Ryan's Roti - Rich's Restaurant Review

It's funny .. I'm always taking photos of the food i eat , judging it , rating it .... but when it comes to writing about it ! hahaha I have such a hard time ,  I guess I'm just not a writer!

So.... Ryan's Roti & Jerk was recommended to me , love trying new places and I just love spicy foods. Located at 1051 Simcoe St North , in Oshawa ( at Beatrice SE Corner ) 

 

First Impressions : Clean , tidy , with an easy to choose from photo based menu . Two basic options , roti or over rice with a salad .  I choose the roti , feeling hungry .  

 

Second Impression ... The food , smells delicious , I opted for a spicy beef roti , personally being  rather hungry I was hoping for a little more ;)  Especially after seeing the size of the rice and salad dish my friend ordered 

 

The smell was amazing , once i cut into it ... love the fragrance of curry !  The potatoes were soft , and nice and chunky , the beef well marinated and cooked , simply flaked apart . Had a bit of a sweat going by the time I finished it 

Value -  Descent - $7 and I was content 

Taste -  Good -  No veggies, Nicely Spiced Beef, potato was just right 

Texture -Nice   - Soft, with slight chew, beef flaked apart 

Service - Quick and efficient , could have been friendlier
Overall - I would return, to try and compare the rice/salad dish

Would love to hear from you , Did you like the review , was it helpful ? What would you like to see ?   Any advise or suggestions would be greatly appreciated :)

Peace, Love and Good Food - Rich 

Eating Local,even in Winter

While working in the fields of a local organic farm last summer,  I had a lot of time to think ... One of the many bonuses to working outside with your hands :)  During harvest season life was great , fresh local veggies everyday , just picked 10 minutes before heading home :)   But what about winter ?  When I can't just simple pick something fresh, either from the field or from the grocery store.   I decided this year , I was going to challenge myself to continue to eat local thru the worst two months for fresh, local food here.  January and February ...   So i started stocking up ,  between a few farms and my own garden I managed to pack away a few hundred pounds of veggies...  lots to see me thru the two months I promised myself.    Quick numbers are 150 lbs of potatoes , 75lbs of acorn and butternut squash, 100lbs of tomatoes, jarred and frozen as a garden sauce,  50lbs of red peppers mostly all roasted and frozen , along with onion and garlic ( quick flavour adders ) ,100lbs of onions and 50 head of garlic .   I did have ambitions to put away more, but simply ran out of time and freezer space ...  It didnt help that the 20lbs of carrots went bad on me lol ..   Looks like I wont have a huge variety to choose from , but it should be fun , and best of all LOCAL :))  I'm already thinking ahead to next year ...   more frozen soups or puree's for sure , and more root vegetables carrots, parsnips, turnips etc...  More variety in canning , not just tomatoes :)

Four weeks in ,  Im really craving a nice big Caesar salad lol .... but its been fun,  Here are a few of my creations so far :)

Roasted Red Pepper n Garlic Hummus :) 

Roasted Red Pepper n Garlic Hummus, garden tomato sauce, red onions, garlic ,  ground beef , and roasted red peppers...  all local :)) Making  homemade hamburger helper :)   

Vegetarian Eggplant Curry - #10w5 - 4 Good Food, Cheap 1

From being behind a week on posting , I'm actually now a week ahead of myself. The next 6 posts have all been photographed, I just need to write them out .  ( The hardest part for me ) So that brings us to today's recipe,  Vegetarian Curry , a first for me.   Not the curry part ,Ive made loads of those over the years in all sorts of different styles, just never without meat .  Also , Ive never used Indian Eggplant before , so this dish was a little interesting for me.This is one of those quick and easy meals, it can be ready in under 45 minutes , with only a few minutes prep.  and for the people like me that are on a budget , this one is really cheap,  total cost about $5 for enough for 4 bowls full.    

You will need for this recipe. 

1 Can of Chick Peas - Or 3 cups of dried ones soaked over night, and boiled $1.00

1 Jar of Whole Roma Tomatoes - Homemade if possible $ 0.50

5 Indian Eggplants ( Baby Eggplants ) $2.50

6 or 8 Mushrooms - Again , I only seemed to have white on hand. $1.00 

3 Tablespoons of your favourite curry powder.$ 0.25

The stars of the show,  Chick Peas, Indian Egg Plant, White Mushrooms, Madras Curry , My home canned garlic/basil tomatoes :)  

First thing I did was to chop the ends off the egg plants , quarter them, a light spray of olive oil so they don't stick, and a sprinkle of coarse sea salt.
Second things is to get the chick peas boiling, while you get started on the mushrooms. 

Rinse the mushrooms, I like to remove the stems ( save them in a freezer bag, for future uses stocks, or mushroom paste ) then quarter,  a quick pan fry before adding the other ingredients will get some colour on them.