This week in the kitchen

Monday/23-Aug-21: Monday again. Dinner was a halfish recipe of Pan-Fried Chili and Garlic Chicken Livers (web). This was pretty good as chicken livers go (not my favorite thing). They went well with the grits. Also served with Kentucky Minted Carrots (TLSouth, p67). I made a half recipe of what should serve four and thought it servings were a bit skimpy, especially because it was good. A pair of chocolate chocolate-covered madelines for after.

Tuesday/24-Aug-21: Started to make dinner, then discovered I'd neglected to ensure there were fresh bread crumbs available. So I make a loaf of Easy French Bread (Electric, p62). 

Tonight's dinner, Mushroom Tortellini Soup (SimpSups, p116), was on the plan for tomorrow. I used the end of one jar of dried cèpes (porcini) and opened a new jar. Yuck, the "dried" cèpes were moldy, and seriously yucky at the bottom of the jar. So we were a bit short on the dried mushrooms. Pretty good stuff, though. The whole recipe should serve four, but the two of us ate it all. (Used my last jar of AH Paddestoelen Fond. When will we be able to get more, I wonder?) Some mini Häagen-Däsz ice cream cups for after.

Wednesday/25-Aug-21: Dinner was Moroccan Carrot and Chickpea Salad (web). (I collected this from my EAT-L list.) This was a salad to serve eight, but it was a fine dinner for two. A pair of chocolate chocolate-covered madelines for after.

Thursday/26-Aug-21: Shopping today. Our favorite boulangerie is still closed for vacation and I forgot to buy bread at Leclerc, so I guess I'll be making more bread this week. Ed really likes the one I just make, but it's almost gone now.

Used up the last of my chicken livers to make Chicken-Liver Casserole with Mushrooms and Eggplant (TLSouth, p45). This wasn't bad at all. I did expect the eggs and cream to make a kind of custard around the livers, shrooms, and eggplant, but it was pretty watery. Still, tasted okay. Make a little salad as a go-with. Store-bought custard with caramel for after. It's late, but we're well-fed.

Friday/27-Aug-21: Made a loaf of German-Style Whole Wheat Bread (Rustic, p150). This is about the best tasting and textured whole wheat bread I've made.

Dinner was Crispy Fried Catfish (Delightful, p73). The fish was cod rather than catfish. The cod, as cod does, flaked after being steamed. So I fried the flakes. Only a bit of crispiness appeared. The green mango I bought for the go-with salad in the recipe was rotten at the core; I used a can of mango slices instead. Served with plain basmati rice and a half dose of Cabbage Salad (Delightful, p50), which was good again. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Saturday/28-Aug-21: Dinner was a half dose of Turkey Tenderloins and Apricot Sauce (EAT-L; web). I used turkey scallops, from the freezer, rather than tenderloins; the cooking time was a bit less, I think. Served with orzo and broccoli. For after we had Peach Clafoutis (web). This was very easy and very yummy. Used my oval Wedgwood casserole, oval being the traditional shape for clafoutis.

Sunday/29-Aug-21: Dinner was, more or less, a half recipe of Tonnarelli al Granachio e Rucola—Tonarelli with Crab and Rocket* (ClassPasta, p107), made with linguine. 

More Peach Clafoutis for after.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #2 PHOTO: yes; #3 *DMA: yes
This month: #4 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG1: no; #6 BACKLOG2: no; #7 RECYCLE: 11; #8 NEW: 4

This week in the kitchen

Monday/15-Mar-21: Dinner was a halfish recipe of Sri Lankan Beef Smore (MJ@Home, p140). We really like this the last time I make it, with meat from the butcher, rather than from the Drive. This time the sauce was delicious, but the meat was a bit tough. It was supposed to be "beef to roast", but it was completely unmarbled. Even though it was wrapped in a layer of fat, it was not very tender or tasty. As suggested, I made with Thin Rice Noodles with Brussels Sprouts (MJ@Home, p225), allegedly a South Indian recipe, but bsprouts and India don't seem to me to go together. Since bsprouts aren't to be had at a Drive right now, I got some frozen. Defrosted them, then proceeded, omitting the first bit of water-based cooking of the bsprouts. This wasn't bad, although I'm not sure they they especially went with the beef. 

The last of our store-bought yogurt desserts for after. (They were on sale last week.)

Just updating my goals page and realize that I've got only two goals for my backlog of recipes, but there are at least three areas. "Backlog1" as I've defined it, is only recipes in the office. Actually, those are probably about halfway dealt with. "Backlog2" is the recipes in my old binders. Don't really plan to start on those till the office is clear. But, there's another group of loosely sorted recipes (lots of desserty things, but other stuff too) on the shelves. (I was working on the dessert recipes a couple of years ago, but got stuck on how to sort desserts (e.g., Chocolate, Fruit, Other with subcategories for Cake, Custard, etc. Or the other way around.) And, there's a stack of stuff to be weeded out, then filed into my MenuPlan spreadsheet. Hmm... Well, the general idea is to clear stuff out and organize what's left. I'm definitely making progress, even though not as measurable as it ought to be. We'll see.

Tuesday/16-Mar-21: Hard time today making the grocery list and order because the internet was so slow. Suspect that the Livebox may have been damaged with all the power problems on the weekend.

Dinner was a 2/3-ish version of Creamy Tuscan Garlic Scallops (web), served over tagliatelle. Pretty good, but it could have used more spinach. (I think I used more than was asked.) No dessert, but I had an Angel's Kiss (cream and crème de cacao) while Ed had a bit of amaro.

Wednesday/17-Mar-21: Made a loaf of German-Style Whole Wheat Bread (Rustic, p150) (WW/Rapid/L/-/-). Huge loaf, and very tasty.

Ed picked up two Drive orders today.

Dinner was Cilantro and Lime Salmon* (web). Easy, quick, and very good. Served with Asparagus with Lime and Mint (web) and some spaghetti court. Turned out to be an unplanned green and white dinner for St Pat's Day. 

A store-bought vanilla yogurt for after.

Thursday/18-Mar-21: Dinner was a halfish recipe of Chicken Yassa (Wilder, p75; GD). This was simple and pretty good, maybe not as good as a more complicated recipe I've used before. Served over polenta with some steamed broccoli on the side. Some mini HD ice cream cups for after.

Put chickpeas to soak for tomorrow's meal.

Friday/19-Mar-21: Cooked the chickpeas and the chana dal in the morning.

Dinner was Sour Fennel-Flavored Eggplant (WorldVeg, p195; cookbooker). I made a full recipe and we easily ate it all. I didn't soak the eggplant as asked, but it didn't seem to make a difference. Served with the recommended go-with, Chickpeas and Chana Dal Cooked Together in a Mint Sauce (WorldVeg, p34; cookbooker). Both were good, but don't see that they went together especially well. Ed wasn't crazy about the tamarind-mint sauce; I liked it. Some strawberries and cream for after.

Started an Overnight Boule with 2c T65 and 2c T110. 

Saturday/20-Mar-21: Baked off the bread in the morning. It's good.

Dinner was a halfish dose of Sausage and Peppers Pasta with Broccoli (web). The sausage was my homemade stuff from Guiliano Hazan's recipe; the pasta was mafalda. Pretty good stuff. Then a simple salad with feta and beets. 

Sunday/21-Mar-21: Dinner was Smoked Salmon, Fennel and Herbed Mascarpone Tart (web). My printout didn't have a picture, and I'd forgotten how it looked, so I put my pâte feuillettée in a pie plate. I guess I could have made a round tart by scoring the edge. The edges were quite burnt, but I just scraped them off into the sink. I'm not a fennel fan, but this was very good. Odd that the salmon and capers were added after it was cooked. Tasty. Then a big salad. Then some strawberries and ice cream.

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/no; #6 BACKLOG2: no; #7 RECYCLE: 11; #8 NEW: 2

This week in the kitchen

Monday/18-Jan-21: Steam-hard-boiled some eggs this afternoon.

Dinner was Curried Parsnip Soup (Ainsley2, p31). Easy and pretty good stuff. Served with a hard-boiled egg. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Started Overnight Boule.

Tuesday/19-Jan-21: Baked off the Overnight Boule this morning.

The cook was having another off day. Quite late, we had Chicken with Morels (How2Eat, p151), two thighs for four people. Yummy. Take a bit of time to be ready, but nothing difficult. Served with some pasta to soak up the delicious sauce and some steamed broccoli. 

I see I need to find a DMA dish for this week.

Wednesday/20-Jan-21: Off the plan today. I really didn't feel like separating eggs and all that rigamarole for a soufflé-ish thing. Instead I steam-hard-boiled more eggs and made Hard-Boiled Eggs Masala (Q&E, p41). Served over plain basmati rice. And, yes, a pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Thursday/21-Jan-21: After 13 hours the yogurt was not "done" this moring. Most of the jars were still liquid. Cooked them for another eight hours and they seem somewhat better. What's going on?

Made a loaf of German-Style Whole Wheat Bread (Rustic, p150) (WW/Rapid/M=1.5*/-/-). This is one of the first recipes I've seen that asks for "light whole wheat bread", exactly what T110 seems to be. Adding 3tbl of bread flour to 3-3/4cup of T110 seemed a bit silly. Smells really good cooking. A huge loaf appeared at the end.

Dinner was about a 2/3 recipe of Mijoté de Veau au Chorizo (VPG; couldn't find on web), a slow-cooked stew of veal, chorizo, and tomato sauce. I added some smoked paprika along the way. Served over brown rice, although polenta might have been nicer. Pretty good stuff. Mini cups of Häagen-Dazs ice cream for after.

Friday/22-Jan-21: Picked up an order from Intermarché today. Seems like I accidentally deleted the fish from the basket. Replan. Instead we had choucroûte garni, that I bought for the next days. We're full.

Saturday/23-Jan-21: For a late lunch, we had, sort of, reuben sandwiches with some of the leftover sauerkraut, lunchmeat ham, gruyère, and this quickie Russian dressing (which was very good). Open-faced, heated in the toaster oven to warm everything and melt the cheese.

Sunday/23-Jan-21: Made a loaf of DeDe's Buttermilk Bread (MagicHints, p142) (Basic/Rapid/M/d/-). Lovely high white bread loaf. Dark wasn't really needed; strange because my machine tends to make very light-colored loaves.

Dinner was a DMA, Cajun Salmon Burgers* (web), really good and easy. Made up a sort of guacamole, as suggested, for a side, and some canned corn, and some couscous. For after, there was a sort of blueberry tart, using up the mascarpone in the fridge, very loosely based on this recipe. I didn't make the pastry, but used two formerly frozen squares of pâte feuillettée. Blueberries with a tad of sugar for the topping. Yummy, if not especially pretty.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #2 PHOTO: yes; #3 *DMA: yes
This month: #4 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG1: yes; #6 BACKLOG2: no; #7 RECYCLE: 9; #8 NEW: 1