Lunch! What'd ya have? (2012–2014)

[rotuts]

pastameshugana

Id be very interested in you views on the 'gator.

its my understanding that the tail is where you go for the 'best'

'does it taste like chicken?' aside from the prep itself would you get 'Garor again?

Ive never had it.

[pastameshugana]

The gator we had was legs - and I'd say it was certainly chicken-ey, like dark meat but more complicated bone-wise. There was no fishy or aquatic taste at all, but was a little stronger flavored than the typical American chicken. Probably more like the chicken we ate daily when living in India.

I'd get it again, but it was a bit pricey. Next time I'll check if they have tail.

[Steve Irby]

jvalentino - great looking wings

huiray - continue to be amazed by your output and food compositions.

Leftovers for us today. Harissa chicken with roasted peppers and olives over pasta. Made a quick salad with yogurt dressing and fresh herbs.

Finished with merinque over fresh peaches topped with a raspberry coulis.

[huiray]

Thanks, Steve Irby.

[furzzy]

I had 18 egg whites in the fridge from making creme brulee for a dinner party. Made an omelet with some of the whites, fresh curry leaves, bacon for hubby's and my brunch, topped it with homemade spicy chili on a toasted "everything" bagel...

EggWhiteCurryLeafChiliBagel0017.jpg

Dejah - how creative! And it looks very tasty (though I couldn't do an egg White omelet...gotta have the yolks.) ;o)

[furzzy]

For some reason I was expecting it all to be hotter...

I have not found Cajun food to be particularly "hot spicy" though pepper sauces are always on the table for individual adjustment and add-ins. Here is a snippet from an interview with Chef John Folse giving a a good explanation:"Cajun food is always seasoned, but not always hot and spicy. Spicy insinuates that the food is highly flavored with peppers such as cayenne, Tabasco, etc. However, highly seasoned, which Cajun cooking certainly is, refers to flavor in our food: onions, celery, bell pepper, garlic, green onions, parsley and even herbs, such as basil, thyme, tarragon and rosemary. "

Very interesting. Thanks for the clarification. I'd always thought of Cajun as hot/spicy.

[liuzhou]

Trapped at home waiting for the workman who was supposed to be here hours ago to fix my water heater for the shower, The only things I could find that I fancied were some cèpes / porcini, some ramen noodles, a bunch of green onions, dried chilli flakes and s+p.

So.

I did have a sandwich of Mongolian Cheddar with cucumber, too.

He still hasn't turned up!

[huiray]

(edited)

Edited August 9, 2013 by huiray (log)

[huiray]

Several meals from recent days.

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

Lunch

• Boiled Chioggia beets, sliced; w/ sautéed Tuscan kale.

• Fresh chanterelle mushrooms; sautéed w/ butter + olive oil + parsley + sea salt, tossed w/ al dente orrechiete [De Ceccho].

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

Dinner

• Pan-fried fresh wild-caught swordfish. Fillet pre-marinated w/ stuff including olive oil, lime juice, chopped garlic, a few dashes of fish sauce, ground black pepper, ryori-shu [MRT],bit of sea salt, bit of sugar.

• Simply-boiled rose fingerling potatoes.

• Sautéed sliced green zucchini.

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

Lunch

• Fresh Alaskan Coho Salmon fillet, steamed w/ sliced ginger, fresh “Tung Koo” (Chinese shiitake-type mushrooms, thick cap), scallions, black pepper, veggie oil, fresh lime juice, sweet mirin.

• Stir-fried hydroponic loose-headed leafy Napa cabbage [Eden Farms].

White rice (Basmati).

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

Brunch

Szechaunese buffet brunch at Sichuan Restaurant.

My selections:

Daikon & pork meatballs peppery soup

Marinated pork maw (cold)

Chillied beef tripe (cold)

Chillied chicken slices (cold)

Glass noodles & beansprouts dressed w/ a spicy chilli sauce & scallions (cold)

Tangy marinated beansprouts

Marinated mildly pickled cucumber slices

Marinated white jelly (agar-agar) slices

Dan-Dan noodles

Tea-smoked duck pieces

Multi-layered pan-fried flour pancake w/ coriander , spices & minced meat between the layers

Pork potstickers w/ sweet-sour-soy sauce dressing

“Salt & Pepper” type stir-fried large shell-on shrimp w/ dried chillies

Garlic stir-fried baby bok choy

Mapo tofu

Beef brisket stewed w/ daikon chunks in a spiced broth

White rice

Hot tea.

A number of other choices were passed by.

Somewhat disappointing, actually. The quality has gone down, at least in terms of what I had today. The spiciness and taste has been dialed down, compared with previously, even as recently as 6 months or so ago. Same owner-chef. Not sure what happened.

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

Lunch

• Chicken broth: slow-simmered stuff (6+ hours) w/ a cut-up whole chicken, carrots (normal plus red-skinned plus yellow), Western celery, sea salt to taste.

• Pieces of a “Wheat Branch” loaf and an “Onion Wheat Branch” loaf [brotgarten, Indy].

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

Late dinner

• Fresh linguine [Woodburn Farm] tossed w/ pesto (Pecorino Romano as the cheese) & additional fresh whole basil leaves.

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

Lunch

• Some more of the chicken broth (the slow-simmered stuff) augmented w/ fresh red-skinned carrots & yellow/green carrots. Yum! (Unfortunately the carrots bleed a lot of their color after simmering to soften so the bowl of finished broth + veggies looks somewhat uninteresting. The flavor, however, is very good.)

• Pan-fried Merguez sausage [smoking Goose, via Goose the Market] w/ pan-fried sliced shallots, mushrooms, trimmed Tuscan kale.

• A slice of “Bête Noir” [Rene’s Bakery, Indy], a very rich chocolate tarte.

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

Lunch

• Cucumber soup

Mature-but-not-quite-old-cucumber, skin-on, halved lengthwise, deseeded, chunked. Pork spare ribs [Red Wattle Pork, blanched in boiling water (“Fei Sui”)], Goji berries, dried Solomon’s Seal roots (“Yook Chook”), Chinese jujubes, peeled whole garlic cloves (Purple Glazer), dried scallops, dried salted cuttlefish, sea salt, plain water. Simmered till done.

• Fresh linguine [Woodburn Farm] tossed in the pan w/ sautéed sliced shallots, smashed garlic, chopped tomatoes (Black Krim), sliced red pepper, trimmed broccoli rabe (rapini), some fresh thyme leaves, salt to taste.

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

Dinner

• Deep-fried soft tofu slices (two blocks). Eaten w/ Lingham’s Hot Sauce admixed w/ fresh lime juice (½ of a big lime) and a dash of fish sauce.

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

Lunch

• Leftover cucumber & pork spare ribs soup.

• Farm eggs fried w/ chopped scallions & chopped Chinese chive flower stalks.

• White rice (Basmati).

Edited August 10, 2013 by heidih (log)

[huiray]

Half of an "Epi" wheat stalk loaf [brotgarten] smeared very generously w/ coarse Braunschweiger [Claus' German Sausage & Meats] plus many slices of pressed tongue [Claus' GS&M].

[Panaderia Canadiense]

I'm probably going to get kicked out of this thread for this, but it was for lunch today and it was too fun to pass up showing you....

[heidih]

I'm probably going to get kicked out of this thread for this, but it was for lunch today and it was too fun to pass up showing you....

Lonchy.jpg

You must explain the octopus - is that a carved mushroom?

[IowaDee]

Well hot doggie!

[huiray]

I'm probably going to get kicked out of this thread for this, but it was for lunch today and it was too fun to pass up showing you....

Lonchy.jpg

You must explain the octopus - is that a carved mushroom?

Heh. Looks fun, indeed. Yes, is that what Heidi suggests it is? It certainly doesn't seem to be part of the "contents" of the advertised product! :-)

http://www.lonchys.com/

Hmm, seems one is supposed to get generously overflowing noodles and stuff - including BIG bowls of it... http://www.quebakan.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/8.jpg But you must have already gobbled down a good deal of it. :-D

I eat instant noodles in bowls or from packets all the time too. :-) With the ones from packets I do tend to gussy them up with extra veggies and stuff.

ETA: Ah, IowaDee suggests a hot dog. Heh.

Edited August 12, 2013 by huiray (log)

[Panaderia Canadiense]

I'm probably going to get kicked out of this thread for this, but it was for lunch today and it was too fun to pass up showing you....

Lonchy.jpg

You must explain the octopus - is that a carved mushroom?

You mean to say you've never had an octodog? The one in my Lonchy is a chicken hotdog carved to look like an octopus.

[liuzhou]

Duckburger with a Pico de Gallo type salad and (duck fat fried) chips.

Edited August 12, 2013 by liuzhou (log)

[Anna N]

Duckburger with a Pico de Gallo type salad and (duck fat fried) chips.

duckburger and chips.jpg

duckburger cooked.jpg

Pico de Gallo.jpg

I am not a fan of hamburgers but a duck burger.......we could talk.

[Anna N]

It's been a while since I've posted here due to some health issues but I followed everyone's amazing lunches as best I could. Things are looking up again so I hope to post more frequently. Today's lunch was my take on cold, spicy ramen noodles by Joe Yonan from his latest book "Eat Your Vegetables".

[Anna N]

It's been a while since I've posted here due to some health issues but I followed everyone's amazing lunches as best I could. Things are looking up again so I hope to post more frequently. Today's lunch was my take on cold, spicy ramen noodles by Joe Yonan from his latest book "Eat Your Vegetables".

[rotuts]

A.N. :

wish good health your way !

[Kerry Beal]

Not the most photogenic meal - guac-chi (or kim-mole) with some nice warmed baguette.

[heidih]

Kerry - is that mashed avocado amped up with kimchee?

[Kerry Beal]

Yup - Anna linked me to a website the other day - had to try it. And it's Anna's homemade daikon kimchi.

Edited August 17, 2013 by Kerry Beal (log)

[pyrguy]

For some reason I was expecting it all to be hotter...

I have not found Cajun food to be particularly "hot spicy" though pepper sauces are always on the table for individual adjustment and add-ins. Here is a snippet from an interview with Chef John Folse giving a a good explanation:

"Cajun food is always seasoned, but not always hot and spicy. Spicy insinuates that the food is highly flavored with peppers such as cayenne, Tabasco, etc. However, highly seasoned, which Cajun cooking certainly is, refers to flavor in our food: onions, celery, bell pepper, garlic, green onions, parsley and even herbs, such as basil, thyme, tarragon and rosemary. "

Heidi - that is certainly helpful for a cajun-virgin (sounds like a band name). By that description, I'd say my meal above hit all the high points quite well!

Cajun is all about the blending of flavors not necessarily just the heat. One of the best explanations I have read.

[huiray]

Cajun is all about the blending of flavors not necessarily just the heat. One of the best explanations I have read.

I would imagine that "blending of flavors" is a common thread in most cuisines, not just Cajun, no?