This week in the kitchen

Monday/24-Aug-20: Made a loaf of English Muffin Bread (BMB, p17) this morning. Good stuff.

Leftover pizza for dinner. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/25-Aug-20: Started Crock Pot Picadillo (web). I had 700g of 5% ground beef, so made about a 2/3 recipe. Pretty good stuff. I didn't serve over brown rice as suggested, but with corn tortillas (now that I've found some good mail-order ones). And a side of guacamole. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each later.

Wednesday/26-Aug-20: Dinner was about a third of Ayam Masak Rose—Braised Chicken and Peas in a Coconut-and-Chili Sauce (TLPacSea, p61), using four thighs. This was really good. The meat is not browned, which I found a surprise. I think I would take the skin off before cooking; I did remove it before serving. Served over basmati rice. Ed said it's a 5-star dish.

Served with our favorite Thai Cucumber Salad with Peanuts (web). I got the chili out of the freezer, but forgot to cut it up, so the salad was quite soothing after the chicken dish.

Thursday/27-Aug-20: Made the 1-3/4-2# loaf of Classic Whole Wheat Bread (BigGerman, p81) (WW/Rapid/L/-/-). That was a seriously big loaf. I expect the 1-1/2# loaf will still be big. Tasty.

Made a batch of Mango Plum Jam (SmallBatch, p51; cookbooker). Used only 2 cups sucre de confiture, which was a good amount tastewise, even though it's a bit runny.

Dinner was Carrot and Coriander Soup (Fancy, p39). Delicious. A whole recipe served two as a dinner soup. Would be a nice soup in small cups as a starter.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/28-Aug-20: Finished reading Pure&Simple last night. Wasn't very impressed. Have marked a few recipes to try. There are lots of ingredients, primarily veggies, that aren't available here and I don't recall seeing them in NL. Oh well.

Pick up an order at Intermarché today. I ordered carrots when we didn't need any. Maybe we'll have lots and lots of Carrot and Coriander Soup.

Dinner was Asian Grilled Salmon (web), on the bbq. This was easy, fast, and tasty. Served with trio rice and Chinese Eggplant with Garlic Sauce (web). I used most of the white eggplants from the potager. (Bought by mistake, these are much better the the tiny white "ur" eggplants which are very bitter). Having no black vinegar right now, I used malt vinegar, which seemed to work quite well. Anyhow, this was tingly and tasty. We're full.

Saturday/29-Aug-20: Made a batch of Marcella Hazan's famous Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter (ClassicItal, p152) from my over-bought stash of grappe tomate. Soon I need to start making sauce (passata, I think) from the tomatoes from the potager.

Dinner was Indonesian Beef Satay (Wolfert, p72). The bbq chef burnt one side so the meat was pretty overcooked. No pindasaus, since neither of us especially like it. Difficult to say much more about it. Used some green beans to make a halfish recipe of Tumi Buncis (SriOwen, p195). Pretty good, although my beans were a bit old. Dressed up the remains of yesterday's eggplant sort of like Gorentg Terong—Fried Aubergines (SriOwen, p192). Worked pretty good. And some basmati rice. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Sunday/30-Aug-20: Took a load of stuff off to a charity shop today. Ed managed to lose one of his hearing aids along the way!

Dinner was a halfish dose of Garlic, Caper & Lemon Linguine (magazine clipping from Jamie, I guess; scanned). Easy and tasty. For a side, I sliced up one of our home-grown tomatoes, topped with a bit of olive oil, S&P, and torn basil. Yum. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

I'm reading my next cookbook at night right now. This works because it's a rather small book. Won't be handy at all for a bigger one. Will have to find another solution for cookbook reading.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 4; #2 BACKLOG: no
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/10-Aug-20: I picked up an order from Leclerc today after my French lesson.

The sweltering heat continues. We had a big thunderstorm this morning, and may have more in the next days. Thursday it should start cooling off.

Dinner was a half dose of Basil, Shrimp & Zucchini Pasta (web). Pretty good stuff, made with surprisingly little tomato sauce. (I buzzed the proper amount of canned tomato pulp to make the sauce, and froze the rest.) Peaches&cream ice cream for after.

Tuesday/11-Aug-20: Made another loaf of English Muffin Bread (BMB, p17), this time using less water. This is a delicious bread and smells wonderful while it's baking. Although most breads smell wonderful.

Dinner was a halfish dose of Tomatoes and Eggplant over Couscous with Caper Sauce (VegPlanet, p257). I used a preserved lemon for the lemon juice and peel. Feta on top at serving. Quite good, but not quite well-seasoned enough. Finished the peaches and cream ice cream for after. Yogurt on overnight.

Wednesday/12-Aug-20: No phone and internet briefly in the morning. Dinner was Roasted Masala Lamb Chops with Pistachio & Pomegranate (Jamie). This was good. Didn't serve on flatbread (bone-in lamb chops on flatbread?), but served with Moroccan couscous (from the organic shop) and Crushed Spiced Carrot Salad (Morocco, p78), a tasty favorite. Some chocolate-covered madeleines for after. (Leclerc Drive has finally started carrying these!)

Thursday/13-Aug-20: Neglected to defrost something for dinner and my mind was a blank, even though there's lots of veg in the fridge. Pizza it was, with the rest of the package of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Started some Overnight Bread.

Friday/14-Aug-20: Baked up the Overnight Bread in the morning.

Dinner was Spicy Turkey Salad (PatSalads, p102). (Wish I'd remembered this book when it was seriously hot.) I had about 300g of turkey scallops (two of them) and minced those rather than grinding. Interesting that the meat is cooked in a mixture of lime juice, lemongrass, and garlic, with no oil involved. It was a bit short on meat, but otherwise I did a whole recipe. A very light meal for two, not four. We started a new packet of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Saturday/15-Aug-20: Picked up an order from Intermarché Drive today. Lots of fruit; not much veg, which we're over-endowed with right now.

Dinner was Sweet-and-Sour Salmon in Almond Prune Sauce (Essential, p431). This sounded a bit odd (sauce of prunes, honey, dijon, etc.), but turned out delicious. I'm not sure, but I think everything with pomegranate molasses might be delicious. Served with trio rice and some steamed haricots verts. Store-bought crème caramels for after.

Sunday/16-M Aug on-20: Used more of our plums to make Plum Amaretto Jam (SmallBatch, p50). About a pound of plums (maybe a teeny bit more) make two AH jars. Tastes good. Into the freezer with them.

Dinner was Corn with Cauliflower (WorldVeg, p173), which sounded a bit odd, but worked quite well. Served over short-grained brown rice. The rest of the store-bought crème caramels for after.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 4; #2 BACKLOG: no
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/11-Jul-16: Picked more than a quart of blueberries at friends' house while watering plants. This being a busy week, I'm not sure when I'll have time to do anything with them.

Dinner was Seekh Kebabs, Jeera Rice, Gujarati Carrot Salad, Cauliflower Relish, and Naan, all from 30MinInd.

Tuesday/12-Jul-16: Busy day today. BookChatters for me in the morning. Then both of us went to Soyaux, gassed up, pick up an order from Carrefour Drive, had lunch. Then I had an ENT appointment for checkup and to get a new T-tube in my left ear; appointment at 14.15, got in about 15.15, then a half hour wait for the local anesthetic to take effect, sort of, finally done about 16.00. A bit of shopping at Grand Frais, then homewards.

Dinner was Bean Salad with Shrimp and Curry Yogurt (web). A bit of an odd recipe. First, it's green beans, rather than cannellini or some such. Second, it's supposed to serve four, apparently as a main. Never. We had it all, served over brown rice, making a light, tasty meal for two. Too much honey. Too little curry powder. Pretty good.

Wednesday/13-Jul-16: Ate out at a music evening tonight. Nothing happened in the kitchen. Including the yogurt I was supposed to do.

Thursday/14-Jul-16: Yogurt on overday.

Made Sour Cream Fresh Blueberry Cake (MC), an old favorite, and left half with Shirley and Terry. Still have 4cups of blueberries to use.

Dinner was Salmon in Banana Leaves, Broccoli Sabzi, and Coconut Rice, followed by, yes, Sour Cream Fresh Blueberry Cake. Ed served this with cream, but I thought that was unnecessary gilding of the lily.

Friday/15-Jul-16: Off for a haircut this morning. Before I left, I started Vaguely Vietnamese Slow Cooker Pork Tacos (web), which was, yes vaguely Vietnamese. And not bad. Served with whole wheat flour tortillas and the accompanying slaw, which was ok. Should have grated the carrots and cuke. No Asian pear and didn't add anything sweet to compensate. Went well with the pork, which will serve only four, not 6-8 as advertised.

Yogurt on overnight.

Saturday/16-Jul-16: Made Bluebard Jam (SmallBatch, p37). Used a full packet of Vitpris pectin (~35g); it might be a bit stiff. Or not. And sucre de canne. Made four AH jars; two in the freezer, one for Shirley and Terry, one for us.

Dinner was a halfish recipe of Braised Chicken with Preserved Lemon and Olives (web) with three chicken thighs. (Lately chicken thighs come packaged in threes, rather than fours, which is somewhat annoying.) This was quite good, in spite of the fact that I forgot to add the "herb sachet" to the simmering chicken and sauce. (Have added that to the leftover sauce for when I rewarm it.) The chicken was browned, then braised, then cooked in the oven. It came out with a really crispy skin. Altogether very tasty. The recipe suggested serving with roasted potatoes or boiled noodles, neither of which appealed. I made some whole wheat couscous. Then a big salad, using the the blue cheese dressing. Then the rest of the blueberry cake.

Sunday/17-Jul-16: This morning I put lamb chops on to marinate for our dinner of Kashmiri Lamb Chops and Jeera Potatoes. Served this with Green Peas in a Creamy Sauce (Q&E, p87). After we ate, we went to the movies, hoping for ice cream cones, but there were none tonight, so we had mini magnums when we got back.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 2
This month: #3 PASTA: no; #4 BREAD: no; #5 FotW: no for Jul/Aug

This week in the kitchen

Monday/18-Aug-14: A clear-the-fridge kind of dinner tonight. For the main there were Grilled Zucchini Pizza Slices (web) using some thick zucchini slices, no-tomato pizza sauce from the freezer, mozzarella, bacon (which is rather like Canadian bacon), pyramid goat cheese, chopped black olives, and Parmesan. Very versatile, this recipe, since you can use most anything to build the layers; we thought eggplant slices would make a good base also. There were two salads as go-withs. First, Betterave Rouge aux Noisettes (VPG; web), which is a classic sort of thing. I couldn't find hazelnuts (until I put the walnuts back in the freezer), but that was OK, since I don't have any hazelnut oil right now. But I do have walnut oil, so used walnuts instead. Then a made up salad with a home-grown tomato, a bit of home-grown cucumber, some home-grown basil, and shallot with a little vinaigrette. All good stuff if a non-traditional sort of dinner. Saved all the bits of leftover this&thats to use as a pasta sauce for a lunch in the new future.

Tuesday/19-Aug-14: Went to Intermarché after my physio appointment and bought some lamb on sale, some for a dinner this week and more for the freezer. Also got fish for tonight's dinner. Walking through the veggie section on the way to check out, I saw they had some nice-looking sweet corn, so bought a pair of ears. Not sure why this store frequently has corn in the summer, while Leclerc rarely does and it's usually pretty icky looking when they do. Then our regular shopping.

Came home and made Rhubarb Cobbler (web; cookbooker). Our main was a half recipe of Clam Shack-Style Broiled Fish (web) which was quite good. Might use another flavoring instead of paprika next time. Served with, yes, corn on the cob and Parmesan Smashed Potatoes (web), a really yummy way to bake potatoes, right up there (and similar to) Dusolier's Perfect Roasted Potatoes. Cobbler for dessert. We're stuffed.

Yogurt on overnight.

Wednesday/20-Aug-14: Used the rest of the rhubarb and some frozen blueberries (as instructed, since they're not in season at the same time) to make some Bluebarb Jam (SmallBatch, p37). Not sure I had enough pectin, so we may have some bluebarb sauce to deal with later. Somehow I seem to have repeatedly bought sacks of sugar with pectin and boxes of just plain pectin. A friend is making jams for a charity this year, so I gave her all this stuff, leaving only a half sack of pectin (expired, but I wonder if pectin actually expires?). Guess I ought to buy a bit again.

Dinner started with Soft Asian Summer Rolls with Sweet and Savory Dipping Sauce (web; cookbooker). We had three each instead of one, but they were good. My packet of rice paper circles fell to the floor at some point, so about a quarter of each one was broken off, making them rather difficult to roll. The main was a half recipe of Hot and Spicy Chicken with Lemon Grass (MaiPham, p128) served over rice. Good stuff. Originally I thought this wasn't going to be enough, so I made some Cucumber Salad (Yaam Taeng Kwa) (Delightful, p51). In the end, we didn't eat this (beyond a munch), so we put the cukes and onion in a jar with their sauce and the remainder of the dipping sauce to have in the next days. Then some rhubarb cobbler.

Should have put chicken on to marinate for tomorrow's dinner but didn't feel like it. Will have to do it first thing tomorrow.

Thursday/21-Aug-14: Got the chicken on to marinate this morning. It turned into a half recipe of Baked Chicken Curry (MJ@Home, p88; cookbooker), which turned out to be quite good. Served with plain basmati rice and Pan-Grilled Zucchini (MJ@Home, p123). For dessert there was Yogurt Custard (MJ@Home, p276). This was tasty and about as easy as can be: equal amounts of yogurt and sweetened condensed milk, stirred together, then baked in a bain marie.

Argh, this was supposed to be my IHCC contribution for the week and I forgot to take a photo. Sigh.

Friday/22-Aug-14: Haircut day. We're in the process of growing it out. Really like it for the last month. Not so sure of today's result. I see we're going towards the way I had it just before leaving Houston. We'll see.

We were supposed to go out to see a friend's band this evening but Ed's not feeling well, plus he's extra tired from all the shutter painting, so we stayed in. Dinner was Shrimp Panzanella (web; cookbooker), a lovely summer salad. Too bad the weather isn't summery. We ate outside, but it was a bit cool.

Saturday/23-Aug-14: Defrosted the big freezer today. Whew. A handful of stuff MIA, things that I forgot to remove from the spreadsheet when I used them.

Dinner was Salmon and Dill Fishcakes (Diaries, p161; cookbooker) made with the rest of the frozen salmon. Nice texture, nice salmon taste, but otherwise missing a bit of something. Served with cascareccia with a sauce made of a beet I roasted a while ago, red onion and garlic, and pyramid goat's cheese. That was pretty good. Ed thought they were both good, but didn't go especially well together. Finished off the Yogurt Custard for dessert.

Sunday/24-Aug-14: Bbq night, although Ed forgot so it was a bit later than planned. Dinner was Grilled Lamb Steaks with Rosemary, Garlic, and Red Wine (Thrill, p150). Good stuff. Served with two fo the suggested go-withs: Grilled Eggplant with Olive Oil, Parsley, and Capers (Thrill, p298) and Basil Tabbouleh (Thrill, p313). Both good. We each had a double chocolate mini Magnum for the after-dinner Pogo walk, looking for Sophie who's still not in.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes; #2 VEG/FISH: 3
This month: #3 PASTA: yes; #4 FotW: no; #5 BREAD: no

This week in the kitchen

Monday/27-Aug-12: Pizza round 2, a loose interpretation of Chicken and Herb White Pizza (CL/oct11), using the store-bought pizza and turkey (still from Thanksgiving!). It was OK. Ed says my homemade pizza crust is tastier, if thicker, more like foccacia really. A bit of Bittersweet Chocolate Pudding for afters.

Tuesday/28-Aug-12: A neighbor brought a bowlful of plums. Made some Plum Amaretto Jam (SmallBatch, p50) and still have a quart or more or mirabelles left. Tomorrow maybe.

Pizza round 3. Ed didn't say "lunchtime" till 15.30, which would have made dinner way too late. So I popped the leftover pizza in the oven and we had that for whatever meal you call it at 16.00. Later we had some fruit.

Wednesday/29-Aug-12: Shopping today, pretty much following the list. Froze up the Vanilla Ice Milk (MC); I'd cut this recipe back by a quarter, but it was still a bit too much for my freezer.

Dinner was a half dose of Zucchini Rice Casserole (web, cookbooker), good but a long time in the cooking (nothing difficult, just time in the oven). Beforehand we had some "toasts" with chive Boursin topped with smoked salmon. Followed by a salad. Then we finished off the Bittersweet Chocolate Pudding.

Thursday/30-Aug-12: Had our main meal at lunch today, a half dose of Cashew Salmon with Apricot Couscous (web), very good. Would be a nice company meal probably. Then a salad. And then chocolate mini Magnums for an easy dessert.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/31-Aug-12: After the little bit of rain, the squash plants are blooming like mad. The day turned into a kitchen day somehow.

Roasted another pair of beets from the garden. Made some Marinated Zucchini Sticks (Goldbeck, p67), which turned out to be pretty good, although we really didn't need them in the end. Then made again Chocolate Zucchini Cake (TooMany, p215). Used most of the Chinese cabbage I bought for Mama's Garlic Coleslaw (MC), which is a very nice coleslaw. Then there were Savory Grilled Potatoes (MC), which I did in the toaster oven rather than on the grill. The main was grilled kip filets with Chipotle-Sage Dry Rub (HC); a tasty rub, have a bit in the freezer now. Fridge is full of leftovers too.

Sally came for dinner after visiting Mike in the hospital. He may get out on Sunday after more than a week. Sent her home with some Chocolate Zucchini Cake.

Saturday/1-Sep-12: One of my weekly cleaning tasks is to "deep-clean" three shelves, i.e., all the books off each shelf, dust or vacuum, dust the books and replace them, considering if there are any candidates for recycling. Today I'm back to the beginning! The goal was to go all the way around in a year, but I think it's been a bit quicker, so maybe I need to slow down my pace.

Finished off the Zucchini Rice Casserole and Mama's Garlic Coleslaw for dinner. No dessert since we had Chocolate Zucchini Cake after lunch.

Sunday/2-Sep-12: Sort of ate our main meal at lunch today, two of us split one three-course meal at a vide grenier. In the evening, we had a big salad with some cooked chicken. And some Chocolate Zucchini Cake.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes, #2 BREAD: no, #3 SOUP: no, #4 MIDDAY: yes, #5 VEG/FISH: 2
This month: #6 PASTA: yes for Aug, no for Sep