Lunch! What'd ya have? (May 2016–Oct 2016)

[Okanagancook]

We have cold smoked the farmed trout we can get from the grocery store in the past.  This stuff Is commercial frozen trout which is excellent quality.  Preident's Choice....Canadian brand.

[Okanagancook]

I have a mitt load of lemon cucumbers in my fridge vegetable draw.  They are being picked small.  Used four in our lunch times salads.  We also shared a plate of flat breads topped with charred eggplant and pickled beets.  So healthy!

 

 

[HungryChris]

Mortadella, kimchi and pickled zucchini ribbons sandwich. Cucumber pickles and the first out of a gifted jar of stuffed sweet peppers. They are stuffed with cabbage, which frankly didn't sound that good, but are interestingly good in a sweet and sour way.

HC

[shain]

Cold soba noodles with soft tofu, cucumber, scallion. Sauce of light miso, soy sauce, sesame paste, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, sesame seeds.

Edited August 5, 2016 by shain (log)

[blue_dolphin]

@shain, what a perfect meal for a hot summer day - I feel cooler just looking at it!

[blue_dolphin]

Lunch out with a friend yesterday.  I had a panino with grilled salmon, pesto, grilled zucchini ribbons and caramelized onion on focaccia.  It was really good. Sorry the blurry phone photo doesn't do it justice.  

 

Limoncello gelato for dessert.  They make their own.

          

 

The restaurant is primarily an Italian pastry shop and their pastries are both beautiful and delicious. It is owned by 2 brothers from Tuscany, one of whom recently went to the final round on the "Next Food Network Star" or whatever that silly show is called.  I didn't know that until after lunch, which is probably a good thing.  In any case,  I felt very noble for limiting myself to the gelato but I should at least have taken some photos of the pastry case to share with you.  Next time. 

[HungryChris]

I took the leftover tomato,  cucumber and onion salad and turned it into a kind of gazpacho with the immersion blender. Added a little sour cream. Quite refreshing. Had it with a little stuffed sweet pepper.

HC

Edited August 8, 2016 by HungryChris
sp (log)

[BonVivant]

Got a few things at the market for lunch and dinner. I love smoked things so standing in front of these kind of stalls is always agonising. I had some hard choices to make here.

 

How much fat can I eat today...? Hmmm...

 

 

The same salmon belly on the plate. All these smoked things smell so instense.

 

 

The sprats (next to the salmon) are also nice.

 

Stallholders make their own gherkins and guard the recipes closely. My acquaintances say customers have their own favourite gherkin makers and are loyal to them.

 

Gratuious photos of beautiful Tallinn (unfortunately, it is extremely extremely touristy).

 

Almost like the printed photo...

 

 

Being there! I mean here. There are more towers around the old town along the wall but these are most photographed ones.

 

Edited August 5, 2016 by BonVivant (log)

[BonVivant]

Black rye bread with butter was my lunch. Plus a beer and sea buckthorn berries.

 

Found the bakery, got the bread and hurried back to eat it whilst still warm. Bakery also has beer made for them (I didn't know that!). Each loaf weighs about 850gr. According to Estonians this bakery's black bread is held in high honour.

 

 

Hard to find the bakery but I did find it! There's a simple counter where one can get the bread and beer to go.

 

 

 

[cakewalk]

Bread and beer to go. I like that. What was the texture like? Can you show a photo of the crumb? They look like they might have been made in a Pullman loaf pan. And the taste? (I don't suppose you could ask them for their recipe. But wouldn't that be nice?)

[BonVivant]

Has a fine crumb, very chewy, a bit airy, just a bit sweet, moist but not sticky. Seeds I can identify are lin, poppy, coriander and sunflower kernels. I like the crusty top quite a bit.

 

The bread is served with every savoury meal in this country. (Apparently,) if you accidentally drop it on the floor, you pick it up, kiss with with respect and eat it! Memories of years of living in destitution still remain so vividly in the mind.

 

Didn't occur to me to ask for the recipe. Seems like the kind of place where you order, pay and bugger off. They go straight back to work.

 

 

[rotuts]

@BonVivant  

 

are those wheat or rye 'berries'  i.e. kernels in the bread ?

 

a favorite of mine.  very hard to find around here.

[kayb]

 

Potato skins, one of my favorites (albeit a blurry photo), from the CSO. Details on CSO thread.

 

[shain]

Another summer dish to suit the weather - Caprese pasta salad with fresh mozzarella; basil leaves, some of which pounded thin to better disperse the flavor; olive oil, toasted pine nuts and cherry tomatoes.

[HungryChris]

It's hard to resist calling these "sandal pizzas", as I can almost imagine that mushroom on the upper right as a big toe, but they are cubanelle pepper, mushroom and onion, French bread pizzas.

HC

[blue_dolphin]

Shrimp roll on a toasted split-top King's Hawaiian roll:

Could have gone a little lighter on the mayo-lemon juice dressing but I'm not complaining about the result!

[liuzhou]

Lunch was a reprise of last night's dinner. Leftovers.

Spicy, garlicky cranberry beans w/ chicken leg. Served with buttered home made bread.

 

[Anna N]

 

I have made many, many kimchi pancakes but this is the first one I have managed to completely mutilate. Still tasted fine. 

[kayb]

Tomato, cottage cheese, two kinds of pickles, baked figs with blue cheese. Fueled for the rest of the day now!

[blue_dolphin]

4 minutes ago, kayb said:

baked figs with blue cheese

 

Ahhh, figs and blue cheese - a match made in heaven!  

[liamsaunt]

Big salad

 

[FrogPrincesse]

Thanks to @Thanks for the Crepes who posted a link to a collection of recipes, and frequent mentions by @shain, here is a Shakshuka with red peppers and cumin (Yotam Ottolenghi), with a little organic yoghurt on the side.

 

 

 

I had two red bell peppers from my CSA that I needed to use, so this was good timing. Everything else was basic pantry items.

The dish itself is pretty good, but honestly now I have a serious craving for piperade which I find I little more interesting (of course I am biased... I grew up with that stuff).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 8, 2016 by FrogPrincesse
fixed typo (log)

[shain]

@FrogPrincesse Looks very tasty! Though I always prefer tahini sauce over yogurt as a topping for it. I've never heard of piperade before, do you add eggs/meat to it? Google left me with no clear answer.

[liamsaunt]

Sandwich with the pickled eggplant from the "what are you preserving" thread, tomatoes, greens, and provolone cheese.

 

[FrogPrincesse]

2 hours ago, shain said:

@FrogPrincesse Looks very tasty! Though I always prefer tahini sauce over yogurt as a topping for it. I've never heard of piperade before, do you add eggs/meat to it? Google left me with no clear answer.

Piperade is a dish from the Basque region of France, near Spain. It's bell peppers, onions, garlic, tomatoes, and piment d'espelette (a chili pepper from that region), slowly cooked. The bell peppers are cut into strips rather than diced. It's usually served with eggs or ham. And then leftovers are wonderful reheated or cold; I think it actually tastes better the next day.