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

[HungryChris]

I was haunted by how good the sushi was a few days ago, I had to go back for more.

HC

[Katie Meadow]

We had catfish pie for lunch. If you have been keeping up with your breakfast thread you know that catfish pie has no catfish in it. We had leftover yams with butter and salt and the small remains of curried cauliflower, cleverly scrambled into eggs. Dispatched the two carrots and one lonely apple as sides and the fridge looks pretty sparse. Berkeley Bowl, usually our major shopping expedition now carries a yam called "Red Diane." It is better, at least to me, than Garnet, Jewel or Beauregard yams. (Not true yams of course, but the orangey more squashily varieties of sweet potatoes.) Anyway, if you come across Red Dianes don't hesitate. Just as good the second day reheated.

[liuzhou]

 

Pork liver paté (home made) on toast (home made bread), cornichons and pickled Chinese onion (Allium chinense) . More than one round was consumed, of course.

[blue_dolphin]

15 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

Pork liver paté (home made) on toast (home made bread), cornichons and pickled Chinese onion (Allium chinense) . More than one round was consumed, of course.

Yum!  I'd say that calls for a round or two of something bubbly to wash it down 

[liuzhou]

Just now, blue_dolphin said:

Yum!  I'd say that calls for a round or two of something bubbly to wash it down 

 

It did, but it was beer that did the job. Beer is bubbly, too!

[suzilightning]

two ripe forelle pears one with Bayley Hazen blue cheese and the other with the last of the Finlandia sweet lemon cheese whipped with some lemon curd.

about an hour later a small salad.

[HungryChris]

Corned beef tongue Reuben on a single slice of Italian bread from Aldi. I was reluctant to buy it, as it is a 2 lb loaf, but it comes back to life very well from the freezer.

HC

Edited December 17, 2016 by HungryChris (log)

[scubadoo97]

Grouper sandwich from a roadside fish market.  They have a trailer out front where they do the cooking 

[scubadoo97]

First time at this little place.  The grouper was definitely fresh.  You order at the fish counter then walk out onto their deck which is adjacent to the trailer.  No tip line on the credit card receipt.  Nice portion and grilled perfectly.   Exceeded my expectations.  I'll be back 

[chefmd]

Rockfish so fresh it did not even smell like the sea.  Love Maryland fish!  Roasted carrots, mostly the purple ones from Trader Joe.

 

[shain]

Leftover mashed potatoes, pan fried in a little butter. Chopped salad with tahini sauce.
Also some fresh cheese (fromage blanc).

[rotuts]

@chefmd

 

 

just to review :

 

 

so  it was more like Fresh East River Water ?

 

lucky you.

 

for a while I lived on Long Island.  from time to time a neighbor a few houses down , had a boat on a dock at the end of his back yard .

 

he invited me fishing from tie to time.  is was an inlet that lead to Port Jefferson.

 

we trolled for blue fish.  

 

a fish I never enjoyed   even from the local fish monger  that got their fish daily  from the Fulton Fish Market.

 

But i took home a few , filet'd them right there

 

( a cat at the time  Blackie  was very interested.  he tried to haul away the largest one of the lot.  growled etc  

 

( Unlike him )  but the fish weighted 4 times his body weight  no matter   both cats had blue Fish Sushi that evening.

 

this was a remarkable fish grilled.  it had no relationship at all to blue fish even at the finest market

 

it seems the oil in oily fish decomposes very very rapidly no mater what you do.

 

so Good For You

 

you can't imagine how I miss the fresh fish at Cook's Seafood in MenloPark CA

 

esp the salmon.

[Anna N]

 

Nothing says "Christmas" to me like a couple of open face sandwiches (one pickled herring and one beef) washed down with a glass (or two) of akvavit (followed by a very long nap).  

[BonVivant]

I am basking under a fat halo as we speak. Goose fat that is. But the pigs rule here in Hungary.

 

Where I live a Hungarian stall at the market has this brawn (and other Hungarian smoked meats which I get regularly) but it's still nice to eat it whilst in Budapest. There's also a version with blood. Gonna try that next.

 

It's no Germany but this bread is very decent.

 

Headed to the christmas market straight away after lunch just for this pastry. Christmas markets are one of those "special kind of hell" places for a highly sensitive person but it's the place to eat chimney pastry from different stalls right now.

 

Had it in Prague in 2005, also at the christmas market. The rig and operation back then was more primitive. I prefer that, actually.

 

Everywhere you look you see people eat this. "Chimney" pastry is an extremely popular Hungarian snack. It's fun to unroll the dough as you eat. There are several kinds of coatings to choose from. Mine is vanilla.

 

I'm going to be here for a little while.

 

Staying in a flat owned by author of the "food wine Budapest" book in this photo.

 

Kitchen is good for boiling water, me thinks.

 

I arranged in advance to have a bottle of Hungarian wine for my night arrival (2 IPAs came with me from home). The wine is rather nice, and is one of the reasons I'm here for.

 

 

[Anna N]

 

 The remarkable thing, might I say miraculous, about this dish is not the basmati rice which was cooked in the Instant Pot using the bowl and bowl method, nor the beef which was re-heated in a sauce made using a jarred curry paste but the parsley which is still alive and green and vibrant. I have never before been able to keep cut parsley more than a few days before it turned yellow and quite gross. This parsley was purchased on December 8.  I did not wash it. I trimmed its stems, stuck it into an inch of water in a jar, covered it with a plastic bag and put it into the refrigerator. I change the water every few days and wash the parsley before use.   I am sure I have tried this method before and it never worked. Is it the parsley? Is it the temperature of my refrigerator (38° F)? I have no idea. 

[BonVivant]

Mostly liquid today. Some marvelous Hungarian wines from small producers only. Most Hungarians outside of these wine-producing villages don't even get to drink this stuff. One of the reasons is that wines are a regional thing here and they cost a bit more than the average Hungarian wine drinkers would want to pay. It's nice to stay in a flat owned by a connoisseur of good wines!

 

Hungarian proverb in photo: "in wine there is happiness". This satisfies my inner bon vivant.

 

 

Everything on this faux chopping board is from small producers across Hungary. The wine connoisseur is almost as meticulous as I am. Also good sourdough and nutty breads alongside.

 

 

All of this is delicious. My favourites are the goose cracklings, smoked goose breast, and blue cheese.

Edited December 18, 2016 by BonVivant (log)

[Anna N]

 

As John Denver sang, "Some days are diamonds /Some days are stone". The baked potato I had for dinner last night was a diamond. This not so much. I microwaved the potato for five minutes before putting it in the oven to finish cooking. That was my first mistake. My second mistake was thinking that canned salmon would work as a filling. It didn't. Oh well.

 

[Anna N]

 

Pickled herring, Cambozola and Taffel akvavit from the freezer poured, as it should be, 'til the meniscus mounds. 

[robirdstx]

 

Turkey and Swiss on a Biscuit

[BonVivant]

Did you know... Hungary has a species of pigs that almost became extinct only a couple of decades or so ago (under communism)? It's the Mangalica pigs (pronounced "MangaLITSA). It has a thick coat of blond fur and its fat is much loved by Hungarians. Some producers send the legs to Spain to cure in the style of Jamón Serrano and they then get shipped back to Hungary. I've looked everywhere and found exactly 2 market stalls that have the elusive Jamón for sale. I've been eating anything Mangalica since my arrival.

 

3 kinds of Mangalica products on this plate.

 

New bread and cheeses. Not impressed with Hungarian cheese so far, but their fats and meats make up for it.

 

All certified sellers of Mangalica products display such a sign.

 

Finally! Not as spectacular as the Spanish version but it's a good start.

 

Hungarians are amazed I have done thorough research on their foods and beloved pigs. See the rising respect in their eyes when I eat a sample of pure fat. Most tourists are afraid of fat, but not me. There are 2 kinds of Mangalica fat (smoked and salted) which one slices thinly and puts on bread. I bought a small chunk of each to take home. The markets here are so mesmerising, especially the butchers and smoked-cured meat specialists. Hungarians really really love their meats and fats. It's beautiful here and of course you can still have a good time without eating (massive amounts of) meat and fat but remember that those meats and fats are something which cannot be separated from the culture and history of Hungary.

 

This is the salted kind. I mean, just look at the thickness of the fat!

 

I have finally tried this typical Hungarian snack called Langos. Deep fried flatbread with cheese. It's sold everywhere, always made to order.

 

Dough is crispy and airy. I could do without the inferior cheese.

[HungryChris]

On 12/20/2016 at 7:55 PM, Anna N said:

Pickled herring, Cambozola and Taffel akvavit from the freezer poured, as it should be, 'til the meniscus mounds. 

Funny, I used to work in a medicinal chemistry research lab and just yesterday as I was using a measuring cup, to make brownies, I was thinking about how seldom meniscus enters my vocabulary these days. Glad to see it used in such a constructive fashion.

HC

[Ashen]

On 17/12/2016 at 4:34 PM, BonVivant said:

 

 

 

Headed to the christmas market straight away after lunch just for this pastry. Christmas markets are one of those "special kind of hell" places for a highly sensitive person but it's the place to eat chimney pastry from different stalls right now.

 

 

Had it in Prague in 2005, also at the christmas market. The rig and operation back then was more primitive. I prefer that, actually.

 

Everywhere you look you see people eat this. "Chimney" pastry is an extremely popular Hungarian snack. It's fun to unroll the dough as you eat. There are several kinds of coatings to choose from. Mine is vanilla.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you were in Toronto, you could have had a chimney cone at Union Station  .  Using the pastry as an Ice Cream cone has apparently become a fairly widespread thing, but I think this summer was the first time there was a stand selling it in TO.

[shain]

Two recent lunches:

 

Green cowpeas, slow cooked with tomatoes, onion and garlic. Flavored with chili, cumin. Served over bulgur wheat and topped with tahini sauce, chopped onion and pickles.

 

Rice pilaf with onion, fennel, parsley, dill, anise seeds, coriander, raisins, peas.

[scubadoo97]

This will be a lunch option when the kids and SO's come over for the holidays

 

A sirloin tip roast cleaned of all tendons and sinew then cooked SV 132f for 8 hrs and chilled.  

 

Coated in in browning powder and quickly seared then sliced 

 

[Anna N]

@shain

 

Don't know how you manage to make meatless meals look so good!  (Apart from a few things and you know what they are.)