Tuesday/11-Mar-14: Shopping today.
Haven't made a dessert in a while. Found the recipe for Pear-Almond Upside Down Cake (VC4E, p704) on the way to the grocery and bought the required two pears. Made dinner while this was in the oven.
Dinner was Pesce con Funghi Porcini—White Fish Fillets with Ceps (TopItal, p83); no cêpes (wrong season, isn't it?) so used shiitakes. This was pretty good and easy. I used the odd bits of shrooms and a shallot to make a kind of trio rice pilaf. And then there was (sort of) Broccoletti in Padella—Broccoli with Garlic and Chilli Pepper (TopItal, p55). Followed by too much upside down cake. I cut it in eighths, but should have done it in sixths. We ate a quarter, then Ed wanted more, so we ate another quarter. I had small pieces both time, but still.
Wednesday/12-Mar-14: Made a half recipe (i.e., only one chicken) of Garlic Roast Chicken (MC) for dinner. Put it in the oven about 18.30 and used the turn-off feature of the oven to turn it off at the proper time. We went to the "election information" evening that lasted till 20.00. Tiring. Came home and ate the chicken and veg right out of the roasting pan. Almost finished the upside down cake; just a bit left for breakfast.
Yogurt on overnight.
Thursday/13-Mar-14: Expecting to be tuckered out from line dancing this evening, I planned Slow Cooker Pork Paprikash (web; cookbooker) for dinner. Line dancing was cancelled, so the plan was for naught. Served the paprikash over a full dose (probably the first time ever) of Spaetzle (MW@Home, p203); this is part of a recipe for Cauliflower Paprikash. The pork paprikash was good and we have another dinner in the freezer. Ate some carrot sticks for a veg. No dessert. (I bought this pork on sale, 1.8kg of sauté, which seems to be chunks of shoulder. Usually I divide it up into smaller bits, but this time I didn't so we'll have to repeat a pork dinner soon.)
Friday/14-Mar-14: Dinner was Chile-Lime Veggie Noodles (web). OK, but neither of us really liked it. We split a magnum classic for afters.
Saturday/15-Mar-14: Used up the rest of the pork tonight with Pork in a Mustard Spice Mix (100Curries, p99). When I read through the recipe I somehow missed that it needed to simmer for an hour. Oops. But I remembered that in Q&E, Jaffrey gives the option of pressure cooking (to be quick) or simmering. So I got out the pressure cooker and away we went. The organic tomatoes I bought were really blah, so the dish might have had more flavor they had been better, but it was pretty darn good as it was. For a side there was a half recipe of Spiced Broccoli and Tomatoes (IndLight, p175). This wanted plum tomatoes, which are summer things. I have some oven-dried plum tomatoes in the freezer, so used them instead. Pretty good, this was. Served with rice. And a waffle with mixed berries (from the freezer) topped with crème fraîche for dessert.
Sunday/16-Mar-14: Yogurt on overday.
Have some green beans that don't like like they'll get used in the next days, so I made a small batch of Kaye's Pickled Green Beans (MC). This is sort of my own recipe, smerged from a couple of others. I like; Ed doesn't. (He's not a big pickle eater.)
Made some Figos Recheados—Dried Figs Stuffed with Almonds and Chocolate (TLS&P, p103) from Portugal. One day too late with these, but hadn't had time to make them. They're stuffed with a mixture of ground almonds and shredded chocolate. There are actually two fig "candy" recipes given, both say they are traditionally served after dinner accompanied by glasses of port. I've tried one of mine, and, yes, I think that would be a good combination. Our bottle of port is so old, though, I wonder if it's drinkable? Will check it out this evening. I suspect either of these fig things would be a nice little go-with for after dinner of afternoon coffee. Pretty easy to make too.
The yogurt, which should have gone off at 22.30, was off about 17.00. Don't know when or why that happened. Guess it might be time to break down and get a new yogurt maker. Now, do I get another Moulinex so I can use the same jars? Or do I get another brand that has eight jars per liter, which is a better amount for breakfast
Dinner was a pasta fantasy using up bits of broccoli, shiitakes, and zucchini, along with some tomato sauce from the freezer. Then a bit salad. Then some port with stuffed figs. The port (tawny) is still drinkable. The figs are a good go-with.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes; #2 VEG/FISH: 3
This month: #3 PASTA: yes, #4 FotW: yes for February, no for March; #5 BREAD: 1
