs—Spicy Cod and Salmon Patties (web). This was good, but hard to believe it would serve four. I thought it might serve three; Ed said, No way, it's perfect for two. Served with plain basmati rice and Carrot and Onion Salad (MJ1, p171). For dessert we had some of the Vermicelli Kheer with cream. Good taste, bad texture.

Yogurt on overnight.

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/9-Apr-18: This was a day for using up leftovers. I defrosted some chipolatas, and we had them with leftover cauliflower salad, hominy, roast potatoes, and sweet potatoes. A nice mix. Finished the St Felicien for afters.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/10-Apr-18: Another day of using up leftovers. Stir-fried rice. Had MW@Home on the counter, but didn't really use it. Sloshed together stuff for a sauce. Cooked some eggs. Onion, garlic, green bell pepper strips, peas. Leftover rice from last Friday. Good it was.

Wednesday/11-Apr-18: Shopping today.

Our meal was a half recipe of Stir-Fried Beef with Five Peppercorns (HomTrav, p126), using the last faux filet I defrosted for Sunday. This was good stuff, easy to make and tasty. I didn't much like the suggested noodles as accompaniment; rice would have been better. As a side, there was Broccoli in Fragrant Wine Sauce (HotWok, p156). This was nice, as usual. For dessert, I finished my chocolate Easter bunny. Ed finished his in one big session many days ago.

Thursday/12-Apr-18: Cath came to eat today before we went off to see a little art exhibit. We started with a mâche and beet salad, as in BEFCC, but with the dressing from Pomiane's beet salad. For a main with had Whitefish en Papillote (BestPC, p60), with lieu noir; brown rice on the side. When we got back we had coffee, tea, and Cath's apple&blackberry crumble.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/13-Apr-18: Our meal was Spanish Supper: Chicken Morcilla and Sherry (BirdHand, p10). I used only three thighs, since that was in a packet, and but boudin noir made it extra. I tossed in two artichoke hearts left from yesterday. Served this with polenta to soak up the juices. For a starter we had beets and mâche with the rest of Pomiane's dressing. Tastily stuffed we were.

Saturday/14-Apr-18: Our meal was Spinazie Omelet met Zalm en Cottage Cheese (web). More or less. The picture here looks more like a pancake than an omelet, while mine looked more like scrambled eggs. Nevermind, it all tastes very good together. Next time, think I would make two single omelets, fold the thinly sliced spinach (or arugula) into the omelet, then top with cheese (I used pyramid goat cheese), pine nuts, salmon, and chives. Followed by Tomato and Cucumber Salad (BEFCC, p24), which was a nice dish.

Sunday/15-Apr-18: Our meal today was a halfish recipe of Nigel Slater's Aubergine Ragu with Cream and Parmesan Lentils (web). I used a whole eggplant, which was fine for the two us; everthing else was close to half. More shrooms wouldn't hurt. Thought Slater's lentil-cooking time was a bit short, but maybe mine were old? Good and filling, your basic brown meal.

Yogurt on overnight.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/4-Jul-16: Geesh, between the official end of TLNorthW and 30MinInd,  last week I published five extra posts for Cookbook Countdown. Didn't I say earlier that I didn't want to get involved with one of these posting things again? Oh well.

Dinner was Lemon Grass Chicken with Chilli (HotWok, p144), served with Thai-Style Cauliflower (HotWok, p181) and plain basmati rice. Haven't used this book in a long time, so this was fun. The chicken was a bit salty (even though I remembered not to add extra salt because Hom's recipes usually have plenty of salt from soy sauce). But all was tasty. Small serving of Hot Chocolate Ice Cream with a bit of cream, for dessert.

Tuesday/5-Jul-16: A bit of a smish-smash for dinner using up lots of odd bits. The main course was Seared Peppered Pork Loin with Cucumber Mint Salsa (web), using something like pork chops. The cucumber salsa was especially good. And there was corn on the cob. And some Chile-Roasted Broccoli (web), not quite enough, done in the toaster oven so I didn't have to heat a bit oven; easy and pretty good. And some grilled violet artichokes, loosely following a web recipe I can't find now. (Basically, clean them, boil them most of the way, grill the rest of the way, then toss with a strong lemon vinaigrette with some chopped kalamatas for the salt.) All good, if an odd assembly. Then some ice creams for dessert.

Wednesday/6-Jul-16: How nice to get back to our old Wednesday shopping schedule. The store is really much emptier. I impulse-bought a bundle of rhubarb, so need to do something with that soon.

No tuna today, so it wasn't seared tuna steaks, but Seared Swordfish Steaks (HowTo, p187) for dinner. Served topped with Roasted Pepper Relish with Olives, Capers, and Rosemary (HowTo, p173), with a side of trio rice. Then a big salad, using some of the croutons I made last weekend. Then more of the Hot Chocolate Ice Cream with a bit of milk. All good.

After dinner, we went to friends' house to water plants while they're away and came away with more than three cups of blueberries. Something else for tomorrow.

Yogurt on overnight.

Thursday/7-Jul-16: A bit of cooking today, if not as much as I'd planned.

Used the blueberries to make a Blueberry Cobbler. Started with a recipe from a little brochure I copied from Tiffany long ago, but it had an oddness in the ingredients (it asked for "1 cube of butter"). I found a very similar recipe online, that called for 1/2 cup of butter, and merged the two. (I used less than 1/2 cup butter, since there was something less than that in the butter dish.) [I actually put a brief version of the recipe here, but Blogger has garbled it. Maybe I'll do it again, or maybe not.]

Made a quarter recipe of Tandoori Masala (web), so I could make the sauce to put a half recipe of Tandoori Chicken (30MinInd, p40) on to marinate for the night.

Dinner was boudin noir served with the Rhubarb Chutney I made a couple of weeks ago and some of Clothilde Dusoulier's Perfect Roasted Potatoes (web). The chutney was super; I may need to make some more from the batch I just bought, or from our garden rhubarb, which is starting to think about being harvestable.

Friday/8-Jul-16: This morning I made Cauliflower Relish from 30MinInd, thinking it was for tonight, but it's really for tomorrow and Monday. Date challenged, I am.

Tonight's dinner we had Tandoori Chicken, Spiced Beets, and Coconut Rice. Followed by more blueberry cobbler.

Saturday/9-Jul-16: Tonight's dinner was Chile-Lime Pork (web), marinated several hours, then cooked on the bbq. Very good stuff. Served with polenta, leftover Spiced Beets (still good), and the Cauliflower Relish (not so good). (Will write that up with Monday's dinner, since I forgot to take a picture today.)

Sunday/10-Jul-16: Ed had a choir concert today and we had pizza afterwards.

Yogurt on overnight.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/30-May-16: Embroidered some chili today, more or less following my old tried-and-true recipe. Accompanied by Cayenne Cornbread (BigGerman, p182) and guacamole.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/31-May-16: Used an overripe banana to make Banana Mousse (MC) from an old recipe. Not very mousse-like (my homemade yogurt is not very thick right now), but still tasty.

Dinner was Thai Peanut Curry Noodles (web), which is supposed to serve four. Maybe as a side. We ate all of it as a main course. Used fresh peas instead of edamame, which isn't available, and I don't like all that much anyhow. Cleared out my backlog of broccoli stems. It could have used even more of the pasta water, but it might be that my organic peanut butter is a bit drier than what they used. Tasty enough, and probably healthy. Even followed by the Banana Mousse.

Wednesday/1-Jun-16: I woke up this morning thinking it was Thursday and wondering why I hadn't done some of my usual Wednesday things. Been in a muddle all day.

We had our main meal early, since Ed went off to an evening choir practice. We had Chicken with Bacon Mustard Sauce (web), easy, tasty, and a definite Keeper. Used lardons instead of bacon; probably better for that. Served with trio rice and steamed broccoli topped with a bit of garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice.

Thursday/2-Jun-16: Ed's choir didn't meet this afternoon, so had our main meal early, then took the opportunity to head for a movie in the early evening.

Our meal was Fettuccine with Zucchini (BeardPasta, p81; cookbooker). Had intended to make fresh pasta for this, but am glad I didn't since the sauce would have been too much. It was quite good and would be better in the summer when you're getting the veggies (zucchini, bell peppers, tomatoes) straight from the garden. Served over dried tagliatelle. Made a salad but it seemed like too much. Plus we were out of time.

Off to the movie. At a theatre we haven't been to before. And haven't been to yet, since we didn't find it. Turns out it's not really in the commune where it's advertised to be. Came home, watched a DVD, and ironed. We lead such an exciting life.

Friday/3-Jun-16: Off plan today. We had our main meal, all leftovers, before we went shopping. That was the rest of the pasta salad with artichokes and shrimp, followed by the salad we didn't eat yesterday. We were full.

Late at the store, which was jam-packed with people. Note to self: Late Friday afternoon is not a good time to shop. Last week there was lots of rhubarb; this week none. What happened? It surely can't be out of season already.

Saturday/4-Jun-16: Early meal today so we could go to a play in the evening. We had Visburgertjes (web), more or less. I used cod and lieu noir for the fish, and cilantro instead of parsley. And I inadvertently used ketjap manis instead of vissaus. Oops. They were good anyhow. Served with rice and Hong Kong-Style Broccoli and Baby Corn (HotWok, p158), which was pretty good.

Sunday/5-Jun-16: It's stopped raining for a while, so we bbq'd some lamb merguez from the freezer for dinner. As sides there were steamed asparagus with lemon-butter and Lemon Roasted Sweet Potatoes (Screamingly, p140), which I've made before and is a really good (and easy) way to do sweet potatoes. For dessert there was, more or less, Feuilleté à la Mangue et aux Pommes (web; VPG), using up some apples and some frozen mango slices. Funny propotions—I used only part of the apples and mangos required. Used some squares of pâte feuilleté, since the whole piece I get is usually circular, not to be cut into squares. Pretty good, and two let for tomorrow night.

Corn stickers. When Ed and I got together, we each brought a set (6 or 8?) of the regular sort of yellow plastic handles for corn on the cob. We moved with eight; not sure if we gave some away as we moved. We're now down to six, since two have split at the metal pegs in the last few months. I'm wondering if we should get more or not. Six is fine for the two of us, and maybe some company. Is six enough to have or not?

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/2-Jun-14: Yogurt on overday.

Dinner was a half dose of Zucchini, Caper, and Herb Linguine (web). Pretty good stuff. Then a small salad. For afters, there was some banana bread that I put in the oven before I started dinner. It was Banana Tea Bread (Essential, p655). The recipe from 1947 made a really nice banana bread. I used my cuisinart for all mixing. Used butter instead of shortening. Used slightly more than 1/2cup sucre de canne. More-ish.

Tuesday/3-Jun-14: Shopping today. Back on schedule for a while.

Dinner was Mirin-Glazed Salmon (web), except that it turned out I'm out of mirin. Somehow forgot to add it to  my Dutch shopping list. Substituted sherry. Was pretty good, might be worth doing again when mirin reappears on the shelf. Served with Broccoli in a Fragrant Wine Sauce (HotWok, p156), a favorite not made in a while, and some rice.

Wednesday/4-Jun-14: Lunch at a friend's going to a patchwork exhibition. Only sandwiches and fruit at dinnertime.

Thursday/5-Jun-14: Yogurt on overday.

A Nigel Slater brunch dish for dinner tonight, followed by a nice salad. That was all.

Friday/6-Jun-14: Grilled Chicken with Garlic and Lemon Butter (Diaries, p262), a recipe calling for "chubby poussin". Love reading Slater's recipes. I didn't make the butter bit, just marinated and grilled the birdies. They were good cooked under the broiler at a low temp, with the rack set on the bottom, but the marinade wasn't especially thrilling. Served with Clothilde Dusolier's Perfect Roast Potatoes (MC, HandyBook) and A Radish, Mint, and Feta Salad (Diaries, p195). For dessert I made up another half dose of the shortcakes for Strawberry Shortcakes (TLAmer, p90). Cut the baking powder back to 1-1/4tsp as suggested by Barbara. Much better, i.e., quite good. I made six shortcakes, we both thought that one each was too much; better would be to split one for two desserts. Poured marscapone cream over the berries.

Saturday/7-Jun-14: Dinner was a half dose of Alfredo Pasta with Cajun Spiced Chicken (web). Good stuff, and easy. Used a packet of aiguillettes de poulet (~225g) and some Cajun run I made up for something or other. Used about 1 teaspoon of this for my half recipe, which is about four times more than asked. Also spray the chickie bits with a bit of olive oil spray. Then cooked on the grill pan. Cut them in half to toss with the pasta and sauce. Followed by a big salad. That was all.

Sunday/8-Jun-14: Yogurt on overday.

Lunch with friends today. For dinner, we shared a plate of fruit plus some strawberries over the last shortcake.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/9-Sep-13: Roasted a lamb shoulder (rather than a gigot, which was an option) today for Gigot d'Agneau Saint-George au Citron et au Yaourt (VPG). Started way too late for it to get done in time (also recipe wasn't very accurate about the time), so ended up throwing together a quick pasta dish with broccoli and the end of the blah blue cheese.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/10-Sep-13: The sink arrived hooray!

Dinner was the roast lamb, which was pretty good in spite of being reheated. Also Dusolier's Perfect Roast Potatoes, which were especially good because I followed the instructions about putting the roasting tray with oil and salt in the one when the potatoes start boiling. Also some roasted veggies, the end of the broc, a couple of carrots, and a little eggplant from the garden.

Wednesday/11-Sep-13: Shopping today. Got back to find a sack with 1.5kg of haricots verts and haricots jaunes hanging on the front-doorknob. Have to deal with those tomorrow. Might parboil and freeze a lot of them.

Had a bit of a Chinese itch. Tonight's dinner was Stir-Fried with Black Bean Sauce (HotWok, p74) with Stir-Fried Courgettes with Fresh Chilli (HotWok, p165) and rice. Both are old favorites, but it's been a while since I've made them. Makes me think I want to spend some time making some proper Chinese-ish food, as best I can considering difficulty getting a lot of ingredients. Restaurant Chinese food around here tends to be pretty low quality, served buffet-style.

Thursday/12-Sep-13: It was Elsie's Zucchini Pancakes with Sour Cream Sauce (CastIron, p124) again for dinner tonight. Good stuff too. Then a simple salad. That's all folks.

Friday/13-Sep-13: Time to start working on the leftover lamb. Tonight it was sort of a half recipe of Moussaka I (Secrets, p217) along with some Perfect Roasted Green Beans (now HandyBook) like I made last week. The leftovers section on Seaver's book is really useful. Then some ice cream and defrosted frozen raspberries.

Saturday/14-Sep-13: Scratched the Indian itch tonight. Dinner was Mushroom and Pea Curry (MJ@Home, p161) served with rice. Good enough, but not the best Jaffrey meal I've made. For afters we had a bit of ice cream with a slog of chocolate liqueur over.

Sunday/15-Sep-13: Lunch out today for my birthday, so nothing happening in the kitchen. Internet down in the evening till well past bedtime.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/7-Jan-13: Off to a movie this evening, so we had our main meal in the afternoon, a halfish, somewhat embroidered, version of Chili con Tofu with Beans (Hagler, p50). Served with some corn tortillas from the freezer. Finished off by the rest of the three kings' cake. Drove all the way to Limoges, sat through the commercials eating our popcorn, and then the VO (original voices) feature wouldn't play. Sigh. Next Monday perhaps.

Tuesday/8-Jan-13: Put chicken breasts on to marinate, then made Spruced-Up Vanilla Cake (web). Well, I sort of followed the recipe. I used a mix of white and brown sugar, and only 7 ounces, where 8 was asked. I had only 4 eggs in the house, not 6 as asked. And full-fat yogurt, not fat-free. Never mind, it was good.

The chicken turned into Coriander and Lemon Chicken (web). I didn't chunk up the breast, but grilled them flat with the filets opened out. This was quite tasty and easy, although I think using cayenne and ground coriander would be easier and about the same in flavor. Served with trio rice and some steamed broccoli. The cake was yummy too, but made a serious dent in my vanilla supply. (What you expect of a vanilla cake, of course.) MyAmericanMarket has been out for a while; I keep waiting for an email that it's in stock again. Oh dear.

Wednesday/9-Jan-13: Another day wasted waiting DHL. The package has been rescheduled for delivery "as agreed." Agreed with whom? Grrr... Will wait again tomorrow, I guess.

Dinner was (more or less) Gambas au Curry et Risotto (Saveurs mag Best of 2011, p 56, now MC). Pretty good, a risotto with coconut milk as part of the liquid, added near the end of the rice cooking. Then a salad. Then some double-chocolate mini Magnums.

Thursday/10-Jan-13:  Yogurt on overday. DHL finally arrived ... at 17.45.

I accidentally defrosted a chunk of pork Tuesday night, so made some crockpot carnitas today. Not as good as the last batch, but edible. Served with some of Mama's Garlic Coleslaw (MC). Cookies for dessert. Just as dinner was going to table a 2-quart pitcher of herbal tea in the fridge got overturned. What a mess. Didn't I just clean the fridge last week?

Friday/11-Jan-13: Shopping today at last. As I was preparing my shopping list, the spreadsheet where I do my meal planning went all whompy-jawed and caused a few moments of panic and a delay in getting the shopping list made.

An IHCC dinner this evening, Pakistani Goat Curry (web) and Gingery Cabbage and Peas (MJFlavs, p67). For afters, we had some store-bought semoule de lait, vanilla flavored, which was quite tasty.

Saturday/12-Jan-13: Dinner was Mirin Glazed Salmon (web), which was easy and quite good. Accompanied by Broccoli in a Fragrant Wine Sauce (HotWok, p156) and basmati rice. Followed by the last two semoules de lait. Nice dinner. Served not too late. Ran out of mirin, though; next challenge is to find that mail order.

Sunday/13-Jan-13: Dinner was Rice, Cheddar, and Spinach Pie (web), probably not too low-fat, but very tasty. Then a salad. Then Chocolate Soufflé Cake for 2 (MC), a nice little dessert that goes together easily while other things are cooking unattended.

I'm still thinking about what I want to do with cooking goals for 2013.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/12-Dec-11: Yogurt on overday. Finished off Kitchen Diaries, a fun read. I've already made a couple of good things from it and have lots of stickies on it.

Quiz tonight. Nothing much happening in the kitchen.

Tuesday/13-Dec-11: Going to dash through Outlaw Cook for Cook the Books. I've read it before and I've got another of Thorne's books on my read-me-soon shelf, so I don't want to spend too much time with it.

Dinner was fridge-clearing mishmash. First there was a more-or-less half dose of Egg Fried Rice (HotWok, p186). Not too bad. I see that I didn't let the cuke and corn cook long enough, and we thought they were a bit crunchy. With reason. Then there was a sort of hash thing with some red onion, broccoli, a tiny chicken breast in bits, and chunks of leftover baked potatoes I brought home from the choir party, jazzed up with the end of a Trinidadian spice mixture needing to be used up. Also not bad. And, of course, sriracha helps all. Then there was the end of the arugula-pear salad, with more lettuce added. The arugula was pretty soggy, but didn't taste bad. Tiny bit of Louise's christmas cake.

Wednesday/14-Dec-11: Is it Wednesday already? Got the goat off the bone and into the marinade to make curry in the next days. Froze the bones to make stock in the next days.

Dinner was a half dose of Border-Style Shrimp (EAT-L, now MC), along with some yellow rice. Peeling the shrimp is a pain, but worth the effort. Would be nice to have some green onions, since that touch of color would be nice. Salad after. More christmas cake.

Yogurt on overnight. Finished off all our bread, so English Muffin Bread (BigGerman, p15) on overnight.

Thursday/15-Dec-11: Power went off last night for 2 hours, leaving yogurt half-done and bread waiting. In the morning, I restarted the yogurt and did the bread on Rapid. Not sure how the yogurt will be (tomorrow will tell), but the bread was yummy.

Yvonne called to invite us to a dinner for folks who'd helped her out with this and that. So the goat will marinate another day.

Friday/16-Dec-11: Uh-oh I don't have an unused cookbook meal planned in the next days. Have to think a bit about this tomorrow.

The goat curry is marinating another day. Shopping today, and lots more errands.

Tonight's dinner was Chicken Marsala (MC 2BTried), which was pretty good; half the chicken, all the sauce. With the mushroom pasta from the freezer and lots of broccoli.

Saturday/17-Dec-11: Finally got that Goat Curry (JamieMag) made. Pretty good and seriously hot—one Scotch bonnet worth is pretty strong. Served with Rice and Peas as suggested. Used a recipe from a Jamaican tourist site. Quite good this, although four people hardly made a dent in 3 cups of raw rice. The peas are actually red beans, of which the cupboard was bare, so I used black bean instead. I bought a couple of plantains to make fried plantains, another suggested go-with, but forgot to make them. For a starter, there Moroccan Zucchini Salad (MC), not Jamaican, but sort of similar in taste. For dessert there was vanilla ice cream with mango slices. We ate well.

Sunday/18-Dec-11: We had cake and champagne in the afternoon for Vanessa's birthday, so we weren't very hungry in the evening. Finished off the Pastina and Pea Soup (hmm...that was getting pretty old), and topped up yesterday's Moroccan Zucchini Salad with some leftover corn to finish that off.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/2-Aug-10: Dinner at a quiz tonight.

Tuesday/3-Aug-10: Made some plain old vanilla ice cream today. Too much. I think I need to make half recipes, 2 cups worth.

Dinner was the leftover tart, with at salad. Chocolate Banana Snacking Cake with ice cream for dessert.

Wednesday/4-Aug-10: Made up some Herb Salt (Art, p172), since I'm almost out. Dinner was home-made fettucine with Ligurian-Style Pasta Sauce with Zucchini and Carrots (MarCuc, p159). This was good, but I don't like her description of how the zucch and carrots should be prepared. I think, from her description of the dish, that these should be in thin ribbons, like some recipe from 365Pasta, not shredded on the madonline, which makes shreds either too fine or too fat for what she's asking. This is the first time I've made pasta for dinner and felt like there was too much! Don't know what the difference was.

Chocolate Banana Snacking Cake with ice cream for dessert.

Yogurt on overnight, since I got going too late to it this morning.

Thursday/5-Aug-10: A busy day in the kitchen.

• Made Apple-Plum butter; with small apples, so it didn't really make much.
  
• I've got the Boulesteix's ripe green figs macerating prior to make jam tomorrow; using a recipe from the web. I used canning sugar, with pectin included, since I had some on hand (bought in error recently). Things I make often don't seem to gel properly so even though many recipes don't call for pectin with figs, I thought it might be a good idea.
• Found a chocolate chip cookie recipe and made it up with the butterscotch morsels for the CookbookEtc contest. It's an interesting recipe because it's meant to be made in bulk and used in part. I made a quarter recipe, which should be 2-1/2 dozen cookies. Half of that is frozen; the other half ready to bake tomorrow after added an egg and some vanilla. We'll see.

Dinner was Lilian's Beijing-Style Sweet and Sour Fish (HotWok, p65), Hot and Spicy Wrinkled Beans (Chinatown, p106), and rice. Nothing new, but still good. I used the wrong sauce on the green beans; it was OK, but would have been better with the proper one.

Friday/6-Aug-10: Shopped and did errands this morning. On return I griddled some cod fillets, loosely following a recipe for blackened tilapia I found somewhere on the web. This recipe wanted the fish dipped in a gallon of melted butter before frying. Instead, I mixed up a bit of yogurt and milk (improvised buttermilk) and dipped the fishies there before adding the blackening seasoning and plopping on the griddle. Served with soft polenta and some griddled eggplant slices. For dessert there was yet more chocolate cake with ice cream. The banana flavor in the bread is really starting to come through now; there are only two chunks left. Whew!

While we ate, I turned on the oven to heat, prior to finishing off the cookies for CookbooksEtc. Argh! The right oven is on the fritz also. No working ovens at all. Made a distressed call to Gitem, who admitted they needed to follow up why the part for the first oven hasn't arrived. Now both ovens are gone, and there will be no reply from the UK till next week.

Made a jam from the Boulesteix's figs. Simmering away, they smelled of lemon and vanilla. It didn't seem to be setting, the jelly ran down the plate with the same alacrity early and late, but I finally gave up and jarred it. Two gevoglte fond jars into the freezer and a half jar into the fridge. And off to the marché de nuit in Montbron.

Saturday/7-Aug-10: The fig jam is definitely set. And quite tasty. This is probably the best fig jam we've had, save perhaps the one that Frances and John brought us from Crete (or was it Corsica?) that started off the quest for a replacement.

For lunch I made a half version of Stacked Chicken Enchiladas with Salsa Verde and Cheese, a recipe I got from EAT-L. I cooked it in the broiler, which was a bit weird, but sort of worked. This was the first of the CasaMex tortillas I used; I froze up three packets of six and one of two. Twenty-six of them, what an odd number. I'll have to check into this. Their salsa verde on sale was short of what was needed, so I added the small can of tomatillo sauce, which was just mushed up tomatillos, and came up with the right amount. Used mimelotte for the cheese. What I made should have served 3, but we've probably got two servings left, which I'll reheat on top of the stove. Tasty, maybe a bit salty Ed thought, probably from the mimelotte and/or salsa, since I didn't add any salt at all. Then there was Avocado and Corn Salad (MW@Home, p119), which is always good.

Think I've dilly-dallied too long to shred and freeze the zucchini in the fridge. I'll have to do something (top-of-stove) with them in the next days.

Yogurt going overnight.

Sunday/8-Aug-10: For dinner there was Chicken Skewers with Fava Bean and Mint Salad mag clipping, probably Cooking Light), accompanied by couscous and Shredded Carrot Salad from Cooking Italy. The chicken skewers were nothing but ... skewered and barbecued chicken, very plain. The fava bean and mint salad was promising. Used frozen favas for the first time. Can't say I was too impressed with them really, but have a lot to use up. I was looking for an easy way to have favas, which are a lot of work and available only for a short time, but delicious. The two salads mixed on top of the couscous were quite tasty.

CookbooksEtc Ingredient Contest 2010

1. 23-May/28-May: strawberries — Balsamic Strawberries with Arugula and Goat Cheese
   
2. 29-May/4-Jun: cheese — Spinach-Stuffed Anchos
   
3. 5-Jun/11-Jun: whole wheat flour — Ned and Crescent's Favorite Multigrain Pancakes
4. 12-Jun/18-Jun: ground pork or pork sausage — Curried Rice Noodles with Ground Meat
5. 19-Jun/25-Jun: blueberries — Tarte Amandine à la Myrtille
6. 26-Jun/2-Jul: salmon — Almond-Crusted Grilled Salmon with Garlic Sauce
7. 3-Jul/9-Jul: potatoes — Potatoes and Peas in a Yoghurt Sauce
8. 10-Jul/16-Jul: elbow macaroni — Macaroni Salad
9. 17-Jul/23-Jul: tomatoes — Eggs Baked in Tomatoes
10. 24-Jul/30-Jul: dates — Date and Onion Salad
11. 31-Jul/6-Aug: butterscotch chips -> Chocolate Chip Cookies and the oven disaster
    
12. 7-Aug/13-Aug: pecans

This week in the kitchen

Monday/4-Jan-10: This morning I finished off the mustard. I'll use it for a sauce for tonight's pork chops. First impression? I really don't like Guinness all that much, so I shouldn't expect to like this mustard, should I? But, it was easy to make. If I can find a source for mustard seeds here, it's definitely an idea to play around with. In smaller quantities, since this is almost a liter/quart of mustard!

Spicy Guinness Mustard
– 1 12-oz bottle Guinness Extra Stout – 2 cups brown mustard seeds (10 oz) – 1 cup red wine vinegar – 1 tbl kosher salt – 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper – 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon – 1/4 tsp ground cloves – 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg – 1/4 tsp ground allspice	Combine ingredients in a nonreactive mixing bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 1-2 days so that the mustard seeds soften and the flavors meld. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a food processor and process, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, until the seeds are coarsely ground and the mixture thickens, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a jar and cover. Refrigerate overnight and use immediately or refrigerate for up to 6 months. (The flavor of the mustard with mellow as the condiment ages.)
Yield: 3-1/2 cups
Kaye's notes: The recipe is a magazine clipping from what I thought was an English magazine, but I see it uses US spelling, so I don't have a clue where it's from. I used a 33cl bottle of Guinness, about 12 oz. 10 oz of mustard seeds was about 1-3/4 cups. The mustard still seemed a bit runny at the end, so 2 full cups might be better.

For dinner I sautéed some pork chops and made a sauce with chicken broth from the freezer, créme fraîche, and Guinness mustard. Not bad. Accompanied by Rosemary Roasted Potatoes & Goat Cheese (MC) and a salad with cuke, beet, avocado, and onion topped with a vinaigrette. A good combination, but the vinaigrette should have had lemon instead of vinegar (a lemonette?). More fig flan for dessert.

Tuesday/5-Jan-10: Went to make chicken stock this morning, with the remains of the tandoori chicken, only to discover that it was a bit fuzzy and smelled really bad. Have to roast another chicken soon, so we can have stock.

For dinner we had Shrimp-Stuffed Eggplant (MC), well, loosely that recipe, I've never really followed it exactly. Turned out surprisingly good, even with an eggplant nearing its use-by date. Served with trio rice this time, not having thought to start brown rice early enough. Finished up with a bit of the nice camembert we've been eating on.

Wednesday/6-Jan-10: Had trouble keeping my cooking list for the next week down to manageable level. There are simply too many wonderful things to make and not enough time. Shopped, and will probably skip the market yet again tomorrow since the roads probably won't be too good that direction.

Tonight I made a 2/3 recipe of Stir-Fried Garlic Pork (HotWok, p102), easy and delicious. Accompanied by Sesame Green Beans (now MC) and rice. More fig flan (now bring us your figgy pudding?) for dessert and still one more round to go.

Thursday/7-Jan-10: We had Lemon Herb Roasted Chicken (MC), with Coriander Layered Potatoes (MC) to use the last bit of cilantro I bought at the holidays, and Roasted Carrots with Cardamom Butter (now MC). And finished off the fig flan at last, good to the last drop! Had problems with an overfilled oven, so everything took longer to cook than expected. (One day we'll have a proper stove.) But all tasted good, and tomorrow I can make chicken stock to refill the freezer.

Friday/8-Jan-10: Didn't feel much like cooking today. The stock didn't get made. Didn't put the beans on to soak last night, so the Cooking Italy beans didn't get made. Oh well. Dinner turned out to be a variation on Farfalline "haute couture" with shrimps, scallops, and leek sauce, a recipe that I collected recently. Should have had squid ink pasta (ha!); none in house, and certainly none in the shops round here. Tri-color penne was pretty enough. Might do this again with some changes. The leek sauce was pretty bland, and cooled off (it's cold in the kitchen!) quite a bit before serving. The recipe has cayenne added to the shrimp and scallops, which just accented the blandness of the leeks. Think I'd stir them all together, warm it up, correct seasoning, and then plonk it on top of the just-plated pasta. Save some of the shrimp and scallops to top it all off with. This was followed by a big salad. Then we finished off the last bit of camembert while watching another episode of Civilization.

Saturday/9-Jan-10: Started some chicken stock this afternoon; set it outside to cool. Will remove the fat, strain, and freeze it up tomorrow morning. For dinner, there was Leek and Potato Tart with Thyme (MDTarts, p30) using pâte brisée from the freezer. The crust was delicious, but I really don't have the hang of making it pretty. Homely, but yummy. Started with some salad and the last of the foie gras with magret. Oink! No room for dessert. Walked the dog in the snow instead.

Sunday/10-Jan-10: Finished off the chicken stock this morning. Froze quite a bit and put some in the fridge, since the freezer's getting full. No getting to the boulanger today with icy roads all around. Baked a loaf of bread and took it to the Boulesteix and have another loaf going for us overnight.

For lunch I heated the leftover sauce from the roast chicken with the last bit of cream from an open box and added some frozen chicken bits. Toasted some old bread in the oven which was heating up for the sweet potatoes. Oh boy, said Ed, S-O-S. Tasted awfully good on a cold afternoon.

Dinner was the Ravioli filled with Sweet Potatoes from Cooking Italy, accompanied by a simple salad of mâche with an Italian vinaigrette (no Dijon mustard). The ravioli required a pair of amaretti. When I got my box from my stash, I discovered that they were not true amaretti, but amaretti virgiana, which are larger and softer. I looked through lots of my Italian cookbooks and online to find information about the difference between these soft amaretti and the regular ones. I didn't find much of use, but I ran across this recipe in Pellegrino Artusi's Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well:

193. Amaretti Fritti (Fried Macaroons) Take 20 small macaroons, soak them briefly in rum or cognac, but do not let them become too soft. Dip them in the batter described in recipe 156—the amounts given there should do for our purposes here. Then fry in lard, butter or olive oil. Sprinkle lightly with confectioners' sugar and serve hot. This is not the kind of desert [sic] to send you into raptures and make you ask for more, but it will do in a pinch.

The last sentence makes all the search time worthwhile!

Coming soon, use-it-up, ideas, etc.

• leftover leek/potato tart
• buckwheat gallettes with chevre & gruyère (start using the buckwheat flour bought in error)
• pizzocheri, p478 BittVeg
• something stuffed with leftover sweet potato ravioli filling
• James mentioned Thai pineapple fried rice with scallops; sounds interesting; to be investigated
• spinach gnocchi as side dish (only one more batch to go!)
• something with yellow curry paste Hitomi sent
• chickpea (besan) dumplings in yogurt sauce (using recipes from Sahni and others)
• something to use up Angela's soy milk

This week in the kitchen

Whew! Back from vacation and having a hard time getting back in the kitchen groove.

Friday, we returned with a sackful of chard, fresh from Hennie & Jefff's garden. For dinner, I sautéed that with lots of garlic and pepper flakes and served it over linguine, along with a big salad. Not great, but quite passable on a tired night.

Saturday I did a risotto with spinach and shrimp (from Cooking Light mag perhaps), OK but nothing special. Now I have a sack of frozen spinach to use up. Served this with a salad. Made the Riz au Lait au Chocolat (now MC) again. It was much better than the previous time when I misread the milk measurement. Still it seemed to need to cook longer than the recipe stated, or else I like my rice puddings with mushier rice than the French. ???

It got late on Sunday, so I didn't have time to roast the chickie as planned. Instead I made Lilian's Beijing-Style Sweet&Sour Fish (p65, HotWok) with panga. This is a really yummy, easy fish dish. I haven't been using this book much since we moved; need to get back to it since it has some really tasty recipes. Served the fish with rice and Broccoli in Fragrant Wine Sauce (p156, HotWok). More rice pudding after.

Monday we had a Zucchini-Tuna Tagliatelle (MC) and salad. Finished off the rice pudding.

Tuesday I roasted the chickie, more or less following Hazan's instructions in ClassicItal, only somewhat successful -- tasty, but it didn't seem to get done after a long time cooking. Ate about half and picked the rest of the meat from the bones.

Wednesday lunch, I made a little soup from broccoli stalks that I cooked in chick stock, puréed, and froze a while ago. (Need to do this again with current accumulation of stalks.) Added some broccoli florets and small pasta. Not half bad for something made of leftover bits. For dinner there was Curried Rice with Shrimp (from the web, now MC).

Found an herb bonanza when we shopped at Leclerc -- we now have two boxes of cilantro, one of basil (purple and green), and one of dill to use soon. Froze the dill as before. Looked for my cilantro pesto recipe, and couldn't find it. Google will turn up something I suppose. (Also noticed a sack of basil at the market on Thursday, but it was late and very busy -- all the last-minute shoppers, including me -- and only one of them there to serve. Will ask about this another day.)

Thursday, started chicken stock. No time for chicken enchiladas. Instead we had Salmon with Spicy Cilantro Pepper Sauce (MC) with polenta. (Starting on the first box of cilantro.)

Friday morning, I dealt with the lamb shoulder I got at Leclerc. Cut of the strips of the Cooking Italy lamb for Saturday's dinner. Cut the rest into for than enough cubes for MJ's lamb vindaloo (unless I find another recipe that looks more interesting) and froze it. Finished off the chick stock and froze 2x 2cups. Freezer is very full.

In the evening, I used the rest of the meat from the roast chick to make chicken enchiladas with our last dozen corn tortillas from the freezer: stuffing of cream cheese, chopped chilies, minced onion; topped with a can of salsa verde mixed with some crème fraîche and some grated tomme de chevre mixed with strange cheddar I found at Leclerc. Mama's Spanish rice. No good avocados at Leclerc on Wed, and I forgot to look at the market on Thursday, so no guacamole. :-( Maybe with the leftovers if we find a good avocado in the next days.