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

[scubadoo97]

Got my $27 out of those two birds.  The heart were cooked longer in the remaining sauce until tender and over 1/2 gal of stock just went into the freezer.  2 leg quarters are on the smoker at the moment.  These were so good the other day it demanded a repeat.  

[liuzhou]

4 hours ago, Norm Matthews said:

My lunch today was fish chowder. It will probably be dinner too.

My kind of lunch! What fish did you use?. It is very white.

[Norm Matthews]

I used cod.  

[liuzhou]

 

Eight lovely oysters au naturel (except for a bit of lemon.) ¥16 CNY for the 8 ($2.23 USD / £1.82 GBP). My mouth tastes of the sea. Happiness.

Edited September 19, 2016 by liuzhou (log)

[BonVivant]

After a 6hr flight from Reykjavik...  

Time difference from Iceland: 4hrs, and from my home time zone: 6hrs.

 

I really needed something green after 5 days in Reykjavik. "Cobblestone salad" has grilled flat iron steak, crisp bacon, avocado, blue cheese, stout dressing etc. I forgot about the dressing... I'm like a rabbit when it comes to salads, unless I'm in Thailand or Vietnam.

 

Descriptions on menu: Montreal smoked meat, beer mustard aioli, Swiss cheese, marbled rye. The "Montreal smoked meat" doesn't look like the kind I've seen in pics on the webs (Schwartz's to be precise). Also, I ordered this one because other things were burgers. (I used to think, as a teenager, I could forever live on burgers, ketchup flavoured crisps, fried chicken, pizzas, fried potatoes etc!)

 

 

My plane has a turboprop engine! Bombardier Q400.

 

This was yesterday. I'm actually in Quebec City now. Toronto airport has no AC which made me feel unwell being sensitive to heat (or changes in temperatures, noise, people's presence and so on). Quebec City was also 24C yesterday. It's hard to be outside my "bubble"!

 

Edited September 19, 2016 by BonVivant (log)

[liamsaunt]

Tomato, rice and spinach soup

 

 

 

[BonVivant]

Lunch at Phil's smoked meat. The fat kind of smoked meat was ordered. We found the amounts of meat traumatising. It's quite messy to eat with the hands. The gherkin is salty but not sour, is this the style here? Gherkins are usually more sour than salty.

 

 

All round the edges there were smoked bacon stripes.

 

This micro brewpub is far away from the centre so it's not on my list to visit. I shall check out more of their stuff from the bottle shops.

 

Ate lunch at round 2pm and since it was so much we couldn't eat any real dinner later.

 

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

Brought my oyster knife...

 

Found out my lodging had only bread and hard boiled eggs for breakfast so I went straight to 2 supermarkets to find marmite/bovril but found it in this form.

 

 

[Anna N]

 

Kimchi fried rice. I got carried away with the gochujang.  Wish I had a little more rice to tame the flame!   But I ate it anyway and I reckon my sinuses will remain clear until the end of February 2017.  

[BonVivant]

I must fight this jet lag. It's 2 in the morning back home.

It's pub lunch today and for once I don't do the assembling. My travel companion says I should be the pub's styling and photography consultant (My companion refers to the tartare I usually make at home)

 

Tartare without onions/shallots, capers and gherkins but with green onions. It was edible . Coincidentally, I had 6 beers to remove the green onion taste.

 

Forgot to ask what kind of fish it was. Both pieces were the loin of some white fish and had no fresh water fish taste.

[HungryChris]

Lunch in Fiesole. Of course I had to try the bruschetta, which was slightly better than  just ok. The warm white beans with olive oil, salt and pepper can be quite elegant, which this was. Deb had pecorino and pear stuffed tortelloni, and loved it.

HC

Edited September 28, 2016 by HungryChris (log)

[suzilightning]

Getting ready to head out for a bit of hawkwatching today so a bunch of small stuff to eat throughout the day:

chicken salad with cranberries, pecans and green onions

tomato and ricotta salata salad

bread and butter

hard boiled eggs

various bars - some gluten free for John; some with fruit for me

watermelon and some wine grapes

and the MOST important thing for attracting broadwing hawks    CHOCOLATE

 

oh and plenty of water

 

[HungryChris]

We got three day, unlimited ride bus tickets and headed off to the San Lorenzo market, famous for leather goods among other things. I just get the feeling that the quality is not what it once may have been. Deb made a few small purchases. We returned to The Central Market simply because I can't get enough of it.

Here are some pics o the San Lorenzo Market.

 

Here are some from Central Market. Keep in mind, these are just some of the meat. There is also produce, fish, cheese, fungi, wine, olive oil and everything in between,

 

Finally, to get back onto the topic of lunch, we both spotted Trattoria Za Za at about the same time. We had both read about it somewhere and decided to give it a try,

The two story building on the right is Central Market. The second floor is a giant food court, San Lorenzo Market fills the street on three sides of Central Market.

 

 

It was a beautiful day so we chose to sit outside. Deb had spaghetti with fresh clams, which she proclaimed to be excellent.

 

I had Spaghetti with zucchini blossoms, sliced zucchini, black truffles and shrimp. Somehow I had not seen the word for shrimp on the menu, so they were a surprise. It was a very delicious dish, but I could not really taste the truffles. If I had access to truffles, I would leave out the shrimp.

 

The zucchini blossoms combined with the flavor in a surprisingly good way. Something I will have to try at home.

HC

 

Edited September 21, 2016 by HungryChris (log)

[robirdstx]

A Granny Smith Apple, Sharp Cheddar and a glass of Pinot Gris. Cheers!

 

 

[Anna N]

 

 In the photogenic sweepstakes Indian food rarely places in the top three! I've always thought that food stylists who work with Indian dishes deserve medals.  But that doesn't mean it's not tasty! Leftovers from yesterday's lunch at the Himalya restaurant supplemented with some tomato chutney. 

[Tere]

No photos as I inhaled it!

 

Sandwich made from breadmaker multigrain bread, waterbath 60 degree chicken breast, mayo, butter and a generous slather of my home made jack in the hedge pesto. With a side of home pickled cornichons.

[HungryChris]

We tried another hole-in-the-wall lunch place we have read about for our last lunch in Florence today. All' antica Vinaio. They serve a variety of sandwiches, all on fresh baked focaccia. There is no seating, so all the dry curbs nearby are prime. The sandwiches are huge, all cost 5 Euro and as you stand in line, fresh, hot focaccia bread is delivered from someplace nearby and stacked on the counter from where the sandwich makers are continually grabbing it. It is an impressive operation, a genius idea, a raging success and if our "La Summer" sandwich (fresh warm focaccia, prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, fresh tomatoes and fresh basil) is any indication, deserves all the attention. Check out the porchettas stacked up in the cooler. You can see the loaves of focaccia on the counter that are replaced with fresh baked, hot ones as fast as they disappear.

HC

 

 

Edited September 22, 2016 by HungryChris (log)

[scubadoo97]

Lunch was a few slices of toasted bread spread with the Chef Steps chicken liver pate.  

[blue_dolphin]

17 minutes ago, scubadoo97 said:

Lunch was a few slices of toasted bread spread with the Chef Steps chicken liver pate.  

Sounds like an excellent lunch -  I would have to add some cornichons.....and, ideally, champagne  but I realize it is mid-week!

That said, I appreciate your mention of this recipe.  Do you follow it as written or make modifications with the spices or the use of a fine sieve at the end?  I have not tried making liver pate but would like to give it go.

[Tere]

@HungryChris I cannot like that enough. 

 

Loved Venice (although very cold) 2 years aqo for our New Year's break. Debating the same in another part of Italy this year. We shall see!

[scubadoo97]

I followed it but my livers were from the fridge after cleaning and my clarified butter turned in to mini cubes. I also got a butter cap on the ramikins after 90 min cooking but followed the recipe per ingredients.  Still very tasty

 

next time I'll process  the livers longer before adding the clarified butter

 

edited to add I did process it in a VitaMix

Edited September 22, 2016 by scubadoo97 (log)

[blue_dolphin]

Thanks, @scubadoo97! I have a Blendtec, so I should be able to approximate that.

[liuzhou]

It may seem an odd combination, but it's what I wanted and I have no one else to please, so...

 

 

This was sold to me as sashimi salmon and came with a tiny bottle of soy sauce and some fake wasabi. Instead of using them, I dressed it with lemon juice, black pepper and local sea salt.

 

This was followed by

 

 

Lentil soup (chicken stock I made last week and froze, onion, garlic, red lentils, chili flakes, a hint of cumin, and lemon juice), Home made bread.

Edited September 23, 2016 by liuzhou (log)

[chefmd]

Potato salad with pickles, capers, red pepper.

I am by myself this weekend so eating it straight from the mixing bowl!

[Anna N]

 

A purchased naan which fails miserably as naan but sort of works as a "pizza crust".  Topping is homemade tomato sauce, sautéed red onions and mozzarella cheese.  

[kayb]

 

Had to make a quick, unexpected trip to Little Rock today with Child C to take the grandchild to the doctor for his ears. We celebrated good news by stopping at one of our favorite stops, a small-town diner that serves the best barbecued chicken I've ever had. Chicken is smoked, then pulled/chopped and served with a peppery, barely sweet sauce on the side. A decent, if unremarkable, mayo-based slaw and beans that would have been good were it not for the presence of bell peppers. And a piece of lemon icebox pie (not shown) for dessert. I may not eat for a week.