This week in the kitchen

Monday/31-Jan-22: Made a loaf of Carole Walberg's White Wheat Bread (MC) (WW/Rapid/M/-/-). This is a nice WW bread with good taste and texture. 

Dinner was a half dose of Chicken a la Nueces de la India (Chicken with Creamy Cashew Sauce) (web; EW/oct21). This wasn't bad. I cut the honey way back, but still found the sauce too sweet. And I wonder why not use cashew butter, rather than buzzing the cashews. Served with brown basmati rice and Karhai Broccoli (MJ@Home, p148), which is my standard Indian-ish broccoli dish.

Tuesday/1-Feb-22: In honor of Chinese new year, we had Sliced Pork with Tiger Sauce (Kuo, p33). Garlicky yum. Served with Stir-Fried Shredded Cabbage with Carrots (Kuo, p391) and plain basmati rice. I noticed tonight that what Kuo calls "Chinese cabbage" is bok choy; what I call Chineeskool is her "celery cabbage". Tonight's dish was supposed to be with green cabbage, but was great with Chineeskool. I do need to think about planning more Chinese meals from this excellent book.

Wednesday/2-Feb-22: Picked up an Intermarché Drive order today. I asked for 300-350g salmon, but got 205g, so the salmon for dinner was a bit short.

And dinner was 20-Minute Creamy Tomato Salmon Skillet (web; GD). This was really good and really quick. I served over a small bit of whole wheat spaghetti, not a full main dish serving, but I felt like it needed something to sop up the sauce. Some store-bought peach-mango yogurts for after.

Thursday/3-Feb-22: Picked up an order at the Leclerc Drive today.

Went to make dinner and discovered I'd neglected to buy an important ingredient and it was too late to improvise. So what's needing to be used? There were two squares of pastry, some roquefort needing to be used, an oldish leek, a questionable broccoli, some walnuts in the freezer. We had a sort if broccoli quiche-y thing. Pretty good, if filling.

Friday/4-Feb-22: Dinner was Filled Zucchini Roll (web; GD). This was not bad at all. The instructions in the video are not very good. Mine was too thick, so it didn't roll properly. It should have been cooked in a bigger dish. Still, tasty.

Started an Overnight Boule (GD).

Saturday/5-Feb-22: Baked off the Overnight Boule. Yum.

Discovered in the afternoon that I'd forgotten to get some necessary ingredients for the planned evening meal. Oops. Instead, Ed had the leftover pork and cabbage with some basmati rice. I had some whole-wheat fusilli with pesto from the freezer. Simple, but good. 

Sunday/6-Feb-22: Forgot to take kip filets out of the freezer for tonight's dinner. So tonight we had Monday's dinner. We had Shrimp with Zucchini—Jhinga aur Ghia (MJ1, p90). It's always odd to me to find another winner recipe from such a well-used cookbook. Not sure why I've never made this. It's definitely good. I used frozen, cooked shrimped (thawed, of course), adding them with the spices and stuff after cooking the zuke. This is actually fairly quick to prepare. Cutting up the zucchini is a bit tedious, but doesn't really take all that long. The recipe neglects to mention what to do with the cayenne, tomatoes, and ginger; I just added those with the other ingredients. As suggested, served with Spiced Basmati Rice (MJ1), p148), a quarter recipe, which is good. 

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 4; #2 PHOTO: no;
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/21-Jun-21: For dinner, there was Pea and Ham Risotto (web), made with the jarret I cooked up last Friday. This was a bit salty, since the jarret was demi-sel, but very tasty. Then a salad. Then some Easy Summer Limoncello Tiramisu (web). This was good, and we have three more verrines for Wednesday's dessert.

Tuesday/22-Jun-21: Lovely lunch out today. Nothing much happened in the kitchen. 

Wednesday/23-Jun-21: Dinner was Hunan Beef with Cumin* (web), with rumpsteak, which good again. As before, served with Steamed Eggplant (Kuo, p402). These two go well together but are visually blah. Looking for a salady dish, and having carrots on hand, I made Sesame Ginger Carrot Salad (web), which was very good and went well with the rest of the meal. For after we finished off the Easy Summer Limoncello Tiramisu. 

Thursday/24-Jun-21: We waved good-bye to Bill this afternoon after a nice visit.

Simple dinner of Spaghetti with Pecorino and Black Pepper (MW@Home, p194). The cheese clumped up, with the pepper included, instead of coating the spaghetti. Not sure if this is because I used pecorino rather than parmesan, or because I added the option olive oil (can't remember if I've done that before). Still, it all tasted good. Then a simple salad. For after we had the rest of the Lemon-Buttermilk Sherbet with some strawberries. We're content.

Friday/25-Jun-21: An easy dinner. Some store-bought, bio, vegetarian kefte with Tzatziki (O&C, p465), with some nice kebab breads from the freezer. Store-bought riz au laits for after.

Saturday/26-Jun-21: Dinner was store-bought pork&veggie gyoza; the dipping sauce (web) I made is good for dipping, but a bit too salty over rice. I made a salad of chineeskool, broccoli stems, carrots, red onion, and peanuts with Sesame-Ginger Dressing (web). With some plain rice. Some mini HD ice cream cups for after.

Sunday/27-Jun-21: Dinner was Smoked Salmon & Peas with Creamy Gnocchi* (web; GD). This is easy and tasty. And a big salad that we couldn't finish. And a pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/27-Apr-20: Ed picked up an order from Leclerc today. Meant to make a rijstvlaai today in honor of Koningsdag, but didn't have the oomph. So we have lots of milk now.

Made up a crumble with a sack of frozen blueberries and the melon gravel left from the ice cream broth. For the crumble itself, I used a recipe I'd put together for a generic crumble topping, with some almond slivers added. 

For dinner we had Thai pulled pork from the freezer served over leftover pitas. With some Thai Cucumber Salad with Peanuts (web). Good stuff, both. Followed by the crumble, which was yummy.

Tuesday/28-Apr-20: Pizza for dinner. With grilled zucchini and broccoli (the eggplant I bought wasn't good), artichoke hearts from a jar, capers, black olives, mozzarella, goat cheese, and my pizza sauce. All good. And yummy crumble for after. We're stuffed.

Wednesday/29-Apr-20: What a day. Discovered this afternoon that the mother of our crazy neighbor, crazy herself, had actually been "incarcerated" after her last visit to Condadeuil. Apparently released today and was supposed to go to Paris to stay with a friend, but came here instead. Too much excitement.

Dinner was a halfish verion of Risotto with Green Asparagus (MC). Pretty good it was. Then we finished the delicious crumble.

Yogurt on overnight.

Thursday/30-Apr-20: We both had a hankering for tiger's cries, so tonight we had a very tasty dinner of Sliced Pork with Tiger Sauce (Kuo, p330). Served with Stir-Fried Shredded Cabbage with Carrots (Kuo, p390). And some plain basmati. I made a bit of chili oil for the tiger sauce, and it was pretty assertive. Some cups of HD ice cream for dessert.

Friday/1-May-20: Didn't feel much like cooking today, so we had the rest of the Thai pulled pork, with basmati recipe rice and some Thai-Style Broccoli with Garlic (web). Don't expect the broccoli is very authentic, but it was easy and good. More HD ice cream cups for dessert.

Saturday/2-May-20: Dinner was, more or less, a third-half version of Asparagus Lasagne (web), enough for two biggish servings. This was tasty, but a cheesy, gloopy mess. For a starter, there was Zucchini Carpaccio with Avocado, Lemon Thyme,and Pistachio Oil (VegHarv, p214), a favorite I discovered last summer.

Before dinner I finally froze up the melon ice cream. Interesting, it was, if not a favorite.

Yogurt on overnight.

Sunday/3-May-20: Leftover pizza for dinner. Some chocolate cookies after.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/21-Aug-17: Early meal today. Took the meat from the freezer fairly early to start it thawing.After a couple of hours, I sliced it and put it to marinate for Hunan Beef with Cumin (web; cookbooker). Used three teaspoons for chili flakes, taking the middle line in the two to four option. This was yummy, hot and tasty. Served with plain rice and Steamed Eggplant (Kuo, p402; cookbooker). The eggplant was easy and delicious; it went really well with the beef. We ate well.

Tuesday/22-Aug-17: Ate out with Patrice and Wim this evening. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

Wednesday/23-Aug-17: Forgot to heat up the (store-bought) egg rolls with Monday's dinner so we had those for lunch

Pizza out with some of the Montbron choir. Nothing further happened in the kitchen.

Thursday/24-Aug-17: Woke up really tired today and didn't go to the Charroux LitFest. Ed was also tired. We thought it must have been something in the pizzas last night. :-)

Dinner was some bean chili from the freezer with Cayenne Cornbread (BigGerman, p182). The bread machine really isn't happy and needs to be helped along for the first bit of kneading. All was good.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/25-Aug-17: Shopping today.

For dinner I broiled some lieu noir backs, sprinkled with Penzey's Sonoran Spicemix. Didn't like this as well as the Southwest Mix from last week. And some trio rice. And roasted the last of some broccoli and the first of a chou romaneso. Then a simple salad. Then some prune-filled cake. We're full.

Saturday/26-Aug-17: Well, I didn't make fresh past today; may not make it for this month. We had store-bought tagliatelle with Fettuccine with Chicken Livers, Tomatoes, and Bacon (365Pasta, p92; cookbooker). Then a salad. We were full.

Sunday/27-Aug-17: Early meal today. We had Garlicky Shrimp and Chicken Kebabs with Tomato-Kumquat Salsa (web). Made for four; Ed managed to eat two persons worth, I didn't keep my my end. Served with Moroccan couscous, a mix we bought at the health food store a couple of weeks ago. This was really good with the delicious salsa. We also had corn on the cob, and impulse buy on Friday.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/7-Mar-16: Dinner was Beef Baked with Yoghurt and Black Pepper (MJ1, p50). This was really tasty, but some of the beef wasn't as tender as it should have been. Would probably be a good one to put into a slow cooker for the long slow cook. Served with the suggested Mushroom Pullao (MJ1, p152), which is a good rice pullao. And then there was Karhai Broccoli (MJ@Home, p148), which really ought to go into the Handy Book as often as I make it. Mini-magnums for dessert.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/8-Mar-16: Dinner with friends tonight. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

Wednesday/9-Mar-16: Shopping today. Dinner was Broiled Salmon with Creamy Lemon-Dill Sauce (CL; web). I had half the fish, but made all the sauce to top some asparagus, first French ones of the season, I think. Served with trio rice. Then a salad. Then some ice cream with strawberries, the first gariguettes of the season. Yum.

Thursday/10-Mar-16: Working on Ed's hemoglobin again tonight, there was Foie de Veau Poêlé (SaveurFR, p218), liver with a sauce of shallots, cognac, and chives. Well, it wasn't repulsive as liver can sometimes be, but still not a favorite. We both think we like boudin noir better than liver, but I'll try again. Served with Straw Potato Cake—Pommes Paillason (BEFCC, p52), good, but a bit too greasy. Other recipes have you seriously dry the grated potatoes; this one has you mix them with melted butter. Good, but ... Then a salad. Then some ice cream and the rest of the strawberries.

Friday/11-Mar-16: Dinner was shakshuka, a smerge of several recipes, mostly Ottolenghi's. Pretty good stuff. Used some tomato purée from the freezer, augmented by a real tomato, chopped. For dessert we split an espresso magnum.

Yogurt on overnight.

Saturday/12-Mar-16: We had our main meal early today, since we'll go to an earlyish movie late. Working on Ed's hemoglobin again, we had Easy Thai "Weeping Tiger" Beef (web). Not really tiger's cries, but still pretty good and definitely easy. Had two nice little rumsteacks; 3min each side under the broiler gave medium, so slightly less time might be better next time. The amount of marinade was good. The amount of sauce was about double what it should have been. I put the rest in the freezer, although I'm not sure how well it will keep. Ran out of fish sauce (new bottle, but small), so the sauce was a bit lemony. It went really well over Stir-Fried Celery Cabbage (Kuo, p389), which is a tried-n-true recipe. (Makes me want to plan a proper Chinese meal from this book, which has always led to yummy meals.) I had a mini mag for dessert.

Sunday/13-Mar-16: A bit of a cleaning-out-the-pantry dinner tonight.  I made the stuffing for Uszka (TLQuint, p18), tortellini sort of things that should have been in in the Christmas Eve Beet Soup xmas before last, using the mushrooms that I got ready, then ended up freezing. (Yes they've been in the freezer a while.) Used the stuffing to fill some empanada like things made with squares of pâte feuillittée. These were ok, much better with the bit of broccoli stem salad that I made. There was also some steamed asparagus with the rest of the creamy dill sauce, and some of Pomiane's beet salad, made from memory. An odd lot, but pretty good altogether.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/31-Mar-14: Nothing happened in our kitchen. We spent a Groupon night that included a delicious meal at a chateau near Perigueux. While we were ordering they brought us a covered dish of truffles to sniff and offered us a sliver on several menu choices for an an extra €10. No, thank you, we said.

Tuesday/1-Apr-14: Back home. Shopping.

Dinner was Émince de saumon au cidre et au safran (web), that's salmon chunks in a cider-saffron sauce; there's also cream in the sauce and it's served over pasta, but you'd never guess from the name. Ok. The plate was supposed to be trimmed with slices of peach and cucumber. No peaches to be found, so I used some mango slices from the freezer. The mango worked; the cuke was weird. Actually not a bad dish, although next time, I'd forget the cuke and stir the mango into the sauce at the end. That was enough for dinner.

Wednesday/2-Apr-14: Started the first yogurt with the new yogurt maker this morning. The machine is the same but different. They have you make the yogurt without the lids on the jars, not sure why, and there's a second level where the lids side while the yogurt is cooking. Instead of a knob to set the time, there's an electronic gadget to choose the number of hours, and it counts backward, so you know, more or less, how much time is left. Also it beeps when it's done, another nice feature. We'll see.

It was some pretty good clear-out-the-freezer chili tonight, with an odd bit of Hazan's Italian sausage, black beans, and blue hominy, along with a couple of ice cubes of chili-soaking liquid. And a dab of guacamole on the side. For dessert there were pots of store-bought riz-au-lait.

Thursday/3-Apr-14: This morning's yogurt was about as good as the new starter that I used. A new brand of yogurt, which wasn't my favorite.

Dinner was Harissa Quinoa with Shrimp and Chickpeas (web; cookbooker), which was tasty, but not really successful. And a salad.. Then we were full.

Friday/4-Apr-14: A dinner to start off Nigel Slater at IHCC and work on the freezer inventory tonight. Lamb Sirloin Chops with Yogurt and Mint (RealFast, p240), Fragrant Brown Basmati Rice (RealFast p203). a cucumber salad with white wine vinegar and chopped dill (as recommended), and some broccoli with a squeeze of lemon juice and a grind of pepper flakes.

Saturday/5-Apr-14: Yogurt on overday. Still had a bakje (unexpired) of a better yogurt, so used that as the starter. Not sure why the lids can't be on while the yogurt is cooking. There's even more condensation in this one.

At dinner, our main was Sliced Pork with Tiger Sauce (Kuo, p330). (Hard to believe this is the first time I've reference Kuo here. Goes to show I haven't been cooking much Chinese food since we moved.) This recipe is the closest thing I've found to some Thai "Tiger Cries" that we used to get in Houston many many years ago, only with pork instead of beef. Served this with Stir-Fried Spiced Cabbage (TLChina, p34) and plain rice.

Sunday/6-Apr-14: Tonight's dinner was Linguine with Smoked Trout and Basil (XSpecCP, p101; cookbooker). Really has nothing to do with a crockpot. The sauce is kept warm for serving in the crock. Ho hum. I just tossed it with the linguine and served it right away. Good it was, though. Then a salad. And that was all.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes; #2 VEG/FISH: 3
This month: #3 PASTA: yes for March, no for April; #4 FotW: yes for March, no for April; #5 BREAD: 1 for March, none for April