This week in the kitchen

Monday/12-Sep-22: Had an itch for tamale pie, so I turned to our old favorite Tamale Pie (OldLaurel, p299). Used canned black beans for the filling. Good stuff. Served with a bit for guacamole, which turned out especially good tonight. And some Ben&Jerry's mini ice cream cups for after.

Tonight's kitchen visitor was a saucer-sized spider on the wall above Buddy's dish.

Tuesday/13-Sep-22: Another choir funeral today. This is getting to be too frequent.

Dinner was Caribbean Shrimp & Vegetable Soup (MWDaily, p165). This was pretty darn good, if not wonderful. Should have cut my sweet potatoes is smaller (about the size of the shrimp). My yellow bell pepper wasn't a very good color contrast; red might be better. Also better to sauté the bits with the onion. I used frozen cooked shrimp, which got way too cooked by the end. 

Whew, I've been binge-watching Chef John and Trevor Noah videos at night, getting to bed way too late. But at least I've had a laugh.

Wednesday/14-Sep-22: It being an odd week, there was nothing on the menu plan for tonight. So we had chipolatas (which don't work too well under the broiler, where I cooked them to avoid grease spatters all over the stovetop). As an accompaniment there was a salad made with brown rice, clean-out-the-fridge veggies (red bell pepper, cuke, defrosted peas -- forgot carrots and onions). That turned out pretty good. And a chocolate-covered madeleine for after. 

Thursday/15-Sep-22: Lovely lunch out today. Nothing happened in the kitchen. 

Friday/16-Sep-22: Brought in pizza for dinner tonight. Nothing happened in the kitchen. 

Saturday/17-Sep-22: Whew, a mess of a week, no shopping done, so struggling to find meals in-house.

Tonight's dinner was a half recipe of Cowboy Corn Casserole (web), made with one medium-sized can of corn, 75g of lardons instead of bacon. Easy and pretty good. Ed harvested tomatoes this afternoon and dropped a big one, smashing it. He cleaned it up and seeded it. I chopped, added a chopped ball of mozzarella, a shallot, some chives and basil, S&P, and called it all a salad. Pretty good. Some HD mini ice cream cups for after.

Sunday/18-Sep-22: Dinner was a halfish recipe of Spicy South Asian Roasted Fish (web; GD; DMA). The recipe no longer can be found at the URL I saved, which is why I keep a PDF copy on Google Drive. Anyhow, this is easy and good. I'm out of coconut milk (inventory fail), so used coconut cream, thinned with a bit of water, instead. Served with Thai trio rice and our favorite SE Asian salad, Thai Cucumber Salad with Peanuts (web; GD). Nice food.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/1-Aug-22: For dinner there was Savory Zucchini Ricotta Cheesecake (web). This was pretty good, although it was a bit runny in the center (raw zucchini probably, and wet mozzarella), so I cooked it quite a bit longer after adding the grated mozzarella topping. I used one 125g ball of mozzarella for the cheesecake and half of another one to add at the end. Ed thought more browned mozzarella would have been nice. For a starter, I took the extra zuke slices and marinated them like the zucchini carpaccio I've made a few times. Then sliced a tomato and the rest of the mozzarella, and picked some basil leaves to put together a sort of insalata caprese, topped with pistachio oil rather than olive oil. Turned out pretty good. A chocolate-covered madeleine each for after. 

Harvested our first zucchini this year.

Tuesday/2-Aug-22: A half dose of Caribbean Rice Salad (MWDaily, p202) for dinner. This was easy, colorful, and tasty. A whole recipe, or even doubled, would be good for a pot luck dinner. I used an orange bell pepper; a yellow one would have been better because the orange blended with the sweet potato. We split a mini HD ice cream cup for after; that was our last one, old enough to be from before the recall.

Wednesday/3-Aug-22: Dinner was Turkey Phyllo Pot Pie (web). This was okay, if nothing special. I'm writing this a day later and neither of us can remember if there was a side! But there was a chocolate-covered madeleine each for after.

Thursday/4-Aug-22: Dinner from the crockpot, Chicken with Vinegar and Garlic (SlowItal, p118). This was okay, but the chicken (thighs) was dry as is often is from the crockpot. Served over polenta, with a quick cucumber salad for a side. And, yes, a chocolate-covered madeleine each for after.

Friday/5-Aug-22: Dinner was Spanish Bacalao a la Vizcaina (web), I put the cod on a rectangle of polenta left from yesterday and surrounded with the sauce. Quite pretty. Ed didn't much like the sauce, but I thought it was okay. Store-bought riz au laits for after.

Saturday/6-Aug-22: Leftover zucchini cheesecake for dinner. It wasn't as good the second time round. Followed by a big salad. For me, a dish of tapioca pudding for after. Ed prefers it cold, so he passed.

Sunday/7-Aug-22: Dinner was a halfish dose of Thai Noodle Salad with Peanut Sauce (web). Actually, this is what I planned for next Wednesday; tonight was supposed to be a Vietnamese skirt steak salad. Will have to freeze the beef till next Wednesday. Tonight's salad was easy and good. We finished the tapioca pudding for after. In the afternoon, forgetting about the tapioca, I made a Far aux Pruneaux, (GD). That will have to wait till tomorrow.

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