sandwiches: round 17: Red

Being Valentine's Day and all, we decided on a theme of red.

Sides: no room for sides following the sea bass and Chinese parsley congee and bbq duck.

Drinks: An old Pinot Noir, hand carried back from Germany in 2003.

Angelica's Ginger Beef Sizzle: thinly sliced beef rib-eye marinated in soya sauce, ginger, garlic and sesame oil, pomegranate-habernaro jelly and toasted black and white sesame seeds in a yogurt sauce, all served on on brown rice focaccia bread
















Dave's Salmon Don: Italian meets Japanese in this piece that combines lemon-dill pan-seared salmon on a bed of sticky dill rice between brown rice focaccia bread.

















AS on AS: while each ingredient on its own was packed with flavour, somehow together it was like they cancelled each other out. Somehow the flavours just mellowed out too much, which was surprising given that the garlic and ginger had bite and the pomegranate-habernaro jelly was burning hot. There were still some hints of the flavours there, but in the end this one did not come together for me.

AS on DM: the first flavour I tasted was sour lemon and it set the stage for the fantastic flavours that followed. The salmon was the real star here and the rice was a nice surprise sandwich ingredient. I would never have guessed that rice could go so well in a sandwich, but it did.

DM on DM: The original concept was to press the rice into pan-fried patties, between which would sit the salmon. Reason won the day, so focaccia became the foundational piece. I was very happy with this sandwich because the flavours balanced well; nothing was overshadowed. And in spite of seeming to be a typical meal translocated between bread, the result felt like a sandwich in its own right. Filling, tasty, and not heavy.

DM on AS: Hearty, tasty, and it had character! I really liked this one, and without minding the "mellowed tastes." This sandwich brought a great taste combination together into one flavour that was distinct and mysteriously delicious. Writing about it now, weeks later, I could go for one.

The Verdict:

AS: an easy win for DM. His sandwich had the right flavours and the right proportions. It was simple yet innovative. A superb way to end out the official season end.

DM: i liked mine a little better this week, but i might be biased by AS's own assessment of the comparison. This was another great meal collaboration - the end of a great season, the beginning of a great series.

The Prisoner: episode 16: Once Upon A Time

A's recollections: having been six months (almost to the day) that we orignally viewed this episode, my memory is a little hazy on the details, but not on the episode overall. If this was Number 6's childhood, it's no wonder he ended up leading a life that ended him up in The Village! The episode was intense and claustrophobic and it didn't surprise me that McGoohan was taking us down this path to the grand finale. Perhaps my only surprise was that this episode seemed quite so improvised, so uncertain of how to get to actually get through to its final scenes to connect us to the end. I can't say that I enjoyed this episode much - in fact I was happy enough to prepare the final sandwich battle without having this on in the background (this may be the only episode that we didn't watch twice). Once was enough. But I suppose it served its purpose and at its end I was ready and curious about how it would all end.
D's re: collection, of a falling out at the centre of being where all points in time fall in. McGoohan's embryo, the prisoner's black board, his foil's chalk-dusted hands scrawling on the surface scraps of possible past, digging fingernails deeper, scraping away down to the core of it all in this last ditch effort. Existence itself is on the line in this ultimate test for both 6, 2, and we who wonder what's what and where it could go. Tumbling forward in trust, we barrel at top speed, crashing into the finale of it: death gives rise to birth: the end of the first 2-parter > promise of answers > to be continued. I do hope that from this chaos comes substance.

sandwiches: round 16: Breaking Our Fast

Our first morning Prisoner sandwich battle...breakfast sandwiches for breakfast.
Sides: pan fried chorizo and fresh raspberries

Drinks: wild berry cocktail and orange juice mix-up



Angelica's Raspberry Heart-wich: Nutella, fresh raspberries, melted Brie and a sprinkle of gluten free cinnamon crunch granola on toasted sourdough bread.

Dave's Upscale MacKmuffin: on pan-seared sourdough bread, we add thinly (but not too thinly) sliced maple bacon, green onion circles, stripped chevette goat cheese, sliced and seared wine chorizo sausage, egg with yolk broken (fried inside a canning lid).


AS on AS: I had recently heard about a chocolate-Brie sandwich...and it sounded like it must be tried. With a few additions, wow, this sandwich turned out amazing! The raspberries added a freshness to what could have been a very rich sandwich, and the sprinkling of granola added an unexpected texture. It ended up being a little light as a breakfast sandwich...better perhaps as a mid-morning snack sandwich...or mid-afternoon snack sandwich...or a midnight snack sandwich! This was really an all-hours snack sandwich.

AS on DM: This topped any egg Mcmuffin I have ever had by a factor of at least 10. This was an outstanding breakfast sandwich, and hearty enough to sustain me through to lunch. Seeing the ingredients stacked up, I was a little worried about this being heavy and about it holding its form, but neither were an issue in the end. My favourite part was the cheese (such a good pick!), followed closely by the chorizo (the perfect level of spicy for the morning!).

DM on DM: Liberation for any fast-food prisoner, i felt this was a well-made gateway back to the precursor of the butter-drenched and bland imitator that Ronald made normal. This penultimate of my prisonersandwiches creation was another personal victory, as it turned out the way i'd hoped. i seem to have - for now - overcome the over-cautious one when it comes to accent tastes. Here, i tasted everything; nothing was overshadowed but the health score. But then, how healthy is a life without the odd indulgence?

DM on AS: While my meat and meat-alternates combo came in throwing it's weight around, Angelica's chocolate, berry, and brie floated like a butterfly - Muhammed Ali. i saw the cheese and chocolate duet, the berry and chocolate, the cheese and berry... but was a little doubtful that all three would get along between the bread and in my mouth. Turns out they did. So much so that i asked for the first encore in this competition's history.

The Verdict:
DM: Not sure it would survive a take-out bag, but my sandwich makes my own top of the pops. Yet, i am satisfied to be Number Two another time, deferring top-man status to Angelica's Heart-wich.

AS: Now 16 episodes in and more than 32 sandwiches later, I wasn't sure we would begin to struggle with coming up with completely new flavour pairings. It seems that this is not a problem for either of us...we continue to break new ground week after week in this sandwich battle. So tough to decide between the many twists on the traditional breakfast ingredients versus the non-traditional breakfast pairings. I liked both so much and they were so complimentary to each other. I think I will have to call this one a draw.