The Ladies Who Lunch (Part 3)

[Anna N]

8 hours ago, Smithy said:

Joke all you like...but how I wish we had an Egyptian restaurant or snack stand here in northern Minnesota! (I'd forgotten all about chicken escalope! Must try to make that soon.)

I should spread my wings but as soon as I see  lamb on the menu everything else fades to black. 

[Kerry Beal]

9 hours ago, Smithy said:

Joke all you like...but how I wish we had an Egyptian restaurant or snack stand here in northern Minnesota! (I'd forgotten all about chicken escalope! Must try to make that soon.)

I had no idea what I was expecting - for some reason I was picturing something more like the little scallops of pork tenderloin - but it was very tasty. What is the spicing in the coating would you say?

[Smithy]

12 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

I had no idea what I was expecting - for some reason I was picturing something more like the little scallops of pork tenderloin - but it was very tasty. What is the spicing in the coating would you say?

 

Now I regret getting rid of most of my Egyptian cookbooks. The sole survivor doesn't list anything like it. The recipes I've just looked online at agree that it's basically the Eygptian version of fried chicken medallions (pounded, dipped, coated, fried, similar to schnitzel). The seasonings range from lemon and grated onion to lemon and garlic and ginger to simply salt and pepper (all with bread crumbs, of course). I'm also seeing some marinades. I doubt that anything we ate got the marinade treatment first, but it couldn't hurt to try it at home.

 

If I were to try it I'd go with bread crumbs seasoned with ground cumin, ground coriander seed, paprika, salt, maybe a touch of white pepper, and see where that got me. It looks like the coating on yours included some sort of chopped green: coriander leaf? Parsley? I'd try one of those. Since parsley dries nicely and keeps its flavor when dried I'd try that first. Does that sound like the right flavor profile?

 

In case it doesn't seem like the right flavor profile: other chicken treatments I remember were the shawarma treatment (lemon, garlic, paprika and a hint of cinnamon, to my husband's disgust and my delight) and the shish tawouk treatment (lemon, garlic, olive oil - chicken chunks skewered and grilled). Neither of those matches my escalope memory or your picture, though.

 

This BBC recipe may be close, although I doubt that my escalope ever encountered sage:

 

BBC Food Chicken Escalope Recipe 

 

[Kerry Beal]

I think the cumin, coriander, paprika, salt and white pepper sounds closest. I'm not a sage fan so that would be out anyway!

 

 

[lindag]

12 hours ago, Smithy said:

 

Now I regret getting rid of most of my Egyptian cookbooks. 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting ready to move to my new home a little over a year ago I made the decision to get rid of ALL my books, including cookbooks.  I'd found I just want using them anymore since it almost everything is available online.  The move was overwhelming in that I just had so much stuff and, of course, I was downsizing to a smaller home.

I just held my breath and said 'get rid of them all'.  Surel now I wished I had saved a few but it was a relief to not have to pack and unpack them all.

Edited May 25, 2022 by lindag (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Will have to call this one 'the Broads who Breakfast!'

 

Haven't seen @prasantrinand her mom for quite some time. They had come to Toronto from Winnipeg for a bit of a holiday and on their way around the head of the lake to visit Niagara Falls they stopped to have breakfast with me.

 

I'm out of practice remembering to take pictures before digging in

 

. 

 

Eggs benny

 

 

Nice toasted tomato sandwich for mom

 

 

Eggs benny for Rona.

 

Was a treat to catch up for a bit before I had to head off to work. 

 

 

[ElsieD]

Nice looking tomatoes.  Did they taste as good as they look?

[Kerry Beal]

Just now, ElsieD said:

Nice looking tomatoes.  Did they taste as good as they look?

Actually they were damn good for the season - was tempted to take the slices I didn't eat and bring them home to make a sandwich - however it was pretty darn hot out today I didn't think they would survive 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Lovely get together, and Broads who Brunch has a wonderful ring.

[blue_dolphin]

Personally, I’d call you guys the Babes who Breakfast 😉

[Anna N]

@Kerry Bealrecently learned of the existence of a Filipino restaurant not too far from her home. Mikaela's Kitchen seemed like a good place to find some good lechon. Unfortunately their lechon was quite disappointing. The crackle was not crackly enough and the pork was dry. Perhaps Sunday is not the best day to try the food here. Since our plates were very similar and Kerry took a better photograph, here is her plate. Lumpia, lechon and Filipino-style chop suey. 

[Smithy]

I'm not very familiar with Filipino food, but I've liked what I've tried. I'll hope that future visits (if you try them again) are better.

[Kim Shook]

We have to go all the way to the Norfolk/VA Beach area (a couple of hours through stressful traffic on a good day) to get to Filipino.  But once we do, there are an incredible number of good places to try.  

[blue_dolphin]

Two lady friends and I had lunch today at a new-ish Peruvian restaurant called Limeña.  It's a family owned place.  The owner took our orders and delivered our food.  His son is the chef. Gotta give them props for opening a restaurant during the pandemic.   No menu to photograph - it's posted above the front desk where you place your order - but you can check it out on their website if you wish.  It's the kind of place where you order at the counter and pay and they bring the food to your table.  I insisted we sit outside, even though it's kinda right out on the sidewalk.  There weren't many people inside but I wouldn't have felt comfortable dining indoors if it had started to get busy.  As it happened, there was a steady stream of people picking up to-go orders but the indoor eating area stayed relatively uncrowded. 

 

I had the Ceviche Lemiña - Fresh local halibut tossed in lime juice, red onions, yams, Peruvian corn and toasted Peruvian corn nuts.  The owner called the coconut milk/lime/ginger marinade Leche de Tigre or Tiger's Milk and I was instructed to eat it with a spoon to make sure each bite was came with some of the broth. Very flavorful, if a bit salty for me.

 

Upon the recommendation of another diner, one friend ordered the Chaufa de Salmon sort of a "quinoa bowl," described on the menu as salmon served with quinoa in the style of Peruvian fried rice with bean sprouts, peas, carrots, egg, and green onions and their green hot sauce.   She raved and raved about it.

 

My other friend ordered the Pescado a lo macho - Pan fried white fish topped with shrimp, squid, and octopus in spicy Peruvian chiles sauce served with white rice and yuca.  I got a taste of this and it was excellent.

 

For dessert, we had alfajores, the caramel filled Peruvian cookies, baked by the owner's wife and we shared a dish of Lucuma ice cream.

 

One of my friends ordered a Peruvian herbal tea called Emoliente which was served over ice since it was quite hot but can be served hot in the cooler months. It was a very viscous looking brown stuff.  My friend said it tasted good but she didn't drink more than a few sips.  I avoided looking at it!

 

Edited to add that a bright yellow umbrella stood above our table, providing an odd gold illumination that I was only partially able to correct in the photos. 
 

 

 

Edited June 9, 2022 by blue_dolphin (log)

[heidih]

@blue_dolphin your abiive meals appeal.Nice they did both forms of the big corn kernals in your ceviche. I like yuca. What form was it in. Can't tell from image.

[blue_dolphin]

4 minutes ago, heidih said:

@blue_dolphin your abiive meals appeal.Nice they did both forms of the big corn kernals in your ceviche. I like yuca. What form was it in. Can't tell from image.

You’re right, the two types of corn were fun and added distinct flavors and textures. 
The yuca was cut into wedges and fried. You might be able to make out one of the wedges peeking out from under the fish, just to the left of the rice. My friend said it was very good and kind of made the rice unnecessary. 

[heidih]

55 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

 My friend said it was very good and kind of made the rice unnecessary. 

Ha - I am a texture/flavor mad mix crazy one - so having both appeals to me.

[Anna N]

Lucky me! @Kerry Bealcame to my house today loaded down with strawberries, radishes, asparagus and tomato from the farmers market, ice cream from her Pacojet and lunch from Rose in the Kitchen. 
 

For Kerry cheese pide. 
 

for me a dish called Iskender and some yoghurt. 
 

 

For us baklava. The larger darker pieces are pistachio and the smaller walnut. 
 

Didn’t know if I would regret not ordering my usual lamb but this beef dish was excellent. It is thinly sliced and nicely seasoned beef over torn up pita with peppers and tomato and yoghurt on the side. I would definitely order it again. 

[Anna N]

It has been a while since @Kerry Bealand I have had lunch together. Kerry had discovered another new restaurant in Burlington. Perhaps not new but new to us. Here.

There were a number of dishes that appealed to me on the menu but I decided to go for the jerk chicken flatbread. Bad choice. 

 

The bread was grossly over-cooked and the flavours did not sit well together in my opinion. No evidence there of baby arugula as mentioned in the menu. 
 

Kerry went for the grilled Caesar. 
 

 

 

Edited July 17, 2022 by Anna N
Typo (log)

[Shelby]

4 minutes ago, Anna N said:

It has been a while since @Kerry Bealand I have had lunch together. Kerry had discovered another new restaurant in Burlington. Perhaps not new but new to us. Here.

There were a number of dishes that appealed to me on the menu but I decided to go for the jerk chicken flatbread. Bad choice. 

 

The bread was grossly over-cooked and the flavours did not sit well together in my opinion. No evidence there of baby arugula as mentioned in the menu. 
 

Kerry went for the grilled Caesar. 
 

 

 

At least the company was good!

[Anna N]

Just now, Shelby said:

At least the company was good!

The company was excellent as it always is. 

[rotuts]

"'  Kerry went for the grilled Caesar "'

 

I do know that for some time 

 

grilling romaine , gas or charcoal 

 

is and interesting thing to do

 

is that grilled lemon ?

 

grilled garlic ?

 

some flakes of cheese ?

 

and how was it ?

 

starting w 

 

grilled romaine 

 

what would you do with it 

 

pre or post grilling ?

 

as what you have is a place to start ?

[Kerry Beal]

I do enjoy grilled romaine done like a caesar salad. This one was fair to middling. The cheese was not a great parmasan I'd say.  The roasted garlic was a nice touch I thought. 

 

 

[Anna N]

Today’s lunch was much more successful. @Kerry BealPicked it up from Montfort in Burlington and brought it to my house as usual. 
since both plates looked almost the same except for the salad I’m going to just show you one photograph. 
 

 

We shared the deluxe grilled platter for two and added a salad each. Kerry had the Fattoush salad and I had the garden salad. 
Lots and lots of leftovers for me!

[Shelby]

42 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Kerry had the Fattoush salad

YUM.  Thank you for the reminder.  I can only make this when my tomatoes start coming in.  This will be dinner soon.