Perpetual "What's for Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Today" thread

[Darb]

Hey, I'll have you know I earn very decent off the books income scalping those for upwards of $5 apiece.

It's just good business to create the condition that (very conveniently) only you can sell the official cure for.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

Today was quite warm, 25 C (77 F) and I wasn't in the mood for cooking with heat, except for light brown, crisp toast. Because of the peculiar browning pattern, I think of them as X-Files-toast.



Toast Walkabout
(walkabout in the Australian sense, because you can put on top of a toast just about anything, from aardvark liver to zorille mince)

1. For lunch I had Toast Elementary:



Drape a slice of ham on the toast, to keep anything from soaking into the crisp toast.

Spread a generously thick layer of quark (hence the Elementary) on top of the ham.

Cover the quark with radish slices.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Sprinkle on some gray North Sea shrimp (leftover).

Garnish with diced spring onion (scallion).





No, I didn't forget it, I picked up and ate that last bit of scallion too.

_____________________________________________________________

2. For dinner I had Toast Raft:



Drape a slice of ham on the toast, to keep anything from soaking into the crisp toast.



Cover the ham with slices of hard-boiled egg. Add salt to taste.



Arrange the cooked asparagus (leftover) in a row to look like a raft of tree trunks.
Just before eating, pour on the vinaigrette (mixture of 2 tbsp salad oil, 1 tbsp white wine vinegar, chopped parsley, chopped tarragon, a hint of mashed garlic, salt & pepper to taste).



Bon Appétit!

[MidasKnight]

lol that you think 77°F is too warm to cook.


... also, why is your asparagus white and what is quark?

[Darb]

I am very familiar with white asparagus, but I echo the question regarding WTH is "quark" ... in a culinary (rather than sub-atomic physics) context ?

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

lol that you think 77°F is too warm to cook.

It was 77°F outside. But in my kitchen, with the sun shining in, it was 88°F.

why is your asparagus white?

The white asparagus hasn't seen any light.
http://homecooking.about.com/od/cooking ... easpar.htm
In Belgium white asparagus is in much more widespread demand and use than the green variety.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/30/dinin ... gewanted=1

what is quark?

WTH is "quark" ... in a culinary (rather than sub-atomic physics) context ?

It's a very young soft cheese. Any younger and it would be milk.
In Flanders it is called platte kaas ("flat cheese"), while the Dutch use the name kwark.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quark_%28cheese%29

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

Lacton Quark with Positive Charm and Strong Flavor

For two toasts (my dinner today):

Mix two very generous tablespoons of quark with a heaped tablespoon of brown "Cassonade" sugar.





Let the quark rest in the fridge for half an hour and meanwhile let the fruit reach room temperature.

Spread the quark on the toasts and camouflage it with strawberries and raspberries.



Eat with your fingers, but do put on a bib first.

[voralfred]

This is, in truth, beautyful!

/me: jumping up and down.... how strange!

[KeE]

Today's dinner was grilled, jacketed salmon with potatoes and a cucumber salad.
The salmon turned out very nice, here's what you do: use thick or a double layer of alu. foil, place one slice of salmon skin side down on it, place a thin layer of smoked salmon on top, then herbs (parsley, spring onion, perhaps some slices of chili) and then an other slice of salmon, this time skin side up, and wrap up the package. Use medium heat and bake until just done (the fish "flakes"). You can use deskinned slices as well, but at a risk of getting the underside of the package a bit overcooked, esp. if you use charcoal grills and have less control of the heat.

[Darb]

Kee: I have a similar recipe you might enjoy. My version upscales easily to serve many. This is from memory. . Take a full size boneless skinless salmon fillet. Split in half lengthwise, then reverse one half (aides even cooking). Begin preheating gas grill, closed, on low heat. Prepare seasoned mayo by mixing in some dijon mustard and finemy minced fresh dill. slather generously on topsides of both half fillets. Next, prepare stuffing consisting of sauteed chopped spinach and softened shallots with a little fresh garlic, and then remove from heat and fold in crushed ritz crackers and crumbled feta cheese. Set aside.

Next, prepare a foil pouch by stacking two long pieces of heavy duty extra wide alum foil. Spray center generously with oil. Lay one fillet, mayo side up, lengthwise down center. Add about 2/3 inch thick layer of stuffing atop salmon, then place the other reversed fillet atop it, mayo side down.. Press gently to smooth out fillets , then fold up lenthwise sides of foil together, pinch closed ends and curl upwards. Pour in just over 1 fl oz each of chicken stock and white wine, then roll closed the top edges . Place in preheated gas grill, close lid, and cook on low for roughly 20 mins, or until stuffing reads 120F and flesh is just barely opaque and beginning to flake. Remove from heat, let stand closed 5-10 mins, then open foil and use a spatula to cut and serve it just like lasagna. Drizzle with CPEVO and serve with lemon wedges. If you have a large grill, you can do 2 or 3 pouches at a time, side by side, or a pouch of chopped potatoes with butter oil rosemary salt pepper and shredded shallots with just enough stock and white wine so it doesnt run dry ... awesome).

[Darb]

When I got home this evening, I turned on the slow cooker and dumped in 3 quarts of boiling water, 2 large sides worth of lox skin i'd accumulated in the freezer, along with sauteed onion, celery and parsley. Four hours later I fine strained it, yeilding just under three quarts of lox stock.

I refrigerated most of it, but I scooped off a cup's worth, along with a thin layer of salmon oil, added 1/4 cup of quick grits, cooked it until thickened, then stirred in a dollup of homewhipped lox cream cheese and a splash of milk.

[Darb]

It was so tasty I had the same thing again for breakfast just now.

BTW, I just realized that American style corn grits are the American analog of Southeast Asian rice congee. That's my cross-cultural culinary metaphor of the day.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

A quark with fishy flavor.

Between halfway May and halfway July is the season for "Hollandse nieuwe" (Hollandic New), also called maatjesharing (virginal herring) or maatjes for short (matjes in German).
This year the season for these sexually immature but fat (16%) herrings started unusually late. But today I found and bought Norwegian maatjes, YUMMY!, in my local supermarket.

There are several ways to eat maatjes (always cold and raw), but here's one of my two preferred recipes (the other is the herring sandwich with lots of chopped onion, and also garnished with slices of boiled egg and tomato, and some lettuce).

The German Matjes Hausfrauenart (Matjes Herring Housewife Style)
(serves a generous entrée for 4)

Whip 200 ml cream to a very viscous consistency,



Add 200 g quark,
Salt & pepper,
1 tblsp dill,
1 tblsp chopped parsley,
1 tblsp chopped chives,
1 tblsp chopped spring onion (for crunchyness),
Mix thoroughly,



Peel and dice 1 firm, tart apple, stir it in gently,



Remove the remaining tail bone and fin from 4 maatjes to obtain 8 fillets,



Cut into strips and gently stir in,



Put in the refrigerator for 1 hour to let the flavors partially mix,
Adjust salt & pepper and/or add other spices to your taste.



This simple recipe produces delicious mixed poetry of fish and fruit ...

[Darb]

MMmmmmmmm ... my kinda recipe. Interesting use of apple for crunch and tartness, instead of the classic pairing of onion and white vinegar with soured cream.

I only wish I could reliably get fresh herring.

I can sometimes get mackerel ... may have to try it with that instead.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

Dutch welcome start of herring season..........

Hollandse Nieuwe has two distinctive features.
1. Kaken (untranslatable verb) is the Dutch method to (shipboard) preparation of the freshly caught immature herring, whereby the meat is ripened.
It is doubtful whether the method is suitable for mackerel or other fish, or it would have been common long since.

2. To kill the often occurring herring-worm parasite, the young herring is deep frozen (-49 F) and then thawed to 41 F just before being sold and consumed.
Since thawing can be postponed, a supply can easily be shipped to the US. Surely there must be some import, considering the number of Dutch and German Americans.

I've recently discovered some fine matjes herring in the refrigerated section of Zabar's in NYC

I ended up finding fresh Matjes at Lehr's,
a great little German store in Noe Valley
- and perfect resource for all other Herringsalad ingredients, as well:
pickled beets, lingonberries, conrnichons ...
* Lehr's German Specialties
1581 Church St, San Francisco, CA

Try here
Also have a look here

Herring farts, nor a red herring, but a false alarm, fortunately.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the Swedish hunted mysterious submarines. The Swedish-Russian relationship remained very tense because the Swedish regularly sensed underwater submarines that they could not find. When the East Block fell apart and the noise continued, studies proved that the noise was farts made by herring. The fish release gas from their swimming bladders and the sound is intensified at greater depths.

[Darb]

Ahhh, -49F is also called sterile flash-hyperfreezing, which kills cooties but preserves the texture of the flesh (since ice crystals for fast instead of slowly, cell rupture is minimized and the flesh doesnt get mushy. The japanese use the same technique for tuna and a variety of coastal fish that are otherwise high in parasites.

BTW, that's why you should only buy sushi from a sushi chef, because they know to verify this sort of thing as part of their sourcing, whereas untrained seafood counter slop jockies do not know or care.

[Darb]

Dinner tonite was going to be some boneless skinless tandoori-marinated grilled chicken thighs, but upon opening the package I discovered the meat turning well in advance of the expiration date, so I returned it for store credit and got flank steak instead. Instead of my usual bourbon-teriyaki-lime marinade (search it in favorite grilling thread) i made a few tweaks. In about an hour, I'll do a large foil pouch of veg & potato medley, followed by the steak. Should be enough to last a few days.

[Darb]

Dinner tonite:

Thinly sliced cold leftover grilled marinated flank steak (med-rare), fanned out atop mung bean sprouts lightly dressed with a little fish sauce, dark sesame oil, rice vinegar and simple syrup. Site was some freshly shelled peas, sweated in a little sweet butter, thyme, pepper, and a splash of sake. Dessert was a ripe plantain with whipped plain lowfat yogurt (into which I stirred a little local honey), and a homemade oatmeal raisin bar cookie (very old family recipe).

Dunno if my wife will partake (she's less culinarily adventurous than I), but lunch tomorrow will involve firing up my outdoor griddle, and doing some seared veal liver, caramelized onions chilies and potatoes, and a side salad of fresh radish greens, and the fresh radishes themselves (raw, dabbed with a little sweet butter).

I'll try to remember to take a photo.

Oh, and I also have 3 packages of pig trotters in my freezer now, waiting for some love from my slow cooker.

[Darb]

Here we have a pic of liver (veal) and onions, about 2/3 done.

The liver was just patted dry, dusted with corn starch, and seared on a lubricated hot cast iron griddle plate until crusty rare, then moved to a cooler area (which is when I took this photo) to drift to perfect med/med-well doneness while I finished the onions. Savory on the outside, and sweet and juicy on the inside, with only a faint trace of pink.

The onions were sliced medium, and tossed together with 1/4" thick slices of potato and some chopped deseeded red chilies with a little olive oil and salt, and then seared on the griddle until translucent, then (right after this photo) I piled them up, inverted a steel work bowl over them, and added a splash of sake underneath and lowered the bowl and let them sweat, until they were cooked through, moist, and well caramelized (about 5 mins).



I'd have taken a picture after it was fully done, but I was STARVING.

[Darb]

Earlier today, I'd also made a late morning snack of freshly picked spring radishes, and a small salad of radish greens and cilantro (both leaves and tender stems) dressed with a balsamic-dijon vinegarette.

Fresh radishes (not the tiny denuded bagged ones you buy iin a supermarket, for the privilege of using for decoration and subsequent disposal) are a newly discovered treat for me. I like the sharp crisp flavor, and bitter edginess ... I leave them whole, and dab on a little sweet butter for each bite. A medium radish is about 3 bites, and has a brighter flavor than the lifeless too-long-out-of-the-ground variety.

The leaves had an edgy flavor and toothsome texture that had hints of mustard greens, shiso, and a faint trace of kale. The lighter, sweeter and jucier cilantro (esp the stems) is a good balance, and helps lighten the impact.

Sorry ... no pics.

[MidasKnight]

Liver is one of those things (like catfish) that I have tried several times in different ways (different livers as well) and I just can't seem to like them.

Yours looks fantastic, but I know if I take a bite it will still be liver.

I get a little frustrated when I've tried and tried and simply don't like something.

meh.

Anything you are like that with Brad?

[Darb]

As long as it's prepared well, there's very little that I consistently dislike.

[Darb]

Breakfast was a fresh hot tamale, and a tin of smoked sardines, from a local bodega.

Lunch was some homemade tuna salad, and some hummus, dabbed into endive leaves, and half a plantain.

Dinner will be assorted leftovers that need using up (blackened tilapia, and leftover orzo with a fresh herb pesto), and I plan to put a dent in a fresh growler jug of Captain Lawrence Captain's Kolsch Ale.

Lunch tomorrow with be griddle-seared bluefish with mustard oil, griddled urd dhal patties, and fresh greenbeans (raw).

Dinner tomorrow will probably involve putting a dent in a large bag of fresh spinach ... havent decided yet whether to do salad, saute, or soup.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

Blue Mussels as Amuse-Gueule

I was awfully lusting for blue mussels (Mytilus Edulis). But the mussel season of famous Yerseke, here Yerseke Mussel Day(Flash Player required), is not yet (only end of July to March). Fortunately my local supermarket offers mussel meat, i.e. cooked mussels without their shells, cultured in and imported from Chile.
First I gave them a sort of Brazilian wax treatment by removing both the beards and the mustaches.



Then I put a layer of lemon slices in the bottom of a Tupperware-like recipient, dumped in all the mussels and drowned them with a mixture of 1/3 white wine vinager, 2/3 water, salt & pepper to taste and a soupçon of both dill and parsley. Finally I covered the lot with another layer of lemon slices and squeezed in the rest of the lemon.



With an airtight cover, the mussels will keep for several weeks in the fridge.



If they last that long. Like pickled onions, they seem to go very well with spirited and/or spicy drinks like Slivovitz, Mezcal and Bloody Mary. They also seem to draw attention during your middle-of-the-night foraging expeditions to the kitchen.

[Darb]

Mmmmm ... I adore all things bivalve.

Lemme see if I can find a pic of my white clam sauce ...

Clams in WW Garlic Sauce on Grill2.jpg

And here's the caption from my album:

Clams in W.Wine Garlic Sauce

What to do with a windfall of several dozen middle neck and little neck clams ? In this instance, I decided to make white clam sauce. It was too hot to cook indoors, so I opted to use my outdoor gas grill. While the grill pre-heated, I washed the clams, minced up a med yellow onion and half a head of garlic, and got ready to cook. Opening the grill, I popped in an empty foil half-pan, and then sweated the minced onion and garlic until tender in a mix of olive oil and butter. Then, I dumped in the clams, along with a small splash of white wine, inverted a 2nd half pan over them, closed the grill, and grill-braised them over high heat for 8-10 mins (briefly peeking and shaking periodically) until all the clams had opened. Then, using tongs and the tip of a knife, I detached any clinging meats and then removed all the empty shells (at the time of the photo, I'd only removed half). Next, I decanting the sauce & clam meats off the sediment into a sauce pan, and then finished it with parsley and white pepper, and a touch of thinned corn starch.

Fresh garlic crostini (see the highlight photo of the culinary section) would have been better, but since I didn't have any good bread handy, and since it was too hot to cook pasta, I simply served the clam sauce over some leftover rice, with some freshly grated parm.

I've had a growing craving for clams over the past few days, so I'll have to make this recipe sometime in the next day or two. Meanwhile, sometime tomorrow, I'll try to post pics of the bluefish I made earlier today.

[Darb]

Here we have the skin-on boneless fillets (and collars) I cut from a 6lb bluefish. They're oiled, and seasoned, and ready for a trip to my cast iron flattop. Note how I portioned the fillets, and cut a shallow gash in skin to prevent curling. The tail sections of both fillets are not shown ... I skinned and froze those, for other use.



I cooked them by placing them on a pre-heated cast iron flat-top, and then inverting a half-pan over them, until they were just barely opaque in the center and just beginning to flake (125F). Only the skin sides of the fillets touched the griddle, which yeilded skin that was nice and crispy. As with any fish, the trick is to not overcook it.



I normally only cook salmon collars, but these were meaty enough that I gave them a whirl, and was not disappointed. Crispy skin, succulent flesh ... excellent. What a crime that here in the States, fish collars (or "wings") are invariably thrown out (or used for fish stock), rather than cooked and savored like they deserve.