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/6-Apr-15: Tonight's dinner called for a whole wheat pâte brisée, but I couldn't find a recommended recipe and in the end didn't feel like making even a regular pastry, so defrosted a store-bought one instead. Even though it was a recommended brand, it's still not as good as a homemade one, so that was a weak point in the Broccoli and Olive Tart (p66, Pickford; cookbooker) that I made. This was a pretty good tart, deserving a better crust. The bell peppers and olives really complemented each other and broccoli is always good in this kind of a thing. A stronger goat's cheese might be nice. Followed by a salad. We were full (since we ate 3/4 of the tart meant for four).

Tuesday/7-Apr-15: Yogurt on overday. Shopping today.

Dinner was Ancho-Honey Pork Tenderloin with Cheese Grits (web). The recipe is meant for four; we ate all of it. My varkenshaas  (filet mignon de porc) was a bit smaller than asked, but it was still a lot. Bought a huge sack of spinach, which sautéed down to a spoonful each; that was the suggested side. Afterwards, we finished off the kheer.

Wednesday/8-Apr-15: Dinner was a half recipe of Panko-Crusted Baked Salmon (web). Panko is so convenient for a crispy crust, but what's in the stuff? Think I might need to worry about it a bit.) I did it under the broiler rather than in the oven, and left it at the highest level. The fish was great, but the panko burnt black. Will try this again, either in the oven as directed or on a lower level under the broiler. Served with brown rice and asparagus. No dessert.

Thursday/9-Apr-15: Brette was due at the Angoulême train station at 19.24. I had dinner planned and mostly ready for our return: Pear Shrimp Salad (MC 2BTried; web) for a starter; Slow-Roast Lamb (Diaries, p62) with smashed potatoes and steamed broccoli for the main; cornuelles for dessert. Showed up at the train station, but no Brette. Home again, turn of the lamb (and eat some), discovered Brette's at the train station in Bordeaux (no more trains tonight), off to Bordeaux to get her, home again at 1.30. Start yogurt, put lamb in fridge, go to bed.

Friday/10-Apr-15: Made some more lamb stock from bones in the freezer.

We had lunch out. For "dinner", we had the Pear Shrimp Salad (I made a half recipe for the three of us); this was pretty good. Then some cheese and wine. Then the cornuelles. We're stuffed, all of us.

Tomorrow I'll defat the lamb stock, cut the rest of the lamb off the bone, and freeze together, except for some sandwich makings. And I'll make some broccoli-potato salad with the potatoes and broccoli. And that will be the end of that dinner.

Saturday/11-Apr-15: Made up some Warm Broccoli and Potato Salad (MDSalads, p15). Had that for lunch along with the Moroccan olives that Brette brought.

Cut the lamb off the bone. We munched a bit. I froze up a packet of slices and a packet of bits (pot pie?) for the future and left a plate in the fridge for munching in the next days. Ended up with over 2cups of stock that will make the gravy for open-face sandwiches perhaps and for pot pies.

Brette and I ate out at a Rock Bottom concert, while Ed was feeling poorly.

Sunday/12-Apr-15: Yogurt on overday.

Brette and I had Spicy Indian-Style Scrambled Eggs (web) for lunch before I took her to the train station to start her return to Morocco.

For dinner, I used one lot of the lamb roast to make Lamb in Spiced Gravy (30MinCook, p179), which is pretty good stuff for minimal effort. Served over whole-wheat couscous.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 UNUSED: yes; #3 GRAINS: yes; #4 VEG/FISH: 2
This month: #5 PASTA: no; #6 BREAD: no; #7 FotW: no for March; no for April