The Ladies Who Lunch (Part 3)

[rotuts]

apparently :

 

https://www.closetcooking.com/rachel-sandwich-aka-roast-turkey-reuben/

 

 

[Katie Meadow]

My mother ate one and only one sandwich when she was out at a deli. Turkey, ham, coleslaw and russian dressing on rye.  We called it the Natalie. The bread was not toasted. There was never any swiss cheese within a mile of this sandwich. 

[Kim Shook]

On 8/26/2020 at 7:34 AM, rotuts said:

apparently :

 

https://www.closetcooking.com/rachel-sandwich-aka-roast-turkey-reuben/

 

 

It seems to be all over the place now, but when I came to Richmond VA to go to college from the Washington DC area (1978), I noticed it on menus for the first time.  My friends and i pratically lived at a deli in Alexandria and they certainly didn't have it.  

[shain]

A small "restaurant", open only on Fridays, serving Ethiopian food at backyard of the lovely owner. No menu. You are set with a plate of injeras, and an array of stews and sauces, all vegetarian.

The owner was incredibly kind, she makes everything herself, with the help of one assistant. As you can see, the garden is quite large and dinners are seated at a few sparse tables. She will occasionally check on us, serving more injera and stews.

The injeras are delicious, amazingly fluffy yet has a nice bite, and are quite thick. They were on the mild side of the acidity-fermentation scale. I came to love the fermented flavor, so i could do with more, but I can see how some find it unpleasant. The stews were gently spiced, again, probably a bit tuned down on spice for the common palate, but were tasty nonetheless. A stew of split peas, one of lentils, one of chickpea flour, beetroot, sweet pumpkin and carrots, home made fresh cheese- whipped with a milky taste. A very spicy green chili paste, with spices, herbs, lemon zest and juice. And the most delicious sauce of dried chilies, ginger, garlic, sesame paste and warm berbere spice.

To finish the meal, they served coffee flavored with cloves, and a unique dabo bread, made mostly of whole barley and spelt, with some wheat and other grains, flavored with cinnamon, clove, fenugreek, nigella, and lightly sweetened with honey. It is boldly baked in a closed container, giving it a distinct aroma. The interior is a bit like a pumpernickel (the kind made with whole rye grains).

We had some leftover injera, which we asked to be packed. They were so kind as to not only bag it, but also give us two whole injeras and another "mini" dabo bread.

When I asked for the recipe for the red chili sauce, I had to stop the owner from giving us a a box of it as well.

 

 

 

 

 

[Anna N]

18 hours ago, shain said:

A small "restaurant", open only on Fridays, serving Ethiopian food at backyard of the lovely owner.

I can’t tell you how incredibly jealous I am. @Kerry Bealand I had a very similar experience although not outdoors. Unfortunately it is not a cusine that lends itself to take-out and at the moment we are pretty much compelled to avoid indoor restaurant dining. 

Yesterday morning Kerry asked me to figure out what she should bring for lunch. After spending almost 2 hours trawling a Google list of Hamilton restaurants, I found nothing suitable.Either the hours were off or the restaurant was temporarily closed or the food didn’t lend itself well to travelling the half hour or so it would take Kerry to get from Hamilton (where she was working on Friday) to my house. So I turn to one of our favourite Oakville places, Vietnamese food in Oakville B’s Bahn Mi.
 

They offered two Friday specials —beef pho or beef stew. I asked for the beef stew and Kerry chose something off the regular menu, the “Savory Saigon” Grilled Chicken banh mi. 
 

 

The Vietnamese beef stew and it’s carry out container. The Vietnamese beef stew and it’s carry out container. 
 

 

Served up with a banh mi bun. (Is that a little like saying naan bread?). The stew was redolent with the aroma of star anise and the beef was still on the bone!  This would have made for a challenging experience in a restaurant!  Due to a misunderstanding, I ended up with rice, potatoes and bread. The bread was meant for dipping but the rice had basically soaked up all of the gravy..

 

Kerry’s sandwich. 

 

 

 

[KennethT]

@Anna N was the beef stew called bo kho? When we were in Saigon, our hotel had a choice of 3 or 4 Viet dishes in the breakfast selections (out of like 15 choices) included in our room rate. After trying their pho and bun bo hue, we settled on getting their bo kho every day - but what made it so great was the banh mi they served with it for dipping. After the first couple of days we requested it with only a little meat and lots of the sauce and an extra banh mi!!!

[Anna N]

4 hours ago, KennethT said:

@Anna N was the beef stew called bo kho? When we were in Saigon, our hotel had a choice of 3 or 4 Viet dishes in the breakfast selections (out of like 15 choices) included in our room rate. After trying their pho and bun bo hue, we settled on getting their bo kho every day - but what made it so great was the banh mi they served with it for dipping. After the first couple of days we requested it with only a little meat and lots of the sauce and an extra banh mi!!!

 

It was indeed. I would really have enjoyed it had there been enough sauce to dip my bahn mi. Out of curiosity,how did you handle the meat on the bones? What I had was certainly not falling-off-the-bone tender. I was with a good friend so had a little difficulty getting right in there with my fingers when needed to hold the rather large pieces of bone and knaw away. Not something I would be likely to do in public or among strangers. 

[heidih]

53 minutes ago, Anna N said:

It was indeed. I would really have enjoyed it had there been enough sauce to dip my bahn mi. Out of curiosity,how did you handle the meat on the bones? What I had was certainly not falling-off-the-bone tender. I was with a good friend so had a little difficulty getting right in there with my fingers when needed to hold the rather large pieces of bone and knaw away. Not something I would be likely to do in public or among strangers. 

 

Well you are not in Asia where that would not be an issue

[kayb]

I cannot help but be reminded of an evening when I took a Japanese delegation to a local rib joint. After some initial hesitation, they fell into holding rib bones and gnawing. It was fun. Not to mention the final bill included 27 pitchers of beer. (I think there were 18 of us, all told.)

 

[KennethT]

2 hours ago, Anna N said:

 

 

It was indeed. I would really have enjoyed it had there been enough sauce to dip my bahn mi. Out of curiosity,how did you handle the meat on the bones? What I had was certainly not falling-off-the-bone tender. I was with a good friend so had a little difficulty getting right in there with my fingers when needed to hold the rather large pieces of bone and knaw away. Not something I would be likely to do in public or among strangers. 

I posted this a long time ago. In the version we had there was no rice - it was just meat and sauce with banh mi on the side along with some herbs on the side. I don't know if this was traditional but they used osso buco for the meat so there weren't a lot of bones to deal with.

[Anna N]

9 minutes ago, KennethT said:

I don't know if this was traditional but they used osso buco for the meat so there weren't a lot of bones to deal with.

I suspect I was dealing with neckbones. 

[Anna N]

Today I really felt how very different it is to have takeout versus dining in a restaurant. @Kerry Bealbrought lunch to my house today from our favourite Indian restaurant, Bombay Grill. The food was almost indistinguishable from what we get in the restaurant but I missed the warmth and the aromas and just the plain old ambiance of the restaurant - not to mention their selection of Indian beers!  
 

 

My plate. 
 

 

Kerry’s plate. 
 

Paneer pakoras with a minty sauce. 
 

 

Butter chicken.

 

 

Lamb korma.

 

 

Basmati rice.

 

 

onion bhaji. Sorry it’s a bit blurry.

 

 

Their amazing naan. 
 

Not shown is the beer from my fridge. It was wet and cold.

 

Lots of leftovers. 

[rotuts]

@Anna N

 

""   warmth and the aromas ""

 

indeed.  I miss Indian food in restaurants a lot

 

and ThaiNoodle's duck w green peppercorns.

 

I(m planing a Lightning Strike at TJ's next week

 

I hope I remember to get some of their Fz Indian , and Fz Naan

 

cant make up for a good Indian Restaurant in-Situ 

 

but we live in challenging times.

 

as I recall , you never found this beer

 

 

in the GTA ?   hope you get a frosty glass of this at some point

 

and report back.

Edited September 12, 2020 by rotuts (log)

[heidih]

Wow a feast. I was most drawn to the 2 ceramic? sauce bowls .

[Anna N]

After haircuts and other errands, @Kerry Bealand I stopped to pick up some lunch at one of our favourite Thai restaurants.

 

tamarind chicken curry in front and Siamese beef in the rear. 

 

 

The best calamari in the the GTA (greater Toronto Area).

 

 

 

Sticky rice with mango.

My plate. Clockwise from bottom left:  Dipping sauce for calamari, rice with vegetables, Siamese beef, crispy calamari, tamarind chicken curry, dipping sauce for Siamese beef. 

 

Kerry’s plate. 
 

 

Kerry’s portion of sticky rice and mango. Mine still waits for me in the refrigerator!

 

 

 

[Anna N]

It is a good thing that both @Kerry Bealand I enjoy the food from my local Vietnamese joint. With COVID-19 restrictions our choices have been somewhat circumscribed to say the least. So bear with us if we seem to be a bit repetitive in our choices.

 

Kerry managed to carve a couple of hours out of her very busy work week to grab some lunch and bring it over to my house to relieve my lock down boredom. 
 

We each ordered a Bahn mi and the delightful  restaurant owner clearly took the important step of identifying which was which!

 

Banh mi carefully wrapped and labelled. 
 

 

Kerry’s “Triple B Meatball” banh mi. Described in the menu as homemade juicy pork meatballs with fresh basil.

 

 

In cross section. (Knowing that she could never eat all of this, Kerry sliced it in half I can enjoy the other half later!)

 

 

I briefly debated ordering something different on this occasion but could not get my head to consider anything other than my favourite “The Grilled Pork Wreck”. I was able to eat less than half of this so again I have food for later.

[KennethT]

@Anna NDo the meatballs have the chopped basil mixed in?  I assume that's Thai basil, right?

[Anna N]

9 hours ago, KennethT said:

@Anna NDo the meatballs have the chopped basil mixed in?  I assume that's Thai basil, right?

Over to you @Kerry Beal.

[Kerry Beal]

12 hours ago, KennethT said:

@Anna NDo the meatballs have the chopped basil mixed in?  I assume that's Thai basil, right?

Not sure of that. 

[Anna N]

Today, @Kerry Bealpicked up lunch from a Korean restaurant, The Owl of Minerva. 
 

 

We shared the eggroll. 

 

 

I had the pork bone soup with some rice and banchan (pickled cucumber).

 

 

Kerry enjoyed the kimchi soup. 
 

I have never understood why a Korean restaurant is called The Owl  of Minerva. Even after a little bit of digging I still don’t understand but I will share with you this from the Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy:

 

A traditional symbol of wisdom, most famously invoked in Hegel's remark at the end of the Preface to the Philosophy of Right: ‘when philosophy paints its grey in grey, then has a shape of life grown old. The owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the coming of the dusk.’ Hegel means that the kinds of self-conscious reflection making up philosophy can occur only when a way of life is sufficiently mature to be already passing, but the doctrine neglects the fact that selfconsciousness and reflection co-exist with activity. For example, an active social and political movement will co-exist with reflection on the categories within which it frames its position.

 

uh?

 

 

 

Edited October 17, 2020 by Anna N
Typoa & other careless mistakes. (log)

[teonzo]

13 hours ago, Anna N said:

I have never understood why a Korean restaurant is called The Owl  of Minerva.

 

Many people in Italy think that renaming a restaurant will bring bad luck, just like renaming a boat. So when they buy an existing restaurant they keep the same name. Maybe there are Koreans with the same superstition.

 

 

 

Teo

 

[Anna N]

2 hours ago, teonzo said:

 

Many people in Italy think that renaming a restaurant will bring bad luck, just like renaming a boat. So when they buy an existing restaurant they keep the same name. Maybe there are Koreans with the same superstition.

 

 

 

Teo

 

More here on the name of the restaurant. Click.  I’m still not very convinced.

[liuzhou]

On 9/5/2020 at 8:10 PM, Anna N said:

Served up with a banh mi bun. (Is that a little like saying naan bread?).

 

Yes. 😂 But we know what you mean! Sorry, I just woke up!

Edited October 18, 2020 by liuzhou (log)

[Duvel]

18 hours ago, teonzo said:

 

Many people in Italy think that renaming a restaurant will bring bad luck, just like renaming a boat. So when they buy an existing restaurant they keep the same name. Maybe there are Koreans with the same superstition.

 

 

 

Teo

 

There used to be a Chinese takeaway in my hometown called “Alte Linde” (“Old linden tree”), because it occupied the half-timbered house a German restaurant of that name occupied before. We always joked that “Al Te Lin De” was probably Cantonese and gave some warning on the food quality (Which wasn’t good, even for a 16 year old from a rural German town). It did not last long, despite the name ...

[heidih]

I took it more like some f the nonsense English wording on Asian  products - like a selling point?