This week in the kitchen

Monday/24-Feb-20: Yesterday afternoon, I started the batter for a no-knead bread that I got from an EAT-L friend. The recipe is slightly different from Lahey's classic, and it's still a puddle bread, but the timing works better for me. This morning I put the oven and casserole on the heat, then dumped the bread and formed a (flat) ball. After 30 minutes, into the oven to cook, 30 minutes covered and 15 minutes uncovered. I used T110 flour which is a close relative of whole wheat flour (T150). Not sure of the difference, but it's definitely a brown bread, with not much rise. Very tasty though and I like the schedule.

For dinner we had skinless, boneless chicken thighs, sprinkled with Penzey's Quebec Spice mix (a bit too salty) and grilled under the broiler. Then some "short spaghetti" with garlic butter and some snijbonen. Then some Häagen-Dazs mini ice cream cups for dessert.

Tuesday/25-Feb-20: Ed went off to the dentist this afternoon and came back saying he had to have mushy, cool food for dinner. So no magret, that was planned. I did a quick shuffle of the meal plan and we had a half recipe of Curried Lentils with Coconut Milk (web; cookbooker). This was easy and extra delicious; no hot stuff, but full of taste. Then we had some Abondance. Then a pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each.

Yogurt on overnight.

Wednesday/26-Feb-20: Nice dinner tonight. There was Magret de Canard à la Sauce Rose (web). I used Patricia Wells method for cooking the magret, which is the best. In the afternoon, I boiled some potatoes, then sautéed them in the rendered duck fat. There were also some steamed carrot coins, with parsley and lemon juice, and a little salad of grated broccoli stems, which was really good. In the afternoon, I made a half recipe of an Easy Blueberry Cobbler (MC) that wasn't bad. We ate well.

Thursday/2Feb-20: As we were leaving to do our weekly grocery shopping, I reached for RezaSpice and couldn't find it. Instead, having recently felt the need for some more interesting vegetarian meals, I grabbed A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen, by Jack Bishop. It turns out I've used this a bit, but not recently. Nevertheless, I've found quite a number of interesting recipes so far.

Dinner was Baked Fish with Kumquats and Ginger (Uncommon, p273), with salmon. I've made this a few times and since kumquats have been at Leclerc for the last few weeks, I thought it was time again. Served with some "short spaghetti" and steamed asparagus. The rest of the blueberry cobbler for after.

Friday/28-Feb-20: Early in the day, I made up a batch of Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter (ClassicItal, p152). At dinner time I made Spinach and Ricotta Dumplings (web). I made up a full recipe have frozen half, along with a goodly chunk of the tomato sauce. I used really parmesan, of course. Also, had to add at least double the amount of flour to get something that would hold together into a "dumpling." Served with a big salad. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.

Saturday/29-Feb-20: Dinner was Ooroomas Badun—Fried Pork Curry (Solomon1, p138. This was yummy. Served with basmati rice and Gujerati Carrot Salad (MJ1, p170). For munchies we had Spicy Cucumber Wedges (MJ1, p172. For dessert, there was Faux Kheer of store-bought riz au lait, topped with chopped pistachios and ground cardamom.We're full.

Yogurt on overnight.

Sunday/1-Mar-20: Dinner was Lex's Roast Chicken (MC; web). I used two dejeunettes (half baguettes for the bread. The cuisinart did a good job for the sliced onions and celery. Yum. Served with a salad, using up the rest of yesterday's carrot salad. And some chocolate-covered madeleines for dessert.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #2 BACKLOG: no
This month: #3 GUESTS: no for February, no for March
This year: #4 SHORT: no; #5 LONG: no
On-going: #6 READ; #7 RECYCLE; #8 NEW

This week in the kitchen

Monday/9-Jan-17: I'd planned to make a Vietnamese Crab Omelette (Solomon1, p335; cookbooker), but there wasn't a can of crab in the pantry. (I just assumed one was there and didn't check before shopping—lazy me.) So that turned into a Tuna Omelette instead. But it was still good. Worth doing again properly. As a side there was a half recipe of Thai Cucumber Salad (Cost, p143 cookbooker), which was good and went quite well with the omelette. I finished off some ancient mango sorbet from the freezer for afters, sharing a bit with Ed.

Tuesday/10-Jan-17: Oops, realized I didn't have enough mushrooms for tonight's planned dinner, so made a quick change. We had Curried Penne with Shrimp (365OneDish, p49; MC). Added peas along with the shrimp to make it truly one-dish. Good stuff. At the boulanger this morning I bought another Three Kings' Cake, so we had quarters of that for dessert. Ed got the token so got to wear the crown.

Wednesday/11-Jan-17: Shopping today. Dinner was fish from the pressure cooker served with mashed potatoes. For dessert, we finished our Three Kings' Cake.

Thursday/12-Jan-17: When I ordered some polenta and other Italian stuff a few weeks ago, I noticed they were selling taleggio also and it wasn't too expensive. Tonight it became part of Mushrooms, Potatoes, and Melting Taleggio (web). Good it was. Unfortunately both of us are regretting we ate all of what was supposed to serve four. Along with some steamed broccoli. No dessert needed at all.

Friday/13-Jan-17: Chicken from the pressure cooker tonight, served with garlicky mashed potatoes made with pyramid goat cheese. That was all.

Saturday/14-Jan-17: Put shrimp on to marinate this morning (or maybe it was early afternoon). For dinner there was a half recipe of Orecchiette with Cauliflower, Shrimp, and Red Pepper Oil (365Pasta, p169). Had wanted to do this with romanesco broccoli, which has been at the store lately. But not this week. So plain old cauliflower. I absent-mindedly cut up the whole cauliflower, so I roasted half of that. Used some multi-color shells for the the paste. I think the romanesco and pink shrimp and white pasta would be pretty. Mini magnums for dessert.

Sunday/15-Jan-17: For the third time in just over a week, we've had chicken thighs substituting for a whole chicken for dinner. This afternoon we had a half recipe of Podvarka—Chicken and Sauerkraut (TLVienna, p23). I used grapeseed oil instead of lard. Since it was "fresh", I didn't rinse the of sauerkraut. I used a red jalapeño from the freezer for the chili. Served with some boiled potatoes. It was good.

For dessert there was peach pudding from the pressure cooker.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/16-Mar-15: Dinner was a halfish recipe of Angel Hair with Shrimp Sesame Sauce (web) that I got from EAT-L. Supposedly the recipe is from the National Pasta Association, but I can't find it there. Nevermind, it's good. And easy. And quick. I used spaghettini because I didn't have enough angel hair; used Major Grey chutney; used less sugar than asked; used shallots instead of scallion/green onions. Broccoli might be good instead of asparagus. More shrooms would be good. We both added a big squirt of sriracha at the table, which was nice. Some red pepper flakes at the beginning might be good. For after, we split a magnum classic 1/3 and 2/3.

Tuesday/17-Mar-15: Dinner was a half recipe of Spiced Lentils with Egg (web), which was pretty good. The lentil mixture could be made ahead, and this would make it quite fast to have on the table. I finished off my jar of toor dal instead of using yellow split peas, of which there are none in the house. I checked the eggs after 20 minutes and they looked pretty wobbly still, so I put them in for 2 more minutes, which was a mistake, since they were pretty solid. Probably the 18 minutes timing would be fine. Served with a big salad as suggested. Two squares of dark chocolate with nuts for dessert.

Wednesday/18-Mar-15: Shopping today. First our regular stuff at Leclerc, then a trip to Intermarché to partake of the foire de chevreaux. I got both a front quarter and a back quarter. Also got some lamb merguez made at the shop. The freezer is super full right now.

Dinner was Farfalle with Salmon, Lemon, and Peas (web), definitely a keeper. Easy and tasty. I think the recipe must be intended for two, although it says it serves four. I used mini-lasagnes rather than farfalle, which I don't like very much. The mini-lasagnes are properly called mafalda corta, and are a shape I like a lot. Served with a simple salad. No dessert, since we had some cornuelles with our afternoon tea.

Thursday/19-Mar-15: Yogurt on overday. Worked on sorting/thinning dessert recipes this afternoon. We were supposed to go to a quiz/dinner this evening but one of our partners was ill, so we didn't go. Shifted tomorrow's dinner to tonight and will have to figure out the rest of the week.

Dinner was Squid Fried with Chillies (Solomon1, p181) and Quick-Fried Long Beans (Solomon1, p413) served with rice. The squid is an Indonesian dish. The beans (I used haricots verts instead of kousebanden) is Chinese. (Shh, don't tell.) The squid was pretty good, but not very hot. I took the seeds out of the chilies I used, maybe didn't need to. Followed by some ice cream with some almost defrosted raspberries.

(Solomon1 will count as a seldom-used book. Just realized I've made the beans before, but didn't leave a note in the book. Silly me.)

Friday/20-Mar-15: Went to the freezer for a make-up dinner tonight. Sicilian Lentil, Vegetable, and Pasta Soup. Plenty for dinner and for a lunch in the next days. Cookies for dessert, then off for a concert in nearby Montemboeuf.

Saturday/21-Mar-15: A days or so ago I defrost a package of pâte feuillitée (puff pastry). For breakfast this morning it used this to make Sinfully Easy Mini Croissants with Chocolate (web). Yum! Really simple to make and really tasty. Left one for la facteuse (the mail lady), but I didn't leave a note, so she didn't take it and I had to eat it later.

Dinner was Baked Zucchini with Pepper Sauce (FF&S, p222). I made about a three-quarters recipe for two. Hard to tell exactly, because the amount of zucchini is not given by weight and zucchinis differ greatly in size. Thought I'd be using up a jar of roasted red bell peppers, but it was already moldy so I had to open a new jar. Served with brown rice. Quite a nice dinner. We had some morbier cheese for afters.

Sunday/22-Mar-15: Got up late and have a lazy morning. Didn't feel like cooking what I'd planned, so made tomorrow's planned meal instead, a half recipe of Thai Chicken Curry Noodles (web). Pretty good and fast. Split a magnum classic 1/3 and 2/3 for dessert.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: yes; #2 UNUSED: yes; #3 GRAINS: yes; #4 VEG/FISH: 6
This month: #5 PASTA: no; #6 BREAD: no; #7 FotW: no for March

This week in the kitchen

Monday/4-Oct-10: Dinner tonight at the quiz in Ambernac. Nothing much happening in our kitchen.

Tuesday/5-Oct-10: An easy, old stand-by dinner tonight, Lentils with Garlic and Onion (MJ1, p125) and Simple Buttery Rice with Onion (MJ1, p149). Cooked the lentils in the pressure cooker and they come out about the same time as the rice.

Wednesday/6-Oct-10: Kept trying to get some pâte brisée made today, but never got it done. Lunch was Curried Red Lentil Soup with Lemon, a recipe from a VegTimes newsletter, I think. It wasn't bad, but nothing special. I'm always puzzled by recipes that cook red lentils for 40 minutes until they're soft. After 40 minutes, the red lentils I get (really orange, turning mustard yellow) are mush, not much is left that's recognizably a lentil. The soup was good enough, but nothing special, not a bit of fat it in, except for the chicken stock I used instead of the vegetable broth.

My attention was not on food today. Dinner was an old favorite, Spaghetti with Zucchini and Lemon (MW@Home, p195). And a bit salad. We were piggies after and ate a whole box of scholiertjes, petit ecoliers. Oink, oink.

Oops, nobody went to the boulanger today. Made Authentic French Bread (Magic, p22) overnight, about the only bread I can do out of my head.

Thursday/7-Oct-10: Shopped this morning. Dinner was Southeast Asian Fish Rolls (MWLowFat, p294), with panga and the last of last week's coriander. (Panga filets seem to be bigger here that they were in NL, so I made all the filling for the two filets and it was fine.) Accompanied by a a quarter recipe of Fragrant Jasmine Rice (MWLowFat, p189), which was more than enough for two; used a whole round, red pepper I bought at a market, which made it quite spicy. Also accompanied by Chow Dau Kok aka Quick Fried Long Beans (Solomon1, p413). Used frozen haricots verts in place of kousebanden, which I've never seen here. Made a small half of a recipe to serve 4, which was still a bit too much. Did discover that it's much easier to snap frozen beans to the proper length, than to cut the defrosted ones with a knife. For dessert there was a bit of ice cream, topped with a pineapple ring (left from the rice).

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/8-Oct 10: Ed's choir sang at the church this evening. He brought home fish and chips, a bit soggy by the time it got home, but pretty good anyhow. A pair of store-bought chocolate chip cookes each for dessert. These were surprisingly good (new brand).

Saturday/9-Oct-10: Made a double batch of Apple-Plum Butter today. Used our "found" apples, mostly quite small, so I used two of these apple required. Lots of peeling. And the plums, plucked from the same bin at the store, were two different kinds, red skins with red insides and red skins with yellow insides. Oh well. Accidentally added ground cloves instead of nutmeg; scooped it out, but a bit remained. Doesn't seem to have affect the taste too badly. I left the lid off the Dutch oven for part of the final boiling and, boy, did that make a mess!

Dinner was a half version of Spaghetti with Cauliflower and Pancetta (30MinPasta, p142). This was quite good, easy, and definitely in under 30 minutes. I like the time-saving features: the cauliflower cooked whole in the soon-to-be pasta water (which seemed to be less messy when chopped than chopping it raw), and dumping the garlic, pancetta, pepper flakes, and oil in the skillet before lighting the fire. Why not? Used all of pepper flakes, though, which was nice. Served with a big salad. Finished off the chocolate chip cookies for afters.

Sunday/10-Oct-10: We lunched at the Fête du Pain in Cruzeau today. Too much fatty food (big chunks of pâté and rillettes for a starter, grilled pork, potato chips, and cheese) and neither of us feels like eating much tonight.

The Cooking Italy group is mightily silent. The October schedule has still not been published. No one has made the duck think from September. I've got the duck legs in the freezer, but haven't felt like making it. Maybe everyone has the don't-feel-like-cooking malaise. I bumped into a similar sort of group doing French cooking, but they're cooking from a book I don't recognize, and I really don't need another cookbook, now, do I?