Vlcatko

Mixed salad (cucumber, carrot, brussel sprouts, arugula, young spinach and red mangold) with purple potatoes, Cheshire cheese, yogurt dressing (greek yogurt, milk, hemp oil, S&P) and hemp seeds

So I tried struvor (rosette cookies) for the first time... I was shocked how well the little irons worked (got them as a Christmas present) and I loved the results: My question is, if I make the batter a bit thicker would the struvor be not so thin? I followed the recipe that came with the irons but I keep thinking I have seen struvor that were not so crispy but more waffle like...

Is this bright yellow color natural or were the potatoes cooked in something other than plain water? I don't think I have seen potatoes this yellow before...

Starter was assorted deli plate - Gruyere, Cheshire and deer "raw ham" with grissini, toasted white bread and pear mostarda Main course was Risotto with duck confit and chestnuts.

Started cleaning out the fridge/pantry/freezer - tonight's what-have-you ramen bowl - instant ramen noodles in turkey broth (perked up by pan juices from the beef), thinly sliced beef, stem broccoli, wilted spinach and red mangold leaves, omelette, soft-boiled egg

Thanks, Heidih! The idea came from reading multiple articles about soaking/preparing traditional beans (and yes, they mention basically any flavorful liquid can be used) and having some leftover stock after finishing my chestnut soup. The stock was a bit salty but not nearly enough to eat just like that - I misjudged the amount of water I used. So I soaked the chickpeas in it as it was, after draining and drying, tossed them in a bit of rice oil, added smoked paprika, mild chili and salt. Into the oven they went (baking paper was used, I think aluminium foil might have been better), 210°C, some time over 30 minutes, can't say exactly - forgot to write the times down After tasting I decided to add a bit more salt - no problem when they are still hot and slightly greasy from the oven...

Event heavy weekend so Saturday dinner was just a light snack - crunchy spiced chickpeas (mild chili + smoked paprika) and a glass of cider. First time I roasted the chickpeas just soaked (close to two days in turkey stock) not cooked and I think I prefer it this way. Yesterday I had rump steak with stem broccoli and purple potatoes, forgot to take a picture of it plated but I took a picture of the leftovers which I packed for today's lunch

Chestnut soup

Mixed salad with yogurt dressing, Gruyere cheese and ciabatta croutons

Turkey broth with a few bits of beef and homemade noodles

Jaymes - thank you for your answer! In the two years since my original post I have come to the same conclusion - I don't really care anymore what is "IN" right now and what isn't becase I do not want to deprive myself of possibilities... I am so very sick of people saying this is the way and if you stray from it you are weird. Everyone's different and everyone's tastes are different. So thank you for reminding me that If you ever end up in my part of the woods, I would be happy to offer you my rendition of chicken salad

Beebs - yeah, I like the improvement of my shopping habits too! I also use the very last of my ingredients before they spoil thus forcing me to plan my meals better and shop less But I have the same problem with my various condiments - the only major dent I have made so far was using up some of the mango and hoisin sauces as a marinade. I am slowly using up my Kewpie mayonnaise and bottle of salad cream as ingredients in dips and dressings but it goes very slowly (I had multiple bottles of both leftover from some events with friends and family - I always end up with the leftover odds and ends because nobody else wants them and I feel bad about throwing them out). How about some brainstorming for our stashes of condiments? I have: Kewpie mayonnaise (about a bottle)salad cream (half the bottle)hoisin sauce (half the bottle)Czech mustard (very mild and uncommonly un-tart, almost full)Dijon mustard (1.5 jars - bought a new one because I thought I was out)Wholegrain mustard (2/3 full)prepared horseradish (2/3 full)Sushisu (can't remember how much only that I have it)tahini (almost full)crunchy peanut butter (half the jar)Okonomiyaki sauce (1/3 left and a new one in the pantry)tartar sauce (2 portions pack)classic commercial mayonnaise (2 portions pack)around 2 or 3 almost empty jams and 4 unopened ones (2 sour cherry, 1 peach and 1 blackberry)I already did summer rolls with the hoisin sauce and peanut dip, using the mustards all the time in my sandwiches and dips, had okonomiyaki and loads of sushi not that long ago... I tried using some of the Kewpie mayo in place of butter when baking shallots - I thought it would melt/break and sauce the onions but that thing is more stable than Debian Linux distribution I will be making some horseradish and Dijon flavored mousses for an upcoming ham dish (but that won't make much of a dent) and then potato salad for Christmas dinner (more mayo and mustard) but other than that I don't see a way to get rid of my condiments fast... I will probably end up doing more summer rolls for the New Year's Eve Party (I have enough rice paper in the pantry I think, as well as some noodles) - that will use the hoisin (and possibly okonomiyaki) sauce and peanut butter for the dip... Maybe mixing all the leftover hoisin, okonomiyaki and mango stuff, doctor it up with garlic, ginger and soy sauce and using it as a marinade/glaze for baked chicken wings? Oh my, the last week was a blur! I didn't even have time to do my usual tracking so I will try to sum up what have I used and how it all went. in anticipation of 3-day trip to Vienna I cleared the fridge almost completely (save for the condiments, butter and two blocks of Gruyere) - I used some flat bread from the fridge to make sandwiches with the rest of the Chorizo, pickles and Parmesan, baked couscous mini "muffins" with the remaining spicy sausage I got from Brother and made an improvised relish for the muffins by mixing my remaining white yogurt and chopped green bell pepper (it went well with the slightly spicy muffins)I baked this year's first Christmas cookies - I wanted to make Vanilla rolls (Vanillekipferl) to use the walnuts from the freezer but had no fine-milled flour (in the Czech Republic we don't have flours sorted by gluten content - cake/all-purpose/bread - but by the size of the particles - fine/medium/coarse/semolina) so I had to use medium-milled and a small part of coarse-milled because I ran out of medium as well I was therefore afraid to form the crescents because the dough is very delicate and with the coarser grain I thought the shapes would break even more easily. So I made tiny balls of dough and ended up with cute little mounds - sort of like tiny Italian wedding cookies - and rolled them in obscene amount of vanilla icing sugar.the trip to Vienna was amazing even though there was no snow - we had all the famous things like the Wiener Schnitzel, Tafelspitz, Sacher cake... But my favorite thing has always been and still is - roasted chestnuts! It is so unfair that they have such amazing ones in the neighboring country and we only get crappy ones Sigh, chestnuts and mulled wine I didn't have to shop for any fruit after coming back because a received a bag of assorted fruits (and sweets ) as a St. Nikolas gift so I just bought some veggies, 1/4 of bread, some ham for sandwiches, thin salami for planned wraps and white yogurt and whipping cream. If I want to do more baking I will have to go back for flour/s and sugar - I have some icing sugar left but no regular sugar as I used all I had to make spiced simple sirup (a Christmas present - with a bottle of red and instructions for mulled wine) - 9 bottles and I will have to make more - I still have empty bottles left and family is extensive and friends plentiful

Day 25 Breakfast - oatmeal porridge, plain Snack - carrot sticks and yogurt dip Lunch - beluga lentils, couscous, corn kernels, spicy sausage, soft-boiled egg Snack - Cheddar Dinner - baked potatoes and shallots, yogurt-mayo sauce Day 26 Breakfast - banana chips Snack - leftover baked potatoes Lunch - mixed vegetable salad (tomatoes, bell pepper, cilantro, celery leaves, olive oil, S&P) Snack - apple, 3 kinds of Cheddar (I had no idea Cheddar and apples go so well together - I will have to eat this combination more often!) Dinner - tapas bar with friends Day 27 Breakfast - bought some random puff pastry thing at the petrol station - I was running very late and didn't manage to prepare anything Snack - banana chips Lunch - instant ramen soup, eaten very hot and very quickly so I could get back to work - not very proud of myself today Dinner - small baguette roll (I baked 5 of the oven-ready ones so I could have some bread for the next few days), duck rillettes, cornichons Day 28 Breakfast - oatmeal porridge with honey Snack - nut bar Lunch - small baguette roll, butter, Chorizo, cornichons Snack - tomato Dinner - gyros, chapatti, cabbage salad (at the shopping center with Brother, no chance to make it home before dying of hunger - he seems to take after Mother when it comes to shopping But I am glad he finally managed to get some of his Christmas presents bought )

Very hectic four days - annual stocktaking in our company this weekend and as I work for the accounting office I had massive amounts of work to be done in a very limited time frame to prepare everything to be ready tomorrow. So next two days probably won't be much better... Day 21 Breakfast - Devon scone, blackberry jelly Snack - small bowl of cold couscous Lunch - one of the hand pies from the freezer, tomato Dinner - baked patties from the pilaf (used the last of my store-bought eggs, but Grandma stoped by at work today and brought me 10 from her neighbour) Day 22 Breakfast - leftover patties Snack - mandarin orange from Mum Lunch - 2 open-faced sanwiches (courtesy of coworker celebrating her birthday), tomato Snack - small bowl of redcurrant Dinner - summer rolls (shredded duck meat - yes, I still have some , hoisin, egg noodles, cilantro, carrot, cucumber), soy sauce/peanut butter dip Day 23 Breakfast - bread, gammon Lunch - another open-faced sanwich (courtesy of another coworker celebrating her birthday! Two days in a row - what a coincidence ), tomato Snack - last of the Bratislava rolls Dinner - I stayed at work late, went to a restaurant with DH and friends and I ate almost a whole pizza (with ham and pineapple - the only combination they had that didn't have anything I don't eat) before I stopped myself - I was sooo hungry from all the work under pressure Day 24 Breakfast - bread (finished the loaf), gammon (finished the pack), celery leaves, cilantro Snack - tomato Lunch - instant soup (my backup plan for days I don't have anything else prepared, today was the most hectic so I barely had time to eat) Snack - cheese crackers Dinner - beluga lentils, couscous, corn kernels (finished the can), spicy sausage (another finished item - the fridge is getting pretty empty - few eggs, green bell pepper, 2 apples, some cheese and few slices of Chorizo - all else is stuff in jars/bottles. I have few more things in the fridge at the office, mainly vegetables but other than that I will have to start pulling things from the freezer... Yay! )

I searched and Googled for a bit and I think the noodles are sometimes called Celestine noodles as well? As in Consomme Celestine from Escoffier’s Le Guide Culinaire? Most recipes state egg, flour and milk as main ingredients, then make a pancake which is sliced thinly and used as a soup garnish. My grandma has always used only egg, flour and salt (egg and flour leftover from breading procedure) and that's what I prefer too... I add enough flour to the egg to make a quite thick but still pourable batter, season and cook on oiled pan till golden. It can be eaten as a side dish, snack or used as a garnish. Does it have an English name or is it not so spread to have one? It's quite common here and I have definitely seen it on German (Fladlesuppe) and Austrian (Frittatensuppe) menus.

Beebs - I know I have recently recommended fritters/croquettes for your leftovers but I am compelled to do so again for quinoa too I personally like the crunchy/popping sensation so I tend to sligtly undercook it and then use it as a base for fritters, croquettes, burgers/patties/scones/savory muffins. If your husband does not like it, try slightly overcooking it so it is more homogenous than fluffy/grainy and then using it in the same way. Also, I have not tried it yet but I think making frittaten noodles could be tasty - when I do the regular ones, I use quite a thick batter so I end up with more of dense pancakes/griddle cakes than crepes and then I cut them into squares insted of noodles (so it is almost like unbaked/unfried croutons) - that could work well with quinoa, I think. Next time I have some, I will try it - I have been craving frittaten soup for a while... And mac and cheese quinoa version sounds yummy too! Day 20 Breakfast - finished the whipping cream pound cake Snack - Bratislava roll with poppy seed filling Lunch - pilaf with roasted duck meat, corn kernels and edamame Snack - red bell pepper Dinner - spicy couscous with pan-crisped (yet more) leftover duck

Day 19 Breakfast - Devon scone with blackberry jelly and heavy cream Lunch - went to my grandmother's cottage to celebrate her 30th wedding anniversary - we had a roast duck, two kinds of dumplings (potato and bread), two kinds of braised cabbage (white and purple) - I was given a lot of leftovers so there will be some more duck for a few days... Snack - bundt cake (don't know the kind but I think it had nuts in it), Bratislava rolls (sweet pastry rolls with poppy seed or nut filling) Dinner - beef steak (short loin, I think) marinated in a mixture of mango sauce and hoisin sauce (surprisingly good and helped a lot with the flavor of the not-matured beef, plus I used up a nice portion of both bottles), sauteed baby potatoes (browned in very hot oil, rolled in sauce I made from the deglazed steak pan - water, duck jus, very last of my heavy cream, onion and mustard seeds, salt) and a leftover mayo-yogurt dip in lieu of tartar sauce - the steak I liked, the potatoes were edible (better than the potato scone) but I still think the potato salad might be best for the rest of them - I will be trying that next.

Nancy - yeah, the potatoes are already cooked. They are quite firm and waxy, they would be great in potato salad if it weren't for the taste... But... Now there's a thought - the potatoes actually taste and smell better straight from the jar than reheated, so I could try making an actual potato salad out of them - traditional Czech version is cold and includes mayonnaise and gherkins, quite strong tastes both of them - so maybe it coud work... The saute option is a great idea too, I will try that tomorrow with the planned beef steak. BeeZee - great find! I love it when the freezer reveals something long forgotten but delicious Day 17 Breakfast - bread, chorizo, butter, young spinach Snack - whipped cream poundcake, still warm from the oven Lunch - instant ramen gussied up with soft boiled egg, young spinach and corn kernels Dinner - went to a fancy Asian fusion restaurant with DH and friend, tasted 10 different dishes, went to sleep with pantry no less full and myself stuffed guiltily, but happy Day 18 Breakfast - whipped cream poundcake Snack - pappadums with yogurt dip Lunch - potato scones from Thursday, mayo-yogurt dip (finished a tub of white yogurt, now I only have one tub left) Snack - two kinds of Cheddar (mild and mature - very tasty both of them, I love me some nice cheese if you couldn't tell already - we always have at lest 3 or 4 different kinds in the fridge, sometimes even as many as 8 - presently we have 3 kinds of Cheddar, Gruyere, soft goat's and Parmesan. We usually eat them just like they are, but I think the goat's cheese will end up on some crostinis soon...) Dinner - leftover penne and cheese sauce (had to stretch it a bit with more cream, cheese and duck pan juices) with ground beef and young spinach (finished the bag) from Thursday, a bottle of red Cotes du Rhone wine

Day 15 Breakfast - 4-grain porridge, honey (we have around 4 or 5 opened jars of different kinds of honey, which is quite strange because we don't use it that much... I hate the taste in tea but I love it with cheese, esp. goat cheese. I tried it with the porridge and it's not as bad as in tea, maybe I will try using it in cooked dishes... Or I will just serve it to DH more if he loves it as much as he claims - which is basically why we have so much of it ) Snack - second half of potato snacks Lunch - carrots and yogurt dip Snack - random fistful of candy from my DH's stash Dinner - spicy couscous with corn kernels Day 16 Breakfast - strawberry yogurt Snack - potato scone (I had to open 4 small jars of baby potatoes which I bought just because of the jars so I could use the jars for the duck rillettes. I couldn't believe my eyes when I found out that a) it is almost impossible to find decent canning jars in my local, and very humongous, mall and b) some food is more than twice cheaper, jar included, than the jar alone... So I bought the jarred potatoes for a fraction of the cost of the jars they didn't even have in stock at that time. Alas, I had no idea how hideous the jarred lumps would be... I have to say I am pretty tempted to discard that nasty stuff but I keep telling myself it's food and that I shouldn't... I tried mashing the poor things up and using them with an egg and a little flour to make scones but I have to say it was still quite a chore to eat it. I had to use a lot of mayo-based dressing to enjoy it at least a little bit. And now I still have 3/4 of the potatoes to get rid of. Does anyone have any tips? I was thinking roasting them beyond recognition but I am not very optimistic ) Lunch - penne (finished a pack), ground beef, cheese sauce, young spinach Snack - apple Dinner - edamame with salt

Thank you, scubadoo97! I see some tasty eggs in my near future

Day 13 Breakfast - crepes with blackberry jelly Snack - half a pack of potato snacks Lunch - crackers, pork skin spread (I had a bag of pork skin in the freezer which I saved after making the last batch of pork rillettes - I baked the skin with the meat to get more of the porky flavour and gelatine. I kept the mushy skins to see if I could make something out of them. I could have ground them and used them for head cheese or other traditional Czech charcuterie products but I wanted to clear some more freezer space and didn't have the other ingredients needed so I just tried rendering the ground skins to see what would happen. I got a bit of lard out of it and the skin lardons were edible if not exactly super tasty. I ate some of it as lunch with crackers but the whole mass solidified as it got cold and I tossed the rest. If I had re-ground it, I imagine it might have worked in some kind of savory dough but older people might have seen that as an unnecessary risk to their teeth so I told myself I didn't want to risk it ) Snack - tomato Dinner - cocktail sausages and pickles (once in a while I have this urge, this craving, for canned cocktail sausages - I suppose it's the same state of mind like people have when they suddenly realize they had eaten a whole chocolate in one sitting - I do not eat chocolate but sometimes I just have to have my Tulip "meat substitute" in the form of tiny wieners ) Day 14 Breakfast - mjukkaka (type of Swedish flatbread), last of the smoked ham, tomato Snack - crackers and duck rillettes (I finally finished and potted the whole shebang! Man, that was a lot of duck... I thought I would just simply toss all the meat, crispy skin bits, fat and some of the pan juice in to the stand mixer and beat it into a beautiful and tasty whole but no. I had to work in batches because of how much I had! Now my almost empty freezer is bursting with jars of duck spread. But I am happy becase a lot of my Christmas presents are taken care of ) Lunch - wheat semolina porridge with granulated cocoa (used all the remaining milk from the fridge and the semolina that was sitting in the pantry still in the paper bag because it didn't fit into its designated container, now I have just the container to use up. I am thinking semolina dumplings for the future duck soup I will make from the bones in the freezer.) Snack - kohlrabi Dinner - after the very filling lunch I wasn't feeling like having anything for dinner but we ended up finishing the last of the B&J Chocolate fudge brownie ice cream. Michaela - great job with the dulce de leche! What are your plans with it? I have no idea what it is used for aside from as a sauce. Beebs - Aww, shame with the party - would have been a great and creative way to use up your ceelery. If I were you I would just munch on it as a snack - I got introduced to stalk celery in the form of obligatory crudites with chicken wings order and I have been in love ever since If it is too tired tho' maybe you can chop it up, freeze it and use it as emergency mirepoix? Yeah, the crispy skin is one of my favorite things - but I have to say I barely had any as I tried to save it all for the rillettes - I mainly munched on some very odd things that many consider odd or even inedible (at least according to what I have heard and read) - I hope I will not condemn myself to public loathing by admitting it here but I really really love the oil glands from the pope's nose and elsewhere under the skin...

scubadoo97 - those eggs look amazing! Would you share your temp/time combination?

Michaela - I am sorry your gnocchi didn't exactly work out but I have to applaud you for trying to make them better when you found them not so great. I would never have thought of making something sweet out of them! Day 11 Breakfast - soft-boiled egg, bread, butter Snack - kohlrabi Lunch - split green pea soup, diced smoked pork (I have one last portion of the soup for next week but no more smoked meat, I will probably do a poached egg or fried bread croutons) Dinner - two cheeses (Gruyere and a sheep one - no idea of English name), spicy salami, raspberry jam (finished the jar - yay!), crackers, a bottle of St. Martin's Pinot St. Laurent rose (very light and fruity, I am really liking this year's harvest so far) We went to the warehouse club and I did buy three ducks - the last duck I bought there was (CZK) 150/kg, these were 69/kg. They are not as fine as the last one but they will do - I am not planning to serve the breast pink or something like that after all. I disassembled the birds, put all the meat and skin in my new (bought it at IKEA while there for my friend's gift) glass baking pan (it's hoge, biggest pan I've ever had - I mean, it fits 3 ducks!) and put it in the oven in the evening, in the morning I separated the meat, skin, bones, fat (about half a litre) and pan juices (about a litre). Not even turning the oven off, in went the skeletons and after roasting them I scraped every last bit of meat off of them as well and into the freezer with all the bones. Now I have a sizeble pile of meat for the rillettes which will be enhanced by crispy skin lardons I will make today. We also got a hunk of beef (in English I think it is called short loin) to stock up on meat and vegetables. I could see my tactic is working - we left with significantly lower bill than usual Day 12 Breakfast - rest of the bread from the farmers' market, butter, ham, apple Snack - choice bits of ducky goodness as I was sorting through the roasted/confited duck parts, crackers Lunch - garlic-coriander naan (the pre-made kind you have to finish in the oven or on the grill, it was hanging around the pantry for quite some time), grated carrots with yogurt and tahini dressing (thank you, Plantes Vertes, for the tip - we really liked it) Snack - salted peanuts, pretzel rods Dinner - 2 slices of pizza Margherita at my friend's place - we wanted to go to a restaurant as she recently had a baby and is kind of lonely but the babysitting didn't work out at the last minute so we stayed at her place and ordered over phone.

judiu, Michaela - I think Michaela is right - the main reason why the meat was so dry is the cut - I normally use very lean cuts for quick preparations only. But shredded with sauce - I bet it is delicious I wouldn't mind finding a similar deal on meat - I am all out of meat exept for one duck breast (will probably try some Asia-style flavoring next because the first one was just caraway and salt served over nutty risotto), two duck legs (I want to confit them but after St. Martin's day goose and next week's roast duck at my grandma's, I will have to wait a while before eating them so I don't feel "overducked" ) and 3 portions of salmon. We are going shopping today for a gift for our friends' birthdays so we will stop by a local warehouse club (Makro) to see if there are any good deals on ducks and geese (I think I have already mentioned my plan to give rillettes as Christmas gifts this year) and to buy some fresh produce (after today I would be left with just potatoes and shallots) so if I see a good deal on pork or beef I think I won't be able to resist - I am too much of a meat-eater to go too long without it Beebs - yeah, I love parties and entertaining because I always manage to creatively use a lot of my resources. I think when something you buy helps you to use up your supplies in a more enjoyable way (sure you could eat JUST pasta, for example, but how long would you be willing to do that?) and doesn't create more leftovers/long term clutter it is perfectly justified purchase. Day 10 Breakfast - bread, butter, Dijon mustard, ham (applewood smoked Wiltshire ham - I had to restrain myself from eating it just like that, I love this stuff) Snack - last red bell pepper, yogurt and tahini dip Lunch - split green pea soup (split green peas, ginger, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, half an avocado from the freezer, all blended together), diced smoked pork (pulled two lonely slices from the back of the freezer, there's enough for one more portion) and croutons from the pantry Dinner - random grazing on salty treats as I was working through some thesis materials - peanuts, crumbled remnants of nachos and pretzel rod or two

Day 8 Breakfast - sesame Wasa crispbread with cottage cheese Lunch - wholegrain couscous mixed with yesterday's leftovers from dinner (hash browns) Dinner - homemade duck rillettes with fresh bread from the farmers' market (first food-related purchase since the start of the challange), blackberry jelly, pickles, bottle of "St. Martin's" (this year's young wine) Oporto Day 9 Breakfast - bread, butter, Dijon mustard, crispy bacon Snack - apple, mandarine (which I was given by a collegue) Lunch - all my last cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, celery leaves (from a plant I have planted from a stub at work, the first green thing ever that didn't die on me after more than two weeks, if you can believe it) Snack - hot dog (Mum wanted to go shopping after work and I foolishly agreed to go with her, starving after the first hour or so. Should have brought a snack bar from my backup drawer at work ) Dinner - I was planning on cooking some green split pea soup and having some for dinner tonight and some for lunch tomorrow but by the time I got home it was hardly time to eat anything... So I cooked a little bit less and I will take it as lunch tomorrow and I am skipping dinner tonight. I also got a pack of very nice applewood smoked Wiltshire ham as a thank you for going with Mum so I guess I have my next breakfast figured out as well