Lunch 2022

People hate roe or lamb liver? Huh. More for us, I guess :wink:

Yukon gold and Swiss chard gratin…plate licking good! I saw a picture of this gratin at the NYT, but, I did it my way😊. I made a bechamel with garlic, bay and thyme, sliced in the potatoes with a mandolin and let cook until about 3/4 ‘s of the way done. The chard was zapped in the micro between damp paper towels for a couple of minutes, then sautéed. Assembly was a layer of potatoes, grated Asiago, chard, cheese, more potatoes, topped with Comté. Baked for about 20 minutes until browned and potatoes tested done. The interior was creamy.


This would make a lovely accompaniment to grilled chicken or sausages.

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That looks fabulous and might even make me tolerate the Swiss chard :smiley: The taters & cheese make up for it.

My second one will be spinach/taters…does that sound any better?:joy:

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Absolutely. I adore spinach (unless it’s raw), but I can’t get into chard or beet greens :woman_shrugging:t3:

You don’t like Mangold :sweat: :leafy_green: I love chard. But I’d make you something else.

Liver is my top offal. Eat it all the time (lamb’s, calf’s and sometimes pig’s). Cooked like a steak (med. rare).

I am a roe fiend!

I bought a huge “bouquet “ of spinach at the Farmers Mkt. this morning along with Tuscan kale, but I think the spinach will be more pleasing in the gratin.

I love offal — not sure I could choose a fave, tho: liver, heart, sweetbreads, brains for sure… I used to love veal kidneys but had a rather unpleasant experience with them at a German restaurant a few years ago. My mother made them regularly when I was a kid.

Beet greens and chard can ruin a perfectly wonderful salad for me, but I can’t quite put my finger on what turns me off of them, flavor wise :woman_shrugging:t3:

More for y’all :wink:

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Looks wonderful! So did you remove half the potatoes from the pan with the béchamel before layering?

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I just scooped out about half to generously cover the bottom of the pan, followed by coarsely grated cheese, etc. For the bechamel for that quantity, I used 2T evoo, 2T flour and about 1 3/4 c milk, garlic, sprig of thyme, bay leaf.The chard was a large bunch from the FM, I also forgot to add the small diced stems to the gratin so I sprinkled some vinaigrette over them and added them to our salad. It was rainbow chard so it looked very pretty.

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I used two large-ish Yukon Golds, they held their shape well and did not deteriorate.

Didn’t feel like the usual breakfast at home, so ventured out to a Viet tapas place nearby. It was ok.

Split the sum, banh uot, banh xeo, and a small beef phô. Bonus pic of the very cool chandelier.





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Never had “good” Vietnamese in Germany but I’d still try the rice sheets filled with mince.

For Vietnamese I have to go to Brussels or France.

Yah, I’ve only had very mediocre Viet in Berlin. But TBH, I much prefer Thai over Viet, and there’s very good Thai food to be had around here :slight_smile:

As for the banh xeo – they reminded me of one of my favorite dim sum to order, ha cheung… which I also prefer over the Viet version :smiley:

I think Thai are fast surpassing Vietnamese in number. In many small towns in Germany nowadays there’s at least one Thai restaurant!

Have eaten Thai in Düsseldorf and some other big cities before. One day I want to eat only Japanese for a few days in Düsseldorf.

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Considering a lot of sushi and Thai and fusion places here are actually run by Vietnamese, I’m surprised it’s not possible to get good phô around here.

Berlin does have a pretty large Thai community, too, and their food is about as close to what you’ll get in Thailand proper.

Yeah, I noticed. Asian supermarkets or shops that sell Asian foodstuffs are almost always run/owned by Vietnamese. Also, most of the Vietnamese are from the north. North Vietnamese food is tasty, too.

I like both cuisines and have been lucky to have visited to both countries. I don’t think Vietnamese food in Germany is a good example of the cuisine.

Eating in Vietnam is a fantastic experience. And the same in Thailand, of course.

A bowl of Pho costs next to nothing.

Pho restaurant a few doors from my lodging in Ha Noi. Restaurant has run by the same family for generations.

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Oh, for sure. Bourdain returned to Vietnam again and again, and I trust his judgment. From what I’ve had available to me in both the US and Germany, it simply hasn’t made me crave it as much as I crave Thai or Sichuan food, both of which I’ve had the pleasure to enjoy in a pretty authentic way.

Maybe it’s just me. I’m also not crazy about most of the Korean food(s) I’ve tried (save for kimchi), as I find it two-dimensional for the most part – salty & sweet.

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I like them all :rofl: :chopsticks: (<— now if I could use these properly instead of spearing the food with them)

All this Asian food talk makes me miss eating in Asian countries!

Thank you for going to France, Italy, Australia etc!

My top 2 dishes to eat in Taiwan: boiled goose and clams with basil

Yonaguni island, Okinawa.

Gorgeous, sophisticated traditional Buddhist cuisine in Japan

My top 2 things to eat in Hong Kong: roasted meats and dim sum

At Ling Heung in Central. Always my first meal in Hong Kong.

I like Korean food, too. Especially simple meals like these:

OK, how do I go to Asia asap? Unfortunately I have no Asia holiday planned for the next 12 months. Am waiting for certain Asian countries to scrap “Covid insurance” and other hindrances.

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Braised pork and shrimp meatballs while the sauce was still reducing. To go with rice and stir-fried chayote squash.

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