This week in the kitchen

Monday/22-Nov-21: Dinner was Smoked Trout Chowder* (web; GD; notes). I put this on the meal plan because I'd collected the recipe from the web. Then I discovered it was already on my DoMeAgain list. It's good stuff.

Made Cornbread (Joy, p578) for our Thanksgiving stuffing today.

Realized this weekend, I was confused about my two backlog goals. In fact, I'm quite far along with BACKLOG1, clearing out the upstairs stacks of recipes. I've been taking a handful of recipes every evening, tossing most and saving a few. I will have to keep pushing on this to get the bins all clear by the end of the year. I have worked a bit on the old binders downstairs, but nothing major has happened.

Tuesday/23-Nov-21: Shopping today. I asked at Leclerc for a turkey, but I should have ordered last week. Meanwhile our local butcher hasn't called to say he's gotten one for me. So I bought two thighs and two breast roasts (i.e., the breast filet barded and rolled up with twine. I'll figure out some way to cook those (after disassembling the "roasts"), to serve looking like a turkey. 

Dinner was Cabillaud en Crumble de Jambon Cru* (web; GD). The topping for this is quite nice; I used smoked paprika tonight. Served with Thai trio rice (being out of the normal stuff) and steamed snijbonen in 1" chunks. No dessert needed.

Wednesday/24-Nov-21: Some cooking for Thanksgiving cooking today. Didn't get as much done as I'd planned, so tomorrow will be busy. Seems like there was something else, but I can't think of it. 

• Made a double batch of Tart Dough (Tenth, p256), one for the freezer, one for tomorrow.
• Put my turkey breasts to marinate for Buttermilk-Brined Turkey Breast (web). My two breasts were about the weight of the one breast asked in the recipe.
• Made the chutney for Sweet Potatoes with Cranberry Chutney (web). Wasn't especially impressed with this, but maybe it will be better tomorrow.

Dinner was Roast Za'atar Chicken Thighs with Broccoli & Potatoes (web; EW/nov21). This, a one-dish meal, was good, although some of the broccoli stems and potatoes were not quite done.

Thursday/25-Nov-21: Didn't get enough done yesterday, so there was lots of cooking today. In the end a nice Thanksgiving meal, with lots of leftovers.  

Friday/26-Nov-21: A frustrating day today. We had a very late lunch of stuffing, then later we each had a slice of pie. That was it. So much for the meal plan.

Saturday/27-Nov-21: I picked the meat off the turkey legs and froze most for later use. Dinner was Thanksgiving redux. All still good.

Sunday/28-Nov-21: Dinner was Pesto Turkey Kebabs (200Budget, p183). This is fairly quick and easy to make, except that I put the mozzarella I bought last week into the freezer, rather than leaving it in the fridge, so it took a bit of time to defrost and chop it. Very tasty, if not as pretty as the picture. Served with Thai trio rice and Parmesan Carrots with Lemon-Parsley Dressing (web; CL/mar17). This was tasty, and just a bit more work than usual.

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: 11; #8 NEW: 5

This week in the kitchen

Monday/27-Sep-21: I froze up six 1-cup and two 2-cup jars of chicken stock today.

Dinner was Smoked Salmon, Dill, and Goat Cheese Quiche (web). The filling was delicious. I used a store-bought pie crust, which was a bit like cardboard. Next time I'll make a proper one. Meant to make a salad, but didn't have the oomph. We finished the Plum Torte for after.

Tuesday/28-Sep-21: Did a little inventory of what needs to be used in the fridge, then rearranged the meal plan for the days until we shop and some after. 

Dinner started with artichoke bottoms (didn't use all of the defrosted ones for last week's fish), topped with tapenade (a new one from Maille with black and green olives) and a slice of goat cheese (leftover from last night's dinner), popped under the grill. Then there was a halfish dose of Shredded Chicken and Lemon Grass Soup (Ainsley2, p30; cookbooker). Good stuff. For after we had cornets that I bought at a boulangerie in Montbron.

Wednesday/29-Sep-21: Got the list finished today. Dinner was Casserole of Lamb, Mushrooms, and Bulgur or Barley (Tenth, p278), with barley. I thought this was quite good; Ed thought it lacked something. Followed by a little salad with sliced cucumbers and roast beets tossed with the creamy cilantro sauce from last weekends chicken. Some store-bought vanilla yogurts for after. 

Thursday/30-Sep-21: Dinner was Broccoli Cheese and Potato Soup (web). This was pretty darn good. I didn't use anything no-fat, of course. Cheese was comté and something unlabelled that might have been an English cheddar. Or not. Would be better to remove some solid veggies at the end, buzz the soupy part smooth, then add the veggies back. Some dark chocolate "roses" for after (that's chocolate-covered cornflakes).

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/1-Oct-21: Shopping today. The store is busy on Fridays, but sometimes it's the day.

Dinner was a half recipe of Grilled Swordfish with Pesto. I collected this recipe a long time ago, before I started recording where I collected them. Although it appears to be from a Food Network show, I haven't been able to find it online. Essentially it's swordfish steaks marinated in ginger, garlic, lime juice, ad thyme, then grilled and topped with pesto for serving. It was good. Served with trio rice and steamed snijbonen in chunks.

We had two really ripe small bananas, so I made a half recipe of Best Banana Bread (GD; GD) that I made a whole recipe of recently. This was good; we ate it all for dinner. 

Saturday/2-Oct-21: Dinner was a half recipe of Baked Rice with White Beans, Leeks and Lemon (web) again, this time a variation with chickpeas and harissa and preserved lemon suggested pretty well. Leeks sautéed rather than roasted. Used long-grain brown rice. This was good, although the rice wasn't quite done in 40min. A nice meal. For after we had the éclairs that I got at the boulangerie yesterday.

Sunday/3-Oct-21: Tonight's dinner was a half recipe of Andouillette de Canard au Poivre Vert (web), using the last of the andouillettes de canard that I impulse-bought a while ago. This was yummy. Served with tagliatelle as suggested (have a lot of that leftover) and some gesneden snijbonen. Then some store-bought riz au lit for after.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/5-Jul-21: Used some cooked lamb from the freezer to make a double dose of Eggplant Stuffed with Lamb, Red Pepper, and Rice (Tenth, p279). We had a smallish eggplant each, which was quite a lot, with a bit of arugula salad with walnuts and feta. Some chocolate-covered madeleines for after. This was a packet of double-chocolate ones, with chocolate cake instead of vanilla. Not an intentional purchase, but not bad.

Tuesday/6-Jul-21: I had lunch out after BookChatters, expecting to have eat from the salad bar. But the salad bar was missing, Covid perhaps? So I had a plat+dessert, and no room for any more food. Ed got a nice leftover from the freezer.

Wednesday/7-Jul-21: Dinner was a halfish dose of Pasta with Tomato, Fennel Seeds and Anchovies (web). This was good, with not too much fennel. Some double-chocolate madeleines for after.

Thursday/8-Jul-21: Shopping today. It seems the store is less crowded on Thursday than on Wednesday. The boulangerie is open too. We may change our default shopping day. 

Dinner was Zucchini Noodles with Spicy Peanut Sauce (web). This was yummy, but can't the zoodles made it any kind of special. I think the sauce with rice noodles would have been better. For the protein, salmon was good, but it would work with shrimp or even chicken or pork. To try again, I think. Store-bought egg custards with caramel for after.

Friday/9-Jul-21: Out to the boulangerie (for bread and creampuffs for dessert) and the boucherie (for a piece of meat for Monday's dinner this afternoon.

Dinner was Stuffed Zucchini (Delightful, p62; cookbooker). This was pretty good. Recipe was supposed to serve 2-3, but will serve four; one zuke in the freezer. Served with my standard Thai Cucumber Salad with Peanuts (web; GD; HB) and plain basmati rice. Altogether pretty good. Creampuffs for dessert.

Put the meat for Monday's meal on to marinate. Yes, three days marinating was asked.

Saturday/10-Jul-21: We had a bunch of tomatoes sitting around needing to be used, so I made a batch of Hazan's famous Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter (ClassicItal, p152). 

We ate lunch so late that at dinner time neither of us was really hungry. I got a packet of capelletti with jambon cru from the freezer and topped those with some of the newly made tomato sauce plus a splash of cream. Some store-bought chocolate-covered madeleines for after. 

Now to adjust the meal plan. 

Sunday/11-Jul-21: Dinner was Runner Bean Tortilla with Tomato Salad (web; GD; GD). This was very good and satisfying. The tomato salad was good too. For dessert, we finished the lemon sherbet with an apricot.

Another week without a picture. Too bad.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 4; #2 PHOTO: no; #3 *DMA: no
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/13-Jan-20: Dinner was Spicy Sausage, Spinach, and Mushroom Gnocchi (web). This was simple to make and very tasty, a kind of comfort food. Also the last of my Italian sausage, so that's on the list to make again. I made a salad but neither of us felt like eating it — into the fridge with it for tomorrow. Three chocolates each for dessert.

Tuesday/14-Jan-20: Dinner was Raspberry-Balsamic Glazed Chicken (MC, web, CL/jan98). This is really yummy; I've made it a number or times, but not in quite a while. The raspberry preserves were not seedless, but I won't tell if you don't. Served with trio rice, and fêves that I impulse-bought last week — the first of the season. Then we had the salad left from yesterday. Then we had three chocolates.

Wednesday/15-Jan-20: Dinner was a half recipe of Panang Curry Red Lentil Soup (web). This was easy and very tasty. It did want a bit more salt at the table. Served over brown rice. Then a half recipe of Asian Cucumber and Carrot Salad (web). This was a spiralized creation, quite tasty. I'm not really a spiralizer fan; it's fun, but wastes so much veg. We finished with, yes, three chocolates each. One more night of these, unless they're still on sale.

Thursday/16-Jan-20: Shopping today.

Dinner was James Beard's Swordfish-Olive Pasta (Tenth, p263, also BeardPasta, p101). I thought this was good; Ed thought there were too many olives, even though I cut back the amount a bit. Oh well. Then a salad. Then the last of the chocolates. And there were no more of them on sale at Leclerc. Too bad for us.

Friday/17-Jan-20: I cooked up some chicken sausage today for tomorrow's meal. And started some Cabbage Kimchee (WofE, p379) for a meal early next week; unfortunately there was no Chinese cabbage to be had, so this is regular white cabbage.

Dinner was, very vaguely, a halfish recipe of Double Corn Cakes with Black Beans (VT, web). Having no access to pre-cooked polenta, which I probably wouldn't buy anyhow, I meant to make polenta earlier in the day and put it aside to cool for grilling. But that didn't happen so we just had the bean mixture over slightly cooled polenta. Instead of corn, I used hominy from the freezer. This was okay, but nothing special. Some mini Häagen-Dasz ice cream cups for dessert.

Yogurt on overnight.

Saturday/18-Jan-20: Finished the kimchee this morning. Now it will ripen for several days.

Early meal today. There was a halfish recipe of One-Pot Cream Orzo with Chicken Sausage (web). This was pretty good. It might be even better with broccoli rather than zuke. And crème fraîche or even pyramid cheese instead of cream. But good. I have some extra sausages for lunch in the next days. Then a salad. Then some of the other on-sale chocolates I bought.

Sunday/19-Jan-20: Spent some time today going through my pending "bird" recipes stack. Managed to toss a few. This is hard work; there really are too many good things to make.

I forgot to defrost for tonight's dinner, so we had pizza instead. Instead I made Chipotle Apple Pecan Cake (BH&G/sep05, web). Pretty good it is. (I used sucre de canne for all; reduced sugar in cake to 1-1/4cup.) Also the pizza.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/6-Jan-20: Last shopping day, I finished The New York Times 60-Minute Gourmet, by Pierre Franey. This was a good read and came away with many, probably too many, tagged recipes. The head notes to each recipe/menu could be gathered in a book by themselves.

Dinner was Chickpea, Spinach and Sweet Potato Soup (Ainsley2, p26; cookbooker). This was amazingly tasty. We each had a pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/7-Jan-20: Dinner was a made-up stuffed bell peppers, with a stuffing made of short-grain brown rice, cooked pork from the freezer, onion, garlic, parsley, and some grated Parmesan. The sauce was as mixture of bits from the freezer, chipotle-tomato sauce, ancho sauce, and tomato paste. Turned out pretty good. Served with some chunks of snijbonen, a bit undercooked.

Wednesday/8-Jan-20: Dinner was a half dose of Linguine with Lemon, Garlic and Thyme Mushrooms (web). I have the feeling I've made this before, but I'm too lazy to search and see for sure. Anyhow, it was good. Easy in the day, I roasted the rest of the Brussels sprouts on hand, then marinated them per my usual recipe. The pasta was followed by a salad topped with sprouts. Then we finished off some on-sale holiday chocolates.

Later: Turns out I have made this pasta dish before; it's on the Do-me-again page. And, in the next days, it appeared in Nigella's daily email.

Thursday/9-Jan-20: Shopping today. Bought some more, different, on-sale holiday chocolates.

Dinner was Parmentier de Saumon aux Poireaux, Sauce Curry (VPG). (Couldn't find an online version.) This turned out pretty good. I broiled the fish, then flaked the meat. The potatoes and leeks were riced to make the smashed potato topping; this is really the best way to do this. Instead of serving the curry sauce on the size, I spooned it over the salmon before adding the potato topping. The recipe didn't call for baking, but I did for a while, till the potatoes started getting some brown tips. Then a small, simple salad. Then some chaource, which was on sale this week. Then some millas, that I got at the boulangerie. This seems to be a speciality of the Charente, a kind of flan made with corn flour. We split a piece; that was more than enough.

Friday/10-Jan-20: Dinner was A Good Hash (Tenth, p228), made with cooked lamb from the freezer. This was pretty tasty, if nothing dramatic. It didn't brown as she described, but it was still tasty. Served with some roasted broccoli and cauliflower. For dessert, some we started on a package of holiday chocolates, which will end up being seven nights of three each.

Saturday/11-Jan-20: Dinner was Roasted Chickpeas, Mushrooms, Artichokes, and Tomatoes (VegHarv,  p146), using up the last of the tomato passata from the potager, rather than making Wells' Rustic Oven-Roasted Tomato Sauce. Served over brown rice. This was good and is more or less straight from the pantry, except for the mushrooms. Three more chocolates for dessert.

Sunday/12-Jan-20: Dinner was a halfish recipe of Moroccan Chicken Tagine with Date and Preserved Lemons (web), made with four thighs rather than two game hens. (These were supposed to be 24oz each. Don't I remember that they used to be 14oz or 18oz? Somewhere around 1lb.) This was quite tasty. Served with a half recipe of Carrot Salad (Couscous, p75), made with three colors of carrots. And some Moroccan couscous. Pretty good stuff, all. Then we finished the chaource. Then we had three more chocolates.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/20-Nov-17: Asian Broccoli Noodle Soup (web) for lunch. Tasty, and quite pittig, although I'm not sure why. Can you have too much black pepper? Mini Häagen-Dasz cups for dessert.

Tuesday/21-Nov-17: Kitchen day today, preparing for Thanksgiving and using up stuff from the fridge..

For lunch there were some pork chops, with Broccoli Stems and Red Pepper Slaw (web) and some pasta, I think it's called Israeli couscous, with a bit of butter and cilantro. The slaw was very good. Made the broccoli shreds with the cuisinart.

Used the chickpeas that I forgot to add to the courgette tart to make some hummus, smerging two recipes. Some for the freezer, some for the fridge.

Made two batches of pâte brisée, Judith Jones' Tart Dough  (Tenth, p256). One in the freezer, one for pumpkin pie. This really is the best pie crust.

Made a soup with bits of leftover veg: some new onions, a zucchini, a bit of broccoli, a sack of young spinach leaves that didn't get used. And garlic of course. Buzzed it up and put it in the freezer.

Yogurt on overnight.

Wednesday/22-Nov-17: Shopping today. A big one, for some reason. All the wine boxes running out at once. They now have some bio (organic) products sold in bulk. We got some pine nuts and some spicy cashews, which we devoured.

Dinner was Snapper with Tomato-Caper Topping (web). It would be quick if you didn't have to seed the tomatoes. Served with trio rice and steamed broccoli. For dessert some super yummy store-bought dark chocolate mousse things.

Made a pumpkin pie, using the recipe from the Libby's can.

Made up a batch of Cranberry-Port Relish (MC), an old favorite, a bit modified rom the VT article where I collected it a long time ago.

Thursday/23-Nov-17: Shopping and ENT visit, then home for cooking Thanksgiving dinner. Can't finish this post until Canon issues a driver to go with the new Mac OS.

Friday/24-Nov-17: We had grilled, marinated bavettes. For a side there were some steamed snijbonen, cut in about 1" lengths, and some Oven Roasted Sweet Potatoes (web) without the onion and with some regular potatoes to give something more to eat. I meat to cook the sweet potato yesterday, but didn't get to it. Then, piggy us, we finished the pumpkin pie.

Saturday/25-Nov-17: Dinner was Spiced Chicken with Brown Rice (RealFast, p281). This was pretty good. I cooked it in the oven since I needed the broiler for Broiled Eggplant with Lemon, Basil, and Cracked Coriander (RealFast, p134). We both like this. Gave it an extra squirt of lemon juice at the end. And some brown rice.

Yogurt on overnight.

Sunday/26-Nov-17: Oops, got up late then saw that I forgot to start the yogurt maker. Started it up, but for a shorter time. We'll see what happens.

Our main meal was a halfish recipe of  Hot, Sweet, and Sour Chickpeas with Eggplant (H2CEV, p609), served over brown rice. Some mini ice cream bars for dessert.

I see that I've neglected to keep the food-related books sections on the bottom right up to date. I've finished one of the ones I was reading, plus at least two more. Have a couple of others underway. Something for the ToDo list.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/25-Jul-16: Finished off the Dried Apricot & Amaretto Conserve (FancyPant, p127). I goofed and added the orange juice with the peel, so it got boiled more than it ought to have been. (Used only two cups of sucre de canne, rather than 2-1/2.) In the end the whole thing didn't gel, so I added a whole packet of pectin. Poured into three AH jars, then realized I forgot to stir in the amaretto. Since there were three tablespoons needed, I stirred one into each jar before closing them up. Seems like a lot of almond slivers. We'll see. Froze two jars, since we've got several active jars of jam right now, and left one in the fridge to give away.

Made paneer, which was a part of our Mutter Paneer dinner. Some mini magnums for dessert.

Tuesday/26-Jul-16: So Ed could get one with painting windows and doors, I did the shopping after my audiologist appointment.

Got home to find we've been invited from champagne apertifs with our new next-door neighbors, Emmanuelle and Pierre, who live in Bordeaux.

Dinner was Tomato Fish Curry on rice, with some Mango-Mint Sherbet to follow.

Wednesday/27-Jul-16: Lunch out with friends today. Nothing happened in the kitchen. It's hot too.

Thursday/28-Jul-16: More Indian tonight. This time Onion Bhajiyas followed by Bombay Chicken Masala, served with plain basmati rice and leftover Spiced Beets and Mutter Paneer. Actually, I should have saved one of the veggies for tomorrow night, since we were quite full.

Friday/29-Jul-16: A busy day in the kitchen today.

I accidentally defrosted some pecans and walnuts. Until I started making Peppered Pecans (Tabasco, p14), I thought they were all pecans. Have to find something else for the walnuts.

Shopping Tuesday, I bought a flat of peaches for Peach Cobbler (EatingTog, p59), intending to make it Monday. But the peaches are getting pretty ripe, so I made the cobbler today.

Dinner was Lamb Kebabs, served with Kachumber (30MinInd, p37) and Jeera Rice (30MinInd, p99). Had the Tamarind&Date Chutney and the Lemon Pickle on the table. I had meant to serve some of the Mango-Mint Sherbet for dessert, but with fresh peach cobbler available, who could resist that? With a bit of cream. Yum.

Saturday/30-Jul-16: Another day with lots of kitchen work.

• Used up the bit of rhubarb I had to make Rhubarb Chutney (Thesaurus, p255) again. This was extra good with boudin noir.
• Roasted two eggplants for tomorrow.
• Made two pâte brisées (Tenth, p256), one for tonight, the other for the freezer. Once you're making one, the second is easy and uses up the other half of the block of butter.

Dinner was, more or less, Broccoli and Gorgonzola Quiche (web) with a big, plain salad (only croutons, no extra veggies). No picture necessary, a relief.

Thinking about next month's book for Cookbook Countdown. It should be the Time-Life Viennese Empire book, but I'm not finding that many recipes I want to cook right now. There are lots of interesting recipes with sauerkraut, but it's not in the shops right now. TBD.

Ed's eaten all the pecans.

Yogurt on overnight.

Sunday/31-Jul-16: We had our main meal early today so that we can go to a movie this evening. We had a half dose of Shawarma-Spiced Grilled Chicken with Garlic Yogurt (web). Had thought to bbq, but just grilled them instead. No matter, very good. I made sure to have lots of yogurt for the Garlic Yogurt sauce, but didn't make it in the end. Served with pita breas, the leftover green chutney, and Baba Ghanoush (WofE, p334), which probably wanted more lemon juice but I'm out of lemons. (I took two packages of four lemons to the check-out earlier this week. When I got there, I saw there was I moldy lemon in one of the packages. It was too busy to walk back and get another package, so I did without. But I'm now completely out of lemons.)

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/28-Mar-16: Home from Bach this afternoon. Dinner was pork paprikash from the freezer, served over Spaëtzle (MW@Home, p203). Then a big salad. No dessert since we're both still working on our small chocolate bunnies that travelled with us.

Put chicken onto marinate for tomorrow night. Made a whole dose of the marinade and froze the extra for another time.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/29-Mar-16: I forgot to mention last week, that the kitchen tiling is progressing very well. All surfaces have been done and the bits and pieces are going back in place. All that really remains is refinishing the untiled part of the window surround. And then Ed opened the window over the sink and the trim tile on one side fell off. Oops. He's got in back in place today, to be regrouted before long.

Dinner was Barbecued Raspberry-Hoisin Chicken (web), which is a winner of a recipe. I made the whole recipe of marinade and froze half. It would be good with pork chops also, we both thought. I broiled rather than barbecued, but that's what the recipe suggested. Serve with brown rice that had been mixed with a bit of rice vinegar (as directed) and asparagus with light topping of lemon-butter-shallots. A mini magnum for after.

A half-cup measure has disappeared, a mystery. Makes the set, one I've had a long time, incomplete. Sigh.

Wednesday/30-Mar-16: Shopping today. Before that, we took Pogo's baby sitters to lunch today, so nothing much happened in the kitchen, except some popcorn and fruit for dinner. 

Grouting has been finished again. Kitchen looking very nice. The salt, pepper, and timer shelves are back in place. With the cabinet raised to a decent level, there's no longer room for the tall, green S&P set, so they have to sit to the side, by the stove. This will work, I think. (I've had these forever. Bought them in Foley's bargain basement for 50¢, or maybe less. Don't use the salt shaker that much, but the pepper grinder is actually a really good one. Both very ugly.)

The window tiling is finished, again, and we hope the trim stays in place this time. The rest of the window surround still has to be finished. The coffee and tea shelves are back in place beyond the dish drainer. We plan on having only plants on the window ledge now, herbs and whatnot, plus a ceramic jar with vegetable peelers. We both were tired of walking over to the Ivar pantry for these, so have put them in a handier place at the left of this shelf.

And, yay, at the end of the peninsula, the switch for the lights and the electric outlets are back in place, tucked up under the cabinet. Behind these is the transformer than runs our American appliances, blender, food processor, etc.

The window surround still has to be finished and lights put under the cabinets left and right of the sink.

Thursday/31-Mar-16: Yay, found the missing half-cup measure in a flour bin.

Made two doses of Tart Dough (Tenth, p256), one for tonight, one for the freezer. Did a minor defrost on the kitchen freezer, whose door was ajar for a bit and was mightily frosted up.

Dinner was Beefsteak Pie (TLNewEng, p52). Good it was. I think the size of casserole dish asked is too big; I used one step smaller and it was fine. We will indeed get 6 servings from the recipe. The pie takes some time to assemble, but is fairly easy to make, and a lot of the time is unattended. I found this recipe a bit unusual because the onions are piled on top of the beef stew part under the pastry. Next time, I would cut them thinner (than the 1/4" asked), and maybe halve them. And maybe just stir them in right into the stew bit at the end.

Adding more veggies wouldn't hurt, but I just plopped some steamed haricots verts on the side.

Friday/1-Apr-16: Dinner was a half dose of Orecchiette Pasta with Chicken Sausage and Broccoli (web), which served two as a main course (instead of four). Easy and not bad at all. The sausage I used wasn't really Italian; instead it was an herbed country sausage. I added some red pepper flakes just to zing it up. It was good. Then a salad.

Yogurt on overnight.

Saturday/2-Apr-16: Ed went to a movie this evening, so we had our main meal at lunch, leftover beefsteak pie, along with some broccoli stem salad and a regular big salad.

Neither of us are feeling very good. Colds coming? They're certainly going around. Hope I have the energy for tomorrow's planned meal.

Sunday/3-Apr-16: Yup, didn't feel like making the dinner planned, so we had Pasta with Zucchini, Smoked Salmon and Cream (web), which was good. Then a big salad. Then some ice cream and fresh strawberries.

We were puzzled why the fridge freezer continues to frost up even after I did a bit of defrosting. Ed finally noticed that the door was catching on the cabinet next to it. Seems like when he put it back into place after finishing the tiling, he got it too close to the cabinet. Oops. Might have to repeat my defrosting next week.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 1
This month: #3 PASTA: no for March; no for April; #4 BREAD: no for March; no for April; #5 FotW: yes for Feb/Mar; no for Apr/May

This week in the kitchen

Monday/15-Sep-14: Yes, it was my birthday. We had lunch out. Only a small salad for dinner.

Tuesday/16-Sep-14: Dinner was Spaghettini with Bacon, Mushrooms, and Herbs (web). And a small salad for after. For dessert we had popcorn at the movies.

Wednesday/17-Sep-14: Shopping today.

Dinner was Pasta with Sardines (web). First time I've ever cooked with fresh sardines. Smelly things they are. The dish was not bad at all, but nothing I need to do again. Then a big salad.

It was Oscar's turn to stay out after dark tonight. Computers shut down about 10pm because of thunderstorms.

Thursday/18-Sep-14: Dinner was Tarte de Tomate (TLProvFr, p50 in the hardback, not in the recipe book). At the grocery, I had the choice of Swiss Gruyère or French Gruyère, both lait cru, for €20.xx or €12.xx per kilo. I'm cheap so chose the French one, which was quite good enough! I did not use the recipe for pâte brisée in the book, but my now standard one from Judith Jones, Tart Dough (Tenth, p256). Whenever I make this I make a double dose and put half in the freezer. I don't make the prettiest crust every, but it's yummy, flaky, tender, all those things. The last extra one turned into this very tasty tart. I do think there was too much cheese (1#). Fresh out of the oven, it was difficult to serve because the cheese was so runny. I would do this again with about 300g or maybe even 225/250 (1/2#) instead of 450g. The grated parmesan on top was a nice touch, but the extra butter was overkill I think. A very nice combination of tastes, the gruyère, tomatoes, and basil. A keeper, if modified. Served with salad.

Computers shut down again at night because of forecast thunderstorms.

Friday/19-Sep-14: Tonight's dinner was meant for IHCC, but I don't feel like writing a post, so this will have to do. We had Delectable Pork in a Mustard Spice Mix (SpiceKitch, p88) accompanied by Yellow Rice with Potato and Cumin (SpiceKitch, p64) and Peas with Whole Cumin and Mustard Seeds (SpiceKitch, p48). Have made everything before; just see that it's exactly 16 years to the day since I made the exactly the same dinner! It's still good, and easy, but takes a bit of clock time simmering, made longer because one of the burners very annoyingly doesn't like to stay like. Ed says we shouldn't wait so long next time.

Saturday/20-Sep-14: Didn't feel like cooking this evening. We had the leftover tarte de tomate, more or less at room temp. Still tasty. More convinced that it was too much cheese. For a side, I lightly cooked some a roll-cut carrot,  then some broccoli. Chopped a shallot and a bit of parsley, added that to the sieve and poured the broccoli over that. It was surprising good for minimal effort.

Sunday/21-Sep-14: No cooking again today. Soup from the freezer. Followed by chocolate mini magnums. Then ironing.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes; #2 VEG/FISH: 3
This month: #3 PASTA: no; #4 FotW: yes; #5 BREAD: 0

This week in the kitchen

Monday/25-Aug-14: Before dinner, I made some Blueberry Zucchini Bread (web).

For this week's pickled theme at IHCC, I made the Pork Chops, Mustard Sauce (Diaries, p51) again, this time with the cornichons included. Unfortunately, I don't feel like posting about it, so I'll just put the picture here and say we liked the cornichons in the sauce.

Served with Harictos Verts in Walnut Oil (Lunch, p216; HandyBook) and some nice garlicky smashed potatoes. Had some of the Blueberry Zucchini Bread for dessert. Very more-ish. Definitely a keeper.

Yogurt on overnight,

Tuesday/26-Aug-14: Shopping today.

Dinner was a half recipe of Fish Tacos (web) but with six tortillas between the two of us, since that's what was in the fridge. (These are French corn tortillas, which are not as good as the ones I get from the Netherlands; still one more dozen to use up before I can order again from the right place.) Made a Fresh Tomato Salsa as a go-with, but don't know where the recipe came from. Had a big salad as a go-with. We split a classic Magnum for dessert.

Wednesday/27-Aug-14: Dinner was Chicken with Mushroom and Lemon Grass (Diaries, p107), using up all the lemon grass I got recently. This was easy and tasty. For a side there was (sort of) Hot & Sour Stir-Fried Vegetables (Delightful, p55). I didn't have any cabbage or even another brassica, so just left that out. Pretty good anyhow. And some basmati rice. For dessert, a vanilla yogurt each. And a dog walk.

Thursday/28-Aug-14: Made some bread maker bread from the pain au levain mix.

Made a double batch of pâte brisée aka Tart Dough (Tenth, p256), one for dinner, one for the freezer. Dinner was Lemony Ricotta Summer Squash Galette (web), which was really nice. I used only zucchini, since yellow squash are only very rarely available here; the combination would be especially pretty. Finished the Basil Tabbouleh, which held up well, but didn't really go with the galette.

Friday/29-Aug-14: Yogurt on overday.

An easy dinner tonight. There was Curried Zucchini Soup from the freezer, needing only some salt, and grilled cheese sandwiches with bleu d'Aurillac and sliced tomatoes. Good stuff.

Beans on to soak overnight.

Saturday/30-Aug-14: Made some Cayenne Cornbread (BigGerman, p182) in the bread machine.

Beans were cooking most of the day and they still aren't done; wonder how old that package was? In the end I opened a can to make a soup for dinner to go with the cayenne cornbread. Both were good. Some double-chocolate mini-magnums for after. And then a walk looking for Sophie, out after dark again and all keyed up when we found her.

Sunday/31-Aug-14: The beans were improved by an overnight sit. Simmered them some more, then picked the meat off the ham bone and froze it all together for another day.

In the potager. we picked more cayenne (for the freezer), two spiny, fat cucumbers, and two eggplants. Time for some cucumber salad.

Dinner was pasta with Eggplant Sauce with Bell Pepper, Tomato, and Basil (MarCuc, p144; cookbooker). It was good. Two squares each of hazelnut chocolate for after.

I've not touched my Foods of the World cookbook for August, so I sort of arbitrarily declared August as a vacation month and shifted the rest out.

Sophie in late again.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes; #2 VEG/FISH: 4,
This month: #3 PASTA: yes; #4 FotW: ; #5 BREAD: 0

This week in the kitchen

Monday/25-Nov-13: Dinner was Penne with Wild Mushrooms, Asparagus, and Pancetta (EAT-L), sort of. Used mushroom-flavored, chanterelle-shaped pasta. Used a sliced dried ham from the freezer instead of pancetta (not as fat). In the end it seemed dry, so I stirred in some pyramid goat cheese rather than add more oil. Good enough it was. Then a salad.

Tuesday/26-Nov-13: We were sitting around this afternoon quietly doing our things. Snap! Caught a little mouse behind the stove. Think it might be a juvenile, it was so small. Ed let it go down the broken brick road, quite a way from the house.

Dinner was Grilled Chicken Pasta with Chipotle Cream (web), sort of. Served over mashed potatoes instead of pasta, although, in retrospect, polenta would be better. Made more or less a whole recipe, which should serve 4-6, and we ate it all. Although Ed had trouble finishing his double portion. Used all the chipotles, unseeded, and it was nice and hot. Making a half recipe for two, over polenta would probably be fine. Roasted the last of the asparagus and some broccoli for a side. Split a Magnum classic for dessert.

Life without the internet is pretty weird, You don't realize how often you go to look up something up. And read mail. And check the weather and the news and ...

Wednesday/27-Nov-13: Yogurt on overday. Shopping today.

Ed asked for salmon, so that's what he got. I made a winter menu, "A Fresh Way with Salmon," from RushHour, p207, and posted it for Cook Your Books. If I don't feel like baking a pumpkin pie tomorrow, we'll have more of the clafoutis for our Thanksgiving dessert.

Thursday/28-Nov-13: Made two batches of Tart Dough (Tenth, p256). The first batch went for pumpkin pie, right from the Libby's label. The second went into the freezer.

Our Thanksgiving dinner was Indian-themed, since that the only turkey what was in the freezer. Pretty good it was.

Friday/29-Nov-13: For breakfast, we had some clafoutis, egg, milk, and fruit, can't be bad, right?

Pasta for dinner, yay! The sauce was a half dose of Pasta con Verdura (Top100Pasta, p64) made with tagliatelle cut from Whole Wheat Pasta (Fancy, p77). I made half of a dish that should serve four, but we will get three servings from it. Or, more likely, a side dish for two. Didn't follow Kennedy's instructions for making the pasta, but did it the way I usually do now, mixing by hand. Cut it at 5, which made a tasty, chewy pasta. Thought I'd make a salad, too, but there was more than enough food without it. And we finished off the very yummy pumpkin pie from yesterday.

Saturday/30-Nov-13: Went to a movie tonight. In the afternoon, we had leftover enchiladas and rice, followed by a salad.

Sunday/1-Dec-13: Yogurt on overday.

Meat night tonight, working on clearing out the freezer. Did, more or less, a menu from MJFamily: The Best Roast Pork, Ecuardor-Style (p127), Garlicky Cranberry Chutney (p127), Asparagus and Green Beans with Sesame Seeds (p128), and Rice and Potato Casserole (p128). The pork was yummy and really easy to do; definitely a keeper. For the chutney, I embroidered on the remains of last year's Thanksgiving cranberry sauce, yes, it's been hanging around the fridge all that long. Not bad, either. For the veg, I used frozen asparagus, which are pretty blah and needing to be used up, along with frozen yellow haricots verts (that makes no sense, does it?) from our neighbor's bounty. This dish was OK, but not wonderful. The rice and potato dish was OK. For afters we each had a mini Magnum.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 IHCC/COOKBOOKS: yes (once posted, plus others), #2 VEG/FISH: 2
This month: #3 PASTA: yes for November; no for December, #4 BREAD: no for November and December

This week in the kitchen

Monday/14-Feb-11: Hmm ... next thing up on the freezer list (oldest, to be used soon) is two small containers of spicy apricot chutney, a recipe from CLmag. Now, what I remember is that we didn't especially like this and spicy, it wasn't. Dilemma: should I try to salvage these or just toss them?

Valentine's day lunch at Montemboeuf's Cafe de la Mairie today. No need for further food today!

Tuesday/15-Feb-11: Yogurt on overday. No one wanted to go to the boulanger, so I made Bran Bread (BMB, p44), a nice dense bread. Early in the day, I did the chop-chop for Squash and Corn Chowder (Soups4Seas, p34) and we had that for dinner. Not bad.

Wednesday/16-Feb-11: Finished the travelogue part of Auberge last night. On to the recipes now. Today's post at Gherkins and Tomatoes was about this book. How about that for a bit of serendipity?

Dinner was Chiles Rellenos Casserole (CL90, p147), a TNT recipe I haven't made in a long time. Recently some recipes billed as chiles rellenos casseroles were shared on EAT-L, but they included chopped chiles rather than whole stuffed ones. That made me think of this oldie. Not bad. I make it with two of those little cans of whole chilies, which usually contain three chilies. This time one of the cans had only two chilies, and I can't say either was especially big. We ate half of the casserole with a big salad. Neither of us especially hungry, so no dessert.

Thursday/17-Feb-11: Shopping today. Avoided most impulse purchases.

Before dinner, I baked some of the finger-food "packets" that I got for new year's eve, but we didn't eat. They were surprisingly good, and all the flavors were tasty. Dinner was Spaghetti all'Amatriciana with Eggplant (MedHot, p77). This was rather similar to Cooking Italy's recent-ish Eggplant Sauce with Tomato and Red Chili Pepper. We might have liked tonight's better, since it was less oily. The eggplant was cut in cubes, salted, drained, then tossed with flour before frying, which gave it a nice crisper outer surface. Followed by a salad, then by some rice gelato.

Friday/18-Feb-11: A day in the kitchen.

• Yogurt on overday.
• Made some apple-kiwi butter. How will that be, I wonder?
• For our midday meal, we had Lamb Shanks with Mustard and Mash (Diaries, p44). (It's a year project to read through Diaries following through the year.) I cooked the shanks in the oven longer and slower than asked, like the Cajun-spiced shanks I did last July. For a starter there was Zucchini and Feta Cheese Salad (WorldVeg, p648), which we've enjoyed before.
• Made 13 meringue cups (pavlovas, I think they can be called), following recipe in CL88. We had a couple as a belated dessert with some raspberries. The cups didn't work as well as the last time I did them; they're remarkably similar to marshmallows. Hoping the freezer will perk them up.
• Made a double dose of pâte brisée (Tenth, p256) for the freezer.
• Used the rest of a jar of roasted red peppers to make some faux pizza sauce for the freezer.
• Chopped a red chili really fine and macerated this is a bit of rice vinegar. Then I stirred it into one of the containers of not-so-Spicy Apricot Chutney. If it perks up, we'll use it; if not, they both get tossed.

Saturday/19-Feb-11: Leftover chile relleno casserole for dinner, followed by a big salad. Forgot to take the rice gelato out of the freezer beforehand, so we had some cookies for dessert, kind of hazelnut sandies. Tiny cookies, and we ended up eating the whole box. Oink, oink.

Sunday/20-Feb-11: Finished off the jar of fig jam at breakfast, so tomorrow we'll see how the apple-kiwi butter worked.

Dinner was Zucchini Pancakes (Q&EVeg, p220), an old favorite. When I was considering exactly what to do for this, I realized that many zucchini pancake recipes are really pancakes with some zucchini thrown in, while this recipe is zucchini. Since I'm trying to use up some, that's what I chose. This time the bread crumbs I got from the freezer still had some biggish bits in them; those turned out really nice and chewy. For dessert we finished off the rice gelato.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: yes, #2 SOUP: yes, #3 MIDDAY: yes
This month: #4 PASTA: not yet

Fear of pie crusts

Now, I grew up listening to my mother complain about her pie crusts, they were never good enough and just too hard to make. At some point she found the pre-made crusts that looked like sticks of butter that just had to be rolled out to make the crusts and that was the end of her attempts at perfecting a pie crust. So I was imbued early-on with a fear of pie crusts. My few attempts were never particularly successful, and led me, like my mother, to use store-bought substitutes, either roll-'em-out or already formed.

My French teacher, Fatima, in Amstelveen also gave cooking-in-French classes. From her I learned to overcome my fear. It was simple. Put all the ingredients in a big bowl and use one hand (with cold fingers) to mush it all together. When it's crumbly, not smooth, but crumbly, it's ready to moosh into a disk, cover with plastic, and pop in the fridge. When it's good and cold, roll it out and line your dish. Alternatively, pop it in the freezer. The crust dough freezes really well. When you expect to make something with a crust in the evening, put your dough in the fridge to defrost. When you're home from work, it's there waiting to be rolled, filled, and cooked.

I didn't like Fatima's recipe. It used vegetable shortening, which is so full of chemical crap that I refuse to have it in the house. Lard is supposed to be the best, but is very difficult find.

The first recipe I found that I used frequently was Jeannette Seaver's in Jeannette's Secrets of Everyday Good Cooking. (BTW, I love this book. She's French, married American, and strove to keep the French attitude towards food alive in her home. And, of course the French are masters of using pie crust to dress up dinner, either the main course or dessert or bits of leftovers presented in a new way.)

My Basic Pie Crust Jeannette's Secrets of Everyday Good Cooking, p38
My basic pie crust, which I use for countless dishes from quiche to tarte aux pommes, has the virtue of being extremely easy, quick, and realiable. For an 8-9-inch pie mold you will need:
– 4-ounce package cream cheese – 2 cups flour – 1-1/2 sticks butter (6 ounces)	In a bowl, mix all the ingredients with our fingers to form a smooth dough. It should take you not more than 3 to 5 minutes. Refrigerate for 30 minutes (or more) before rolling out and baking. If you are not going to use it immediately, you can of course freeze it for later use. If you want to double or triple this recipe and set some aside for later use, I suggest you divide the dough into balls each enough for one pie, and store in the freezer in plastic bags. Label accordingly. It can keep two or three months in the freezer. It will take little or no more time, and will assure you of a ready supply for any emergency or unplanned meal. If you freeze the dough, move to the refrigerator what you expect to use any given day in the morning before you leave the house, or leave out at room temperature on hour before using.
Kaye's notes: Have everything cold when you start to work. I often made multiples of this, since it's so handy to have available. Adapting for the package of cream cheese I can buy, I needed 150g package cream cheese, 250g butter (less a thin slice), 2-2/3 cup flour. This makes about 695g of dough. The unchanged recipes make more than enough for an 8" pan.

The big deal in crust making, I've read, is to keep everything cold and to not melt the fat. The idea is to have little flakes of fat (whether it's cream cheese or butter) that will melt as the crust bakes, making layers within the crust.

More lately, I've been using the recipes in Judith Jones' The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food. This is bit messier to clean up since the food processor is involved, but a snap to put together.

Tart Dough The Tenth Muse,p256
I've found the food processor such a blessing in making pie doughs, particularly those that are rich with butter, that I would never go back to using my fingers for the initial mixing although the final fraisage with the palms of the hands is still an essential step in making these doughs.
– 1 cup all-purpose flour – 1/4 teaspoon salt – 1 table spoon sugar (only for a sweet tart) – 8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (4 ounces) – 3 tablespoons ice water	Enough for 8-inch tart pan Mix the flour, salt, and sugar, if using, in the bowl of a food processor. Cut the butter into small pieces, drop them through the tube of the processor, and pulse long enough to say "alligator" fifteen times. Pour in the ice water and process long enough to say "alligator" ten times. Transfer the dough to a work surface, preferably marble, and smear it out in small increments with the heel of your hand, then gather the dough together into a round. Sprinkle with flour, wrap with waxed paper, and refrigerate at least 20 minutes or until ready to use.
Kaye's notes: The alligator counting is a good way to use the pulse and not melt the butter. You'd be surprised how warm the flour gets if you just run the processor. One batch of this dough covers my 10" (or more) quiche dishes. Marble, schmarble. I use my tupperware sheet for rolling out crusts laid out on the counter. A cold surface is nice, but who can afford such a thing? I've never made the sweet version of this. I just use the plain dough for a sweet pie.

In neither of these recipes, by hand or by processor, does the dough come together like a bread dough. When it's ready, you have a bowlful of flakes, like miniature granola. These can be smooshed together to form a solid mass. I expect what is accomplished by Jones' fraisage, a term I've not noticed elsewhere, is the smooshing together (technical term, that). I generally start out heel-pressing and then just give up and press it all together with my fingers. Form into a thick disk, cover tightly with plastic cling wrap, and refrigerate or freeze. (To freeze, I put the disks in a freezer-quality ziplock.)

This makes a wonderful, flaky pie crust. My mother would be surprised that I could do anything like this. I'm still surprised. My crusts aren't pretty, since I haven't yet mastered the art of making clever edges, but they so taste good.