This week in the kitchen

Monday/30-Nov-20: Picked up an order at Leclerc today. Dinner was a halfish version of A Night in Tunisia (web), which sounded good, but was only so-so. Followed by a big salad. And more pumpkin cake.

Tuesday/1-Dec-20: Yogurt on overday.

Dinner was a halfish dose of Gulai Udang Dengan Labu Kuning—Shrimp and Zucchini Curry (TLPacSEA, p81). I wonder what the veg should have been,since I don't think of zucchini as a Malayan veggie. And I bet the lemon juice should have been lime. Nevertheless, it was good stuff. Served over basmati rice. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Wednesday/2-Dec-20: We're out of bread, so this evening I made another loaf of English Muffin Bread (BMB, p17).

Dinner was a big half of Rigatoni with White Bolognese (Essential, p344; cookbooker). I used 5% ground beef and 8oz of Hazan's Italian sausage from the freezer, which made about a pound and a quarter altogether, when 2# was asked for the whole recipe. No celery in house; I added some dried celery leaves to the carrots and onions. Happened to have some rigatoni, so used that. Very good. Then a small salad. And a pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Thursday/3-Dec-20: Dinner was about a third recipe of Braised Balsamic Chicken (web). This was pretty easy and pretty good. Took the skin off the thighs, since we don't like that braised. Nice sauce. Served with polenta and a little made-up salad of cuke and radish. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after (the last sack expiring tomorrow).

Friday/4-Dec-20: Made some Apple Chipotle Jelly (Raichlen1, p215) this morning. The recipe calls for an enormous amount of sugar. On the web, I found that jellies made with apple juice generally asked for +/- twice the amount of sugar as juice. (I used sucre pour confiture that has the pectin already added.) Given that cider vinegar was part of liquid (three cups in total), I used three cups of sugar. Tastes good, but it hasn't jelled up. 

 

Dinner was a halfish dose of Lasagne coi Gamberi e Canestrelli—Lasagne with Prawns and Scallops (ClassPasta, p142). This was barely seasoned, just tasty with the shellfish and the bechamel. Pretty good, but nothing special. Then a salad. Then some mini HD ice cream cups.

Yogurt on overnight.

Saturday/5-Dec-20: Made a loaf of Maple Oatmeal Bread (BMB, p41) (Basic/Rapid/S/m/-), using only 1/4cup maple syrup as my previous notes said. The loaf turned out very high; maybe cook as Medium, even though flour-wise it's Small. It's a tasty bread but too soft inside, which makes it hard to cut.

Picked up an order from Intermarché Drive today. Annoyingly several items were not included, even though they are still in the assortment on the site. Think someone was rushed and didn't feel like collecting the items. Ordered a bit of rumsteack for a beefy meal sometime; it's thin and the size of a small placemat! Ordered a turkey leg to roast for making gravy to go with a cornbread stuffing dinner we're going to have before long. Weighty thing, it's 1.638kg; I've had turkeys not much bigger than that!

 

Dinner was a halfish recipe of Boulettes de Poisson Blanc, Sauce Piquante (VPG; web; mine). I'm puzzled by what was piquante in the sauce, but it was good nevertheless. For the tomato sauce, I used a bit of Marcella Hazan's famous tomato sauce from the freezer; I added a bit of Cajun spice mix along the way. A marinara-ish sauce might work too. I used a moulinette to grind the (fresh, not frozen) fish, but I expect the cuisinart would work just fine. I added some cilantro to the fish. I did not add the oil to the pan before cooking the fish balls in the sauce. Served over long-grain brown rice (fiber!) with some lemon-sprinkled steamed broccoli. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Sunday/6-Dec-20: Didn't feel like making what was one the plan, and the cooking of that will work better tomorrow, so I made a halfish dose of Shrimp and Leek Spaghetti (CL; web). This was easy, quick, and good. While I was making that, I also made some Crème au Chocolate Express (mine). We should have had three nights of these, but I managed to drop one of the  bakjes as I put it away, leaving a half-ful dish and a mess on the floor. Ed ate the remaining half and we'll make two servings from the remaining three dishes. 

 

Made the batter for Overnight Bread.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/14-Jan-13: During the day, I looked, a bit belatedly, through Vie Pratique Gourmand's holiday issue. It's chockful of good ideas. Think I'm going to save it, rather than tossing it, and maybe I'll find some ideas for the next holiday season.

An early dinner so we could try going to the movies again. It was a half dose of Broccoli and Tofu Stir-Fry with Garlicky Hoisin Sauce (Raichlen1, p196) served over rice. And 2-1/2 cookies each. Good movie, it was, although we drove home in the snow.

Tuesday/15-Jan-13: What a day! Houseful of hardware errors. Chloe (the pellet-burning heater) didn't want to start. The netbook died and needed a software reinstall. The printer's ink system failed yet again. Chloe started on the fifth attempt. Netbook has been reinstalled but not completely reassembled. New printer has been ordered. Not much else happened. Glad there there were leftovers to reheat for dinner. It was Rice, Cheddar, and Spinach Pie again, with a salad, and some double chocolate mini-Magnums to cheer us up.

Wednesday/16-Jan-13: Another household hardware error today—the washer stopped washing! Handy Ed took it apart and order some brushes for the motor. The washer must be at least ten years old; we bought it second hand eight years ago and it was already two or three years old then. This is the first problem it's had, so if it's an easy and cheap repair, we'll keep it going. Afraid to discover what's going to break next!

Shopping today. Dinner was some spicy "fish fingers," dipped in yogurt thinned with a bit of milk (buttermilk substitute), dredged in a spicy mixture with cornmeal, then grilled, made with a nice piece of cod, today's special. Served with some hominy that's been in the fridge quite a while but looked ok. And some Pan-Grilled Zucchini (MJ@Home, p173). I grilled this with the fish, although it took a bit longer. Quite a nice way to do zukes, cut in half (although thick slices would do, grilled or broiled, then sprinkled with lemon juice, salt, pepper, ground roasted cumin seeds, and cayenne.

Thursday/17-Jan-13: Out for fish and chips this evening. In t.he afternoon, I made up some Seasoned Radishes (MJ@Home, p6) and some Roasted Almonds with Black Pepper (MJ@Home, p8), some munchies for tomorrow.

Friday/18-Jan-13: Yogurt on overday.

Oops! The outdoor crisper got a bit too cold last night when we forgot to close the shutters.

I loved yesterday's radishes and Ed liked the almonds. Oh well.

Dinner was Wild Rice, Mushroom, and Cheddar Tart (Raichlen1, p95). This was good and remarkably tasty for something that looked so bland. Then a big salad. Then some Zucchini Brownies (MC), which were tasty, if a bit on the flat side. Maybe my baking powder is off.

Saturday/19-Jan-13: Yes, baking powder was off. Well, it's dated 2009, so it's no big surprise. The replacement is dated 2012.

Made Stewed Dried Fruit (WofE, p388) for IHCC this afternoon. Meant to make this for last night's dessert, but got it done today for a snack. We've off the the énoisage for our evening meal.

Sunday/20-Jan-13: Dinner was Chicken Kebabs (VeryBest, p323), without the sauce. Kind of so-so, not especially good nor bad. Mashed a potato and a sweet potato together for a side dish. Dessert was stewed fruit over vanilla ice cream, the best part of the meal.

We're out of bread and the snow means we probably can't get out, so it's Authentic French Bread in the ABM overnight.

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