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

Monday/19-Oct-15: This was clear-out-the-fridge night, preparation for leaving on Thursday. For dinner we had lots of orzo, accompanied by:

• Green Bean Salad (ClassicItal, p557). A really nice, simple way to do green beans. Should be done at the last minute or so that the beans can be kept warm till serving.
• Zucchini with Tomato and Basil (ClassicItal, p534). A bit of clock-time, but easy to do and not demanding. Having no parsley, I sprinkled in some dried Italian herbs. Good stuff.
• Roasted Eggplant with Peppers and Cucumber (ClassicItal, p55). I've made this a number of times. It's still good.

Tuesday/20-Oct-15: Lunch was a take-off on Medaglioni de Melazane—Aubergine Medallions (VegCarlu, p202). No tomato purée, wrong cheese, still good. Chopped up some tomatoes (seeded, of course) and cooked till soft, then stirred in the last of the basil we brought along. Sauté slices of eggplant. Top with (pesto, not), tomato sauce, cheddar slices, and some grated Parmesan. Into the oven till the cheese was melted.

Had a super dinner out. Fixed menu, first time we've seen that in Italy. Soup, pasta, two mains (lamb and chicken), and dessert. Good and not all that expensive.

Wednesday/21-Oct-15: For lunch, I started out to make an egg and zucchini thing from VegCarlu, but it turned into a clear-out-the-fridge scramble-up. Red onion, the end of a salami, a bit of red bell pepper, the last zucchini, two little tomatoes, topped with eggs. Yum. Hope we have room for dinner tonight.

Nice dinner out at our favorite restaurant in Radicondoli.

Thursday/22-Oct-15: Checked out. Drove to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower and the Duomo. Then to Lucca. Walked 11,000+ steps today. Feet are tired. Lovely dinner out.

Friday/23-Oct-15: Walked almost 10,000 steps. Whew. Another nice dinner out.

Saturday/24-Oct-15: Drove all the way to the Vercors without an overnight stop.

Sunday/25-Oct-15: Day in the Vercors.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/12-Oct-15: Ate at another restaurant tonight. Good pasta; meat overcooked. Friendly place. We are astounded at the number of Americans in town. There were at least ten eating dinner at this restaurant, plus a Brit couple.

Tuesday/13-Oct-15: Picked the chicken. Made stock.

Dinner was a take-off on Chicken Fricassee, Cacciatora Style (ClassicItal, p330) served with fusilli. Instead of using pieces of raw chicken, I used most of the cooked meat I took from the roast chicken. Good it was. With a salad.

Wednesday/14-Oct-15: Bit of shopping this afternoon for bread and other supplies

Dinner was, more or less, Orecchiette con Broccoli (VegCarlu, p54). The pasta was fusilli instead or orecchiette, but it was still good. Easy stuff. And a salad. then we finished off the chocolate gelato.

Thursday/15-Oct-15: Dinner out.

Friday/16-Oct-15: Went to the market at Colle de Val d'Elsa. The non-food stuff was starting to close up as we got there, but we found one of the small ladles with holes, which turns out to be great for checking if pasta is cooked and probably works with beans too.

Watched a movie. Got too late to cook. Pizza for dinner.

Saturday/17-Oct-15: For dinner there was ravioli filled with nettle and Parmesan a la panna, cooked then finished off in cream. Yesterday at the market I bought a head of any unknown green, which we think might be chicory, the real stuff rather than the one that's also called Belgian endive or witlof. Used it to make a non-mixed version of Mixed Greens with Black Olives (Verdura, p321). (This is only the third recipe I've noted from Verdura, so I'll call this an unused book.) I boiled the greens till well-wilted, but later found by taste and research they should  have been cooked longer, so the dish was a bit strong. But still an interesting way to cook greens.

Sunday/18-Oct-15: As I was putting up dishes this morning, a small glass bowl exploded when I tapped its edge against the stack I was adding it to. Never had that kind of thing happen before. So much for not breaking anything.

For lunch I made chicken noodle soup with the rest of the stock, a bit of leftover chicken, a sliced carrot, and some orzo.

Dinner out, so that was all in the kitchen.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/10-Aug-15: We had our mail meal at midday today, in an attempt to recover from several days of big eating. I made a 30-minute menu from VPG (which now styles itself simply as Gourmand, dropping the Vie Pratique except in their URL). The main course was a half dose of Aubergines grillées aux dés d'agneau marinés et sautés à la fleur de thym (web), that's Grilled Eggplant with Pieces of Marinated Lamb Sautéed with Thyme Flowers. Ok, my thyme is past the flowering stage, so I just used some freshly picked leaves. Tasty and kind of cute in presentation with eggplant slices folded over the meat. The starter, which I served as a side dish, was Salad perles de blé, boulgour, carotte, courgette et crème coco (web). This was a really nice and easy salad/side dish: Soak some bulgur in hot water, grate two more less equal piles of zucchini and carrots. Make a dressing of coconut milk, lemon juice, and dijon mustard. It asked from some chopped up chervil, but I couldn't find that, so used flat parsley which I had. For dessert, we had a bit of ice cream with some defrosted raspberries. Just a bit of fruit for our evening meal.

Tuesday/11-Aug-15: Easy dinner tonight. Some tasty chickpea patties from the freezer, topped with the last of the apricot habernero salsa. Accompanied by Broccoli e Zucchini in Insalata (p53, VegCarlu), which we've had several times in past year. Some mini-magnums for dessert.

Wednesday/12-Aug-15: Yogurt on overday. Made up a bunch of Guiliano Hazan's Home Sausage (p162, 30MinPasta) and froze it.

Lunch out today as part of our steam train trip. Only fruit for dinner.

Thursday/13-Aug on-15: Black beans and ham from the freezer for tonight's dinner, along with Cayenne Cornbread (p182, BigGerman). Salty they were.

Friday/14-Aug-15: Shopping today.

Dinner was Baked Masala Fish (web) made with cod. It was so-so. To make this, I make up a whole recipe of Tandoori Masala (web) which I'll try to use up before too long. Served with  Madhur Jaffrey's Stir-Fried Cabbage with Fennel Seeds (web; cookbooker) which I thought was super-yummy. Looked through most of my Jaffrey books but didn't find it; will have to tuck the recipe into one of them. And some basmati rice. Some store-bought lunettes for dessert. Not sure why the name—they're puff pastry wrapped around some chocolate chips. Not very Indian, but very tasty.

Saturday/15-Aug-15: Yogurt on overday. Made up a batch of Guilano Hazan's Homemade Sausage (p161, 30MinPasta; HandyBook). Froze in two 8-ounce lumps, plus the leftoverbit.
Had dinner at our fête patronale this evening, so nothing further happened in the kitchen

Sunday/16-Aug-15: Made half a Peach Dutch Baby (web) for breakfast. Halved the sugar; no extra sugar at the end. Good stuff.

We had our main meal at lunch, that was Omelette er Jhol—Omelette in a Curry (web). Pretty good stuff. She says the gravy is fairly thin, so I added only one cup of water instead of two, but I think more would have been nice, maybe 1-1/2 cups. Served over rice, there wasn't as much soppy as I'd have liked. Some cut up fruit for dessert.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/18-May-15: Bill arrived today and we had dinner out. Nothing in the kitchen today.

Tuesday/19-May-15: Dinner was A Simple Mediterranean Spice-Roasted Chicken (Raising, p74), another goodie from this book. Gayler suggested a couscous stuffing for the chickie; I used whole wheat couscous and served it as a side. Along with Eggplant Zaalouk (Morocco, p93), which was okay, not as good as other salads from this book.

Wednesday/20-May-15: Lunch out, then shopping today. Our dinner, very late, was carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, cheese, and an eclair each.

Thursday/21-May-15: Unexpectedly had a Famous Author for dinner tonight. This was what I'd planned, just with an extra person and the claufoutis. We had nibbles with pineau. Then Barbaietole al Burro e Parmesan—Beetroot with Butter and Parmesan (VegCarlu, p38). Not bad, interesting to have butter where I'd expect olive oil, especially in an Italian recipe. Stretched three people's worth of beets to serve four. Then there was Roast Pork Loin with Lemon, Garlic and Thyme, which was a very nice recipe from the now defunct magazine, The Herb Companion. Plus some roast potatoes that turned out especially good. Then some cheese. Then some clafoutis. Yesterday, I bought a kilo of cherries, just starting into season, thinking we could nibble them over several days, but used them for a clafoutis, which is really a quick and tasty dessert, whatever the fruit. Then coffee, then waved him goodbye, till Thanksgiving possibly.

Friday/22-May-15: Dinner in Limoges this evening, before a concert. Nothing in the kitchen today.

Saturday/23-May-15: Out most of today, so I put Jamie Oliver's Spiced Shoulder of Lamb (web) in the oven to cook on low, being reading about when we got home. Pretty good it was. (The recipe is from a Jamie magazine, so you'd think that it would be one his site, but it's apparently not. Boo.) Served with Green Peas in a Creamy Sauce (MJ@Home, p87) and Turmeric Rice (MJ@Home, p100). Finished off the clafoutis for after.

Had yogurt on overday, but it failed to set. Can't figure this out. I am using a different brand of UHT milk, but it worked a couple of times. How could that be the problem? Very puzzling. Not to mention irritating that there's no yogurt for breakfast.

And did I mention the bees? They have been appearing frequently in the house, mostly in the kitchen. Yesterday Ed noticed a swarm at the corner of the house. Seems like they're trying to settle in the chimney to the wood burner. Many are dying by the time they get out. Keeping the window over the sink open at least lets them get away.

Sunday/24-May-15: Ed closed the kitchen window as we went out this morning. On our return, an amazing number of bees were there trying to get out. We're keeping a fire going trying to convince them to go elsewhere.

Ate out. Nothing in the kitchen today.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 UNUSED: yes; #3 GRAINS: yes; #4 VEG/FISH: 0
This month: #5 PASTA: no; #6 BREAD: no; #7 FotW: no for May

This week in the kitchen

Monday/15-Jul-13: Clean-out-the-fridge day. Corn on the cob that I got at Intermarché last Friday. Sautéed shallot, garlic, red bell pepper, zucchini (the last of the broccoli was moldy). Provence herbs. Served over brown rice. A bit blah in taste, but the last of the Fourme d'Ambert helped. Double chocolate mini magnums for a dog walk, looking for Sophie.

Tuesday/16-Jul-13: Yogurt on overday.

Off to Roc de Boeuf for lovely dinner this evening. Now I need to try to find recipes for the terrine of beef tongue that Ed had as a starter and the pastilla d'agneau that I had as a main.

Wednesday/17-Jul-13: We met Jody and Steve for dinner at a restaurant in Chabanais this evening, them coming from Barcelona and we coming from home. After a nice meal we lead them home.

Buchwheat Bread (BigGerman, p38) on overnight.

Thursday/18-Jul-13: Yogurt on overday.

Shopped today.

Dinner: Started with melon, some of the Serrano ham Jody and Steve brought from Spain, and a slog of pineau. At the store, got some saumon crepinettes for our evening meal, what turned out to be a fish pâté topped with salmon, wrapped in crepin, caul fat, to hold it together. Barbecuing didn't seem to work, so I put them in a hot skillet to cook. Only to discover they really were cooked, just no browning or grill marks. Turned out to be pretty good. We grilled a bunch of veg as a go-with (yellow and red bell peppers, big shroom, eggplant quartered lengthwise). For after, we ate lots of bits of cheese.

Friday/19-Jul-13: Jody did most of the work, and I finished up some of Fatima's Apricot Jam. 6-1/2 AH jars worth of what looks to be a bit runny jam. Tastes good though.

Dinner started with Cold Beetroot with Cream (Pomiane, p180), an old favorite. Then there was Roast Easter Lam with White Wine (ClassItal, p408), a tasty way to do a lamb's shoulder. This was accompanied by Golden Potato and Porcini Gratin (web), a not bad substitute for Sliced Potatoes Baked with Porcini and Fresh Cultivated Mushrooms, Riviera Style (ClassItal, p522), which I'd have made if I'd had any fresh mushrooms. We finished up quickly and went to try to see badgers emerging from their sett in a nearby wood. No luck there.

Yogurt on overnight.

Saturday/20-Jul-13: Walked 8k at a randonnée nocturne this evening, so not much happened in the kitchen.

Sunday/21-Jul-13: Started ice cream for tomorrow. Started chicken marinating for tomorrow.

For dinner Ed bbq'd the brochettes and sausage we bought earlier in the week. I made some Broccoli e Zucchini in Insalata (VegCarluccio, p53) again. Steve sautéed some chanterelles we found at the grocery store. Boiled up the corn on the cob we got earlier in the week.

After dinner, we put together an apricot tart for tomorrow. Have finally used up all the apricots; quite a few were already spoiled.

Yogurt on overnight.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 IHCC/COOKBOOKS: no, #2 VEG/FISH: 1
This month: #3 PASTA: no, #4 BREAD: no

This week in the kitchen

Monday/1-Jul-13: Got yesterday's bread in the oven before going off to the dentist and Ed finished it up. This is really yummy bread. Even with the reduced water, though, it's still a bit of a puddle bread. It would form a sort of ball this time, but that ball spread as far as it could. I did follow someone's advice on  cookbooker and let it do it's final rise on parchment paper in a cast iron skillet. Still had to peel and scrape the dough from the paper to get it in the pot for cooking.

Made a half dose of Quick Curried Crab Cakes (web). These were pretty tasty, if a trifle salty. Served with Herbed Fava Beans (web; cookbooker) and the old favorite Spicy Cucumber Wedges (MJ1, p172). The favas were a real hit. The recipe is simple, which is nice since favas are a bit of a pain; it's just a vinaigrette with minced garlic, fennels seeds, and dried thyme. Fennel is not a favorite around here, but it was perfect with the favas. For dessert we split a slice of flan I bought at the boulanger.

Tuesday/2-Jul-13: Yogurt on overday.

Dinner was some grilled merguez (another store, another brand, still too salty), plus some pasta and Broccoli e Zucchini in Insalata (VegCarluccio, p53). This turned out to be a super salad. Boil some broccoli bits and some zucchini "batons"; cool them; toss with a vinaigrette of equal amounts of olive oil and lemon juice with minced garlic and S&P. Amazingly good for very simple, but that's often the way with Italian cooking.

Have been thinking seriously about dropping the Ottolenghi thing, since I'm not all that enamored of his recipes and I'm trying to cut back my computer time. But then, I planned a recipe in for this week, so who knows?

Wednesday/3-Jul-13: Shopping today. For dinner, I smerged some recipes for spaghetti with smoked salmon and capers, with lemon zest and juice, garlic and red pepper flakes. Easy and yummy, if a trifle too much lemon juice this time. Then a big salad. Then some vanilla ice cream with raspberries from the garden.

Thursday/4-Jul-13: We were up at Chez Cisseen all day, helping to get the New Look underway. I forgot to defrost chicken thighs for the planned dinner this morning, so ended up making up something. Took some chicken broth, ham slices, and hominy from the freezer. Sautéed an onion and some garlic and a mole adobo mix. Added some broth, the ham and hominy, and simmered for a while till all was defrosted. Spicy yummy. Added the extra broth to the leftover stew/chili, so we'll have the rest thinned down in a couple of days. Some double chocolate mini magnums for afters.

Friday/5-Jul-13: Looking doubtful I'll get a post for Ottolenghi up this week, so the broccoli and zucchini from VegCarluccio will be my cookbook. Almost made that again tonight.

Defrosted the chicken thighs tonight, planning to bbq them, but Ed missed the boat for starting the fire. So I broiled them, first rubbing with the last of some (homemade) no-salt Cajun rub and a dab of olive oil. Accompanied by some grilled aubergine slices and some potato salad, vaguely following Joy of Cooking's recipe with vinaigrette. Some raspberries fresh from the garden with the end of the vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Yogurt on overnight.

Saturday/6-Jul-13: Dinner was an Vegetables in Yogurt Sauce (MC 2BTried), which was quite good, served over rice. I think this was supposed to be a side dish (6 servings), but I made the whole thing as a vegetarian main. The sauce is yogurt and sour cream, with curry spices, but nothing hot, which it could have used actually. Made a nice dinner, especially with a dose of Geeta's Lime & Chilli Chutney applied. For dessert we ate wild strawberries and raspberries from the garden.

Sunday/7-Jul-13: The kitchen cabinets left of the stove and left and right of the sink are back in place, mostly re-loaded. Having a think about rearranging some things, so all is not back in place yet. But it is nice to have most things where they belong.

Had our main meal early today, since we went to a concert in the evening. Started with a red soup for IHCC (cookbooker), followed by Spicy Chicken Livers (web) over split pita breads for the main. This was one of those recipe that was odd enough for me to want to try it. I'm glad I did, but I don't have to make it again. Chicken livers are tossed with barbecue spice (not having access to Spar's bbq spice, I smerged several recipes for this) and sautéed. Then onions and garlic are sautéed in the same pan, sliced mushrooms are added, then some chopped tomato. Since I used fresh, seeded tomatoes, I added a little chicken stock for liquid. Finally a big lump of a hot fruit chutney (whoever knows what Spar's might be like?) is added. Served over pita, rather than Spar's foccacia.

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