This week in the kitchen

Monday/3-Oct-22: Dinner was Cambodian Hot and Sour Beef Salad (How2Eat, p429). This was easy and pretty tasty. Lots of protein for Ed. 

Tuesday/4-Oct-22: More meat tonight. Dinner was Steak & Asparagus Stir-Fry with Black Bean-Garlic Sauce (web; EW/apr21). This was good although the sauce was a bit salty. Served over trio rice. More protein for Ed. (Our doctor has told him to eat more protein.) A chocolate-covered madeleine for after.

Wednesday/5-Oct-22: More protein for Ed tonight. We had Omelette au Boudin de Nancy (DavidFrPro, p232). We each had an omelette filled with slices of sautéed boudin noir. Surprisingly good. Served with some sautéed apples. A chocolate-covered madeleine for after.

Thursday/6-Oct-22: Don't know when we're going to get to shopping this week. I'm not even started on plan or list. 

Dinner was Very Spicy, Delicious Chickpeas (WofE, p86), an easy and tasty recipe I apparently haven't made since 2018. I used half the chickpeas with all the spices. Quite filling. A chocolate-covered madeleine for after.

Friday/7-Oct-22: Scrounging around for dinners now, since I'm completely without a meal plan. Dinner was Easy Sheet Pan Sausage and Veggies* (web; GDnotes). This is easy and tasty. A chocolate-covered madeleine for after. 

Saturday/8-Oct-22: Sam arrived today. Tonight's dinner was a repeat of yesterday's, but with merguez de volaille as the sausage. No bell peppers in house. Added some mushrooms. Served over polenta. It was good. A chocolate-covered madeleine for after. 

Sunday/9-Oct-22: Ed had choir practice today, so no time for a Drive run. 

Last minute dinner, using stuff from the freezer and cabinets: Sicilian Olive Chicken (web). I used turkey scallops, each cut into two bits, instead of kip filets. Served over whole wheat fusilli. Some cheese (fourme d'Ambert and Beaufort) for after. 

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 1; #2 PHOTO: no;
This month: #3 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG2: no; #6 BACKLOG3: no; #7 RECYCLE: 10; #8 NEW: 4

This week in the kitchen

Monday/14-Feb-22: We had our Valentine's Day meal at a local restaurant, the menu du jour, rather than one of the swankier menus offered at many places. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

Tuesday/15-Feb-22: Dinner was Seared Scallops with Lemon Orzo (web; CL/jul07). This was okay. Used a whole wheat sort-of-orzo pasta. The pasta was good; the scallops were ordinary. Some steamed broccoli on the side.

Wednesday/16-Feb-22: We picked up Drive orders at both stores today. 

Dinner was a half dose of Sheet-Pan Chili-Lime Salmon with Potatoes & Peppers (web). Having a cauliflower to use up, I added some florets with the bell pepper strips. This was pretty good, easy, and fast (except for having to change the gas bottle while the oven was heating up).

Thursday/17-Feb-22: Fast dinner tonight, Quick and Easy Thai Peanut Chicken (web). Really easy, fast, and tasty, maybe not authentic, but it's good. Served with Thai Cucumber Salad with Peanuts (web; GD; HB). This is my go-to salad/veg for a SE Asian meal. (Use no sugar. Use one red Dutch/Indonesian chili for a half recipe, chopping it up with the garlic and adding to the sugarless dressing. Not sure if my peanuts are salted or not; fish sauce is plenty salty, so I don't think that's really needed.) 

Friday/18-Feb-22: Unsuccessful dinner tonight, Creamy Avocado Pasta (web), made with zoodles instead of the recommended penne. Baked the zoodles to cook them, as described here. A simple salad after.

Saturday/19-Feb-22: Dinner was One-Pan Chicken Thighs with Cilantro-Lime Black Bean Rice (web; GD; DMA). The recipe asks for one thigh per person; in this house we served two per person. So I made a whole recipe and have leftover rice. Good stuff. 

Sunday/20-Feb-22: Dinner was a half dose of Spanish Stew (How2Eat, p399), an easy chorizo and potato stew. Pretty tasty for the almost no work involved. Nigella suggests serving with lots of fresh bread. I just smashed up the potatoes to absorb the juice. Served with a little pickled cucumber sort of salad with red onion, pretty good.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 2 ; #2 PHOTO: yes;
This month: #3 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG2: yes; #6 BACKLOG3: no; #7 RECYCLE: 0; #8 NEW: 2

This week in the kitchen

Monday/18-Jan-21: Steam-hard-boiled some eggs this afternoon.

Dinner was Curried Parsnip Soup (Ainsley2, p31). Easy and pretty good stuff. Served with a hard-boiled egg. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Started Overnight Boule.

Tuesday/19-Jan-21: Baked off the Overnight Boule this morning.

The cook was having another off day. Quite late, we had Chicken with Morels (How2Eat, p151), two thighs for four people. Yummy. Take a bit of time to be ready, but nothing difficult. Served with some pasta to soak up the delicious sauce and some steamed broccoli. 

I see I need to find a DMA dish for this week.

Wednesday/20-Jan-21: Off the plan today. I really didn't feel like separating eggs and all that rigamarole for a soufflé-ish thing. Instead I steam-hard-boiled more eggs and made Hard-Boiled Eggs Masala (Q&E, p41). Served over plain basmati rice. And, yes, a pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Thursday/21-Jan-21: After 13 hours the yogurt was not "done" this moring. Most of the jars were still liquid. Cooked them for another eight hours and they seem somewhat better. What's going on?

Made a loaf of German-Style Whole Wheat Bread (Rustic, p150) (WW/Rapid/M=1.5*/-/-). This is one of the first recipes I've seen that asks for "light whole wheat bread", exactly what T110 seems to be. Adding 3tbl of bread flour to 3-3/4cup of T110 seemed a bit silly. Smells really good cooking. A huge loaf appeared at the end.

Dinner was about a 2/3 recipe of Mijoté de Veau au Chorizo (VPG; couldn't find on web), a slow-cooked stew of veal, chorizo, and tomato sauce. I added some smoked paprika along the way. Served over brown rice, although polenta might have been nicer. Pretty good stuff. Mini cups of Häagen-Dazs ice cream for after.

Friday/22-Jan-21: Picked up an order from Intermarché today. Seems like I accidentally deleted the fish from the basket. Replan. Instead we had choucroûte garni, that I bought for the next days. We're full.

Saturday/23-Jan-21: For a late lunch, we had, sort of, reuben sandwiches with some of the leftover sauerkraut, lunchmeat ham, gruyère, and this quickie Russian dressing (which was very good). Open-faced, heated in the toaster oven to warm everything and melt the cheese.

Sunday/23-Jan-21: Made a loaf of DeDe's Buttermilk Bread (MagicHints, p142) (Basic/Rapid/M/d/-). Lovely high white bread loaf. Dark wasn't really needed; strange because my machine tends to make very light-colored loaves.

Dinner was a DMA, Cajun Salmon Burgers* (web), really good and easy. Made up a sort of guacamole, as suggested, for a side, and some canned corn, and some couscous. For after, there was a sort of blueberry tart, using up the mascarpone in the fridge, very loosely based on this recipe. I didn't make the pastry, but used two formerly frozen squares of pâte feuillettée. Blueberries with a tad of sugar for the topping. Yummy, if not especially pretty.

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: no; #7 RECYCLE: 9; #8 NEW: 1

This week in the kitchen

Monday/23-Dec-19: Off to a little marché de noël today. And little it was. Then Ed, after saying he didn't want a tree, went off to get a tree. When will it get put up and decorated, I wonder?

Dinner was Butternut and Pasta Soup, (How2Eat, p160), which wasn't bad, especially with a goodly dose of jalapeño tabasco. I mostly puréed the soup (thank you staff mixer, rather than just mashing a bit, before adding the pasta.

Before that we had little goat cheese and cranberry sauce "tarts". I read about this combination somewhere, and having a bit of leftover cranberry sauce and pyramid cheese, I thought I'd try it with some squares of pâte feuilletté. Pretty good and certainly easy. Squares of chocolate for after.

Yogurt on overnight

Tuesday/24-Dec-19: Miserable day today. Didn't get the list finished. Wanted a pizza for dinner, but everything was closed. So we had the salad I forgot yesterday and a sort of grilled cheese sandwich. With chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Wednesday/25-Dec-19: It's not been the best of holiday seasons. I've been down with the Mother of All Sinus Infections, including a major earache, the weather has largely been gray, rainy, and windy, and I'm depressed. We didn't have the whole dinner as originally planned, but most of it, with an improvisation for dessert. Here.

Thursday/26-Dec-19: Second xmas day today. Here's what we had.

Friday/27-Dec-19: Shopping today. I've already seen that this is going to be another record year for grocery expenses even though I tried to keep it down. So I blew it and we stocked up on lots of stuff.

Dinner was Baked Spiced Halibut (30MinInd, p72), but with swordfish. This had trouble getting done in the toaster oven, but finally made it. Ed didn't like the sauce at first, but warmed to it with the other food. There was Cauliflower with Ginger, Garlic, and Green Chiles (Q&E, p83). I used romanesco, thinking it would add a bit of color, but it didn't. I managed to burn the spices, so it wasn't as tasty as it should have been. And there was New Potatoes with Cumin (Q&E, p91), with regular potatoes. (My little potatoes had all sprounted.) This was yummy. For dessert there was some store-bought cheesecake.

Saturday/28-Dec-19: I felt like something Asian-ish today, so I smerged together some pad thai recipes and that was dinner. Not great, but edible. My sauce was a bit salty unfortunately. We finished the little cheesecake for afters. (It's small, only four servings.)

Sunday/29-Dec-19: Last night Ed saw the Moulin's menu for today and said, Let's go. So we did. Nothing happened in the kitchen today.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/26-Aug-19: Dinner was Steak au Poivre (How2Eat, p153). My steaks were too thin, but it was still quite good. Some long-grain brown rice for a side. And some steamed broccoli with a sauce of sautéed garlic and shiitakes. Some St Felicien for after. Then some chocolate squares.

Tuesday/27-Aug-19: Dinner out with Patrice&Wim tonight. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

Wednesday/28-Aug-19: Off for a haircut today. Simple dinner of little Drôme raviolis with cilantro pesto from the freezer, followed by a salad with lots of home-grown tomatoes, followed by the last of the St Felicien, followed by some chocolate-covered madeleines.

Yogurt on overnight.

Thursday/29-Aug-19: Shopping today.

Dinner was Fish in a Boat, Asian Style (Desperation, p304), which was okay but nothing special. And some basmati rice sprinkled with a Japanese flavor topping that James sent us; we both thought this was unpleasantly sweet. And some Garlicky Green Beans (Desperation, p18), which were pretty good. Some store-bought cheesecake for dessert. (Too bad, we're going to have to finish this tomorrow.)

Friday/30-Aug-19: Dinner was Boudin Noir aux Pommes (web). This was pretty good stuff. Served with Spaetlze (from MW@Home). Then a big salad with lots of tomatoes from the potager. Then the rest of the store-bought cheesecake.

Yogurt on overnight.

Saturday/31-Aug-19: Dinner out this evening. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

Sunday/1-Sep-19: Deseeded, cooked, and buzzed a bunch of tomatoes this afternoon. Froze up 3 1-cup jars.

Dinner was Revoltillo—Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes and Peas (TLCarib, p71). This was okay, but maybe not the best of these scrambled egg dishes. Then a salad. Then some chaource. Then some chocolate-covered corn flakes. We're full.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 3; #3 COOKBOOK: yes
Cookbooks of the month: How to Eat for August, none for September
This month: #4 PASTA: no for August, no for September; #5 BREAD: no for August, no for September; #6 GUESTS: yes for August, no for September
This year: #7 PROJECT: no

This week in the kitchen

Monday/19-Aug-19: Busy day today, a trip to the vet, a visit from the mayor and vice-mayor, and a trip to the gendarmerie. Didn't feel like cooking what was on the plan, so exchanged with tomorrow's meal.

We had a halfish version of Spicy Thai Basil Chicken (web). Chopped up some aiguillettes to use instead of ground chicken. This was fast and easy. Served with a bit of basmati rice. Some mini ice cream bars for dessert. Then the last bit of our Toulouse chocolate.

Tuesday/20-Aug-19: Dinner was a half dose of Tortino di Pomodori—Hot Tomato Pie (TuscTable, p108). Except for the part about peeling the tomatoes, this was really easy and very tasty. Then a salad. Then we finished the buttermilk ice cream

Wednesday/21-Aug-19: Dinner was a half dose of Poblanos Stuffed with Cheddar and Chicken (web). Simmered the chicken to cook and used the stock for long-grain brown rice. Had lots of that; froze up enough for some fried rice. English cheddar maybe wasn't the best cheese choice, but still it was quite edible. For second course, I made up a salad of home-grown tomatoes, feta, onions, cuke, and mint. Tasty. Chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Thursday/22-Aug-19: Shopping today.

Vanessa was on our porch today in spite of the Privé sign. Too much excitement with the maire and gendarmes. We think V actually called the gendarmes. I tried, but they sent me to the mairie. The answer machine message there gave me the maire's cell phone.

Dinner was Roast Cod with Upmarket Mushy Green Peas (How2Eat, p194). Used lieu noir instead of cod. The fish was slightly overdone, cooked much shorter time than asked. The mushy peas were good, certainly better than those from a can. Served with some small boiled potatoes. Chocolate custard things for dessert.

Friday/23-Aug-19: Made some Pineapple Upside-Down Cake (MC) using my old recipe, originally from Betty Crocker, but modified. The recipe in Joy of Cooking for this is a fancy cake with separated eggs. Not what this rustic cake is supposed to be.

I bought another packet of poblanos yesterday and we had a half recipe of Chiles Rellenos Casserole (CL90, p147). Pretty good stuff. Meant to make guacamole, but all four avocados in house were bad. Served with a tomato salad, almost a salsa sort of thing, that was pretty good. Ed's t-shirt showed his dinner, a splash of red wine, some tomato juice, and some caramel from the cake. Oh well.

Saturday/24-Aug-19: Nice afternoon with Cath, we went to the Marché des Potiers in Montbron, then to the art exhibit at the chateau there. It was nice in spite of being so hot, although the chateau was cool inside. We came home, had some tea, and then dinner.

We started with Salade de Mâche aux Magrets de Canard. Not sure where I found this recipe (I just wrote down the ingredients), but it's really simple and delicious. Per person: 4 tranches magret de canard seche, fat removed, 3 sun-dried tomatoes (I made lengthwise slices), 20g of pine nuts, and some parmesan shavings, all topped with a little vinaigrette.

Our main was Escalopines de Veau de Noix et de Roquefort (web). This was easy and super yummy. Used all the topping for slightly less meat. Served with pasta and pesto. Then some Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Nice dinner.

Sunday/25-Aug-19: Dinner from the freezer more or less. Ed barbecued that had marinated for a bit in charmoula. And the rest of the little potatoes I bought on Thursday with some cilantro pesto. And some Courgettes with Lemon, Caper Dressing (web). (Turns out I made these before, in nov14.) All were good. We finished the Pineapple Upside Down Cake for afters.

Yogurt on overnight.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 3; #3 COOKBOOK: yes
Cookbooks of the month: How to Eat
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: no; #6 GUESTS: yes
This year: #7 PROJECT: no

This week in the kitchen

Monday/5-Aug-19: Monday again. Dinner was, more or less, a short third recipe of Ping Gai Chicken (web; cookbooker). It was super. Served with plain basmati rice and, again more or less, Asian Cucumber and Carrot Salad (web). I used my madoline rather than the spiralizer to slice and shred the cuke and carrot. Pretty good stuff this was. Made some tapioca pudding for after. Ed wouldn't eat it warm, but I did.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/6-Aug-19: I had lunch out with some of my BookChatters group, and Ed had some soup from the freezer. Late in the evening we were a bit hungry, so I cut up a baby romaine, and we ate that with avocado sauce left from last week and a bit of magret left from the weekend. Pretty good stuff. Then some chocolate-covered madeleines.

Wednesday/7-Aug-19: Made up some Cajun spice for the larder today. That was all that happened in the kitchen. Had our dinner at the marché des producteurs in Massignac. Fewer producteurs this year, I think.

Thursday/8-Aug-19: Shopping today.

Dinner was Cod Wrapped in Ham (How2Eat, p358), with lieu noir, served on Sage and Onion Lentils (How2Eat, p359). I cooked the fish only 13 minutes (of 15 in the recipe), but it was still a bit overcooked I think. I made half the lentils, which I should have made a third. I couldn't eat all of mine. All was ok, nothing special. Store-bought riz au laits for dessert.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/9-Aug-19: Dinner was Grilled Chili Lime Flank Steak (web). This was good. With two rumpsteaks, I made half a recipe. Using the times specified they were pretty far down the medium scale. That was a shame since the tastes were good. I used up the last bit of cauliflower for Mashed Cauliflower (web). This recipe is a bit confused, but the the result is good. Basically, you steam a bunch of cauliflower florets till pretty soft; then drain. In the same pan, melt some butter and soften a lot of minced garlic. Put back the cauliflower and buzz till smooth. Then stir in some grated Parmesan, some sour cream (crème fraîche), and S&P. Pretty good way to use up cauliflower. And Jeera Potatoes (30MinInd, p85) to use up some nice little potatoes. Very good. Then a salad using most of the home-grown tomatoes in house. Then some St Felicien. And finally, we had some of the chocolate (Valrhona) that we bought on our Toulouse trip last year. One of them was excellent, the other ok.

Saturday/10-Aug-19: Dinner was a halfish recipe of Ottolenghi's Orecchiette with Broccoli and Rocket (web). This was pretty good, if a trifle salty. Then some St Felicien. Then the rest of the tapioca. (Have to admit that I've had occasional munches on this.)

Sunday/11-Aug-19: Concert this evening. They we brought home pizzas. More of our Toulouse chocolate for after.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 2; #3 COOKBOOK: yes
Cookbooks of the month: How to Eat
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: no; #6 GUESTS: yes
This year: #7 PROJECT: no

This week in the kitchen

Monday/29-Jul-19: Started with almost an insalata caprese, but with chopped basil from the freezer. Then leftover sauté de veau over courgette tagliatelle (real pasta with courgette incorporated). Then a small salad. We were full, so no dessert.

Tuesday/30-Jul-19: Made up the broth for Almond-Buttermilk Sorbet (VegHarv, p283). We'll see how that is tomorrow.

Dinner was a half recipe of Spicy Cauliflower & Pancetta Spaghetti (EW jan/feb16, web; cookbooker). This was quite good. The cauliflower wanted about twice the time to get done. I used dried pepper flakes rather than a fresh pepper, and all olives; lardons instead of pancetta. Then some Zucchini with Cilantro Sauce (MWLowFat, p335). Then some chocolate-covered corn flakes. We ate well.

Some rumpsteaks for tomorrow on to marinate with half a packet of an ancient fajita marinade.

Yogurt on overnight.

Wednesday/31-Jul-19: Ed grilled our marinated "fajitas". Pretty good they were. Serve with some edible, but slightly strange rice made from a mix thing Jody brought us. And some a mix of avocado, cilantro, shallot, and lime juice. And some sautéed green bell pepper and onion. With corn tortillas. For dessert, there was Almond-Buttermilk Sorbet (VegHarv, p283; cookbooker). This was pretty good, but maybe a bit too much lemon juice. We ate well.

Thursday/1-Aug-19: Shopping today.

Dinner was a halfish recipe of Escalopes of Salmon with Warm Balsamic Vinaigrette (How2Eat p203). Not sure what a salmon scallop should like like. I had two smallish dos de saumon; the cooking time of 1 minute per side twice (on the grill that came with the stove), was perfect. As a side there was Zucchini in a Yogurt Dressing (SpiceKitch, p58). This is an old favorite; Ed thought it might be good with little potatoes included. Also some orzo. For after, we had some tomme de montagne that was on special today.

Friday/2-Aug-19: Cath and I went to an arty ceramics exhibit today. Interesting, but nothing special. She stayed for dinner. I made some seared magrets following the method in Seared Duck Beast with Espelette Pepper Jelly (VegHarv, p111). No espelette jelly, but the perfect method for cooking duck breasts. Served with spaghetti courts with pesto, and Sautéed Carrots with Sage (web; CL). For dessert we finished off the sorbet, topped with blueberries from the garden.

Saturday/3-Aug-19: Yogurt on overday.

Dinner was Grilled Scallops with Avocado Sauce (web). This is one that sounded good, but was only so-so in practice. I used a lot of chicken stock for the polenta and it wasn't very pretty. Then a salad. Then some chocolate-covered cornflakes.

Sunday/4-Aug-19: Dinner was Roasted Cauliflower & Almond Salad (web). This was quite good, but I didn't really make enough. Mini ice cream bars for dessert.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: yes; #2 VEG/FISH: 3; #3 COOKBOOK: yes
Cookbooks of the month: Vegetable Harvest for July, How to Eat for August
This month: #4 PASTA: no for July, no for August; #5 BREAD: no for July, no for August; #6 GUESTS: yes for July, no for August
This year: #7 PROJECT: no