Monday/1-Jun-15: Dinner was Goat Cheese, Chive, and Chili Pepper Sauce for Pasta (MarCuc, p167). Such an easy, tasty, fast dinner. Except for the soft goat cheese, everything in house. Followed by a big salad.
Tuesday/2-Jun-15: Off to Saumur today.
Wednesday/3-Jun-15: Another day in Saumur.
Thursday/4-Jun-15: Home again. Ed to choir practice. Me to shop at Intermarché. Not our regular shop, but will do in a pinch. We're not happy with Leclerc, where we usually shop, and vaguely looking for a replacement. Intermarché ain't it either.
Dinner was Apricot Dijon Glazed Salmon (web). Cooked it under the broiler rather than in the oven; this worked fine. Very good. Served with trio rice and steamed broccoli. Dessert from the boulagerie.
Friday/5-Jun-15: Dinner started out to be a recipe from Jamie magazine (not to be found online), Cumin & Yoghurt Roast Chicken, wherein marinated thighs are roasted on top of carrots and parsnips. Yogurt was the basis of the marinade, which I didn't note since we've usually got yogurt on hand. I used creme fraiche with extra lemon juice instead. In the end, we decide to barbecue the thighs rather than bake them. Served with corn on the cob and orzo. For after, some Citrus-Poached Pears from the same article.
Saturday/6-Jun-15: Fresh pasta tonight, yes! With Zucchini and Thyme Pasta Sauce (MarCuc, p162). Then a big salad. Then we shared our last magnum classic.
Sunday/7-Jun-15: Dinner was Easy Egg Curry with Urad Dal and Tamarind (web). Really yummy stuff. Can't say it was all that easy, but it wasn't hard. Used this method to steam the hard-boiled eggs, very successful. Served with plain rice and Stir-Fried Cauliflower (IndLight, p179), which was ok, a bit plain, but easy.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 UNUSED: no; #3 GRAINS: yes; #4 VEG/FISH: 4
This month: #5 PASTA: yes; #6 BREAD: no; #7 FotW: yes for May, no for June
Showing posts with label ~IndLight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ~IndLight. Show all posts
Monday, June 1, 2015
Monday, August 4, 2014
This week in the kitchen
Monday/4-Aug-14: Off to a movie in the afternoon, so a quick dinner. Spaghetti Carbonara with Peas (web). A little odd that the recipe wants to serve four with only 8oz of spaghetti. For the two of us, I made a whole-ish recipe with only 6oz of spaghtetti. Used lardon instead of bacon. Pretty good. Then a salad. Then we finished off the blueberry cake. A big piggy perhaps, but we wouldn't want it to go stale, would we?
Tuesday/5-Aug-14: Movie yesterday means shopping postponed till tomorrow. It was clean out the fridge night. I googled for recipes using smoked salmon and broccoli and smerged into a tasty pasta dish. It was really smoked trout, but I won't tell if you won't. For dessert with had a tiny bit of ice cream, finishing off a carton, topped with a bit of defrosted mixed berries.
Wednesday/6-Aug-14: Shopping today.
So, a few days, I came across a link to download a book called Good and Cheap (PDF file), written by a graduate student in food studies and aimed at people using food stamps. It looks to be a pretty good little cookbook. I hope they'll manage to get it printed at some point. Tonight's dinner was a half dose of Savory Summer Cobbler (G&C, p78), roasted veggies, topped with biscuit/dumplings. Pretty good, and very versatile, since it could be made with all kinds of veggies, as long as they roast in about the same time. Then a double chocolate mini magnum for dessert.
Yogurt on overnight.
Thursday/7-Aug-14: We had dinner in Limoges this evening before a concert. Nothing much happened in the kitchen.
Friday/8-Aug-14: Lunch out with friends today. Only fruit for dinner.
Saturday/9-Aug-14: A bit of a busy afternoon in the kitchen. I got started a bit late, so dinner was later than I would have liked. First there was something more-ish from Nigel Slater.
Having found no cilantro at the shops this week, I made Tamarind Chutney (IndLight, p286) instead of a cilantro-mint chutney. For the main, there was Baingan ka Tikka (Baked Small Eggplants with Curried Vegetable Stuffing (TLInd, p18), not the most successful recipe. I think this got translated for servings somewhere, but not too successfully. The recipe called for six small eggplants, 3-4oz each. Nothing that small to be found here; my small eggplants were probably about 8oz each (I didn't weigh them). So I made a halfish sort of recipe. The recipe asks for 1/2 pound of green peas, about 1/2cup. At about 1 cup, I had only 2oz. Something wrong there. I just made what looked like a good amount of the stuffing veggies. After you've stuffed the eggplant halves, they are topped with a paste of besan, cumin, and cayenne. These should be turned paste-side-down and fried. How on earth would that work? There wasn't enough paste to cover the tops and everything would fall out if you inverted them. I just popped them under the broiler for a bit, but I really think even that was wasted. Just baking would have been fine. We ate only one eggplant half each and the other two are in the freezer for an easy dinner some night.
As a go-with, there were some Spicy Cucumber Wedges (MJ1, p172). I also made some Baked Onion Bhajis (web), a recipe which got some really good reviews recently. Not a rave here, but worth another try. We thought the onion slices were too thick for one thing. Next time I'll make them quite thin. Also I didn't flatten the bhaji patties as I should have, so some bits were not crispy as they should have been. They are supposed to bake for two 25-minute periods, but were getting quite done (some burned edges) 15 minutes into the second period. Oh well. Good tastes mostly, but presentation not the best.
Sunday/10-Aug-14: Yogurt on overday.
Dinner was a nice summer salad; too bad it's rather cool and rainy for summer. It was Fried Zucchini, Pea, and Quinoa Salad (web), a good recipe for using up your garden basil, if you have any. Ed brought up two big tomatoes from the potager this afternoon; we had one of these sliced, with more basil, for a post-salad salad.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes; #2 VEG/FISH: 4
This month: #3 PASTA: no; #4 FotW: yes for July/no for August; #5 BREAD: no
Tuesday/5-Aug-14: Movie yesterday means shopping postponed till tomorrow. It was clean out the fridge night. I googled for recipes using smoked salmon and broccoli and smerged into a tasty pasta dish. It was really smoked trout, but I won't tell if you won't. For dessert with had a tiny bit of ice cream, finishing off a carton, topped with a bit of defrosted mixed berries.
Wednesday/6-Aug-14: Shopping today.
So, a few days, I came across a link to download a book called Good and Cheap (PDF file), written by a graduate student in food studies and aimed at people using food stamps. It looks to be a pretty good little cookbook. I hope they'll manage to get it printed at some point. Tonight's dinner was a half dose of Savory Summer Cobbler (G&C, p78), roasted veggies, topped with biscuit/dumplings. Pretty good, and very versatile, since it could be made with all kinds of veggies, as long as they roast in about the same time. Then a double chocolate mini magnum for dessert.
Yogurt on overnight.
Thursday/7-Aug-14: We had dinner in Limoges this evening before a concert. Nothing much happened in the kitchen.
Friday/8-Aug-14: Lunch out with friends today. Only fruit for dinner.
Saturday/9-Aug-14: A bit of a busy afternoon in the kitchen. I got started a bit late, so dinner was later than I would have liked. First there was something more-ish from Nigel Slater.
Having found no cilantro at the shops this week, I made Tamarind Chutney (IndLight, p286) instead of a cilantro-mint chutney. For the main, there was Baingan ka Tikka (Baked Small Eggplants with Curried Vegetable Stuffing (TLInd, p18), not the most successful recipe. I think this got translated for servings somewhere, but not too successfully. The recipe called for six small eggplants, 3-4oz each. Nothing that small to be found here; my small eggplants were probably about 8oz each (I didn't weigh them). So I made a halfish sort of recipe. The recipe asks for 1/2 pound of green peas, about 1/2cup. At about 1 cup, I had only 2oz. Something wrong there. I just made what looked like a good amount of the stuffing veggies. After you've stuffed the eggplant halves, they are topped with a paste of besan, cumin, and cayenne. These should be turned paste-side-down and fried. How on earth would that work? There wasn't enough paste to cover the tops and everything would fall out if you inverted them. I just popped them under the broiler for a bit, but I really think even that was wasted. Just baking would have been fine. We ate only one eggplant half each and the other two are in the freezer for an easy dinner some night.
As a go-with, there were some Spicy Cucumber Wedges (MJ1, p172). I also made some Baked Onion Bhajis (web), a recipe which got some really good reviews recently. Not a rave here, but worth another try. We thought the onion slices were too thick for one thing. Next time I'll make them quite thin. Also I didn't flatten the bhaji patties as I should have, so some bits were not crispy as they should have been. They are supposed to bake for two 25-minute periods, but were getting quite done (some burned edges) 15 minutes into the second period. Oh well. Good tastes mostly, but presentation not the best.
Sunday/10-Aug-14: Yogurt on overday.
Dinner was a nice summer salad; too bad it's rather cool and rainy for summer. It was Fried Zucchini, Pea, and Quinoa Salad (web), a good recipe for using up your garden basil, if you have any. Ed brought up two big tomatoes from the potager this afternoon; we had one of these sliced, with more basil, for a post-salad salad.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes; #2 VEG/FISH: 4
This month: #3 PASTA: no; #4 FotW: yes for July/no for August; #5 BREAD: no
Monday, June 30, 2014
This week in the kitchen
Monday/30-Jun-14: Had an urge for Penne all Arrabbiata, so that's what we had tonight. Made some very vaguely following the recipe in Top100Pasta, p38. My tomato sauce was made with one real tomato, seeded, and 1 cup last year's of tomato purée from the freezer. Good stuff. Then a big salad. Then double chocolate mini magnums. Then a long dog walk.
Tuesday/1-Jul-14: Had an ENT appointment today and did a bit of shopping at a health-food store near the hospital. Impulse-bought a packet of stuff for making pain au levain, a kind of sourdough bread. I thought it was the whole packet for a loaf, but on closer reading you use 25g of the 240g packet for one loaf. They give bread machine instructions too. Then we did our regular shopping.
Discovered that a cow has been in the South Forty and managed to break the top half off of Martha (a sweetgum). it was held together by a small strip of bark, so Ed wrapped it all together and put in a big stake to hold the top up.
It was Time-Life Scandinavian for dinner this evening. For dessert we finished off a box of chocolate roses.
Wednesday/2-Jul-14: Tonight I made a starter for IHCC. The main was (sort of) a half recipe or Orecchioni with Piquant Sauce (PastaCarlu, p28; cookbooker), an easy kind of a pasta sauce. I used pennoni, rather than orecchioni, which I've never seen; the picture in the book looks more like big shells. Then we had a small salad with the rest of the latest lettuce picked from the salad garden.
Martha looking surprisingly good. Some wilted bits, but large parts of the top look okay. This break is really a shame, since she was looking really well this year. Mama (pink dogwood) doesn't look too well at all, for no reason to be seen. Papa (pecan) is recovering well from last year's trauma. We wonder if there was a cow last year that caused that damage, but I think they were already tucked away for the winter.
Before I started dinner I made the shortcake from Berry Banana Shortcake (MC). We had a wedge of this with blueberries from our garden and vanilla ice cream. Yum.
Thursday/3-Jul-14: Yogurt on overday. Made a loaf of the pain au levain in the bread machine. Nice texture and tasty. It will be nice baked regularly, so that it gets a proper crust.
Oops I forgot to note that tonight's planned dinner needed some attention early in the day. Quick replan. Dinner was Tuna and White Bean Salad (MC), a recipe from Cooking Light, muchly redone. Broccoli instead of asparagus. Forgot the tomatoes. More oatmeal shortcake with blueberries and ice cream for after.
Friday/4-Jul-14: I was off all day at a stained glass workshop. Ate out for dinner.
Saturday/5-Jul-14: Made another batch of the pain au levain in the bread machine, this time half whit and half whole wheat. Oh dear, that was more-ish. And unneeded, since Ed brought home a bread yesterday after choir on Thursday and I didn't notice.
Dinner was Nigel Slater's Pepper, Tomato, and Basil Pasta (web). I didn't have the kind of pepper he wanted, so I used two bell peppers instead. It was really good. You roast the veggies, then take them out of the pan and toss the cooked pasta in the roasting pan and tasty oil. Ed is sicky, so didn't eat dinner and didn't tell me till I was almost ready to serve. I put his part in the fridge and we'll see if it doesn't make a good pasta salad sort of thing.
Sunday/6-Jul-14: This morning at breakfast Ed noticed that the concert I thought started at 17.00 (as originally advertised) now starts at 19.00. I'd planned a crockpot meal to be ready and waiting after the concert, but there wasn't enough time for it to cook to eat two hours earlier. Major replan, using the defrosted meat.
Instead, we had Ravi's Kerala-Style 'Bhuna' Lamb, Pork, Beef, or Veal (Kerala ka Bhuna Gosht) (100Curries, p112). Pretty easy to make, but lots of prep work. Once that's done it sits on a low fire for a long time largely unattended, except for an occasional stir. Good stuff. As go-withs there were plain basmati rice and Spiced Green Beans (IndLight, p174), an alternative to my usual Indian green bean side. For afters there was No-Cook Indian Ice Cream (Kulfi) (MC), which is a snap to make and pretty darn tasty.
Yogurt on overnight.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes; #2 VEG/FISH: 5
This month: #3 PASTA: yes for June, no for July; #4 FotW: yes for SCA, no for CRE; #5 BREAD: 0 for June, 0 for July
Tuesday/1-Jul-14: Had an ENT appointment today and did a bit of shopping at a health-food store near the hospital. Impulse-bought a packet of stuff for making pain au levain, a kind of sourdough bread. I thought it was the whole packet for a loaf, but on closer reading you use 25g of the 240g packet for one loaf. They give bread machine instructions too. Then we did our regular shopping.
Discovered that a cow has been in the South Forty and managed to break the top half off of Martha (a sweetgum). it was held together by a small strip of bark, so Ed wrapped it all together and put in a big stake to hold the top up.
It was Time-Life Scandinavian for dinner this evening. For dessert we finished off a box of chocolate roses.
Wednesday/2-Jul-14: Tonight I made a starter for IHCC. The main was (sort of) a half recipe or Orecchioni with Piquant Sauce (PastaCarlu, p28; cookbooker), an easy kind of a pasta sauce. I used pennoni, rather than orecchioni, which I've never seen; the picture in the book looks more like big shells. Then we had a small salad with the rest of the latest lettuce picked from the salad garden.
Martha looking surprisingly good. Some wilted bits, but large parts of the top look okay. This break is really a shame, since she was looking really well this year. Mama (pink dogwood) doesn't look too well at all, for no reason to be seen. Papa (pecan) is recovering well from last year's trauma. We wonder if there was a cow last year that caused that damage, but I think they were already tucked away for the winter.
Before I started dinner I made the shortcake from Berry Banana Shortcake (MC). We had a wedge of this with blueberries from our garden and vanilla ice cream. Yum.
Thursday/3-Jul-14: Yogurt on overday. Made a loaf of the pain au levain in the bread machine. Nice texture and tasty. It will be nice baked regularly, so that it gets a proper crust.
Oops I forgot to note that tonight's planned dinner needed some attention early in the day. Quick replan. Dinner was Tuna and White Bean Salad (MC), a recipe from Cooking Light, muchly redone. Broccoli instead of asparagus. Forgot the tomatoes. More oatmeal shortcake with blueberries and ice cream for after.
Friday/4-Jul-14: I was off all day at a stained glass workshop. Ate out for dinner.
Saturday/5-Jul-14: Made another batch of the pain au levain in the bread machine, this time half whit and half whole wheat. Oh dear, that was more-ish. And unneeded, since Ed brought home a bread yesterday after choir on Thursday and I didn't notice.
Dinner was Nigel Slater's Pepper, Tomato, and Basil Pasta (web). I didn't have the kind of pepper he wanted, so I used two bell peppers instead. It was really good. You roast the veggies, then take them out of the pan and toss the cooked pasta in the roasting pan and tasty oil. Ed is sicky, so didn't eat dinner and didn't tell me till I was almost ready to serve. I put his part in the fridge and we'll see if it doesn't make a good pasta salad sort of thing.
Sunday/6-Jul-14: This morning at breakfast Ed noticed that the concert I thought started at 17.00 (as originally advertised) now starts at 19.00. I'd planned a crockpot meal to be ready and waiting after the concert, but there wasn't enough time for it to cook to eat two hours earlier. Major replan, using the defrosted meat.
Instead, we had Ravi's Kerala-Style 'Bhuna' Lamb, Pork, Beef, or Veal (Kerala ka Bhuna Gosht) (100Curries, p112). Pretty easy to make, but lots of prep work. Once that's done it sits on a low fire for a long time largely unattended, except for an occasional stir. Good stuff. As go-withs there were plain basmati rice and Spiced Green Beans (IndLight, p174), an alternative to my usual Indian green bean side. For afters there was No-Cook Indian Ice Cream (Kulfi) (MC), which is a snap to make and pretty darn tasty.
Yogurt on overnight.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes; #2 VEG/FISH: 5
This month: #3 PASTA: yes for June, no for July; #4 FotW: yes for SCA, no for CRE; #5 BREAD: 0 for June, 0 for July
Monday, March 10, 2014
This week in the kitchen
Monday/10-Mar-14: Dinner was Ervilhas Guisadas à Portuguêsa—Peas Portuguese (TLS&P, p69). I used only half the butter for sautéing the onion. Served the last bit of Jody's harberno pasta on the side. All was good. We split a magnum classic for after. (I had about a third; Ed was happy to have more.)
Tuesday/11-Mar-14: Shopping today.
Haven't made a dessert in a while. Found the recipe for Pear-Almond Upside Down Cake (VC4E, p704) on the way to the grocery and bought the required two pears. Made dinner while this was in the oven.
Dinner was Pesce con Funghi Porcini—White Fish Fillets with Ceps (TopItal, p83); no cêpes (wrong season, isn't it?) so used shiitakes. This was pretty good and easy. I used the odd bits of shrooms and a shallot to make a kind of trio rice pilaf. And then there was (sort of) Broccoletti in Padella—Broccoli with Garlic and Chilli Pepper (TopItal, p55). Followed by too much upside down cake. I cut it in eighths, but should have done it in sixths. We ate a quarter, then Ed wanted more, so we ate another quarter. I had small pieces both time, but still.
Wednesday/12-Mar-14: Made a half recipe (i.e., only one chicken) of Garlic Roast Chicken (MC) for dinner. Put it in the oven about 18.30 and used the turn-off feature of the oven to turn it off at the proper time. We went to the "election information" evening that lasted till 20.00. Tiring. Came home and ate the chicken and veg right out of the roasting pan. Almost finished the upside down cake; just a bit left for breakfast.
Yogurt on overnight.
Thursday/13-Mar-14: Expecting to be tuckered out from line dancing this evening, I planned Slow Cooker Pork Paprikash (web; cookbooker) for dinner. Line dancing was cancelled, so the plan was for naught. Served the paprikash over a full dose (probably the first time ever) of Spaetzle (MW@Home, p203); this is part of a recipe for Cauliflower Paprikash. The pork paprikash was good and we have another dinner in the freezer. Ate some carrot sticks for a veg. No dessert. (I bought this pork on sale, 1.8kg of sauté, which seems to be chunks of shoulder. Usually I divide it up into smaller bits, but this time I didn't so we'll have to repeat a pork dinner soon.)
Friday/14-Mar-14: Dinner was Chile-Lime Veggie Noodles (web). OK, but neither of us really liked it. We split a magnum classic for afters.
Saturday/15-Mar-14: Used up the rest of the pork tonight with Pork in a Mustard Spice Mix (100Curries, p99). When I read through the recipe I somehow missed that it needed to simmer for an hour. Oops. But I remembered that in Q&E, Jaffrey gives the option of pressure cooking (to be quick) or simmering. So I got out the pressure cooker and away we went. The organic tomatoes I bought were really blah, so the dish might have had more flavor they had been better, but it was pretty darn good as it was. For a side there was a half recipe of Spiced Broccoli and Tomatoes (IndLight, p175). This wanted plum tomatoes, which are summer things. I have some oven-dried plum tomatoes in the freezer, so used them instead. Pretty good, this was. Served with rice. And a waffle with mixed berries (from the freezer) topped with crème fraîche for dessert.
Sunday/16-Mar-14: Yogurt on overday.
Have some green beans that don't like like they'll get used in the next days, so I made a small batch of Kaye's Pickled Green Beans (MC). This is sort of my own recipe, smerged from a couple of others. I like; Ed doesn't. (He's not a big pickle eater.)
Made some Figos Recheados—Dried Figs Stuffed with Almonds and Chocolate (TLS&P, p103) from Portugal. One day too late with these, but hadn't had time to make them. They're stuffed with a mixture of ground almonds and shredded chocolate. There are actually two fig "candy" recipes given, both say they are traditionally served after dinner accompanied by glasses of port. I've tried one of mine, and, yes, I think that would be a good combination. Our bottle of port is so old, though, I wonder if it's drinkable? Will check it out this evening. I suspect either of these fig things would be a nice little go-with for after dinner of afternoon coffee. Pretty easy to make too.
Dinner was a pasta fantasy using up bits of broccoli, shiitakes, and zucchini, along with some tomato sauce from the freezer. Then a bit salad. Then some port with stuffed figs. The port (tawny) is still drinkable. The figs are a good go-with.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes; #2 VEG/FISH: 3
This month: #3 PASTA: yes, #4 FotW: yes for February, no for March; #5 BREAD: 1
Tuesday/11-Mar-14: Shopping today.
Haven't made a dessert in a while. Found the recipe for Pear-Almond Upside Down Cake (VC4E, p704) on the way to the grocery and bought the required two pears. Made dinner while this was in the oven.
Dinner was Pesce con Funghi Porcini—White Fish Fillets with Ceps (TopItal, p83); no cêpes (wrong season, isn't it?) so used shiitakes. This was pretty good and easy. I used the odd bits of shrooms and a shallot to make a kind of trio rice pilaf. And then there was (sort of) Broccoletti in Padella—Broccoli with Garlic and Chilli Pepper (TopItal, p55). Followed by too much upside down cake. I cut it in eighths, but should have done it in sixths. We ate a quarter, then Ed wanted more, so we ate another quarter. I had small pieces both time, but still.
Wednesday/12-Mar-14: Made a half recipe (i.e., only one chicken) of Garlic Roast Chicken (MC) for dinner. Put it in the oven about 18.30 and used the turn-off feature of the oven to turn it off at the proper time. We went to the "election information" evening that lasted till 20.00. Tiring. Came home and ate the chicken and veg right out of the roasting pan. Almost finished the upside down cake; just a bit left for breakfast.
Yogurt on overnight.
Thursday/13-Mar-14: Expecting to be tuckered out from line dancing this evening, I planned Slow Cooker Pork Paprikash (web; cookbooker) for dinner. Line dancing was cancelled, so the plan was for naught. Served the paprikash over a full dose (probably the first time ever) of Spaetzle (MW@Home, p203); this is part of a recipe for Cauliflower Paprikash. The pork paprikash was good and we have another dinner in the freezer. Ate some carrot sticks for a veg. No dessert. (I bought this pork on sale, 1.8kg of sauté, which seems to be chunks of shoulder. Usually I divide it up into smaller bits, but this time I didn't so we'll have to repeat a pork dinner soon.)
Friday/14-Mar-14: Dinner was Chile-Lime Veggie Noodles (web). OK, but neither of us really liked it. We split a magnum classic for afters.
Saturday/15-Mar-14: Used up the rest of the pork tonight with Pork in a Mustard Spice Mix (100Curries, p99). When I read through the recipe I somehow missed that it needed to simmer for an hour. Oops. But I remembered that in Q&E, Jaffrey gives the option of pressure cooking (to be quick) or simmering. So I got out the pressure cooker and away we went. The organic tomatoes I bought were really blah, so the dish might have had more flavor they had been better, but it was pretty darn good as it was. For a side there was a half recipe of Spiced Broccoli and Tomatoes (IndLight, p175). This wanted plum tomatoes, which are summer things. I have some oven-dried plum tomatoes in the freezer, so used them instead. Pretty good, this was. Served with rice. And a waffle with mixed berries (from the freezer) topped with crème fraîche for dessert.
Sunday/16-Mar-14: Yogurt on overday.
Have some green beans that don't like like they'll get used in the next days, so I made a small batch of Kaye's Pickled Green Beans (MC). This is sort of my own recipe, smerged from a couple of others. I like; Ed doesn't. (He's not a big pickle eater.)
Made some Figos Recheados—Dried Figs Stuffed with Almonds and Chocolate (TLS&P, p103) from Portugal. One day too late with these, but hadn't had time to make them. They're stuffed with a mixture of ground almonds and shredded chocolate. There are actually two fig "candy" recipes given, both say they are traditionally served after dinner accompanied by glasses of port. I've tried one of mine, and, yes, I think that would be a good combination. Our bottle of port is so old, though, I wonder if it's drinkable? Will check it out this evening. I suspect either of these fig things would be a nice little go-with for after dinner of afternoon coffee. Pretty easy to make too.
The yogurt, which should have gone off at 22.30, was off about 17.00. Don't know when or why that happened. Guess it might be time to break down and get a new yogurt maker. Now, do I get another Moulinex so I can use the same jars? Or do I get another brand that has eight jars per liter, which is a better amount for breakfast
Dinner was a pasta fantasy using up bits of broccoli, shiitakes, and zucchini, along with some tomato sauce from the freezer. Then a bit salad. Then some port with stuffed figs. The port (tawny) is still drinkable. The figs are a good go-with.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes; #2 VEG/FISH: 3
This month: #3 PASTA: yes, #4 FotW: yes for February, no for March; #5 BREAD: 1
Monday, August 12, 2013
This week in the kitchen
Monday/12-Aug-13: Last night I prepped the bread machine with Authentic French Bread on Rapid Bake; this morning I came down early and pressed Go. Result, a large lovely loaf, not as dense as it usually is.
Defrosted the fridge/freezer. Found enough bones and bits in the freezer to make chicken broth. The fridge now stands on the hearth tiles, facing the outside doors. Very confusing.
Dinner helped with the fridge-cleaning business. I lined two dishes with a tortilla each, added the leftover Spanish rice, then topped them up with a custard of one egg and some crème fraîche, spiced up with cayenne, chili powder, and a sprinkle of ground cumin. Pretty good those were. And some corn on the cob. And a half recipe of Green Bean and Napa Cabbage Salad (web). The green beans I had, store-bought plus some from the potager, weren't enough, so I added some snow peas to round it out. This is a really good salad; it would be nice at a potluck dinner or picnic.
Yogurt on overnight.
Tuesday/13-Aug-13: Work on disassembling the cabinets has started in earnest. One of the Ivars stands in the living room now; the second is unpacked; I'll pack up the third tomorrow to reassemble with the other. I wonder how many weeks they will stand there?
Dinner was Chipotle Lime Grilled Shrimp (web), broiled instead of grilled. Not bad. Served with polenta and a zucchini mish-mash, sautéed with garlic and shallots and some tomatoes. Some of the chocolate cake mini-magnums for afters.
Wednesday/14-Aug-13: Shopping today. And took delivery of 6m3 of wood for next winter; spend a lot of time putting that away.
Dinner was Grilled Swordfish, Chettinad Style (IndLight, p155). Ed prepped the bbq while I made Rice with Peas (MJ1, p149), Fried Aubergine Slices (MJ1, p99), and Onion Relish (MJ1, p174) as go-withs. All are repeats. The last time I did the eggplant, I think I broiled the bits, which I think I'll do again; fried eggplant is always oilier that I'd like. But it tastes good. For dessert with had some vanilla ice cream with chocolate liqueur (impulse buy at the store while looking for Kahlua).
Took down the third Ivar section today, but no time to reassemble.
Thursday/15-Aug-13: Dinner at Mazerolles' Fête Patronale this evening (followed by fireworks), so nothing food-wise happened in the kitchen. Three Ivars assembled and partially reloaded.
Friday/16-Aug-13: The peninsula cabinets are disassembled and moved into the center of the room, leaving a narrow aisle in front of the sink. The three narrow pantry cabinets are free of the wall. Ed thinks we won't have to move them into the living room, but just swing them aside. Which means I don't have to completely fill the Ivars since the boxes won't be needed. Hooray!
Dinner was a half-recipe of Casareccia with Zucchini and Fresh Basil (web, cookbooker), which made for pretty small servings, but maybe that's ok for those of us trying to lost a bit of weight. Followed by a big salad. Followed by my adaptation of Coffee Ricotta Mousse (MW@Home, p307) to use up the ricotta not used in the pasta sauce. Actually, my version of this is so far off, using cocoa with maybe only a dab of coffee (not tonight), that I should just write it up and call it my own. Added a dose of chocolate liqueur too. All was good.
Not thinking I'm going to get a post done for IHCC again this week. Too bad.
Saturday/17-Aug-13: Zucchini and winter squash in the garden, one plant each, are going crazy!
Dinner was a half dose of Risotto con Gamberi e Acetosa (WildCarluccio, p20), a risotto with shrimp and sorrel. Yum. Then some Apricot-Almond Clafouti (web) made in the afternoon. Also yum.
Sunday/18-Aug-13: Went out for pizza tonight. Nothing happened in the kitchen.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 IHCC/COOKBOOKS: no, #2 VEG/FISH: 5
This month: #3 PASTA: no, #4 BREAD: no
Defrosted the fridge/freezer. Found enough bones and bits in the freezer to make chicken broth. The fridge now stands on the hearth tiles, facing the outside doors. Very confusing.
Dinner helped with the fridge-cleaning business. I lined two dishes with a tortilla each, added the leftover Spanish rice, then topped them up with a custard of one egg and some crème fraîche, spiced up with cayenne, chili powder, and a sprinkle of ground cumin. Pretty good those were. And some corn on the cob. And a half recipe of Green Bean and Napa Cabbage Salad (web). The green beans I had, store-bought plus some from the potager, weren't enough, so I added some snow peas to round it out. This is a really good salad; it would be nice at a potluck dinner or picnic.
Yogurt on overnight.
Tuesday/13-Aug-13: Work on disassembling the cabinets has started in earnest. One of the Ivars stands in the living room now; the second is unpacked; I'll pack up the third tomorrow to reassemble with the other. I wonder how many weeks they will stand there?
Dinner was Chipotle Lime Grilled Shrimp (web), broiled instead of grilled. Not bad. Served with polenta and a zucchini mish-mash, sautéed with garlic and shallots and some tomatoes. Some of the chocolate cake mini-magnums for afters.
Wednesday/14-Aug-13: Shopping today. And took delivery of 6m3 of wood for next winter; spend a lot of time putting that away.
Dinner was Grilled Swordfish, Chettinad Style (IndLight, p155). Ed prepped the bbq while I made Rice with Peas (MJ1, p149), Fried Aubergine Slices (MJ1, p99), and Onion Relish (MJ1, p174) as go-withs. All are repeats. The last time I did the eggplant, I think I broiled the bits, which I think I'll do again; fried eggplant is always oilier that I'd like. But it tastes good. For dessert with had some vanilla ice cream with chocolate liqueur (impulse buy at the store while looking for Kahlua).
Took down the third Ivar section today, but no time to reassemble.
Thursday/15-Aug-13: Dinner at Mazerolles' Fête Patronale this evening (followed by fireworks), so nothing food-wise happened in the kitchen. Three Ivars assembled and partially reloaded.
Friday/16-Aug-13: The peninsula cabinets are disassembled and moved into the center of the room, leaving a narrow aisle in front of the sink. The three narrow pantry cabinets are free of the wall. Ed thinks we won't have to move them into the living room, but just swing them aside. Which means I don't have to completely fill the Ivars since the boxes won't be needed. Hooray!
Dinner was a half-recipe of Casareccia with Zucchini and Fresh Basil (web, cookbooker), which made for pretty small servings, but maybe that's ok for those of us trying to lost a bit of weight. Followed by a big salad. Followed by my adaptation of Coffee Ricotta Mousse (MW@Home, p307) to use up the ricotta not used in the pasta sauce. Actually, my version of this is so far off, using cocoa with maybe only a dab of coffee (not tonight), that I should just write it up and call it my own. Added a dose of chocolate liqueur too. All was good.
Not thinking I'm going to get a post done for IHCC again this week. Too bad.
Saturday/17-Aug-13: Zucchini and winter squash in the garden, one plant each, are going crazy!
Dinner was a half dose of Risotto con Gamberi e Acetosa (WildCarluccio, p20), a risotto with shrimp and sorrel. Yum. Then some Apricot-Almond Clafouti (web) made in the afternoon. Also yum.
Sunday/18-Aug-13: Went out for pizza tonight. Nothing happened in the kitchen.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 IHCC/COOKBOOKS: no, #2 VEG/FISH: 5
This month: #3 PASTA: no, #4 BREAD: no
Monday, October 1, 2012
This week in the kitchen
Monday/1-Oct-12: Company for dinner, so was all day in the kitchen. The original plan was a roast lamb shoulder, but it turned into an Indian night when I started looking for what I'd made to celebrate my start with I Heart Cooking Clubs and Madhur Jaffrey. Last night I made the broth for No-Cook Indian Ice Cream (Kulfi) (MC). Also, I made up some Tamarind Chutney (IndLight, p286).
For starters, there were Onion Fritters (Pyaz ki Bhajia) (Q&E, p20) served with Tamarind Chutney. For the main course, there was Lamb with Onions (Do piaza) (MJ1, p46), served with Rice and Peas with Garam Masala (Matar Aur Sooay Ka Pullao) (SpiceKitch, p65) and Yoghurt with Cucumber and Mint (Kheere ka Raita) (MJ1, p162). For dessert there was kulfi with mango chunks. Except for the lamb dish, these are all things I've made several times. All were good. (The IHCC post is here.)
Tuesday/2-Oct-12: Now to work on the 2.5kg of potatoes I bought to go with the roast-lamb-that-wasn't. Tonight there was Warm Broccoli and Potato Salad (MDSalads, p15), an old favorite.
Yogurt on overnight.
Wednesday/3-Oct-12: Shopping today, without much of a plan, but we have more veggies in-house now. Dinner was Broiled Spiced Fish Steaks (RealFast, p73). Well, it was cod fillets rather than steaks, but it still tasted good. Served with a kind of pilaf with shrooms and shallots, followed by a salad. Treated ourselves to some chocolate squares while we went out searching for Sophie, who was in the mood to stay out late, and was resistant to coming home after we met up.
Thursday/4-Oct-12: Made chicken stock, using the accumulation of bones from the freezer. Made Pear Butter, using up Barbara's pears which were needing to be used. While these were happening, I opened the fridge and a big, unopened jar of cornichons leapt off its shelf to the floor. What a mess!
Dinner out for a friend's birthday. Have had our heavy protein for several days now.
Friday/5-Oct-12: Dinner turned into a sort of meze plate.
Saturday/6-Oct-12: Today was Ed's turn with jars leaping from the fridge door. This time a lovely jar of green chili pickle (Indian) and the jar of (Dijon) mustard.
Oops, neglected to remember the long cooking time for tonight's planned dinner. Not wanting to eat at 9pm, I made instead VIndaloo Lounge (Wraps, p74), after remembering that I spied a jar vindaloo sauce in the back of the cabinet.
Sunday/7-Oct-12: So, started last night's dinner in plenty of time today, only to discover that the fresh mushrooms bought this week were already covered in mold. Grr... What do you make at the last minute? Pasta, of course. Tiny Drôme goat-cheese-filled raviolis with a sauce of lardons, shallots, the soaked dried mushrooms I'd started for the aborted dish, and a carton of pyramid goat cheese. Not bad. Followed by a salad, of course.
Boulangeries are closed Sunday afternoon and our closest is closed on Mondays. Thus, having bread on hand for Monday breakfast and lunch seems to be a chronic problem for us. If I but planned ahead a bit, I could start Sam's no-knead bread in the evening to finish off in the morning. Tonight there's English Muffin Bread (BigGerman, p15) in the ABM overnight. Also yogurt on overnight.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes, #2 BREAD: yes, #3 SOUP: no, #4 MIDDAY: no, #5 VEG/FISH: 4
This month: #6 PASTA: no
For starters, there were Onion Fritters (Pyaz ki Bhajia) (Q&E, p20) served with Tamarind Chutney. For the main course, there was Lamb with Onions (Do piaza) (MJ1, p46), served with Rice and Peas with Garam Masala (Matar Aur Sooay Ka Pullao) (SpiceKitch, p65) and Yoghurt with Cucumber and Mint (Kheere ka Raita) (MJ1, p162). For dessert there was kulfi with mango chunks. Except for the lamb dish, these are all things I've made several times. All were good. (The IHCC post is here.)
Tuesday/2-Oct-12: Now to work on the 2.5kg of potatoes I bought to go with the roast-lamb-that-wasn't. Tonight there was Warm Broccoli and Potato Salad (MDSalads, p15), an old favorite.
Yogurt on overnight.
Wednesday/3-Oct-12: Shopping today, without much of a plan, but we have more veggies in-house now. Dinner was Broiled Spiced Fish Steaks (RealFast, p73). Well, it was cod fillets rather than steaks, but it still tasted good. Served with a kind of pilaf with shrooms and shallots, followed by a salad. Treated ourselves to some chocolate squares while we went out searching for Sophie, who was in the mood to stay out late, and was resistant to coming home after we met up.
Thursday/4-Oct-12: Made chicken stock, using the accumulation of bones from the freezer. Made Pear Butter, using up Barbara's pears which were needing to be used. While these were happening, I opened the fridge and a big, unopened jar of cornichons leapt off its shelf to the floor. What a mess!
Dinner out for a friend's birthday. Have had our heavy protein for several days now.
Friday/5-Oct-12: Dinner turned into a sort of meze plate.
- There were dolmades from a can, three each and pretty good. One day I'll try to made these, just to say I have, but the canned ones are fine.
- And there was a loosely adapted version of Tomatoes Stuffed with Tuna (MedLight, p63). Stuffed only two tomatoes and have extra for tuna sandwiches tomorrow. No fresh mint, so I used dried. A similar recipe in O&C called for beans to be included; I had some leftover couscous, so I used those instead. Pretty tasty.
- And there was a half dose of Marinated Eggplant (MedLight, p61; cookbooker). This was very good, although the eggplant slices were a bit soggy since the steaming time seems to be a bit long. A bit leftover for something.
- And there was a half dose of Leek, Potato, and Olive Pie (Prassopita) (O&C. p97; cookbooker). I had some leeks desperately needing to be used and lots of potatoes that didn't getting used in Monday's dinner, so this seemed and ideal dish. Very good it was. Now I've got filo in the fridge to use up in the next weeks.
Saturday/6-Oct-12: Today was Ed's turn with jars leaping from the fridge door. This time a lovely jar of green chili pickle (Indian) and the jar of (Dijon) mustard.
Oops, neglected to remember the long cooking time for tonight's planned dinner. Not wanting to eat at 9pm, I made instead VIndaloo Lounge (Wraps, p74), after remembering that I spied a jar vindaloo sauce in the back of the cabinet.
Sunday/7-Oct-12: So, started last night's dinner in plenty of time today, only to discover that the fresh mushrooms bought this week were already covered in mold. Grr... What do you make at the last minute? Pasta, of course. Tiny Drôme goat-cheese-filled raviolis with a sauce of lardons, shallots, the soaked dried mushrooms I'd started for the aborted dish, and a carton of pyramid goat cheese. Not bad. Followed by a salad, of course.
Boulangeries are closed Sunday afternoon and our closest is closed on Mondays. Thus, having bread on hand for Monday breakfast and lunch seems to be a chronic problem for us. If I but planned ahead a bit, I could start Sam's no-knead bread in the evening to finish off in the morning. Tonight there's English Muffin Bread (BigGerman, p15) in the ABM overnight. Also yogurt on overnight.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes, #2 BREAD: yes, #3 SOUP: no, #4 MIDDAY: no, #5 VEG/FISH: 4
This month: #6 PASTA: no
Monday, June 11, 2012
This week in the kitchen
Monday/11-Jun-12: We watched the France-England football match at Barbara and David's, and filled up on munchies. When we got home, I made a salad and that's what we had for dinner.
Tuesday/12-Jun-12: Dinner from the freezer again—the sauce for Gemelli with Mushrooms and Tomato, but with mushroom-flavored pasta that are shaped like chanterelles. Then a big salad.
Wednesday/13-Jun-12: Oops, no shopping today as planned, so it's more eating from the freezer. Tonight was Lamb with Black Peppercorns (web), with smashed potatoes and sautéed Shredded Zucchini (MW@Home, p87). Then we finished off the Strawberry Yogurt Freeze.
Thursday/14-Jun-12: French toast for breakfast with the stale ends of two bits of bread. Then some Authentic French Bread (Magic, p22, but out of head) in the bread machine.
Still haven't made it shopping, so off piste for tonight's dinner, which we ate outside, this first time we've been able to do this since the end of March. There was a yummy, half dose of Spaghetti alla Puttanesca (365Pasta, p7), followed by a salad, then some mixed berries over Strawberry Sorbet, which was also pretty darn good.
Friday/15-Jun-12: Whew, finally made it shopping today. Dinner was Tandoori Halibut (Bombay, p179), a halfish recipe, using cod, since there was no halibut to be found. This was accompanied by Alu Dum (Smothered Potatoes) (Singh, p175) and Spiced Green Beans (IndLight, p174). All in all, a very tasty meal, although afterwards I noticed that I'd gotten out my jar of amchoor, rather than garam masala, so bother the fish and the potatoes were not quite as intended. Double chocolate mini-Magnums for afters.
Saturday/16-Jun-12: Finished off the Five-Alarm Lentil Soup for lunch. That help up pretty well.
Dinner was a half recipe of Red Onion and Goat Cheese Pancake (web). The "pancake" itself was quite nice, but the balsamic-honey syrup to go with it was yicky, and not really needed. Then a bit of salad. Then some tasty tomme de Savoie, which was a special offer this week.
Sunday/17-Jun-12: Dinner al fresco for the third night in a row, an ordinary spring/summer/fall occurrence that has been very rare this year. The main was was Quiche aux Fonds d'Artichaut (Quiche with Artichoke Bottoms) (VPQ). Simple and good. The quiche custard contains cornstarch, which is a new-to-me and interesting variation. In fact the custard seemed to set quite well. Most custardy things I make seem to need to cook much longer that the recipe to get set. Something about my magnetism in the kitchen, I guess. Followed by a big salad. Then the last of the Strawberry Sorbet. Yum
Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes, #2 BREAD: yes, #3 SOUP: yes, #4 MIDDAY: no, #5 VEG/FISH: 5
This month: #6 PASTA: yes
Tuesday/12-Jun-12: Dinner from the freezer again—the sauce for Gemelli with Mushrooms and Tomato, but with mushroom-flavored pasta that are shaped like chanterelles. Then a big salad.
Wednesday/13-Jun-12: Oops, no shopping today as planned, so it's more eating from the freezer. Tonight was Lamb with Black Peppercorns (web), with smashed potatoes and sautéed Shredded Zucchini (MW@Home, p87). Then we finished off the Strawberry Yogurt Freeze.
Thursday/14-Jun-12: French toast for breakfast with the stale ends of two bits of bread. Then some Authentic French Bread (Magic, p22, but out of head) in the bread machine.
Still haven't made it shopping, so off piste for tonight's dinner, which we ate outside, this first time we've been able to do this since the end of March. There was a yummy, half dose of Spaghetti alla Puttanesca (365Pasta, p7), followed by a salad, then some mixed berries over Strawberry Sorbet, which was also pretty darn good.
Friday/15-Jun-12: Whew, finally made it shopping today. Dinner was Tandoori Halibut (Bombay, p179), a halfish recipe, using cod, since there was no halibut to be found. This was accompanied by Alu Dum (Smothered Potatoes) (Singh, p175) and Spiced Green Beans (IndLight, p174). All in all, a very tasty meal, although afterwards I noticed that I'd gotten out my jar of amchoor, rather than garam masala, so bother the fish and the potatoes were not quite as intended. Double chocolate mini-Magnums for afters.
Saturday/16-Jun-12: Finished off the Five-Alarm Lentil Soup for lunch. That help up pretty well.
Dinner was a half recipe of Red Onion and Goat Cheese Pancake (web). The "pancake" itself was quite nice, but the balsamic-honey syrup to go with it was yicky, and not really needed. Then a bit of salad. Then some tasty tomme de Savoie, which was a special offer this week.
Sunday/17-Jun-12: Dinner al fresco for the third night in a row, an ordinary spring/summer/fall occurrence that has been very rare this year. The main was was Quiche aux Fonds d'Artichaut (Quiche with Artichoke Bottoms) (VPQ). Simple and good. The quiche custard contains cornstarch, which is a new-to-me and interesting variation. In fact the custard seemed to set quite well. Most custardy things I make seem to need to cook much longer that the recipe to get set. Something about my magnetism in the kitchen, I guess. Followed by a big salad. Then the last of the Strawberry Sorbet. Yum
Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes, #2 BREAD: yes, #3 SOUP: yes, #4 MIDDAY: no, #5 VEG/FISH: 5
This month: #6 PASTA: yes
Monday, June 13, 2011
This week in the kitchen
Monday/13-Jun-11: We had our main meal at midday today, well, it was 15.30, but that's midday compared to 19.00, isn't it? For the main, there was a full dose of Cauliflower with Potatoes (MJ1, p109), from which there is a bit leftover for ... something. I'd originally planned a similar cauliflower and potato recipe from a French magazine, but it looked so bland, that I poked around in my books and came up with this one, which is pretty good. Served with plain basmati rice and the spiced up (not so) Spicy Apricot Chutney from Cooking Light that I've been trying to use up. At the last minute I thought the plate looked very bland, so I made Gujerati Carrot Salad (MJ1, p170), which is about as fast as you can make it and remarkably tasty. Since we ate the kulfi up already, we just had some chocolate chocolate chip cookies for dessert.
The lemons finished soaking today, so I put them up in salt. According to the recipe, 5 lemons should fit in a 1-pint/2-cup jar! I might have been able to force them into a 3/4-liter jar, but they look quite happy in the 1-liter jar I used. But they are only submerged in lemon juice when I mash down on them, otherwise they float up. I might get more lemons next time I'm at the shops at top up the juice. I've probably gone through 2 dozen lemons in the last weeks, what with the artichokes and this project.
Yogurt on overnight.
Tuesday/14-Jun-11: No one went to the boulangerie today, so the bread machine made bread for lunch and tomorrow's breakfast. Made up some juice for chocolate ice cream.
Dinner was Shrimp with Wild Rice, collected from EAT-L (soon to be MC). Took a bit longer than I expected to made, so we ate quite late. Good it was anyhow. And a salad, with the leftover cauliflower and potatoes, and beans from the Sunday.
Wednesday/15-Jun-11: An oldie-but-goodie recipe for dinner, Moroccan Lamb with Carrot Salad (MC). Used ras el-hanout in the rub, rather than paprika, since I've got a jar needing to be used up. Served with couscous, which went really well with the carrot-radish salad. Then some chaource. Then some chocolate ice cream. Yum.
Thursday/16-Jun-11: Midday meal today starring Chicken with Blueberry Sauce (EAT-L, soon to be MC). I used chicken stock, which is thawed and needing to be used up instead of beef stock, which might be better. But it was good. Served with some funny pasta bits and Zucchini and Vermouth (Essential, p227). Followed by a salad. Finished with faiselle and raspberries. All good.
Made some apple-rhubarb butter.
Friday/17-Jun-11: Shopped today. This week's impulse buy was four fresh sardines (gutted), which I'd never had before, let alone cooked. So, they appeared as the starter. The sardines are full of very fine bones (however could you fillet such small things), but the cooked bones were not a problem in the eating. Bought more lemons and added more juice to the preserved lemons which were "under water" only when I pressed down on them; they refused to stay that way.
Dinner was rather unplanned, and late because of that. I used them to make Grilled Moroccan Sardines (Essential, p424). This was quite a good way to do sardines. Fresh ones are much better than canned, less salty and not so overwhelmingly fishy. The marinade was quite good. They only took two minutes under the broiler, not two minutes on each side.
For the main I made Broiled Spiced Swordfish, Mangalore Style (IndLight, p157), which I've made before with tuna. It's quite good with with the swordfish. Easy too. Then there was Cauliflower with Fennel and Mustard Seeds (MJ1, p109), which was good. And Mushroom Pullao (MJ1, p152), which was also good, one of those things I need to remember to make more often. For afters, we finished off the chocolate ice cream, not very Indian, but good. nevertheless.
Saturday/18-Jun-11: Yogurt on overday; otherwise quiet in the kitchen. Picked up Sam and Pat in Bordeaux today. Ate at La Bellone this evening.
Sunday/19-Jun-11: Lunched at the bread fair in Condac. For dinner we had fruit and carrot sticks, topped off with Lu Petits Ecoliers (Scholiertjes).
Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: yes, #2 SOUP:no, #3 MIDDAY: yes
This month: #4 PASTA: not yet
Tuesday/14-Jun-11: No one went to the boulangerie today, so the bread machine made bread for lunch and tomorrow's breakfast. Made up some juice for chocolate ice cream.
Dinner was Shrimp with Wild Rice, collected from EAT-L (soon to be MC). Took a bit longer than I expected to made, so we ate quite late. Good it was anyhow. And a salad, with the leftover cauliflower and potatoes, and beans from the Sunday.
Wednesday/15-Jun-11: An oldie-but-goodie recipe for dinner, Moroccan Lamb with Carrot Salad (MC). Used ras el-hanout in the rub, rather than paprika, since I've got a jar needing to be used up. Served with couscous, which went really well with the carrot-radish salad. Then some chaource. Then some chocolate ice cream. Yum.
Thursday/16-Jun-11: Midday meal today starring Chicken with Blueberry Sauce (EAT-L, soon to be MC). I used chicken stock, which is thawed and needing to be used up instead of beef stock, which might be better. But it was good. Served with some funny pasta bits and Zucchini and Vermouth (Essential, p227). Followed by a salad. Finished with faiselle and raspberries. All good.
Made some apple-rhubarb butter.
Friday/17-Jun-11: Shopped today. This week's impulse buy was four fresh sardines (gutted), which I'd never had before, let alone cooked. So, they appeared as the starter. The sardines are full of very fine bones (however could you fillet such small things), but the cooked bones were not a problem in the eating. Bought more lemons and added more juice to the preserved lemons which were "under water" only when I pressed down on them; they refused to stay that way.
Dinner was rather unplanned, and late because of that. I used them to make Grilled Moroccan Sardines (Essential, p424). This was quite a good way to do sardines. Fresh ones are much better than canned, less salty and not so overwhelmingly fishy. The marinade was quite good. They only took two minutes under the broiler, not two minutes on each side.
For the main I made Broiled Spiced Swordfish, Mangalore Style (IndLight, p157), which I've made before with tuna. It's quite good with with the swordfish. Easy too. Then there was Cauliflower with Fennel and Mustard Seeds (MJ1, p109), which was good. And Mushroom Pullao (MJ1, p152), which was also good, one of those things I need to remember to make more often. For afters, we finished off the chocolate ice cream, not very Indian, but good. nevertheless.
Saturday/18-Jun-11: Yogurt on overday; otherwise quiet in the kitchen. Picked up Sam and Pat in Bordeaux today. Ate at La Bellone this evening.
Sunday/19-Jun-11: Lunched at the bread fair in Condac. For dinner we had fruit and carrot sticks, topped off with Lu Petits Ecoliers (Scholiertjes).
Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: yes, #2 SOUP:no, #3 MIDDAY: yes
This month: #4 PASTA: not yet
Monday, April 25, 2011
This week in the kitchen
Monday/25-Apr-11: Lunched at Chez Cisseen today with Bill, meaning to have a small one, but didn't quite make it. For dinner there was Grilled Caesar Salad (MC), an old favorite. Dessert was Belgian waffles with blueberries and vanilla ice cream.
Part of our nice gourmand lunch at our hotel on Saturday was cannoli of smoked salmon. The filling was ricotta (or something similar), livened with grated radishes and celeriac perhaps, or maybe only radishes. This is somewhat similar to a starter I've made with smoked salmon by lining small dishes and filling. The bit of crunch in the cannoli filling was quite nice. I should try that next time I try my recipe.
Another cutesy feature from the hotel restaurnt: desserts all had little caramel "flags" inserted. It looked like they poured small puddles of hot caramel and laid a kind of flat bamboo toothpick into each. Decorative and tasty.
Tuesday/26-Apr-11: Lunch today at the restaurant in St Sornin following a visit to the winery there. Took Bill to La Roche train, did errands, shopped. Dinner was fruit and a couple of chocolatey dessert things I bought.
Wednesday/27-Apr-11: Dinner was more or less Grilled Salmon Steaks with Carom (IndLight, p154), grilled under the broiler and very tasty. Accompanied by a half recipe of Tangy Green Beans with Ajwain and Ginger (SpiceKitch, p38) made with frozen green beans. Also Plain Basmati Rice (SpiceKitch, p68), very simple and plain, just pop some cardamom pods in with the cooking rice. For dessert there was the last of the little pastry cups, with some vanilla ice cream and some mango slices. All good.
Yogurt on overnight.
Thursday/28-Apr-11: Warmed up the leftover pizza for dinner, maybe a trifle old, but it looked, smelled, and tasted OK. Then a big salad.
Friday/29-Apr-11: Very nice dinner at La Bellone with Bill.
Saturday/30-Apr-11: Dinner at Camping d'Etang with Bill.
Sunday/1-May-11: Out all day for the ralleye touristique; brought along a picnic lunch. Warm Broccoli and Potato Salad (MDSalads, p15), accompanied by lots of goodies from the charcuterie in Montbron. Tasty, if late, dinner of omelettes with sorrel.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: yes #2 SOUP: no, #3 MIDDAY: yes
This month: #4 PASTA:yes for April, no for May
Part of our nice gourmand lunch at our hotel on Saturday was cannoli of smoked salmon. The filling was ricotta (or something similar), livened with grated radishes and celeriac perhaps, or maybe only radishes. This is somewhat similar to a starter I've made with smoked salmon by lining small dishes and filling. The bit of crunch in the cannoli filling was quite nice. I should try that next time I try my recipe.
Another cutesy feature from the hotel restaurnt: desserts all had little caramel "flags" inserted. It looked like they poured small puddles of hot caramel and laid a kind of flat bamboo toothpick into each. Decorative and tasty.
Tuesday/26-Apr-11: Lunch today at the restaurant in St Sornin following a visit to the winery there. Took Bill to La Roche train, did errands, shopped. Dinner was fruit and a couple of chocolatey dessert things I bought.
Wednesday/27-Apr-11: Dinner was more or less Grilled Salmon Steaks with Carom (IndLight, p154), grilled under the broiler and very tasty. Accompanied by a half recipe of Tangy Green Beans with Ajwain and Ginger (SpiceKitch, p38) made with frozen green beans. Also Plain Basmati Rice (SpiceKitch, p68), very simple and plain, just pop some cardamom pods in with the cooking rice. For dessert there was the last of the little pastry cups, with some vanilla ice cream and some mango slices. All good.
Yogurt on overnight.
Thursday/28-Apr-11: Warmed up the leftover pizza for dinner, maybe a trifle old, but it looked, smelled, and tasted OK. Then a big salad.
Friday/29-Apr-11: Very nice dinner at La Bellone with Bill.
Saturday/30-Apr-11: Dinner at Camping d'Etang with Bill.
Sunday/1-May-11: Out all day for the ralleye touristique; brought along a picnic lunch. Warm Broccoli and Potato Salad (MDSalads, p15), accompanied by lots of goodies from the charcuterie in Montbron. Tasty, if late, dinner of omelettes with sorrel.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: yes #2 SOUP: no, #3 MIDDAY: yes
This month: #4 PASTA:yes for April, no for May
Monday, December 27, 2010
This week in the kitchen
Monday/27-Dec-10: Made some stock today with the bird carcass that was frozen in the freezer. Meanwhile, I also made the sauce for Cooking Italy's Pappardelle al Sugu d'Anatra. That was dinner, followed by a salad of arugula, and ending with a bit of Saint-Maure.
Wednesday/29-Dec-10: Froze up the stock this morning after straining and boiling it down a bit.
Tuesday/28-Dec-10: While doing errands and a movie in Angoulême today, we had a small lunch today at Bistrot du Boucher, where we've eaten another time. I fear it's a chain, but the quality is good and the service is fast and friendly. And it's in a convenient place.
For dinner we had the leftover buffalo chicken casserole with a salad of arugula and mâche. Cookies for dessert.
Wednesday/29-Dec-10: Froze up the stock this morning after straining and boiling it down a bit.
Dinner was the duck sauce with tagliatelle again. (Dinner got started late, so I didn't make pasta from scratch.) A salad of mâche; I added a bit of store-bought tapenade to a salad dressing with créme fraîche. (We didn't care for this tapenade, but hate to throw it away. It worked quite well in the dressing.) Finished off the Saint-Maure for afters. Very similar meal to two nights ago!
Thursday/30-Dec-10: Before dinner got started, I started a double dose of One-Hour Vegetable Stock (H2CEV, p101). If all goes to plan, tomorrow I'll make up some of Bittman's broccoli and cauliflower soups and get them in the freezer.
Dinner was Lemonshire Chicken (MC), a tasty, simple recipe. This went along with some asparagus and some steam-sautéed potatoes. For dessert we finished off the ice cream; it had been sitting out about 6 hours and was soft enough to serve. We have learned: Put ice cream in another container before putting it in the freezer!
Friday/31-Dec-10: Julien came this morning to put new thermostats in the ovens. We'll see how long these last.
I used up the broccoli and cauliflower by making Creamy Broccoli Soup (H2CEV, p130) and Indian Cauliflower Soup (H2CEV, p130). Into the freezer with these.
Dinner started with Onion Bhaji (Q&E, p20), which turned out quite well; I used (US) teaspoons to form them, but need to make them smaller still. Next time I'll use my largest Dutch theelepels. Might also try cutting the recipe in half, even though the batter has a whole egg in it. Served these with (Q&E, p113). The main course was Grilled Salmon Steaks with Carom (IndLight, p154) and Rice with Peas (MJ1, p149), with more peas that asked. Used salmon filets rather than steaks and broiled under the grill. All was good.
For later tonight, I've got a stack of munchies lined up, although I'm not feeling all that hungry right now. We have:
Dinner was Lemonshire Chicken (MC), a tasty, simple recipe. This went along with some asparagus and some steam-sautéed potatoes. For dessert we finished off the ice cream; it had been sitting out about 6 hours and was soft enough to serve. We have learned: Put ice cream in another container before putting it in the freezer!
Friday/31-Dec-10: Julien came this morning to put new thermostats in the ovens. We'll see how long these last.
I used up the broccoli and cauliflower by making Creamy Broccoli Soup (H2CEV, p130) and Indian Cauliflower Soup (H2CEV, p130). Into the freezer with these.
Dinner started with Onion Bhaji (Q&E, p20), which turned out quite well; I used (US) teaspoons to form them, but need to make them smaller still. Next time I'll use my largest Dutch theelepels. Might also try cutting the recipe in half, even though the batter has a whole egg in it. Served these with (Q&E, p113). The main course was Grilled Salmon Steaks with Carom (IndLight, p154) and Rice with Peas (MJ1, p149), with more peas that asked. Used salmon filets rather than steaks and broiled under the grill. All was good.
For later tonight, I've got a stack of munchies lined up, although I'm not feeling all that hungry right now. We have:
- Bombay Cashews (MC), made in the newly working oven.
- Carrot sticks with Indian Avocado Spinach Dip, a recipe from 28cooks, which isn't that promising so far. Of course, I used frozen spinach, guessing at the amount, instead of fresh. Had to beef up the spices to get some taste into it.
- From the marché de noel, 3 kinds of olives and lupine seeds
- A bit of blue d'Auvergne and a small goat cheese (that had been destined for something else, but I forgot to buy an ingredient) with crackers.
- Some little filled pastry things from the freezer to be heated in the toaster oven.
- Some Lindt chocolates needing to be tried out.
- Bailey's Irish Cream.
Saturday/1-Jan-11: We didn't make much of a dent in all our new year munchies. The hit of the evening was the carrot sticks. The avocad0-spinach dip wasn't bad; I suppose the rest will appear as a pasta sauce or some such; maybe I'll freeze a bit of it and see how that goes. We ate some nuts, some cheese, some olives, and didn't bother with the pastries or chocolates.
We had our new year's lunch at La Bellone with Barbara and David down the road, and very nice it was. After stuffing ourselves last night, we weren't looking forward to so much food, but the portions were small enough and it was very enjoyable.
In the evening we watched a show on DVD and tried out a few of the Lindt chocolates.
Sunday/2-Jan-11: Forgot to start yogurt last night, so put it on this morning.
Dinner was a half recipe of Creamy Fettuccine with Brussels Sprouts and Mushrooms (from Eating Well, soon to be MC) and a big salad of mâche. The sprouts were supposed to be with whole wheat fettuccine, and I had the intention to make some (using Diane Kennedy's recipe) but forgot to allow myself time. The sack of sprouts we bought for xmas looks to be about half used now—I think they must be breeding. The recipe was pretty good. Most of the shrooms were shiitakes with a few plain one thrown in to make the volume.
Later we had a couple of chocolates while watching a DVD.
Monday, August 30, 2010
This week in the kitchen
Monday/30-Aug-10: This morning I started the roasted tomatoes (Polenta, p66) from a recipe that I didn't make for the CookBooksEtc contest. They cook a long long time at a low temp. Very tasty after. Ed thought I must have added something to them, but there was just salt and pepper. I've frozen these for later use.
Then I made two jars of plum jam, using several recipes from the web. One in the freezer, one in the fridge. The lickings were quite promising.
Mostly leftovers for dinner tonight, leftover beans-and-rice, leftover rice-and-peas, leftover zucchini-with-yogurt. I flattened a pair kip filets and rubbed them with some (homemade) Cajun spice mix, then sautéed them in olive oil and butter. Made a tasty little sauce by deglazing the pan with a slog of white wine, stirring in a bit of instant fond, then adding a small slog of cream. All was good, although not necessarily together.
The Plum Ice Cream (Scoop, p77) was very good. The two of us ate all of the half recipe that I made. Still have lots and lots of plums to use and to pick.
Tuesday/31-Aug-10: Put on yogurt in the a.m. Shopped. Avoided getting big boxes of cilantro and sorrel that I'd need to use in the next days. Bought more tomatoes for roasting. Started Strawberry Gelato (ClassicItal, p610) to make tomorrow.
Dinner was (loosely) Grilled Swordfish, Chettind Style (IndLight, p155), but with salmon and only marinate 30 minutes, accompanied by the MJ1's Buttery Rice with Onions, with shallots, since I was making a small amount, and without the book. For afters there was some pavé affinois, which was on sale.
Wednesday/1-Sep-10: For a late dinner following Bill's arrival, I vaguely followed a recipe of Holiday Posole found on the web. Didn't start it the night before as asked, didn't have the powdered chile pepper that they wanted, so I embroidered quite a bit. It was good though. A half recipe filled my Le Creuset Dutch oven. Three of us ate half and I froze the rest. Made Cayenne Cornbread (BigGerman, p182), an old favorite, as a go-with. For dessert, some fresh strawberries over vanilla ice cream. The strawberry gelato has to wait another day.
Then I made two jars of plum jam, using several recipes from the web. One in the freezer, one in the fridge. The lickings were quite promising.
Mostly leftovers for dinner tonight, leftover beans-and-rice, leftover rice-and-peas, leftover zucchini-with-yogurt. I flattened a pair kip filets and rubbed them with some (homemade) Cajun spice mix, then sautéed them in olive oil and butter. Made a tasty little sauce by deglazing the pan with a slog of white wine, stirring in a bit of instant fond, then adding a small slog of cream. All was good, although not necessarily together.
The Plum Ice Cream (Scoop, p77) was very good. The two of us ate all of the half recipe that I made. Still have lots and lots of plums to use and to pick.
Tuesday/31-Aug-10: Put on yogurt in the a.m. Shopped. Avoided getting big boxes of cilantro and sorrel that I'd need to use in the next days. Bought more tomatoes for roasting. Started Strawberry Gelato (ClassicItal, p610) to make tomorrow.
Dinner was (loosely) Grilled Swordfish, Chettind Style (IndLight, p155), but with salmon and only marinate 30 minutes, accompanied by the MJ1's Buttery Rice with Onions, with shallots, since I was making a small amount, and without the book. For afters there was some pavé affinois, which was on sale.
Wednesday/1-Sep-10: For a late dinner following Bill's arrival, I vaguely followed a recipe of Holiday Posole found on the web. Didn't start it the night before as asked, didn't have the powdered chile pepper that they wanted, so I embroidered quite a bit. It was good though. A half recipe filled my Le Creuset Dutch oven. Three of us ate half and I froze the rest. Made Cayenne Cornbread (BigGerman, p182), an old favorite, as a go-with. For dessert, some fresh strawberries over vanilla ice cream. The strawberry gelato has to wait another day.
Thursday/2-Sep-10: A very filling 5-course lunch at La Fermette de Beaumont today. They've gotten even more expensive, although it is 5 courses, and we might not go there for lunch again. In the evening we were still quite full and just had a salad, followed by the Strawberry Gelato that didn't get made last night.
Friday/3-Sep-10: Made yogurt during the day. Plans changed and we ended up with a small bbq at home this evening. Ed grilled some chipolatas and merquez. I made a big dose of Warm Broccoli and Potato Salad (MDSalad, p15). We started with some rillettes d'oie from the charchuterie in Montbron and finished with some cheese and some store-bought custards that were pretty good.
Saturday/4-Sep-10: Used the rest of the homemade sausage from the freezer to make Fusilli with Sausage and Zucchini (30mimPasta, p150). This was very good, but definitely not a 30-minute dinner. I suppose seeding the tomatoes took a lot of time. Used orechetti instead of fusilli. Followed by a big salad. Then we finished off the rest of the strawberry gelato with some cake that Bill bought at the foire today.
Saturday/4-Sep-10: Used the rest of the homemade sausage from the freezer to make Fusilli with Sausage and Zucchini (30mimPasta, p150). This was very good, but definitely not a 30-minute dinner. I suppose seeding the tomatoes took a lot of time. Used orechetti instead of fusilli. Followed by a big salad. Then we finished off the rest of the strawberry gelato with some cake that Bill bought at the foire today.
Sunday/5-Sep-10: Yogurt going all day. At a bric-à-brac in Vitrac, I bought some chiles and a handful of tiny, white egg-shaped eggplants.
Whew, lunch today was a repas de la chasse today at St. Adjutory. No food for us this evening. Still no word on the outcome of the CookbooksEtc Ingredient contest.
CookbooksEtc Ingredient Contest 2010
- 23-May/28-May: strawberries — Balsamic Strawberries with Arugula and Goat Cheese
- 29-May/4-Jun: cheese — Spinach-Stuffed Anchos
- 5-Jun/11-Jun: whole wheat flour — Ned and Crescent's Favorite Multigrain Pancakes
- 12-Jun/18-Jun: ground pork or pork sausage — Curried Rice Noodles with Ground Meat
- 19-Jun/25-Jun: blueberries — Tarte Amandine à la Myrtille
- 26-Jun/2-Jul: salmon — Almond-Crusted Grilled Salmon with Garlic Sauce
- 3-Jul/9-Jul: potatoes — Potatoes and Peas in a Yoghurt Sauce
- 10-Jul/16-Jul: elbow macaroni — Macaroni Salad
- 17-Jul/23-Jul: tomatoes — Eggs Baked in Tomatoes
- 24-Jul/30-Jul: dates — Date and Onion Salad
- 31-Jul/6-Aug: butterscotch chips — Chocolate Chip Cookies and the oven disaster
- 7-Aug/13-Aug: pecans — Peppered Pecans
- 14-Aug/20-Aug: mango or peaches — Grilled Shrimp with Green Mangoes and Red Lime Sauce
- 21- Aug/27-Aug: cornmeal or Italian sausage — Cornmeal and Italian Sausage
Monday, July 5, 2010
This week in the kitchen
Monday/5-Jul-10: Off to a quiz and dinner in Ambernac tonight. Did a bit of shopping first. Cool weather today, hooray!
Tuesday/6-Jul-10: A bit of Indian this evening. Ground Lamb Cutlets, Parsi Style (IndLight, p107; MC), Potatoes and Peas in a Yoghurt Sauce (TasteIndia, p68), and plain rice. The potatoes were rather soupy; I chopped another potato into the leftovers and will add a bit more water when I cook them.
Somewhere in here, I started making iced tea to drink during the day. My, that's good when it's hot!
Wednesday/7-Jul-10: Made a loaf of Craig Claiborne's banana bread. Good stuff.
Tuesday/6-Jul-10: A bit of Indian this evening. Ground Lamb Cutlets, Parsi Style (IndLight, p107; MC), Potatoes and Peas in a Yoghurt Sauce (TasteIndia, p68), and plain rice. The potatoes were rather soupy; I chopped another potato into the leftovers and will add a bit more water when I cook them.
Somewhere in here, I started making iced tea to drink during the day. My, that's good when it's hot!
Wednesday/7-Jul-10: Made a loaf of Craig Claiborne's banana bread. Good stuff.
Dinner was Zucchini and Chickpea Pancakes (soon to be MC) with a big salad. For the pancakes I buzzed up a sauce with creme fraiche, some mango chutney, and a dab of cayenne. Finished off the store-bought rice puddings (sort of rice kheer), then indulged in some popsicles.
I see I really overbought at the grocery on Monday, in spite of having a "plan." I think I'll need to cook and freeze some things before we go.
Thursday/8-Jul-10: For lunch, it was leftovers, the lamb patties, accompanied by the potatoes and peas over (newly cooked) rice. It's gotten h-o-t, and thunderstorms are forecast for tonight.
Thursday/8-Jul-10: For lunch, it was leftovers, the lamb patties, accompanied by the potatoes and peas over (newly cooked) rice. It's gotten h-o-t, and thunderstorms are forecast for tonight.
Friday/9-Jul-10: Oops, forgot to buy sweet potatoes for today's planned meal and have run out of ginger. Back to the drawing board. Instead I made Roast Chicken Legs with Lemon and Thyme (now MC), collected from EAT-L. It was very good. This was accompanied by Macaroni Salad (Goldbeck, p48; now MC) and sweet corn. Last year I think we had corn-on-the-cob only twice, from the same shipment to the grocery. Since this was the first time we've seen it, and we'll be gone next week, this may be it for the year. It was good.
Saturday/10-Jul-10: Today's task is using up fresh stuff in the fridge by cooking for the freezer. Made an old favorite, Yogurt Carrot Soup, down to adding the yogurt. (This isn't yet in MC, I wonder why?) Shredded zucchini for some bread, after reading that this works great.
Dinner was pasta with a broccoli and goat cheese sauce, along with a big salad. Had the last of our popsicles for dessert. Will buy more juice upon our return
Sunday/11-Jul-10: Off to Prague today.
CookbooksEtc Ingredient Contest 2010
- 23-May/28-May: strawberries — Balsamic Strawberries with Arugula and Goat Cheese
- 29-May/4-Jun: cheese — Spinach-Stuffed Anchos
- 5-Jun/11-Jun: whole wheat flour — Ned and Crescent's Favorite Multigrain Pancakes
- 12-Jun/18-Jun: ground pork or pork sausage — Curried Rice Noodles with Ground Meat
- 19-Jun/25-Jun: blueberries — Tarte Amandine à la Myrtille
- 26-Jun/2-Jul: salmon — Almond-Crusted Grilled Salmon with Garlic Sauce
- 3-Jul/9-Jul: potatoes — Potatoes and Peas in a Yoghurt Sauce
- 10-Jul/16-Jul: elbow macaroni — Macaroni Salad
- 17-Jul/23-Jul: tomatoes
- 24-Jul/30-Jul:
- 31-Jul/6-Aug:
- 7-Aug/13-Aug:
Monday, June 7, 2010
This week in the kitchen
Monday/7-Jun-10: A bit of an impromptu meal at midday, since I neglected to consider that Ed might not be eating too much after his afternoon dentist appointment. Made some pasta with broccoli and goat cheese and onions and garlic and shrooms. Wasn't bad. Then we finished off the nectarine Love Cake.
Wednesday/9-Jun-10: For a latish mid-day meal we had Cooking Italy's Halibut or Other Fish Steaks Sauced with White Wine and Anchovies (ClassicItal, p300) Dusolier's Perfect Roast Potatoes, and followed by a salad.
Tuesday/8-Jun-10: Working on two years' of French taxes today, kind of took my interest away from food. For dinner I defrosted a package of (5) chipolatas (pork sausages) from Toupargel and grill-panned them. They were quite good; we're hoping the merguez will also be good. Grease spattered everywhere, though, so there's a good reason to do these on the bbq or in a skillet in the future. Served with mashed sweet potatoes with a sprinkle of chipotle powder and Spiced Green Beans (IndLight, p174). The green beans were especially good; a bit of prep, and easy after that. I haven't made this recipe in quite a while; I'll have to keep it in mind.
Wednesday/9-Jun-10: For a latish mid-day meal we had Cooking Italy's Halibut or Other Fish Steaks Sauced with White Wine and Anchovies (ClassicItal, p300) Dusolier's Perfect Roast Potatoes, and followed by a salad.
I seem to be totally unable to choose a whole wheat flour recipe for CookbooksEtc this week. Have narrowed it down to a handful now, but still feeling indecisive.
Thursday/10-Jun-10: Didn't make it to the boulanger yesterday, so it was pancakes with whole wheat flour for breakfast. We had Ned and Crescent's Favorite Multigrain Pancakes (Gospels, p205). Good they were too.
Didn't go to the market today, but just grocery shopped. At the meat counter they had a whole pig's head. Wonder if I could ever cook one of these? Last weekend at Lavallette we had pâté de tête (a pâté of head of pork, head cheese?) that was quite good. Guess I should dig out a chartcuterie book and look for this one of these days. The butcher took the meat off a shoulder of lamb for me. Whip, whap, done. It would have taken me an hour to do that. But of course, I haven't planned well, and won't be able to make what I planned till next Tuesday, so it will go into the freezer.
Thursday/10-Jun-10: Didn't make it to the boulanger yesterday, so it was pancakes with whole wheat flour for breakfast. We had Ned and Crescent's Favorite Multigrain Pancakes (Gospels, p205). Good they were too.
Didn't go to the market today, but just grocery shopped. At the meat counter they had a whole pig's head. Wonder if I could ever cook one of these? Last weekend at Lavallette we had pâté de tête (a pâté of head of pork, head cheese?) that was quite good. Guess I should dig out a chartcuterie book and look for this one of these days. The butcher took the meat off a shoulder of lamb for me. Whip, whap, done. It would have taken me an hour to do that. But of course, I haven't planned well, and won't be able to make what I planned till next Tuesday, so it will go into the freezer.
Bought a lingue fillet on sale for dinner, that's ling in English—still not a fish I know. Tasty, but a bit bony for a fillet. It was an Indian-ish meal, all recipes I've made before. There were Grilled Fish Steaks (Q&E, p66) from the ling, along with New Potatoes with Cumin (Q&E, p91) to use most of the potatoes in the cupboard, and Carrot and Onion Salad (MJ1, p171). Nice meal.
Friday/11-Jun-10: Dinner at the music quiz this evening, so not much action in the kitchen today.
Saturday/12-Jun-10: For our midday meal, I made Mojito Chicken and Roasted Asparagus with Almonds (MC), but with shrimp as my notes suggested. Not bad at all. Served over rice. Store-bought panna cotta caramel, on sale this week, for dessert.
Later in the day I made some apple-apricot butter. Looking forward to trying this. And boiled up the last little potatoes from the larder to a salad later, maybe with the leftover asparagus. Hmm... have to think of something for dinner on our return Monday, that's easy and can be done before I'm off to gardening club.
Sunday/13-Jun-10: No cooking today. Off to Nohant for a concert at George Sand's place and an overnight in nearby La Châtre.
CookbooksEtc Ingredient Contest 2010
- 23-May/28-May: strawberries — Balsamic Strawberries with Arugula and Goat Cheese
- 29-May/4-Jun: cheese — Spinach-Stuffed Anchos
- 5-Jun/11-Jun: whole wheat flour — Ned and Crescent's Favorite Multigrain Pancakes
- 12-Jun/18-Jun: ground pork or pork sausage
- 19-Jun/25-Jun: blueberries
- 26-Jun/2-Jul: salmon
Monday, February 8, 2010
This week in the kitchen
Monday/8-Feb-10: The new Jamie magazine arrived today and I haven't even finished the last one. Have to get busy with these. Sally and Mike gave us dinner prior to going to the gardening club.
Tuesday/9-Feb-10: Defrosting the refrigerator was the major task of the day today. Nothing much else got done. Dinner as Chicken-Peanut Pasta (MC), which really ought to be served on rice. Finished off with more of the tomme d'Auvergne from the market.
Wednesday/10-Feb-10: Didn't get as much done today as I'd wanted. For lunch we had Potato-Broccoli Salad (MDSalads); have some leftover for a side sometime soon. Still no ciambella. Tomorrow, I hope.
Dinner was sautéed duck escalopes with a pan sauce of cider and balsamic, simple and good. Served with orzo and stuffed globe zucchini. Made a stuffing with shallots, shrooms, garlic, and ham; this was good, but the ham contrasted too much with the duck.
Thursday/11-Feb-10: Went to Montemboeuf for the market today, only to find there was no market! Did I miss something last week? Luckily we weren't in real need of anything. Stopped at the boulanger for bread and walked Pogo.
Tonight, while I made fresh lemon-chive pasta, Ed reluctantly read to me from Peter Mayle's Bon Appetit, a nice go-with to meal preparation. The pasta went with salmon-egg sauce from Vie Pratique Gourmand. (It's the more affordable, orange kind of caviar.) The sauce was OK, a bit too thin and too lemony -- instructions that said juice of 3 lemons (for a whole recipe), rather than telling you the volume required. The pasta was good, but I wished I'd cut it wider, rather than narrower. Followed by a big salad of mâche with the leftover dressing from Sunday night. (Seems like just the other day!) Followed by flan from the boulanger.
Friday/12-Feb-10: A busy day in the kitchen. Made more Apple-Plum Butter (MC) this morning, this time actually with apples and plums. (Last time was apples and apricots, and good it was.) Made Chocolate and Zucchini's Carrot and Ginger Quickie Pickle. (I see she got this from Kitchen Scraps, p82, which just arrived today.) Curious to see how this turns out. Then made the Ciambella (ClassicItal, p592) from Cooking Italy, which was a winner. For dinner we had Cooking Italy's Sausages and Cream Sauce (ClassicItal, p201), which was not. Should do this one again with some homemade sausage.
Saturday/13-Feb-10: Shopped this morning. Made a quick lunch soup with frozen chicken stock, broccoli stems, and pasta. Had a Franco-Britanique repas at Lèsignac this evening; left at 23.00 before pudding was served.
Sunday/14-Feb-10: Yesterday was too late to reserve a restaurant for Valentine's Day, so I made a nice Indian meal instead. There was Tandoori Chicken from a strange recipe I picked up a long time ago (12 garlic flakes, 4 big pieces of ginger, etc.). Put it on to marinate in the morning and grilled in the evening. Pretty good, it was. Accompanied by Spiced Green Beans (IndLight, p174), Turmeric Rice (Q&E, p100), and the standard raita, Yoghurt with Cucumber and Mint (MJ1, p162), using a little bit of fresh mint just poking up. A bit of the Carrot and Ginger Quickie Pickle on the side was pretty good too.
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