Saturday: baked chicken with vegetables. Brown rice.

That looks great, Floral. I'm not much for chicken in tomato sauce, but that sure looks tempting.

But, ah, mayo. I forgot to say. This wasn't mayo dressed cole slaw. Mayo could restrict what it goes with even more! But either way, it goes with chicken. :

There wasn't a tomato sauce as such. Just some cherry tomatoes in with the mixed vegetables. Leeks. Carrots. Peppers.

Oh, I'd like that very much!

Huge crunchy cabbagy salad and wee NZ double cut rib lamb chops, broiled and on the way to rest in the photo, naked ready for a little sea salt at the table.

Sunday: rare, in both senses, steak. Leeks and purple sprouting. All done on the griddle. Horseradish cream.

Neely, I use the mayo based cole slaw as a condiment with fish in lieu of tartar sauce, I just like it better.

I have several pictures that I need to upload, but today's supper was a simple chicken salad sandwich and Ceasar salad. No pictures.

Annie

Monday: a leek and potato tortilla. Frisee, avocado and pistachio salad.

For tonight...Tostados. I tried Ortega "Homestyle tostado shells". They're a little more poofy than my usual Los Pericos. I met a new guy @ the gym, from Mexico, has a VERY heavy accent. He says he doesn't like Mexican food....He likes a good sandwich. I don't know why THAT surprised me. 😂

What we think of as "Mexican" food is street food, mostly. I dare say (without actual surveys and statistics) most homes have more homey food. Tortillas, yes, but as we might eat a dinner roll. More roasts, stews, and similar just food. More local spices and produce, "Mexican" in that way, but regular food. Surely my actual experience is limited and out of date, but that's what I observed there, and moreso and more recently among Mexicans here. Tacos and such more like we'd have hot dogs. So was your new friend talking about tacos? Or cumin and cilantro? Or his mother's cooking?

Breakfast-ish above. It's been grazing around heere the last few dsays, but yesterday, after my morning meeting, I started a preferment and half aa day later, this pumpkin yeast bread, made with half a medium sugar pie pumpkin and a bunch of savory spices. It's well hydrated but the dough was just nice and quite elastic, not slack. This gives the close texture good for sandwichs, but puff with bubbles all through and yielding without falling apart.

I started using a recipe to make a minestrone, but by the time I had all the ingredients out, mesured but not cut, I had to sit down. If I'm not perkier after a brisket sandwich, I'll bundle them up and make it in the morning. I spent too much time trying not to go out in the dark for rosemary. I couldn't reach the bush in the front, nor could I find the bag of home dried left from the focaccia experiment, nor any dried. While getting out the bay leaves from the freezer, it dawned on me that I diddn't have to refill the jar to get a spoonful of herbes de provence (lead herb being rosemary) which is where I quit. But I could put it in a jar and pick fresh if it goes to the morning. I wanted soup! Sigh...

It went all Dagwood...

ETA, still a bit woozy, but the sandwich was awesome! Brisket in onion goo on spicy pumpkin yeast bread, with mayo, sour pickled mustard seed, ketchup and sriracha, slice of munster, shredded salad veg, and too many (falling out) spicy pickled green beans. Impossible to eat pretty, but five luncheon napkins later, very happy. A couple little butter cookies for afters.

Tuesday: linguine with mushrooms. Frisee salad.

So was your new friend talking about tacos? Or cumin and cilantro? Or his mother's cooking?

He said he "Doesn't want a burrito! He said he got ALL THAT growing up, he can afford to eat GOOD food now." He started recommending local sandwich shops....which I said I'd never been to...or would ever go to. I like burritos. He wrinkled his nose. Then I made a food run with my new Mexican-American neighbors to pick up food for my volunteer landscape crew. She said, "let's go to Subway'" Like that was a high end treat we'd enjoy. ?? I said, "I've only been to a Subway in an airport...once. THIS is NOT my idea of good-food " She said she goes there ALL the time & thought I'd be more "thrilled" with the experience. They love it & eat there often. I thought it was simple. Not enough meat or filling on the sandwich....over priced....dull...ordinary. Walmart sells Deli sandwiches...but I'd never tried those either. I ended up ordering Philadelphia Steak sandwiches....but they didn't have the special sauce like they have in Philadelphia...? That puzzles me. And...why sell a Philly steak sandie if ya can't deliver da goods...?!

Yeah, that's what I was thinking, "burrito" means hotdog to your friend. And some of them are. But then there are the really good, higher level ones, and the sublime upscale ones...

A long time ago, when there were few choices, I did like Subway...as better than McD'. They had real vegetables and you could ask for more, not just the ones that were designated for the sandwich. And they were fast. There was a fantastic sub shop that was a drive, had zero ambiance past off the beaten track bus terminal, but got their bread from a traditional old baker (so good!) and used nothing pre-made. There was a long line and while there were plenty of tables, scoring one was an unexpected wonder, and the submarine sandwiches were SOOOO good! And then there are the sandwiches I made yesterday. Is a sandwich street food, cultural basic or the ne plus ultra of lunch? Depends on which one you're eating. Similar for tacos and burritos.

On the streets of Mexico, I remember ordering Machaca/shredded beef mixed with vegetables wrapped in a home-made flour tortilla. About $1 each. Yum!

Soup.

Wednesday: I have a cold. No appetite for either cooking or eating. (I rarely have an appetite for cooking, but I do like to eat, so I do it.)

DH: cheese and spinach omelette

Me: Marmite on toast

Well, the marmite should help. :)

Feel better!

Thursday: grilled sardines, crash potatoes, bitter leaf salad.

I'm so bad at this photo thing! I post in this thread because I was asked to, but I know I don't do it right, though I keep trying. Here's the minestrone. There's plenty of liquid and veg and beans but the cabbage floats. ;) I liked the sound of this recipe from Sur La Table. I keep trying to get something close to that made by an Italian gentleman we knew. This is on the right road I think. Not bad. It was meh after the final boil, but much better after a chance to cool and marry. I didn't like it with the suggested parm. Maybe it meant domestic? Mine was too pungent. I did make it close to the recipe. One of the minions fetched the rosemary from the back of the garden, but since I had measured out the herbs de provence, I threw them in too. I think it needed them and maybe more. Also, it was looking like it needed a spash more liquid, so instead of water, I gave it a good slug of vermouth. Rewarmed, it tastes like minestrone. One of the other things I want to learn came out well: That's making just a few quarts of soup, instead of freezer filling. One stalk of celery is weird! But the proportions were right on. A good template for other things.

Vermouth - that is interesting, nay inspired! Maybe we should have a thread on liquor in cooking.

My mother taught me that.

ETA: I suppose I learned, both from my mother and some great recipes, to cook with fortified wines. I didn't think of it in the wine thread because we were talking about quality of table wines. In the cupboad next to the stove, with the oil and salt, I have inexpensive, but decent, port, sherry, madeira and marsala. The Noilly Prat Rouge bottle doesn't fit, so it stays across the room in the pantry cabinet. I would have put white wine (just about any kind) in the soup if there were some open and needing using up. The vermouth was second thought, though a good one. :)

One Dish First Meal: Pumpkin yeast bread, mayo+sriracha, TJ's gyros slices, much spinach, mustard, hard boiled egg, swiss stripe. Yummy.

Friday: sea bass, lemon caper sauce, spinach, carrots, crash potatoes.

I keep meaning to buy fresh sardines which are plentiful and good. We do them on the BarBQ with olive oil. I’d never had sea bass until I went to Europe last year and enjoyed it very much. When I lived in UK in the 80’s it wasn’t really ’a thing’ …. rather we ate Cod, Atlantic salmon and fish fingers for the children, that I can recall. Anyway all looks tasty floral. Good photo of the pumpkin yeast bread plllog. We had ratatouille again and lamb cutlets again. I’m obsessed with feta at the moment and put little sprinkles of it on lots of things. My photos seem to have lots of colour because it’s mid summer and light pours in.I didn’t bake the bread.

Below…..Breakfast of poached egg, ham with of course, feta bits. I’m using olive oil for splashing on when plated like the TV chefs do (hello Jamie Oliver) more often, and although very late to this particular party, I am enjoying it.

I keep getting ads fo KA’s 2026 recipe of the year. How they can have a recipe ld the year before January is even behind us is beyond me, but the laminated pizza sounded interestitn so I tried it and liked it. The picture of the piece isn’t great bur it did make a flaky, crisp crust.

Saturday: chicken cacciatore

I've had a hard few days. A nice brunch seemed like a good idea. :) Balanced, but a little heavier on the fat than usual (I aim to the bean/seed norm of 40/30/30). Buttered toast. lox and cultured cream cheese (milk, cream, salt). Hard boiled egg. I don't usually do four animal fats and two proteins. :)

The real indulgence, however, was the fish. I used to be able to eat cold fish that was cooked immediately out of the water, in moderation. Then I couldn't eat any. But I had a little lox at a party over a month ago with no problem. An anti-histamine took care of it, but I shouldn't oughta done it. A little, after a day with other meals was not the same as a full serving at first meal, even with all that fat to slow digestion. It was a delicious brunch, but not to be repeated... :) Nothing to take a picture of, though.

Soup for dinner.

Can you elucidate the 'bean/seed 40/30/30 norm? I've not heard of that. Googling just brings up gardening advice.

Sure. It's the balance of 40% carb, 30% protein, 30% fat. Some say 50% carbs, 30% protein, 20% fat, but there's a lot of hidden fats that don't get counted. That's the good fats. No excuse for la-di-da animal fats. That's an aberration (though delicious).

40% in terms of weight? Volume? Calories? Also I don't follow the beans/seeds part. Thanks.

Sunday: roast rack of goat, skin on roast potatoes, sprouts, gravy.

Sorry, Floral, busy day. It's more like Calories, since vegetables are outside such figuring and assumed to be plentiful and varied, but then Calories are expressed by weight, and this is a framework for balance, not a counting diet. Early food cultivation relied heavily on grains and herding, and a lot of inherited eating styles are based on these. Some find harmony more from seeds (inc. beans and nuts). For me, it's aspirational. My base happy is bread and cheese, and I need meat to feel my best (plant proteins, even combos that are supposed to be complete don't do it). OTOH, beans and seeds work for me with a little meat. And some bread to make me happy. The handful of seasoned almonds I had for pre-sunset aren't relevant to cooking. ;)

Good news on the cooking front. I've gone from needing help to get the soup made a few days ago, to bopping around the kitchen making kale chips and peppery dark cauliflower. Mushroom soup is next, Huzzah! I'm trying really hard not to get another injury. The one from a couple of years ago is finally (touch wood and tell the fairies) not an issue. I'm starting to be able to lift heavy things too. Treats aren't a meal, and small batches of soup aren't hard, but I'm happy and looking forward to taking bad pictures of actual cooking. Tonight, however, it's bought portobello ravioli in minestrone...

I keep seeing lamb around here. Gotta remember to buy a rack of rib chops.

With today’s snow it seemed like a good day to turn on the oven. Made chocolate chip cookies and a quiche. No pie plate available, so a glass storage container filled in. A little rustic, but good.

@floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK - I’m so intrigued by the G&T mussels. I’ll be trying those soon as well if I remember. I don’t predict my wife liking it much, both of us could take or leave mussels, but I’m curious enough to give them a shot.

I love mussels and they were delicious. But I think a lot depends on the quality of the shellfish. Ours come from a tidal estuary in Devon. Very fresh. Mussels from the supermarket don't taste anything like as good.The fishmonger says that tidal, which have to work harder what with being uncovered daily, are tastier than rope grown which sit idly underwater permanently. They certainly were sweet, plump and juicy. And relatively cheap for fish.

We're also lucky with lamb. It's always fresh, localish, never frozen. Usually organic. Best of all is when we can get Welsh salt marsh lamb.

The quiche looks good. And easier to portion out than a round one.

Thanks for the explanation Pillog. Sound a bit too much complex thinking for me. I work on having a bit of protein, some fibrous carbs and lots of vegetables and then call it a day. I try to keep uhp, sat fat and sugar to a minimum. We do eat lots of legumes but mostly out of a sense of duty. Apart from dhal, hummus and canned beans thrown into stews and casseroles, personally I'm not a big fan.

.

Monday: a little left over goat incorporated into a black eyed bean and vegetable hotch potch. Surprisingly good.

Love a good hotch potch Yay, looks good.….and I totally get rectangular quiche Foas, good idea.

You can tell when my DH has been cooking and the weather is cooler. Totaly traditional beef stew with onions and carrots ( dreaded rounds) ., served with mash and beans. I am starting to dislike beans and when I see that he’s served them again I have an inward groan.

Below…. warm weather again so a salad from me. This was created from fridge left overs and from the garden….a little tin of curry flavoured tuna, bean mix, beetroot, avocado, cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce, sorrel and a sprinkle of feta. Also added some of the spicey lime pickles which I thought tasted good. Not a green bean in sight.

Tuesday: mezze style. Roasted red pepper hummus, curried egg salad, gigantes beans in tomato sauce, bitter leaf salad.

Wednesday: fusili with invented veggie sauce

Out meal. BBQ salad (details in salad thread).

I wanted something a bit different, so I made fried dumplings with fava and spinach in an invented sauce. I didn’t like it at all. Even dumplings which I enjoy simmered in a light asian broth, fried like this …. I just couldn’t eat it all.

Well it certainly looks tasty.

Thursday: grilled sardines, butter bean purée, frisée salad

Big fluffy lettuces salad with fried panko crunchies and cold leftover ribs. But meanwhile, I did bake one of these:

Crustless with spring onion, broccolini and gren kale, citrus pepper and Ethiopian seasoning, sharp white cheddar.

Big cabbage salad and chicken, but while the dressing was really tasty, it didn't pull the salad together well.. I ended up using up the soupy chili from the bbq cold on the salad. (It was great on the bbq salad, hot, as reported in the dinner alad thread.) The end was more kidney beans and tomato chunks, and cold it wasn't so soupy, but it's really good salad dressing, much moreso than it is chili. ;)

Friday: a night off. Theatre trip so no dinner required.

Saturday: another night off: pasta e fagioli made by Italian relations. No picture.

Pre-sundown, the above (and below) shown egg bake and deconstructed (no bread) sandwich.

Sunday: pub lunch. Roast pork.

Soup, sausage, kimchi.

@floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK - That took me a second, I thought I was looking at a flan-ish type dessert! Good morning, time for coffee!

Ha ha. Yes. It's a square of belly pork and a jug of gravy. Apple sauce in the little bowl.