This week in the kitchen

Monday/24-May-21: Dinner was Boeuf à la Deutsch (Franey, p252), served with the recommended Nouilles au Beurre de Poivre Vert (Franey, p253). These made for a tasty meal. Served with some steamed asparagus, topped with a squeeze of lemon juice and some chopped fermented black beans. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after. (We had the Ricotta Limoncello Cake for lunch.)

Tuesday/25-May-21: I snuck up on the chest freezer today and defrosted it. It's looking like today may be the last of our coolish weather, so it was time to do it. 

Dinner was Quick Garlic Lime Marinated Pork Chops (web), which was ok but nothing special. Served with the last of the marinated carrots, trio rice, and Nigel Slater's Green Beans, Mushrooms, and Dill (web). I see I forgot to add the dill to the mushrooms; this might have given the flavor boost that was needed. And ordinary meal altogether. Some ricotta-limoncello cake for after.

Wednesday/26-May-21: A really blah day. Neither of us felt like doing anything. Neither of us had much appetite. Instead of cooking, I defrosted a bit of spinach pesto and we had that over some whole wheat spaghetti. Strawberries and cream for after.

Thursday/27-May-21: Shopping today. Our first time in a boulangerie since last year when the lockdowns started (March or so); I've only been in the grocery store twice, maybe three times, and tht was last fall. Kind of scary for people who are quite hermit-like by nature. 

And tuna was on sale. So we had Charmoula-Marinated Grilled Tuna (MedHot, p48, MedHot2, p105). Grilled under the broiler. I made all the marinade, so there some in the freezer now. Bought way too much tuna, and neither of us had a big appetite, so one chunk is in the freezer too. As suggested, served with mixed steamed veggies (cauliflower, broccoli, green beans, carrots, zucchini) with a lemon vinaigrette. And some Moroccan couscous. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Friday/28-May-21: Dinner was Red Prawn and Mango Curry (web; GD). This wasn't really quick, but was easy. Slice the spring onion, peel and chop the mango, measure the stock, open the bo of coconut milk, and away you go, with a pause while the sweet potatoes cook. Served over brown rice. Some HD mini ice cream cups for after.

Saturday/29-May-21: Yogurt on overday.

Dinner was Crab Cakes with Cucumber Relish (web; GD); very yummy and has gone onto the DoMeAgain list. I made about a half recipe of the relish, with have a cuke, but it wanted all the rice vinegar. Served with a side of mafalda topped with Fresh Red Chutney with Almonds (Q&E, p114) from the freezer. (The only pesto type thing in the freezer was more of the spinach pesto we've just had.) This was remarkably good and we have a bit more of the chutney for something in the next days. 

For after there were the rest of the mango chunks from yesterday and cream.

Sunday/30-May-21: Dinner was Whole Chicken Baked with an Almond and Onion Sauce* (MJ@Home, p99). This is super delicious. The yogurt marinating sauce makes for tender, moist chicken bits. As suggested, served with Sweet-and-Sour Eggplant (MJ@Home, p153) and Yellow Basmati Rice with Sesame Seeds (MJ@Home, p208). Everything was delicious. Some plain vanilla tapioca pudding for after.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/9-Sep-19: A busy day today, and another trip to the gendarmerie.

Dinner was a half recipe, more or less, of Frittata with Tomato, Onion, and Basil (ClassItal, p281). Took a bit of time, but was tasty. Then a salad. Then some ice cream, a bar for Ed, a cup for me.

Tuesday/10-Sep-19: Using up the freezer inventory, we had half recipe of Chicken Baked in Yogurt with Red Onion and Grape Leaves (O&C, p412), using a spatchcocked pintade. Served with Bulgur Pilaf (O&C, p231), using chicken stock for the liquid, and Roasted Sweet Pepper Salad (O&C, p39), which was pretty good. Would be nice as part of an assortment of salads. Chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Wednesday/11-Sep-19: Dinner was, more or less, Sausage & Broccoli Orecchiette (web). Homemade sausage from the freezer. Can't say I really followed this badly written recipe. Used about half an onion. Used mafalda instead of orecchiette, which I don't much like. Partly cooked the broccoli in the pasta water before adding it to the sausage-onion-garlic mixture. No demi glacé; used my chicken stock which is pretty condensed. Very tasty. Squares of chocolate for after.

Thursday/12-Sep-19: Shopping today, and, oops, tuna was on sale, so I tossed the plan and bought some of that.

Dinner was, then, Charmoula-Marinated Grilled Tuna (MedHot, p48), accompanied by Lemon-Roasted Potatoes with Bay Leaves (VegHarv, p231; cookbooker). Also had a zucchini salad, vaguely crossing the Wells' recipe for Zucchini Carpaccio with Avocado, Lemon Thyme, and Pistachio (VegHarv, p214) and a recipe for Zucchini Ribbons with Lemon and Pecorino (CL/may14, web), that turned out well. Then a bit of Petit Basque cheese. And some chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/13-Sep-19: Clearing out the freezer again today. I finished cooking the Spice-Crusted Pork Tenderloin left from Patrice&Wim's visit. Served with some smashed sweet potatoes and a sauté of broccoli, mushroom, and oven-dried tomatoes. Then some Double Boiler Bread Pudding (MC, HandyBook)

Saturday/14-Sep-19: Dinner was a halfish recipe of Greek Tortellini Salad with Avocados and Cucumbers (web). This was okay, but pretty boring. I see the same site has a similar recipe that includes tomatoes, red bell pepper, black olives, and red onion. That's probably much better. Then we finished the bread pudding. We're full.

Sunday/15-Sep-19: Lunch out today. No more food needed.

In anticipation of tomorrow's dinner, I made some Carrot-and-Ginger Quickie Pickle (Scraps, p82).

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 3; #3 COOKBOOK: n/a
Cookbooks of the month: none
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: no; #6 GUESTS: no
This year: #7 PROJECT: no

This week in the kitchen

Monday/21-Jan-19: Oops, started making tonight's dinner, only to discover that I was supposed to make the sauce yesterday so that it could sit overnight. Instead, I improved a pasta sauce with the dried porcini which were already soaking, oesterzwammen which I'd bought for this meal, some broccoli, oven-dried tomatoes, and pyramid goat cheese, all over mushroom-flavored pasta. Cinnamon cake for dessert.

Tuesday/22-Jan-19: Dinner was a two-thirds-ish version of Harissa Chicken (web). As a side, I used some zucchini to make a halfish recipe of North African Zucchini or Squash Salad (MedHot, p87). The chicken, and accompanying potatoes, were yummy. The chicken skin was wonderfully crispy-crunchy—neither of us are usually skin eaters, but this was delicious. I've made the salad a couple of times before. The first time we really liked it, but not so much the last two times. Then some almond-marzizpan croissant things that Ed bought at a boulanger.

Yogurt on overnight.

Wednesday/23-Jan-19: After French I made up the broth of No-Cook Kulfi (MC), using up another can of condensed milk. Shopping today.

Dinner was lieu noir (promo of the day) with Chickpea (Garbanzo) Breading for Fish (web), a nice non-flour-based breading. (I really do have to remember than besan can be used for breading for most anything.) Accompaniments were Broccoli with Garlic and Mustard Seeds (SpiceKitch, p40) and Plain Basmati Rice (SpiceKitch, p84), which has cardamon pods cooked along with the rice for a very subtle flavor. Followed by kulfi.

Thursday/24-Jan-19: Lunch out today. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

Friday/25-Jan-19: Started a huge pot of bird stock. Made up some roasted red bell pepper pizza sauce. I've lots of this in the freezer now. We need to have lots of pizza in the coming time, or use some as a sauce of for kip filets or some such.

Dinner was Spaghetti with Zucchini and Caper Sauce (O&C, p251). Served it over mushroom-stuffed ravioli, rather than spaghetti or tagliatelle. Used Petit Basque for the cheese. Good stuff. Then a big salad. Then some mini ice cream bars.

Yogurt on overnight.

Saturday/26-Jan-19: Easy dinner since we were supposed to be going to a concert. We didn't, but still had the easy meal. We had salmon pie from the freezer over brown rice. Then a big salad. Then some HD ice cream cups.

While Ed was sitting in the kitchen this morning, one of the mouse traps sprung. Caught a mouse. So we still haven't found where they're getting in.

Sunday/27-Jan-19: Dinner was a half recipe of Spice-Rubbed Moroccan Chicken with Vegetable Couscous. (This was from the apr03 issue of Natural Health, which I think is a freebie magazine from a health food store. Maybe.) Meant to make a Moroccan carrot salad as a go-with, forgetting that I needed to cook the carrots a bit. There was no time when I discovered this, so, instead, I grated some carrots, tossed with some lemon juice, oil, and Moroccan spice, then added a handful of golden raisins. It wasn't bad. Then some chocolate-covered madeleines.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/31-Jul-17: Dinner from odds and ends in the fridge tonight. Sautéed onions, mushrooms, garlic, and a quarter of a cabbage. Added some tomato sauce, a bit of chicken stock, and some tomato paste. Served over brown rice. It was good, and better after grinding on some red pepper. Some mini Haagen-Dasz cups for dessert.

Tuesday/1-Aug-17: More odds and ends today. The lovely Indian tomato-cream sauce over pasta. Some corn on the cob Ed bought at Intermaché last week. A salad. That was all.

Made some ground roast cumin, since I'd used the last that I had.

Wednesday/2-Aug-17: Shopping today.

Dinner was lieu noir, marinated with Marinade for Grilled Fish (MC). That was boring boring boring; can't think why I bothered to save it. And a side of graminge, the funny "short spaghetti" I bought for a dish in April; might need to get some more of this if they still have it.

Starting to attack the burgeoning zucchini surplus from the potager, we had Zucchini Chile-Cheddar Mash (web); an instant favorite. I made the whole recipe with a single zuke weighing in just over one pound. We loved it, but couldn't finish. It wants a can of chopped chiles (mine are hand-chopped), so hard to cut it back.

Yogurt on overnight.

Thursday/3-Aug-17: Earlyish meal today. There was Spiced Lamb Pilaf (web); I think this is really a biryani, but I won't tell if you don't. Tasty, but ... the amount of rice is way too much. Other recipes use 2 cups of basmati rice to serve four. We ate all this, but were stuffed. With less rice, the lamb and peas would shine more instead of being buried in rice. Also, she seems to toss the water that the lamb was cooked in; I strained it (to remove the spices, although I'm not sure that was needed) and topped it up with a bit of water for cooking the rice. Served with North African Zucchini Salad with Garlic, Chili Paste & Caraway (MedHot, p87). We've liked this before but didn't eat much today. First, too much rice; second, I got a bit sloppy measuring the vinegar so it was sourer than it needed to be. OK for me but not for Ed.

Friday/4-Aug-17: Earlyish meal today. We had Scallops with Lemon-Basil Sauce (web). As suggested I served with Buttery Angel Hair Pasta with Parmesan Cheese (for two: 4oz angel hair, 1/4cup Parmesan, 1tbl butter). Now I see that the scallops should be served atop the pasta; I served them "with" the pasta, next to it on the plate. Still good, though.

As a side, there was, yes, zucchini, as Zucchini Chunks with Citrus and Mint (web). This was easy and good.

Saturday/5-Aug-17: Made up the broth for Cantaloupe Sorbet (Scoop, p111). Of course I added some pineau (vieux) to the mix.

Dinner was a third recipe of Huevos Façon Cocotte aux Olives et Xipirones (VPG; web). (Xiripones seems to be squid in Spanish.) Interesting, not bad, but don't need to do it again. Served with my embroidery on the Salade de Haricots Blancs aux Épices (VPG) that was recommended as a starter. This turned out pretty good. For two, a drained can of white beans, most of a smallish red onion, thinly sliced, and some chopped parsley with a dressing of sesame oil, lemon juice, ground cumin, paprika, and ginger. Easy and tasty. Some mini magnums (one classic, one white) for dessert.

Sunday/6-Aug-17: It was supposed to be fresh pasta today, but I didn't feel like it. So we had Marcella Hazan's famous tomato sauce (from the freezer) with store-bought spaghettoni (also from the freezer). And a salad full of goodies. And a Haagen-Dasz mini cup for dessert.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 5
This month: #3 PASTA: yes for July, no for August; #4 BREAD: no for July, no for August

This week in the kitchen

Monday/23-May-16: Dinner was Spicy Pork and Broccoli Stir-Fry (web; actually from Cook's Country, maybe from a sample issue I was sent a while ago). Spicy? No, but still good. A big squirt of sriracha didn't hurt. Over basmati rice. The recipe is supposed to serve four; three is more like it. Then some canoli-like things I got at the boulangerie today.

Tuesday/24-May-16: My new T-tube had its check-up today. All is well. Two months till the right side gets one to match. Did a little shopping at Grand Frais after.

Came home and got busy in the kitchen. Made Rhubarb Ring with Strawberries (TLNorthW, p115) That didn't use all the rhubarb it asked, so I used most of the rest to make two jars of Strawberry Rhubarb Quick Jam (GrainAM, p71). This was finger-licking good. Looking forward to tomorrow's breakfast.

Dinner was a Greek Omelet (web) using two eggs kindly donated by Clarabelle. Closer to a frittata than an omelet, but still pretty good. Then a big salad. Then some of the Rhubarb Ring. Yum.

Wednesday/25-May-16: Lunch out with friends today. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

Thursday/26-May-16: Made Plum Jam (TLBrit, p5) today.

Dinner was three chicken thighs worth of Constance's Chicken (collected from EAT-L). (Wish they would go back to packaging thighs in fours instead of in threes.) This is a really easy and tasty recipe. Served with steam-sautéed potatoes and carrots. Then more of the Rhubarb Ring for dessert.

Friday/27-May-16: Shopping today. Bought a Label Rouge chicken from the almost-out-of-date cooler for only €5; straight into the freezer with that. When we first moved to Europe the breakfast cereal section in groceries (in the Netherlands and in France) was tiny with a very limited selection. Today I noticed that it's grown to almost half an aisle. Nothing interesting, but lots of the American-style cereals with a sugar content that should put them on the candy aisle. Yuck.

There was tuna on sale today, so I scrapped the plan and bought some tuna steaks. It was looking like it might rain, so I broiled them. The storm passed us by and it turned into a lovely evening for eating outdoors. We had Charmoula-Marinated Grilled Tuna (MedHot, p48). This didn't seem as good as it has before. I opened a new bottle of balsamic vinegar and think it may be too sweet. Served with grilled eggplant slices coated with the charmoula marinade, and corn on the cob! Not often Leclerc has those, so I had to buy them. They were good. Finished off the Rhubarb Ring for dessert.

We decided to go to an early evening movie tomorrow, so I started artichoke bottoms to marinate for an early afternoon meal.

Saturday/28-May-16: Our main meal was in the afternoon so we could go to a movie. We had, sort of, Shells with Artichoke Hearts and Shrimp in Lemon-Oregano Vinaigrette (365Pasta, p38). Mini-lasagnas instead of shells. Artichoke bottoms instead of hearts. Greek-style olives (in the fridge needing to be used) instead of California olives. These olives were probably too strong a taste, rather than the bland ones. Still, the whole thing was OK, but didn't seem to work. Maybe some feta would help, and the right olives, and some red pepper flakes in the sauce perhaps. Then a salad. Then some chocolate squares. Later we went to a move.

Sunday/29-May-16: A party with food this afternoon. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 3
This month: #3 PASTA: no; #4 BREAD: no; #5 FotW: yes for April/May; yes for May/June

This week in the kitchen

Monday/9-Jul-12: Had our main meal late midday today. Loin of Pork with Green Peppercorns (web). Had a boneless loin instead of one with bones. Very tasty, meat tender. The sauce was good but there was a lot of it. I ended up freezing 3 cups of it, along with 300g of meat. Served with polenta and some steamed green beans.

Tuesday/10-Jul-12: Authentic French Bread from memory in the machine this morning.

Really not into cooking tonight, and we don't much like our closest pizza place. So, dinner was Scallops with Thai-Scented Pea Purée (web; cookbooker). Some double-chocolate mini-Magnums for dessert.

Wednesday/11-Jul-12: Had a little barbecue after BIll and Panos arrived. We started with Cold Beetroot with Cream (Pomiane, p180), one of our favorite salads, using the first two beets from the garden. With our grilled poultry merguez we had North African Zucchini Salad with Garlic, Chili Paste, and Caraway (MedHot, p32) and some potato salad, very loosely out of Joy of Cooking.

Thursday/12-Jul-12: Bill took us to dinner at La Bellone tonight. Nothing happened in our kitchen.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/13-Jul-12: Bill suggested Indian, so that's what we had this evening. The main course was Spicy Baked Chicken (Masaledar Murghi) (MJ1, p71), using a bunch of chicken thighs. This is an easy, yummy dish, nice for company because you set the chicken to marinate until less than an hour before you're ready for it, then pop it in the oven, turning only once. As Jaffrey suggests, I served with Rice with Peas (Tahiri) (MJ1, p149) and Red Split Lentils with Cumin Seed (Masoor Dal) (MJ1, p122), both of which I've made many times. As a go-with, I made some Yogurt with Cucumber and Mint (MJ1, p162), which is my standard raita recipe.

Saturday/14-Jul-12: Yogurt on overday.

Sunday/15-Jul-12: Dinner was Almond Crusted Roast Lamb (web;  LaFrance, p86), a very nice leg of lamb, browned in a skillet then cooked at high temp. Lots of leftovers to deal with tomorrow. Accompanied by Carrot Pilaf (MC) and Steamed Summer Squash Vinaigrette (TooMany, p202). Followed by Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake (web), a pretty darn good chocolate cake and easy too.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: no, #2 BREAD: yes, #3 SOUP: no, #4 MIDDAY: yes, #5 VEG/FISH: 1
This month: #6 PASTA: no

This week in the kitchen

Monday/25-Jul-11: Shopped this afternoon, along with a handful of other errands. After we got home, we had a phone call from our Dutch friends Patrice and Wim, who were on their way to the Intermarché in Montbron. They came along after and I started to make dinner for them, but then we decided to go to La Bellone. Somewhere in there, I started on a sorbet for tomorrow night. Altogether, not much happened in the kitchen.

Tuesday/26-Jul-11: Made a double batch of chicken stock today, from two carcasses in the freezer.

For dinner there was an old favorite, Pork Tenderloin Diane (MC), very tasty. Served with polenta. I'm wondering if the pork slices should just be served and sauced right on the polenta, rather than at the separately on the plate. They all go together so well. For a side there was Mingle Mangle (Warm Zucchini Salad) (GreeneGreens, p399, cookbooker), an interesting way to use zucchini, that might end up as a pasta sauce in its next appearance.

Didn't freeze up the ice cream. It will wait another day.

Wednesday/27-Jul-11: Yogurt on overday.

We had a nice walk today with Patrice and Wim near Le Lindois, then stopped at the grocery and picked up bbq supplies. We started with some frozen pastry finger foods. Then sat down with charentaise melon and pineau. From the bbq, we had merguez, merguez de volaille, and chipolatas, as well as some skewered rabbit and prunes. I made another batch of North African Zucchini Salad with Garlic, Chili Paste, and Caraway (MedHot, p32), and we had some frozen roasted potatoes that weren't too bad. And there was lots of dessert. When we shopped on Monday, I bought a 4-pack of egg custards, then P&W brought 4-packs of ile flottante and tiramisu. We've made a dent in these now, but the ice cream still didn't get made.

Thursday/28-Jul-11: Finally froze up the Lemon-Buttermilk Sherbet (Scoop, p117) this afternoon.

Dilly-dallied about starting dinner, so I didn't have time to make what I'd planned. Annoying of me. For a starter there was the last bit of Saturday's tart, plus the last bit of yesterday's North African Zucchini Salad—I think the first time we've had that chilled; it's good like that. Then a made-up pasta dish with broccoli and shrooms, using up the end of the ricotta and marscapone I used for the tart. And sherbert for dessert, of course. I liked it lots; Ed not so much.

Friday/29-Jul-11: Nothing much happening in the kitchen today. Lunched at La Bellone today prior to playing petanque with Lesley and Toby.

Saturday/30-Jul-11: Homemade fettucine tonight (especially good with tipo 00 flour) with Fettucine alle Zucchine e Zafferano (ClassPasta, p91), a tasty and pretty sauce. Followed by a salad. Followed by storebought tiramisu. Followed by a bit of chaource.

Yogurt on overnight.

Sunday/31-Jul-11: Yum, a nice Indian dinner tonight, and Barbara joined us upon a last-minute invitation. For a main, there was Shrimp with Zucchini (Jhinga aur ghia) (MJ1, p90). A first, and seriously yummy. With plain basmati rice and Red Split Lentils with Cumin Seed (Masoor dal) (MJ1, p122). The dal was tasty, but runnier that it's been before. And some Onion Relish (Pyaz ka laccha) (MJ1, p174), which is always good. For dessert, more of the Lemon-Buttermilk Sherbert, served with some slice mangoes I found hiding in the freezer.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: yes, #2 SOUP: no, #3 MIDDAY: no
This month: #4 PASTA: yes

This week in the kitchen

Monday/18-Jul-11: Used up veggies for dinner tonight. Grilled broccoli (parboiled it a bit first in the water boiling for corn), slices from a globe zucchini, chunks of a red bell pepper, and slices of onion. Served with some trio rice. The yogurt/garlic sauce from yesterday was a good go-with, and so was pyramid cheese when that was done. For dessert there was some crème brulée from the freezer (thank you, Toupargel).

Tuesday/19-Jul-11: Yogurt on overday.

Midday meal today, since we might go out this evening. Jean Yves Legarve's Spaghetti with Lemon and Asparagus Sauce (Essential, p319; cookbooker). Yummy stuff. Followed by a salad of roquette.

Can't have a day go by without working on the zucchini backlog. Too lazy to look up one of my own, I found a recipe on the web for Mom's Zucchini Bread. Two loaves, pretty good, a trifle sweet, and a bit too much cinnamon, which is hard to believe coming from me.

Wednesday/20-Jul-11: Shopping today.

Dinner was, sort of, Zalm uit the Oven met Zeekraal en Rosé, a recipe from Allerhande. The sommelier had skipped a beat so there was no rosé in house, so I used a dryish riesling for the wine. And I did the salmon under the broiler rather than in the oven. It was served on a bed of zeekraal/salicorne (samphire in English?), with a sauce of shallot "sautéed" in wine with cream added. And a side of trio rice. Quite tasty.

For a starter, I vaguely followed a web recipe of Zucchini and Beet Salad. (We do have to have our daily dose of zucchini.) Served on a bit of rucola left from yesterday. A store-bought cooked beet in matchsticks. A globe zucchini in matchsticks, steamed. Some bits of cheese. Some toasted pecans. And a balsamic vinaigrette with chives. Turned out very nice. The cheese I used wasn't quite right. The recipe asked a "creamy mild cheese," which I used. The recipe prolog suggested feta, brie, camembert, or blue. We though a mildish blue would be quite nice. Also walnut oil rather than olive and toasted walnuts. Will try this again.

Thursday/21-Jul-11: Oh dear, a day gone by with no new zucchini cooked. We went for apèros at neighbors and had enough munchies that we didn't feel like a real meal. So I made a big salad and we had some St. Marcellin after.

Friday/22-Jul-11: Oh no, two days without using zucchini. For dinner, there was Ed Giobbi's Sweet Red Pepper Sauce for Pasta (Essential, p318; cookbooker). Easy and tasty. Used a quarter, froze two quarters, and spilled another quarter, messy me. We ate in a rush, going out to a concert.

Saturday/23-Jul-11: Yogurt on overday.

This morning I realized that the music event we'll be attending this evening is a picnic. It's been moved to an indoor venue with tables and chairs provided, but we have to bring our food if we want to eat. Oops. Luckily I'd already planned to make a Tarte Filo Salicornes, Poireaux, Haricots Verts, Marscarpone, et Ricotta (mag clipping) so I just did that a bit earlier in the day.

For a salad, I dressed some plain, leftover couscous with lots of lemon juice and some olive oil. Started out about 1:1, but added more lemon juice after tasting. I lightly steamed slices of, yes, zucchini and cut those into strips. Chopped some red bell pepper. Minced some mint and some flat-leaf parsley. Stirred altogether and tasted. Needed salt and ... a dab of curry powder. Just enough for a hint of curry taste. Very good.

We stopped at the boulanger for bread on the way, and I picked up a pair of what turned out to be extra scrumptious tartlettes chocolats.

Sunday/24-Jul-11: For a starter, I made again a third recipe of North African Zucchini Salad with Garlic, Chili Paste, and Caraway (MedHot, p32). A nice way to use up some zukes. For a main, I heated up the leftovers from the chicken tagine and served it over tagliatelle. Probably a chunkier pasta would have been nice. A bit of St. Marcellin followed by some cookies for after.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: yes, #2 SOUP:no, #3 MIDDAY: yes
This month: #4 PASTA: not yet (I do seem to keep postponing this!)

This week in the kitchen

Monday/20-Jun-11: Yogurt on overday.

Barbecue dinner started with broiled artichoke bottoms, green tapenade, and goat cheese. Then there was Lemon Pepper Chicken (MC), thighs that had been marinating overnight. Then there was Zucchini with Cilantro Sauce (MWLowFat, p335) and Rice and Bulgur Pilaf (MC). The pilaf was good in spite of the fact that I was out of brown rice—I remember that we went to buy some, only to find the shop closed, to re-open shortly with a under new owner, then it seems to have gotten lost from the list. Oops. For dessert there I made some vanilla ice cream with raspberries.

Tuesday/21-Jun-11: We all had lunch today at Le Terminus in Angoulême, a lovely fishy restaurant across from the station. Then we walked them across the street and saw them off to Charles de Gaulle airport for their trip back to Houston. Nice visit, sad to see them go.

Wednesday/22-Jun-11: A fruitless trip to Bordeaux today, harumph. Dinner was a repeat, Spaghetti all'Amatricia with Eggplant (MedHot, p77), still good. Followed by a simple salad. Then some mini-charlottes with red fruit from the boulanger where we got bread this afternoon.

Thursday/23-Jun-11: Missed the window for an early meal today, and no time to eat between Ed's return from choir practice and a bit of grocery shopping and my going off for line dancing. So, I defrosted the Slow Cooker Carnitas that I froze with the cooking juice and the remains of a corn salad. I had some creative ideas in mind when I froze it all, but ended up just warming it up and plopping it on the table. Tasty, but the cooking juice was a bit too salty. Served with on avocado's worth of guacamole. With a seeded and chopped tomato included. Lekker!

Friday/24-Jun-11: Lunched at a restaurant with friends today. Tonight we had fruit and finished off some goat cheese.

Saturday/25-Jun-11: Yogurt on overday, but it got a late start (I forgot to push the start button) and was turned off for a while while Ed did some handiwork in the area. Will put it in the fridge as late as possible tonight, but wonder how it will turn out.

Had our main meal mid-afternoon today. Ed brought home two nice Label Rouge chickies on sale yesterday; both big guys, one's in the freezer, the other I used for Chicken Tagine with Olives, Zucchini, and Honey (C&B, p203; cookbooker), a variation on Chicken Tagine with Olives and Lemon. The recipe calls for chicken thighs, but the intro says you can substitute a whole, cut-up chicken, while reducing the cooking time so as not to dry out the breast parts. (It also says to discard the wings, but I left the first joint of the wing on the upper half of each breast bit, since it's fairly meaty and Ed likes this bit. It's all going in the stockpot in a few days, so nothing will go to waste.) I was a bit puzzled why, if it takes 75 minutes to cook 8 thighs, it takes only 45 minutes to cook 8 parts of the whole bird. So I ignored the timing, and indeed the breasts were a bit dry, but the thighs and legs were gorgeous. I would not use a whole bird (or, rather, mixed white/dark meat) for this again. This is the kind of recipe where you can let it cook away for quite a while and it seems silly to worry about the time for the sake of the white meat, when the dark meat takes so much better to this kind of treatment. (The recipe also says that you can replace the lemon peel with preserved lemon, but it's too early for that. My lemons are still preserving themselves.)

For a starter, I mixed the leftover Rice and Bulgur Pilaf with lots of lemon juice (it needed more than I expected) and a dab of olive oil, plus a coarsely grated carrot and some chopped cuke and a goodly dash of ras el-hanout. This was quite tasty.

Sunday/26-Jun-11: It's getting close to 100F here today (and should go over tomorrow), so it was a cold lunch today. I used some surimi to make a cold crab-like salad loosely following a loose recipe from EAT-L (dressing of mayo, lemon juice, dijon mustard, old bay, celery seed). Steamed some zucchini chunks to give it some color and vegetable matter. Served over mixed lettuce. Pretty tasty. For dessert we had some popsicle sticks from the news sacks. There must be a knack for getting into them that I haven't got yet. Tasted nice anyhow.

Neither of us wanted to go out in the heat to the boulanger, so I've got out the bread machine and put together some Whole Wheat with Bran (BigGerman, p81) (WW/Rapid/Med/—).

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: yes, #2 SOUP: no, #3 MIDDAY: yes
This month: #4 PASTA: no yet

This week in the kitchen

Monday/7-Mar-11: Dinner at a quiz tonight. Nothing much happening in the kitchen beyond defrosting stuff for the next nights' dinners.

Tuesday/8-Mar-11: Lentils with Merguez (MC) for our midday meal. Unfortunately it was well underway when Ed told me he was nauseous. Oops. Tasted good enough to me, and there's a bit left for another day.

Wednesday/9-Mar-11: Ed still tummy sick. We shopped today after visiting the doctor. I bought a sack of salad for one, 45g. All the sacks for two were 100g. Why is it that two people need more than one?

Coincidentally last night I read (in an Inspector Montalbano mystery) that spaghetti olio e aglio is considered food for sick folks, being easy on the tummy. So that's what we had for dinner tonight, to be easy on Ed's tummy. I had a small salad to go with.

Put on two coquelets to marinate for tomorrow

Thursday/10-Mar-11: Yogurt on overday.

Ed doing a quite a bit better; so far I'm not getting this misery. Knock wood. The birds turned into Garlic Chicken (CLmag, soon to be MC). The recipe called for kip filets, but I wanted the bones to make stock, so used the little birds, each about the size of a Cornish hen. The birds were very tasty, and I would definitely make this again; chicken thighs on the bbq would be good.

For a starter there was North African Zucchini Salad with Garlic, Chili Paste, and Caraway (MedHot, p32; now MC; cookbooker), very good. As suggested in the article, I served the birds with a pilaf; sautéed some cumin seed and almond slivers and tossed in some raisins to cook with the rice.

Friday/11-Mar-11: Midday meal was a half-dose (3 servings) of Curried Potatoes with Cauliflower and Peas (VTmag, Jan/Feb11; toss), which was remarkably bland. Served it with the spiced up apricot chutney, which is spicier, but still nothing special. (Now I'm really not sure what to do with the bit still in the freezer.) Served with basmati rice, my standard raita (MJ1, p162), and Gujerati Carrot Salad (MJ1, p170).

After Ed's choir service, we ate the rest of the leek galette along with some apples and carrots.

Boy, do we have lots of odd bits of things to use up now!

Yogurt on overnight.

Saturday/12-Mar-11: A repeat tonight, trying to use up the spice mix I made for the recipe last time. Broccoli and Potatoes (WorldVeg, p147), it was. And still good. (Have enough of the spice mix left to do this one more time.) We finished off the raita as a go-with. For dessert there were some (defrosted) mixed fruits in little tart cups topped with crème fraîche.

Sunday/13-Mar-11: It wasn't really planned, but today turned into a kitchen day. Made stock from the coquelets. Made apple-plum butter. Made Double-Boiler Bread Pudding (MC) with the end of a loaf of bread that was getting stale.

For mid-afternoon dinner:

• I marinated the last two bavettes from the freezer. I do need to add this marinade to MC (2tbl olive oil, 1tbl tamari, 1tbl red wine vinegar, lots of garlic powder, lots of freshly ground black pepper), since it really works well. Should try it on bbq'd something one of these days.
• With the meat, I served Cooking Italy's Salsa Verde from the freezer. The first time round, Ed suggested this would be good with a steak, and he was right. At my first bite the anchovies threatened to be too strong (they were unnoticeable when the sauce was served with fish), but calmed down after a bit of chewing. Still have a bit of this left, maybe for a salad dressing, maybe for a pizza?
• Then there was spaetzle. Not sure if this was the best starch choice, but we both had a hankering for it, so there it was.
  
• As a go-with there were Garlic Butter Roasted Mushrooms (EAT-L, soon to be MC), using up some oldish shrooms from the fridge. (Of course, we all read in Cook's Illustrated that old shrooms, the ones getting brown spots, have a better flavor than the shiny new ones. Toss any moldy, icky ones, but go ahead and use the rest. Hooray!)

Of course, in the middle of this, the gas ran out and Ed changed the bottle.

The idea had been to follow this with the bread pudding, but we're too full, so we took Pogo for a walk in the rain instead. He was happy.

A bit of bread pudding after dishwashing. And later still a salad, so we had some fresh veg today.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: yes, #2 SOUP: yes, #3 MIDDAY: yes
This month: #4 PASTA: not yet

This week in the kitchen

Monday/14-Feb-11: Hmm ... next thing up on the freezer list (oldest, to be used soon) is two small containers of spicy apricot chutney, a recipe from CLmag. Now, what I remember is that we didn't especially like this and spicy, it wasn't. Dilemma: should I try to salvage these or just toss them?

Valentine's day lunch at Montemboeuf's Cafe de la Mairie today. No need for further food today!

Tuesday/15-Feb-11: Yogurt on overday. No one wanted to go to the boulanger, so I made Bran Bread (BMB, p44), a nice dense bread. Early in the day, I did the chop-chop for Squash and Corn Chowder (Soups4Seas, p34) and we had that for dinner. Not bad.

Wednesday/16-Feb-11: Finished the travelogue part of Auberge last night. On to the recipes now. Today's post at Gherkins and Tomatoes was about this book. How about that for a bit of serendipity?

Dinner was Chiles Rellenos Casserole (CL90, p147), a TNT recipe I haven't made in a long time. Recently some recipes billed as chiles rellenos casseroles were shared on EAT-L, but they included chopped chiles rather than whole stuffed ones. That made me think of this oldie. Not bad. I make it with two of those little cans of whole chilies, which usually contain three chilies. This time one of the cans had only two chilies, and I can't say either was especially big. We ate half of the casserole with a big salad. Neither of us especially hungry, so no dessert.

Thursday/17-Feb-11: Shopping today. Avoided most impulse purchases.

Before dinner, I baked some of the finger-food "packets" that I got for new year's eve, but we didn't eat. They were surprisingly good, and all the flavors were tasty. Dinner was Spaghetti all'Amatriciana with Eggplant (MedHot, p77). This was rather similar to Cooking Italy's recent-ish Eggplant Sauce with Tomato and Red Chili Pepper. We might have liked tonight's better, since it was less oily. The eggplant was cut in cubes, salted, drained, then tossed with flour before frying, which gave it a nice crisper outer surface. Followed by a salad, then by some rice gelato.

Friday/18-Feb-11: A day in the kitchen.

• Yogurt on overday.
• Made some apple-kiwi butter. How will that be, I wonder?
• For our midday meal, we had Lamb Shanks with Mustard and Mash (Diaries, p44). (It's a year project to read through Diaries following through the year.) I cooked the shanks in the oven longer and slower than asked, like the Cajun-spiced shanks I did last July. For a starter there was Zucchini and Feta Cheese Salad (WorldVeg, p648), which we've enjoyed before.
• Made 13 meringue cups (pavlovas, I think they can be called), following recipe in CL88. We had a couple as a belated dessert with some raspberries. The cups didn't work as well as the last time I did them; they're remarkably similar to marshmallows. Hoping the freezer will perk them up.
• Made a double dose of pâte brisée (Tenth, p256) for the freezer.
• Used the rest of a jar of roasted red peppers to make some faux pizza sauce for the freezer.
• Chopped a red chili really fine and macerated this is a bit of rice vinegar. Then I stirred it into one of the containers of not-so-Spicy Apricot Chutney. If it perks up, we'll use it; if not, they both get tossed.

Saturday/19-Feb-11: Leftover chile relleno casserole for dinner, followed by a big salad. Forgot to take the rice gelato out of the freezer beforehand, so we had some cookies for dessert, kind of hazelnut sandies. Tiny cookies, and we ended up eating the whole box. Oink, oink.

Sunday/20-Feb-11: Finished off the jar of fig jam at breakfast, so tomorrow we'll see how the apple-kiwi butter worked.

Dinner was Zucchini Pancakes (Q&EVeg, p220), an old favorite. When I was considering exactly what to do for this, I realized that many zucchini pancake recipes are really pancakes with some zucchini thrown in, while this recipe is zucchini. Since I'm trying to use up some, that's what I chose. This time the bread crumbs I got from the freezer still had some biggish bits in them; those turned out really nice and chewy. For dessert we finished off the rice gelato.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: yes, #2 SOUP: yes, #3 MIDDAY: yes
This month: #4 PASTA: not yet