This week in the kitchen

Monday/13-Dec-21: Dinner was a half dose of Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemons and Olives (Seaver2, p122). This was quite nice. I cooked everything in the tagine/tajine, rather than using a separate pot for getting started with the onions and browning the thighs. There was lots of sauce left. I blended it up and have frozen it, maybe for a sauce with chicken or pork. Served with Moroccan Carrots (1Good, p59); I'm making this so often, I really need to put it in my kitchen Handy Book. And some Moroccan couscous, from a store-bought mix. 

Tuesday/14-Dec-21: Before dinner, I started a loaf of Easy French Bread (Electric, p62).

Dinner was Tortellini with Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce (web). (I got this recipe from foodnetwork.com, but these days Europeans are automatically redirected to foodnetwork.co.uk. Where the recipe is not available. :-( ) It was okay, nothing special. Then a salad. A single madeleine each for after. 

Wednesday/15-Dec-21: Using up lots of veggies, tonight's dinner was what I think of as a hippie dinner, lot of veggie sautéed and served over short-grain brown rice. 

Thursday/16-Dec-21: Shopping today.

Dinner was half of Salmon with Garlic Cream Sauce (web). This was good. Served with trio rice, and that was all. A single madeleine each for after.

Friday/17-Dec-21: Dinner was Tunisian Meatballs* (1Good, p141; web; web; GD). When I first made this, I didn't yet have the cookbook. This would be a good company dish because you could make the sauce and meatballs up ahead and warm them together at serving time. Served with the Israeli couscous recipe included. Followed by a very simple salad. A single madeleine each for after.

Saturday/18-Dec-21: Dinner was Wok-Fried Lamb with Cumin (1Good, p204; cookbooker), which was very good. Served with plain basmati rice and Broccoli and Mixed Mushrooms in Garlic Black Bean Sauce (web). I made a whole recipe, resulting in two adequate servings, not four as advertised. 

Sunday/19-Dec-21: Dinner was Chicken in a Cilantro, Spinach, and Mustard Sauce (Q&E, p50). This is probably my most used cookbook, so I'm always surprised to find something new to make here. This was new, and good. As suggested, served with Indian Mashed Potatoes (Q&E, p90),which is an old favorite, and Simply Grilled Tomatoes (Q&E, p93). A single madeleine each for after.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #2 PHOTO: no; #3 *DMA: yes
This month: #4 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG1: 100%; #6 BACKLOG2: no; #7 RECYCLE: 16; #8 NEW: 5

This week in the kitchen

Monday/25-Oct-21: Ed had his second carpal tunnel surgery today. They must have used a different kind of anesthetic because he was finger-wiggling directly after the surgery. 

A one-handed meal tonight. We had West Indian Salmon Patties from the freezer, accompanied by a more-or-less quarter recipe of All-Purpose Rice and Beans (BigFlav, p262) and some canned corn. And some of Sara Lee's Crumb Cake for after. We're full. And tired.

Tuesday/26-Oct-21: Tonight's dinner was a loser. Seemed like a good idea, and it's well-reviewed, but neither of us cared much for it. I made a half dose of Pasta with Mushrooms and Pumpkin-Gorgonzola Sauce (web). We ate it all, but not with much enthusiasm.

 

A small salad next. Then we finished the Crumb Cake. 

Wednesday/27-Oct-21: Oscar to the vet today, and me to the hearing aid shop for a new pair. 

Dinner was Pie's Curried Shrimp and Scallops (MC), an old favorite. Still yummy, and easy. Served over trio rice. And we finished the Raw Beet Salad, which was still good. 

Thursday/28-Oct-21: Shopping today.

Dinner was a half recipe of Gratin of Cod with Leek, Olives, and Truffle (optional) (Seaver2, p93). No truffle, I was too lazy to open the jar. After last week's wonderful salmon, I had high expectations for this, but was disappointed. The black olive were too strong for the fish. Result was so-so. Unimaginatively, I served this with a bit of tagliatelle. We had boulangerie-bought tarts for after. 

Friday/29-Oct-21: We picked Chris and Amy up at the Limoges train station this morning and lunched in Limoges at La Table du Couvent. 

In the evening I made a so-so soup and we munched on cheeses and terrines. 

Saturday/30-Oct-21: Dinner was Za'atar Lamb Chops* (web; GD). These are yummy and very easy. Ed grilled them. Served with Moroccan couscous (bio, store-bought) and Moroccan Carrots (1Good, p59). All good stuff. Then we finished off the cheese from yesterday. Then some home-made vanilla ice cream, with a touch of almond extract, which was nice, for after. Then some delicious chocolate from Maison Chaudun in Paris. 

Sunday/31-Oct-21: Lunch out today, then Chris and Amy to the Limoges train station in pouring rain.

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: no; #6 BACKLOG2: no; #7 RECYCLE: 11; #8 NEW: 4

This week in the kitchen

Monday/18-Oct-21: Finished the Spinach and Artichoke Macaroni and Cheese casserole for dinner tonight. On the side we had Moroccan Carrots (1Good, p59). We've had this before; it's indeed One Good Dish. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Amazon Associates informed me (and all their customers) that I should have a disclosure on the site if I include their links. So I've started a project of removing them from the Cookbooks page. I don't think I'll remove them from individual posts; that's just too much useless and error-prone work. 

I'm adding Ratio and Fast, Fresh & Spicy Vegetarian to the books I'm currently reading. It seems I never finished Ratio, and I'm not sure about FF&S. I'm pretty well done with Ratio this time, and will start on FF&S next. I'm going to mark The Book Lover's Cookbook as done too, and move it to the recycle stack. The only recipe I made from this was a bit of a failure, and the book doesn't appeal all that much.

Tuesday/19-Oct-21: Dinner was Runner Beany Herb Linguine (web; GD). Except for slicing up the snijbonen (oh for a Dutch greengrocer who does this for you!), this is easy to do. And very tasty. I thoughtlessly made this with tagliatelle rather than linguine, but it was fine. Onto the DMA list with this one. 

HD mini cups (chocolate) for after.

Wednesday/20-Oct-21: Shopping today. In the veggie section, there was a sign for a "demi-chou," a half cabbage, which would be nice, but there were none to be seen. I miss our Dutch greengrocer where we could get half a cabbage or cauliflower.

A very nice dinner tonight. Dinner was a half dose of Salmon with Onion Confit, Spanish Style (Seaver2, p95; cookbooker). I cooked in individual dishes, probably not necessary, then plated the contents. Served with long-grain brown rice and a little salad loosely based on this recipe, with nothing measured; some peas, the end of my flat cabbage, and the dilly vinaigrette. Good it was. 

Some store-bought riz au lait nature for after.

Thursday/21-Oct-21: Dinner was a half dose for Ground Meat with Peas (MJ1, p44); I made it with ground beef and all the spices. Served it over brown basmati rice with Onion Relish (MJ1, p174). The meat and the relish were especially good together. (I have to make this relish more often. It's easy and really good. Would be good on a ham sandwich, or with scrambled eggs perhaps.) Some HD mini ice cream cups for after.

Friday/22-Oct-21: Off for haircut today. 

Dinner was pork chops, rubbed with some of the pork rub I made a while ago. And some mashed sweet potatoes (with crème fraîche, orange juice, and ground chipotle).  And Simply Sizzled Cucumber (MC). Really simple, pretty good, made a pretty plate with the pork chop and sweet potato. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Saturday/23-Oct-21: Made a loaf of Easy French Bread, (Electric, p62).

Leftovers for dinner. We had Green Eggs and Ham Soup from the freezer, thinned with chicken stock and tarted up with some Tabasco sauce, and tuna salad sandwiches. That's all.

Sunday/24-Oct-21: Dinner was a half recipe of Aiguillettes de Canard Caramélisées* (web; GD), made with escalopes de canard, rather than aiguillettes. (Aiguillettes are needles, thus the long narrow "filet" off the back of the breast.) Served with orzo and a Raw Beet Salad (web; GD), which was very good and easy. For after there was Sarah Lee's Crumb Cake (MC; GD)

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: yes; #7 RECYCLE: 11; #8 NEW: 4