Last night I fixed "Black Bean Turkey Chili", served over nachos. The night before, "Cheesy Tuna Melts" on French Bread.(Albacore Tuna)

---------------------------------------------------------------

When I was 18 yrs old, I managed a Sea Food Restaurant. Tempura cod, mushrooms & shrimp were our main menu....I fixed from scratch when ordered. @floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK....that brought back some memories!

I keep trying to set time for actual cooking and it gets swallowed by other priorities. So I bought soup. I think I’ve eaten soup daily—no one else wants it!—since I bought the bowls. Who knew that the remainder soup was lingering in the fridge because it wasn't easy to zap a single bowl. So the other day, dinner main was chicken ravioli in WF crab bisque. (pictred) Turns out spinach and crab are friends! So I finished it off today as just soup with spinach on top. Very good. The ”bisque” (there is cream but it doesn't announce itsel) is thickened with rice, and cold is a congealed glob, but it's highly stabilized so stands up to zapping.

Last nights bread crumbed chicken salad bowl

Saturday:

Gammon, parsley sauce, steamed cabbage, baked potatoes.

Sunday: roast lamb, spinach, roast kabocha.

Ooo, roast lamb. I assume my dinner invitation was lost in the mail?

I did some bad cooking this weekend. In my partial defense, I was always being rushed. On Saturday SWMBO announced that a couple friends would come over that evening for games, and she’d defrost some pork ribs for me to cook after we returned from the book sale. Upon returning I discovered a large rack of unthawed ribs of indeterminate age and three hours to make them edible. Which they barely were, but our friends are polite people.

On Sunday our friend L___ felt ill and I was volunteered to make chicken soup. We had no chicken. A chicken was delivered to me, still semi frozen, with only two hours to medicine time. I added to the mess with my own mistakes. I used rainbow carrots and they turned the stock *purple*. To achieve a non-sickly sort-of-yellow color, I used tumeric. I don’t love tumeric. I used a red onion and it made the stock bitter. To debitter, I added red miso, white miso, and sugar. In addition to a chicken, SWMBO was to get egg noodles. She came back with thin curly Asian egg noodles, so I had to use bowtie pasta from the pantry. In the end, the soup turned out good, I’m told. I was so irritated at my screwups that I didn’t have any. Hopefully L___ will feel better.

But I did make progress on the memory bread, despite more mistakes. I made a high hydration sourdough, about 85%, figuring I might get the desired big voids. The soupy dough couldn’t be worked in any normal way, so I did multiple lift and fold sessions, in the bowl with a spatula, during the day. I baked the bread in a cast iron roaster thingy that has a shallow base and a dome-shaped top. The plan was to preheat the roaster at 485F, pour in the dough, cover and bake 20 min at 425F, then uncover and finish baking. I got distracted by the news, took a nap to recover, woke up with no idea how long the bread had baked, and in a panic pulled the roaster and uncovered it, saw the bread hadn’t risen as much as hoped, and in disgust dumped the bread on the counter and went back to my fitful nap.

Upon later inspection, the bread actually had risen, but more like a ciabatta than a normal bread. The crust was shattery, with a small “s” but still in the s-zone. The crumb had larger and irregular voids, as hoped. If I’d only temped the bread and continued baking uncovered, the crumb might have become a little tougher as desired; I think I ended up pulling it too soon.

So, more lessons learned and a little progress made. My next effort will be not as high hydration, like 75%, baked to 210F, and I think I want to get a . . . banneton, they are called? Anyway, something to make a baguette shape instead of a round ciabatta.

A banneton is a coiled rising basket. There are some batard shaped ones that can be used for the wider kind of baguette, but I haven't seen for the narrow ones. There are also cradles, or creches, for baguettes, in many materials, popularly including flour imprgnated kitchen towel and perforated metal. I have terracotta. In many ways, I think the towel may be superior if you get the hang of it. I think your bread looks good, especially with all the mishaps. Ultrahigh hydration doesn't really want to go tall. It doesn't have the legs. I finally figured out that those soaring numbers usually don't include the bench flour and they aren't really anywhere near that in reality. Good luck with the next one!

Dinner was delicious brisket from the freezer, and sad "minestrone" from WF. Flavorless and crunchy.

Sorry, John, it's been very stormy here. Maybe the carrier pigeon got lost over the Atlantic.

Monday:

Croquetas de jamon made with left over gammon from Saturday. Little Gem and radicchio salad.

This dough was too wet to even put on the counter - it was strictly an in-the-workbowl operation. So it never got any bench flour and was a genuine 85%. Too much but I learned something.

IME, if it won't stand up before rising, it won't stay standing after rising. So long as it's edible, it's bread. Also, IME, the first time trying a new way of making bread takes at least three tries to get right, so you're doing fine. :)

Dinner was chicken and the rest of the minestrone. It wasn't as bad because my expectations were so low...

Good eating all posters and I like all the photos.

We had what we call lamb cutlets with mash potato and ”greens”. I Frenched the cutlets to take the fat off the long bone and they were a tender two mouthfulls.

Yum. We love lamb too.

Tuesday: shepherds pie using the left over lamb from the Sunday roast. Savoy.

So much of the pig is “breakfast” (https://youtu.be/yJsn80dgcDc?si=k55WzGeNaTAQiGZo) — why am I told that my barbecued ribs breakfast is not? I concede the cole slaw, but I do often eat breakfast salad, weird or not, and I do concede the weird. But why are ribs any weirder than bacon or spam?? They were really good!

ETA: I was thinking spicy soup. It was 84°F today, but I've been so cold... Dinner was actually a big salad with chicken, avocado, little black beans, etc., and a lot of crunchy water, but no actual iceberg.

Wednesday: simple roast vegetables (squash, sweet potato, onion, celery, tomatoes.) Bit of melted cheddar plus a fried egg.

Thursday: grilled (broiled in US) salmon, crash potatoes, radicchio salad.

It was going to be pasta with vegetables, but I was tired. Turned out to be chicken and (already made) cole slaw.

Lots of veg floral and fish looks good. Chicken and coleslaw traditional partners and so they should be, sounds good plllog.

We had fish, lightly fried in dusting of seasoned flour …rockling an Australian meaty white fish. As a side there was ratatouille combined with penne pasta.

Your meals always look very fresh and nutritious, Neely.

Friday: gin and tonic mussels. Fennel and blood orange salad.

I've never heard of anything like gin and tonic mussels! I'm not sure about the tonic (which I don't like) but I can see how gin would go with them...

Neely, I've been thinking about your comment about chicken and cole slaw going together, and you're right, of course. But that led me to think about pasta and cole slaw, and other than deli style ditalini pasta salad, just from proximity, I'm having trouble thinking of pasta that goes with cole slaw. I've been thinking of trying to make a version of the "Thai" spaghetti salad that comes from the deli--and would not go with cole slaw!--and the veggies with pasta I was going to make, and other than tomato and meat spaghetti with my spaghetti sauce, which is pretty strong and distinctive and might stand up to the cabbage, I can't think of any that would go. Not that the spaghetti would go, but I think it wouldn't be as weird as the rest. And I'm the one who discovered that roasted chestnuts pair well with very sweet pickle chips!

The tonic is not obvious in the flavour of the dish. Normally I make moules marinières but I didn't want to open a bottle of wine. Hence this: Gin & Tonic Mussels by Claire Jessiman - Scottish Shellfish https://share.google/ZSpj6a1ElyWbJqIbp

It was delicious and might be vying for my top mussel recipe.

Thanks for the recipe and the note on the tonic. I wonder if Scottish, as called for, is less nasty than Canada Dry?. Really interesting! And the muscles with gin sounds really good.

And you are right plllog to question pasta and coleslaw, come to think of it, hardly anything with coleslaw apart from chicken and steak seems to go. I could be wrong and not thinking widely enough!!

We have cabbage, carrots and green onions in the fridge and I considered making coleslaw to have with the fish (above photo) but thought ”No” doesn’t go… so made ratatouille instead which suited fine.

Sandwiches go, even grilled veg or soft cheese and veg. But sandwichs are cold to tepid. I think gooey grilled cheese, hot from the pan, would be bad. What do you think?

I use Fever Tree or Schweppes tonic. Over here Canada Dry is known for ginger ale, not tonic. I've not come across Scottish tonic water down here and I doubt it makes much difference. I think the recipe only says Scottish tonic because it comes from a site promoting Scottish food.

I think a cole slaw could go with fried or grilled fish providing it was not too heavy on the mayo. Maybe stir through some capers or chopped gherkins? After all tartar sauce,which is basically mayo with bits, works.

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.