This week in the kitchen

Monday/19-Sep-22: We finished the leftover tamale pie for dinner, with some pretty tasty guacamole, for dinner. A chocolate-covered madeleine each for after.

Tuesday/20-Sep-22: Shopping is off track this week, and so is the meal plan. Dinner was something.

Wednesday/21-Sep-22: Realized today that our Intermarché Drive order was missing some critical bits for the next days' meals. 

Thursday/22-Sep-22: Dinner was Spicy Chicken Burgers (RezaSpice, p22). This made eight patties (to serve four). We ate seven of them. I didn't make the go-with Tomato and Ginger Chutney, so I served with sliced tomatoes and red onion on some hamburger bun-ish things I found at Leclerc on our last visit. And some Rice with Peas (MJ1, p149). 

Friday/23-Sep-22: A moldy-oldy for dinner, Sautéed Chicken in Lemon Cream Sauce (web). Served with Spaetzle (MW@Home, p203; HandyBook), which was great with the cream sauce. A chocolate-covered madeleine for after.

Saturday/24-Sep-22: Dinner was Lentils with Spinach (WofE, p93), served over "trio" Thai rice. Very tasty, comforting stuff. I don't think I ever had lentils as a child, but I sure do like them. Some mini ice cream cups for after.

Sunday/25-Sep-22: Dinner was chili from the freezer. I remember I didn't like this much when first made. Somewhat better tonight. I stirred into my serving a bit of crème fraîche topped with a bit of jalapeño tabasco. Also made some Vaqueros Jalapeno Beer Bread from a mix that Chris and Jacky brought us from Fredericksburg. This was surprisingly so-so. Not enough beer in-house, so used some stout that had been sitting around a while. I think Ed threw the rest of the bread away, while I was thinking of toasted cheese-and-onion sandwiches.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #2 PHOTO: no;
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/28-Mar-22: Made a loaf of ABM French Bread (MC), a recipe I haven't tried before that I can see. Very promising at first bite.

Dinner was Easy Sheet Pan Sausage and Veggies (web; GD, GD). Shh, don't tell, I added about 1/2tsp red pepper flakes. Served over trio rice; polenta or grits would be better. Easy and tasty. One chocolate-covered madeleine each for after.

Tuesday/29-Mar-22: Two Drive orders today, with a stop at the boulanger and the Tuesday market there.

Dinner was Baked Salmon with Pesto Cream Sauce (web), which was pretty good. I made all the sauce, because that's how much pesto I had frozen. Served with roast asparagus that Ed got at the market,  and Garlicky Roast Potatoes with Oregano and Feta (web). These were good, but almost burnt to inedibleness at 45min, when I put the asparagus in to roast. Some store-bought chestnut mousse things for after.

Wednesday/30-Mar-22: In the morning I made a third-to-half dose of Grilled Aubergine, Red Pepper & Red Onion Salad (CountryLiving/jul00); can't find this on the web. Served this with a half recipe of Cajun Shrimp Pie with Creamy Corn Crust (PotPies, p150; cookbooker), in individual casserole dishes. Also a small, plain salad of lettuce. We finished the mothais for after.

Thursday/31-Mar-22: Dinner was Sheet Pan Chicken with Roasted Baby Potatoes (web; web; CL/mar16). This was easy and very good. Not really a full sheet pan dinner, since the chicken was partly cooked in a skillet. Served with the Chile and Lime Roasted Carrots (web) recommended in the same article. Used regular carrots, halved, rather than the baby carrots asked. This was also good. For a bit of salad, I made a third to half recipe of Creamy Dill Cucumber Salad (web; CI/jul-aug97). The interesting thing about this recipe (actually a group of four recipes in the magazine article) is that the cuke and onion slices are pressed to release water. Supposedly for an hour or more, but not that long tonight. All was good. 

Friday/1-Apr-22: Easy dinner, heating a can of tongue in a not-so-piquante sauce. Served over Spaetzle (MW@Home, p203). (Such a nice chew, has spaetzle.) As a side, Roasted Zucchini (web), more or less. This was good. Some store-bought chocolate mousses for after.

Saturday/2-Apr-22: Dinner was a half dose of Sheet Pan Sausage and Vegetables (web). This helped make a dent in the sack of frozen Brussels sprouts I've got. I used herbed chipolatas for the sausage. Served with grits. Good stuff all. 

This was the third sheet pan dinner this week!

Made another loaf of ABM French Bread (MC). It's good stuff. Tall, nice texture and taste.

Sunday/3-Apr-22: Didn't feel like making what was on the plan. Instead, intending to use most of the broccoli I bought this week, I made Warm Broccoli and Potato Salad (MDSalads, p15), an old standard. That new broccoli was yellow, gone to flower and seed already. Very odd. I had one bit left from the week before that still looked lovely, so I used that along with some of the cauliflower that's waiting for tomorrow's dinner. Good and satisfying stuff.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #2 PHOTO: no;
This month: #3 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG2: no; #6 BACKLOG3: no; #7 RECYCLE: 0; #8 NEW: 2

This week in the kitchen

Monday/3-Jan-22: Dinner was Spaghetti with Zucchini and Lemon (MW@Home, p195), with whole-wheat spaghetti. This is an old favorite, made lots of times. Tasty comfort food.

Tuesday/4-Jan-22: Dinner was a third recipe of Risotto de Crozets aux Petits Pois (SG, haven't found online). This was another pasta-as-risotto recipe, although not fully carried out in the instructions. (The liquid was added all at once; that's not what I did.) Ok, but nothing special. 

Wednesday/5-Jan-22: Made a grocery order for delivery tomorrow, since we're theoretically self-isolating right now. 

Dinner was Isla Bonita Pork Tenderloin (MC); this was originally from Chile Pepper Magazine (feb02), which seems to be another print magazine now defunct and with no online presence. Too bad. Good stuff it was. Served with Garlic-Roasted Sweet Potatoes (web). The recipe calls for Pineapple Salsa as a go-with, but the recipe was pretty blah. I embellished with some red bell pepper, red onion, cilantro, mint, lime juice, and a minced red chile. Turned out pretty good.

Thursday/6-Jan-22: I was feeling poorly most of day, with no appetite, so nothing much happened in the kitchen. 

Friday/7-Jan-22: Dinner was Baked Fish with Kumquats and Ginger (Uncommon, p272). The recipe calls for shad, but I've always made it with salmon. Good stuff. Served with trio rice and steamed asparagus; I bought these before xmas so they were on their last legs.

Saturday/8-Jan-22: Dinner was a half-dose of One-Pot Creamy Mushroom and Spinach Orzo* (web; GD). Instead of regular orzo, I used langue d'oiseau, semi-complèt (half whole wheat), whatever that is exactly. Used frozen spinach, thawed, of course. Then a bit of plain salad. 

Sunday/9-Jan-22: Dinner was Buttery Garlic Herb Chicken with Zucchini* (web; GD). Near the end, I deglazed the pan with a slog of white wine, then stirred in a spoonful of crème fraîche. That was a good. Served with trio rice, which was very crunchy. I've no idea what went wrong. Did I add too little water? Was the lid not closed? Barely edible it was.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 4; #2 PHOTO: no
This month: #3 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #4 BACKLOG2: yes; #5 BACKLOG3: no; #6 RECYCLE: 0; #7 NEW: 2

This week in the kitchen

Monday/29-Nov-21: Dinner was Shrimp and Corn Chowder (web). This was pretty good. I did cut the shrimp in half, since whole, they seemed too big for easy eating. I made a whole recipe, which will serve two easily. Not sure if the added flour serves any purpose beyond making the chowder a big on the thick side.

Tuesday/30-Nov-21: Started some turkey stock with the legs bones from out Thanksgiving meal. 

Dinner was Leftover Lamb Tagine (web). This wasn't bad. I was glad I didn't add any honey, since the apricots made it quite sweet enough. Served with whole wheat couscous and Moroccan Carrots (1Good, p59), which has become a favorite.

Wednesday/1-Dec-21: Dinner was Curried Fried Rice (MW@Home, p226). This is easy and pretty good. Long-grain brown rice. 

Thursday/2-Dec-21: Shopping today. 

Dinner was Apricot Dijon Glazed Salmon* (web; GD). This was good again, also easy and fast. Served with orzo haricots verts. 

Friday/3-Dec-21: Off to have my haircut today, so an easy dinner. We had tongue with a grainy mustard sauce from a can. Served with Spätzle (MW@Home, p203) made with T110 flour ("light" whole wheat); the batter needed a bit of extra milk. These were okay, but white flour is better. Also some steamed snijbonen in chunks. Tasty dinner for little work.

Saturday/4-Dec-21: Dinner was a half dose of Skillet-Toasted Penne with Chicken Sausage (CL/Jan-Feb14; web). This was pretty good. I used poultry sausage that were grilled in the summer. The pasta is toasted in a skillet and cooked rather like a risotto. No idea what a Calabrian chile is, so I chopped up a red (Indonesian?) chile, deseeded. Then a salad. 

Sunday/5-Dec-21: When it got time to make dinner, I didn't really feel like cooking and wasn't very hungry. So I used up some odds and ends from the fridge to make open-faced sandwiches. Sliced onion, lardons, the last half of a red bell pepper, some mushrooms, all topped with a bit of mozzarella and toasted. Not bad. Then we ate half a little Langres cheese. That's all. Somewhere in there the fire/CO detector in the kitchen started going off, we're hoping it was just the batteries being a bit low (even though they were replaced less than a year ago).

A loaf of Easy French Bread (Electric, p62) on overnight. I usually do this bread on Rapid, but Rapid can't be done on the timer. We'll see how it goes.

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: 5

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/5-Apr-21: Made a 1-1/2# loaf of Basic Whole Wheat Bread (Magic, p33) (WW/Rapid/M/-/-).

Used up lots of odds and ends to make a halfish recipe of Cabbage Wedges with Meat Sauce (TooMany, p54). This is kind of an old-timey dish, something my grandmother might have served, but was pretty good. Cabbage, not overcooked, topped with a tomato sauce with ground pork. There was supposed to be some green bell pepper involved, but I didn't have one, so I used up the rest of last week's asparagus. Wasn't bad at all, but some red pepper flakes in the sauce might have been good. Strawberries and cream for after. 

Tuesday/6-Apr-21: Ed picked up groceries from two Drives today.

Dinner was Moroccan Fish Tajine (web), served over whole wheat couscous. This was okay, nothing that needs to be done again. Some store-bought vanilla yogurts for after.

Wednesday/7-Apr-21: Yogurt on overday.

Dinner was a half recipe of Pasta with Asparagus-Lemon Sauce* (web). This was pretty good. As suggested by a comment, I added lots of lemon zest and a bit of juice to the sauce and roasted the asparagus tips. This was delicious but a bit skimpy as a dinner; I was too lazy to make a salad. Strawberries and cream for after. Then a pair of chocolate-covered madeleines as a snack while ironing/watching a video.

Thursday/8-Apr-21: Dinner was Lemon Chicken (web), a recipe from an old Bon Appetit that I got from EAT-L. This was easy and very tasty, although there was too much sauce. Served with sautéed zoodles; these sat in a drainer for three hours or more before cooking and hardly needed squeezing. Then a salad. Then more store-bought vanilla yogurts with the rest of the strawberries. 

Friday/9-Apr-21: There was a mouse caught in the Ivar shelving this morning. Ed let him (juvenile male, I think) when he took Buddy for a walk.

We got our first vaccinations today—yay!

Made some Authentic French Bread (Magic, p22) (Basic/Rapid/M/d/-). I used half bread flour and half T110 ("light" whole wheat flour). The dough seemed a bit dry so I added another bit (1tbl maybe) of water. A bit more even might have been nice. Pretty good though.

Dinner was Garlicky Tortellini, Spinach & Tomato Soup (web). Easy to make and delicious. Some HD ice cream cups for after. 

Saturday/10-Apr-21: Oops, didn't think to start our crockpot dinner till too late, so we had tomorrow's dinner instead. That was a half recipe of Curried Fried Rice (MW@Home, p226), using cooked basmati rice that's been leftover in the last week or so. This is always good and feels like a healthy dinner. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Sunday/11-Apr-21: Yogurt on overday. 

Late in the morning, but earlier than yesterday, I started Simple Beef Curry* (Hériteau, p36) in the crockpot. It was done too late for dinner, so I've jarred it up and put it in the fridge. We liked this a lot last time, but it seems relatively tasteless to me, even though I doubled the amount of curry powder. Off the DoMeAgain list, with this one. We'll have it one day next week.

Before I started dinner, having a surplus of pears, I made a Pear Bundt Cake (MC). This is an old favorite recipe. It's still good.

Dinner was another DMA recipe, Orecchiette Pasta with Chicken Sausage and Broccoli* (web; GD). This is easy and fast and very tasty. A pinch of red pepper flakes with the garlic wouldn't hurt at all, but it's fine without. Pear Bundt Cake for after, of course. I forgot to take a picture of dinner, so there's no photo this week.

Started a batch of Overnight Boule.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 4; #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: 3

This week in the kitchen

Monday/8-Mar-21: I'm doing quite well clearing out old recipes. Ran across the folder of recipes I've entered into Mastercook, bundled by year, and have tossed most of that. Ed might one day fix the computer where my old Mastercook would run, but I doubt I'd enter any more recipes there. Might be nice to correct typos, though.

Yogurt on overday. Should have made bread, but that didn't happen.

Got two Drive orders made for tomorrow. I'm out and about on Wednesday, so we'll pick them up tomorrow instead of our usual Wednesday.

Used up a surplus of bananas to make The Best Banana Cake I've Ever Had (web). It's good enough, but can't say it's the best ever. Anyhow a change from the yogurt things we've been having.

Dinner was Skillet Spanakoptia (web). It was quite pretty, but my camera was upstairs, and I was too lazy to go up and get it. My filo had been in the freezer for a while, so was a bit crumbly, but filo really doesn't mind. The whole thing was yummy. I like the way it's cooked in a skillet. My 9" skillet was perfect. We'll only have four servings, when there should have been eight; that must be with side dishes, of which there were none here. Banana Cake for dessert.

Tuesday/9-Mar-21: Made a loaf of Buckwheat Bread (Magic, p73) (Basic/Rapid/M/m/-). It looks lovely, but won't get eating till tomorrow.

Made a half dose of Simple Beijing-Style Marinated Cucumber Salad (HotWok, p153) to go with tomorrow's dinner.

Dinner was a half recipe of Chicken Fesenjan (EW sep/oct17; web). I forgot the pomegranate seeds in the end, which make it a bit of a dull dish to see. Served with (store-bought) Moroccan couscous. Some Banana Cake for after.

Wednesday/10-Mar-21: Dinner was a halfish recipe of Quick-Braised Fish Fillets in Black Bean Sauce (web). I don't really see what's braised here. The fish are breaded (or, really, flour-glue pasted), shallow fried, then rewarmed in sauce. My breading was a failure, not a skill I've mastered. Altogether, the bits of fish (cod falls apart at the least provocation) warmed in the tomato-y sauce was quite tasty, but nothing I'd want to again. Served with the cucumber salad I make yesterday and Zesty Onion and Peas (HotWok, p178), both trusty recipes, and some plain basmati rice. A pair of store-bought yogurt desserts for after.

Thursday/11-Mar-21: Yogurt on overday.

Leftover Spanikopita for dinner; still good. Then a big salad. And some Banana Cake for after.

Friday/12-Mar-21: Busy day today. Ed took the car to a muffler place to have the mounts replaced. And about 15.30 the electricity for the house went out. Ed couldn't find the problem at first (and no dead mouse in the fuse box). I went to a neighbor and she called one and left a message asking him to come soon; later she brought the number of another one and I left a message on his answering machines, land line and cell phone. Ed finally discovered that the problem lay in one wall socket, the one that runs the freezer. He took that off, expecting to find a dead mouse there, but no luck. Tomorrow he'll replace the socket and hope that fixes the problem.

I started dinner while there was light outside and none inside. We had about a 2/3 recipe of Stir-Fried Prawns with Fresh Asparagus (HotWok, p92), which it looks like I haven't made since 1996. It was good again, served over plain basmati rice. We finished the Banana Cake for after.

Started an Overnnight Boule.

Saturday/13-Mar-21: Baked the Overnight Boule.

Clearing off the peninsula today, I found bags of dried apricots, prunes, figs, and a sack with four dates. I used these to make Stewed Dried Fruits (WofE, p388), which I made during IHCC's Madhur Jaffrey season.

Dinner was Shawarma-Spiced Grilled Chicken with Garlic Yogurt Sauce* (web). This was yummy. The photo showed it being serving with sliced cucumber, but the fridge is bare of cukes, so I sliced some radishes and red bell pepper for our veggie bits. Served with some pita/kebab breads and some Shredded Zucchini (MW@Home, p87). All was yummy. Dessert was a bit of vanilla ice cream with Stewed  Dried Fruits. Have to remember to make that more often; it's really nice and must be healthy.

Sunday/14-Mar-21: Today Ed discovered the electric problem was in the lamp that stood in the cookbook area. Twisted wires shorted out. Now looking for a new lamp.

Yogurt on overday. Powercut in the middle, so I had to restart. I'll save the ones from the last batch to make the next batch.

Dinner was a halfish dose of Greek Artichoke and Potato Stew (Ready, p140). This was good, but nothing special. Probably it was the little purple artichokes rather than the big green ones, which are not completely edible. Better still would be to use frozen artichoke bottoms. The sauce was a bit thin; I think a whole can of tomatoes for a half recipe would have been been better, thus, two cans for a whole recipe. I thickened with a bit of potato starch.

For after, there was ice cream with Stewed Dried Fruits again.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/1-Feb-21: I dilly-dallied too long this afternoon, so didn't have time to make what was on the plan. Instead there was Spaghetti with Pecorino and Black Pepper* (MW@Home, p194). Parmesan instead of Pecorino; 1tbl black pepper grains, ground; whole wheat spaghetti. Good stuff. Followed by a salad. Then some of the Sara Lee cake. We're full.

Tuesday/2-Feb-21: Yogurt on overday.

Shortly after BookChatters this a.m., we lost internet and phone. It will be Friday before it’s repaired. 

Dinner was a halfish dose of Braised Rabbit with Black Olives, Red Wine, and Pine Nuts (VegHarv, p115). Used rables de lapin, rabbit saddles. This was okay, but nothing special. I think the taste of the tomatoes and black olives overwhelmed the subtler taste of the rabbit. I like rabbit, but don't much like all the fiddly little bones. As suggested, served with a half recipe of Creamy Polenta Wedges (VegHarv, p148). These were fairly boring. Plain polenta would have been better. Followed by a salad with the rest of last night's lettuce, plus grated broccoli stems (clearing out the veg drawer in the fridge) with a lemon vinaigrette. 

Wednesday/3-Feb-21: Pizza for lunch, then a movie and ironing. (Because of the curfew, we can't get a pizza for dinner.)

Thursday/4-Feb-21: For breakfast there was Blueberry Dutch-Baby (web). Pretty good and simple to make.

Made a loaf of English Muffin Bread 2 (MC) (Basic/Rapid/M/d/-). Absent-mindedly used buttermilk powder instead of powdered milk. It was OK.

Aside: Some bread machine manufacturers recommend putting the yeast on the bottom; some say to put it on the top. A long time ago, I read about this, that the order is not what's important. What's important is to keep the yeast and the liquid separate. This is especially important if you bake overnight, but also for the normal cycle which rests for 30min or so at the beginning. For the Rapid cycle, which starts kneading more or less right away (there is a pause of a few minutes), it has no meaning. 

For lunch I used some teeny bio rookworsts that I'd ordered and the last two squares of pâte feuillettée to make a kind of sausage roll. This was inspired by a recipe I found while clearing out a stack of recipes, Rookworst in Croissantdeeg met Mosterdsaus (web), a clipping from a magazine you get at a butcher's shop in NL. The rookworsts were good (I'll get more because they're on sale this week), but they're so small it's hard to know what to do with them.

For dinner there was a half recipe of Chicken with Black Bean Sauce (web). Pretty good. Served with plain basmati rice and Fresh Ginger and Garlic Roasted Broccoli (web), which was also good. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after. 

Friday/5-Feb-21: I got so involved in getting caught up with (internet) business today that I forgot to defrost something for dinner. So I got some tortellini things out of the freezer, thinking about making them alla panna, only to discover that Ed had used all the cream and neglected to tell me to re-order. Oops. So I sautéed some onion and garlic and mushrooms and added parsley and crème fraîche, then added the cooked tortellini to that. Not bad. Then a really plain salad with croûtons. Then a pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Saturday/6-Feb-21: Yogurt on overday.

Picked up an order from Intermarché today. 

Our main for dinner was a halfish version Salmon Piccata (web). I cut my salmon chunk in thin slices, about 1/4". Pretty quick to make, delicious to eat. Served with trio rice and Chilled Stuffed Beets, a recipe I got from a grocery store recipe card. I don't really follow the recipe, but it's easy and good. You hollow out a beet or two (I had one largish one, and served the halves stuffed). The filling tonight was peas, a minced shallot, a bit of chopped parsley, and some of the beet innards minced and dried on a paper towel, all mixed with some pyramid goat cheese. Everything was good. Some store-bought vanilla yogurts for after. 

Overnight Boule brewing overnight.

Sunday/7-Feb-21: Baked off the bread this morning.

Dinner was Petit Ragoût de Pois Chiches au Chorizo (VPG?). Tasty, especially with a good dob of the pyramid goat cheese left from yesterday. It's a strange recipe. It should have served four; no, it simpily fed two. There's no sauce, which is why the goat cheese was so nice. For after, we had mini HD ice cream cups.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #2 PHOTO: yes; #3 *DMA: yes
This month: #4 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG1: yes; #6 BACKLOG2: no; #7 RECYCLE: 9; #8 NEW: 1

This week in the kitchen

Monday/25-Jan-21: Dinner was a half recipe of Roasted Broccoli Pasta with Lemon and Feta (web). I don't have any whole wheat pasta with shape, so used mafalda instead. Whole wheat would be nice. Instead of making up a steak seasoning (lots of recipes on the web), I used some of Montreal Steak Seasoning I made for something a while ago. We finished the blueberry mascarpone tart for after. 

Overnight Boule brewing overnight.

Tuesday/26-Jan-21: Baked the Overnight Boule this morning.

For lunch I made another improvised sort of reuben sandwich, with the same nice little Russian dressing-ish sauce that I made last week. 

Dinner was Lentil Spinach Soup with Lemon (web), which was pretty yummy. I made it with brown (blond) lentils and two blocks of frozen spinach leaves. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Wednesday/27-Jan-21: Off for a haircut today, with rumors we may go to lockdown #3 soon.

Left my first batch of yogurt going with 9 hours on the clock. It wasn't quite done after that, so I added another hour. Perfect. Yay! No more overnight yogurt!

Dinner was canned tongue with a grainy mustard sauce. Made a whole dose of Spätzle (MW@Home, p203), which was too much, so have some leftovers of this

. Also some steamed broccoli and cauliflower bits. Then some butterscotch tapioca pudding for after. We're full.

Thursday/28-Jan-21: Dinner was, sort of, a half version of Duck Breast with Cranberry Sauce (web).  I used aiguillettes instead of a whole breast, since that's what was in the freezer and they defrost quickly. Didn't use as much honey as asked. Served with leftover spätzle, followed by a salad. We finished off the tapioca for after.

Friday/29-Jan-21: Made a loaf of French Bread Extraordinaire! (MagicHints, p158) (Basic/Rapid/M/d/-), which is somewhat similar to Authentic French Bread in Magic. I baked it in the bread machine rather than in the oven. Used 1-1/2cups T110 and 2cups T65. 

My bread machine will turn 20 this year. Still going strong? Not really, but still going. The gear in the base of the pan is not working as it ought. Ed will try to repair.

Picked up an order from Intermarché today.

Dinner was Spiced Tilapia with Coconut Rice (CL/sep18; web). With cod since tilapia isn't sold around here. Served with Thai Cucumber Salad with Peanuts* (web). We'll call this a DMA even though it's gone beyond that now. For after, we had some store-bought vanilla. Very good.

Apparently no lockdown right away, but big shopping centers are closed and travel in and out of the country is restricted. Nothing that affects us really. The 6pm-6am curfew remains.

Saturday/30-Jan-21: Last night, figuring out what to eat today, I narrowed it down to two recipes, then choose one. Unfortunately, I left the tag on both recipes. Tonight, I turned to the first and started that one before I realized what I'd done. 

Made yogurt during the day today. 

So dinner was not as planned, but it was good. I made Turkish Pilaf from my old Green Book, recipe probably from either Family Circle or Woman's Day (do these still exist?), collected well before we moved to NL. It's supposed to serve two, but that's very generous; it would probably serve three easily. Had a bit of a salad after. No dessert since we were stuffed.

Sunday/31-Jan-21: Made a loaf of Bill Hatcher's Italian Bread (MC) (Basic/Rapid/M/d/-). Hmm, see that I've done this as a Large loaf before; it's really between Medium and Large. Don't expect it will make much difference. The load looks lovely. We'll see how it is tomorrow. The gear in the bread pan turned as it ought to, without complaint. Yeah, Ed!

Dinner was a half recipe of Sea Scallops with Sweet Red Peppers and Zucchini* (Essential, p409). Good stuff.

For after there was Sara Lee's Crumb Cake (MC), a recipe I collected a long time ago from EAT-L. Made in the food processor, it's easy and fast to assemble. And delicious. Sara Lee-like? Sort of I guess.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 4; #2 PHOTO: yes; #3 *DMA: yes
This month: #4 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG1: yes; #6 BACKLOG2: no; #7 RECYCLE: 9; #8 NEW: 1

This week in the kitchen

Monday/11-Jan-21: Baked the Overnight Boule this morning. (Changed the name to reflect the shape.)

Dinner was Green Eggs & Ham Soup (web), a halfish recipe. There's a bit of soup left that might turn up as pasta sauce or another soup before long. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/12-Jan-21: Made some Easy Blueberry Cobbler* (myweb) from my Do-me-again list. Remarkably good for as easy as it is.

 

Dinner was a halfish recipe of Chicken Potpie (CL/apr07; web), really a turkey potpie, using brick/briq for the topping instead of phyllo. Livened up the gravy with a bit of cayenne (just a bit, not enough to make it hot). And, of course, some blueberry cobbler, with fresh cream, for after.

 

Unfortunately, to use up odd bits from the freezer, I've just planned a meal for later this week, a kind of a seafood potpie, with brick for the topping. Think I might need to move that out a bit.

Wednesday/13-Jan-21: Defrosted some rumsteack; it was supposed to be a thick chunk but was a thin sheet instead. Cut it into bits and marinated in my meat marinade. Dusted (most of) these with flour and browned in a cast iron skillet. Deglazed with water and a bit of a beef boullion cube to make a little sauce. Served with Clothilde Dusoulier's Perfect Roasted Potatoes (web) and some roasted broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. Finished the blueberry cobbler, with fresh cream, for after.

Thursday/14-Jan-21: Made a loaf of German Rye Bread (BigGerman, p254) (Basic/Rapid/M=1.5#/d/-). Used the Basic cycle, rather than Whole Wheat, thinking there was only 1/2cup of rye flour vs 3cups of bread flour. If I remember, next time I'll try the WholeWheat setting.

 

Dinner was Salmon Scallopini with Almond Orzo (web). Yummy stuff. Interesting to cut the salmon fillet into 1/4" slices to be sautéed. Nice sauce too. Served with steamed broccoli bit with garlic and red pepper flakes steeped in olive oil with lemon juice. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after. 

The bread is delicious, a tall loaf, but not fluffy/soft. Might try it with T110 flour next time.

Friday/15-Jan-21: Dinner was Cajun Shrimp Linguine (web), using whole-wheat spaghetti. Pretty good stuff. A salad would have been nice, but the salad maker was out of oomph. Unoriginally, there wasa pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Saturday/16-Jan-21: Started another loaf of German Rye Bread (BigGerman, p254) (WW/Rapid/M=1.5#/-/-). Used T110 flour.

 

We brought dinner from a local restaurant. Had to pick it up before the 18.00 curfew. Nice to have a delicious meal with not more work than setting the table.

Yogurt on overnight

Sunday/17-Jan-21: The rye bread with all T110 (light whole wheat) flour is not as high and not quite as tasty as the one with T65 (bread) flour; might try a mixture of these next time.

 

Off-plan tonight, got started late and didn't feel like cooking what I'd planned. Instead we had Spaghetti with Zucchini and Lemon (MW@Home, p195). Easy and tasty stuff. Some mini HD ice cream cups for after.

 

Have been throwing away lots of recipes. The upstairs bins are well over half empty. Small progress. There really are too many recipes that need to be cooked.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #2 PHOTO: yes; #3 *DMA: yes
This month: #4 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG1: yes; #6 BACKLOG2: no; #7 RECYCLE: 9; #8 NEW: 1

This week in the kitchen

Monday/4-Jan-21: Dinner was Lamb, Spinach, & Feta Phyllo Pie (web), using the oldest lamb in the freezer, rather that the bits from new year's day. I used brick/briq instead of phyllo, which was actually better since my dish was round. This would be nice make in individual casserole dishes, but I guess you'd really need rectangular phyllo instead of round brick. Served with a simple salad. And a pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/5-Jan-21: Didn't feel like starting Overnight Bread last night, so this morning I made some 100% Whole Wheat Bread (BigGerman, 81).

Dinner was a half recipe of Salmon Cakes with Old Bay Aioli (web). These weren't bad except for the saltiness of the Old Bay seasoning. Served with trio rice and Shredded Zucchini (MW@Home, p87). A pretty good plate. Unimaginatively, we each had a pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Wednesday/6-Jan-21: Eating from the freezer tonight, a soup made up of a cardamon stew sauce, some chicken stock, some turkey bits, and rice. Pretty good, and spicy. Some mini HD ice cream cups for after.

Thursday/7-Jan-21: Finished reading Something Old, Something New last night. Not bad, but not in the same category as Adler's An Everlasting Meal, which is one of my favorite food literature books.

Picked up an order from Intermarché today. Thus, fish for dinner.

We had a halfish dose of Vinegar Fish (Oriental, #102). This was ok, nothing special. The cod flaked, as cod does, so it looked not much like the whole piece of fish in the picture. Served with Rice with Tomatoes and Spinach (TasteIndia, p120). 

A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Yogurt on overnight. Overnight Bread brewing overnight.

Friday/8-Jan-21: Using up stuff from the freezer, we had veal scallops topped with the last of the  delicious ancho sauce. Served with smashed sweet potatotes (with OJ and chipotle powder) and a Cucumber and Radish Salad. That recipe came from a booklet that came with my Cuisinart, lo these many years ago. I didn't use the Cuisinart, but cut all by hand.

For after, Ed made a fruit salad of the fruit we didn't eat at lunchtime, apple, pear, and kiwi.

Saturday/9-Jan-21: Dinner was a reprise of Thai-Style Chicken Legs (web) using thighs and sauce from the freezer. Not sure if this quite counts as a do-me-again. But Mango Slaw with Cashews and Mint* (web) definitely does. With basmati rice. Tapioca pudding for after.

Sunday/10-Jan-21: Dinner was a halfish dose of Mark Bittman's Shrimp in Green Sauce (web). This was almost wonderful, but didn't really make it. Served over polenta, then a salad. Then we finished the tapioca pudding.

Overnight Bread brewing overnight.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/23-Nov-20: Made some Cranberry-Port Relish (MC; web) for Thanksgiving. Prepped the pork for tomorrow's meal.

Dinner was from a food truck—yay, no cooking!

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/24-Nov-20: Dinner was Pork Vindaloo (Q&E, p33). Cooked this off in the crockpot, since we were away a good part of the day. Served with plain basmati rice, Pan-Grilled Zucchini (MJFamily, p173) (cooked in a cast iron skillet with no extra oil), and Yoghurt with Cucumber and Mint—Kheere ka Raita (MJ1, p162). All are old favorites.

Wednesday/25-Nov-20: Made a loaf of English Muffin Bread (BMB, p17) in the morning. Delicious bread, but tiny 2# loaf.

Made up the roulades for tomorrow's meal. Baked a pumpkin cake.

Dinner from the freezer, chicken adobo stew, served over brown rice, with a salad. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Thursday/26-Nov-20: Yes, it's Thanksgiving, with a doctor's appointment in the middle of the day, which limited what could be done.

For the table, I trimmed the little tulips we got from Intermarché last week. They have held up remarkably well. Dutch tulips in a Delftware vase.

We started with Smoked Salmon with Dill-Mustard Sauce, (VegHarv, p4). I've made this nice little starter before. The rolls of salmon look pretty lonely on the plate some I added some sliced cucumbers, which go nicely with the sauce.

For our main, we again had mini versions Shane's Turkey Roll using turkey scallops. I really do have to write up his recipe to save it properly. These were accompanied by: 

• Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Cranberries & Pecans (web). Picked the sprouts up at a Drive this morning, so didn't have time for marinating as I often do. (We like marinated roasted sprouts as a starter.) This was a new recipe and definitely a keeper. I thought I'd ordered 500g of sprouts, but it was only 250g (and ended up being on sale, although the quality was fine, just a mix of sizes, big and small), which is barely enough for two.
• Started out to make Tornado Potatoes (web), but failed at the cutting, so I turned them into hasselback potatoes with the same coating. (I've got lots of the coating left. It might end up on something else in the next days.) And, of course, there was ...
• Cranberry-Port Relish (MC, web), which is my standard recipe, much liked here and very easy. Unfortunately took the picture before I added cranberry sauce to the plate, so it looks a bit colorless.

For dessert, there was Pumpkin Cake (MC), another favorite, although not so old. We'll be eating it for days, but it keeps well. 

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/27-Nov-20: Dinner was, sort of, Salmon Leek Pie with Lemon Dill Crust (PotPies, p132). I had bits of salmon and of lieu noir in the freezer, so I used those together rather than all salmon. Instead of the lemon-dill crust, I used smashed potatoes with dill and lemon zest added. Pretty good it was. Followed by a salad. Then some pumpkin pie. 

Forgot to make bread during the day, so

Saturday/28-Nov-20: I used a new recipe to make blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Oops, recipe didn't work very well. I poured all the batter in the pan and made a kind of pancake cake. Edible, but not pretty.

Scallops were supposed to be on the menu tonight. But the two packages that were supposed to be freezer weren't to be found. I'm puzzled where they've gone since we haven't had scallops in a while. While rummaging through the freezer, I found a package of gyozas, pork-and-kimchi, that I found at Leclerc Drive. I steamed those, made some rice, a bit of dipping sauce (web), and a salad of shredded chineeskool, broccoli stems, carrot, and red onion, with a ginger-sesame dressing. All was pretty good. Have another package of plain pork gyozas for another night. Pumpkin cake for after.

Made up some batter for Overnight Bread.

Sunday/29-Nov-20: Baked the Overnight Bread this morning. Ed insists this is his all-time favorite. He also said I could do the pancake cake again. 

An easy dinner, Curried Fried Rice (MW@Home, p226), which is an old favorite. I didn't cook the rice ahead and chill it as one should; I just cooled it on a big plate. Used red Thai curry paste for the curry bit. It was good. Some mini ice cream cups for after.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 2; #2 BACKLOG: yes
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/12-Oct-20: Picked up an order from Leclerc today after French. Mostly staples.

Dinner was a half recipe of Chicken Breasts Cooked in Mustard and Yoghurt (Flavours, p168). This was easy, just a few minutes to assemble the marinade, and very tasty. Might do it again with pork chops before long. Served with Cauliflower Cachumbar (MJ@Home, p242), which I've made before with grated broccoli stems. This was good, but a might tingly because the chili I used was unexpectedly hot. And some trio rice. Some store-bought riz au lait for after.

Tuesday/13-Oct-20: Not a good day altogether. Gloomy.

Dinner was a half dose of Moroccan Chickpea Tagine with Harissa (MC), an oldy-but-goody recipe I've made several times. Made a little garlic-yogurt sauce to take the heat off the cachumber, but we didn't need any more food. The other two store-bought riz au lait for after.

Mixed up some Overnight Bread.

Wednesday/14-Oct-20: Decided during the day what we would eat, meal planning being a bit behind schedule.

We has a halfish recipe of Sauted (sic) Shrimp with Lemon Grass—Pad Pak Goong (Delightful, p71). This was pretty good considering how easy it was. Next time I might mince the lemongrass, rather than leaving in it 2" lengths. Served over basmati rice with Thai Cucumber Salad with Peanuts (web). I've put this in my HandyBook, since it's my go-to recipe for a SE Asian salad. Used my last bit of red onion for the shrimp, so used several shallots for the salad. A pair of chocolate-coated madeleines each for after.

Thursday/15-Oct-20: Lunch out today. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

Friday/16-Oct-20: Did a little touristing, then picked up an order at Carrefour Drive. They had lieu noir for fresh fish, although not the dos (back) that I usually get at Leclerc. I trimmed the bony bit off, leaving the dos. I cut two servings from it and put the rest in the freezer. 

We had Nigel Slater's Hake with Pea Salsa (web). This was ok. The pea salsa was too sweet, I'm not sure if it was the peas themselves or if the vinegar (white wine) was too sweet. Edible, but nothing to do again. Served with taglitelle. And a pair of chocolate-coated madeleines each for after.

Saturday/17-Oct-20: We had lunch late, and the kitchen was still a wreck this evening while Ed was fixing a leak. I made a quickie dinner, Spaghetti with Pecorino and Black Pepper (MW@Home, p194). Used whole wheat spaghetti. This is really yummy for minimal work. For dessert we had yogurt with blueberries.

Sunday/18-Oct-20: A use-me-up dinner tonight. Along with whole wheat couscous, we had Spicy Cucumber Wedges (MJ1, p17), leftover Cauliflower Cachumber with the garlicy yogurt sauce I madeup, South Indian-Style Green Beans (MJ@Home, p147), and Carrots with Cilantro (MJ@Home, p149). All things we've had before, and very tasty. Some mini HD ice cream cups for after.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 5; #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/27-Jul-20: Picked up an order at Leclerc Drive after my French lesson.

Finished off yesterday's salads for a late lunch, so I wasn't very hungry for dinner.

We had a halfish dose of Spinach Ravioli with Zucchini Ribbons (web). Easy, fast, pretty good. Followed by a salad using up the dressing from the broccoli-potato salad. Followed yogurt and store-bought raspberries.

The yogurt that sat out overnight wasn't bad at all. I expected it to be pretty sour.

Tuesday/28-Jul-20: For dinner, I rubbed some of my pork rub spice mix onto two boneless chops. Served those with spaghettis courts and some mixed vegetable (steamed broccoli, canned corn, and strips of roasted bell pepper from a jar). We were full.

Wednesday/29-Jul-20: Made a loaf of Oregano Herb Bread (BigGerman, p243).

Really didn't feel like cooking today, so an easy dinner, off piste. Made Spaghetti with Pecorino and Black Pepper (MW@Home, p194). It's so easy and so good. As suggested I made a salad of sliced tomatoes, with some basil and some kalamatas. Some mini HD ice cream cups for after.

Thursday/30-Jul-20: A hot, hot day. I picked up an order from Intermarché this morning. I made the time a bit earlier than usual, hoping to get some of their homemade nems. I'm beginning to think these don't really exists.

Dinner was Salmon, Avocado, New Potato Salad (web), which wasn't bad. Unfortunately, my avocados were over the hill, so I just got what I could out of them. I broiled the salmon rather than bbq-ing it. Have enough dressing left for two big salads.Thought the white balsamic vinegar (end of my bottle) was too sweet; sherry vinegar might be better. Some St Felicien cheese with Oregano Herb Bread for after.

Friday/31-Jul-20: This morning I figured out, too late, that I could start Overnight Bread in the morning and bake it just before bedtime. Another day.

Another hot, hot day. Dinner was Syrian-Style Lentil-Tomato Soup (Beans, p61). Really good stuff. Mini HD ice cream cups for after.

Yogurt on overnight. Stirred up some Overnight Bread.

Saturday/1-Aug-20: Really didn't feel like cooking tonight and got to it late. We had One Pot Spicy Thai Zoodles (web). It's advertised to serve four. I make half, and that would have served one really. Mini HD ice cream cups for after again.

Sunday/2-Aug-20: Dinner was a half dose of Greek Lamb with Potatoes & Olives (web). Easy and yummy stuff. I had only one tomato, when I should have had two, but exact measurements are not an issue here. Would be easy to make this for one too. The meat could be beef or pork or even dark meat chicken maybe. Takes a bit of wall clock time, but most of it is baking.

For dessert, a bit belatedly, there was, sort of, Peach Cobbler (web). I overlooked the instructions for the cobbler dough, so this bit is a bit flat. I used only 1/2 cup sugar in the filling and a short 3 tbl sugar for the dough. Wasn't very pretty, but tastes good

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 5; #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/6-Jul-20: Today I went to pick up our order at Leclerc Drive, then went into the shop—yes, inside the grocery! Lamb is on sale this week and I wanted a shoulder. So did a lot of people apparently; there was an empty place where the packages should have been. Did get some lamb chops, but that was my bonus. Also restocked my spice cabinet, picking up the next jar for eight spices.

Dinner was Shrimp and Broccoli Alfredo (web). This was tasty. It's hard to tell from the recipe how many it's supposed to serve. I used about half the shrimp, two-thirds of the pasta, and all of the sauce. Then some store-bought (!) riz au lait.

Tuesday/7-Jul-20: BookChatters this morning. For dinner we had a take-out pizza—the first time I haven't cooked our meal since 5-March, four months and a day ago. It was wonderful. :-) 

Wednesday/8-Jul-20: Meant to take a package to be returned to Amazon today. When I went to double-check the address, I discovered it had to be there before noon. Oops. Tomorrow.

Dinner was Veal Niçoise Style (web). I had about half again as much veal as she asks, so increased that much. I had a regular portion and Ed ate the rest. (He needs to maintain his weight.) Served over Spätlze (MW@Home, p203), nice, chewy stuff it is. Needing veggies, I also made a little salad of grated carrots with a really lemony vinaigrette, served over some leaves of sucrine (kind of mini-romaines). Some St Maure for after.

Thursday/9-Jul-20: Made some Buckwheat Bread (BigGerman, p38), WW/Rapid/L/-/-. Oops, forgot to put in yeast! Have a lump. We'll see how it is at breakfast.

Made up a double dose of Herb Salt (Art, p172) to replenish my supply.

Hot today and I didn't feel like cooking what I'd planned. We had a big salad, then some cheese for after.

Friday/10-Jul-20: The yeast-less bread is, um, interesting. Looks a bit like roggebrood,but without the big grains of rye. Tastes okay, but not the best for a sandwich. I'll make this one again soon, with yeast.

Off to Orange today to get another Airbox as a tide-me-over for the bad internet we're having. Wouldn't have G4 as the only internet solution, but when wired doesn't work, it's an alternative. Stopped by Leclerc on the way home. There were lamb shoulders and I got two for the freezer. Will make one of them soon, when I can decide among the recipes I've got flagged.

For dinner we had spinach-ricotta dumplings from the freezer with tomato sauce, also from the freezer. And a big salad. And some store-bought mousses, chocolate noir. Store-bought desserts twice in one week, rather than twice in one month. That's what happens when you haven't been inside a store for months on end.

Saturday/11-Jul-20: We're getting short on fruit, so Ed picked up an order from Intermarché Drive today. And that meant fish for dinner.

Which was Cabillaud en Papillote à la Salsa Verde (web; VPG; strangely this magazine clipping came from VPG, but the same recipe is on the Régal site). This was pretty good. The sauce was flat parsley, cornichons, capers, vinegar from the cornichon jar, and some olive oil all blended up. Some small potatoes, roasted, for a side. We finished off some St Maure for after.

Sunday/12-Jul-20: Buckwheat Bread (BigGerman, p38) on again today, WW/Rapid/L/-/-, this time with the yeast.

Dinner was a halfish dose of Chili Rubbed Pork with Mango Salsa (web). Needless to say I didn't use McCormick's own chili seasoning, gluten-free or otherwise. I used some spicy pork rub I made up in a huge quantity a while ago. Somehow I neglected to notice that the pork was supposed to be barbecued. Instead I cooked it in the oven: empty skillet into oven preheating to 450F/220C; added the varkenshaas and cooked about 20min. Good it was. Also the mango salsa. Made up a sort of pilaf with rice and vermicelli for a side. For dessert, we had Sautéed Bananas (MW@Home, p320) over vanilla ice cream. This is kind of Bananas Foster without being flambéed. Easy and tasty.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 4; #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/4-May-20: Ed went off to Intermarché to pick up an order today. The fish didn't show up, so I had to jiggle the meal plan.

I'd ordered some rumsteack, which turned out to be very strangely cut. I used the rest of an old fajita marinade for the steak, cutting the meat into various pieces, some almost thin as a window pane. Served with sautéed bell peppers and onions. And a stack of home-made tortillas. Yum.

Made a batch of Suzanne Dunaway's No-Knead Bread (web). I really need to rename this since I've made significant changes.

Tuesday/5-May-20: Baked up the non-knead bread.

Dinner was a halfish dose of Thai Zucchini Noodles (web). Used linguine for the noodles. Only about 1tsp of honey. This was good for very little work.

For dessert, I made again Far aux Pruneaux (web). Part way through the cooking, I absent-mindedly changed the timer, so I'm not sure how long it cooked. Still good.

Wednesday/6-May-20: Nice chat with friends today, followed by a bbq dinner that I had mostly ready. There was Mango-Marinated Chicken Kebabs with Pineapple Pilaf (GreenBook). Paying not much attention, I opened both my cans of pineapple, expecting slices, but both were morceaux. Oops. Didn't bbq slices, but browned some pieces in a skillet. And Carrot and Parsley Salad (MW@Home, p65). For dessert, we finished yesterday's far. 

Thursday/7-May-20: More pineapple today. Dinner was Meatballs Pacifica with Almond-Herb Rice (GreenBook; web). I have an old clipping, from one of the Houston papers probably. Pretty good stuff, although I think my can of pineapple parts might have had more pineapple than a bigger can of slices. Made a salad with lettuce and the leftover carrot salad from yesterday. We're full.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/8-May-20: Made some Honey Whole Wheat Bread (MC) during the day. (I cut the honey back.) We shared a heel for dessert. It was good.

Dinner was Scrambled Eggs with Gruyère and White Wine (Flavours, p73). This was good. Wine and eggs, a bit odd, but it worked. Used comté instead of gruyère since that was in-house. big salad for after. Bread for dessert.

Saturday/9-May-20: Dinner was Dimer Dalna—Egg and Cauliflower in Savory Cumin Sauce (HealthyInd, p115; cookbooker). This was good. I made a whole recipe except for the hard-boiled eggs, which served us two nicely, rather than four as advertised. Served with a cumin rice with peas, extremely loosely based on two Madhur Jaffrey recipes. Some melon ice cream for after.

Sunday/10-May-20: Made some Mustard-Dill Bread (MC), while we finished off the honey Whole Wheat Bread.

Using up some ricotta and crème fraîche to make a tarte d'asperges with a pâte feuillettée from the freezer. This turned out pretty good, although the edges of the crust were a bit burnt since I didn't turn the oven down sufficiently. A slice of bread for after. Then the rest of the melon ice cream with some pineapple chunks.

Yogurt on overnight.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 4; #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/23-Mar-20: The Semolina Bread I made yesterday is good, but quite crumbly. It's not dry, it just crumbles.

Dinner was Bacon Wrapped Spring Chicken (web), definitely a hit. Instead of an jalapeño, I used one of the long chiles that Leclerc sometimes has in the summer; yellow, it was, and I probably added a trifle too much cayenne to compensate for it not being the proper thing. No matter. Delicious was the result. Served with trio rice and steamed broccoli. The sauce went well with everything. Some St Felicien for dessert.

Tuesday/24-Mar-20: Made up some garlic oil, vaguely following a internet recipe: Put 80ml olive oil and three smallish garlic cloves in a small saucepan. Bring to oil to a boil, turn the heat down and simmer about 5min; the garlic cloves will brown. Turn the heat off; the garlic continues to cook. Put the oil in a small jar; an old spice jar works. (The instructions said to slice the garlic and put it in the oil. I didn't do this.)

Make up a batch of taco seasoning (HB). Might make some chicken taco meat with some of it soon.

Dinner was Pasta with Porcini Mushroom Sauce (MW@Home, p192), using up some of the shrooms I have on hand. Pretty good it was. We finished the St Felicien for after. Then we finished the chocolate-covered corn flakes. We're nicely full.

Wednesday/25-Mar-20: Ed went to get our order at Intermarché Drive this morning. We disinfected all and put most of it up.

Made a loaf of Oat Bread (BigGerman, p29). Made a medium loaf ; my oat bran was expired, but smelt ok so I used it; used the vital gluten. Very high loaf, very tasty. It was so good, we had it for dessert.

Dinner was Rocky Road Potato Cod (Ainsley3, p89). Used lardons for the streaky bacon. Good it was. Bread for dessert.

Thursday/26-Mar-20: My, my, is that Oat Bread good.

Dinner was Teriyaki Salmon & Mango Salsa (web). This was pretty good, although the salsa was pretty assertive, since I didn't deseed the chili. Served with real basmati rice, and steam broccoli. Some HD mini ice cream cups were just the thing for dessert.

Friday/27-Mar-20: Made up some Prune Bread (BMB, p96), first time. Why don't people like prunes. I had to eat some while pitting and quartering them.

For dinner, I used my last three lasagna noodles to make, more or less, a third recipe of Lasagna with Spicy Roasted Cauliflower (web). For the marinara sauce, I made a half recipe of this, also from NYT and very good. Then a salad. Yay! Thank you, Intermarché Drive*. I used the ricotta to make, sort of, Coffee Ricotta Mousse (MW@Home, p307). Used a bit of Kahlua for this. Pretty good, although the texture was a bit grainy since the ricotta had been frozen.

*I'm a bit worried because I haven't had an email from Leclerc Drive for the order I placed to be delivered Monday. Can't get to the site; they simply can't keep up with demand right now, and haven't been able to fix the situation in the last week and a half.

Saturday/28-Mar-20: In the afternoon, I made some Easy Chocolate Shortbread (MC), a recipe that worked the last time I made it, but not this time. The dough wouldn't come together, so I added some cream cheese (maybe 2tbl) to make that happen. The result is tasty, but like eating chocolate-flavored sand.

Dinner was Stir-Fried Pork and Green Beans—Muu Pad Tua Fak Yaw (ThaiCC, p42). This was pretty good. Made a small dent in the huge pile of green beans we got from Intermarché Driver, and used the tail of the varkenshaas, the rest of which will appear somehow in the next days. For after, we had chocolate sand with vanilla ice cream.

Sunday/29-Mar-20: Made up another loaf of Authentic French Bread (Magic, p22), Med/Rapid/Dark, with 100% T65 (bread) flour. Dark, it’s not. And a bit of a lumpy, one-sided loaf; maybe it wanted a bit more water.

I used up the last bits of cauliflower and broccoli to make a half dose of Penne with Cauliflower Sauce (PastaHarv p68). I used cascareccia, although I think the mini-lasagnas, mafaldas, might have been better. Still, it was a pretty good. For dessert, we covered the rest of the chocolate shortcaket things with cream and gobbled them up.

Yogurt on overnight.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 4; #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/16-Mar-20: Dinner was a halfish dose of Black Pepper Chicken (RezaSpice, p98; cookbooker). It was tasty, but the recipe seems very badly written/edited. Should cardamon seeds be measured/ground with the pods or extracted from the pods? (I put in four pods and ground them all.) Ground cinnamon is included with the spices to be ground, while ground turmeric is included with the next stuff for the marinade. Why? Whole black peppercorns are included with the spices for cooking the chicken. Some of those were still pretty crunchy when served. Slit green chiles are added at the end of the cooking, just before cooling. What do these add? (I didn't add them.) Served this with Saffron-Roasted Cauliflower (RezaSpice, p123; cookbooker). And some plain basmati rice. Some chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/17-Mar-20: Now we're really stuck at home, as Macron announced last night. We can go to work, to the doctor and other health-related places, to buy food, to assist a family member, or to exercise (by yourself). Ed went off to the pharmacy in the morning before the rules went into affect so we're stocked up.

Working on using up veggies in the fridge, tonight we had Spaghetti with Zucchini and Lemon (MW@Home, p195), which is an old favorite. Then some ice cream with almost defrosted blueberries.

Wednesday/18-Mar-20: Lovely warm sunny day today.

Dinner was Gemelli with Anchovies, Tomtatoes and Mascarpone (web). Instead of cherry tomatoes I used the rest of the canned pulp (about 1cup altogether) from Saturday. Then we finished the St Maure cheese. Then we had some chocolate-covered corn flakes. We're full.

Thursday/19-Mar-20: Busy day in the kitchen.

Since bread is getting to be an issue, I made some Authentic French Bread (Magic, p22). This is the recipe I used to do by heart. Not any more. Had trouble finding it too. My poor old bread machine is having trouble browning bread, unless I didn't set the darkness properly.

Our main was a half dose of Barley Pilaf with Green Beans, Mushrooms, and Pesto (VeryBest, p182), with snijbonen and one haricot vert for the greens. Good stuff. Half of what should  six., was a good, but not generous, meal for two.

Being short on eggs, I searched for an eggless cake and made an Eggless Chocolate Cake (web), using only 3/4cup sugar (sucre de canne), and mixed all in the Kenmore. It's supposed to be better tomorrow, but wasn't half bad today. The end of the mascarpone gave us each a big spoonful as a topping, since I didn't make a frosting or glaze.

Friday/20-Mar-20: Dinner was a halfish dose of Asparagus Hash, a recipe I collected from EAT-L in 2009. I think it was meant as a side dish for four, but a half recipe was a nice main for two. I made some tomatoes stuff with feta, minced black olives, fresh mint from the garden, grated lemon rind, and couscous (lacking cucumber) as a go-with. More chocolate cake for dessert. Very good the second day; not dried out as I expected.

Saturday/21-Mar-20: Woke up to find no water coming from the faucets. It seems there was a problem at the treatment place near Montemboeuf and all of Condadeuil is dry. It came back on about 16.00. Whew.

Meanwhile, I replanned dinner to avoid using water. I mixed together some defrosted ancho/adobo sauce, canned white beans, and hominy, then sautéed some chicken leg bits with garlic, cumin, and oregano. Thickened the stew a bit with cornstarch and served over defrosted polenta squares. Filling and not at all bad. Made a halfish version of Mexican Potato, Carrot, and Pea Salad (365Mex, p70). This was good, but we were so full we couldn't finish it. Then some chocolate cake and ice cream for dessert.

Sunday/22-Mar-20: For tomorrow's breakfast, I made some Semolina Bread (BigGerman, p77). Although it's only the medium-sized recipe, the loaf is really tall (AH stock jar for comparison.)

My poor bread machine isn't very happy, I must say. Maybe now is the time to replace it, since I'll probably be using it a lot in the next months.

Dinner was a more-or-less whole recipe of Cabbage with Peas—Bund Gobi and Mater (web). The recipes is supposed to serve 3-4; we thought two was a bit skimpy. Served over short-grain brown rice. Finished off the Eggless Chocolate Cake, with some mascarpone cream. This cake was a hit.

Yogurt on overnight.

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