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Lunch - The Mid-Day, Polyphonic Food Blog


Anna Blume

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A cross-cultural lunch: I had some cold Viennese-style boiled beef standing by. I warmed and softened corn tortillas the best way there is: wrap in slightly damp paper towels and microwave for 20 seconds or so. Put a big smear of Cava-brand spicy red-pepper hummus on each tortilla, topped with sliced boiled beef, sliced sweet onion, and some nice pea-shoots from Trader Joe's, for central-European Levantine Mexican soft tacos. They were quite delicious. I made two, but then had to have another. Accompanied by a nice gazpacho (Spain) I made yesterday and, from France, Veuve Doussot brut rosé Champagne.

(Incidentally, since the Ukrainians, whose language has no definite article, have told us English speakers that we mustn't call their country "the Ukraine", do you suppose we'll need to start calling France "the France"? Or the Netherlands "Netherland"?)

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Turkey Avgolemono Soup made with broth made yesterday from this year's Thanksgiving turkey and meat from same. I love Avgolemono soup and this was a very nice variation on the traditional.

FYI: the turkey was a brined and prepped bird from BlackSalt that was just fantastic.  All we had to do was put it in the oven for 3 hours.   :) This may become my strategy from now on.

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Lunch today was Charles Phan's Lemongrass Beef Stew that I made last week on the day it snowed.  Put the leftovers in the freezer and it made a perfect lunch on this dreary day.  I really like this dish, although, as written it's more of a soup than a stew -- there's lots of broth, which is fine with me because the broth is redolent of lemongrass and star anise.  I generally add more vegetables, including turnips and mushrooms and sometimes bok choy.  

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Tuna sandwiches two ways.  I incorporated a small amount of the tuna pate from last night (mmm....butter) into the remainder of the tuna I cooked that didn't go into the pate, along with scallions, dill, celery, s + p, and a smidge of light mayo, to make tuna salad.  Served on toasted rye, with lettuce, and tomato, with a little more of the pate on the toasted bread.  Cape Cod potato chips, a pear, and a creme de menthe brownie rounded out the meal.  

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We had friends over for a lunch of New Mexican food on NYD: posole (red chile, pork, hominy), calabacitas (squash and corn), pinto beans, corn tortillas, and Azami's homemade flour tortillas. I intended to make fideos (vermicelli in a light tomatoey broth) as well, but didn't get to them. It was still delicious.

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Lunch today was French bread pizza made with leftover picadillo, quick homemade pizza sauce, and pepper jack plus a little Parmesan cheese.  It seemed like the picadillo should work as a pizza topping, except the raisins didn't seem to go. I forged ahead, and it came out quite well. The raisins were a little odd on pizza but they didn't adversely affect it. I've seen mention of pizza with grapes, so I guess it's a similar thing. Anyway, it was a good use of leftover picadillo.

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I've been planning to make Waldorf salad for months. I get the apples and then never make it.  I have no idea why I keep flaking out on this, as I love Waldorf Salad and it's not exactly hard to make. Today for lunch I finally made made a variation on it (usually I'm a purist): Chicken Waldorf Salad with Toasted Almonds.

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Haven't been here in a while because being hospitalized after a seizure and multiple pulmonary emboli means you nearly died.

But I'm still around as you can see...

Oh, and this was today's lunch:

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Fig and sweet pepper salad with mint and creme fraiche, adapted from "A Recipe For Cooking" by Cal Peternell, page 90

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Spaghetti with clams, caramelized onion and mullet bottarga

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2 hours ago, TrelayneNYC said:

Haven't been here in a while because being hospitalized after a seizure and multiple pulmonary emboli means you nearly died.

But I'm still around as you can see...

OMG!  So sorry to hear that and glad you are on the mend   Your posts are always a treat. 

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We went to Rintaro for lunch.

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Fried chicken wings, sansho pepper and mustard, arugula salad

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Clockwise from center:  prawn, scallop and sea bass tempura with wasabi tartar sauce, cabbage and watermelon radish; Japanese rice; wasabi leaf and Napa cabbage pickles; long-cooked tuna with sansho and yuzu rind; Tokyo turnip with mustard-miso; miso-cured black cod with cucumber; miso soup with eggplant, fu and tofu.

 
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Birthday lunch for six:

Caesar's salad (made tableside, with romaine lettuce, croutons, coddled egg, olive oil, lemon juice, anchovy, cheese, etc.)
Bouilabaisse
Homemade garlic bread
Chocolate dump cake
Christmas pudding with brandied custard sauce
Dark chocolate with orange

Tea, coffee, dessert wines, etc.

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10 hours ago, Pat said:

Had a fairly big snow day lunch:
Avocado toast with scallions, white radish, and pico de gallo
Leftover quinoa chili
Leftover cheese soufflan

Interesting - you lost me at pico de gallo. Did the combination work? I guess avocado is in a lot of Mexican cuisine, but when I think of it on toast, I think of it more with olive oil and sea salt (thanks to Cork Wine Bar).

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2 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Interesting - you lost me at pico de gallo. Did the combination work? I guess avocado is in a lot of Mexican cuisine, but when I think of it on toast, I think of it more with olive oil and sea salt (thanks to Cork Wine Bar).

It did work. The toasts were small, so the amounts of toppings were relatively small too.  It was like salsa on top of guacamole...on toast. 

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 We had lunch on the beach yesterday while watching the Fort Lauderdale air show.

Mini bell peppers halved and stuffed with a salad of diced tomatoes, diced carrots, chopped olives, salami and Parmesan  in a garlic vinaigrette. 

Deviled eggs

St. Andre cheese and crackers

Peaches

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After impulse buying two loaves of Pepperidge Farm cinnamon-raisin bread at Giant on sale, I made a baked French toast casserole for lunch today. It needed something savory, so we had a few strips of bacon and some pan-roasted halved cherry tomatoes with green herb sauce that I've still got leftover from a few days ago.  I scanned some recipes but figured I could improvise something, so it was mostly made up on the spot. I need to write down as much as possible about what I did because it was incredibly good. I used warm spices for autumn (fresh ginger and nutmeg plus ground cloves, and cinnamon), and it smelled heavenly. As I was making it, I almost thought I'd gone too heavy on spices, but it was perfect. I also put some quartered prunes and sliced banana between layers.  I used way less sugar than any recipe I looked at (total of 1/4 cup light brown sugar, not packed, mixed with the spices, scattered on top of each of the internal layers, and 1 Tbsp. mixed with a scant cup of pecan bits plus a little salt, for the top.)

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Yesterday I did a brunch for my Mom and brother's family.  I made waffles, which Mom made a topping with bananas cooked in brown sugar and butter.  I also made bacon, scrambled eggs, and english muffin as one of the boys will eat waffles, the other will eat egg and bread, but not waffle.  We had a successful breakfast were the boys actually ate mostly the meal served to everyone (although I did tailor it somewhat to their tastes).

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2 hours ago, ktmoomau said:

It was good!  A little reminiscent of bananas foster, sweet, but good as a waffle topping!

oh yeah.  I forgot about Bananas Foster.  Sweet, ice creamy and full of liquor.   Thank goodness for New Orleans.

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On 11/5/2018 at 5:21 PM, DaveO said:

oh yeah.  I forgot about Bananas Foster.  Sweet, ice creamy and full of liquor.   Thank goodness for New Orleans.

While I was living in New Orleans, I had an amazing experience in a ball room. After dinner, the hall was dimmed, the bowls of ice cream and bananas served. Then, all of the servers lit the liquor on fire, and here's the best part, tossed it into the air in unison! It was amazingly beautiful. Then it was served and for the life of me I can't remember how good it was b/c my memory is visual. 

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I'm wondering how judgemental this thread is? I see very beautiful lunches for M-F, my lunches are usually embarrassing. Ya'll interested in my sh1**y lunch choices? Today it might be a soup run. I'm having some trouble swallowing and am short of time today. If we are reserving this thread for "fancy lunches" I fully understand. 

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My lunch most days whether at home or at work is a sweet potato, a half can of black beans (well rinsed), and about an ounce of goat cheese. Pretty glamorous! :-)

While I'd love to buy my lunch at work, it would be bad for my wallet and my waistline. Every once in awhile I'll buy my lunch if I'm meeting a friend or if I don't pack for some reason.

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On 11/7/2018 at 8:56 AM, NolaCaine said:

I'm wondering how judgemental this thread is? I see very beautiful lunches for M-F, my lunches are usually embarrassing. Ya'll interested in my sh1**y lunch choices? Today it might be a soup run. I'm having some trouble swallowing and am short of time today. If we are reserving this thread for "fancy lunches" I fully understand. 

I would say since in the what am I eating thread- I got three laughs at admitting I was eating cheetos, you are good!  Yesterday and today I have a slightly glamorous lunch of tamales only because I remembered to pack my lunch from home.  As I just bought groceries and we need to use up the leftovers so I can cook new things!

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Well good ktmoomau. My shitty lunch choice today was pot belly wreck with a side of soupergirl soup. How did I get that combo? I love soup and as I've shared in the soupergirl thread, I love that soup even though its vegan. Here's the thing about food allergies, sometimes the best bet is a chain because you know what you're gonna get, or something certified vegan/kosher because they can't sneak dairy. The soup wasn't that great which is very notable since it was the first and only time I haven't liked a choice. I purchased a few last time I walked over. THey freeze/reheat well, except this one which had whole wheat noodles in it...that was the problem with the soup, just those noodles. 

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Saturday lunch at home.  Salad of Organic Baby Red Butter Lettuce, Radicchio, Mâche Rosettes, Asparagus, Black Radish, Path Valley Farm Eggs, Ortiz Ventresca White Tuna Belly in Olive Oil, Scalia Anchovy Fillets, Vinaigrette of Meyer Lemon, Mural of Flavor, Maille Dijon Mustard + Old Style Mustard and topped with freshly cracked Tellicherry Peppercorns.

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I have been eating the leftover of a large tub of costco waldorf chicken salad the last two/three days for lunch???  I will do something different tomorrow, as I am a little sick of it.  But it is pretty good.  Waldorf isn't my favorite style chicken salad, but it isn't bad.  Today I added apple to add a little more fruit.  Yesterday I had it on some ok sourdough bread with spinach (not quite basic store, but not really good sourdough either). 

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So yesterday, to get back on track of eating a little less meat, I had Campbells corn and poblano soup, with egg strata cups made of egg, spinach, apple, brie and orange cranberry bread.  Today I had costco yakitori noodles (veggies and noodles) to which I added some slow roasted tomatoes and brussel sprouts just to beef up the veggies a bit.  Those slow roasted cherry tomatoes are great on an assortment of things, I will make more of those.  I also had about half the container of soup left from yesterday.  (Tuesday evening I ate vegetarian, so I am doing ok so far this week at my goal.)  

I also went to the gym in my office yesterday and ran for 30 minutes and lifted a few weights.  Oy, that was humiliating, I am so out of shape compared to where I was 6 months ago, oh well the process continues.  

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So no gym this week- ugh gotta do better next week.  

Today I ate soba noodles with asparagus, tomatoes and avocado and a California roll, dark chocolate mini peanut butter cup.  

Yesterday was a turkey sandwich with spinach eaten in frenzied moments and a bag of chips (oops), dark chocolate mini peanut butter cup, and a diet coke (mother .......).

Wednesday was salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, chicken.

Between dinners and lunches I have been reducing my meat intake by a fair amount, and making it more a element and not a main part of a meal, which is one of my many somewhat small goals for the year.  Babysteps...

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I bought some fresh shrimp (1/2 lb., 10 extra large) at Whole Foods yesterday and planned them for lunch today, except I didn't really know what I was going to do with them as lunchtime approached. What I came up with worked pretty well and looked great on the serving plate.

The shrimp simmered briefly in water seasoned with lemon juice, ginger, garlic, kosher salt, and star anise. I peeled and deveined them, returning the shells to the broth to cook a little longer. (Don't know what I'm going to do with it but now I have seafood broth for something.) I heated evoo in a large saute pan and added some ground cumin and dill seed, crushed between my fingers, and bloomed them. I ground (grinded?) on some black pepper and tossed in cilantro stems and chickpeas and cooked until the chickpeas were fragrant and starting to brown. Then the shrimp went in for a quick finish on each side.

I reheated leftover rice pilaf (made with pine nuts) in the microwave and that served as the bed for the rest of the ingredients. I topped it all with chopped cilantro and avocado and served with lime wedges. The seasoning on the shrimp was perfect, though I have no idea how much cumin and dill seed I used.

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18 minutes ago, LauraB said:

Pat, where are you buying pine nuts...i can’t find any that aren’t from China.  Even at Whole Foods.  

 

I found a small pack from Italy at (I think) Giant in Alexandria a while back. At some point I was able to find ones from Turkey, but I haven't seen them in a while. I have bought pine nuts labeled "Russian/Mongolian," but I don't know they they are a whole lot safer because they are from close to the same region as the Chinese ones.

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