This week in the kitchen

Monday/2-Aug-21: Dinner was from Jacques Pepin, Scallops in Cream on Spinach (web; GD). I served with a bit of tagliatelle, then the spinach, then the scallops. Pretty good stuff. A pair of chocolate covered madeleines each for after.

Tuesday/3-Aug-21: Dinner was Korean Beef (web) served over white rice. I see that the amount of brown sugar has been corrected down closer to the amount I used, 1/2cup down to 1/4cup, I used about 3tbl. The picture, I see, tops with green onion and sesame seeds, not mentioned in the recipe. Made all and froze half. Might add a bit of veg, broccoli perhaps, when it comes round again. Served with Korean Green Salad (web). This was pretty good. For after we had some freshly made vanilla-amaretto ice cream with a bit of store-bought hazelnut cake. Good stuff.

Wednesday/4-Aug-21: Dinner was a half dose of Shrimp Pad Thai with Peanut Sauce (web). Pretty good stuff. My thin rice noodles were awfully thick after soaking/boiling, but went down okay. Some hazelnut cake for after.    

Thursday/5-Aug-21: Shopping today. 

Dinner was Smoky Chorizo Salmon* (web; GD). This is easy and fast (except for deseeding all those cherry tomatoes, as we must do around here). Served with a side of orzo. Some chocolate eclairs from the boulangerie for after. 

 

Friday/6-Aug-21: Ed got his pre-surgery (carpal tunnel) PCR today. All clear.

Dinner was Tarte à la Tomate (TLProvFr, p50 in the hardback, p15 in Supplement Number 1). There being no gruyère in the cooler, I used Beaufort, which is the same kind of thing. The recipe asks one pound of cheese. I sliced about 2/3 of that and used about half of what I sliced. Lots of fresh basil. The two of us ate the whole tart. Followed by a big salad. Without tomatoes. 

Then a bit of hazelnut cake (I bought another this week) with strawberries and cream.

Saturday/7-Aug-21: Dinner was, vaguely, Polenta Pasticciata—Polenta with Cream Sauce and Mushroom (TLItal, pp21). I didn't feel like making the polenta early and chilling it, so I just served soft polenta topped with the mushroom and bechamel. I ran out of polenta (yipes!) so used grits for the rest. Added a bit of minced garlic to the shrooms. Good stuff if not as fancy as the squares. Then a salad. Then some store-bought riz au laits.

Sunday/8-Aug-21: We had lunch out today to celebrate the 39th anniversary of our leaving Houston. A few nibbles in the evening, but nothing to write home about.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/20-Jul-20: Dinner was a half version of Melting Mushroom Swiss Burgers (Ainsley1, p27. Pretty good as burgers go. Served with the frites leftover from our take-out burgers last week. I put them, frozen, onto a baking sheet under the broiler. Worked quite well. Some mini Häagen-Dasz ice cream cups for after.

Tuesday/21-Jul-20: Dinner was Mediterranean Chicken Gyros (web), a thirdish version with two kip filets. Not especially authentic, but easy to make and tasty. Served with flour tortillas instead of pitas.

Yogurt on overnight. Yogurt and bread happened last week, but didn't seem to get recorded.

Wednesday/22-Jul-20: Made a loaf of Buckwheat Cornmeal Bread (BigGerman, p38) in the ABM. Pretty loaf. We'll see how it is tomorrow

Dinner was Thai Crumbled Beef in Lettuce Wraps (web). I made about a two-third recipe (with 250g instead of 350g of ground beef). Easy and very good. Leaves of butterhead lettuce, rather than iceberg. Thinking this wasn't enough for a proper dinner, I made a quarter recipe of Summer Shrimp Pad Thai (web), sort of. Didn't want to open a can of corn for just a little bit, so omitted that. Used tiny shrimp rather than largish ones. Pretty good, worth an appearance as a main course we thought.

Thursday/23-Jul-20: Went to make dinner and discovered I was missing some critical ingredients. Replan.

Instead we had a half dose of Fagioli Toscanelli con Tonno— White Bean and Tuna Salad (TLItal, p6). This was good, maybe could use a smidge more lemon juice. I used canned beans and frozen parsley, since I'm out of that. I've made similar dishes before. Makes a very nice salad dinner on a hot day.

Finished a bit of goat cheese for after. While the Buckwheat Cornmeal Bread is tasty, I can't say it's the best bread for cheese, being a bit crumbly.

Friday/24-Jul-20: Ed picked up an order at Intermarché for dinner. Salmon comes in 200g and 400g lumps. Usually I ask for 400g, then write in the comments that I'd like 300-350g. That seems to work. (If I don't write, we can get over 500g, which is a lot for two people.) This time I ordered 200g and wrote that I'd like 300-350g. And we got 200g on the button. So a bit of a replan for dinner.

We had Salmon and Broccoli Pasta (web), which was good if nothing wow-ful. For after, I made some Chocolate Tapioca Pudding following my formula.

Started Overnight Bread (web).

Saturday/25-Jul-20: Oops, ran out of gas while the oven was pre-heating for Overnight Bread. Changed the bottle and started again.

Dinner was Warm Broccoli and Potato Salad (MDSalads, p15). This is an old favorite. All the ingredients were available, so there it was. More tapioca pudding for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Sunday/26-Jul-20: Oops, I counted out the hours on the yogurt maker, but didn't manage to press the Go button. Started about 9:30. Will order some new starter, since I expect this batch will have aged significantly overnight.

Dinner was chipolatas from the bbq. Served with Green Zucchini Salad (web), a loose quarter recipe. Also some Olive Rice Salad (MC). This is a favorite recipe collected a long while ago, reputedly from Nava Atlas. No red bell pepper, so I used some roasted from a jar. Finished the tapioca pudding. We're stuffed.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #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/15-Jun-20: Leftover tart for dinner. Should have been a salad, but I didn’t feel like it. Mini Häagen-Dazs ice cream cups for after. Later some bread with terrine de canard.

Started the dough for Susan Dunaway's No-Knead bread, using 3 cups T65 and 1 cups T110 flours.


Tuesday/16-Jun-20: Baked the bread in the morning. And it came right out of the pot. Yay.

First time we've been in the car together is several months. Today we both went to pick up an order from Leclerc Drive and then on to Brico Leclerc to do some shopping. Inside. Lots of people unmasked. The check-out people are protected, but hand-cleaning stuff is not to be found.

Finished Bishop on the way there. I was surprised how much I'd already used the book. Seems I used it a number of times before we moved here. I'll try some more of them before too long. The book is aimed at vegetarian family cooking, nothing too fancy, and realizing that time is short.

Hard-boiled/steamed four eggs.

Dinner was Curried Cauliflower Bisque (from the freezer) with tuna sandwiches. Too bad I didn't freeze the soup in smaller containers. We were full.

Think I should have started some bread this evening, but was too lazy.

Wednesday/17-Jun-20: Dinner was Beef or Lamb Jhal Faraizi (MJ@Home, p137), the whole recipe, for dinner. It tastes like an Inidan hash, but apparently it's often a breakfast dish with eggs. I thought briefly about adding some eggs for the last minutes of cooking, but thought we had enough protein. I used cooked lamb from the freezer. Served with Salaad (MJ@Home, p235), a nice salad I've made before. Some mini ice cream cups soothed the tongue after.

Yogurt on overnight. Realized later I should have started a bowlful of Dunaway's bread.

Thursday/18-Jun-20: During the day, I made some Old-Fashioned Buttermilk White Bread (MC). (I found some dried buttermilk, not Saco, at Amazon, so I'm trying buttermilk recipes.)

Ed picked an order from Intermarché Drive today. The bit of fish was quite large, so we'll have it twice with smallish portions. Dinner tonight was Salmon with Curried Yogurt & Cucumber Salad (web; EW/jul-aug19; cookbooker). I made all of the salad and sauce with half the salmon. For afters we had some nonettes that I bought on spec; they're little honey-drenched spice cakes filled with cassis jam. They weren't bad. Some buttermilk bread for after-afters.

Friday/19-Jun-20: Tonight's dinner was Salmon with Fennel & Sun-Dried Tomato Couscous (web; EW/jan-feb18). I didn't read this recipe closely enough when I chose it, thinking only that it would use up some oven-dried tomatoes from the freezer. Oops, it wants sun-dried tomato pesto. Off to the web. I found sun-dried tomato pesto with and without basil. Not having a superfluity of basil, I chose the one without and made a very loose, cut-back version. Neither of us are big fennel fans, but this was pretty good. We finished the nonettes (two each) for after.

I've chosen Mittal's Pure&Simple for my next cookbook to read. I'm not sure what prompted me to buy this and I haven't used it at all. Since my space allocated to Indian-ish cookbooks is over full, I'm trying to look at any relatively unused books here to see if I really need them. This one has lots of pictures and no index, so it's off to a bad start. We'll see.

Saturday/20-Jun-20: Dinner was a half recipe of Zucchini Ripieni—Stuffed Zucchini Baked in Tomato Sauce (TLItal, p41).

For the tomato sauce I made a hybrid of Marcella Hazzan's famous Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter (ClassicItal, p152) and Salsa Pizaiola—Tomato and Garlic Sauce (TLItal, p43); I started with Hazan, then, noticing the recipe in TLItal, added a garlic clove (stuck on a toothpick for easy retrieval), oregano, basil, and bayleaf. For dessert we had some Häagen-Dazs mango sorbet that I impulse-bought. (Yes, you can do that shopping online too.)

Started a batch of Susan Dunaway's No-Knead Bread to bake tomorrow morning.

Sunday/21-Jun-20: Recycled a couple of rarely used cookbooks today. I'm really going to have to hustle now to meet my goal for the year.

Dinner was a half dose of Salade de Lentilles à la Fourme d'Ambert (web; Règal), served over some mixed lettuces. This should have served three, so the two of us were quite full. It was good.

Yogurt on overnight.

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

Tweede kerstdag 2019

Verrine Thon, Céleri, Noix et Gorgonzola Cuscinetti di Vitello — Braised Veal Scallops with Prosciutto-and-Cheese Stuffing Carolino Gratinati — Brussels Sprouts au Gratin Riso al Limone — Boiled Rice with Lemon Häagen-Dasz mini ice cream cups

This meal was not especially well-planned since all the dishes were cheesed, not lots, but still it was cheesy.

There were nice little verrines (web) to start, although the layers were not as apparent as on the website. I thought it might be better to mix all the ingredients except the nuts (a kind of waldorf salad then), although you can, of course, do that at table.

The veal (TLItal, p58) was nice, although how you manage to get 4"x4" packets is beyond me. I think you must be prepared to trim off lots of meat. I ended up with two packets roughly that size for the two of us. It was tasty if not picture perfect.

The Brussels sprouts (VegCarlu, p93) were edible but nothing to do again. First the sprouts were boiled, which doesn't bring out the best in them, and then they were drowned in too much bechamel.

I've made the lemon rice (TLItal, p20) before. This time I did it with long-grain rice rather than arborio. This worked fine. It's a nice when you'd like sometime a bit more than plain rice. Now I'm wondering it if wouldn't be nice with some brown rice, long- or short-grained.

For dessert we had some Häagden-Dasz mini ice cream cups. We were full and happy.

This week in the kitchen

Thanks so much to Blogger for losing what I had written for Monday and Tuesday. Sigh.

Monday/1-Mon-18: Cath stayed for breakfast (oatmeal/porridge), but went home before the winds got too bad. So we had our meal just for two.

We finished off the polenta crostini with salmon left from last night for our starter.

Our main was Abbacchio alla Cacciatora—Braised Lamb with Anchovy Sauce (TLItal, p77). The "alla Cacciatora" part really means "hunter-style" and I'm not sure what hunters have to do with anchovies. Anyhow, the minced fishies are added to the sauce at the last minute to deepen the flavor; the smell is gone in the first minutes of cooking and they don't make it fishy tasting. Quite yummy it was. Not sure about the serving 4-6 part though. I let the butcher sell me a boneless roast made from the shoulder. This was a bit lighter than I asked and it involved a lot of waste bits, so I ended up with much less than I intended. Still the two ate it all, and I can't imagine the whole amount serving six. Three, or maybe four skimpy servings would do. It was very good whatever.

Served the stew over the last of the pici (very fat, supposedly hand-rolled, spaghetti-ish stuff) we brought back from Tuscany. On the side there was Broccoli alla Romana—Broccoli Braised with White Wine (TLItal, p35) that I've made several times now.

Served this with a bottle of Chianti from Leclerc's not-so-vast selection of Italian wines, which included two Chiantis and two Lambruscos. We weren't too impressed.

More three kings' cake for dessert. Just enough for breakfast left.

Tuesday/2-Mon-18: Made up some artichoke hearts with green tapenade and goat cheese for a starter. (More we missed on New Year's Eve.)

Our main was a halfish version of Quick "Corned" Beef & Cabbage (web). This was okay, but didn't scratch the corned beef itch. It did, however, use up the huge supply of cabbage we had on hand. My tummy wasn't feeling well so I didn't eat much. We have lots of beef in the fridge for another meal.

Wednesday/3-Mon-18: As I left for French this morning, the car wouldn't start, and when it did, all the warning lights were on, including some I'd never seen before. Didn't even get out of the hameau before coming directly home. Then the washing machine got a call-customer-service error. Not a good start for the day.

Monday I accidentally defrosted a jar of soup when I meant to defrost a jar of stock. Oops. So tonight we had soup for dinner, puréed spinach, zucchini, and broccoli with some noodles added. But first we had the last of the artichoke hearts with green tapenade and goat cheese. Cookies for dessert.

Ed thinks the car problem is a loose, damp battery connection. The car started after the connections were cleaned, dried, and tightened. And the washing machine problem seems to have been a problem of overloading, when Ed decided to add two towels to an already full load.

Made my meal plan and list today. Haven't really made a list of cookbooks for my cookbook bonus goal, so have nothing planned for this week. TLItal isn't unused and neither is ClassPasta coming later in the week. Maybe I can make a quick change, or maybe I just won't count this week. TBD.

Thursday/4-Mon-18: Yes, made a quick change to one of my xmas gifts. Shopping today. Oops, car not fixed. Luckily the carpark at the Leclerc is on a hill, so we pushed the car down the hill to start it. Drove over to Brico Leclerc to buy a car battery. Turns out the current one is over seven years old. About time, you might say.

The fish selection was strangely diminished at the market today. I ended up buying swordfish rather than lieu noir or another white fish. Dinner was a halfish recipe of 20-Minute Fish Curry (MadeIndia, p131) with swordfish. Let me say that it isn't 20 minutes when you have to deseed 7 ounces of cherry tomatoes. It was good though. Had lots of broccoli stems to use up. Found the recipe for Cauliflower Cachumber (MJ@Home p240) and made that with grated broccoli stems. Very yummy although the texture would have been nicer if I'd used the box grater rather than the big microplane. And plain basmati rice. No camera downstairs, so no picture.

Friday/5-Mon-18: Earlyish meal today. There was Sautéed Chicken in Lemon Cream Sauce (MC), with a yummy sauce. I've made the before but didn't note when. Served with smashed potatoes, trying to use up the stash (recipe suggested egg noodles), and steamed snijbonen (runner beans?) in chunks.

Looked for some marrons glacés in the sale of xmas goodies yesterday, but there were none. Instead I got two half-price packets of dark chocolates. We had 3-1/2 each (one layer) from one of the boxes for dessert.

Saturday/6-Mon-18: Our mail meal was a half recipe of Farfalle al Salmone Affumicato (ClassPasta, p121; cookbooker) using the smoked trout option since I had that needing to be used. Used mafalda corta pasta. I liked this, Ed not so much. Served with a big salad. For dessert, we finished another layer of dark chocolates.

Sunday/7-Mon-18: Roasted a chicken today, using the "bricking" technique. The recipe was Za'atar Rubber Butterflied Chicken; the recipe is no longer at the site where I found it and I've not turned up another copy. Oh well. Do like the bricking technique, though. Chickie is spatchcocked, then cooked skin-side down in a oven-proof skillet, weighted with another skillet. I used a cast iron skillet topped by a saucepan full of water. It takes 20-25 minutes for the skin to get nice and brown. Then you turn the chick over and finish cooking without the "brick" in a 450F oven for 10-20 minutes. In tonight's recipe, the za'atar rub was added after turning the chick over, but a tasty rub under the skin would work fine also.

Made some trio rice, then realized I had potatoes to be used up, so made Tunisian Potato Salad with Cumin (MedLight, p117), which Ed liked a lot. Also served with Spicy Carrot Salad (MedLight, p114), an old favorite, although the garlic seemed especially strong tonight. Have put the rice and bit of leftover carrots together for the next days.

Ed bought another galette des rois today—another one with a Harry Potter fêve. We haven't found it yet.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 3; #3 COOKBOOK: yes
Cookbook of the month: MadeIndia
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: no; #6 GUESTS: no
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This week in the kitchen

Monday/9-Oct-17: Since we missed yesterday's meal, I had to do a bit of replanning today. We had Shrimp with Pernod—Grote Garnalen met Tomaat, Zwarte Olijven en Pernod (web) a recipe I got from Bill. Quite good it was, although we both thought the garlic should have been added earlier in the cooking. Then a salad. Then some mini Magnums.

Ed replaced the clock in the stove today so the ovens work. It's a bit different from the old one, so we're not completely sure how it works. But at least I can bake again.

Tuesday/10-Oct-17: Earlyish meal today. We had a half recipe of Chicken Breast with Pancetta Cream and Peas (web; CL/mar14). Used 100g unsmoked lardons from the freezer; they were a bit old and had a touch of freezer burn. Not hard and quite tasty. Some sliced mushrooms might be good.

Yogurt on overnight.

Wednesday/11-Oct-17: Shopping today.

Meant to get salmon for Salmon Steaks with Cucumber Sauce (Tabasco, p75), but there was only one tiny piece of salmon left. I got tuna for this instead. Pretty good it was. Served with trio rice and steamed broccoli. For dessert, Ed had a mini-Magnum and I had a mini-Häagen-Dasz; I bought these last week, having not seen them before. Better than the classic Magnums, I think.

Thursday/12-Oct-17: Back to Time-Life for our meal today. We had a half recipe of Scaloppine al Limone—Sautéed Veal Scallops with Lemon (TLItal, p63). Served these with Piselli al Prosciutto—Braised Peas with Prosciutto (TLItal, p37) and Ed's favorite, orzo, with a bit of parsley, lemon peel, lemon juice, and butter. The veal was easy and very tasty. I forgot to finish the sauce with a dab of butter, but don't think it really mattered. The peas were maybe a bit salty from the prosciutto, but not bad; I didn't cook them for the 15-20min asked (mushy peas, anyone?), maybe just 5min. A tasty meal.

Friday/13-Oct-17: Early meal today. We had Goat Cheese, Chive, and Chili Pepper Sauce for Pasta (MarCuc, p167) over spaghetti. This has become our traditional night-before-travelling meal. Then a big salad.

Did I say somewhere that Ed has replaced the stove clock with a new, slightly different, but manufacturer-autorized model? Seems to work fine, but you have to press-and-hold a different pair of buttons to set the time.

Yogurt on overnight.

Saturday/14-Oct-17: Off to Paris today. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

Sunday/15-Oct-17: In Paris today. Definitely nothing happened in the kitchen.

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

Cookbook Countdown: Bistecca alla Fiorentina

One more dish from Time-Life Foods of the World: The Cooking of Italy this month. Tonight's main course was Bisstecca alla Fiorentina—Broiled Marinated Steak (p69). We had this dish when we visited Lucca last year. (Yes, we had it in Lucca, not in Florence.)

This is basically a broiled chunk of beef, that's been marinated in a brew of olive oil, wine vinegar, parsley, garlic, and oregano. It should be a substantial chunk of beef, 2.5-3 pounds of T-bone, porterhouse, or sirloin steak, 1" thick, for four people. I bought two small, thickly cut chunks of beef for two people, not even a pound. Because my broiler pan got used earlier in the day and the clean-up crew hadn't yet taken care of that, I heated up a grill pan, and grilled the meat on that. Four minutes on one side and two-ish minutes on the other gave steaks not quite medium (a bit too done for me, but Ed liked it).

This is probably about as inauthentic a version of Bistecca all Fiorentina as you could get, but it tasted quite nice nevertheless.

December at Cookbook Countdown means folks can cook from books they've used during the year, or start with a new one. Why don't you choose a cookbook from your shelf and join in?

Cookbook Countdown: Polenta Pasticciata—Polenta with Cream and Mushrooms

More from Time-Life Foods of the World: The Cooking of Italy. Tonight's main course was Polenta Pasticciata—Polenta with Cream and Mushrooms (p22). For polenta lovers, this dish really falls in the realm of Comfort Food. The recipe is says it serves six, but it's unclear if this meant as a main dish or as a side dish. I served a half recipe as the main course for dinner, followed by a salad. We finished our portions, but thought it could have served 3 easily.

Early in the day, make the required amount of polenta and spread it in an 8" by 16" baking dish or sheet. (I used a 8" by 8" square dish for my half recipe.) Put this in fridge to set.

Make a bechamel (bescimella) sauce with butter, flour, milk, and cream. When this is thick, season with salt, pepper, and grated Parmesan. Meanwhile, sauté some sliced mushrooms. I used about half and half pleurote gris/oesterzwammen/oyster mushrooms and shiitakes.

Now cut the slab of polenta in half. The larger size would be cut in half, giving two 8" by 8" squares. I cut my 8" square on the diagonal. Put one of the pieces in a casserole dish; top with half the mushrooms, then half the bechamel. Put the remaining bit on polenta on that, add the remaining mushrooms and bechamel. Top with a bit more grated Parmesan, then bake for 375F for 25-30 minutes. Cut into pieces are serve at once. Yum, a very pleasing dish. Even though it was very good, we thought it might be quite nice with some lardons (or chopped bacon, perhaps) sautéed with the mushrooms.

December at Cookbook Countdown means folks can cook from books they've used during the year, or start with a new one. Why don't you choose a cookbook from your shelf and join in?

Cookbook Countdown: Scaloppine al Marsala&Pere Ripene

More from Time-Life Foods of the World: The Cooking of Italy. Tonight's main course included Scallopine al Marsala—Sautéed Veal Scallops with Marsala Sauce (p65) and the Broccoli alla Romana—Broccoli Braised with White Wine (p35) that I've made before. For dessert, there were Pere Ripiene—Pears Stuffed with Gorgonzola Cheese (p89).

Veal Marsala is a classic dish and quite simple to make. The scallops are salt-and-peppered, dredged in flour then sautéed briefly in a mix of butter and olive oil. When they are brown, they're put aside; the fat is drained from the pan, which is then deglazed with dry marsala and chicken stock. The scallops are returned to the pan, then simmered in the sauce over low heat for 10-15 minutes. Put the scallops on hot plates or a platter, then boil the remaining sauce down until it's syrupy. Finish off with some soft butter, pour over the scallops, and serve. We don't have veal often, and this is a a favorite sort of way to do it.

The Gorgonzola Pears were good, but not a big hit. I really think I'd rather have slices of the fresh fruit with a chunk of cheese on the plate. For this dish, you peel the pears, then half them, hollow them out, and rub with lemon juice inside and out. (You are instructed to leave the stem on one of the halves, but one of my pears was a bit soft on the end, so I decapitated both of them.) The filling is a  mixture of Gorgonzola and butter. Stuff that in the hollows, put the halves back together, then roll in crushed walnuts (or pistachios or pine nuts). Chill, then serve.

December at Cookbook Countdown means folks can cook from books they've used during the year, or start with a new one. Why don't you choose a cookbook from your shelf and join in?

Cookbook Countdown: Riso al Limone & Broccoli alla Romana

This month and year, I'm finishing off my three-year project of reading and cooking from the Time-Life Foods of the World series. The last book is Time-Life Foods of the World: The Cooking of Italy. Several dishes are on the plan for the rest of this month.

Tonight I roasted a chicken. For sides, I made half recipes of Riso al Limone (p20) and Broccoli alla Romana (p35). Both of these were fairly easy, tasty, and likely to be made again.

For the Riso al Limone, you start by boiling arborio rice (or one of its relatives) in ample water. The book asks for six quarts of water for one cup of rice. When the rice is done, after about 15 minutes, drain it. Then melt butter in a flameproof casserole. (I used the same pan I cooked the rice in and served in a warmed bowl). Stir in the rice, then stir in beaten eggs that have been mixed with grated Parmesan and lemon juice. (The recipe asked three eggs for the whole recipe; I used one egg for my half recipe. It was plenty rich.) Cook this for several minutes, then serve while the rice is still creamy. Very nice.

This book asks for "imported Italian rice" for all the rice recipes. This is perfect for risottos and such, but I'm not really sure if it's needed for this dish. I'll try it with long-grain rice next time. It might even be good with brown rice.

The Broccoli all Romana was also very good. You start by infusing some olive oil with finely chopped garlic. Add broccoli florets and stir to coat till they're glistening. Add white wine, salt, and some freshly ground black pepper. Cooking this uncovered for five minutes, stirring occasionally. Then cover and simmer for another 15 minutes until the broccoli is tender. Remove the broccoli to a bowl or platter. Boil down the liquid if there's too much, then pour it over the broccoli.

December at Cookbook Countdown means folks can cook from books they've used during the year, or start with a new one. Why don't you choose a cookbook from your shelf and join in?