This week in the kitchen

Monday/8-Jun-20: First day for French lesson.

Last night, I put 100g of a mixed bean mix (that I bought on impulse) on to soak. This evening, sans electricité, I sautéed some chopped onion and potato with some sliced garlic, then added 4 cups of water, a chicken bouillon cube (organic), and a ham bone from the freezer. Cooked for a good long while. Turned into a pretty good soup. One hundred grams makes two substantial servings.

Tuesday/9-Jun-20: Made a loaf of Buckwheat Bread (Magic, p73). Used potato flour, 1:1, for the instant potato flakes; used treacle for the dark corn syrup. Tasty stuff.

Using up zucchini and red bell peppers, dinner was Zucchini and Red Pepper Tart (MDTarts, p38). The store-bought crust was not wonderful, but the tart itself was pretty good. It came out late, so we didn't have more to eat.

Wednesday/10-Jun-20:  Ed picked up an order from Intermarché today. That included fish, but I’d already defrosted some lamb chops, so dinner was Lamb Cutlets with Mint, Chilli & Potatoes (web). There were only three lamb chops in the package, each with a long fat and meat “tail”. Very tasty this were especially the potatoes, which were steamed, then finished off in the fat and herbs left from the lamb. Served with some green beans that had been boiled, then topped with olive oil, lime juice, grated lime peel, and red pepper flakes. All good stuff. Some goat cheese for after. Yogurt on overnight.

Thursday/11-Jun-20: Using the cod we got yesterday, dinner was Fried Fish Steaks (Q&E, p67). Served with Karhai Broccoli (MJHome, p148) and Potato Chaat (MJHome, p165). All was good. More goat cheese for after.

Friday/12-Jun-20: Last night I used the last of my asafoetida. I remember my Indian cooking teacher said the little bakje would last a lifetime. It lasted about 40 years, not quite a lifetime. Knowing I was almost out, I ordered more. Twice. (Memory fail.) Today I discovered that neither contains pure asfaoetida. So I ordered yet another jar of the pure stuff. And that order has been cancelled.

Using my newly bought-via-Amazon buttermilk powder (no Saco here), I made Buttermilk Bread (MC), using chestnut honey, which might be a bit strong.

While Lockdown Lit was on, I put together Amazon Cake (Cocoa Cake) (Essential, p779). This is a really easy cake. It went in the oven at the same time as the leftover shepherd’s pie. We had the leftover pie with a nice salad, and followed by cake. We’re stuffed.

Saturday/13-Jun-20: When I defrosted the freezer on Thursday, I found a packet of skinless, boneless chicken thighs that had been declared lost. Today I defrosted that and we had a halfish recipe of Holy Yum Chicken (web), except that I only cooked my thighs for 30 minutes. Served with plain rice and Chinese-Style Asparagus Salad (QuickWok, p108). Pretty good stuff. Chocolate cake for lunch and for dinner.

Sunday/14-Jun-20: Made a loaf of Bill Hatcher's Italian Bread (MC), Basic/Rapid/L/d/-. It's good.

My second order of asafoetida has been cancelled. There's plenty of options with a mix (I have a couple of those) but the pure stuff seems to come only from India, where the post office seems not to be functioning.

Dinner was a halfish dose of Christmas Eve Cajun Shrimp, a recipe I collected in 2017 from EAT-L. Good stuff it was. Served with polenta and some haricots verts and asparagus. The buttery soppy from the shrimp was good with both. For dessert, with finished off the chocolate cake with some cream and raspberries fresh from the garden (including a little spider).

Yogurt on overnight.

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