The Other Random Walk

Another recipe from Diane Seed's Mediterranean.

I've made this one before, and it came out okay. I don't know how, though. When the recipe tells you to drain the eggplant, and put it in with the cooking garlic and onions, then simmer, it makes no sense. How can one simmer without a liquid in there?

For some reason I took agains the eggplant as well, so I haven't eaten it since I made it on Tuesday.

I will be freezing the remains tonight, for future meals.

So, I have been purging my cookbooks recently, and trying new recipes, and I'd like to put down some cookbook info for people who are interested in what I'm doing cookingwise. If anyone is.

I've taken over the cooking for a while, and I'm trying to move us over to more plants, less animal products, and also more whole grains and less processed foods. I tried to keep things that fit in that philosophy.

My absolutely keep forever cookbooks:
How to Cook Everything - I bought this cheap with a slightly ripped dustcover, and it is my basic go-to cookbook. I don't like the Joy of Cooking, because it does not list the ingredients up front, and I'd become attached to this before I got the Fanny Farmer cookbook.
New Cook Book Souvenir Edition - my parents' big cookbook. I am not sure if they ever use it, but some of the recipes in this are family standards.
Jane Brody's Good Food Book & Jane Brody's Good Food Gourmet - my dad picked these up years ago. Some of the recipes are family standards, and everything I've ever made from them has gotten compliments.

Cookbooks I have used and like:
Diane Seed's Mediterranean Cookbook - I've made a few things from it, and they were good. It is a very pretty cookbook, with watercolor pictures.
Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking - recommended by an Indian friend. Most of the recipes are northern Indian.

Cookbooks I need to try (more) recipes from:
15 Minute Chicken Gourmet - bought in college, did not use very much
Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day - easy homemade bread. Rec'd by ozarque
Diet for a Small Planet - the original save the world by eating nuts and twigs book
Food Matters - the current save the world by eating nuts and twigs book
From Asparagus to Zucchini - lots of recipes, arranged by vegetable
Madhur Jaffrey's World-of-the-East Vegetarian Cooking - it looked pretty, and I wanted it.
Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home - bought for cheap at a used book sale
Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook - I love the idea of being able to use the rice cooker(s) to make more than rice. Avoid Roger Ebert's book about this - just google for his column; the information is the same.

Cookbooks I am keeping for non-food reasons:
Louisiana Lagniappe - souvenir of a trip. Besides, it tells me how to cook an armadillo!
Apple Kitchen Cookbook - my dad's copy, and it has my dad's apple pie recipe.
Beard on Bread - my dad's copy.
Breads: At the Academy - a gift from a friend.
Complete Book of Breads - has my dad's Christmas bread and roll recipes.

Mon - leftovers
Tues - dinner out
Wed - probably sausages, rice, a steamed veg.
Thurs - leftover sausages, rice, steamed veg.
Fri - out

Weekend - not my problem

Last week, the power flipped out sometime during the day, so the crockpot of cabbage, chicken, and sausage did not cook. It was later cooked for longer than the recipe called for, and then chilled and refrigerated. It will be some of this week's meals.

Mexican Lentil Soup: Learning to Cook with Marion Cunningham

Sun: Allen's
Mon: romantical stuff
Tue: Cabbage &c.
Wed: lentil soup
Thu: leftovers
Fri: M&R
Sat: leftovers

The cabbage recipe, what we tasted of it, seemed ok. I am dubious about using canned cream of mushroom soup.

Emergency meal: pasta with olive oil, onions, and olives from Arthur Schwartz' What to Cook When You Think There's Nothing in the House to Eat (which book wins on title alone). It was pretty good, though I think I am going to double the onion and caramelize it next time.

The lentil soup was thin on its own, and much better with rice under it and cheddar grated over it.

Hun's job has gotten stressful, and I have 94 cookbooks, but have not used most of them. The plan is to try different recipes from different books (starting with the thinnest!). If I like enough recipes, I will keep the books, if not, I will remove them from the house (bookmooch, given away, donated to Goodwill/Amvets). If I only like 1 or 2 recipes, I will copy them out into my new recipe books - the Hello Kitty notebook that I was given for Christmas.

Also, I am not eating junk food for about a month, and we are moving to more vegetables and whole grains, and less animal products.

This week's plan:
Sunday - hun cooks
Monday - Succotash (In the Kitchen with Miss Piggy)
Tuesday - Garlic Thyme Chicken (In the Kitchen with Miss Piggy)
Wed - leftovers
Thurs - leftovers
Friday - M&R
Sat - probably go out

All days: salad

I might end up switching Tuesday and Wednesday, since I get home later today and earlier tomorrow.

The succotash came out well; I added half again as much bacon (whole package) and skipped the jarred peppers. Hun like it, and I did too, and I will probably keep this recipe.

Added 2/7/11: The garlic thyme chicken was okay, but not worth keeping the recipe.

Wednesday - Spaghetti alla Zucchine, from Diane Seed's Mediterranean Dishes, p.32

Thursday - (Aubergine or) Courgette Slices with Garlic and Yoghurt Sauce, from same, p. 54

Friday - leftovers or eat out

Saturday - wedding/ D&D pizza

Sunday - dinner?

Monday: leftovers from Sunday - lasagna

Tuesday: leftovers or something. It ended up being leftovers.

Wednesday: pierogies or something else from the freezer

Thursday: feed yourself!

Friday: out

Saturday: D&D pizza

We have a lot of leftovers from Easter dinner.

Monday - leftovers

Tuesday - Mac and ham

Wednesday - leftovers; maybe with some fresh scrambled eggs?

Thursday - leftovers

Friday - leftovers or go out

Saturday - gaming pizza

I need to put these someplace, and stop carrying around the scrap of paper:

-pierogies
-ravioli - simple sauce, or aglio e oglio
-standby chicken
-mac and ham
-omletty thingy
-pancakes
-waffles

-corn bread & other quick breads
-5 minute bread

Brody recipes
-chicken fricasse
-oriental stewed chicken
-chili
-meat sauce
-split pea soup
-turkey & turkey soup
-chicken with couscous

By Mark Bittman, and from last year's New York Times, is found here.