Monday/11-Nov-19: We had an early meal today so we could go see a film. There was Rice with Black Pepper Sauce (Savory, p253). I didn't use the mortar and pestle for the herbs, just chop-chop-chop. Gave the pepper corns (all 2tsps) a spin in the spice grinder.
Used about half mozzarella and half Abondance for the cheese.
I think this would be good with short-grain brown rice, although no longer quick. Started with a simple salad.
Tuesday/12-Nov-19: Dinner was Harissa Lamb with Chickpeas (web). This was good, but I thought it a bit too sweet. Maybe a handful of raisins would have been better apricots. Served with Moroccan couscous (store-bought mix) and snijbonen in chunks with a squirt of lemon. Some chocolate-covered cornflakes for after.
Wednesday/13-Nov-19: Buddy to the vet again today, and me to get haircut. Dinner was leftover enchilada casserole with a new dose of guacamole. Mini ice creams for dessert. We're full.
Yogurt on overnight.
Thursday/14-Nov-19: Shopping today.
Dinner was Salmon Chowder (web), sort of. Lots of changes. I used fresh cauliflower, boiled for a bit with some potatoes that needed using. No leftover mashed potatoes, used some potato flour. It was good, nice on a cold-blustery evening.
Friday/15-Nov-19: Lovely lunch out for Ed's birthday. Nothing further happened in the kitchen.
Saturday/16-Nov-19: Our meal was Golden Cauliflower and Rice Pilaf (VegHarv, p144). This was good, but not really a meal. Like most French recipes, curry powder is just waved at the dish, without adding a strong flavor. Followed by a salad. Then various chocolatey things for after.
Sunday/17-Nov-19: Made some Römertopf bread today, based on One Perfect Loaf (ClayCook2, p126). This is a popular recipe. First I put the water in the bowl to the mixer, then turned around to get the yeast and couldn't find it. I looked in the freezer but didn't see yeast. I searched all the Ivar shelves thinking the jar might have been displaced. Finally I looked again in the freezer and there it was. Duh. So I continued. I used T110 flour (semi-whole wheat, whatever that means), using all that was specified plus about 1/2cup T65 (bread flour) to make the dough a proper dough. (I used the mixer and dough hook for all the mixing.) I forgot to soak the pot before the end of the first rising period so had to extend that. Finally got it in the oven. We had come slices with our dinner. It was good. The Römertopf makes a funny shaped loaf with its flared sides.
Yogurt on overday. I seem to have unplugged the yogurt maker when I unplugged the mixer, not sure how or why. Plugged it back in and guess at a time to finish.
Dinner was a halfish recipe of Bacon, Spinach and Fromage Blanc Frittata (web). In the end I didn't really follow the recipe. Baking the eggs for 35min didn't see like a good idea. I cooked all on the stovetop (cast-iron skillet, covered) for 10-ish minutes till it was set, then added the cheeses and popped under broiler. Instead of the cloth-bound Cabot cheddar cheese from Jasper Hill, I used store-bought old mimelotte. The frittata was edible, nothing special. Both of us were fairly full so we didn't have any kind of a dessert.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 4; #3 COOKBOOK: none
Cookbooks of the month: n/a
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: yes; #6 GUESTS: no
This year: #7 PROJECT: no
Showing posts with label ~Savory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ~Savory. Show all posts
Monday, November 11, 2019
Monday, March 11, 2019
This week in the kitchen
Monday/11-Mar-19: Soup and sandwich for dinner tonight. The soup was Hot Bloody Mary Soup (Ainsley2, p27; cookbooker). Pretty good this was. I roasted the tomatoes and chili in the morning so it was fairly quick to make. I used chicken stock instead of vegetable stock. Made a whole recipe and will freeze about half. The sandwich was Tuna with Capers, Olive and Lemon (web). pretty good. Made a half recipe with the large can of tuna we get here, and we ate almost all of it. On toast with a bit of mâche. (I see a slice of tomato in the pic on the site. That would have been a nice addition.)
Tuesday/12-Mar-19: Rusty to the vet again. He's improving, but needs will have his antibiotic for another week.
Dinner was Broccoli with Roasted Peppers, Olives, and Feta Cheese (Savory, p188; MC). Old favorite, good stuff. Over short-grain brown rice. Some mini ice cream bars for dessert.
Wednesday/13-Mar-19: Shopping today.
Dinner was a half recipe of Dijon Salmon with Green Bean Pilaf (web; cookbooker). This was very good. Made a salad from leftover mâche and leftover butterleaf lettuce; the dressing included the last bit of the sauce on the fish. The some chocolate-covered madeleines.
Thursday/14-Mar-19: Steam hard-boiled six eggs today to make Egg Pickle of India (Mustard, p152). Never heard of this (but have since found recipes for same on the web), so had to make it. Now have to wait seven days to try it.
Dinner was a half-recipe of Chicken Dijon (Mustard, p162). Very good it was. Served with mini ravioles, basilique from Provence, and Shredded Zucchini (MW@Home, p87) using some shredded zuke that had been in the freezer a bit too long. Chaource for afters. We're full.
Friday/15-Mar-19: Dinner was Buckwheat Spätzle (PastaBible, p123; cookbooker). The sauce (ham, spinach, cream) was good, but the spätzle were too heavy. Then a salad. Then the last of the chocolate-covered madeleines.
Saturday/16-Mar-19: Made up some Chocolate Tapioca Pudding (HandyBook) while prepping for dinner. We had a halfish recipe of Garlic and Herb Roasted Shrimp, a recipe I collected from EAT-L in 2015. Pretty yummy, this is supposedly from an Ina Garten book, Make It Ahead. With trio rice, steamed broccoli, and a demi-baguette for soppy. All good.
Sunday/17-Mar-19: Made up some Spicy Ham Spread (Mustard, p156; cookbooker) this morning. This was ok, but not great.
Disappointing dinner tonight. Made a half recipe of Braised Lamb with Maftoul and Chickpeas (web). A waste of four beautiful lamb chops. Edible, but not as flavorful as it should have been. I made some grated carrot salad as a side, to go with the carrot in the braise. Chocolate tapioca pudding for dessert.
Yogurt on overnight.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 4; #3 COOKBOOK: yes
Cookbooks of the month: The Incredible Secrets of Mustard
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: no; #6 GUESTS: yes
This year: #7 PROJECT: no
Tuesday/12-Mar-19: Rusty to the vet again. He's improving, but needs will have his antibiotic for another week.
Dinner was Broccoli with Roasted Peppers, Olives, and Feta Cheese (Savory, p188; MC). Old favorite, good stuff. Over short-grain brown rice. Some mini ice cream bars for dessert.
Wednesday/13-Mar-19: Shopping today.
Dinner was a half recipe of Dijon Salmon with Green Bean Pilaf (web; cookbooker). This was very good. Made a salad from leftover mâche and leftover butterleaf lettuce; the dressing included the last bit of the sauce on the fish. The some chocolate-covered madeleines.
Thursday/14-Mar-19: Steam hard-boiled six eggs today to make Egg Pickle of India (Mustard, p152). Never heard of this (but have since found recipes for same on the web), so had to make it. Now have to wait seven days to try it.
Dinner was a half-recipe of Chicken Dijon (Mustard, p162). Very good it was. Served with mini ravioles, basilique from Provence, and Shredded Zucchini (MW@Home, p87) using some shredded zuke that had been in the freezer a bit too long. Chaource for afters. We're full.
Friday/15-Mar-19: Dinner was Buckwheat Spätzle (PastaBible, p123; cookbooker). The sauce (ham, spinach, cream) was good, but the spätzle were too heavy. Then a salad. Then the last of the chocolate-covered madeleines.
Saturday/16-Mar-19: Made up some Chocolate Tapioca Pudding (HandyBook) while prepping for dinner. We had a halfish recipe of Garlic and Herb Roasted Shrimp, a recipe I collected from EAT-L in 2015. Pretty yummy, this is supposedly from an Ina Garten book, Make It Ahead. With trio rice, steamed broccoli, and a demi-baguette for soppy. All good.
Sunday/17-Mar-19: Made up some Spicy Ham Spread (Mustard, p156; cookbooker) this morning. This was ok, but not great.
Disappointing dinner tonight. Made a half recipe of Braised Lamb with Maftoul and Chickpeas (web). A waste of four beautiful lamb chops. Edible, but not as flavorful as it should have been. I made some grated carrot salad as a side, to go with the carrot in the braise. Chocolate tapioca pudding for dessert.
Yogurt on overnight.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 4; #3 COOKBOOK: yes
Cookbooks of the month: The Incredible Secrets of Mustard
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: no; #6 GUESTS: yes
This year: #7 PROJECT: no
Monday, February 5, 2018
This week in the kitchen
Monday/5-Feb-18: Using up the second half of a butternut squash, our meal was Butternut Squash Soup (SlowItal, p19). Since I've got an old crockpot with lower temperatures and I'm sure this book is meant for the newer, hotter cooking ones, I cooked the soup about 4 hours on High (rather than Low). Then zapped with my immersion blender and served with croutons from the freezer. Pretty good stuff.
Served with a salad made from two of the mini-romaines I bought last week, topped with the remaining Cauli Thai Salad from last week. That worked really well, we thought, a nice spicy salad.
Yogurt on overnight.
Tuesday/6-Feb-18: Leftover broccoli gratin for dinner. Made some Easy Berry Cobbler (HandyBook) with frozen blueberries for dessert. Topped with crème anglaise I bought for something last week and then didn't use.
Wednesday/7-Feb-18: We dragged ourselves off shopping today. Leclerc had half cabbages for sale today. I bought one to give them some encouragement.
For our meal, we had Baked Honey Sriracha Lime Salmon (web), which was easy and yummy. Served with basmati rice and Spicy Stir-Fried Cabbage (web). Mini ice cream bars for dessert. We ate well.
Thursday/8-Feb-18: We had our meal late today. It was a half recipe of Garlicky Shrimp Pasta (web). Good stuff it was—lots of garlic to help fend off whatever bug has us both down. Then a bit salad. Then the rest of the Blueberry Cobbler with crème anglaise.
Yogurt on overnight, with a new starter since the last batches have had an odd cottage cheese-y-ness on the top.
Friday/9-Feb-18: Today we had Smoky Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Sweet Potatoes (web). The meat was yummy (the two of us ate what was supposed to serve four), but the sauce for the sweet potatoes was too sweet even though I reduced the sugar substantially. Served with Roasted Zucchini (web), which was good, but the Italian spice didn't really go with the pork. Of course the spices can be changed. I'll try to keep this in mind when a zucchini side dish is needed. For dessert we had 2-1/2 chocolate truffles each.
Saturday/10-Feb-18: Our meal was Rice with Black Pepper Sauce (Savory, p253), very tasty, easy, and fast. Served with a salad. Then used some of the smashed bananas from the freezer to make Best Banana Bread (HandyBook).
Sunday/11-Feb-18: Cath came for a meal today. I'd already planned the meal, so she just joined in, bringing a yummy dessert.
We started with Roasted Eggplant with Peppers and Cucumber (ClassicItal, p55), a tried-and-true salad. For our main, there was Spiced Beef Stew (SlowItal, p146) served over polenta. This was good, not spicy-hot, but spicy with cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. It's really the kind of thing you'd do with venison, but it's good with beef also. And cheaper. Forgot to take a picture.
Cath's dessert was Italian Sultana and Ricotta Torte (web)
Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 5; #3 COOKBOOK: yes
Cookbooks of the month: SlowItal
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: no; #6 GUESTS: yes
Served with a salad made from two of the mini-romaines I bought last week, topped with the remaining Cauli Thai Salad from last week. That worked really well, we thought, a nice spicy salad.
Yogurt on overnight.
Tuesday/6-Feb-18: Leftover broccoli gratin for dinner. Made some Easy Berry Cobbler (HandyBook) with frozen blueberries for dessert. Topped with crème anglaise I bought for something last week and then didn't use.
Wednesday/7-Feb-18: We dragged ourselves off shopping today. Leclerc had half cabbages for sale today. I bought one to give them some encouragement.
For our meal, we had Baked Honey Sriracha Lime Salmon (web), which was easy and yummy. Served with basmati rice and Spicy Stir-Fried Cabbage (web). Mini ice cream bars for dessert. We ate well.
Thursday/8-Feb-18: We had our meal late today. It was a half recipe of Garlicky Shrimp Pasta (web). Good stuff it was—lots of garlic to help fend off whatever bug has us both down. Then a bit salad. Then the rest of the Blueberry Cobbler with crème anglaise.
Yogurt on overnight, with a new starter since the last batches have had an odd cottage cheese-y-ness on the top.
Friday/9-Feb-18: Today we had Smoky Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Sweet Potatoes (web). The meat was yummy (the two of us ate what was supposed to serve four), but the sauce for the sweet potatoes was too sweet even though I reduced the sugar substantially. Served with Roasted Zucchini (web), which was good, but the Italian spice didn't really go with the pork. Of course the spices can be changed. I'll try to keep this in mind when a zucchini side dish is needed. For dessert we had 2-1/2 chocolate truffles each.
Saturday/10-Feb-18: Our meal was Rice with Black Pepper Sauce (Savory, p253), very tasty, easy, and fast. Served with a salad. Then used some of the smashed bananas from the freezer to make Best Banana Bread (HandyBook).
Sunday/11-Feb-18: Cath came for a meal today. I'd already planned the meal, so she just joined in, bringing a yummy dessert.
We started with Roasted Eggplant with Peppers and Cucumber (ClassicItal, p55), a tried-and-true salad. For our main, there was Spiced Beef Stew (SlowItal, p146) served over polenta. This was good, not spicy-hot, but spicy with cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. It's really the kind of thing you'd do with venison, but it's good with beef also. And cheaper. Forgot to take a picture.
Cath's dessert was Italian Sultana and Ricotta Torte (web)
Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 5; #3 COOKBOOK: yes
Cookbooks of the month: SlowItal
This month: #4 PASTA: no; #5 BREAD: no; #6 GUESTS: yes
Monday, December 18, 2017
This week in the kitchen
Monday/18-Dec-17: Soup for dinner. There was Mushroom-Barley Soup (MC) just for us. Good it was. And a bit of salad. And the last of the Mothais cheese. We've eaten well.
Tuesday/19-Dec-17: We're both feeling sorry because we wasted a sunny afternoon inside with a blah movie today.
Dinner was ravioli alla panna (they were Raviolis Gorgonzola+Jambon Cru) and salad. Mini ice cream bars for deesert.
Wednesday/20-Dec-17: Shopping today. You'd never know by Leclerc's selection that there was a holiday coming. In the past, the veggie area would be full of unusual vegetables and out-of-season fruits. Nice for a treat. There were some patridge in the meat cooler; I almost bought a pair but though better of it.
Roasted one and half red bell peppers from the fridge while getting dinner ready.
Dinner was Grilled Masala Salmon (MJ@Home, p46). It's easy and yummy. I made the recommended sides of Basmati Rice with Lentils (MJ@Home, p212) and South Indian-Style Green Beans (MJ@Home, p147). Have made all these before. Everything good.
There were some nice cheeses on sale from Nos Régions, so I got a bit of Brillat-Savarin and another of Chaource. I'm sure we'll manage to eat them before they expire. Neither are lait cru. We had a bit of the Brillat-Savarin for afters. Not the best ever, but not bad.
Thursday/21-Dec-17: Oscar off to the vet for surgery this morning. Yogurt on overday.
For our meal with had falafel (from the freezer) with garnishes suggeted by Falafel with Walnut Sauce and Garnishes (Savory, p274). The Walnut Sauce with Fennel Seeds (Savory, p322) was quite tasty. Garnishes included sliced cucumbers, chopped tomatoes, kalamata olives, feta, and strips of the roasted red bell peppers I made yesterday. In pitas. We were stuffed. It might have been better to just serve it all as a salad.
Friday/22-Dec-17: Our meal was a half recipe of Twisted Noodles and Olive Sauce (Savory, p162; cookbooker). Then a big salad full of goodies.
Prepped the pie crust for tomorrow's tart.
Saturday/23-Dec-17: Finished off Winter Squash Tart (Greens, p246) to take to Cath's for meal with Hannah and Jem. A very nice tart, fairly easy to make. Used Jones' crust from the freezer, rather than the one in the book. And a bowlful of plain salad to which we added some walnuts. Cath made dessert. All was yummy.
Sunday/24-Dec-17: Put up a few decorations today. Not feeling very jolly.
Our meal was a half recipe of Pork Chops with Thyme Pan Sauce (CL/nov15; web). Served with smash potatoes and sauerkraut. Pretty good, if rather beige, dinner.
Yogurt on overnight.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 5
This month: #3 PASTA: no; #4 BREAD: no
Tuesday/19-Dec-17: We're both feeling sorry because we wasted a sunny afternoon inside with a blah movie today.
Dinner was ravioli alla panna (they were Raviolis Gorgonzola+Jambon Cru) and salad. Mini ice cream bars for deesert.
Wednesday/20-Dec-17: Shopping today. You'd never know by Leclerc's selection that there was a holiday coming. In the past, the veggie area would be full of unusual vegetables and out-of-season fruits. Nice for a treat. There were some patridge in the meat cooler; I almost bought a pair but though better of it.
Roasted one and half red bell peppers from the fridge while getting dinner ready.
Dinner was Grilled Masala Salmon (MJ@Home, p46). It's easy and yummy. I made the recommended sides of Basmati Rice with Lentils (MJ@Home, p212) and South Indian-Style Green Beans (MJ@Home, p147). Have made all these before. Everything good.
There were some nice cheeses on sale from Nos Régions, so I got a bit of Brillat-Savarin and another of Chaource. I'm sure we'll manage to eat them before they expire. Neither are lait cru. We had a bit of the Brillat-Savarin for afters. Not the best ever, but not bad.
Thursday/21-Dec-17: Oscar off to the vet for surgery this morning. Yogurt on overday.
For our meal with had falafel (from the freezer) with garnishes suggeted by Falafel with Walnut Sauce and Garnishes (Savory, p274). The Walnut Sauce with Fennel Seeds (Savory, p322) was quite tasty. Garnishes included sliced cucumbers, chopped tomatoes, kalamata olives, feta, and strips of the roasted red bell peppers I made yesterday. In pitas. We were stuffed. It might have been better to just serve it all as a salad.
Friday/22-Dec-17: Our meal was a half recipe of Twisted Noodles and Olive Sauce (Savory, p162; cookbooker). Then a big salad full of goodies.
Prepped the pie crust for tomorrow's tart.
Saturday/23-Dec-17: Finished off Winter Squash Tart (Greens, p246) to take to Cath's for meal with Hannah and Jem. A very nice tart, fairly easy to make. Used Jones' crust from the freezer, rather than the one in the book. And a bowlful of plain salad to which we added some walnuts. Cath made dessert. All was yummy.
Sunday/24-Dec-17: Put up a few decorations today. Not feeling very jolly.
Our meal was a half recipe of Pork Chops with Thyme Pan Sauce (CL/nov15; web). Served with smash potatoes and sauerkraut. Pretty good, if rather beige, dinner.
Yogurt on overnight.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: no; #2 VEG/FISH: 5
This month: #3 PASTA: no; #4 BREAD: no
Monday, January 12, 2015
This week in the kitchen
Monday/12-Jan-15: Today's excitement ... My first voice lesson. We'll see how that goes.
Meant to roast a chicken this evening, but didn't feel like it. Quick change to Curried Penne with Shrimp (MC; p49, 365OneDish), an old favorite. Added peas for some veggie matter. Then a salad. Think a bit of chocolate for a bite of sweet.
Tuesday/13-Jan-15: I made myself some cornmeal cereal (Savory, p292) for breakfast, using the fine cornmeal I bought when we were in NL, rather than the polenta-sort. Prefer the coarser one, I must say. The fine grind tastes OK, but no feel in the mouth.
Made apple butter on and off this afternoon, using part of a sack of Canada Grise I got last week.
Dinner was Moroccan-Spiced Roast Chicken with Creamy Cilantro Sauce (web; cookbooker). I spatchcocked the chicken to speed up the cooking, and rubbed most of the spiced butter mixture under the skin (of breast and leg) rather than on top. Very good. Tasty sauce too. I've tossed the leftover sauce and potatoes together to make a little salad for the next days. Served with a halfish dose of Crushed Spiced Carrot Salad (Morocco, p78; cookbooker), which is definitely a keeper. No dessert needed. (Morocco seems to qualify as a seldom used cookbook, as this is only the second dish I've recorded here. Definitely needs to be used more.)
Before bed, I started up an ABM loaf of White Egg Bread collected from EAT-L. The interesting thing is that it's a tare-weighed bread. You just put the pan on the scale and start weighing things in. In theory you should check the dough about 5 minutes into kneading, but I wasn't getting up that early, so we had it as I did it. And pretty good it was. Now I need to find a simple water/flour/salt/yeast one, or modify my moldy-oldy recipe to fit.
Wednesday/14-Jan-15: Shopping today.
Dinner was Vegetable Quinoa Soup from the freezer (grain!), following by some little red-fruit charlottes. There was a small cup of soup left. I froze it, and have the idea to buzz it up to add the next time I make stock.
Thursday/15-Jan-15: Dinner was Fish Cakes with Herbs and Chiles (web; cookbooker), oh so good. Served with a small bit of Mama's Garlic Coleslaw (MC; HandyBook), which I didn't make quite enough dressing for; and some garlic-ginger basmati rice, sort of made-up recipe after a bit of wander on the web. For dessert a dab of ice cream with some mango chunks.
Yogurt on overnight.
Friday/16-Jan-15: Oatmeal for breakfast.
Last week my order for the paperback version of Diaries2 was cancelled, and I impulsively ordered the hardback. Which arrived today. Guess I'll play catch-up for January and read it through the year as I did with the first one.
Forgot to defrost for tonight's dinner, so changed tonight's plan. Dinner turned out to be a half recipe of Hoisin-Glazed Chicken with Cabbage Slaw (web; cookbooker). Served with rice. Fast and tasty. The cabbage slaw is worth keeping for itself. The same sauce tasted a bit strong on the chickie, but great (with a dab of extra rice vinegar) on the salad. Some defrosted mixed berries over ice cream for dessert.
Saturday/16-Jan-15: A couple of outings today, so made Lazy Day Slow Cooker Mushroom Soup (web; cookbooker). We liked it. In the end, I didn't have time to mess with the crock pot, so just simmered in a cast iron dutch oven. I see the recipe has been corrected since I printed it and now includes both cream and half-and-half, which seems like overkill to me. I ran out of sherry, so part of that was dry white. For dessert, we had half of another three kings' cake, but didn't find the fêve.
Sunday/18-Jan-15: Went to a concert in Limoges this afternoon. With our post-concert coffee&tea, we finished off the three kings' cake. Ed got the fêve, which turned out to be a dog (pointer). Hmm...
For dinner, Ed wanted some chew in the soup, so I added some cêpe-flavored noodles. Good enough, and easy.
Just thinking that our week has suddenly filled up with busy-nesses. Mondays I have voice lessons. Tuesday afternoons I'm going to a quilting working (take your own project). Wednesday Ed and I are doing a little local exercise group (one of Ed's choir friends has converted a barn to an exercise space); that afternoon is our traditional shopping day. Ed has choir practice on Thursdays. Nothing regular/weekly on the other three days (so far). We've suddenly got a busy schedule.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: yes; #2 UNUSED: yes; #3 GRAINS: yes; #4 VEG/FISH: 5
This month: #5 PASTA: no; #6 BREAD: no; #7 FotW: yes for Dec; no for Jan
Meant to roast a chicken this evening, but didn't feel like it. Quick change to Curried Penne with Shrimp (MC; p49, 365OneDish), an old favorite. Added peas for some veggie matter. Then a salad. Think a bit of chocolate for a bite of sweet.
Tuesday/13-Jan-15: I made myself some cornmeal cereal (Savory, p292) for breakfast, using the fine cornmeal I bought when we were in NL, rather than the polenta-sort. Prefer the coarser one, I must say. The fine grind tastes OK, but no feel in the mouth.
Made apple butter on and off this afternoon, using part of a sack of Canada Grise I got last week.
Dinner was Moroccan-Spiced Roast Chicken with Creamy Cilantro Sauce (web; cookbooker). I spatchcocked the chicken to speed up the cooking, and rubbed most of the spiced butter mixture under the skin (of breast and leg) rather than on top. Very good. Tasty sauce too. I've tossed the leftover sauce and potatoes together to make a little salad for the next days. Served with a halfish dose of Crushed Spiced Carrot Salad (Morocco, p78; cookbooker), which is definitely a keeper. No dessert needed. (Morocco seems to qualify as a seldom used cookbook, as this is only the second dish I've recorded here. Definitely needs to be used more.)
Before bed, I started up an ABM loaf of White Egg Bread collected from EAT-L. The interesting thing is that it's a tare-weighed bread. You just put the pan on the scale and start weighing things in. In theory you should check the dough about 5 minutes into kneading, but I wasn't getting up that early, so we had it as I did it. And pretty good it was. Now I need to find a simple water/flour/salt/yeast one, or modify my moldy-oldy recipe to fit.
Wednesday/14-Jan-15: Shopping today.
Dinner was Vegetable Quinoa Soup from the freezer (grain!), following by some little red-fruit charlottes. There was a small cup of soup left. I froze it, and have the idea to buzz it up to add the next time I make stock.
Thursday/15-Jan-15: Dinner was Fish Cakes with Herbs and Chiles (web; cookbooker), oh so good. Served with a small bit of Mama's Garlic Coleslaw (MC; HandyBook), which I didn't make quite enough dressing for; and some garlic-ginger basmati rice, sort of made-up recipe after a bit of wander on the web. For dessert a dab of ice cream with some mango chunks.
Yogurt on overnight.
Friday/16-Jan-15: Oatmeal for breakfast.
Last week my order for the paperback version of Diaries2 was cancelled, and I impulsively ordered the hardback. Which arrived today. Guess I'll play catch-up for January and read it through the year as I did with the first one.
Forgot to defrost for tonight's dinner, so changed tonight's plan. Dinner turned out to be a half recipe of Hoisin-Glazed Chicken with Cabbage Slaw (web; cookbooker). Served with rice. Fast and tasty. The cabbage slaw is worth keeping for itself. The same sauce tasted a bit strong on the chickie, but great (with a dab of extra rice vinegar) on the salad. Some defrosted mixed berries over ice cream for dessert.
Saturday/16-Jan-15: A couple of outings today, so made Lazy Day Slow Cooker Mushroom Soup (web; cookbooker). We liked it. In the end, I didn't have time to mess with the crock pot, so just simmered in a cast iron dutch oven. I see the recipe has been corrected since I printed it and now includes both cream and half-and-half, which seems like overkill to me. I ran out of sherry, so part of that was dry white. For dessert, we had half of another three kings' cake, but didn't find the fêve.
Sunday/18-Jan-15: Went to a concert in Limoges this afternoon. With our post-concert coffee&tea, we finished off the three kings' cake. Ed got the fêve, which turned out to be a dog (pointer). Hmm...
For dinner, Ed wanted some chew in the soup, so I added some cêpe-flavored noodles. Good enough, and easy.
Just thinking that our week has suddenly filled up with busy-nesses. Mondays I have voice lessons. Tuesday afternoons I'm going to a quilting working (take your own project). Wednesday Ed and I are doing a little local exercise group (one of Ed's choir friends has converted a barn to an exercise space); that afternoon is our traditional shopping day. Ed has choir practice on Thursdays. Nothing regular/weekly on the other three days (so far). We've suddenly got a busy schedule.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 BACKLOG: yes; #2 UNUSED: yes; #3 GRAINS: yes; #4 VEG/FISH: 5
This month: #5 PASTA: no; #6 BREAD: no; #7 FotW: yes for Dec; no for Jan
Monday, June 27, 2011
This week in the kitchen
Monday/27-Jun-11: Midday meal today, an old favorite. Warm Broccoli and Potato Salad (MDSalads, p15). This must be one of my most repeated recipes. The two of us eat all of the recipe made for 4. Yum.
The Whole Wheat Bread with Bran from yesterday is quite yummy.
Tuesday/28-Jun-11: Whew, hot weather over for now and today has had reasonable temps. So we had a barbecue. Spicy Pork Tenderloin (MC), with the tenderloin cut in five bits (tail and two sections sliced horizontally). Accompanied by a Nigella Lawson recipe, Watermelon, Feta, and Black Olive Salad (MC); such a odd combination, but it really works. And some corn on the cob Ed got at the shops. I puréed the rest of the watermelon to make sorbet in the next days.
Wednesday/29-Jun-11: Got back from Bordeaux today feeling kind of iffy in the stomach. Nothing in the grocery appealed for dinner (I'd planned to get something fishy). Instead we had rewarmed chicken tagine. I took the leftover couscous, added the curry sauce that came with the corn on the cob (yes, curry sauce with corn on the cob), some chopped cuke, shallot, red bell pepper, and chili pepper, along with a goodly squeeze of lemon juice. Not bad at all. Followed by a salad. A bit of store-bought ice cream with chocolate cookies for dessert.
A while ago, I read that French people don't cut their salad lettuce as served. They just use their knife and fork to fold it all up into a tidy bundle for sticking in their mouths. When we lunched at the bread fair, I happened to notice that this is indeed what happens. So we Americans were sitting there cutting our lettuce leaves into bite-sized chunks while our neighbors folded theirs.
Yogurt on overnight.
Thursday/30-Jun-11: Needed an early lunch today before our respective afternoon and evening outings and didn't plan for this, so fell back to an old, easy favorite, Broccoli with Roasted Peppers, Olives, and Feta Cheese (Savory, p188), served over trio rice. After I got back in the evening we had a plate of fruit and some goat cheese.
Friday/31-Jun-11 (aka 1-Jul-11): Today counts as last month for the pasta-this-month-goal. I've been planning this for a while, but things keep happening to stop me making it, so here it is for last month. I made fresh taglitelle and served it with Fettuccine con Carciofi e Mozzarella (Lorenza, p91, cookbooker). Fettuccine would have been better, probably, but I just felt like the wider noodle. Not my favorite sauce, but not bad. Then a big salad of roquette. Then a half dose of Watermelon Sorbetto (Scoop, p112, cookbooker).
Saturday/2-Jul-11: Dinner was Shredded Zucchini Frittata with Parmesan (Bishop, p169) made with our first zucchini, of which I neglected to take a photo. Accompanied Mildred Schulz's String Beans and Potatoes (GreeneGreens, p346), with very fresh young haricots verts from the veggie lady who shows up at local bric-à-bracs; this was good, but not quite the right taste for the Italian-ish frittata. Then we ate up the rest of the Watermelon Sorbetto.
Made some apple-rhubarb butter for Barbara and David; it's their rhubarb, after all. Got ready for some peaches and cream ice cream tomorrow night (their peaches too). Might try some peach butter with some of the remaining, and maybe freeze up the rest.
Sunday/3-Jul-11: Yogurt on overday. Started some peach butter this afternoon to use up the rest of Barbara's peaches. It's in the crockpot overnight, so we'll see how that goes.
More of Barbara's bounty ended up in a half-dose of Mile High Blueberry Muffins (MC). Isn't it nice to have friends with a surplus?
I couldn't find the clipping with the recipe that I intended to make tonight, so I ended up doing something inspired by Merguez and Sweet Potato Hash at food52. I started the onions cooking while my sweet potatoes boiled till partly cooked. After they cooled a bit, I cut the sweet pots lengthwise into planks. I used the two-burner grill pan to grill the planks and 6 links (300g) of turkey merguez while the onion caramelized. When the pots were done, I cut the planks in half at the "waist". Then I cut the merguez links into three chunks each, 1.5-2" long, about the same as the half-planks of sweet potatoes (which were on the small side to start with). Tossed all these together with the onion and rosemary. It wasn't hash, I guess, since the bits were too big, but it was quite tasty anyhow. Followed this by a salad of mâche and beets and other stuff. Then peaches and cream ice cream (made with half cream and half milk and it was fine).
Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: yes, #2 SOUP: no, #3 MIDDAY: yes
This month: #4 PASTA: yes for June, no for July
The Whole Wheat Bread with Bran from yesterday is quite yummy.
Tuesday/28-Jun-11: Whew, hot weather over for now and today has had reasonable temps. So we had a barbecue. Spicy Pork Tenderloin (MC), with the tenderloin cut in five bits (tail and two sections sliced horizontally). Accompanied by a Nigella Lawson recipe, Watermelon, Feta, and Black Olive Salad (MC); such a odd combination, but it really works. And some corn on the cob Ed got at the shops. I puréed the rest of the watermelon to make sorbet in the next days.
Wednesday/29-Jun-11: Got back from Bordeaux today feeling kind of iffy in the stomach. Nothing in the grocery appealed for dinner (I'd planned to get something fishy). Instead we had rewarmed chicken tagine. I took the leftover couscous, added the curry sauce that came with the corn on the cob (yes, curry sauce with corn on the cob), some chopped cuke, shallot, red bell pepper, and chili pepper, along with a goodly squeeze of lemon juice. Not bad at all. Followed by a salad. A bit of store-bought ice cream with chocolate cookies for dessert.
A while ago, I read that French people don't cut their salad lettuce as served. They just use their knife and fork to fold it all up into a tidy bundle for sticking in their mouths. When we lunched at the bread fair, I happened to notice that this is indeed what happens. So we Americans were sitting there cutting our lettuce leaves into bite-sized chunks while our neighbors folded theirs.
Yogurt on overnight.
Thursday/30-Jun-11: Needed an early lunch today before our respective afternoon and evening outings and didn't plan for this, so fell back to an old, easy favorite, Broccoli with Roasted Peppers, Olives, and Feta Cheese (Savory, p188), served over trio rice. After I got back in the evening we had a plate of fruit and some goat cheese.
Friday/31-Jun-11 (aka 1-Jul-11): Today counts as last month for the pasta-this-month-goal. I've been planning this for a while, but things keep happening to stop me making it, so here it is for last month. I made fresh taglitelle and served it with Fettuccine con Carciofi e Mozzarella (Lorenza, p91, cookbooker). Fettuccine would have been better, probably, but I just felt like the wider noodle. Not my favorite sauce, but not bad. Then a big salad of roquette. Then a half dose of Watermelon Sorbetto (Scoop, p112, cookbooker).
Saturday/2-Jul-11: Dinner was Shredded Zucchini Frittata with Parmesan (Bishop, p169) made with our first zucchini, of which I neglected to take a photo. Accompanied Mildred Schulz's String Beans and Potatoes (GreeneGreens, p346), with very fresh young haricots verts from the veggie lady who shows up at local bric-à-bracs; this was good, but not quite the right taste for the Italian-ish frittata. Then we ate up the rest of the Watermelon Sorbetto.
Made some apple-rhubarb butter for Barbara and David; it's their rhubarb, after all. Got ready for some peaches and cream ice cream tomorrow night (their peaches too). Might try some peach butter with some of the remaining, and maybe freeze up the rest.
Sunday/3-Jul-11: Yogurt on overday. Started some peach butter this afternoon to use up the rest of Barbara's peaches. It's in the crockpot overnight, so we'll see how that goes.
More of Barbara's bounty ended up in a half-dose of Mile High Blueberry Muffins (MC). Isn't it nice to have friends with a surplus?
I couldn't find the clipping with the recipe that I intended to make tonight, so I ended up doing something inspired by Merguez and Sweet Potato Hash at food52. I started the onions cooking while my sweet potatoes boiled till partly cooked. After they cooled a bit, I cut the sweet pots lengthwise into planks. I used the two-burner grill pan to grill the planks and 6 links (300g) of turkey merguez while the onion caramelized. When the pots were done, I cut the planks in half at the "waist". Then I cut the merguez links into three chunks each, 1.5-2" long, about the same as the half-planks of sweet potatoes (which were on the small side to start with). Tossed all these together with the onion and rosemary. It wasn't hash, I guess, since the bits were too big, but it was quite tasty anyhow. Followed this by a salad of mâche and beets and other stuff. Then peaches and cream ice cream (made with half cream and half milk and it was fine).
Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: yes, #2 SOUP: no, #3 MIDDAY: yes
This month: #4 PASTA: yes for June, no for July
Monday, January 17, 2011
This week in the kitchen
Monday/17-Jan-11: Marinated chicken turned into Garlic Chicken (CL clipping, soon to be MC). Served with Fried Aubergine Slices (MJ1, p99), a recipe I've not yet tried from this book; it was good too. Made a little sauce similar to last night's with yogurt, with lemon juice, and black pepper, this time with some chopped cilantro added. Accompanied by a pilaf-y thing with almonds, cumin seeds, and raisins. A nice dinner.
Nobody went out for bread today. Honey Wheat Bread (Electric, p54) on overnight.
Dinner was Chile-Garlic Shrimp (MC), made with some broccoli stems and haricots verts and frozen shrimp, served over gemelli-like pasta. Tasty. Followed by a rucola salad. Then, from the freezer, some crémes brulées with red fruit, "burned" under the broiler.
Friday/21-Jan-11: For the last weeks the fish counters at both our usual grocery stores have had encornets on offer. This translates, as far as I've found, to squid; these are fat strips of what looks like squid meat, white, up to an inch square and several inches long. One giant squid. I search the web and found an Antillean recipe (which probably wanted squid-as-we-know-it) that was highly web-rated. The recipe was poorly written, so took a lot of imagination. It call for a marinade of lime juice, onion, garlic, and piment vegetarien, which seems like it might be something like an jalapeño, but doesn't look like that. I had some haberno-like chilies and used one of those. Cooked in a tomato sauce. It was all quite tasty, but quite hot, even for us two what like it hot. Served with rice, making lots to have some for nasi goreng at next cooking opportunity. Then a salad of mâche. Then some individually sized pavé affinois with crackers. Then a dab of chocolate what not made with leftover ricotta (from last night), cocoa, powdered sugar, and a dab of vanilla.
Nobody went out for bread today. Honey Wheat Bread (Electric, p54) on overnight.
Tuesday/18-Jan-11: The Honey Wheat Bread is quite good, if a bit sweet (as you might expect from the name).
Dinner was Leek and Chickpea Pasta Soup (soon to be MC), a recipe from somewhere on the web. A bit of goat cheese for after.
Wednesday/19-Jan-11: I've added some new tabs to this blog. There's one for magazines, to go with the one for cookbooks; this still needs to be filled with magazine and links. Another for the "in the works" list I used to have at the bottom of the blog. Another for the complete Cooking Italy schedule; still need to tidy this up and link to my posts (and maybe to Angela's too), although that's a bit tedious. These last two largely repeat every week and add a lot of text when I want to print a year's worth of blog.
Dinner was Leek and Chickpea Pasta Soup (soon to be MC), a recipe from somewhere on the web. A bit of goat cheese for after.
Wednesday/19-Jan-11: I've added some new tabs to this blog. There's one for magazines, to go with the one for cookbooks; this still needs to be filled with magazine and links. Another for the "in the works" list I used to have at the bottom of the blog. Another for the complete Cooking Italy schedule; still need to tidy this up and link to my posts (and maybe to Angela's too), although that's a bit tedious. These last two largely repeat every week and add a lot of text when I want to print a year's worth of blog.
Dinner was Chile-Garlic Shrimp (MC), made with some broccoli stems and haricots verts and frozen shrimp, served over gemelli-like pasta. Tasty. Followed by a rucola salad. Then, from the freezer, some crémes brulées with red fruit, "burned" under the broiler.
Thursday/20-Jan-11: French toast for breakfast with the end of the Honey Wheat bread. Then shopping. While Ed was at choir practice, I worked on defrosting and cleaning the fridge. Since we got the big freezer, the fridge freezer is not so full, so not so apt to have its door ajar and get iced up. Thus its been about a year since defrosting. It wasn't in bad shape actually. Which is a good thing because this fridge is less fun than most to defrost. And took much longer than I expected.
So dinner was easy, well in theory it was. Avocado and Ricotta Soft Tacos (MC), a yummy recipe from Nava Atlas, that I barely follow. The problem was that flour tortillas in the pantry, fairly recently bought, turned out to be way out of date, and suspiciously crumbly. Out with them. Pitas? Not the right thing. So, I ended up making a stack of corn tortillas from scratch. Easy enough, but a lot of time on my feet. All tasty and worth it, though.
So dinner was easy, well in theory it was. Avocado and Ricotta Soft Tacos (MC), a yummy recipe from Nava Atlas, that I barely follow. The problem was that flour tortillas in the pantry, fairly recently bought, turned out to be way out of date, and suspiciously crumbly. Out with them. Pitas? Not the right thing. So, I ended up making a stack of corn tortillas from scratch. Easy enough, but a lot of time on my feet. All tasty and worth it, though.
Friday/21-Jan-11: For the last weeks the fish counters at both our usual grocery stores have had encornets on offer. This translates, as far as I've found, to squid; these are fat strips of what looks like squid meat, white, up to an inch square and several inches long. One giant squid. I search the web and found an Antillean recipe (which probably wanted squid-as-we-know-it) that was highly web-rated. The recipe was poorly written, so took a lot of imagination. It call for a marinade of lime juice, onion, garlic, and piment vegetarien, which seems like it might be something like an jalapeño, but doesn't look like that. I had some haberno-like chilies and used one of those. Cooked in a tomato sauce. It was all quite tasty, but quite hot, even for us two what like it hot. Served with rice, making lots to have some for nasi goreng at next cooking opportunity. Then a salad of mâche. Then some individually sized pavé affinois with crackers. Then a dab of chocolate what not made with leftover ricotta (from last night), cocoa, powdered sugar, and a dab of vanilla.
Saturday/22-Jan-11: Off early this a.m. for one of the wind-chilliest birding trips on record. Afterwards we had omelets and frites for lunch in Lézignac. Home, then a nap, and then some Nasi Goreng (collected EAT-L). With leftovers.
Yogurt on overnight.
Sunday/23-Jan-11: Our main meal was a late lunch or early dinner, a variation on Broccoli with Roasted Peppers, Olives, and Feta Cheese (Savory, p188)
. Oops, no jar of roasted peppers in the pantry; used some frozen oven-dried tomatoes instead. Served over brown rice. Tasty comfort food.
Candlemas is coming, the time for eating crêpes. The latest VPQ has lots of crêpe recipes. I'll have to try one of these soon. Crêpes are not one of skills, but practice makes perfect.
More blog changes:
Progress on goals
This week: VEG/FISH: yes, SOUP: yes, MIDDAY: yes
This month: PASTA: not yet
. Oops, no jar of roasted peppers in the pantry; used some frozen oven-dried tomatoes instead. Served over brown rice. Tasty comfort food.Candlemas is coming, the time for eating crêpes. The latest VPQ has lots of crêpe recipes. I'll have to try one of these soon. Crêpes are not one of skills, but practice makes perfect.
More blog changes:
- I've changed the page "tabs" into a list on the right. Since the tabs don't show up well in many of the blog designs, maybe this will make them handier.
- Added some 2011 kitchen goals to the "In the Works" page and will add a progress section at the bottom of each post.
- Added a Reading section to the right.
Progress on goals
This week: VEG/FISH: yes, SOUP: yes, MIDDAY: yes
This month: PASTA: not yet
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