Monday/25-Dec-17: Our xmas meal got its own post.
Tuesday/26-Dec-17: Our tweede kerstdag meal got its own post.
Now we have lots of leftovers.
Wednesday/27-Dec-17: Leftovers with the bricks coquelets and the cabbage charlotte mold. Some ice cream bars for dessert.
Yogurt on overnight.
Thursday/28-Dec-17: Shopping today after Ed's early dentist appointment. This week there were more "exotic" foods, typical of the holiday season. Okra, even, if you like that. And the meat counter had lots of fancy birds, capons and regular chickens, each wrapped in a dish towel sort of thing, with tail feather, and feet, and sometimes heads showing. The better to choose what you want.
Our main meal was quite early, Roast Cod on Smoked Salmon and Cabbage Hash with Horseradish Butter (Raising, p40). Surprisingly tasty, this was. I cannot get a piece of cod to be nicely browned like that picture. It comes apart in big flakes. Still tastes good. The cabbage and smoked salmon and cod went together surprisingly well. I didn't see the bit about serving with plain mashed potatoes till it was too late, so served with bread.
Friday/29-Dec-17: Well, it was supposed to be fresh pasta today, but I didn't have the time, energy, or enthusiasm. Instead there was fresh (?), store-bought pasta from the freezer. We had Fettuccine al Limone (ClassPasta, p96), which was very good. And a big salad. Some mini ice cream bars for dessert.
Saturday/30-Dec-17: Make two lumps of Tart Dough (Tenth, p256; HandyBook), one for tomorrow's tart, one for the freezer. Make some polenta for tomorrow night's crostini. Our meal was leftover pork roast from tweede kerstdag and the rest of the cabbage-potato charlotte. We had ice cream at the movies.
Yogurt on overnight.
Sunday/31-Dec-17: Cath came to spend the night. For dinner we had Leek and Mustard Pie (Greens, p245; cookbooker) followed by a big salad and then some Three Kings' Cake (from a Chasseneuil boulangerie with a Harry Potter character as the fêve).
For munchies, I had way too much for three people. We nibbled on corn nuts before dinner, always a mistake. With South Pacific there was: more corn nuts Carrot sticks. Celery sticks. Grilled Polenta Crostini with Smoked Trout and Mascarpone (Polenta, p48) (used the smoked salmon left from Thursday instead of smoked trout). Didn't use: chaource, olives, artichokes with green tapenade and goat cheese. All those back in the fridge for future use.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 3
This month: #3 PASTA: no; #4 BREAD: no
Showing posts with label ~Raising. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ~Raising. Show all posts
Monday, December 25, 2017
Monday, May 18, 2015
This week in the kitchen
Monday/18-May-15: Bill arrived today and we had dinner out. Nothing in the kitchen today.
Tuesday/19-May-15: Dinner was A Simple Mediterranean Spice-Roasted Chicken (Raising, p74), another goodie from this book. Gayler suggested a couscous stuffing for the chickie; I used whole wheat couscous and served it as a side. Along with Eggplant Zaalouk (Morocco, p93), which was okay, not as good as other salads from this book.
Wednesday/20-May-15: Lunch out, then shopping today. Our dinner, very late, was carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, cheese, and an eclair each.
Thursday/21-May-15: Unexpectedly had a Famous Author for dinner tonight. This was what I'd planned, just with an extra person and the claufoutis. We had nibbles with pineau. Then Barbaietole al Burro e Parmesan—Beetroot with Butter and Parmesan (VegCarlu, p38). Not bad, interesting to have butter where I'd expect olive oil, especially in an Italian recipe. Stretched three people's worth of beets to serve four. Then there was Roast Pork Loin with Lemon, Garlic and Thyme, which was a very nice recipe from the now defunct magazine, The Herb Companion. Plus some roast potatoes that turned out especially good. Then some cheese. Then some clafoutis. Yesterday, I bought a kilo of cherries, just starting into season, thinking we could nibble them over several days, but used them for a clafoutis, which is really a quick and tasty dessert, whatever the fruit. Then coffee, then waved him goodbye, till Thanksgiving possibly.
Friday/22-May-15: Dinner in Limoges this evening, before a concert. Nothing in the kitchen today.
Saturday/23-May-15: Out most of today, so I put Jamie Oliver's Spiced Shoulder of Lamb (web) in the oven to cook on low, being reading about when we got home. Pretty good it was. (The recipe is from a Jamie magazine, so you'd think that it would be one his site, but it's apparently not. Boo.) Served with Green Peas in a Creamy Sauce (MJ@Home, p87) and Turmeric Rice (MJ@Home, p100). Finished off the clafoutis for after.
Had yogurt on overday, but it failed to set. Can't figure this out. I am using a different brand of UHT milk, but it worked a couple of times. How could that be the problem? Very puzzling. Not to mention irritating that there's no yogurt for breakfast.
And did I mention the bees? They have been appearing frequently in the house, mostly in the kitchen. Yesterday Ed noticed a swarm at the corner of the house. Seems like they're trying to settle in the chimney to the wood burner. Many are dying by the time they get out. Keeping the window over the sink open at least lets them get away.
Sunday/24-May-15: Ed closed the kitchen window as we went out this morning. On our return, an amazing number of bees were there trying to get out. We're keeping a fire going trying to convince them to go elsewhere.
Ate out. Nothing in the kitchen today.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 UNUSED: yes; #3 GRAINS: yes; #4 VEG/FISH: 0
This month: #5 PASTA: no; #6 BREAD: no; #7 FotW: no for May
Tuesday/19-May-15: Dinner was A Simple Mediterranean Spice-Roasted Chicken (Raising, p74), another goodie from this book. Gayler suggested a couscous stuffing for the chickie; I used whole wheat couscous and served it as a side. Along with Eggplant Zaalouk (Morocco, p93), which was okay, not as good as other salads from this book.
Wednesday/20-May-15: Lunch out, then shopping today. Our dinner, very late, was carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, cheese, and an eclair each.
Thursday/21-May-15: Unexpectedly had a Famous Author for dinner tonight. This was what I'd planned, just with an extra person and the claufoutis. We had nibbles with pineau. Then Barbaietole al Burro e Parmesan—Beetroot with Butter and Parmesan (VegCarlu, p38). Not bad, interesting to have butter where I'd expect olive oil, especially in an Italian recipe. Stretched three people's worth of beets to serve four. Then there was Roast Pork Loin with Lemon, Garlic and Thyme, which was a very nice recipe from the now defunct magazine, The Herb Companion. Plus some roast potatoes that turned out especially good. Then some cheese. Then some clafoutis. Yesterday, I bought a kilo of cherries, just starting into season, thinking we could nibble them over several days, but used them for a clafoutis, which is really a quick and tasty dessert, whatever the fruit. Then coffee, then waved him goodbye, till Thanksgiving possibly.
Friday/22-May-15: Dinner in Limoges this evening, before a concert. Nothing in the kitchen today.
Saturday/23-May-15: Out most of today, so I put Jamie Oliver's Spiced Shoulder of Lamb (web) in the oven to cook on low, being reading about when we got home. Pretty good it was. (The recipe is from a Jamie magazine, so you'd think that it would be one his site, but it's apparently not. Boo.) Served with Green Peas in a Creamy Sauce (MJ@Home, p87) and Turmeric Rice (MJ@Home, p100). Finished off the clafoutis for after.
Had yogurt on overday, but it failed to set. Can't figure this out. I am using a different brand of UHT milk, but it worked a couple of times. How could that be the problem? Very puzzling. Not to mention irritating that there's no yogurt for breakfast.
And did I mention the bees? They have been appearing frequently in the house, mostly in the kitchen. Yesterday Ed noticed a swarm at the corner of the house. Seems like they're trying to settle in the chimney to the wood burner. Many are dying by the time they get out. Keeping the window over the sink open at least lets them get away.
Sunday/24-May-15: Ed closed the kitchen window as we went out this morning. On our return, an amazing number of bees were there trying to get out. We're keeping a fire going trying to convince them to go elsewhere.
Ate out. Nothing in the kitchen today.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 UNUSED: yes; #3 GRAINS: yes; #4 VEG/FISH: 0
This month: #5 PASTA: no; #6 BREAD: no; #7 FotW: no for May
Monday, May 11, 2015
This week in the kitchen
Monday/11-May-15: The plumber came this morning to fix the water heater, which should solve the leaking/dripping problem and reduce our water usage, which went up in the last year.
Really didn't feel like making what I'd planned for tonight's dinner, or even cooking. So I made Mushroom Risotto from a "mix" that I won recently as part of gourmet basket. (Still have to add broth and stir stir stir, but no chopping.) That and a salad and the rest of the butterscotch pudding.
No ants in the kitchen today. Fingers crossed this plague is over. Instead we have bees getting into the hosue somewhere.
Tuesday/12-May-15: Dinner was Mormon Split-Pea Soup (TLWest, p19), about a 2/3 recipe with all the meatballs because that's all the split peas I had. A pretty good split pea soup. Mini magnums for after.
No ants or bees today.
Wednesday/13-May-15: Shopping today. Can't figure out why we're spending so much on food this year, but we're well on the way to setting a record.
Our main was Pepper-Grilled Swordfish with Preserve Lemon Oil and Wilted Chard (Raising, p43; cookbooker). First time I've used this book and my, my was this good! A sauce of (seeded) tomatoes, garlic, chili flakes, preserved lemon, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Served on a bed of chard, well, there was no chard this week, so I used spinach instead. As go-withs there were oven-fried sweet potatoes and haricots verts. The sweet potatoes were tossed with cornstarch before tossing with olive oil and some of the Moroccan spice mix Jody&Steve brought us. The potatoes were crisp when they first came from the oven, but soggy, as sweet potatoes tend to be, when we sat at table. The fish recipe said not to use the pulp of the preserved lemons, so I chopped that up and tossed with the green beans; that was a really nice touch. Altogether a very good dinner. For after we had some store-bought riz au lait, a new brand for us, very good.
Thursday/14-May-15: Yogurt on overday, with a new starter. Seems to have worked okay.
Wanted an easy dinner tonight, so I defrost what I thought was crayfish in a sauce. No sauce, but looked like they'd been frozen in a block of water. As suggested, I made a sauce of tomatoes (five of them, peeled, seeded, minced) and cream. Added some home-made cajun rub. Needed something. Added some oregano. Needed something. Added some piment d'Esplette. Turned out pretty good. Served the sauce over polenta, then we peeled the crawdads and added them on top. Not bad, if more work than expected. Then a simple salad, feta, watnuts, croutons. Then the last two riz au lait.
Friday/15-May-15: Ants are back, eating on the pears sitting in a basket on the kitchen counter. Sigh.
Finally did something from Japan. Dinner started with Toriwasa—Chicken and Parsley with Horseradish Sauce (TLJapan, p30). Pretty good it was, but lots of improvising required. I thought I had a little bottle of sake stashed away. It's either very well-stashed or non-existent. After a bit of research, I used dry vermouth instead. Opened my tin of wasabi powder to find it covered in mold. Used some ancient horseradish powder instead. I should horizontally slice chicken breast into paper-thin slices? Uh, no. I did some fairly thin vertical slices, then made shreds, more or less. I wonder what kind of green would be used in Japan instead of flat-leaf parsley? Besides the chicken slicing, all was easy to do and the result pretty tasty. (That's a rice bowl, not a big as it looks.)
Our main was Asian-Style Frittata (MW@Home, p295). A bit of red pepper flakes didn't hurt. Some ice cream and strawberries for dessert.
Saturday/16-May-15: Went off to a fête du pain in the early afternoon, but could find no trace of it. Stopped at Intermarché to buy some bread, and some hanging baskets from the lady across the street.
Ha, went to cook dinner and discovered that the pork chops should have marinated a long while, maybe overnight, and that they would cook an hour. Pork chops? Quick replan brought us Pork Chops with Red Pepper Grits (MC, CL) which is fast and good. Have made it quite a few times now. As a side there was Karhai Broccoli (MJ@Home, p148), which I really ought to make more often. It's very easy and tasty and takes minimal attention for the last bit.
Sunday/17-May-15: Yogurt on overday. The new starter seems to have done the trick. Knock wood.
Lunch with friends today. Where I learnt that we're not the only ones having ant problems this year. Nothing further happened in the kitchen today.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: yes; #2 UNUSED: yes; #3 GRAINS: yes; #4 VEG/FISH: 3
This month: #5 PASTA: no; #6 BREAD: no; #7 FotW: yes for March/April; no for May
Really didn't feel like making what I'd planned for tonight's dinner, or even cooking. So I made Mushroom Risotto from a "mix" that I won recently as part of gourmet basket. (Still have to add broth and stir stir stir, but no chopping.) That and a salad and the rest of the butterscotch pudding.
No ants in the kitchen today. Fingers crossed this plague is over. Instead we have bees getting into the hosue somewhere.
Tuesday/12-May-15: Dinner was Mormon Split-Pea Soup (TLWest, p19), about a 2/3 recipe with all the meatballs because that's all the split peas I had. A pretty good split pea soup. Mini magnums for after.
No ants or bees today.
Wednesday/13-May-15: Shopping today. Can't figure out why we're spending so much on food this year, but we're well on the way to setting a record.
Our main was Pepper-Grilled Swordfish with Preserve Lemon Oil and Wilted Chard (Raising, p43; cookbooker). First time I've used this book and my, my was this good! A sauce of (seeded) tomatoes, garlic, chili flakes, preserved lemon, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Served on a bed of chard, well, there was no chard this week, so I used spinach instead. As go-withs there were oven-fried sweet potatoes and haricots verts. The sweet potatoes were tossed with cornstarch before tossing with olive oil and some of the Moroccan spice mix Jody&Steve brought us. The potatoes were crisp when they first came from the oven, but soggy, as sweet potatoes tend to be, when we sat at table. The fish recipe said not to use the pulp of the preserved lemons, so I chopped that up and tossed with the green beans; that was a really nice touch. Altogether a very good dinner. For after we had some store-bought riz au lait, a new brand for us, very good.
Thursday/14-May-15: Yogurt on overday, with a new starter. Seems to have worked okay.
Wanted an easy dinner tonight, so I defrost what I thought was crayfish in a sauce. No sauce, but looked like they'd been frozen in a block of water. As suggested, I made a sauce of tomatoes (five of them, peeled, seeded, minced) and cream. Added some home-made cajun rub. Needed something. Added some oregano. Needed something. Added some piment d'Esplette. Turned out pretty good. Served the sauce over polenta, then we peeled the crawdads and added them on top. Not bad, if more work than expected. Then a simple salad, feta, watnuts, croutons. Then the last two riz au lait.
Friday/15-May-15: Ants are back, eating on the pears sitting in a basket on the kitchen counter. Sigh.
Finally did something from Japan. Dinner started with Toriwasa—Chicken and Parsley with Horseradish Sauce (TLJapan, p30). Pretty good it was, but lots of improvising required. I thought I had a little bottle of sake stashed away. It's either very well-stashed or non-existent. After a bit of research, I used dry vermouth instead. Opened my tin of wasabi powder to find it covered in mold. Used some ancient horseradish powder instead. I should horizontally slice chicken breast into paper-thin slices? Uh, no. I did some fairly thin vertical slices, then made shreds, more or less. I wonder what kind of green would be used in Japan instead of flat-leaf parsley? Besides the chicken slicing, all was easy to do and the result pretty tasty. (That's a rice bowl, not a big as it looks.)
Our main was Asian-Style Frittata (MW@Home, p295). A bit of red pepper flakes didn't hurt. Some ice cream and strawberries for dessert.
Saturday/16-May-15: Went off to a fête du pain in the early afternoon, but could find no trace of it. Stopped at Intermarché to buy some bread, and some hanging baskets from the lady across the street.
Ha, went to cook dinner and discovered that the pork chops should have marinated a long while, maybe overnight, and that they would cook an hour. Pork chops? Quick replan brought us Pork Chops with Red Pepper Grits (MC, CL) which is fast and good. Have made it quite a few times now. As a side there was Karhai Broccoli (MJ@Home, p148), which I really ought to make more often. It's very easy and tasty and takes minimal attention for the last bit.
Sunday/17-May-15: Yogurt on overday. The new starter seems to have done the trick. Knock wood.
Lunch with friends today. Where I learnt that we're not the only ones having ant problems this year. Nothing further happened in the kitchen today.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: yes; #2 UNUSED: yes; #3 GRAINS: yes; #4 VEG/FISH: 3
This month: #5 PASTA: no; #6 BREAD: no; #7 FotW: yes for March/April; no for May
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