Lunch 2021

[liuzhou]

Made some chicken liver pâté to be consumed with the crackers I forgot to buy this morning. Damn. Either I go out in the cold, or just spoon the stuff straight into my face. Recommendations?

 

 

 

Edited January 10, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[Bernie]

spoon!

[Duvel]

Leftover (unsliced) beef neck from yesterday’s hotpot, pounded flat with my bare knuckles (more workouts this year !), salt & pepper, cornstarch dusting & flash fried. Served on a rewarmed roll with BBQ sauce, copious barely softened onions and some Chipotle Tabasco. Served on IKEA childrens plastic plate. A good breakfast/brunch/lunch to start into 2021 - kind of expectation management 😉

 

 

Happy New Year everyone - may it be a happy & healthy one !

[TicTac]

9 hours ago, liuzhou said:

Made some chicken liver pâté to be consumed with the crackers I forgot to buy this morning. Damn. I either I go out in the cold, or just spoon the stuff straight into my face. Recommendations?

 

 

 

Looks good.  Scrap the spoon.

 

Just use your finger!

 

 

[KennethT]

Probably my wife's favorite dish of all time, mapo tofu....  Usually we order it in from our local Sichuan place about once a week, but today, I made this for her....

 

This one was made with garlic chives since I had them around, but I usually make them with leeks.  It's really tasty, but never quite tastes like the ones we order in - maybe someone can help me diagnose the issue?

 

I first make a chili oil with some dried chillies, then reserve.  Add a bit more oil and some freshly ground sichuan peppercorns. Then a big handful of chopped ginger, then a big handful of chopped garlic.  I add maybe 4 oz ground chicken meat (trying to be healthy) and breakup to brown, then about a small handful of chopped pixian doubanjiang and maybe 1-2 T of chopped dou chi. That's stir fried for a few minutes until I see the doubanjiang get a big darker then add 1C homemade chicken stock then simmer for a few minutes while I prep the tofu. Add cornstarch slurry to get the right consistency, plus a little extra salt and a touch of sugar. Then slide in the tofu and simmer for a few more minutes. Finally throw in the garlic chives and mix around for a little bit and plate.

 

Am I missing anything?  Or maybe it's the brand of doubanjiang I'm using?

[liuzhou]

6 hours ago, KennethT said:

I have also considered the fact that the ground chicken rather than pork or beef could be the culprit...  I told my wife, for the sake of science, that we needed to try it with ground pork from Chinatown (who will make it from fatty pork rather than lean pork like my local supermarket) instead the chicken one time... for research purposes of course...

 

Just noticed this. Yes,the chicken and chicken stock is probably what's throwing the flavour off. Try pork (although beef is more traditional).

[Duvel]

In continuation of my „Catalan weekend“ efforts ...

 

 

... today‘s lunch was trout with almonds and bacon. Very simple - trout stuffed with lemon and baked in the oven; bacon & onions fried in butter, simmered with cream & bay leaf and tooped with roasted almond slivers. Fried fideua pasta from yesterday to accompany ...

 

 

 

Happy faces around the table 🤗

 

[BonVivant]

Several recent lunches:

 

 

 

 

I blew it all.

 

I wanted to, but someone put something else in the fridge.

 

 

 

[BonVivant]

Leftover cream-mushroom sauce from another meal:

 

Crispy tempeh with Lao Gan Ma

 

 

Past new years abroad:

 

 

 

 

 

[KennethT]

4 hours ago, BonVivant said:

Several recent lunches:

 

 

 

 

I blew it all.

 

I wanted to, but someone put something else in the fridge.

 

 

 

Nice Champagne selections!  What type of crab claws are those?

[shain]

A very quick preparation of ramen noodles in a quick miso and garlic based sauce, with butter, sauteed mushrooms, eggs lightly crumbled and finished with the noodles and sauce so that they bind it together. A bit of chili oil.

 

 

[Duvel]

Part IV of a Catalan „weekend“ (which might go on until King‘s day 😉) ...

 

Today for lunch we had the spit-roasted rabbit. I bought a larger specimen (close to 2 kg), cleaned and marinated it in garlic, lemon and rosemary and send it to sleep for 2 days ...

 

 

Skewered and tied to a spit ...

 

 

First use of the BBQ this year. Roasted until core temperature of 58 oC in the thickest part of the rear legs ...

 

 

 

Served with simple tomato salad with burrata and leftover maccarons (another Catalan comfort dish).

 

It was incredibly moist !

 

 

 

Edited January 4, 2021 by Duvel (log)

[TicTac]

@Duvel - That is very ambitious of you (then again, clearly you are a rotisserie pro) as I have never even played with my rotisserie setting on my Napoleon.  Were the 2 sheet pans to diffuse the heat on the thinner parts of Thumper?

 

And if you ever are in need of additional hare, just swing by my back yard, load up your BB gun of choice and have at 'em!

 

(just not the one nestled beside my deck under its snow lodge, my kids love that little guy!)

 

 

[Duvel]

1 hour ago, TicTac said:

@Duvel - That is very ambitious of you (then again, clearly you are a rotisserie pro) as I have never even played with my rotisserie setting on my Napoleon.  Were the 2 sheet pans to diffuse the heat on the thinner parts of Thumper?

 

And if you ever are in need of additional hare, just swing by my back yard, load up your BB gun of choice and have at 'em!

 

(just not the one nestled beside my deck under its snow lodge, my kids love that little guy!)

 

 

I do enjoy the rotisserie, but I bought only recently and am just discovering its versatility. This was the first time I tried rabbit, and it was by far the best rabbit I ever made.

 

The sheet pans are used to moisten the meat (they are filled with white wine/water and sprigs of rosemary) and to catch drippings. They are placed under the whole rabbit. Just in the last 5 min I moved them towards the front of the rabbit to allow the thicker parts at the back get more direct heat and allow for a bit more browning.

 

[TicTac]

3 hours ago, Duvel said:

I do enjoy the rotisserie, but I bought only recently and am just discovering its versatility. This was the first time I tried rabbit, and it was by far the best rabbit I ever made.

 

The sheet pans are used to moisten the meat (they are filled with white wine/water and sprigs of rosemary) and to catch drippings. They are placed under the whole rabbit. Just in the last 5 min I moved them towards the front of the rabbit to allow the thicker parts at the back get more direct heat and allow for a bit more browning.

 

 

Perfect!  Makes sense, similar to what I do when slow grilling on a charcoal BBQ - moisture and capture.  I like the idea of rosemary to add a bit to the smoke.  Looks great.

[shain]

Baguette slabs with feta, pesto, roasted peppers, black pepper.

 

 

[Anna N]

 

More from the amazing Christmas food parcel courtesy of @Alleguede and his partner. Duck confit. I scrubbed and roasted a few parsnips to accompany it. 

 

[Duvel]

Last (planned) installment of our Catalan weekend: Botifarra amb mongetes (or sausage with fried beans, heavy on the garlic/lard side of the spectrum) ...

 

 

Not much to look at, yet very, very tasty 😉

[Dejah]

Hot'n'Sour soup makes a regular appearance for lunch even when there isn't any cold viruses around. Wish it would take care of Covid, but alas, no such magic.

 

                                                                                    

 

Didn't get to make the Winter Solstice daikon & dumpling soup. Finally found some lovely daikon and made the Savoury Turnip Cake like my Mom used to make. She had chopped Chinese bacon, mushrooms, dried shrimp, and salted turnip.  Steamed for an hour then chilled in the fridge. I had to be patient and waited until today to fry up a few slices for our lunch. Great memories of my Mom!

 

                                                                                    

 

 

                                                                                   

 

 

 

 

 

                                              

 

Edited January 5, 2021 by Dejah (log)

[MokaPot]

@Dejah, your food looks great. Have you ever posted your recipe for hot and sour soup? Thank you!

[heidih]

39 minutes ago, Dejah said:

Hot'n'Sour soup makes a regular appearance for lunch even when there isn't any cold viruses around. Wish it would take care of Covid, but alas, no such magic.

 

                                                                                    

 

Didn't get to make the Winter Solstice daikon & dumpling soup. Finally found some lovely daikon and made the Savoury Turnip Cake like my Mom used to make. She had chopped Chinese bacon, mushrooms, dried shrimp, and salted turnip.  Steamed for an hour then chilled in the fridge. I had to be patient and waited until today to fry up a few slices for our lunch. Great memories of my Mom!

 

                                                                                    

 

 

                                                                                   

 

Wow - 2 great comfort dishes. Traditions have their place even if not on exact day they evoke the good memories. I admire your patience on the daikon cake. 

 

 

 

                                              

 

 

[gulfporter]

Grilled open-face Italian sliders.  Leftover day.  Still have a dozen (now frozen) very good herbed dinner rolls that are delivered with carryout.  Cut one into 4 slices.  Topped with leftover cooked Italian sausage, fried onions and peppers, cheese and fresh basil.  Grilled in olive oil in frypan with lid, until crusty, hot and oozy.  Served with the rest of a half a cucumber found hiding in the produce drawer.  

[Duvel]

Canelons for King‘s day ...

 

 

(no plated picture as there was just a blur of forks, knives and plates once the canelons hit the table ...)

 

 

[Ann_T]

Today's lunch.

Baked this morning.

[Dejah]

On 1/5/2021 at 6:04 PM, MokaPot said:

@Dejah, your food looks great. Have you ever posted your recipe for hot and sour soup? Thank you!

THIS is all I have in my "book". The portions, taste for tang and heat are up to you to adjust. Google and see what comes up.

                                           

The green containers are 16 oz. food containers that we used in the restaurant.

MSG is optional. We stopped using it when customers request no MSG.
No sugar is added as per other recipes, but there is some sweetness from the BBQ pork (char siu)
I don't use pepper, but the chili paste gave our soup a "signature". It's a well-kept secret! 😄, so sssshhhhh...