Lunch! What'd ya have? (Late 2016–Early 2017)

[shain]

@Anna N Thank you!
I guess middle eastern cuisine yields itself pretty well to vegetarian cooking. But a vegetarian has to notice he's getting some protein, so it's a good thing I'm a bean-head 

Edited December 23, 2016 by shain (log)

[Anna N]

5 minutes ago, shain said:

@Anna N Thank you!
I guess middle eastern cuisine yields itself pretty well to vegetarian cooking. But a vegetarian has to notice his getting some protein, so it's a good thing I'm a bean-head 

Damn!   I just knew you couldn't be perfect. 

[liuzhou]

Lunch today was a pre-Christmas tradition. My beautiful, dearest, best friend and I always have Christmas Eve lunch together. Today was special as, for the first time, we were accompanied by one other. Her seven-year old son. After a long and bitter custody battle with her idiotic, ex-husband she now has regular weekend visitation rights (after not seeing him at all for over a year). Anyway let's not dwell on that. The boy clearly loves her and I have always known she loves him.

We went for a walk to places kids like to walk, then on to a restaurant for lunch. This place was called 秋香 - qiū xiāng which means Autumn Flavour. It is a type of restaurant which is pretty popular in China. You are seated then presented with a menu and a pencil. Then you tick what you fancy.

 

 

We chose:

 

秋香螺蛳土鸡 - qiū xiāng luó shī tǔ jī

 

This is very much a local dish. Go to the next city and they won't know what you are talking about. It translates as "Autumn Flavour Snail (and) Organic Chicken". Here, "Autumn Flavour" is referring to the restaurant name and to contents of the dish. It is the snails and chicken braised in a spicy soup containing garlic, chestnuts, peanuts, purple perilla, dried bamboo shoot* and fresh Sichuan Peppers. Normally it would have chillies too, but we scaled them back because of the kid, who doesn't appreciate them as much as we do.

 

*Dried bamboo shoot is another local favourite and is almost always served with any snail dishes.

 

Fresh SIchuan Peppercorns (retrieved from the snail and chicken dish)

清蒸排骨 - qīng zhēng pái gú

 

"Plain Steamed (Pork) Ribs" These came, as you can see, with taro and peanuts (also steamed) and a couple of lonely shiitake mushrooms. This was kind of bland for me but friend and son liked a lot.

 

板栗炒白菜 - bǎn lì chǎo bái cài

 

"Chestnut Fried Cabbage". Either an ordering mistake or an over-enthusiasm for chestnuts. I am going for the latter. (Actually, we didn't know there would be chestnuts in the chicken dish - they weren't mentioned.

This was served with rice which had unfortunately been mixed with corn. I hate corn with a vengeance, but friend and son love it, so they were happy. I went riceless, but was happy anyway.

Happy Whatever You Celebrate!

 

Edited December 24, 2016 by liuzhou
typo (log)

[HungryChris]

These cell phone pics are not the greatest, but they tell the story. A few years ago, Deb was forced to find a new job and chose to go with a low pressure position at a truck sales and service shop. Quite the contrast from being on conference calls with foreign countries at all hours of the day and night! She has grown increasingly pleased with her decision. The first Christmas there, the Christmas luncheon consisted of Chinese take-out, no beverages, plastic utensils and most of the guys just left without partaking. Deb was horrified with the situation and took the liberty of volunteering my services for the following year. So, last year I made a big antipasto, sausage and peppers, baked ziti, smoked salmon and cold cuts. It made a big difference and it was actually fun to do, especially when I saw how well it was received by the guys. Yesterday was the second one and, once again, we had fun. One of the guys deep fried a 20 lb turkey out back to add to the feast. This year, I added potato salad, cole slaw, deviled eggs, a smoked salmon spread rolled in fresh dill, some marinated mushrooms, pickles, shredded lettuce and sliced tomatoes for the sandwich makers in the group, to the mix.
First, let me set the stage. It all takes place in one of the garage bays.

Smoked wild caught Sockeye Salmon.

It was great to see the guys dig in

 

HC

Edited December 25, 2016 by HungryChris (log)

[Smithy]

What a great story, @HungryChris - how nice to see the holiday spirit brought into the work place!

 

@liuzhou, I've never seen peppercorns so fresh that they were still on the branch.  Thanks especially for that photo, and for the happy story.

[kayb]

@HungryChris, that's just wonderful. We've had Christmas dinners in some pretty unlikely places over the years, and they're always fun. One place I worked, the boss was a Texan and quite skilled at the preparation of brisket. He cooked brisket and we all brought side dishes. Much fun!

 

[Anna N]

 

  Thinly sliced duck breast on homemade bread with a side of gherkins. 

[kayb]

OK, so I didn't get any photos of Christmas (Eve Eve) dinner, but here's a pic of Christmas lunch from leftovers.

 

 

Cranberry salad, potato salad, two slider sandwiches on leftover rolls (one ham, one turkey, both with Swiss, the ham with Dijon, the turkey with curry spread), a handful of olives.

 

As I took a late afternoon nap and woke up at 5 minutes to six, I missed Christmas Eve 6 p.m. service, so I went ahead and fixed myself more leftovers for dinner -- a slice of cheesecake and a wee dram of eggnog.

 

[rotuts]

@kayb  

 

Id like to hear more on the cranberry salad

 

thanks

[kayb]

@rotuts

 

It's a traditional dish that's been on every Thanksgiving and Christmas menu as long as I can remember.

 

1 12-oz bag of cranberries, washed and picked over

1 green apple (I use Granny Smith)

1 red apple (I use Fiji)

1/2 to 1 cup pecans, roughly chopped (depending how much you like pecans; I use a cup)

1 orange

1 small box raspberry jello

1 to 2 cups sugar (I use about 1 1/2) (depends on whether you tend more toward tart or sweet flavors)

1 cup water

 

Grind the cranberries and apples roughly in the food processor or some sort of grinder. Add the chopped nuts. Zest the orange and add that, then peel and puree the sections and add that. Make a simple syrup of the sugar and water, remove from heat, and whisk in the jello. Pour over the fruit and toss to mix thoroughly.

 

This is NOT a congealed salad. The jello and simple syrup make a sort of syrupy dressing for it. I don't make it as sweet as my mother did; she used the full two cups of sugar. 

[scubadoo97]

Spent a couple hours making potato latkes. 5 lbs of russets.   Hand grated on a box grater.  I like the thinner shards compared to the food pro disk 

 

Edited December 25, 2016 by scubadoo97 (log)

[HungryChris]

We had Christmas Dinner yesterday. Running around today with last minute gift deliveries, I noticed my favorite sushi place was up and running. Christmas Lunch today. Merry Christmas!

HC

[BonVivant]

Hungary excels at all things meat (and fat) but fails at making cheese.

 

Mildly spicy Mangalica sausage.

 

Smoked goose breast. Have Hungarian goose breasts in the freezer and am going to make this when I get home. Have made something similar using duck breast.

 

Edited December 26, 2016 by BonVivant (log)

[liuzhou]

Made me some baked beans.

 

 

I couldn't find anything close to haricot beans which is what I wanted,and these were the only white beans around. They were labelled as white kidney beans, but the store I found them is notorious for never really knowing what anything is.

 

Whatever, I soaked then overnight then boiled them with some Chinese cured bacon until the beans were soft.

 

Then I made a tomato sauce with with one can Italian plum tomatoes and one of Italian cherry toms. This also had onion and anchovy and was simmered in the slow cooker with S+P and some chilli flakes for 8 hours. It is umami rich. 

 

The beans and tom sauce were mixed and whopped into the oven for another hour. Most are now in the freezer (I started with half a kilo of dried beans) but a few made their way onto my plate for lunch. Served with home made bread and butter.

 

[HungryChris]

Bruschetta

HC

[Captain]

I thought I would share our Xmas lunch with you all.

Everything made by me including the smoked ham except for a couple of bread loafs.

Thanks for looking.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

@Captain Very nice! You had some very lucky guests.

[chromedome]

5 hours ago, Captain said:

I thought I would share our Xmas lunch with you all.

 

 

5 hours ago, Captain said:

Everything made by me including the smoked ham except for a couple of bread loafs. 

Very nice. Should hold you until dinner.

[Shelby]

10 hours ago, Captain said:

I thought I would share our Xmas lunch with you all.

Everything made by me including the smoked ham except for a couple of bread loafs.

Thanks for looking.

I don't think you made enough food lol!

 

Beautiful spread!  

[kayb]

@Captain -- I would have been pleased to be a guest at your table! That looks marvelous!

 

[HungryChris]

Another Christmas ham croque monsieur.

There will be more ham to come. Some will go into the freezer for future use. I sliced up some for more sandwiches.

But, I have to admit, I am pretty pumped about the near future.

HC

[Anna N]

 

 Turkey soup ( which developed quite nicely in the quiet darkness of the refrigerator) and  Gruyere Toasties.

[BonVivant]

In Tokaj now (since yesterday, actually). Here it's all about (sweet) white wines and freshwater fish.

 

Menu says "fish craklings", it's actually small bits of deep fried fish. Still nice.

 

I'm in Tokaj so of course I drink Tokaj wine with e.ve.ry.thing. (pronounced "toh-quois", as in (francois" but WITHOUT the "S")

 

Nice fish soup

 

Even nicer fish soup. This one has soured cream and different kinds of freshwater fish.

 

My train to Tokaj. Old but on schedule, not to mention cheap.

 

A lovely little town. It's low season here and there's hardly anyone or car on the street. Such a staggering difference having just arrived from busy, noisy, touristy Budapest. Sign indicates a wine tasting cellar or place is nearby. Actually, there are many wine tasting places.

[kayb]

@BonVivant, I do so enjoy your food travelogues!

 

 

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

8 hours ago, BonVivant said:

Nice fish soup

 

Even nicer fish soup. This one has soured cream and different kinds of freshwater fish.

 

BonVivant, I also adore your trip reports, but especially like the little metal old-fashioned buckets your two fish soups are served in. I infer these are common serving dishes in the area you are in? I used to milk a cow into a larger similar version many, many years back.