This week in the kitchen

Monday/16-Aug-21: Dinner was Creamy Blueberry Chicken Salad (web; CL/aug14). I used chicken from the last roast that I did (via the freezer). Blueberries from our own plants. (Which Ed told me about after I'd defrosted some. Have to make some kind of dish tomorrow to use them up.) That didn't look quite enough, so I made a salad of some roasted beets, a small can of corn, cilantro, and a lime vinaigrette. No dessert.

Tuesday/17-Aug-21: Used some of my roasted beets plus some leftover brick hanging around in the fridge to make, more or less, Beet and Feta Samosas (MadeIndia, p48). We had them as a starter while I was finishing the rest of dinner. Not as good as expected; the filling was better than the baked result. Dinner was West Indian Salmon Patties (web; GD). As before, I made four patties instead of six and two are now in the freezer for another night. Served with All-Purpose Rice and Beans (BigFlav, p262), a regular. Made a quarter recipe and still have some left to tart up for another meal. For after, I used yesterday's defrosted blueberries, plus the remains of some raspberries and strawberries I impulse-bought last week, to make Easy Berry Cobbler (MC; HandyBook). We're full.

Wednesday/18-Aug-21: Pizza out tonight before a concert. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

Thursday/19-Aug-21: Shopping today. Our favorite boulangerie is on holiday till September. 

Dinner was Spicy Grilled Fish (Q&E, p74) with salmon. Good stuff. It surprises me to find a new, good recipe in this book, since I've used it so much. There was a quarter recipe of Rice with Mushrooms and Mustard Seeds (Q&E, p102) for a side and Fresh Tomato Salad (Q&E, p107). Some store-bought riz au laits with caramel for after.

Friday/21-Aug-21: Dinner was a half dose of Pasta Pentimento* (EatingTog, p170) over whole-wheat spaghetti. Good stuff for so easy. For a salad, there was a halfish dose of Favorite Broccoli Salad* (web; GD; GD). This was good, if not something that went especially well with the pasta. Knowing that Ed doesn't like raw broccoli, I cooked it very briefly in the pasta water. (Was just surprised to find this salad on my DoMeAgain list! I wrote then what we said tonight at table, that this would be very good for a bbq.) For dessert there was some Jam Tea Cake (GD) with apricot jam. 

Saturday/21-Aug-21: In the morning I made the sauce for tonight's dinner, and salted the chicken for tomorrow. 

Dinner was a half dose of Pasta in Chilli Tomato Sauce (HomTrav, p222); this would have served three pretty eaisly. Served over linguine; have a bit left for a lunch. Tingly stuff. An Italian tomato sauce with ginger, chilies, and chili oil. Tasty. 

Some Jam Tea Cake for after.

Sunday/22-Aug-21: Dinner was Romertopf Clay-Baked Chicken, Stuffed with Serrano Ham and Olives (MedClay, p76). I cooked the stuffing separately. This was finished in a, to me, unusual way.  The chicken was taken out of the oven and out of the pot. The bottom was then emptied (to make a sauce with the juices), topped with a wire rack, the chicken put on that, and all back in the oven for another 10min. I've never seen this technique before, but it made for a nicely crisp skin, not usual for Romertopf.

Served with Lemon-Roasted Potatoes with Bay Leaves* (VegHarv, p231). This was good, of course, although I could have cut the potatoes into smaller chunks. I used the rest of my roasted beets to make a small version of Cold Beetroot with Cream (Pomiane, p180), an old favorite.

More Jam Tea Cake for after; it'sgetting a bit dry now.

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: 11; #8 NEW: 4

New Year's Day 2021

Made it to 2021, whew!

There was no starter. I discovered my eggplant was bad, and I didn't have the energy to improvise something else at the last minute. There was plenty of food even though we missed a course.

Our main was Moroccan Mechoui (MedClay, p127). This is Wolfert's attempt to recreate a mechoui where the lamb is cooked buried in a brick-lined pit. She uses a large Römertopf to recreate the effect. The result is delicious meat, falling off the bone tender. Since my shoulder was quite a bit smaller than she asked, I probably should have cooked it a bit less. Ed thought it was a bit dry; I didn't especially.  

I served this with Carrot Salad with Cumin, Cinnamon, and Sweet Paprika (Morocco, p79) and Moroccan couscous, an organic mix from the health food store, both old favorites.

For after there was Galette des Rois Ecossaise (web), Scottish because of the whisky in the chestnut and almond filling. I forgot to set the timer while this was cooking, so it's a bit browner than it ought to be.

We were full and well-fed. 

All the best for a healthy and happy 20201!

This week in the kitchen

Monday/28-Dec-20: Used up some of my frozen turkey leg bits to make Chipotle Turkey and Corn Soup (MC). Good stuff. I do have some good recipes tucked away there in Mastercook. It's a shame I no longer have working version and don't want to bother with one of the new alternatives.

The schedule says I'm supposed to make dolmades tomorrow, for my "short" project for the year, but I really don't feel like another day of cooking.

Tuesday/29-Dec-20: Picked up an order from Leclerc today. 

Narrowed down my main course recipes for Friday to six. A start, sort of. Trying to avoid going to Intermarché until Saturday or Sunday mornning, or may even not at all this week.

Dinner was a halfish version of Riz Frit aux Chipolatas et aux Oeufs Brouillés (Régal; web). This wasn't bad, just a bit weird to have a fried rice with no oriental flavorings. Might have been better to stir the arugula into the fried rice and egg mixture for a brief bit of cooking. 

Yogurt on overnight. Overnight Bread on overnight too.

Wednesday/30-Dec-20: Baked the Overnight Bread this morning.

Dinner was a half dose of Penne with Leeks and Ricotta (Pickford, p52), using casareccia as the past. The ricotta sauce was quite good, but the roasted leeks seemed too sweet. It might have been better if the leeks had been sautéed rather than roasted. Then a small salad. Then the rest of the vanilla ice cream topped with a bit of crème de cacao.

Thursday/31-Dec-20: We exerted ourselves and finished off the meatloaf from tweede kerstdag today. We could had meatloaf sandwiches tomorrow, but we did the job tonight instead. Served with some pasta and peas&carrots. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Friday/1-Jan-21: Our new year's day meal is here.

Yogurt on overnight. Overnight Bread brewing overnight.

Saturday/2-Jan-21: Baked off the Overnight Bread in the morning.

I used up a SE Asian-ish lentil stewy thing from the freezer, added water, shrimp and rice, and called it soup. Not great, but edible. More three king's cake for after.

Sunday/3-Jan-21: Dinner was Quiche Saumon et Brocoli (VPG), using the extra bit of salmon we got last week. Meant to make a salad but didn't have the oomph. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #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/20-May-19: Dinner was Crispy-Fried Prawns with Curry Spices (HomTrav, p84; cookbooker). These were quite good, if a bit salty. Served with plain basmati rice and Spicy Cucumber Wedges (MJ1, p172). Mini ice cream bars for dessert.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/21-May-19: Dinner was a half recipe of Gigli with Chickpeas and Za'atar (web). Very ample servings they were. Good. And a plain salad with only croutons to dress it up. And some chocolate-covered madeleines.

Wednesday/22-May-19: Dinner was, more or less, Stuffed-Squid in Scrambled Egg Sambal Sauce (web). I didn't have medium squid, but used 200g, 13, small squid. And didn't make the "dried chili paste" from the previous recipe, but used sambal from a jar, finishing off the huge one that Bill brought us. This was a bit salty, but quite good. Served over rice. Meant to do something with snijbonen, but forgot. HD ice cream cups for dessert.

Thursday/23-May-19: Shopping today. Forgot something important for Sunday's meal, so will have to make a return trip in the next days.

Bought some of the first decent asparagus of the year; we had those for a starter, with lemon-butter. Dinner was Curried Salmon Steaks with New Potatoes (ClayCook2, p84; cookbooker). Really delicious this was. First thing I've made from this book. For dessert, I used up the filo to make a little tart with a blueberry and mascarpone filling. Yum.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/24-May-19: Bill arrived today. For dinner we started with Lamb's Lettuce and Beetroot (BEFCC, p32) which is an old favorite. For a main there was Creamy Paprika Chicken (ClayCook2, p56), another good one from this book, along with a double dose of Spätzle (MW@Home, p203). Froze some spätzle afterwards. Dessert from the boulangerie.

Saturday/25-May-19: Lunch out followed by a lecture/tour at the Resistance Museum in Chasseneuil. Munchies for our evening repas.

Sunday/26-May-19: A bit of Mediterranean food tonight. Our main was Tunisian Chicken Tagine with Brik Pastry (MedClay, p100; cookbooker). This was pretty good. Served with Moroccan salads, a half recipe of Grated Cucumber Salad with Oregano (Morocco, p73), which we've enjoyed several times now, and Carrot and Golden Raisin Salad (Morocco, p77), which was new and good—even Ed liked it. Mini ice cream bars for dessert.

Yogurt on overnight.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 3; #3 COOKBOOK: yes
Cookbooks of the month: Römertopf cookbooks
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: yes; #6 GUESTS: no
This year: #7 PROJECT: no