Anna N

This week, Lemongrass (the restaurant), lost out again. Though we had business in Hamilton, we decided that a change was always good. We turned to Siri for recommendations. When he/she/they (Kerry’s digital PA is vocally female and mine is male) suggested Earth to Table, Kerry recalled that it had been recommended by someone she knew. We checked the menu and decided that it sounded like a good option. After we wandered through a few thrift stores, we headed over to Locke Street and lunch. We both immediately noticed two unfortunate things. The chairs dug into the underside of our thighs and the chair backs were so ramrod straight they threatened to shave millimetres from our age-compromised vertebrae if we overstayed our welcome. And the tables were crammed so closely together that when the neighbouring table received their quinoa burgers we could count the endosperm. No matter. We were here to enjoy lunch and enjoy lunch we would. We were given a warm welcome and our server placed a carafe of water and two glasses on the table. But again I was faced with two questions, both quite philosophical. The carafe weighed at least a few kilograms. I prefer to conserve my strength to wield my cutlery. No worries. After we each poured a glass, thus lightening the carafe considerably, a server would pop up out of thin air every few minutes and pour more water into our glasses. I detected a level of redundancy here. The restaurant had an interesting beer list drawing mostly from local breweries. I opted for a half pint of the Fairweather Rotational Tap. It was a lovely refreshing hoppy beer. But when we visited the brewery after lunch for some to take home, the staff could not identify it. They suggested that it was merely the restaurant’s daily offering of draft beer. But if you look at the restaurant’s menu you will see it is offered both in bottles and as a specific choice of a draft beer. It’s a puzzlement. Or perhaps my understanding of a rotational beer (a beer brewed in small quantities to allow rotation of many different beers) differs from theirs. It’s comforting to think we all speak the same language. A beer by any other name... Grilled octopus with potatoes, yogurt, chilies, lemon olive oil, and smoked paprika. This was definitely the most tender, the most succulent octopus I have ever eaten. Kerry suggested it was probably cooked sous vide before being grilled and I have to concur. We should have asked but it slipped our minds. Loaded fries. Today these came with what was called green goddess dressing and cheddar cheese. There really is nothing wrong with the lighting in the photograph. It’s the green that seems to be missing. Nevertheless these were moreish and we finished every last one. The Butcher’s Board which is described as fine cheese, pickles and cured meats, before we burrowed beneath the bread. The same board after excavation. There is no evidence here of any fine cheese. The only offering is a blue of questionable parentage and even more questionable presentation. We made fairly good inroads into the meat selection. As always we thoroughly enjoyed our lunch. I don’t expect this particular restaurant will show up on our rotation more than once a decade and I don’t expect it will last quite that long. We have been in that same building when it was a completely different restaurant. But for now it seems to be the in place to go for the ladies who lunch. The ladies outnumbered any other sex by quite a large percentage.

In Japan, “eating all your rice” doesn’t mean eat all of the big chunks of rice and leave behind the few grains you can’t quite get with your chopsticks; it means eat every last grain. This is emphasized by a saying often told to children (and unknowing foreigners), “Every grain of rice has seven fortune gods,” so you better not disrespect them by not eating them all! Hmmm

It is nothing more than two parts mayonnaise to one part undrained kimchi. Put them into a food processor and run until combined and creamy. Your choice as to how much texture you like. It is adapted from the book “Vedge” which uses vegan mayonnaise and a vegan kimchi.

Proof that I am not altogether altruistic. Thick and chewy oatmeal cookies because that’s what I wanted! This is a Smitten Kitchen recipe. If you take a close look at the middle front cookie, its furthest edge over to the right, you can see that it is obviously well caramelized. Two of these cookies developed that same caramelization as they spread out into a wonderfully thin and lacy doily resembling a brandy snap. Despite that the appeal of these cookies is supposed to be that they are thick and chewy, I wolfed down those two. Just saying.

Gluten-free buttertart bars for someone who chooses to be gluten-free and therefore was no challenge as far as contamination is concerned. This was the first time that I used Bob’s Red Mill Cup 4 Cup flour mixture. I think you could use cardboard as the base for buttertart squares and no one would really notice any difference in taste. I did notice some difference in texture. Since gluten development is not wanted in this kind of shortbread crust I think gluten-free flours can probably escape detection except by the most discerning.

Bear with me. I will get there. There are many ways in which Kerry and I decide where we shall have lunch. Today, it went this way. Kerry showed up at my house and we spent a few minutes just catching up. Kerry outlined the errands she needed to accomplish and I said that I needed my weekly lottery tickets. All of these things could be accomplished without venturing much further than Burlington. We quickly came around to the major question of the day, “Where shall we have lunch?” Kerry suggested Lemongrass, a favourite, but I noted that it’s a little far from Burlington and perhaps we should consider something closer. Kerry pointed out that we could get to the restaurant easily using the Red Hill Highway. And that is where we went off the rails. You see the Red Hill Highway was in the news headlines locally this morning. And that is about all it takes to send Kerry and me down the rabbit hole chasing one another. By the time we emerged into daylight again we both knew all too much about the Red Hill Highway What has this to do with lunch you ask? Not much really except that we might have stayed down the rabbit hole and missed lunch! Somehow we climbed back out of that rabbit hole and left the house. Once in the car I checked my list of restaurants that we want to try and suggested that we stay in Burlington and check out Barque—The Refined BBQ Company. Kerry quite enjoys a barbecue (as understood by our American friends). I am not so much of a fan but assured Kerry that I could cosy up to some ribs. And the icing on the cake – – it would be something new to tell you about. So our lunch plans had solidified nicely. We accomplished our errands and still had time to wander through two thrift stores. At noon we headed towards our chosen restaurant. Foiled. The place is closed. Done. Kaput. No more. Damn. We should have done as Kerry suggested and taken the Red Hill, not down the Google rabbit hole, but over to Lemongrass. Right next-door to the no-longer-operational Barque is another favourite, Sakai. There we received a warm welcome and quickly got over our disappointment (although I could practically taste those smoky ribs). We both toyed with lunch and dinner menus and then Kerry suggested that we just order appetizers. I am always a fan of that. Warm sake for me. Tea for Kerry. Beef sashimi. Rock shrimp. These are so good. They are cooked to perfection. Very unusual in a restaurant. Most restaurants tend to over cook shrimp. Takoyaki. Not quite up to the standards of Kenzo. These are a little short on the condiments and not quite as creamy as those at Kenzo but we managed to polish them off nevertheless. Seafood okonomiyaki. Shrimp and vegetable tempura. By the time I had finished, all thoughts of ribs had vanished. If I had not already bored you to tears getting you this far I could bore you to tears talking about our “nazi” server who was taking great pleasure in training a new server. 😂

Wish I had thought of that.

Thanks. They are OK but they don’t call out to me as much as some cookies do. Right now I wish I had a thick and chewy oatmeal raisin cookie.

There is definitely a similarity. This was the recipe I used more or less. I just chose a selection of nuts from my freezer and I had no cream so used couple of tablespoons of milk. I think it could’ve just been left out altogether. Next time I think I would toast the nuts briefly.

Honey nut bars.

Thanks for sharing this story. I have frequently run into greenhorn check-out clerks here who, when presented with something like kohlrabi, plead with innocent eyes for a clue. But when I am presented with the range of vegetables in an Asian store, the tables are turned. Rarely are they displayed with English labels. Have you cooked these roots yet? Are they something that you will seek out in the future? Can you relate the taste to anything I might recognize?

But even my Zojirushi rice cooker has a water level setting for sushi rice. I think the fight for a differentiation between raw short grain rice and cooked rice seasoned for sushi was lost a long time ago. Edited to fix along

I ate at one of his restaurants.

Vinegar and thumps.

Hmmm. I have never seen raw prawns curl selves into such perfect little commas. Commas that are not too loose and not too tight. Goldilocks’ commas. Commas that indicate to me perfectly cooked prawns.

I have not been there for a while as the last couple of books that I did follow struck me as just too incongruous to be paired. I cannot remember which they were. But perhaps I should go back and afford the premise a second chance.

And these really danced! I think they were all wearing tutus.

This most definitely calls for a video so one can more easily grasp the consistency one is aiming for at each step. After reading the recipe I’m impressed with your fearlessness. For now, though, I think I will stick with much easier coconut macaroons.

I asked because your dish looked interesting and there are times when there is not very darn much in this house to make a sauce with. With so few ingredients I could manage it quite well. It belongs in my “what to eat when there’s nothing to eat” list. Thank you.

I am guessing from looking at your dish that you made a simple sauce perhaps from the oil/butter/fat that you cooked the prawns in?

Don’t take all the sport out of it.

I like living on the edge and at my stage of life living without a spare CSO is as edgy as it gets.🙂

Yesterday, @Kerry Bealand I found ourselves too near to Kenzo to resist the siren call of good ramen. Takoyaki. King shoyu ramen for Kerry. Tonkotsu ramen for me.

You are not to blame. It wasn’t you who provided the link to Amazon! Nor is it you who has this strange character trait. There are some things that attract me only so long as I cannot have them.

That, too.