Lunch! What'd ya have? (2014)

[liuzhou]

Well I enjoyed it. I have seen much better lunches posted here but I do appreciate your compliment. I will try hard not to let it go to my head.

Please don't think I was being sarcastic. I wasnt; I really meant it! It is exactly the kind of lunch I enjoy best.

[basquecook]

I made a stock from the backs of 20 or so game hens.. I deboned the birds to the drumsticks and then froze the backs and bones for stock.  I made a stock with the bones, tomatoes, chayote, onion, a little cabbage, carrot, cilantro, spinach and potatoes.  

 

The next day, I added beans that i had soaked and cooked separately to the stock and cooked for a half an hour.  Grilled this really nice slice of Pugliese bread. Brushed with salt packed anchovies mashed with a leek oil and bit of sriracha.

 

Edited April 18, 2014 by basquecook (log)

[Anna N]

Vegetable and meatball soup with Thai inspired flavours (red curry paste, coconut milk, lime juice).

[liuzhou]

Anna N - Your soup looks wonderful. Just looking at it, I can taste it! I think I know what's for lunch tomorrow!

[rotuts]

AnnaN : what is the T.paste of your choice ?

[SobaAddict70]

Plain apple tart, vanilla ice cream

Not the usual thing one might have for lunch, but it's satisfying -- particularly since I'm not a baker. I thought the dough came together beautifully, and that was a minor victory in and of itself.

Recipe: pages 48-49 from http://www.amazon.com/A-Platter-Figs-Other-Recipes/dp/1579653464

[Anna N]

AnnaN : what is the T.paste of your choice ?

Mae Ploy.

[Anna N]

Plain apple tart, vanilla ice creamNot the usual thing one might have for lunch, but it's satisfying -- particularly since I'm not a baker. I thought the dough came together beautifully, and that was a minor victory in and of itself.Recipe: pages 48-49 from http://www.amazon.com/A-Platter-Figs-Other-Recipes/dp/1579653464

Not a huge fan of sweets but honestly that tart makes me almost willing to attempt pastry. And I must surely start making ice cream again.

[SobaAddict70]

It's actually not that sweet.

The tart dough is your basic pâte brisée recipe; the apple filling just thinly sliced apples sprinkled with some vanilla sugar and glazed with apple-flavored simple syrup once the tart was finished baking.

[gfweb]

Two lunches...

 

Leftover lemon risotto arancini with sweet Thai sauce

 

 

 

Deviled eggs

 

[huiray]

• Minced fish meat mixed w/ crumbled soft tofu, plus finely chopped ginger, garlic, scallions, salt, rice wine, soy sauce, other stuff.  Steamed in an enameled metal dish, topped w/ coriander leaves.  This is a dish commonly known as 老少平安 .

• "Kai Choy" (芥菜; Yale Cantonese: gaai3 choi3) stir-fried w/ garlic.

• White rice (not pictured).

 

 

 

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• Soba-and-yam noodles, with white asparagus, halved tofu puffs, chopped scallions (cooked sauce w/ various seasonings).

 

Edited April 21, 2014 by huiray (log)

[rod rock]

Easy lunch today:

[huiray]

Red Bliss potatoes in three acts.

 

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Act I.  Lunch.

 

Sliced shallots, sautéed in olive oil; Brat Schnecken [from Claus' German Sausage & Meats] fried in the pan after the shallots had browned a little; sliced Red Bliss potatoes (scrubbed) added in, tossed around; seasoned/salted to taste; some bay leaves added; water added, pan covered, simmered down for a bit.  

 

Eaten w/ min6 sin3.  Potatoes treated as a vegetable.  The potatoes are waxy, yes, but not yet "set" in their firmness, a touch of fluffiness/powderiness still.

 

 

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Act II.  Dinner.

 

The potatoes as the starch.  Leftovers from lunch, reheated.  Plate of the Schnecken, shallots, potatoes.  Eaten w/ pickled scallions, Japanese cucumbers & toasted sesame seeds.   The potatoes are now "set", firm and waxy yet velvety in texture.  Just the way I like my potatoes. 

 

 

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Act III.  Lunch the next day.

 

The final leftover potatoes are added** to a stir-fry (w/ canola oil) of minced pork w/ chopped smashed garlic, trimmed green pencil asparagus and trimmed white asparagus, (**potatoes added here), salt, freshly ground Voatsiperifery pepper, and trimmed Thai basil (lots).  Eaten w/ white rice.  The potatoes still retain their texture but are beginning to lose their waxiness and crumble a bit, but add a nice dimension to the dish.  Treated as a vegetable here.

 

 

[huiray]

Couple of lunches.

 

 

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Fresh winter bamboo shoots & Chinese mushrooms, in a sort-of style of Shandong cuisine.

 

 

Winter bamboo shoots (the big type), bracts stripped, trimmed, etc, cut into rectangular slices, blanched in boiling water for a minute or two.  Dried small Chinese mushrooms, stems removed, soaked to soften.  Dried snow fungus, soaked to soften, trimmed.  Scallions, trimmed & chopped up, tossed into hot vegetable oil and stirred around or a short while --> "scallion oil".  Mushrooms & bamboo shoots added, tossed around/stirred w/ spatula.   A mixture of "aged soy sauce", Shaohsing wine, hon mirin, ground white pepper (generous amount), oyster sauce and a bit of chicken stock added.  The mixture was tossed around and cooked down, seasoning/salting adjusted to taste.

 

 

 

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• Fried rice: with chopped garlic, 3 eggs scrambled in situ, 2-day-old Basmati rice, rinsed frozen petite peas, a bit of salt.

• "Kai Choy" (芥菜) stir-fried w/ garlic, salt & a little hon mirin.

 

[Plantes Vertes]

 

Winter bamboo shoots (the big type), bracts stripped, trimmed, etc, cut into rectangular slices, blanched in boiling water for a minute or two... tossed around/stirred w/ spatula.  ... The mixture was tossed around and cooked down, seasoning/salting adjusted to taste.

 

I noticed bamboo shoots in the market near me for the first time recently, and looked up how to cook them. The advice was to boil for an hour, but it sounds like you did yours for less time perhaps - is that right?

[huiray]

I noticed bamboo shoots in the market near me for the first time recently, and looked up how to cook them. The advice was to boil for an hour, but it sounds like you did yours for less time perhaps - is that right?

 

Probably around 30 minutes or so. In actuality I added some water before I cooked it down.  The sliced bamboo shoots were actually heated in a pot of water brought to boiling point (so it was in water for a while already) then left in the boiling water - it was more like several minutes (maybe 5, I didn't count) rather than one or two - and the blanching water dumped and the slices rinsed under running water. 

I usually cook bamboo shoots for longer than this, yes.

[Anna N]

Do not attempt this at home unless home is somewhere where basil is in season! Vegetable soup with pistou from The Country Cooking of France by Anne Willan.

[heidih]

Do not attempt this at home unless home is somewhere where basil is in season! Vegetable soup with pistou from The Country Cooking of France by Anne Willan.

Anna - so your herb paste was bitter or insipid or?

[Anna N]

Anna - so your herb paste was bitter or insipid or?

EXPENSIVE.

[huiray]

Skyline Chili 4-way onions, 'medium'.  Oyster crackers (obligatory, comes w/ the meal), iced tea.  The waitress was kind enough to bring me an additional 'small' portion and charge me the price of a single 'large' order.  I really enjoyed my meal, it's been a while.  YUM.

 

Then off to Così fan Tutte Live in HD in the Cineplex down the road. :-)

 

 

[huiray]

Cappelini w/ Hazan tomato sauce & Pecorino Romano.

 

[SobaAddict70]

Ditalini e piselli ("ditalini with peas")

It's one of those recipes where "less is more", because it's nothing but onion, parsley, olive oil, salt, pepper and peas, augmented by a little pasta cooking water, and of course, the pasta.

Sauté chopped onion in a little olive oil; season with sea salt and black pepper. Keep the heat on medium; add a little water every so often to prevent the onions from browning.

Then add finely minced Italian parsley and either fresh, frozen or canned peas. I used frozen peas b/c that's what I had on hand.

Cook until peas are heated through.

Add pasta to the pan; if pasta seems too dry, moisten with a tablespoon or two of pasta cooking water. Cook pasta 1-2 more minutes; taste for salt and pepper, then plate and serve immediately.

You can garnish with grated cheese if you like, but it's wonderful all by itself.

Edited April 27, 2014 by SobaAddict70 (log)

[huiray]

Two recent lunches.

 

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• Eggs scrambled w/ Chinese chive flowers (& stalks), white asparagus, sea salt, Voatsiperifery pepper.  This came out odd-tasting; I should have listened to my internal voice saying "Nooo...use white pepper instead...".

• Edible amaranth (red-green variety) (Seng Choy) stir-fried w/ garlic, vegetable oil, (softened) dried prawns (Har Mai), shaved toasted belacan (dried fermented shrimp paste), w/ seasoning adjusted.

• Leftover duck & pickled mustard soup.  See here.

• White rice.

 

 

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• Deep-fried soft tofu slices.  (No breading, no flouring)  A favorite war-horse of a dish for me.  Eaten w/ sliced scallions and Lingham's Hot Sauce diluted w/ fresh Key Lime juice.

• Deep-fried chả giò tôm cua (Vietnamese spring roll w/ crab & shrimp).  Eaten w/ pickled cucumbers & scallions.

 

Edited May 2, 2014 by huiray (log)

[Anna N]

I had 1 lb of ground lamb (labelled amusingly enough as "free range") and wanted to do something different with it. I googled "ground lamb recipes" and came up with something promising. It called for orzo one of my favorite pastas. Alas the cupboard was bare but I did have some other tiny pasta which would work. I only used the recipe as a jumping off point. It worked rather well although if I were to make it again I would be certain to use orzo and to reduce the amount of pasta relative to the lamb.

[Anna N]

Home made shrimp and pork potstickers. They had definitely spent too much of their youth in the freezer.