Lunch 2022

[gfweb]

59 minutes ago, weinoo said:

Correct - while a sandwich, say, in Europe, is as much about the bread and balance.

 

At Katz's, I'll remove most of the meat, make 2 sandwiches, and bring the rest home.

 

Exactly.  I need to debulk a lot of deli sandwiches.  Even with deli stuff balance is important.  A reuben can have too much corned beef.

 

[liuzhou]

Hunan Lunch. Only the eggs and the wine don't have chilli.

 

[kayb]

Well, why not?

[Kim Shook]

@btbyrd – those sardines look wonderful!

 

Day before yesterday:

 

Strawberries and a mortadella with pistachios (sorry, @rotuts 😁) sandwich. 

[BonVivant]

Winery tasting room serving simple food is an easy 5 minute walk from my lodging.

 

Local/regional game (I think most probably wild boar) plate. Coarse Leberwurst, salami, terrine,

 

Game terrine. Need more gherkins (I eat them a lot at home).

 

Coarse game Leberwurst

 

 

Game Bratwurst with cripsy fried Speck and potatoes

 

Slate is everywhere here. This is one of the reasons Mosel Riesling tastes so good and dry.

 

In Riesling paradise

 

 

Views from my table

 

On the way back to the lodging

7 in a perfectly straight row

I'm based in this twin village on the banks of the Mosel. The 2 villages are connected by a bridge.

Local wildlife

We sat here. Want to have a picnic at this very spot one of these days. Saw (female) locals watch sunset with beer in hands here which gave me the picnic idea.. The Mosel river.

 

Thanks for going to France, Italy, Australia, NZ etc! One of the most beautiful vineyard valleys in the world and I'm here, again (last time I stayed in the impossibly pretty village called Bremm). See how the Mosel twists and turns much of the way. There are many twin villages and towns on both sides, connected by bridges. The most popular biking and hiking route is from either Trier or Koblenz. The Middle Mosel valley is extremely popular with domestic holidaymakers and tourists from neighbouring countries, and Brits. They all arrive from mid June and it's heaving until October. If you don't book accommodation way in advance then there's absolutely no chance in high season. It's the Santorini of Germany.

 

 

 

Edited June 3, 2022 by BonVivant (log)

[blue_dolphin]

Speaking of too much meat, I just picked up a ZEF Dawg - a sausage version of ZEF BBQ's homemade spam, pickled onions, coconut curry sauce, roasted pineapple & scallions and furikake on a King's Hawaiian roll.

Holy moly, photos just don't convey the size of that thing!  The dawg is a little over 1.5" in diameter.  Those are actually 3 King's Hawaiian rolls, not separated, so I cut it in three and will see what I can do!

[heidih]

2 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

Speaking of too much meat, I just picked up a ZEF Dawg - a sausage version of ZEF BBQ's homemade spam, pickled onions, coconut curry sauce, roasted pineapple & scallions and furikake on a King's Hawaiian roll.

Holy moly, photos just don't convey the size of that thing!  The dawg is a little over 1.5" in diameter.  Those are actually 3 King's Hawaiian rolls, not separated, so I cut it in three and will see what I can do!

But the flavor combo sounds pretty good. Kings is local to me and I uised those rolls as my default for "garlic bread" base  for the kds.

[BonVivant]

Neck/collar steak ("lumberjack style")

 

Sausage salad

 

A former monastery got converted into a brewery, in a beautiful and tranquil setting. The beers are very nice too boot.

 

At another place:

Onion soup with a heavy cheese toast

 

Smoked trout on plate but it's more about the herbs and edible flowers they grow in their own garden.

These leaves are so intensely aromatic I thought they were lovage. Wife/cook said celery. I eat celery leaves all the time but ours don't have this kind of intensity in smell and flavour.

 

4 Rieslings and 1 Sekt ("traditional method")

 

Restaurant is in the basement and has 5 tables. We were the first to arrive, had only 2 tables to choose from. Owners are kind and cool. Man is the vineyard farmer himself, wife cooks in the restaurant when it's open - mostly in high season. They enjoy telling you about their wines and their food. The regulars arrived shortly after us who were on hugging-and-kissing terms with the owners.

 

All the herbs and edible flowers come from their own garden and they all taste wonderful.

 

- There are cookery books for Mosel region. (Unfortunately, I no longer buy cookery books or souvenirs.)

- Wine is the soul of the Mosel valley. You can bring vine plants home.

 

The mind-calming beauty of the Middle Mosel:

- Endless quaint villages and camp grounds with vineyard slope backdrop.

- One of the many quiet villages.

- This lovely village where I ate a meal in photos above, is 30 minutes by bike from where I'm staying. "Nationally recognised holiday destination". Absolutely well deserved.

- Riesling at every turn. Again. Sundial/clock on far left. A closer sundial. Everyone in the village could see the time.

- You wait right there! My kids have priority!

- Big wheel so you could see the vineyards from up there.

- The last sun rays of the day. Then comes the blue hour.

Edited June 5, 2022 by BonVivant (log)

[BonVivant]

 

Mildly smoked Matjes

 

I'm a bread eater in best (sourdough) bread paradise.

 

 

Pentecost long weekend, most places were closed. On top of that it rained all day.

Riesling Sekt (Champagne-style) comes in Brut and Trocken (dry) and I usually get both. This winery has a tasting garden and cellar just across the street from my lodging.

I hadn't planned on doing any cooking. Forgot to get some herbs for this sauce so it's just soft eggs mixed in yogurt.

 

 

- There's a container specifically for shoes. In some other places you can only drop stuff in containers at certain time of the day. The times are printed on the containers like in the photo.

- The 2 carriage train to get around this area is called Mosel Wine Train, but locals call it "Guzzle Little Train". You can visit different villages and drink lots of Riesling there. Some people buy bottles and drink in parks, on benches, on pavement, anywhere really.

- Sheltering under a big tree waiting for a big downpour to stop.

[johnnyd]

Gochujang chicken skewers, heart of palm salad, Israeli couscous and smashed kimchi cukes

 

Edited June 16, 2022 by johnnyd (log)

[Kim Shook]

On Sunday, we had our post-church brunch at our favorite deli – Boychiks.  We shared a chef salad and an egg salad on white bread like the old married couple we are:

 

They make the absolute best 1000 Island dressing.  Perfect for a chef salad. 

 

 

[Paul Bacino]

Arugula /Pilaf tortilla--siracha   

 

[BonVivant]

Don't enjoy to go to the supermarket in my food hell, but on holiday I look at every aisle, fridge and freezer! The wonderful German supermarkets are always fun to wander round. How fast the time passes when you are busy checking out what the inhabitants like to eat and have access to.

 

In my food hell we are not clever enough, or interested in having frozen, ready to eat boletus and salsify.

 

The horseradish cream blew my nostrils off. I overestimated myself.

 

The 1 big (sliced in half) boletus takes up much of the package. Meat is Kasseler. A pork product that's been cured and smoked.

 

Another day, another sparkling Riesling.

 

Some "snacks"

 

Bakery in the neighbourhood. Notice it's also open on Sundays and holidays, for 3 hours. Germans need their fantastic bread daily. Most things are closed on those days.

 

On the way back from a 15km walk when I was passing by vineyards on the way down I stopped to watch a farmer work. There’s a built-in ramp on the side of the tractor that he drove his lawn mower like machine on it. I think the little machine is for clearing weeds between the vine rows. He drove all the way down to the end of each row, back to the top, then onto the ramp. And how did he move the tractor to the next row? By using a control panel within his reach. The process was repeated until every row was done. The vineyards here are so steep, most of the time you can't just stand on the ground. You must hold on to something.

 

Here he came back up again from the bottom of the slope. When he drove onto the ramp he was lying half way flat.

 

After watching the farmer I started walking again and saw this. Thanks for your hard work, farmers!

 

Finally reaching the street level and admiring my twin village through the rows of vine. Next year or 2 they will be in bottles so that we could enjoy. Without the farmers, the bees and critters there would be no wine! Respect for (vineyard) farmers.

 

Edited June 8, 2022 by BonVivant (log)

[heidih]

@BonVivant Love food market exploration!  Thanks so much for the farmer working images. Essential worklers as we have come to use term in Pandemic. We use a lawnmachine for weed clearance here but only on the flat. Dad flipped it once and went flying. His tractor/lawnmower set  up is brilliant for the steep terrain.

[blue_dolphin]

I also love visiting food markets of all kind, including supermarkets when I'm traveling. Thanks for taking us along on your trips, @BonVivant.  I love the beautiful farm, countryside and town scenes - beautiful country!

Leftovers from Saturday's ZEF BBQ pick-up:  Smoked turkey with cherry relish and baby greens on a brioche bun spread with sesame mayo.   A sweet potato salad on the side. 

I made the cherry relish from an older recipe found in the LA Times.  It was lacking something. I added more onion, more vinegar and a jalapeño, which helped but I think horseradish might have been the way to go.  

[blue_dolphin]

Another ZEFtover smoked turkey sando.  This one a Smoked Turkey, Blue Cheese, and Red Onion Sandwich from Bon Appetit

I used radish tops instead of arugula

[liuzhou]

北京烤鸭 (běi jīng kǎo yā) - Beijing Roast Duck

 

 

 

 

Edited June 9, 2022 by liuzhou (log)

[BonVivant]

A giant, glazed Franzbrötchen (a type of pastry) filled with poppy seeds.

 

Marzipan "snail"

 

Red current "snail"

 

 

Later at a simple restaurant in a village on my bike route.

 
It was hard to make a photo of this boletus cream soup as there was no texture to focus on (I focused on the little black fleck). But it was good and the flavour of boletus was intense.

 

Pork (usually stuffed with something) grilled over coals, traditionally. Or in the oven.

 

- Germany, is one the the most forest-covered countries in Europe.

- The village where I ate my meal above.

- Official sign of Mosel Wine Route

- The photo cannot convey the steep terrain these terraced vineyards are built on. Goats would love the height.

- One can "sponsor" a grapevine plant. Get 3 bottles of wine each year for the sponsorship. Here you can see name, place of residence, and year on each slate sign.

- What a lovely part of Germany. (Green) beauty in every direction. Tourists tend to only visit the big cities and miss out on some of the best experiences, like this valley. So thanks again, for going to France and Italy. 

 

Thanks, @blue_dolphinand @heidih! (Rare to see someone using a real camera these days, let alone a female. Photo was taken from up here yesterday.)

 

 

 

 

[BonVivant]

Back in (food) hell now. Meals are from a couple of weeks and couple of days ago.

Slow-cooked lamb shoulder in the oven. Round balls are actually dumplings from bread crumbs.

 

Harvested all the lemon balm in the garden and made a thick sauce with them. Underneath the surface it's bright green like the leaves on the plates.

 

Salmon poached in Riesling.

 

A simple pasta with green asparagus "sauce".

 

(In Traben-Trarbach the other day)

 

Menu says "farmer- style" liver pate. It's supposed to be darker and coarse, and more importantly, must taste of liver. What I got was white and hardly had liver taste. Too much cream. It's for people who hate liver, surely. I love liver so this is not what it's supposed to be. I asked if it was "farmer-style" and they said yes.

 

Classic Flammkuchen. Most winery tasting rooms are open in the second half of the week and only serve simple meals.

 

To keep the glasses chilled just pour Riesling into them.

[Smithy]

I was in Minnapolis last weekend and had a chance to visit a Middle Eastern grocery store and deli. The purpose was to stock up on Egyptian feta cheese that we have trouble finding. Of course I had to browse their other offerings. I came away with a small stack of Iraqi Tandori Bread. I thought the name a bit puzzling (read it as "Tandoori") but the stuff was supple and looked good. It was also HUGE. 

 

 

After I got it home I texted my best friend for ideas of what to do with it. She allowed as to how she'd probably just eat it out of hand, but then suggested a bean salad with a nice vinaigrette for that bread to mop up. 

 

 

What a great idea!

 

 

Edited June 16, 2022 by Smithy
Punctuation (log)

[weinoo]

Is that more commonly called lavash? Baked on (in?) a tandoor?

[liuzhou]

When you have breakfast at 2 pm, is it still breakfast?

 

Goose liver sausage, fried tomato and mushroom. There was toast off-stage.

 

 

[chromedome]

4 hours ago, liuzhou said:

When you have breakfast at 2 pm, is it still breakfast?

 

My GF is seldom ready for breakfast as early as 2 PM, so she'd totally endorse that.

 

She no longer works a late shift but her body clock is pretty nocturnal, so she's usually thinking about a bite to eat somewhere between 5 and 8 pm. "Breakfast for dinner" is something I eat a few times a month, in consequence, though she isn't really hung up on traditional breakfast foods for her first meal.

[Anna N]

9 hours ago, liuzhou said:

When you have breakfast at 2 pm, is it still breakfast?

I certainly prefer breakfast to First Nutrition Break!

[Smithy]

21 hours ago, weinoo said:

Is that more commonly called lavash? Baked on (in?) a tandoor?

 

I suspect so. They weren't forthcoming about their ingredients or method but my Iraqi cookbook's "Arabic bread" recipe looks like a standard nonpocket flatbread.

 

Edited to add: I just looked at the cookbook again, and they specifically call the large flat version of that recipe "lawash".

Edited June 16, 2022 by Smithy
Updated the post (log)