This week in the kitchen

Monday/31-May-10: Our mid-afternoon meal was Spinach-Stuffed Anchos (JumpUp, p146), my second entry for the CookbooksEtc ingredient contest. Not entirely successful, I must say, and I'm irritated that it used up most of my ancho stash. (The link above goes to my cookbooker.com review.) Followed by a salad and then the last of the store-bought creme caramels.

Tuesday/1-Jun-10: A really easy lunch today. From the freezer, slices of Pot Roast (not) Braised in Amarone, some mashed potatoes, and the last bit of some frozen peas and carrots. Followed by a bit of chaource, yum!

Wednesday/2-Jun-10: Added some simple syrup to the in-progress limoncello today. Another wait to see how it is.

Our main meal was in the evening today. Started with an old favorite, Grated Carrots with Lime and Sesame (MC); this is so good and so easy to make. The main was a dish from Vie Pratique Gourmand, Pavé de Saumon au Curry et Betteraves, Curry Salmon with Beets (soon to be MC), grilled salmon rubbed with curry powder, served with beets and a sauce of yogurt, mint, and lemon juice. Quite good and simple. It should have been served with rocket/arugula, but I forgot to buy this, so used some lettuce leaves from the garden.

Thursday/3-Jun-10: At noontime we had a Leek Omelet with Feta, one of the recipes that was lost a long time ago when I accidently deleted a MasterCook file. I recently re-entered this, and had all the ingredients ready to use, so tried it again. It was not much of a success as an omelet, being more like scrambled eggs, but it was quite tasty. Followed by a salad, using the rest of yesterday's yogurt sauce as a dressing.

Friday/4-Jun-10: Lunched in Roumazières with Sally&Mike at a newly re-opened restaurant. Later, intending to use up strawberries in the fridge, I made a Love Cake (maybe soon to be MC), only to find the strawberries were past their use-by date, so used a couple of nectarines instead. It was pretty good, a bit of a strange texture, maybe because I didn't mix the batter long enough.

Saturday/5-Jun-10: Excellent lunch at Le Lavalette in Villebois-Lavalette today on our way to a concert in Chalais. A keeper restaurant.

Sunday/6-Jun-10: For a late lunch following our visit to Chalais, there was Pasta Carbonara with Asparagus (MC) and more Love Cake.

CookbooksEtc Ingredient Contest 2010

1. 23-May/28-May: strawberries — Balsamic Strawberries with Arugula and Goat Cheese
   
2. 29-May/4-Jun: cheese — Spinach-Stuffed Anchos
   
3. 5-Jun/11-Jun: whole wheat flour
   
4. 12-Jun/18-Jun: ground pork or pork sausage
   
5. 19-Jun/25-Jun: blueberries
   
6. 26-Jun/2-Jul: salmon