Goo Reuben

I will be in Omaha soon, a first visit to Nebraska, and understand that the Reuben sandwich might have originated there. There is no disputing the brilliance of the Reuben’s construction. Frankly, I cannot imagine the path to the Reuben but will take a stab at it.

Corned beef and rye begets

Corned beef on rye with cheese begets

Corned beef on rye with cheese and Russian dressing begets

Corned beef on rye with cheese and Russian dressing. And sauerkraut? Huh? Sauerkraut? No lie, sauerkraut is delicious but, I swear, someone had sauerkraut in excess (of course because…cabbage) and thought it could be hidden behind CORNED BEEF, RYE, CHEESE AND RUSSIAN DRESSING because, without a doubt, a GIANT Louis Vuitton bag could be hidden behind CORNED BEEF, RYE, CHEESE AND RUSSIAN DRESSING. The bag would be eaten – lock, stock and barrel – almost without notice, so yeah, let’s unload a mess o’ kraut while we’re at it. And the world pivoted on its axis.

Booeymonger – speaking of being unable to imagine a path, I cannot imagine the path to that name, Booeymonger. Must sleuth. The original Booeymonger – tiny, on a side-street, open very late, oh-so-intriguing to a wandering teen – had the Guruben on it’s menu, a sandwich name on par with the Teuben (a Reuben in a casing, sausage-style at Hot Doug’s in Chicago), as well as the Vegetarrorist at Cafe Clementine (so clever, so not-scary when it was conceived, funny, so funny, and now not, damnit!) Booeymonger, to this day, lists the Patty Hearst on its menu. How now, provolow? The Patty Hearst but no Guruben? What wokeness has got by me?

No Phone, No Pool, No Pets

slippery corned beef

brined by this king of the road

carb/umami bomb

Rina Rapuano’s  story in the Washington Post about the Corned Beef King.

Put down that broom and read excerpts here:

buttery corned beef, sauerkraut that cuts through the richness of the meat, Swiss and Provolone cheeses, and Russian dressing, layered on fresh-baked rye and warmed on the griddle

the flavors and texture spoke to the great care that’s taken with the beef brisket. Rossler cooks the already-corned meat for 11 hours, a process that involves slow roasting and re-seasoning it with his own pickling spices, onions and “secret sweeteners.”

roasting the meat for more than three hours in nothing but garlic, butter, salt and pepper let the taste of the bird shine

corned-beef hash topped with two over-easy eggs (food truck breakfast. woot!)

corned beef to fill my frame
means by no means is my name

third boxcar, midnight train
destination…Bangor, Maine….

Stalzy’s

There is a deli renaissance in our future and I hope it rolls over us all in a big way. Stalzy’s in Madison, Wisconsin, is a beacon of delis to come, a rebirth of what was beloved and has been (nearly) lost.

At Stalzy’s they corn their own beef, and make their own pickles, and pastrami and rye bread. Oooh. An outfit of such deep endeavors can do no wrong by me. None. 

Based in technique and tradition, Stalzy’s mission is to create real, hand-crafted food from scratch. We support hard working local businesses and purveyors by using Wisconsin products & services whenever possible. Embracing an ideal that has seemingly disappeared from our culture, we take the time to do things correctly, providing you with the finest products we can create. From the moment a raw ingredient enters our kitchen, to the moment a finished product is placed at your table, there is one message that we hope is noticed and understood. We take great pride in what we do.

2701 Atwood Avenue, Madison, WI 53704 | phone: 608.249.7806 | hours: Monday – Saturday 7:30am-9:00pm Sunday 7:30am-2:00pm

Want to witness  an epic battle, up close and personal? The angels versus the devils in  hand-to-hand combat. Raise a child. Watch them break your heart with sweetness, and tear your heart out with worry. Till you are reduced to dust.

Here he sat, like an old man engrossed in the paper, distancing himself from the goofy, giggly, gaggle. Girls? What girls?Until the check arrived…

We did okay, on our own, no boy-man as chaperone. We did okay. Stalzy’s had us at .