Lunch! What'd ya have? (2014–2015)

[kayb]

After two days of big breakfasts and soups/stews for dinner, I wanted something a bit lighter for Sunday lunch/dinner/midday. I had been wanting to try my hand at steak tartare since I had the wonderful version when Cyalexa and I visited The Catbird Seat recently, so I decided it was time to do that, particularly as my beef for the year (a quarter of a grass-fed steer, and he was a BIG boy, too -- about 120 pounds finished weight) was delivered this past week.

 

I partially thawed two small filets -- about four ounces each, and diced them in quarter-inch dice, thanking the Lord for freshly sharpened knives all the while. Mixed with those were two egg yolks, minced cornichon and capers, a bit of Dijon mustard, some chopped chives and some white truffle oil. We had it on multigrain baguette crisps.

 

Alongside, we had a selection of cheeses (Alpine, Idiazabal, Vermont cheddar and Parrano), quince paste olives and pickles, as well as some grilled asparagus. It was a quite excellent Sunday lunch, as well as being a great change of pace. 

 

 

[hummingbirdkiss]

fresh roasted in the IP Pumpkin tea with dates and cream in a Scotty cup

 

and more dates 

Edited November 2, 2015 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[Anna N]

Toasted light rye spread generously with wasabi butter (butter, wasabi paste, chopped scallion greens, soy sauce) and topped with sliced chuck eye roast.

[Anna N]

Salad dressed with black garlic and balsamic vinaigrette (thanks dcarch) and topped with leftover sv’d chuck eye.

[Anna N]

Leftovers from last night's dinner. Pasta with asparagus and chicken and for lunch I added in some roasted tomatoes that I had frozen and a dusting of Parmesan.

[Anna N]

A bowl of roasted vegetables (mushrooms, shallots and asparagus) and a few pieces of well-coloured polish sausage.

Washed down with this locally brewed hard cider.

[rotuts]

wow

 

you can't imagine how much I love and enjoy hard cider

 

In my area there are some made in New England

 

this way and that way

 

but Woodpecker from GB well  ...

 

Id live to find this locally 

 

and thanks for reminding me of this

 

In NE   one can go to local apple orchards and get their cider   in the gallon

 

then you leave it set in a cool place for a week or two

 

it get 'hard'  not that hard but  the natural yeast takes the sweetness out of it and you get a bit of fizz

 

nice   dry  nice

 

not available in the grocery stores as that stuff has been pasteurized 

[BonVivant]

A couple of recent lunches.

 

 

 

 

Strammer Max doesn't normally contain any seafood.  

 

 

Brown shrimp (Crangon crangon)

 

 

[liamsaunt]

This week's batch of soup is eggplant parmesan soup.  Roasted eggplant is cooked with celery, onions, garlic, tomatoes, white wine, oregano, and stock, then garlicky breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese is added along with a tbsp. of balsamic vinegar and a handful of basil, and then the whole thing is pureed.

 

[kayb]

This week's batch of soup is eggplant parmesan soup.  Roasted eggplant is cooked with celery, onions, garlic, tomatoes, white wine, oregano, and stock, then garlicky breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese is added along with a tbsp. of balsamic vinegar and a handful of basil, and then the whole thing is pureed.

 

eggplant parmesean soup.jpg

 

That sounds marvelous.

[Anna N]

Roasted carrots and parsnips "dressed" with two poached eggs

[hummingbirdkiss]

Wow what beautiful lunches! You eat so beautifully....applause!

[blue_dolphin]

I made the one-pan pasta that was apparently an internet thing last year.  Throw everything in the pan:

 

And eat:

 

Not bad.

 

[rotuts]

Martha made this ?  In the Big House ?  In the Pen ?

 

I gotta tell you

 

Im going to look into this

 

and Kudos to whom ever she got this from

 

[blue_dolphin]

Yes, this was apparently published in Martha's mag.  I plead the 5th.  Didn't find out about the Martha connection until after I ate it  !! 

 

Edited to add:  the idea of Martha slicing garlic the Goodfellas way does make me laugh      !

Edited November 10, 2015 by blue_dolphin (log)

[sartoric]

Last nights mixed salad with a can of tuna !

[Anna N]

So a friend dropped by with some late season tomatoes. I already had some cooked bacon but alas no mayonnaise. I quickly solved that problem using the Serious Eats two minute mayo recipe. There really is bacon hiding within

[Shelby]

 I've only been without tomatoes for a week and am CRAVING them.  Anna, that looks SO good.

[Anna N]

A sensible person who might have saved this for dinner but ever since Kerry Beal handed me this package of pork chops in one of our supermarkets I have been dreaming of a juicy chop. I happen to know that my evening will be unpredictable and dinner will likely end up being nothing more than a couple of slices of toast so I made it for lunch. I sous vided it for 45 minutes at 62°C and it turned out perfectly for me. A quick sear in a cast-iron pan and a bit of seasoning was all it needed. The red cabbage was quickly sautéed with some onion in bacon fat and brightened with just a little balsamic vinegar. I had intended to stir in some lingonberry jam but I appear to be out of it.

Edited took to fix some grammatical errors and add a little more detail.

Edited November 13, 2015 by Anna N (log)

[rotuts]

nice

 

very nice

 

nothing green ?

 

my motto  :  green tomorrow !

 

[Anna N]

Soup and salad. Homemade fresh and dried mushroom soup done in the Instant Pot and Pepin's potato and tomato salad from Heart and Soul.

(And a little "green" for rotuts.)

[blue_dolphin]

Sometimes you just need a treat:

Vive la France!

 

Trader Joe's Truffle Mousse Pâté on whole wheat mini toasts with cornichons and Champagne.  All from France.

[rotuts]

Did the Chanp. come from FR

 

or TJ's ?

 

I have to look into the TJ's TMP's

 

the Toast ?

 

etc.

[blue_dolphin]

I bought the French Champagne at my local Total Wine shop.  It's a bottle that I generally reserve for gift purposes.  TJ's used to carry the mini toasts but I have not seen them there lately.  These (made in France) were purchased at Sprouts.  The TJ's pâté comes in a little black loaf pan. It is nice and small enough that you wouldn't do irreparable damage even if you ate it all.  I usually like a more rustic pâté but today was about making it lovely.  

My former boss was French.  I visited his home right after his family had suffered a tragic loss and the menu above is what he served us that day.  It was a lesson to me that I am implementing now.

 

Edited to add that the cornichons are from TJ's too.

Edited November 15, 2015 by blue_dolphin (log)

[Anna N]

Had lunch out yesterday (see The Ladies Who Lunch topic) and came home with some leftover fried rice and some stir-fried vegetables with bits of protein. I made a quick, thin-rolled omelette which I sliced up, cut up the leftover stir-fried vegetables and removed most of the sauce which coated them. Heated a little bacon fat in a skillet and quickly tossed the rice with some seasoning and the egg and vegetables. Tastier than it was at the restaurant!