Lunch! What'd ya have? (2018)

Duvel · December 3, 2018

9 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Noodle bowl with green beans, aburaage, chicken karaage and some furikake. Base was home made chicken stock fortified with some commercial tensuyu.

Yessss ! That looks so good, @Anna N...

**Smithy** · December 3, 2018

34 minutes ago, Anna N said:

This was from a day or so ago. It is a very tiny strip loin which I was planning on having for dinner that day. Something went wrong with my day which I don’t even recall any more and it became lunch. It has a miso glaze on it and I ate it with out any accompaniments. This is a small act of rebellion on my part. Something to do with balanced meals.

Some esteemed food writer - could it have been M.F.K. Fisher? - wrote that balanced meals could be seen as what you ate throughout the day, instead of what you ate at every meal. It made a lot of sense, and I felt liberated...until I realized we were trying to stretch the concept into what we ate that week...or fortnight....

Anna N · December 3, 2018

4 minutes ago, Smithy said:

Some esteemed food writer - could it have been M.F.K. Fisher? - wrote that balanced meals could be seen as what you ate throughout the day, instead of what you ate at every meal. It made a lot of sense, and I felt liberated...until I realized we were trying to stretch the concept into what we ate that week...or fortnight....

Sometimes you just want to savour a single ingredient. Lobster needs no accompaniment to detract from its deliciousness— a little butter sure but forget the salad. Similarly with scallops, shrimp and steak. Other people would choose other single ingredients. And some will make an argument for appropriate side dishes. But when the universe has kicked me in the aspidistra, I just want my favourite proteins and the pleasure of blowing a raspberry in the direction of convention.

robirdstx · December 3, 2018

Yet another lunch out.

A small Greek salad with Fish Tacos and Fruit at League City’s Olympia Grill. The Fish Tacos were not particularly photogenic, and when I started to eat, I realized the fish was breaded, not grilled as ordered, but they were good, so I ate them. I did mention to our waitress that I found it curious that the fish was breaded. She offered to replace them, but I declined. She did alert the kitchen to the error. They have only been open for a couple of weeks and the tacos are a new menu item.

Edited December 4, 2018 by robirdstx (log)

HungryChris · December 4, 2018

Even though I had breakfast this morning, I found myself hungry again around noon. So, I broke out these sardines on saltines (the other SoS).

HC

Paul Bacino · December 4, 2018

When Quinoa meets Pho --I ran out of noodles/ had the meat and tendon from Pho..so I added the other grain..Actually turned out well

Edited December 4, 2018 by Paul Bacino (log)

HungryChris · December 5, 2018

I made chicken liver pate today. I buy the livers in 20 OZ containers, but by the time I drain and trim them all up, I usually get a little over 3 ramekins, plus a little extra, which I had for lunch today. I used to put ramp butter on top, but now I put in little sprigs of thyme and top it with gelatine. Of course, I am the only one in the house who will even look at them, let alone eat them.

HC

Edited December 5, 2018 by HungryChris (log)

Anna N · December 5, 2018

8 minutes ago, HungryChris said:

Of course, I am the only one in the house who will even look at them, let alone eat them.

HC

Booking my flight now. Oh wait. Is scrapple on the menu for breakfast tomorrow?

BryanQuocLe · December 5, 2018

Everyone has such beautiful-looking meals...

My attempt at beautifying my turkey-meat sandwich with sliced muenster, hummus, Dijon mustard, and pickles with a side of unroasted almonds.

robirdstx · December 5, 2018

Chorizo and Potato Tacos

heidih · December 5, 2018

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

Booking my flight now. Oh wait. Is scrapple on the menu for breakfast tomorrow?

I'm in if fried zucchini is on deck

heidih · December 5, 2018

1 hour ago, BryanQuocLe said:

1 hour ago, BryanQuocLe said:

Everyone has such beautiful-looking meals...

My attempt at beautifying my turkey-meat sandwich with sliced muenster, hummus, Dijon mustard, and pickles with a side of unroasted almonds.

.

Great sandwich, I just can not wrap my head around untoasted almonds though. I understand the allure of the greenies. Ruth Reichl has lauded the often though a link eludes me. . But otherwise I will walk away.

.

Edited December 5, 2018 by heidih (log)

suzilightning · December 6, 2018

On ‎12‎/‎3‎/‎2018 at 11:16 AM, Smithy said:

Some esteemed food writer - could it have been M.F.K. Fisher? - wrote that balanced meals could be seen as what you ate throughout the day, instead of what you ate at every meal. It made a lot of sense, and I felt liberated...until I realized we were trying to stretch the concept into what we ate that week...or fortnight....

It was in "How to Eat a Wolf". Resonated with me as that was how my grandfather believed and how we ate most of the time.

blue_dolphin · December 6, 2018

In one of the early chapters of his book, Alon Shaya writes about going fishing with his father who always brought along turkey & cheese sandwiches on white bread that was usually soggy by the time they were ready for lunch.

He also includes a recipe for a much better version:

He calls for mincing some Castelvetrano olives and mixing them into the mayo before spreading it on one side of the bread, a trick I'll use on other sandwiches. From there, we have turkey, tallegio cheese, roasted red pepper, tomato and avocado.

This is supposed to be built on slices of crusty whole grain bread, rather than a baguette so I ended up making quite a mess while eating but it was good.

kayb · December 6, 2018

Chex mix. I had chex mix. At least it was homemade, and had LOTS of pecans.

HungryChris · December 7, 2018

Lunch today was a little bit of everything.

HC

blue_dolphin · December 7, 2018

I love thinly sliced roasted cauliflower, all on its own, so I've been putting off trying the Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Whipped Feta from Shaya. I finally gave it a try, with just half a head, and I'm sold.

Prior to roasting, the cauliflower is first boiled/steamed in a broth of white wine, salt, lemon juice, butter red pepper flakes, bay leaf and a bit of sugar, a step that infuses it with extra flavors.

Edited to add that the cauliflower recipe is available online at this link.

Per the book, it's served with a whipped feta/goat cheese/cream cheese mixture.

I added some crostini topped with Matbucha, a rustic mix of tomato, roasted red bell pepper and onion, cooked together with spices, also from the book.

Edited December 7, 2018 by blue_dolphin
to add link (log)

rotuts · December 7, 2018

@blue_dolphin

Shaya ? New Orleans ?

a book ?

nice DARTO

which one ?

thaks

blue_dolphin · December 7, 2018

22 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@blue_dolphin

Shaya ? New Orleans ?

a book ?

nice DARTO

which one ?

thaks

Yes, Shaya: An Odyssey of Food, My Journey Back to Israel is the book and I commented on it over here in the cookbook thread. It's a great read and a solid cookbook that gets 2 thumbs up from me!

Edited to add that the recipe is available online at this link.

The DARTO is the N 20 Paella pan. I also bought the N 25 Paella. Both are quite shallow but very good for cooking for one or two.

Edited December 7, 2018 by blue_dolphin (log)

rotuts · December 7, 2018

@blue_dolphin

thank you

the book is on the way from my library

smart getting a few sl smaller DARTO P-Pans

blue_dolphin · December 7, 2018

2 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@blue_dolphin

thank you

the book is on the way from my library

smart getting a few sl smaller DARTO P-Pans

I'll be interested in hearing what you think of the book!

I kinda wish I would have gotten the larger Paella pan that you got but I'm OK for now. They certainly are useful as roasting pans in the CSO - no worrying about that thin little pan that came with it warping in the heat!