Lunch! What'd ya have? (2017)

[Anna N]

,

What I wanted for breakfast!  But I am not in the least bit rigid about these sorts of things and it worked just as well for lunch.

Edited May 7, 2017 by Anna N (log)

[BonVivant]

I almost never eat my precious asparagus with a thick sauce. This one has cream and grated Tuscan cheese in it. Crisp-fried Tyrolean Speck on top. Ate with sourdough bread I brought back from Germany yesterday. Would add a slug of Riesling to the creamy sauce next time.

 

 

Last week...

 

Boiled prawns.

 

Prawns in cream on bread. Red thing in background is salmon roe soaked in beetroot water.

 

Asparagus in cream, hot smoked salmon belly and potatoes fried in Mangalitsa fat.

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

7 hours ago, BonVivant said:

I almost never eat my precious asparagus with a thick sauce. This one has cream and grated Tuscan cheese in it. Crisp-fried Tyrolean Speck on top. Ate with sourdough bread I brought back from Germany yesterday. Would add a slug of Riesling to the creamy sauce next time.

 

Very nice!

 

I make crepes filled with ham and a thick mornay sauce and it is the small amount of Chardonnay that I add to the sauce that really makes the dish. Reisling will do this trick too, I'd think.

[Okanagancook]

Tacos, pork but covered with spicy arugula  from the garden:  

[BeeZee]

Sushi burrito at Whole Foods (King California roll, surimi/avo/tempura crunch/mango). Thinking that if Japanese people were horrified by the size of rolls served at American sushi joints, this would really make them twitch. But I guess it isn't much different than a hand roll.

[Anna N]

 

 From the freezer:  more leftover Chinese takeout.   And for those who don't see any vegetables on the plate rest assured that the eggroll is vegetarian. 

[Okanagancook]

Made a curry lunch for those helping us bottle our wine from 2016.  Tandoor Chicken, stir fried veggies; rice pilau, paneer & peas, dahl, chapatis (no shown) and cucumber riata.

[Anna N]

39 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

Made a curry lunch for those helping us bottle our wine from 2016.  Tandoor Chicken, stir fried veggies; rice pilau, paneer & peas, dahl, chapatis (no shown) and cucumber riata.

  Food looks amazing but my eyes are drawn to the La Chamba!

[Okanagancook]

Thanks AnnaN, these are truly amazing pots.  I use them at any excuse plus when they are done on the stove top, they make it to the table looking pretty spiffy!

These are my three I have plus an other little one.

 

The stir fry veggie:  Usually I cook them from fresh but I knew I would be pressed for time finishing everything at the last minute so I decided to blanch all the veggies the day before in well salted water as per "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat" which left the veggies a nice vibrant colour.  I fried the spices and then added the veggies to reheat.  This worked really well.  I remember ready Roubochon and he says he always blanches his vegetables before cooking. 

Edited May 10, 2017 by Okanagancook (log)

[Anna N]

 

 I added some of the tomatoes (which had been roasted with harissa) and appeared in my breakfast this morning. So it was a twofer. 

 

[robirdstx]

 

BTO on Honey Wheat with Mayo and Black Pepper

[Constantin Peters]

trying to cut down on carbs

 

pork neck on braised fennel and green beans

[Constantin Peters]

[robirdstx]

 

[Anna N]

 

Twice in my life I have come across sub par celery.  The first time was some organic celery sticks from Whole Foods which were completely inedible. And this was the second time. I should have backed off when I noted that the celery at the supermarket had been trimmed to within an inch of its life.   Almost all leaves had been removed.   Sure enough when I got it home it had brown patches here, there and everywhere.  I probably should have just taken it back but that's not so easy to do when you don't have a car!   And so I pushed on against my better judgement.   And then failed to use my judgement at all when I chose a recipe that really required celery in peak condition since there wasn't much to hide behind.   Celery, onion and some chicken stock form the basis of the soup.  

 

Having just spoken about Thomas Keller in another topic I felt I needed to strain the soup.  I call it Kellering -  taking that extra step.  However nothing could save this soup.   It was edible but that is about it. Shame really.  I was going off a recipe in Six Seasons.   The garnish was interesting: raisins, walnuts, celery seed and the few leaves I did manage to find in the centre of this pathetic bunch of celery, all moistened with a little olive oil. 

 

 Although the meal was nothing to write home about the experience was definitely worth the effort. The moral of the story:  a bunch of celery that isn't up to par is not worth saving!  

 

[liuzhou]

Plucked up the courage to have a go at making my own Chả Giò style Vietnamese spring rolls. This is the first one:

 

 

The filling is braised duck meat with cucumber, carrot, enoki mushrooms, beansprouts, Chinese chives. Served with a coriander/cilantro, chilli, fish sauce and soy sauce dip.

 

I overfilled this one, but it came out OK. More than OK. If I say so much myself they were a triumph of Sino-Scottish appropriation of Vietnamese culture. Or as we say in Auchtermuchty, "edible".

 

Two more followed  - slightly less stuffed. Equally edible.

 

Overall, I'm pleased with the results but can see room for improvement. Just as well really. The bag of wrappers I bought is huge.

[rotuts]

@Anna N 

 

Im betting your C.of Celery soup , or any celery item would be much better if you fished out those chunks of C.

 

[ noticed other C. dishes recently , and tried to let them pass W/O comment .]

 

flavor is fine , consistency less so.

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

@Anna N 

 

Im betting your C.of Celery soup , or any celery item would be much better if you fished out those chunks of C.

 

[ noticed other C. dishes recently , and tried to let them pass W/O comment .]

 

flavor is fine , consistency less so.

 Really after being puréed and then pushed through a sieve there were no chunks left.   I don't like stringy celery and I'm very careful to peel it if I am going to eat it raw but I do like the flavour of celery.  

[rotuts]

one has to be very careful w Celery Ive found.

[gfweb]

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

one has to be very careful w Celery Ive found.

 

If you aren't careful it could end up in your mouth.

[rotuts]

indeed.

 

even the Compost Pile would be out of sorts for a bit.

[BonVivant]

Mussels (Calalan style). Made this 2 days in a row as fresh mussels can't be kept for long.

 

Catalan Picada sauce is delicious with all kinds of food. Basically it's ground almond, olive oil, parsley, garlic and breadcrumbs.

 

The bread in the photos above. Got it in Koblenz on my way home from Bremm, Germany.  Text on paper bag: "Happiness lies in making others happy". Not a literal translation but that's basically what it's meant to say.

 

Rhubarb with fig jelly on the base and top. Someone was very happy with these.

 

I prefer the tea. Brought back from Uji (a tea-producing town between Kyoto and Nara, Japan).

 

Can't roll anything, especially rice paper.

 

I'm a sea rabbit sometimes. These rolls contains only vegs (asparagus, turnips and their leaves, Italian chicory, chives etc). Red strips are shaved asparagus that has been soaked in beetroot water.

 

 

I like eating almost everything, especially cheese. The BEST food in.the.world!

 

The "small breast" is actually quite big. A young, creamy cheese from Galicia, Spain.

[Anna N]

 

Soup made in Instant Pot. 

[jvalentino]

Grilled bread with ricotta and charred ramps. 

[Anna N]