This week in the kitchen

Monday/6-Dec-21: Dinner was a half recipe of Risotto with Baby Artichokes (Verdura, p234). This was nice, in spite of the tedious preparation needed for the artichokes. Then a plain salad.

Tuesday/7-Dec-21: Tonight's dinner was pork chops that were marinated in charmoula from the freezer. Served Orzo Salad with Peppers and Feta (web). I made this a side for two by quartering the recipe (halved for two, halved again to make an ample side). Might be nice to roast the bell peppers rather than sautéing them. Good stuff.

Wednesday/8-Dec-21: Dinner was a recipe recommended by Jacky, Creamy Turkey and Wild Rice Soup (web; GD; notes). I made the stock in my usual way from leg bones of our Thanksgiving turkey legs. The soup is delicious, and used up my stash of wild rice. Guess I'll have to get more before long. Recipe onto DMA list.

Thursday/9-Dec-21: Shopping today.

Dinner was Fresh Tuna Burgers with Ginger & Cilantro (EAT-L; web; GD; notes). The Fine Cooking version (on the web) suggests serving with a Thai-Style Dipping Sauce (web), which would have been nice. I made four patties and have frozen two. Using "sushi-grade tuna" for the burgers strikes me as silly. Any tuna you would grill is fine. The recipe calls for 3/4tsp of salt for the four burgers; I used on 1/2tsp and we both found them a bit salty. Otherwise very good. (For the second night in row, recipe goes onto DMA list.) Served with Thai whole-grain trio rice, and some corn tarted up very loosely following this recipe. All was good.

Friday/10-Dec-21: Dinner was Aubergine au Four aux Pois Chiches Fumés (web). Turned out pretty good. The recipe asks for a big eggplant to serve two; I had a 500g package of two (bio), so we had one each. I used ground roasted cumin instead of plain ground cumin.The recipe asks for over a cup of water for the tahini sauce; I used maybe half of that, adding just enough to make a nicely runny, but not too runny, sauce.

Saturday/11-Dec-21: Dinner was Red Wine Braised Mushroom Sauce (EW/sep14; web). As suggested, I added some crème fraîche and served over noodles (flavored with cèpes). This was quite good, and easy to assemble. I used up all the shrooms in house, brown mushrooms (champignons de Paris) and shiitakes. Then a big salad.

Sunday/12-Dec-21: We haven't been to the boulanger lately, and I'm getting tired of frozen ciabattas, so I made a loaf of an old favorite, English Muffin Bread (BigGerman, p15), using 2cups T65 (bread) flour and 1cups T110 (light whole wheat) flour. We'll see how it turns out in the morning.

Dinner was an old recipe, Pecan Over-Fried Chicken (MC; FamilyCircle/sep97; web). The web version is more or less the same. Very tasty. Might cook on the rack under the broiler, or even a rack in the onion would keep the bottom from being gummy. Probably better to chop the pecans finely; I'm afraid they've gummed up my spice grinder. Very tasty, tender, and ujuicy kip filets. Served with some lightly buttered new potatoes and steamed chunks of snijbonen (haricots coco plat).

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 4; #2 PHOTO: yes; #3 *DMA: no
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/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

Winter Squash and Leek Soup

Verdura: Vegtables Italian Style
Viana La Place
William Morrow (1991)
ISBN 0688087647

Our recent frigid weather has brought on a spate of soups, this one being the second from this book. The extreme weather is over, but momentum keeps those soups a-rolling in.

This one was very tasty, but we thought it didn't seem like a dinner soup somehow. Maybe because it was puréed to smoothness. The leftovers will appear in mugs with our lunchtime sandwiches, no doubt.

Boil up some chunks of peeled and diced winter squash in water just to cover. While that's cooking, sauté some sliced leeks and a chopped celery stalk. When the veggies are soft, add a pinch of ground cloves, 1 cup of milk, and 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then add salt and pepper. Cook for 10 minutes, then add the cooked squash with its cooking water and simmer 15 minutes more. Put it through a food mill, or purée in a food processor, or get out that staff mixer and give it a good buzz. Stir in a bitter butter and some grated Parmesan. Serve. Tasty stuff; looking forward to the leftovers.

This post is linked to this week's Cookbook Sundays.

This week in the kitchen

Monday/20-Feb-12: Today's pubs, the weekly batch of advertising supplements that comes with the post, brought a flyer from Leclerc, the grocery where we shop most often, thanking all their local suppliers. Merci à Tous nos Producteurs Locaux! it says, with pictures of the suppliers and descriptions of their local products, Limousin beef, sausages or all kinds, rabbits, birds, fish, oysters, melons, asparagus, endives, mushrooms, fruits, nuts, bio milk, raw milk, cheeses, ice cream (I've never noticed locally produced ice cream, will have to look for this), spring water, pineau, wine, etc. Fun to read. Can't think of seeing this in the U.S., even at someplace like Whole Foods.

The evening quiz from two weeks ago was postponed till midday today, so that was our main meal. In the evening we made a tray of nibbles, fruit, carrots, almond-stuffed green olives, black olive tapenade, and some St Maure (a chèvre from Poitou), finished off by some of the chocolates we got as a booby prize at the quiz (fourth of four teams).

Made some Whole Wheat Bread (BHGBread, p9), for tomorrow's breakfast, the one I intended to make last week.

Tuesday/21-Feb-12: Now that was some darn good whole wheat bread!

Yogurt on overday. Started up another batch of Preserved Lemons (Morocco, p21) in anticipation of a Cookbooker challenge on this book.

Dinner was a half dose of Linguine with Lemon, Garlic, and Thyme Mushrooms (web), a really simple, really tasty dish. Served with a salad. Followed by the rest of the booby prize chocolates.

Wednesday/22-Feb-12: Shook up my preserving lemons this morning, first of thirty daily shakes. Made Oatmeal Cake (green book; MC), a recipe I've had for, oh, pushing fifty years (can you believe that?!). Instead of raisins, I used dried cranberries that we got from a Canadian choir we saw last year. The cake was largely devoured when we sat outside with friends for tea after a walk. (About this time last week, it was -15C overnight; today it was 15C in the afternoon.)

Did some Garlic-Herb Bread (Basic/Rapid/M/d) (MC), which was one of our favorites when I was ABM-ing regularly. Another more-ish bread, a bit wonder-bread-ish in texture, but oh so tasty. This accompanied Winter Squash and Leek Soup (Verdura, p170). A nice soup, but maybe not the best as a main-dish soup since it's fairly light and smooth. Only one more butternut squash in the cupboard!

Thursday/23-Feb-12: Dinner was a half dose of Chicken with Fennel, Preserved Lemon, and Olives (Morocco, p302; cookbooker), using up my last preserved lemon. (Thus, another batch on the way.) Served over basmati rice, with a side of Carrot Salad with Cumin, Cinnamon, and Sweet Paprika (Morocco, p79; cookbooker).

Friday/24-Feb-12: Last night my RSS reader delivered the recipe for tonight's dinner. I made a half dose of Creamy Chipotle Shrimp with Mushroom (web; cookbooker). Really tasty, an Ed favorite now.

Saturday/25-Feb-12: Impulse buy at the grocery ... I've been having an urge for ribs, so saw a poitrine de porc (in two pieces). This is the side/belly on a pig. The front half is like ribs with the stuff we'd call bacon still attached. The back half is just bacon. Unless I discover something new in the meantime, the front bit I'll just cook like ribs and give it a meaty gnaw. (The recipe I learned for cooking ribs: Oven on as low, about 250F. Sprinkle your ribs with a ton of salt and a half ton of cayenne. In the oven till them smell good, hours later. If you like you can finish off with a short stay on the bbq grill or under the broiler. Yum.)

Fish-and-chips (with mushy peas) at a local restaurant tonight. Nothing much happening in the kitchen beyond putting away the groceries.

Sunday/26-Feb-12: Yogurt on overday. Visited two mills today as part of open mills day and lunched at one of them. So we weren't very hungry in the evening. For a little starter/salad, I sliced a beautiful (for winter) ripe tomato I got for something and didn't use. (Too bad I didn't think to defrost some mozzarella earlier in the day.) Then a salad of rucola. And a bit of cheese after.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes, #2 BREAD: yes, #3 SOUP: yes, #4 MIDDAY: yes, #5 VEG/FISH: 3
This month: #6 PASTA: not yet

Lentil Soup with Red Squash and Fennel

Verdura: Vegtables Italian Style
Viana La Place
William Morrow (1991)

ISBN 0688087647

This is another book I saw recommended somewhere, although I don't remember where. It looked like it might be interesting, Italian and vegetables both being Good Things, so I found a cheap second-hand copy. But it sits there on the shelf with other veggie books and I never seem to find anything suitable when I'm looking in that area.

If it the weather forecast is right, we'll have been 2 weeks sub-0C when it finally warms up. Soup weather indeed. There are butternut squash in the cupboard still to be used, the bounty of a neighbor's garden. Lentils are a staple. A slippery trip to the grocery turned up a fennel bulb. And here I found a soup to pull them all together. It was a surprisingly good combination.

Maybe this isn't really a weeknight soup, since it take a good hour to cook, but it's a leisurely thing to put together. Chop an onion and sauté it. While that's going, chop the fennel. When the onion is soft, stir in the fennel. While that's going, measure the lentils, fennel seeds, salt, and water. After the fennel has cooked for five minutes, stir in the lentils and seeds, add the water, and bring to a boil. Let it simmer partly covered for 30 minutes while you peel and chop a chunk of squash. Stir in the squash and cook another 20 minutes until the lentils and squash are done. Grind in some black pepper and serve. A bit of time, but an easy, unrushed assembly. With very tasty results.

This post is linked to this week's Cookbook Sundays.

This week in the kitchen

Monday/6-Feb-12: Finished off the chicken stock this morning. Ended up with 11 cups in the freezer. Out of freezer containers now.

Simple dinner tonight. Defrosted some merguez de volaille and grilled them. Made mashed sweet potatoes from the enormous single pot that I bought last week. Then a salad with the marinated Brussels sprouts. These were better with just a dab of arugula and were rather overwhelmed by the plateful of mâche/arugula mix.

K's Sweet Potato Bread (MC, a smerge of two recipes) on overnight. Moved the ABM in by the pellet burner, since I know it's not happy baking in a cold room.

Tuesday/7-Feb-12: Wasn't it nice to awaken to the smell of fresh bread this morning! Ordinarily, when the ABM sits in the kitchen, the smell doesn't really reach us in the bedroom. It's a pretty golden color, but not especially sweet tasting.

Brought the frozen chicken half indoors this morning. In the afternoon, I picked the meat for tomorrow's dinner, then roasted the bones and popped them in the freezer.

For dinner I embellished a can of black beans, mashed it all up a bit, topped with bits of leftover polenta, then heated in the oven for a bit. Served with a salad of avocado, radish, and cuke, mixed with lime juice and crème fraîche. Pretty good for little effort.

Wednesday/8-Feb-12: Used the rest of the mashed sweet potato to make Southern Sweet Potato Pecan Bread (MC). That really was a big sweet potato! Good quick bread.

Somehow, when you eat lunch at 3pm, and have a quick bread snack after that, you just don't think about cooking dinner till too late in the day. So leftover pizza it was, warmed in the oven.

All our events are being cancelled, choir practice, line dancing, gardening club. I have a doctor's appointment in Angoulême in Tuesday, but think I'll call tomorrow to cancel that, since it doesn't look like the roads will be clear by then.

Thursday/9-Feb-12: Authentic French Bread from the ABM this morning, and never cut into it. It will still be good, but not great tomorrow.

A neighbor with a 4x4 braved the roads to go to the grocery. We got milk and lettuce; I forgot to ask for eggs, which we could run out of. Can't be too bad out there. Ed went to refill a prescription and it took him only two tries to get back up the hill in Mazerolles.

Repurposed leftovers for dinner tonight. Made a sort of hash/stew thing from the rest of the chicken, potatoes, and the bit of sauce remaining, with this and that thrown in. Served over the remains of the polenta. Not bad at all. A bit let from lunch in the next day. Then a salad.

Friday/10-Feb-12: We made a trip out today. Stopped at a grocery for eggs and a few other things, then picked up a load of sacks of pellets for the heating. Pretty scary driving on the little roads.

Tonight, the pork roast I found in the freezer when I defrosted was on the menu. Best Crockpot Pork Roast Ever (web). Best? Well, maybe; good for a crockpot recipe anyhow. (Part 2 of the recipe to come—"bbq" pulled pork.) Accompanied by steam/sautéed potatoes and carrots and Baked Eggplant Slices (TooMany, p114), using up the eggplant in the fridge. This is still one of our favorite eggplant recipes. Finished off the last of the vanilla fromage frais. Curious that if I'd made something like this, our servings would have been twice as large. Think we need to practice some portion control here.

Saturday/11-Feb-12: Still cold, soup weather. Dinner was Lentil Soup with Red Squash and Fennel (Verdura, p171; cookbooker).

A couple of days ago a friend ventured out for some shopping and I asked her to bring us 3 liters of milk. Instead she came with 3 2-liter bottles. So we're starting a use-up-the-milk project. Tonight was Chocolate Tapioca Pudding (MC). Easy to make and good. This will last us several days.

Sunday/12-Feb-12: Late lunch today. Topped some stale baguette with the leftover chicken hash and let it sit under the broiler for a bit. That and our usual fruit plate was lunch.

Had thought about making pasta for dinner, but we weren't very hungry, so we had just a salad. Then a bit of St Maure. Then some Chocolate Tapioca Pudding, small servings like the fromage frais toetjes we've been eating. We're full.

Bread on overnight, sitting near the heater again. We'll awaken to the smell of cooking bread. I intended to make a whole wheat bread, but laid a measuring spoon on the opposite page and started following the recipe for White Bread (BHGBread, p8). Very similar recipes and I hadn't gotten to the part where they diverge. Should be OK.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes, #2 BREAD: yes, #3 SOUP: yes, #4 MIDDAY: no, #5 VEG/FISH: 3
This month: #6 PASTA: no