Lunch 2021

[liuzhou]

I'm putting this here, although it was more brunch.

 

Pan fried mackerel dressed with litsea oil, blood sausage, fried tomato and triple cooked chips.

 

Seconds were had.

 

 

 

 

 

[BonVivant]

Sunset landing! The moment of intense bliss!

 

 

Land of (goat's/sheep's) milk and honey!

 

Only had time and energy for a small meal and 4 beers and then I went out like a light.

 

 

 

Would have been trip number 4 or 5 in normal times! Got back from an incredible holiday in Baja Sur in late Feb 2020 and the world almost collapsed 2 weeks later. Finally! A place I had in mind is still closed to (international) tourists so the next best place to realise a childhood dream is a certain area in Greece. My N95 muzzles for the flight.

[KennethT]

27 minutes ago, BonVivant said:

Sunset landing! The moment of intense bliss!

 

 

Land of (goat's/sheep's) milk and honey!

 

Only had time and energy for a small meal and 4 beers and then I went out like a light.

 

 

 

Would have been trip number 4 or 5 in normal times! Got back from an incredible holiday in Baja Sur in late Feb 2020 and the world almost collapsed 2 weeks later. Finally! A place I had in mind is still closed to (international) tourists so the next best place to realise a childhood dream is a certain area in Greece. My N95 muzzles for the flight.

Congrats!!!  Hope we get to follow along...

[BonVivant]

Fast-forward 2 days... lunch in stunning Santorini today!

 

 

Will be eating a bit of grill squid and octopus in the next 7 days.

 

 

 

My lodging is just around the corner

 

Over 200 steps (about 300 metres) steeply down to reach my lunch spot.

 

 

2 hours by ferry from the Cretan capital

 

Business class on this level, standard is below. Shortly after I took this photo the entire ferry was jam packed (many people are here on package tours).

Sunrise departure.

[blue_dolphin]

Roast Fig & Pancetta Salad with Goat Cheese from David Kinch's At Home in the Kitchen is a nice version of this type of dish.  

Sliced radicchio is tossed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, S&P, piled into a baking dish and topped with halved figs wrapped in thinly sliced pancetta (none in the house so I used prosciutto instead) and baked til the meat is getting crispy. Goat cheese is added and heated until it's warm and soft. 

Not a looker...

...but tasted good. The bitter radicchio was perfect with the salty meat, sweet figs and creamy cheese.  I had it with some crusty bread, a glass of grenache and called it lunch. 

 

[blue_dolphin]

Pulled pork, pineapple kimchi and a few potato stix for crunch on homemade focaccia with gochujang mayo

[heidih]

@blue_dolphin did you link the pineapple kimchi somewhere? Not something I see even with my vast selection here.

[blue_dolphin]

28 minutes ago, heidih said:

@blue_dolphin did you link the pineapple kimchi somewhere? Not something I see even with my vast selection here.

I picked it up, along with the pulled pork, from ZEF BBQ on Saturday. It's a semi-regular offering from them. Their menu says they make all their sides from scratch but doesn’t list ingredients. 

[heidih]

Thanks. I had Diana Kennedy's pineapple vinegar in my head and the kimchi struck that chord. Next time I buy one I'll play.

[Annie_H]

15 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

Pulled pork, pineapple kimchi and a few potato stix for crunch on homemade focaccia with gochujang mayo

Amazing looking stack of textures. So the bbq is ZEF I guess?  (makes sense) I would set my alarm for 959 every Wednesday morning.

 

I'm dealing the most strange cheese. It was clearly mislabeled. I need to check the invoice again. No flavor. Texture of packaged string cheese. Very bitter. Not nutty. Rubbery and not even a hint of salt. Kicking myself for not including it in the batch I smoked last weekend. Hiding it in lunches. Maybe a few weeks left of good tomatoes. 

 

[scamhi]

1 hour ago, Annie_H said:

Amazing looking stack of textures. So the bbq is ZEF I guess?  (makes sense) I would set my alarm for 959 every Wednesday morning.

 

I'm dealing the most strange cheese. It was clearly mislabeled. I need to check the invoice again. No flavor. Texture of packaged string cheese. Very bitter. Not nutty. Rubbery and not even a hint of salt. Kicking myself for not including it in the batch I smoked last weekend. Hiding it in lunches. Maybe a few weeks left of good tomatoes. 

 

it could be paneer. I find paneer to have a rubbery texture

[Annie_H]

16 minutes ago, scamhi said:

it could be paneer. I find paneer to have a rubbery texture

I doubt I will ever know. Sure I could have immediately called Murray, a well known and respected cheese monger NYC shop. At the time I was dealing with 3 dozen smashed egg cartons...substitutions, missing items. An employee mislabeled. It was listed under the category 'hard grating style---parm, Romano, etc'. If a soft Romano exists it was not in the description copy. Not at all upset or even ruffled. Just puzzled. Under these circumstances we have been 95% grateful for what we are being sent or curbside pick-up. It was an honest mistake and I have to let some things slide. (DH will eat it, lol. I had smoked mozzarella in my lunch box) 

[blue_dolphin]

18 hours ago, heidih said:

Thanks. I had Diana Kennedy's pineapple vinegar in my head and the kimchi struck that chord. Next time I buy one I'll play.

It's quite nice.  There are a fair number of recipes online for kimchi pineapple, made with just pineapple and kimchi spices. This one is more of a regular napa cabbage kimchi but with pineapple added.  Of the recipes I've seen, it seems most similar to this one, that I'm thinking of trying.  There is def some daikon in there. 

 

4 hours ago, Annie_H said:

Amazing looking stack of textures. So the bbq is ZEF I guess?  (makes sense) I would set my alarm for 959 every Wednesday morning.

Thanks and yes, the pulled pork is from ZEF.  I'll be in ZEF withdrawal this week as they're going to the Steamboat Food & Wine Festival so I stocked up on some pork belly burnt ends, pulled pork and a little brisket to last me.  I hope this festival appearance brings them more recognition and all the good things even if that means it's not out here in the LA burbs!

 

Today's lunch is in celebration of eG host David Ross with an adaptation of a recipe for Wild Huckleberry, Pepperjack and Smoked Bacon Grilled Cheese that he recently updated here on his website. 

Of course, I have no access to David's beloved wild huckleberries to make the compote used in this recipe so I had to sub in some highly domesticated blueberries.  He uses thick slices of Texas Toast and if I had any, I would have but made due with less thick slices of a nice loaf.  I had just one big slice of crispy bacon, already cooked, so I ran with that instead of the 2 specified, breaking it up, it pretty much covered the sandwich so there was some in every bite. 

The recipe first toasts one slice with the bacon, pepper jack cheese and compost, with the "top" slice toasted separately.  An excellent idea as I was afraid of everything sliding out at flip time.  

This was absolutely delicious and I highly recommend trying it.  

[BonVivant]

 

 

Finally, the real Santorini "fava" (Lathyrus clymenum), it has PDO status. Elsewhere it's yellow lentils. The top meze dish on the island. Mix well with more olive oil when ready to eat. Spread on bread. Can also be eaten as a side with grilled squid/octopus.

 

 

 

The brief moment when nobody was in my sight to ruin the photo

 

Some places in Greece where time stands still. Hand-made sign.

[btbyrd]

Cabbage and onions with beet kraut, pickled mustard seeds, and Neuske’s bacon.

 

[shain]

Butter beans with green zchug (green chilies, olive oil, parsley, cilantro, garlic, coriander seeds, cumin).

Brown rice with carrots, onion, celery, spices (incl. turmeric, allspice, cinnamon, bay leaves, cumin, coriander seed), yogurt, tahini, seitan.

 

 

[robirdstx]

 

Fried Shrimp Basket from Shrimp ‘n Stuff’s Jamaica Beach location on Galveston Island. Good stuff!

 

[blue_dolphin]

Treated myself to take-out for yesterday's late lunch/early dinner.  Creole-seasoned halibut with crab & crawfish étouffée sauce on pappardelle 

 

[MaryIsobel]

4 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

Treated myself to take-out for yesterday's late lunch/early dinner.  Creole-seasoned halibut with crab & crawfish étouffée sauce on pappardelle 

 

Oh my gosh! That sounds and looks fabulous. I have never seen anything remotely close to such a thing offered where I live. Woe is me... although halibut is easy to come by so I may have to recreate this. Thank you for the inspiration.

[scubadoo97]

A frequent lunch when at home.  Sardines (with bones and skin please) and sriracha either plated or when time is short eaten from the can 

 

[BonVivant]

Huge pastries. Same Turkish ones we get at home are 1/10 the size.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The beach in this coastal village

 

A tiny, hidden coffee spot. I walked right past it.

 

 

Time seems to stand still here

 

[liuzhou]

Luosifen in a local three table restaurant.

 

 

 

[shain]

@BonVivant Beautiful pictures as always. The Greek do seem to see the value of authenticity and of keeping (some) things as they were. 

[BonVivant]

Unfortunately, good food and extraordinary natural beauty are not the only things Greece has. I freaked out a little this morning whilst drinking coffee in my room. Suddenly my chair, walls, ceiling, window panes, furniture, floor were shaking violently. Quite scary for someone who does not live in a highly seismically active region. It's still rumbling since this morning but very briefly. Still makes me feel in the stomach when it does.

 

Previous lunch in lovely Pyrgos village, Santorini. A platter of Santorinian products. The tomatoes, which are especially prized, have PDO status, just like the fava. Caper bushes are a common sight on the island and most people pickle the leaves, too. The double-concentrated paste is so good.

 

The elusive Santorini white aubergines, pickled here. They remind me a bit of Sicilian pickled aubergines that I couldn't stop eating, but this one is not exactly the same. Santorini version is much softer.

 

Mild smoked pork, quickly pan-fried. Also in the Cretan repertoire.

 

 

And of course more fava

 

Whilst waiting for my food to arrive

 

Thank you, @shain

Edited September 27, 2021 by BonVivant (log)

[Annie_H]

44 minutes ago, BonVivant said:

I freaked out a little this morning whilst drinking coffee in my room. Suddenly my chair, walls, ceiling, window panes, furniture, floor were shaking violently

Yikes. Also have never experienced an earthquake though have spent time in Greece and all other places that have them and volcanoes.

 

Less of a beauty but such a classic combination of flavors---Cubano. Pulled a BoSaam and ham slices out of the freezer...from earlier meals. Crazy week. Pic dated 21st, last Tuesday. Roasted garbanzos. Made humus with the other 1/2.