This week in the kitchen

Monday/18-Jul-22: For a starter tonight, I add smoked trout to the extra (now well-)marinated zucchini strips from yesterday, topped with a sprig of dill on each plate. Worked out very well. Dinner was Rumsteck Mariné Basilic et Citron (VPG; can't find on web). This was only so-so. The lemon-and-oil marinade for the meat was not very interesting or appropriate. The recipe has you cooking the meat 5 minutes on each side, way too much. I cut this back substantially and the meat was still too well-done. Served with the teeny ravioli from the east of France, ravioles de Dauphinés, stuffed with cheeses and parsley. And some steamed snijbonen chunks. 

Tuesday/19-Jul-22: Dinner was Alessia's Favorite Mushroom Sauce (web), wherein dried cèpes amplify the taste of plain old shrooms. I made a whole recipe (3 servings) for two people, and served over polenta rather than pasta. This was pretty good. Then a salad. 

Wednesday/20-Jul-22: For dinner I made a whole recipe of Pasta with Fast Sausage Ragu (Essential, p343). This should serve four and I intended to freeze half for another day, but ended up serving it all over whole wheat spaghetti. Good stuff. 

Thursday/21-Jul-22: Dinner was Chili Garlic Shrimp (web), which was pretty easy and quite tasty. Served over basmati rice. Accompanied by a clean-out-the-fridge salad (cuke, half a red bell pepper, shreds of carrot, radishes) with an Asian-ish dressing which turned out pretty good. Some vanilla ice cream with a slog of crème de cacao. 

Friday/22-Jul-22: Shopping day today, the full complement. Leclerc Drive, Leclerc, and Intermarché Drive.

Dinner was 15-Minute Thai Coconut Curry Salmon (web). This was easy and tasty. Served over brown basmati rice. A chocolate-covered madeleine each for after.

Saturday/23-Jul-22: Made up some ground roasted cumin since I'm almost out.

Dinner was Chicken Salad with Mint, Onion and Lemon Grass—Laab Gai (ThaiCC, p68). This was fast and easy and quite tasty. No ground chicken, so I chopped up some aiguillettes, just a bit tedious but works well. Served with leaves of sucrine (mini romaine lettuces). Some store-bought riz au laits for after.

Sunday/24-Jul-22: Lunch out today. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #2 PHOTO: no;
This month: #3 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG2: no; #6 BACKLOG3: no; #7 RECYCLE: 0; #8 NEW: 3

This week in the kitchen

Monday/14-Mar-22: Dinner was an oldie, but goodie, Balsamic Chicken Breasts (MC; LHJ/apr93). Easy and tasty. The sauce, of shallots, chicken stock, and balsamic vinegar, might be good with pork chops too. Orzo and broccoli for accompaniaments.

Put the beef on to marinate for tomorrow's dinner.

Tuesday/15-Mar-22: Dinner was Padma's Beef Shawarma with Beet Yogurt Sauce (web; EW/oct21). This was pretty good. The meat marinade was interesting, so the meat was tasty. The beet business was too thin, in contrast to the picture. Made a lot, so we'll be having this for days. Served with pita breads and chunks of regular cuke (not the Persian cuke asked).

Wednesday/16-Mar-22: Ed picked up orders from two from two Drives today, along with other errands. 

Dinner was Sheet-Pan Salmon with Sweet Potatoes & Broccoli (web). Pretty good, this stuff. I'm a fan of sheet-pan dinners.

Thursday/17-Mar-22: Breakfast for dinner, which was Turmeric Fried Eggs with Tamarind and Pickled Shallots (web). Served with Perfect Hash Browns (web) as suggested. Very tasty. Not sure what to do with the leftover tamarind dressing.

Friday/18-Mar-22: Off for a haircut today. Dinner was Mediterranean Vegetable & Fish Stew from the freezer. For dessert we had apricot toetjes I got at the boulangerie near my hairdresser.

Saturday/19-Mar-22: An easy dinner, a half dose of Penne with Chorizo & Broccoli (web). These was easy and tasty. Stirred in a handful of arugula at the end rather than scattering the leaves.

Sunday/20-Mar-22: Dinner was Lamb Chilli and Mint (ThaiCC, p42), served with brown basmati rice. The lamb was simple to make and very tasty. And then there was Thai Cucumber Salad with Peanuts (web; GD), an old and still delicious favorite.

No photo this week. 

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #2 PHOTO: no
This month: #3 GUESTS: n/a
This year: #5 BACKLOG2: yes; #6 BACKLOG3: no; #7 RECYCLE: 0; #8 NEW: 2

This week in the kitchen

Monday/7-Dec-20: Baked off my Overnight Bread this morning. I left the kitchen and missed the dinger for taking the lid off; wandered back some time later. Took the lid off to find it nicely browned and nicely done. I thought that taking off the lid was for browning and crisping the crust, but now I'm not sure.

Picked up and order from Leclerc Drive today.

Dinner was a two-thirds-ish recipe of Ragoût d'Ignames—Lamb-and-Yam Stew (TLAfrica, p37). This took some time, but it was easy to do. Tasty, and not at all spicy. Served over some whole-wheat couscous, although I don't suppose that was really necessary. Finished the Crème au Chocolate for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/8-Dec-20: Dinner was, more or less, a halfish recipe of Croquettes de Thon aux Olives (VPG). Can't find this on the web. It's not really croquettes, as I know them, but tuna patties, with ricotta, parmesan, black olives, an egg, and flour. These are breaded, in the usual way, flour, beaten egg, and crunchy bit. Instead of chapelure, I used some crunchy stuff I made up recently (but can't remember what for) and didn't use up. These were pretty good. The veg was carrot, cauliflower, and broccoli with lemon juice and home-made herb salt. Some French "short spaghetti" as a go-with. And a pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Wednesday/9-Dec-20: Dinner was Red Pork Curry—Gaeng Ped Muu (ThaiCC, p45). These was easy and good. Having no bamboo shoots on hand, I used zucchini, as suggested. Served with basmati rice and our favorite Thai Cucumber Salad with Peanuts (HandyBook; web). And a pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Thursday/10-Dec-20: Forgot to start Overnight Bread last night, so I made some English Muffin Bread (BMB,  p17). Must have measure the 7/8cup water a bit long; the top is pretty caved in. But tasty.

Caught a mouse in the kitchen today.

This afternoon I added labels for all the breads I've baked this year, at least all the ones I've recorded. Since I know I'm making two or three loaves a week, it's clear I've not written all of them down. This is mostly to satisfy my curiosity about what I've been making.

Dinner was a halfish recipe of Sumac Chicken with Cauliflower and Carrots (CL/jan-feb17; web). This was a sheet-pan dinner, easy to do and very tasty. For after we shared a bit of cake we bought at a charity shop this afternoon.

Friday/11-Dec-20: Picked up an order from Intermarché Drive today.

We got our "gourmet panier" today from the commune, in lieu of this year's old folks meal. There were several jars of rillettes from a local shop. We opened one of those and snacked as I was cooking.

Dinner was a half recipe of Grilled Salmon with Avocado Salsa (web). Since the pieces we got were of different thicknesses, I baked them in the oven. Easy to make and very tasty. Served with trio rice and Zucchini with Cilantro Sauce (MWLowFat, p335; MC); that's an old favorite that well with the rest of the meal.

Made up the batter for Overnight Bread

Saturday/12-Dec-20: Baked the Overnight Bread.

Roasted a turkey leg today, on the way to making some cornbread stuffing for a meal. 

Dinner was Curried Fried Rice (MW@Home, p226), this time with curry powder rather than a Thai curry paste. An easy and comforting dish. Some HD mini ice cream cups for after.

Sunday/13-Dec-20: Picked the turkey leg this afternoon. The drumstick was pretty done, but the thigh was still pretty red. And I thought it was overdone yesterday. Tomorrow I'll measure and freeze it up in packets for later use.

Dinner was Curried Green Pea Soup (TooMany, p155), complete with turkey bits. This is an old favorite. We had some  rillettes on bread and crackers beforehand, so didn't need dessert.

Yogurt on overnight.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/23-Mar-20: The Semolina Bread I made yesterday is good, but quite crumbly. It's not dry, it just crumbles.

Dinner was Bacon Wrapped Spring Chicken (web), definitely a hit. Instead of an jalapeño, I used one of the long chiles that Leclerc sometimes has in the summer; yellow, it was, and I probably added a trifle too much cayenne to compensate for it not being the proper thing. No matter. Delicious was the result. Served with trio rice and steamed broccoli. The sauce went well with everything. Some St Felicien for dessert.

Tuesday/24-Mar-20: Made up some garlic oil, vaguely following a internet recipe: Put 80ml olive oil and three smallish garlic cloves in a small saucepan. Bring to oil to a boil, turn the heat down and simmer about 5min; the garlic cloves will brown. Turn the heat off; the garlic continues to cook. Put the oil in a small jar; an old spice jar works. (The instructions said to slice the garlic and put it in the oil. I didn't do this.)

Make up a batch of taco seasoning (HB). Might make some chicken taco meat with some of it soon.

Dinner was Pasta with Porcini Mushroom Sauce (MW@Home, p192), using up some of the shrooms I have on hand. Pretty good it was. We finished the St Felicien for after. Then we finished the chocolate-covered corn flakes. We're nicely full.

Wednesday/25-Mar-20: Ed went to get our order at Intermarché Drive this morning. We disinfected all and put most of it up.

Made a loaf of Oat Bread (BigGerman, p29). Made a medium loaf ; my oat bran was expired, but smelt ok so I used it; used the vital gluten. Very high loaf, very tasty. It was so good, we had it for dessert.

Dinner was Rocky Road Potato Cod (Ainsley3, p89). Used lardons for the streaky bacon. Good it was. Bread for dessert.

Thursday/26-Mar-20: My, my, is that Oat Bread good.

Dinner was Teriyaki Salmon & Mango Salsa (web). This was pretty good, although the salsa was pretty assertive, since I didn't deseed the chili. Served with real basmati rice, and steam broccoli. Some HD mini ice cream cups were just the thing for dessert.

Friday/27-Mar-20: Made up some Prune Bread (BMB, p96), first time. Why don't people like prunes. I had to eat some while pitting and quartering them.

For dinner, I used my last three lasagna noodles to make, more or less, a third recipe of Lasagna with Spicy Roasted Cauliflower (web). For the marinara sauce, I made a half recipe of this, also from NYT and very good. Then a salad. Yay! Thank you, Intermarché Drive*. I used the ricotta to make, sort of, Coffee Ricotta Mousse (MW@Home, p307). Used a bit of Kahlua for this. Pretty good, although the texture was a bit grainy since the ricotta had been frozen.

*I'm a bit worried because I haven't had an email from Leclerc Drive for the order I placed to be delivered Monday. Can't get to the site; they simply can't keep up with demand right now, and haven't been able to fix the situation in the last week and a half.

Saturday/28-Mar-20: In the afternoon, I made some Easy Chocolate Shortbread (MC), a recipe that worked the last time I made it, but not this time. The dough wouldn't come together, so I added some cream cheese (maybe 2tbl) to make that happen. The result is tasty, but like eating chocolate-flavored sand.

Dinner was Stir-Fried Pork and Green Beans—Muu Pad Tua Fak Yaw (ThaiCC, p42). This was pretty good. Made a small dent in the huge pile of green beans we got from Intermarché Driver, and used the tail of the varkenshaas, the rest of which will appear somehow in the next days. For after, we had chocolate sand with vanilla ice cream.

Sunday/29-Mar-20: Made up another loaf of Authentic French Bread (Magic, p22), Med/Rapid/Dark, with 100% T65 (bread) flour. Dark, it’s not. And a bit of a lumpy, one-sided loaf; maybe it wanted a bit more water.

I used up the last bits of cauliflower and broccoli to make a half dose of Penne with Cauliflower Sauce (PastaHarv p68). I used cascareccia, although I think the mini-lasagnas, mafaldas, might have been better. Still, it was a pretty good. For dessert, we covered the rest of the chocolate shortcaket things with cream and gobbled them up.

Yogurt on overnight.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/7-May-18: Our meal today was Prawn & Crab Cakes with Chilli Jam (200Budget, p182; cookbooker). For a veggie side I made some Stir-Fried Mixed Vegetables (ThaiCC, p80). And some plain rice. Pretty good meal. For dessert we had more of the Chocolate-Glazed Banana Cake. Yum.

Tuesday/8-May-18: Our meal was Rosemary-Flavored Chickpea and Spinach Soup (WorldVeg, p598; cookbooker). Finished off the Chocolate-Glazed Banana Cake.

Wednesday/9-May-18: Shopping today.

Our meal was Fish Kebabs & Spring Onion Mash (200Budget, p174). The kebabs were good, and the smashed potatoes with crème fraîche, chopped cilantro and red chili, and spring onions were a treat. Some roasted asparagus on the side. For dessert, some store-bought rice puddings.

Cookcooks: I've done two recipes from 200Budget, but there will be none from BoldVeg. We're outing three times in the next days, with company on the remaining days.

Yogurt on overnight.

Thursday/10-May-18: We ate at a local Sanglier à Broche repas today. We're stuffed. Nothing happened in the kitchen.

Friday/11-May-18: Chopped up lots of vegetables for Marinated Vegetables à la Greque (VegFeasst, p76; cookbooker) and put them on to marinate.

For dinner, we had hamburgers at the bar where No Direction was playing their last gig with Albie. Nothing further happened in the kitchen,

Saturday/12-May-18: Cath and Hannah for dinner. We started with the Marinated Greek Vegetables. These were good. Served with some sliced baguette to soppy up the marinade. For our main, there was Asparagus-Ricotta Phyllo Tart (VT/may08; web; cookbooker). Put a bit of lightly dressed mâche with some cherry tomatoes on the plate. Dessert was Pears in Chamomile Syrup (O&C, p553; cookbooker). Everything was yummy.

Took the extra baguette and the last bit of tart to Vanessa.

Yogurt on overnight.

Sunday/13-May-18: I had some of the marinated vegetables over a bit of mâche for lunch. Pizza after Ed's concert. Nothing further happened in the kitchen.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 3; #3 COOKBOOK: yes
Cookbooks of the month: BoldVeg and 200Budget
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: no; #6 GUESTS: yes

This week in the kitchen

Monday/11-Aug-14: An eventful day for our cats today. Oscar had most of his right ear, including a mastocytoma cancer, removed. Sophie, who's been really listless of late, has been diagnosed with, most likely, cystitis.

Since our local boulangerie is closed Mondays, when I got back from taking Oscar in for his surgery, I put a loaf of "sourdough" bread in the bread maker. This doesn't really taste very sourdough-ish, but it is pretty good and will see us through tomorrow morning.

Dinner was Chicken, Broccoli, and Bulgur Wheat Salad (web) with bulgur made from épautre/spelt. Another nice summery salad. Too bad we're not having nice summery weather. We split a classic magnum for dessert.

Tuesday/12-Aug-14: Shopping today; managed to come away without an impulse buy. The salmon I wanted came only in big pieces, so I used salmon from the freezer for a half recipe of Grilled Salmon & Zucchini with Red Pepper Sauce (web). Can't say much for the frozen salmon. The sauce for this was good, and I'm glad that I made a whole recipe so I've got a chunk of it frozen. Then a big salad with cucumber and tomato from the potager. (The zucchini plant we bought is growing cukes, big fat spiny ones.) Then some store-bought vanilla rice puddings.

Sophie is much better on her meds, acting alert today, which is a nice change. Oscar's doing okay. His ear looks like a black hole, but that will improve when he can groom a bit and when hair grows back.

Wednesday/13-Aug-14: Slow-oven-roasted the tomatoes I bought yesterday and have them in the big freezer, still on the tray, to freeze separately overnight.

We ate pizza tonight before going on a torchlight tour of Montbron this evening.

Yogurt on overnight.

Thursday/14-Aug-14: Had a hankering for pancakes for breakfast, so I made a half recipe of Ned and Crescent's Favorite Multigrain Pancakes (Gospels, p205).

Dinner was a lemony pasta sauce from Nigel Slater for IHCC. I almost made some Lemon Chive Pasta (PastaMach, p57), but forgot the chives. Then a big salad. Then two squares of chocolate with hazelnuts each. And a Pogo walk looking for Sophie, who's taken to staying out late again now that she's feeling better.

Friday/15-Aug-14: Dinner out tonight at the Mazerolles fête patronale, half a melon to start, braised ham and the ubiquitous beans for the main, salad and cheese for after, then a bit of apple tart. So, not much happened in the kit

Saturday/16-Aug-14: Thinking tonight's concert started at 17.30, I planned a crockpot dinner so it would be ready when we returned. But it turns out the concert was a 20.30. So I got the crockpot going a bit earlier than planned. Using four largish chicken thighs, I made a halfish recipe of Chicken Paprika (BeanSC, p87), using less olive oil than the butter asked. Turned out to be surprisingly good. As a go-with I made a full recipe (for four) of Spätzle (MW@Home, p203; HandyBook). This was really too much, so I'll use the rest in some kind of made up salad for lunch perhaps. Then there was a veggie side of shallots, broccoli that I'd parboiled in the spätzle water, and tomatoes from the garden, spiced with paprika. Made up, and turned out pretty and pretty good.

Sunday/17-Aug-14: Had an itch for fried rice, so tonight I made a half version of Thai Fried Rice (Khao Pad) (ThaiCC, p24; cookbooker). Good stuff. Itch scratched. We split a classic magnum for dessert.

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