This week in the kitchen

Monday/22-Mar-21: Ed had a doctor's appointment at 17.30 this afternoon. We saw the doctor at 19.00; the curfew is 19.00. We didn't get stopped going home, thank goodness. 

Dinner was a repeat of yesterday, the rest of the smoked salmon tart, a big salad, this time with chocolate-covered madeleines for after.

Tuesday/23-Mar-21: Dinner was Flat Roasted Chicken with Sweet Carrots, Prosciutto and Olives (Screamingly, p31). This was pretty darn good. The spatchcocked chickie is roasted first skin-down, and then skin up on at mixture of prosciutto (I used lardons), shallots, cubed carrots, garlic, and green olives. Not sure what was gained by not pitting the olives; this made them annoying to eat. I also made Gratin Dauphinois (Pomiane, p201). Usually I make the version in BEFCC, but thought I'd give Pomiane a try tonight. It was very good and easy as far as these things go. 

Wednesday/24-Mar-21: I made a loaf of Authentic French Bread (Magic, 22) (Basic/Rapid/M/d/-) in the bread machine. Used all T65 (white bread flour). It's good. 

Ed picked up orders from both Drives today.

Dinner was Baked Tilapia with Spinach-Pecan Pesto (web). I totally didn't notice that this was for two, and carefully cut the pesto ingredients back. Then I added more spinach (frozen bits) and processed those till they were "done"; didn't add anything else extra. The pesto was delicious. Served it on cod. The fish adds nothing, it's the pesto that carries the dish. (What will I do with the extra now?) Served with trio rice and a shredded carrot and radish salad.

Some store-bought vanilla yogurts for after.

Thursday/25-Mar-21: Yogurt on overday.

Dinner was Chile-Lime Pork* (web). Last time we bbq'd this; tonight I cooked in it oven at 450F (10min on one side, 15min on the second side, then another 5min on the first side). Delicious and succulent. Served with roasted asparagus (olive oil, lemon juice, and taco seasoning), polenta, and (home-made) guacamole, plus some corn tortillas to wipe things up. We were full, just two little chocolate easter eggs for after.

Mixed up an Overnight Boule in the evening.

Friday/26-Mar-21: Baked the Overnight Boule. 

Didn't get the chicken picked yesterday or this morning, and didn't feel like doing it this evening, so we had a bit of a shuffle on the menu plan. Dinner was Shrimp with Lemon & Capers (web); this was so-so. Good tastes, but the gnocchi didn't really go with the shrimp. Then a bit salad. Two chocolate easter eggs each for after.

Saturday/27-Mar-21: Got that chicken picked today. Dinner was Spicy Cabbage and Chicken Stir-Fry (web). I used sambal oelek, still working on the huge jar that Bill brought us once. For next to no work, this is really good. It might be nice to sauté a sliced onion before adding the cabbage. Some strawberries and cream for after.

Sunday/28-Mar-21: The ABM made some English Toasting Bread (Magic, p21) (Basic/Rapid/M/d/-). Pretty loaf. Last made in December 2002. We'll see tomorrow.

Dinner was Middle Eastern Burgers (web). (Ed bbq'd and we ate outside for the first time this year.) This was supposed to serve seven with tiny burgers. I made eight, intending to have four tonight and four for the freezer. But they were so good, we had one more each and I've saved the last two for lunch one of these days. (I bet these would be even better with ground lamb, all or half of the meat.) Served with a half recipe of Carrot Salad with Cumin, Cinnamon, and Sweet Paprika (Morocco, p78) and store-bought Moroccan couscous. Three chocolate easter eggs each for after.

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: 2

This week in the kitchen

Monday/6-Apr-20: When I ordered rumsteak at Intermarché, I neglected to say that I wanted a thick cut. What arrived was quite thin, so I searched for something else for dinner. I made Savoury Beef with Asparagus (HotWok, p98). I used to use this book a lot, but not so much since we've moved here. This was an untried recipe, perfect since we have a lot of asparagus right now. Pretty good it was. Then we had last night's salad, which I forgot at lunchtime. No dessert so far.

Tuesday/7-Apr-20: Used up the last bit of cabbage and the bird sausages from the freezer to make Sausage and Cabbage Pasta (web). This was easy and pretty good. Some chocolate-covered madeleine for after. We're getting low on these, and no way to replenish the stock.

Wednesday/8-Apr-20: Placed another order with Intermarché Drive, to be picked up Saturday.

Made some English Muffin Bread (MC) for tomorrow.

Dinner was, vaguely, Asparagus and Leeks on Toast (VegSups, p183). I used a (French) ciabatta for the bread. Goat cheese for the Fontina. Frozen spinach for fresh. Forgot the lemon juice at the end. Still it wasn't bad, surprisingly good even. Some chocolate-covered madeleines for after. These are getting scarce. We can't replenish till we can go into Leclerc.

Thursday/9-Apr-20: Made a loaf of Bill Hatcher's Italian Bread (MC) today.

Our first fresco meal today. Dinner was a halfish recipe of Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Lemon Tahini Dressing (web). This was unusual but good. I served over big lettuce leaves; used frozen parsley because I forgot to order the real stuff last time. It looks like I ordered plain vanilla ice cream, but we got vanilla pecan; we had that for after.

Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/10-Apr-20: This morning, I went off to pick up a package with flour and rice at a package depot place. The first time I've had proper shoes or jeans on in weeks. Five kilos of flour fills up my Tupperware Cake Taker.

Dinner was a half recipe of Linguine with Tuna Fish Sauce (PastaCarlu, p24), which we've had several times and remains good. Then a big salad. Then Nigella's Emergency Brownies (web; GoogleDrive), which were quite good. Ed had his with cream; I didn't.

Saturday/11-Apr-20: Ed picked up the Intermarché Drive order today. No strawberries, but we've got asparagus again. And fish for two nights.

While dinner was in the making, we munched on some Spicy Cucumber Wedges (MJ1, p172). We have a surplus of cukes for the next week or so. This is a start on using them up.

First of our fish dinners was Grilled Masala Salmon (MJ@Home, p46) cooked on the bbq. We've enjoyed this before; it's still good. Served with Potato Chaat (MJ@Home, p165) and Zucchini and Yellow Summer Squash with Cumin (MJ@Home, p174) (only zucchini). We've had both of these before too, and they were still good. For dessert there was Vermicelli Kheer (MJ@Home, p274). I've made a half recipe of this before, and remarked that it never really thickened. This time it set like glue. I think the store-bought vermicelli are not thin enough. Tastes good, though.

Sunday/12-Apr-20: Made some Authentic French Bread (Magic, p22) for our next bread.

Dinner was Fish Kebabs—Spicy Cod and Salmon Patties (web). This was good, but hard to believe it would serve four. I thought it might serve three; Ed said, No way, it's perfect for two. Served with plain basmati rice and Carrot and Onion Salad (MJ1, p171). For dessert we had some of the Vermicelli Kheer with cream. Good taste, bad texture.

Yogurt on overnight.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 5; #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/11-Feb-19: Used a sack of dried figs to make Fig Jam (web; recipe). Seems promising; we'll see tomorrow.

Dinner was a half dose of Moroccan Chicken Skewer Pitas (web). I used turkey oysters instead of skinless, boneless chicken thighs. Used whole wheat tortillas instead of the pitas. Pretty good. Would have been even better with lamb, I think. Accompanied by Moroccan Couscous, a mix we like from the health food store. Followed by some chocolate-covered madeleines.

Tuesday/12-Feb-19: The fig jam is super yummy. Best fig jam ever.

Shopping today. Yes, an odd week.

Dinner was a half recipe of Salmon and Pesto with Rice (Stews, p88). Pretty good stuff. I used oven-dried tomatoes rather than cherry tomatoes. Then a salad. Then some pastries from the boulanger in Taponnat.

Yogurt on overnight.

Wednesday/13-Feb-19: Off to the anesthesiologist this afternoon, prior to minor surgery in two weeks.

Dinner was a halfish dose of Winter Vegetable Dal (EW/jan-feb14; web), served over long-grain brown rice. Took much longer to cook the veggies than advertised. I halved the spices as I should have, but we found it pretty bland. The go-with was Spelt Indian Flatbread aka chapatis (EW/jan-feb14; web). I  made a half dose, four chapatis. Used T110, semi whole-wheat, flour. Actually pretty good, but needed way more water than asked. Mini ice cream bars for dessert.

Thursday/14-Feb-19: Lunch out today. Yogurt on overnight.

Friday/15-Feb-19: Ate outside today, our first al fresco meal, much too early in the year. We had Penne Pasta with Brussels Sprouts (web). This was pretty good, but a bit dry. Then a salad. Then some chocolate-covered madeleines.

Saturday/16-Feb-19: For dinner, there was a made-up risotto using lamb stock from the freezer and some mushrooms from the fridge and some thyme. Pretty good it was. Then a big salad. Then we finished the kulfi. I'm full.

Sunday/17-Feb-19: Pizza tonight. This morning I grilled the veggies, cauliflower, broccoli, and zucchini. I had intended to make a pizza dough from Cook's Illustrated, but it only made two pizzas, slightly bigger than half of what I make, using (sort of) the recipe from my bread machine's cookbook. It was good. Some chocolate-covered cornflakes for afters.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 5; #3 COOKBOOK: yes
Cookbooks of the month: Stews
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: no; #6 GUESTS: no
This year: #7 PROJECT: no

This week in the kitchen

Monday/20-Mar-17: Early meal today. We had a half recipe of Pan-Seared Pork Chops with Red Currant Sauce (web). Used brown rice instead of barley for the accompanying mushroom pilaf. And a salad. Then a Haagen-Dasz ice cream cup for me and a mini magnum for Ed.

Tuesday/21-Mar-17: Pogo sick overnight. Cancel today's events. Plan a dinner using odd bits from the fridge. We ended up having a quarter recipe, more or less, of Pasta with Tuna, Asparagus, Broccoli and Peas (web). Pretty good stuff altogether. I had a mini magnum for dessert.

Wednesday/22-Mar-17: Shopping today.

Dinner was Dilled Salmon Steaks for Two (MC; web). Good, fast, easy. I didn't serve with teh zucchini and tomato stew as suggested, but with Oven-Roasted Asparagus (web) and some trio rice. Some store-bought custards with caramel for dessert.

Pogo still sickly. Getting better we think.

Thursday/23-Mar-17: Earlyish meal today. We had a halfish recipe of Garlicky Chicken with Feta and Oregano (Screamingly, p30; cookbooker). This was easy and pretty darn good. As suggested served with Orzo with Lemon and Herbs (Screamingly, p47; cookbooker) which was good, if too soupy as given. And the rest of the asparagus, roasted.

Friday/24-Mar-17: Dinner was a half recipe of Chilorio, Mexican Pulled Pork (web), more or less. Used cider vinegar instead of white vinegar. Used the pressure cooker, and it ran low on liquid, so the meat was sort of burnt to the bottom. We rescued what we could. What there was, was good. With my last good corn tortillas from the freezer, garnishes of onion, cilantro, and feta. Opened a bottle of what turned out to be pretty good salsa verde. (Have to remember the brand for when I order again.) Made a little avocado salad as a go-with. Good and we're full.

Saturday/25-Mar-17: Pasta day. There was Shrimp Dill Sauce (PastaMach, p135; cookbooker) over Dilly Pasta (PastaMach, p75; cookbooker), followed by a salad.

Sunday/26-Mar-17: Pogo betterish, if still not great.

Early meal today, our first eaten outside this year. We had The Most Delicious Meat Cubes (Q&E, p29), made with lamb. Have made this with pork before and without the pressure cooker. I think I managed to set the cooker for veggies rather than meat, but the meat was fine; maybe it would have been softer if I'd done it right, but this was not a problem. I added extra water and there was just barely enough to cook properly. If it had gone later, it might have been burnt as it was on Friday. Served with Indian Mashed Potatoes (Q&E, p90), which is yummy and I haven't made in a while. And there was Karhai Broccoli (MJ@Home, p148) to use up a bit of broccoli. All tasty.

Yogurt on overnight.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/18-Apr-16: Cleaning today and didn't feel like cooking. Defrost a pasta sauce (winter squash and beans) and served it over mushroom pasta. And a big salad. We were well-fed. We ate outside, even though we needed a jacket. The sun was shining and there was no wind where we sat. We have the idea we've eaten out earlier in the year, but I didn't note it, so this will do.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/19-Apr-16: I recently finished reading Diane Henry's A Change of Appetite, which I found via the I Heart Cooking Clubs group. I wasn't much impressed as I read it, there seemed to be too many of difficult to find ingredients and a bit to righteous in tone. I was surprised, though, how many recipes I had marked to try. Guess I'll have to keep it around for a bit.

Dinner was Red Lentil and Cauliflower Tomato Pulao (web), which was remarkably good (even though the gas ran out while the rice and lentils were first cooking. I used up the frozen cauliflower I bought, hoping it would be a good substitute for the real thing (it's hard to two people to finish a whole cauliflower, especially since Ed isn't overly fond of it), but I won't buy any more. We split an espresso magnum for dessert.

Wednesday/20-Apr-16: Dinner out after picking Bill up at the station. Nothing happened in the kitchen today except cleaning.

Thursday/21-Apr-16: Ed went after choir practice to buy tuna on sale at Intermarché, but there was none. So we had Boudins Noirs aux Oignons (web). The onions tasted quite bitter even after cooking long and slow, so I grated in a couple of apples at the last minute. Wasn't bad (Ed liked it). Unfortunately Bill doesn't really care for boudins noir. For a starter, I used up our carrots to make Grated Carrots with Vinaigrette (Secrets, p67). For dessert we had store-bought toetjes, some raspberry tarts.

Yogurt on overnight

Friday/22-Apr-16: Shopping today, a bit belated. Impulse bought some smoked salmon on sale, leading to tonight's starter.

Which, more or less, was Smoked Salmon Salad with Dill (BEFCC, p35). I didn't have the fennel, but it was good without it. For the main there was Duck with Peppercorns—Magret de Canard aux Grains de Poivre (BEFCC, p142). Good stuff.Served with smashed potatoes and peas with shallots. Cheese for after. We had a little bûche of goat cheese, and today I bought a small chees collection with tomme de Savoie, brie de Meaux, and fourme d'Ambert. All good. Unfortunately.

Saturday/23-Apr-16: Out all day today at the Phoenix book sale. Dinner out. Nothing happened ing the kitchen.

Sunday/24-Apr-16: We had our main meal early so we could go to an early evening concert. We had Quiche à l'Agneau, aux Épinards et à la Feta (web, VPG), using most of the cooked lamb from the freezer.  Cook stuff. The lamb and spinach went together exceptionally well. Then a salad. Then we left for the concert. Later we had some fruit and cheese.

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

This week in the kitchen

Monday/7-Apr-14: Forgot that I had a doctor's appointment today (quarterly checkup on ears, nothing serious), so the list for tomorrow isn't finished. Maybe I can get it done in the morning.

Nigel Slater again tonight, intended for IHCC but didn't make it. Made A Chicken Roasted with New Garlic and a Fresh Pea Pilau (Diaries, p184), served with haricots verts. Regular garlic instead of new. Was a good chicken, but didn't much like the sauce with way too much vermouth. Here's Ed trying to convince Sophie to get out of his chair and away from the chicken.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/8-Apr-14: Hmm...it seems the yogurt problem hasn't been resolved. It wasn't cooked this morning, but was finally done after several two- and three-hour extensions. Happened to glance in the manual for the old yogurt maker and discovered the lids are supposed to be off for the cooking with that one too. I've always had them on. Wonder why they should be off? Current theory for the crummy yogurt is that something is not getting sufficiently clean. Since the jars and lids go through the dishwasher, I'm guessing that the tupperware 2-liter measure that I use might have gotten contaminated somehow and handwashing is not getting it sufficiently clean. Only a guess, but I've ordered a stainless steel bowl with a pouring lip to give that a try (thank you, Amazon France) after not finding anything while shopping today.

Shopping today. Broke down and bought some fêves from Spain.

Dinner was Fish Fillets in a 'Curry' Sauce (100Curries, p39), a not-quite-Indian dish with a curried bechamel for the fish. The fish was soaked in milk and spices, then dipped in bread crumbs (chapelure or paneermeel), then baked at a high temp. Meanwhile the sauce is made from the soaking milk. That's finished off with chopped coriander and lemon juice, which was a nice touch. For a side there was Diced Potatoes with Spinach (WofE, p53; 100Curries, p140), which was nice. No dessert needed.

Wednesday/9-Apr-14: Ate out tonight before going to a concert in Cognac.

Thursday/10-Apr-14: Picked the chicken and made (more or less) Curried Chicken Salad (MC; Rosie, p34). No cabbage on hand, so I shredded some broccoli stems. This is my "standard" curried chicken recipe, not that I follow it exactly, but it's an outline for possibilities. Ate our dinner outside for the first time this year.

Friday/11-Apr-14: The stainless steel yogurt-mixing bowl arrived today, so I gave it a good hot wash and started  yogurt. We'll see how it is in the morning.

Sat outside and shelled the fêves this afternoon.

Dinner was Stir-Fried Crabmeat with Bean Curd (TLChina, p61). Relatively tasteless, but helped by liberal application of sambal. Recipe has the ingredients not in the order used, annoying. Since we have no scallions/green onions here, I used a shallot instead; the green of the tops would have been a nice addition of color. Somewhat less tofu would be fine too.

As a go-with, I made Cucumber Salad with Spicy Dressing (TLChina, p40). Spicy with one of our favorite Chinese ingredient, Tabasco. This was a hit. Would be good with any vaguely oriental dinner. Sorry picture is fuzzy, I only took one.

Saturday/12-Apr-14: May have licked the yogurt problem. I hope. At least this batch is good.

Dinner out tonight, so nothing much happened in our kitchen,

Sunday/13-Apr-14: Parboiled and peeled the favas. I do love these, but it is somewhat annoying that you've met each of those babies personally, once in the shelling, once in the peeling.

We had our main meal in the afternoon today, since we went to a  movie in the early evening. We had a half recipe of Fava Beans with Shallots, Fresh Herbs, and Goat Cheese (PeV, p132). Unfortunately there was no basil in the shop this week, fresh or frozen, so I had to use the dried kind. Still, it was quite a nice dish. Then a salad. Then some mini magnums.

Monday's meal was supposed to be for IHCC, but I haven't had time to write a post, so I'll have to skip it this week.

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/26-Mar-12: First bbq tonight, not very successful. Used the marinade from Bottle o' Beer Chicken Thighs (Weber, p199) to marinate a spatchcocked chicken. Ed had the fire too hot so the skin was burnt black as can be and the meat was tough. Won't bother to pick the bones, and will put everything except the black skin into the stockpot. Then there was Spicy Potato Salad (MC), a rather forgettable recipe. Think I'll delete it from MC. But the dessert was good, ice cream with (thawed) frozen raspberries.

Looks like Sophie will spend the night out tonight, very worrying. Ed left the new cat flap opened outwards, so she went out again after having a small bite to eat. We're having problems getting her properly fed, since Oscar wants to eat everything. If he ate everything he wants, he'd have to be called Snowball.

Yogurt on overnight.

Tuesday/27-Mar-12: Whew, Sophie came in in the night, having figured out how the cat flaps work.

Made Authentic French Bread (out of head) today with the stone-ground bread flour. Brown but tasty.

Dinner was more or less Turkey Black Bean Tamale Pie (MC), a favorite. Used pintade from the freezer. And a salad. Ate outside although it was getting a bit cool. Crescent moon and Venus visible before the sun really set.

Wednesday/28-Mar-12: Grocery shopping today.

Dinner was Spicy Grilled Peppered Lamb Skewers (BigFlav, p142). Accompanied by Green Grape-Parsley Relish (BigFlav, p77), except with purple grapes, because that's all there was the grocery. Green grapes are definitely prettier, but don't really find a taste difference. Stuffed some globe zucchinis with a bit of rice and some leftover black beans. The end of some goat cheese for afters.

Thursday/29-Mar-12: Nice dinner tonight, but poor planning, since it finished up too late for me to get to line dancing. Made up for it by doing a load of ironing.

For our main, we had Fish Masala (web), with basmati rice and Oven Roasted Cauliflower with Turmeric and Ginger (web). For after, I made a Ginger Panna Cotta with Mango (MC), scaled back to the amount of evaporated milk I had needing to be used and served with the last of the frozen mango and frozen raspberries

Friday/30-Mar-12: We took Lesley and Toby out for a meal today to thank them for all their work with Sophie and Oscar. Nothing much happened in our kitchen, except for yogurt on overday.

After we got back from lunch Ed discovered that Sophie had a big open sore on her tail, plus some smaller ones. Off to the vet. She stayed overnight so they could anesthesize her to shave her tail and clean up the sores.

Not looking good for pasta for March, since that's not on the plan for tomorrow. Maybe need to reconsider. And won't get anything published for an unused cookbook either, since Sue will be closing the linky for this week's version tomorrow before I'm ready.

Saturday/31-Mar-12: Ed picked Sophie up this morning. She was goofy as can be, stumbling, unable to focus, etc. We think that when we took Oscar in for his first checkup, they recorded his weight on her record and gave her an extra 1.5kg of anesthesia.

Made some smokey flavored chicken stock from the rest of the bbq bones.

Had the idea to make some pasta today, but ended up spending a lot of time with Sophie, so was short on time. Went with the planned Salade de Quinoa au Thon (PRMTurmeric, p73). Used a package of pre-cooked quinoa, first time I've used such a thing; awfully handy, but not sure I approve. My radishes had to be tossed, so I substituted cuke. The whole thing was edible but boring.

Made some of Mama's Healthy Cookies, 5 dozen too big. Should have made them smaller.

Sunday/1-Apr-12: Sophie's back to herself this morning, and she's insistent that she wants to go out. Little does she know she'll be ten days inside! Maybe more togetherness than Oscar will appreciate.

For dinner we finished off the leftover tamale pie, along with some fresh guacamole. Then finished off the Ginger Panna Cotta with some defrosted mixed fruit.

Having run into a cilantro bonanza at the store this week, I chopped a bunch and froze one tablespoons in ice cubes, used some in the guacamole, made some Cilantro Zucchini Hummus (also using a lot of shredded zucchini from the freezer), and still have a bit left.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 COOKBOOKS: yes, but not posted, #2 BREAD: yes, #3 SOUP: no, #4 MIDDAY: yes, #5 VEG/FISH: 2
This month: #6 PASTA: no for March :-(, no for April

This week in the kitchen

Monday/28-Mar-11: For lunch we had open-faced sliced lamb sandwiches with leftover lamb and lamb juice augmented by some chicken broth. As a side, I cooked the ends of sacks of frozen peas and fêves, with some chopped mint and shallot. For dessert, we finished off the rum cake. (Not as much as it sounds, since we took the same amount up to Yvonne yesterday.)

An open-faced roast beef sandwich with gravy and smashed potatoes on the side. Real comfort food. The lamb wasn't half-bad either.

Ed cut into the lamb bone to get to the marrow, breaking my #2 knife in the process. :-(

Tuesday/29-Mar-11: Yogurt on overday.

For our midday meal there was Broccoli-Cauliflower Bake (web, now MC), a recipe intended as a side dish, but eaten as a main. It was surprisingly good. For dessert, we had Grand Marnier soufflées, straight from the freezer. (Thank you, Toupargel!)

Wednesday/30-Mar-11: Used up my last jar of AH's vleesfond tonight for Cooking Italy's Risotto with Saffron, Milanese Style (ClassicItal, p246). Served with a salad. Too late for dessert.

Thursday/31-Mar-11: For lunch there was a quickie soup from some defrosted chicken stock with a handful of mini bowties (farfallini) and some julienned carrots (thank you, mandoline). Accompanied by an open-faced sandwich with the last of the bread, thinly sliced onions (more mandoline) and some English cheddar, popped in the toaster oven until melted.

For dinner I defrosted some pork chops and some marinade. Served with trio rice and made the Italian Grilled Zucchini and Red Onion (MC) again; the zucch and onion are indeed better on the grill pan than under the broiler. The salad was good, but didn't especially go with the pork chop marinade. We split half of a petit Camembert for afters, then two Lindt truffles each.

Friday/1-Apr-11: Yogurt on overday.

Shopped today. Bought a leg of goat for the freezer. This seems to be goat season. Both of our local shops seem to have goat available at the same time. The rest of the year it's not visible. Don't know what I'll do with it yet but I know I occasionally run across a recipe.

First bbq this evening, really simple. Defrosted the last of our chipolatas, which were very salty; don't remember the others being like this. Then there was Bacon-Avocado Potato Salad (MC); good stuff. Also Gujerati Carrot Salad (MJ1, p170), an easy favorite. For dessert there was some vanilla ice cream on a sticky meringue cup topped with a crumbled chocolate rose.

Saturday/2-Apr-11: Dinner was Grilled Lamb Chops with Curried Couscous and Zucchini Raita (Gourmet mag, found on the web). My lamb chops were the last of a sackful from Toupargel, a bit uneven in size, but tasty. I made up half the coucous, using all the spices. This was still a bit underspiced; the curry was hot but there was not much flavor beyond that. The raita was good and complemented the couscous. For after there was the rest of the Petit Camembert followed by two Lindt truffles each.

I made up some "broth" for ice cream, half Nutella and half coconut milk, a "recipe" I saw somewhere. Very simple and possibly good.

Sunday/3-Apr-11: Lots of lamb bones; made lamb stock today.

Dinner was sautéed duck breast scallops with a sauce of red wine and chicken stock (from a cube). Served with the leftover cauliflower-broccoli casserole.

I clumsily managed to break the paddle on the ice cream maker as I was pouring in the mix. Something else to replace. The ice cream was good, though. Can't be beat for easy.

One wonders why I bother to make any kind of a meal plan. Definitely off piste tonight. In the morning, I'll have to give a thought about how best to use up all the stuff that needs to be cooked.

Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: no (unless risotto counts), #2 SOUP: for lunch, #3 MIDDAY: yes
This month: #4 PASTA: March yes, April not yet

Goals review:

#1) I had the feeling from last year that I was cooking a lot of meat and not so much vegetarian or fish. Instead, this is feeling like the easiest goal to reach. More challenging might be to serve each week (at least) one vegetarian meal, one fish, and one either veg or fish. Not sure if I'm ready to commit to that right now. Ah well, with last-minute change on Sunday's dinner, I didn't really make this goal this week. Unless risotto with beef broth counts. In Ken Hom's book on vegetarian noodles, he uses chicken broth and still calls it vegetarian. I could follow suit. ;-)

#2) This is being quite difficult. Seems I'm more likely to throw together a soup-for-lunch than to make a meal soup or a soup starter. That counts, the way I've worded the goal, but soup-for-main would be nice.

#3) Since I'm out for line dancing in the early evening on Tuesdays, this has been easier to keep to. It's still difficult to avoid eating after 8pm, especially since we don't usually finish breakfast till 11am or even later.

#4) It takes some focus to get this done, but we enjoy fresh pasta a lot, so it's not too hard.