Oooh I haven’t done a meal planning post in ever so long which is a shame because we’ve cooked some fantabulous dinners in the last few weeks of which I now have no permanent record. I think we’re getting a lot better at bringing balance to our weekly meal plans - saving more complex event cooking for the weekends and building up a good repertoire of quick and easy midweek meals. Monday remains soup night, but the soup is batch cooked at the weekend and frozen in pots. Tuesday seems to have become “storecupboard pasta day” which takes minimal effort to produce maximum enjoyment - and means you get to Wednesday and feel you’ve barely had to slave in the kitchen at all. Not that I don’t enjoy slaving in the kitchen - putting the radio on and pottering around while I try and wind down after a working day can be very therapeutic but, equally, sometimes the lure of the sofa and of cat cuddles next to a roaring log stove is too much to resist.
Speaking of easy cooking: we recently acquired Diana Henry’s new book, “From the Oven to the Table” and I can see that this fantastic collection of one pot, minimal intervention dishes are going to see us comfortably through the winter months. There’s a toad in the hole with baby leeks and cheddar in the oven as we speak (I’m writing this on Sunday evening) and a duck dish planned for next week. If you’ve never tried any of Diana Henry’s books then I really would commend them to your attention. She’s a brilliant writer and she always seems to provide recipes for food that I really, really want to eat.
So, this week. We’re well and truly autumnal here now, so warming food is the order of the day. And we’re off on holiday a week on Monday so not much planned with regards gallivanting, beyond an early birthday lunch for D next Sunday.
Monday: roasted cauliflower, bacon and caramelised onion soup
Tuesday: spaghetti puttanesca
Wednesday: blackened salmon with a creamy Cajun spiced sauce, mashed potatoes
Thursday: Ottolenghi’s winter couscous
Friday: mussels with leeks and bacon
Saturday: roasted duck breast with plums, green chilli and coriander rice
Sunday: out for lunch
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Hello again. I haven't aught up fully but have read 4 or 5 posts and now my mouth is watering alarmingly. I realise how very pedestrian I have become in my cooking. I need to up my game. This will be my New Year's resolution as I'm trying to shrink significantly before we go to South Africa!!
ReplyDeleteLovely to 'read' you sounding so content and happy cooking up a storm in sunny Leeds! Lxx