The Ladies Who Lunch (Part 3)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

5 hours ago, lindag said:

My friend and I who are also 'ladies who lunch' (and often breakfast together) went to our nearby cafe  yesterday.

Surprisingly, their wonderful salad bar is finally open again after nearly a year and they told us they've opened up their Sunday buffet once again.  

Our governor has lifted nearly all restrictions.  I sincerely hope this is going to end well. 

 

Forgive me, all I could think of was Adam Driver's iconic line in The Dead Don't Die.  And thanks to you I just bought the Blu-ray.

 

If you were wondering, it doesn't.

 

[Anna N]

@Kerry Bealand I were discussing getting together at my house for lunch tomorrow when I realized that I had not even posted our last lunch which was a week ago. 

We decided we would continue supporting our small Vietnamese restaurant.

 

 

 

Kerry‘s lunch. Hardly to be believed but the restaurant had run out of rice! Kerry was quite happy to have the meat lovers dish served over a salad!

 

 

The Wednesday special was this soup with dumplings and lots of vegetables and noodles. 

 

 

 

[Anna N]

We managed lunch again this week although we were too lazy to take it out of the containers! This time it came from a small chain serving Mediterranean-style food (Montforts).  
 

 

For  Kerry: calamari and kibbeh with salad. 
 

 

For me: calamari and chicken shawarma with rice and salad.

[Smithy]

That looks good, as so many of your shared lunches do. I'm very glad you can get together to do the takeout lunches, and I look forward to the time when you can go out for lunch together again. Thanks for sharing your meals with us.

[Anna N]

There is a restaurant in Burlington that has been hiding in plain sight! Last week @Kerry Bealnoticed it when she picked up our lunch from Montforts. This morning I bragged to my son that we had found a new restaurant very close to him. He laughed and told me it had been there since he moved to Burlington some years ago! Not sure how it escaped our attention. Rose in the kitchen specializes in Turkish food. 
 

 

Kerry’s lahmacun. 
 

 

 

My lamb kebabs with a side salad. 
 

 

A selection of sweets that we shared. 

[ElsieD]

Is there anything you guys won't eat?  I'm amazed at the diversity of your meals.

[blue_dolphin]

29 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

Is there anything you guys won't eat? 

Tuna melt? 🙃

[Anna N]

Well the lunch we had was certainly not the lunch we planned. I was quite sure I had found a new restaurant in Hamilton serving Peruvian food. When I suggested this to Kerry she pointed out that we had been in this restaurant previously. I foolishly argued. I should know better by now.

 

They offered a braised lamb shank which had my mouth watering. However, when Kerry called to order it she was told it would take an hour. That would not work for us. 

 

But in her travels Kerry had noticed another new restaurant in Burlington — Karioka. 

We really needed @Smithyto advise us on the menu. 
 

I was drawn to the liver having enjoyed an amazing Egyptian preparation of liver at another restaurant.  This was good but nowhere near as good as I had hoped. Kerry had the kibbeh and kushari. 
 

We ended up with many sauces. We needed help matching them appropriately.

 

 

 

Calamari

 

 

Kibbeh. 
 

 

Kushari. 
 

 

Liver. 
 

 

My plate. Please note no kibbeh and no kushari. I even made sure those leftovers left the house with Kerry.  

 

 

 

[rotuts]

it seems every ethnic restaurant 

 

from for or five worlds over

 

is in the GTA.

 

nice. not so much the liver

 

does the GTA offer

 

Montreal Hot Smoked Meat ?

 

just asking.

 

"" Medium ? ""

 

platter w extra bread and pickles ?

[Smithy]

I agree with @rotuts about the apparent selection in the GTA. I'd love to have been there with you! The menu looks quite promising. I can't say that I've ever had liver or calamari in Egypt, so I wouldn't have been able to advise you about that. What was wrong (in your opinion) with the kibbeh and the kushari? 

[Kerry Beal]

17 minutes ago, Smithy said:

I agree with @rotuts about the apparent selection in the GTA. I'd love to have been there with you! The menu looks quite promising. I can't say that I've ever had liver or calamari in Egypt, so I wouldn't have been able to advise you about that. What was wrong (in your opinion) with the kibbeh and the kushari? 

Absolutely nothing wrong with the Kibbeh - some of the best I've had - so many are a bit tough, skimpy on the filling. He pronounced it differently than I do - but I was taught to make it by a Palestinian so perhaps it's pronounced differently? I've not had kushari before and I did enjoy it. Where would the lemon with garlic sauce be used in this combination of food?

[Smithy]

1 hour ago, Kerry Beal said:

Absolutely nothing wrong with the Kibbeh - some of the best I've had - so many are a bit tough, skimpy on the filling. He pronounced it differently than I do - but I was taught to make it by a Palestinian so perhaps it's pronounced differently? I've not had kushari before and I did enjoy it. Where would the lemon with garlic sauce be used in this combination of food?

 

It goes on the kushari. The kushari joints we visited always served up the bowl without the seasonings. At the table there would be a bottle of garlic/lemon sauce (the Egyptians call it "limoon") and a bottle of hot pepper sauce ("shatta" I think). We called it liquid blow torch. Holy smokes, that stuff was hot! I suspect that's the dark red container in the middle of your condiments.

 

Although the red sauce was hot, it was also delicious at our favorite place, with a delightful piquancy and fruit as long as it was used sparingly enough that we didn't sear our taste buds. One year I bought 2 quarts' worth of it to bring home to the States. That isn't something they normally do, but they were happy to fill my jars. I closed the jars tightly, double-bagged them in Ziplock bags, wrapped them in dirty laundry, double-bagged again...basically gave them the hazmat treatment to get them home without wrecking our luggage or the airplane. Two weeks later all the sweetness had gone away, and there was nothing but savage heat. What a shame! What a surprise for our Egyptian food party!

Edited March 17, 2021 by Smithy
Punctuation (log)

[Kerry Beal]

1 minute ago, Smithy said:

 

It goes on the kushari. The kushari joints we visited always served up the bowl without the seasonings. At the table there would be a bottle of garlic/lemon sauce (the Egyptians call it "limoon" and a bottle of hot pepper sauce ("shatta" I think). We called it liquid blow torch. Holy smokes, that stuff was hot! I suspect that's the dark red container in the middle of your condiments.

 

Although the red sauce was hot, it was also delicious at our favorite place, with a delightful piquancy and fruit as long as it was used sparingly enough that we didn't sear our taste buds. One year I bought 2 quarts' worth of it to bring home to the States. That isn't something they normally do, but they were happy to fill my jars. I closed the jars tightly, double-bagged them in Ziplock bags, wrapped them in dirty laundry, double-bagged again...basically gave them the hazmat treatment to get them home without wrecking our luggage or the airplane. Two weeks later all the sweetness had gone away, and there was nothing but savage heat. What a shame! What a surprise for our Egyptian food party!

The red sauce was a rather sweet tomato sauce - nothing hot about it. There was one likely hot sauce - but I put it on Anna's plate.

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, Smithy said:

What was wrong (in your opinion) with the kibbeh and the kushari? 

Everything!

[liuzhou]

8 hours ago, Anna N said:

I was drawn to the liver having enjoyed an amazing Egyptian preparation of liver at another restaurant.  This was good but nowhere near as good as I had hoped.

 

It looks good. But then I always think liver looks good. I've never eaten Egyptian liver though. Which animal?

[Anna N]

9 hours ago, liuzhou said:

 

It looks good. But then I always think liver looks good. I've never eaten Egyptian liver though. Which animal?

Likely just Canadian beef. Can’t quite see us importing Egyptian liver.

[Anna N]

17 hours ago, rotuts said:

does the GTA offer

 

Montreal Hot Smoked Meat ?

I am not much of a fan. My husband certainly was. But it’s not in my knowledge base. I believe we have some very reputable delis. 

[liuzhou]

2 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Likely just Canadian beef. Can’t quite see us importing Egyptian liver.

 

I didn't mean I thought it was liver from Egypt. I wondered which species - beef, pig, lamb?

So beef. Not my favourite, unless it's calves'.

[Katie Meadow]

Does anyone remember the James Thurber children's book "The Wonderful O?" All the O's in the alphabet went missing, so poor Ophelia Oliver became Phelia Liver. 

[Anna N]

1 minute ago, liuzhou said:

 

I didn't mean I thought it was liver from Egypt. I wondered which species - beef, pig, lamb?

So beef. Not my favourite, unless it's calves'.

Beef. My favourite is calves liver but it’s not easy to come by. Used to be in every supermarket.  

[liuzhou]

It could have been camel's liver, I suppose. I eaten camel, but not its liver.

All I can get here is pig and beef*. Of the two I much prefer the former. Haven't had calves' liver in decades. It got rarer and more and more expensive in London, as I recall. No sheep round here.

 

* Of the mammals. Chicken liver is plentiful. Duck slightly less so.

Edited March 18, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[Anna N]

3 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

Chicken liver is plentiful.

I love chicken liver but for reasons that are completely inexplicable I consider it almost a different organ meat than mammal liver. I don’t think I am too far out. I notice that people who wouldn’t dream of eating mammal liver are quite happy to eat chicken liver. 

[liuzhou]

2 minutes ago, Anna N said:

I love chicken liver but for reasons that are completely inexplicable I consider it almost a different organ meat than mammal liver. I don’t think I am too far out. I notice that people who wouldn’t dream of eating mammal liver are quite happy to eat chicken liver. 

 

I agree.

[Katie Meadow]

3 hours ago, Anna N said:

I love chicken liver but for reasons that are completely inexplicable I consider it almost a different organ meat than mammal liver. I don’t think I am too far out. I notice that people who wouldn’t dream of eating mammal liver are quite happy to eat chicken liver. 

If chicken liver is prepared Jewish style, sautéed with onion, chopped with cooked egg, and a generous drizzle of cognac, etc I am usually happy to eat it, although some people just don't make it very well, and in that case I can skip it. If I am making Banh Mi and want the liver spread, I will buy a chicken liver mousse made by our usual haunt for cheeses, charcuterie, etc. But no, liver from mammals doesn't appeal at all. And I pretty much have stopped eating beef altogether. That bridge has sailed.

 

I do feel awfully guilty when I eat Foie Gras, but that opportunity has been scarce as hen's teeth in the last few years. Partly because it's pricey, partly because I don't go to those kinds of restaurants (or any restaurants these days), partly because it's cringeworthy to think about how it is made. But yeah, it can really be delicious.

[liuzhou]

I recently had goose liver sushi - two ways.

 

Seared liver on rice (honest!)

 

Roast Goose Liver and Mango

 

Edited March 19, 2021 by liuzhou (log)