Lunch 2020

[Anna N]

 

Hot chicken sandwich made with store bought rotisserie chicken and Trio gravy mix (fancied up a bit with some heavy cream and a pat of butter).

[rotuts]

@Anna N 

 

next up

 

AN's favorite stuffing  !

 

its all about the stuffing and the gravy 

 

just me

 

and Im not just along about it

 

 

[heidih]

36 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Australian for teatime, I think. 

 

Snap - I thought it was smoking break/snacktime. They like their word play

[Kim Shook]

Not sure if this counts as breakfast, lunch, or afternoon snack.  It's 3:15pm and the first thing I've had today.  I'm sitting here enjoying outrageously buttery toast and hot chocolate made from heavy cream and chocolate left over from making ganache with my niece's gorgeous homemade marshmallows:

[Bernie]

Morning tea time is what the toffs call smoko.

(very original naming it "Morning Tea time"  it's just having a cup of tea in the morning)

 

When men were men  and labored 10hrs a day, there was certainly no smoking on the job. But the bosses relented a bit (they got a bit soft as time progressed) the men were allowed a Smoke break, originally just 5 minutes. That was when you went to the toilet if needed.

Originally I think their pay was docked the five minutes, but the union movement negotiated for a paid break of 5 minutes.

Not bad, you worked from 6am, till 10am, then a 5 min break, then worked til 1pm and had a 30min break for lunch,  worked through till 4:35pm, then you knocked off and went to the pub (hotel) about 5pm (it took about 20 minutes after knockoff to wash up and clock out). The Pubs closed at 6pm so it was off home about 6:15pm, where you would have "tea" (Dinner for the toffs) see the kids, give them a belting if needed and off to bed.

Later, the unions became more powerful and working hours were reduced to 8hrs with 30 minute lunch break & 2 x 10 min paid "smokos".

My father worked from 8am to 5pm (he actually worked an extra 30 mins which was paid as overtime.).

 

Hence "smoko" 😀

 

Probably still called "smoko" only by us categorized as the older generation. Everyone else calls it "personal time" as smoking is officially frowned upon and political correctness has become a way of life.

[CantCookStillTry]

6 hours ago, gfweb said:

 smoko?

 

Yes break time. Colloquialism with its roots in stopping for a cigerette and the Australian insistence that everything is better ending in 'o' or 'a'. 

 

And Bernie 'Smoko' is still very much used by the rough and ready and rural and resistant to change 😂. Especially those that start at 0430 finish at 1800.

 

Edited January 9, 2020 by CantCookStillTry (log)

[Margaret Pilgrim]

3 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

Not sure if this counts as breakfast, lunch, or afternoon snack.  It's 3:15pm and the first thing I've had today.  I'm sitting here enjoying outrageously buttery toast and hot chocolate made from heavy cream and chocolate left over from making ganache with my niece's gorgeous homemade marshmallows:

 

Incomparable!     You are so lucky!

[BonVivant]

Three dozens in one go

 

Leftover creamy broth became noodle soup with fresh crab meat

 

I added coconut water and chilli paste to the cream

 

In Sicily: fresh ricotta with honey and pistachios from Bronte

 

[CantCookStillTry]

I am trying to improve the variety in the lunch boxes I make for my big and little boys.

 

First ever attempt. See how they fare overnight. I don't love them enough to make it at 3am before work 😂 He's clearly not a Moe yet! 

 

[Smithy]

@CantCookStillTry, I'm laughing because of your "Moe" comment, but I'm very impressed with the product!

 

How old are the youngest? Will their school chums be impressed, or will they laugh because the boys' lunches are so different from everyone else's? Most importantly, what do the boys think about the meals?

[CantCookStillTry]

3 hours ago, Smithy said:

 

How old are the youngest? 

We are a trio and my Son is 6. Sushi is his favourite food after chips and nuggets 😂. Despite being rural, Australia truly is a melting pot of cultures and what the kids take is so varied. I wouldn't have even considered giving it a go if he hadn't said 'So & so had Sushi today'... I am aware this might all change as age and judgemental behaviour increases 😔

[Anna N]

 

Not for the faint of heart. Cheese, onion and mayo Toasties. Forget the sweet onions and scallions and the shallots. Cooking onions have the bite to cut through the richness of the cheese and, wait for it, kewpie mayo. 

[heidih]

1 hour ago, CantCookStillTry said:

We are a trio and my Son is 6. Sushi is his favourite food after chips and nuggets 😂. Despite being rural, Australia truly is a melting pot of cultures and what the kids take is so varied. I wouldn't have even considered giving it a go if he hadn't said 'So & so had Sushi today'... I am aware this might all change as age and judgemental behaviour increases 😔

 

No the world is different now. My blond/blue also requested bento style. Never ever accepted a sandwich or the cafeteria food (bland he said). 

[blue_dolphin]

Yesterday's late lunch/early dinner was the Fennel and lemon scotch eggs with tomato chutney from Anna Jones' A Modern Cook's Year.  Recipe available online here.  These are a vegetarian version of Scotch eggs.  

3-min eggs are coated first in smoked paprika then wrapped in a mix of mashed beans, shredded sweet potato, onion, parsley, fennel & lemon zest, dipped in egg, then in a mix of seeds before either being baked (for a hard-cooked egg) or deep-fried (for a runny yolk)

The eggs were very fiddly to peel and I have to say this step was like trying to wrap little water balloons with bean dip.  

 

 

The bean mixture was tasty and I liked the idea of the seed crust but I found the amount of smoked paprika overwhelmed everything else. Deep frying for 3-4 min may have preserved the runny yolk but didn't really firm up the bean mixture as baking (400°F for 30-40 minutes) would have. Big difference there!

Not a fan.  Took a couple of bites and binned the rest.  

Decided to make myself a real Scotch cocktail instead of a faux Scotch egg 🙃

[Anna N]

2 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

These are a vegetarian version of Scotch eggs.  

Nope. They are an abomination! What were they thinking? Apparently they weren’t. 

[liuzhou]

44 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Nope. They are an abomination! What were they thinking? Apparently they weren’t. 

 

I'll back that and I am Scottish with no objection to beans - not that  Scotch eggs are Scottish, but that''s another story!

[Anna N]

 

Restaurant leftovers—lamb korma over basmati rice. 

[Kim Shook]

Had a string of days this past week of just plain feeling lousy.  I needed some comfort food and went for the most trailer parky, embarrassing to admit foods.   Campbell’s Alphabet soup and deviled ham and mayo on white bread:

 

[heidih]

14 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

Had a string of days this past week of just plain feeling lousy.  I needed some comfort food and went for the most trailer parky, embarrassing to admit foods.   Campbell’s Alphabet soup and deviled ham and mayo on white bread:

 

 

You must feel cruddy - you did not spell anything for us!

[andiesenji]

The sandwich I finished about 20 minutes ago:  Spicy sweet pickles made with black vinegar gifted to me last summer by a friend who imports it in barrels and bottles it in a facility that is almost as secure as Fort Knox.  I haven't been there but there are double fences with security guards at each gate, two security guards at the dock and one at each steel door for "personnel." 

I was flabbergasted when a large glass container that holds more than a half gallon, was handed to me by my friend's driver, because he had planned to stop by but was delayed and was packing for a trip to China.  

Anyway, with this largess I decided to make a large batch of sweet pickles. Cucumbers, the pickling variety and the rind of a large honeydew melon went into the Cambro container with some pickling salt to keep them crisp, they were rinsed after 24 hours and meantime I had cooked the "brine" and I used Sucanet sugar because I wanted the stronger flavor with using less sugar. I used regular pickling spice mixture, plus some extra cloves and TWO split whole Rocoto peppers, which I had in a mesh tea ball so I could remove them before adding the brine to the pickles.

The brine was at 200°F when I poured it over the pickles.

This was on September 5.  After the container was cool enough, I moved it, draped a towel over it with the lid holding it in place and let it cool completely.

I then removed the towel made sure the rim and the lid was dry, sealed the lid on and set it in a dark place in my pantry.

I opened it today when I came across it while shifting containsers around while cleaning.

Pickles on buttered home made light whole wheat bread.

 

Pickles topped with red onion sliced very thin.

 

 

 

 

[Anna N]

 

soup made from a combination of restaurant leftovers and vegetables languishing in the crisper. A piece of leftover naan which apparently decided to go for a dip.  That’s such a lie. I love dunking in my soup when I’m alone. 

[robirdstx]

Haven’t had much of an appetite this week, but today I got in the mood for a sandwich and some chips!

 

 

Oven Roasted Turkey, Pepper Jack Cheese and Horseradish Mustard on Rye. Corn Tortilla Chips not shown. The sandwich was wrapped in a damp paper towel and then nuked on a low power, just long enough to take the chill off the frozen bread and to melt the cheese. Hit the spot!

[heidih]

5 minutes ago, robirdstx said:

Oven Roasted Turkey, Pepper Jack Cheese and Horseradish Mustard on Rye. Corn Tortilla Chips not shown. The sandwich was wrapped in a damp paper towel and then nuked on a low power, just long enough to take the chill off the frozen bread and to melt the cheese. Hit the spot!

 

Yes! The joy of damp paper towels and MW -powerful and under appreciated

[KennethT]

3 hours ago, heidih said:

 

Yes! The joy of damp paper towels and MW -powerful and under appreciated

I do it every day to heat my lunch up at work... I call it the 'improvised steamer'!

[blue_dolphin]

Yesterday's lunch.  Bucatini with a Phillips-grilled hot Italian sausage, red bell pepper and a bit of jarred Arrabiata sauce

I could have added some olives or parsley or something but it was getting late and I was getting hangry.  Hit the spot.