I did a bad job writing down meals this month. I got in a funk and forgot to write down the first missing block. The second set, more reasonably, is missing due to vacation and Easter weekend (the in-laws hosted).
Take-out from Wegmans (3/1): I was tired.
Dined out at Petite Robert Bistro (3/2): Date night. We shared a bowl of mussels and a small plate of ratatouille. I had the cassoulet and my wife had beef bourguignon. The ’09 Bridlewood Pinot Noir I ordered was nice. My wife’s ’08 Louis M Martini Cabernet Sauvignon was good as well.
Wife-cooked meal (3/3): Filipino risotto, a.k.a. arroz caldo, composed mostly of rice, a Filipino-style chicken stock, and ginger. She garnished with fried garlic, scallions, and lemon. The lemon juice surprisingly brought out the sweetness of the arroz caldo.
Pizza (3/4): I made my usual plain pizza. We also goofed around with spinach and ricotta. I forgot to add salt to the ricotta.
“Kerala-Style Chicken Curry” (3/5): From At Home With Madhur Jaffrey. A curry with a coconut milk base. I cooked the aromatics, stirred in the coconut milk, and then circulated chicken breasts in the mixture.
Lentils with caramelized onions, braised leeks, and brown rice (3/6): I used the leftover tomato sauce as a braising liquid. The meal doesn’t make sense, but we were satisfied.
Pancit bihon (3/7): Part of a new “being Filipino” project. My wife has a deep love for Filipino food. My parents were especially excited to share their recipes with me. I aim to please. I’m writing this one up.
Take-out (3/8): Harry’s Seafood. Fried haddock and oysters, clam chowder, blueberry pie. The pie was gross, but the seafood hit the spot.
Rib strip, carrot and ginger soup, brown rice (3/9): Thought I was buying ribs but misread the label. Dinner still worked out.
Pancit bihon (3/10): I’m not sure of the actual date. I cooked it some time this week. My wife liked it a lot.
Restaurant meal (3/18): The more we eat at the local Korean restaurant, the more I like it. The only downside is that my wife won’t try the weirder dishes like blood sausage or other offal dishes.
Beef “stew” (3/19): I based this post on this dinner.
Kerala-style chicken curry with spiced kale (3/20): Revisited the dish. I made a mistake measuring out the coconut milk and in using boxed stock. I really need to prepare all the stocks I cook with.
Onion and mushroom stew with egg noodles, sauteed purple cabbage, and quinoa (3/21): Reduced homemade beef stock with dried thyme, caramelized the onions, and then sweated some carrots and celery. I blended those — the strainer was in the dishwasher — into the beef stock and then cooked the egg noodles in the broth. Seasoned with salt and pepper and garnished with chopped parsley.
In-law cooking (3/22): My wife’s uncle was in town so her parents bought some lobsters and we ate at their house.
