A Return to Safe Harbor: St. Elmo’s Revisited

I guess it was only appropriate that we returned to St. Elmo's in Indianapolis for a second shot at this award winning restaurant. After all, St. Elmo himself is the patron saint of sailors, and every sailor wishes for a safe return.  

Our second trip to this James Beard award winner was nothing short of phenomenal.  On this visit our son Greg and his girlfriend Larissa  accompanied us.  Our 8:00 reservations allowed time to enjoy a pre-dinner glass of wine at the Conrad Hilton with it being just a five-minute walk away, and the relaxing stroll to the restaurant set the stage for a delightful evening to come.

Our waiter was Vladimir, a young Serbian who has worked at St Elmo's for eight years and has his level one-sommelier designation.  Vladimir will go down in history as the first waiter and/or sommelier to not only be given my new value and price wine challenge, but to have passed it with flying colors. The value price challenge is to explain to the waiter that you recognize the difference between value being what something is worth, and price being what you pay.  Furthermore, the challenge conveys that you also recognize that one need not spend a small fortune on a truly enjoyable bottle of wine.  With that said, the question becomes what is the sleeper on the wine list or hidden wine in their cellar which is a phenomenal value for the price?  I told him that he did not have to answer the question right away, but to let me know what he would recommend.  His immediate recommendation was a Frank Family Vineyards 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon.  The official tasting notes say:

Frank Family Vineyards 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon has an enticing nose of blackberries, bay leaf and graphite; on the palate the wine is full bodied, and reminisce of cocoa-dusted dark chocolate truffles, cloves and blackberries.

This wine has also earned a 91 by Robert Parker rating, and true to the question, my research indicates the mark-up was less then what I would normally expect from a restaurant - A+ to Vladimir.

Jacque, Larissa, and Greg all started off with the only appetizer on the menu, their world famous shrimp cocktails.  Kudos to Jacque and Larissa for manning up to the challenge of the nostril clearing horseradish-laced cocktail sauce.  With eyes watering and nostrils clearing, they both claimed the pain to be almost addicting.

For our soup and salad course Jacque had the new to the menu Lobster Bisque, which was a marriage of sweet creaminess with an abundance of large chunks of lobster.  Greg and Larissa shared the Chopped BLT.  I really appreciate a restaurant that splits a salad before it comes to the table when they know it is being shared, as St. Elmo’s did for us this night.  I had to have the Sliced Tomatoes and Onions in a House Vinaigrette with Gorgonzola Cheese.  The vinaigrette was awesome and they did not spare any of the Gorgonzola…this has to be one of my all-time favorite salads, and this one has to be one of the best I’ve ever had.

For our main courses, both Larissa and Greg went for the smaller of the Filets offered, while I had the 60 day Dry Aged New York, and Jacque had a half order of the Lobster Tails – two eight ounce tails is a lot of food!  The kids really enjoyed their steaks done to a perfect medium rare.  Greg had the baked potato as his side and it reminded me of the time a friend of mine sent me a 50lb box of the most perfect Idaho potatoes.  The spud on Greg’s plate was the perfect shape, perfect color brown, and was loaded with just about everything you could imagine putting on a potato.  Fantastic!

Jacque also had a baked potato as her side, and Larissa and I both went for the Green Beans Sautéed with Peppers and Onions.  I also ordered a side of Mushrooms and Spinach for the table to share.  When we return to St. Elmo’s - (which will be on May 14^th to celebrate Greg’s graduation from Wabash) - I am ordering the spinach as my side – it was awesome!

My 60-Day Dry Aged New York was great!  I have been toying with dry-aging beef at home using the Umai bags, and have fallen in love with the flavor of dry-aged meat. I personally prefer the meat to stand alone, especially when it has been dry-aged, but to St. Elmo’s credit they served me an awesome steak at a price less than you would normally pay for dry-aged steaks.  A special thanks again to Vladimir for saving me from eating the whole thing and bagging it up before I regretted it!

For dessert it was Sugar Pie and Crème Brulee with plenty of spoons for sharing.  Sugar Pie goes by several other names like Hoosier Sugar Cream Pie, Indiana Cream Pie, and Tarte au Sucre, but no matter what you call it the basic ingredients are flour, butter, vanilla, and cream…gee, where is the Lipitor?!

Dinner was great, but what made this night extra special, besides getting to share it with our son Greg and his girlfriend Larissa, was the tour Vladimir gave us after dinner.  We are reserved to have Greg’s graduation party at St. Elmo’s on Sunday May 14^th, the evening of his graduation from Wabash College.  We have the Wine Cellar reserved for our festivities, and I requested that Vladimir let us take a quick peek.  Prior to the peek in the wine cellar private dining room, Vladimir brought us into the true wine cellar where they keep the vast inventory of fine wines that St. Elmo’s offers on their wine list.  As a wine lover, it was exhilarating just to look around and be surrounded by so many great bottles of the fruit of the vine.

It was only after our wine tour, that Vladimir inquired if we knew about the lounge on the top floor.  I thought he was referring to the bar when you entered the restaurant, but it was then that he informed us that there is a lounge that has the feel of a speak-easy.  It is called the 1933 Lounge, and was the perfect cap off to a great evening.  We all enjoyed another beverage while enjoying some local music.

Thank you again St. Elmo’s, and thank you Vladimir for a great evening…looking forward to our return in May!

The Joys of the Empty Nest

The Joys of the Empty Nest

(photo from Google search) 

“Hey…you want to take a drive up to Canada and have dinner?”

This was the beginning of a great evening and a wonderful dining experience.  Jacque had just returned from dropping Greg off in Spokane for his return to Wabash College, and we had our empty nest back.  Some couples find this challenging, but for Jacque and me, while we love, and adore our two boys and couldn’t be prouder of them, we relish the life and relationship we have together.

Living just 40 miles south of the Okanagan Valley, Canada’s premier wine growing area, we have become very familiar with several of the wineries in what is referred to as the “Palm Springs of Canada”.  The wineries, or at least the associates at several of the wineries, have also become familiar with us. (Not sure it is a good thing when a local food server recognizes us from her other job at one of our favorite wineries “Church and State”.)

                                 

                                          (Remember the Canadian Dollar Discount)

With temperatures hitting almost triple digits, we opted for Terrafina, (http://www.terrafinarestaurant.com), which is situated on the west side of the valley and has a patio protected by grape vines, making it a nice cool setting even on the hottest of days. 

                                                            (photo from Google search)

We started off with the Wagyu Beef Carpaccio with chipotle caper aioli, carrot chips, sprouts arugula, crispy capers, and parmesan.  Awesome dish! The Wagyu beef was great, but I really enjoyed and could not get enough of the carrot chips and crispy capers.

For our main courses, Jacque opted for the Prawn and Manila Clam Pasta, with chorizo - (yes chorizo, the Mexican sausage) - basil pesto cream, asiago arugula, and baby zucchini.   The chorizo gave the dish an interesting amount of heat and flavor, truly knocking up this dish to level 10.

I opted for the special which was Okanagan Summer Vegetable Insalata, passing on the other special of the night - a 40 ounce bone in rib eye which the waitress had suggested was designed to be shared.  This nice summery dish was the perfect combination of confit garlic emulsion, oyster mushrooms, baby zucchini, shallots, tomato, fennel, carrots, and cukes.  Jacque was a little surprised when I ordered this, but the real surprise was on me in how much I enjoyed this as my meal…though it left me still a little hungry.

Wanting to not ruin the theme of my nice healthy meal, I suggested that Jacque and I share the dessert cheese platter.  The cheeses were a real treat, but it was not the typical European idea of cheese for dessert.  It was more of an appetizer cheese platter as it was garnished with olives and pickled carrots.  Again we enjoyed the cheeses, but for a dessert cheese platter, I would expect maybe some chutney or jams, possibly some dried fruits, or freshly sliced Okanagan apples.  With that said, it was a great finish to our meal. 

We capped the evening off with a glass each of the Hester Creek Late Harvest, and then I had the perfect espresso before the drive home.  An additional treat was the approximate 23% discount we got on the bill due to the current exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Canadian dollar – everything in Canada is on sale right now!

It is no wonder that Terrafina is listed for the South Okanagan as the “Best Winery Restaurant” according to Okanagan Life magazine. We will be back!

I highly recommend Terrafina at Hester Creek Winery in Oliver.  We have enjoyed many meals there in the past and look forward to great experiences in the future.

Is this Potato Soup...No it is Cauliflower!

A while back I discovered an incredibly simple and versatile cauliflower soup that you can make in under thirty minutes…tonight’s dinner was yet another rendition of a favorite healthy standby.

The soup itself is simple:

1 head cauliflower broken into florets. Use the whole head except for the greens

3-4 cloves garlic

¼ cup olive oil

1 sweet onion -sliced

1 tablespoon Herbs de Provence and or fresh herbs 

Salt and pepper to taste

1 32oz box of Chicken or Vegetable broth

1 cup dry white wine (optional – I skipped it tonight)

 

Place the onion and garlic in soup pot and cook onion until soft and translucent.  Then add the cauliflower and cook with onions and garlic for a few minutes before adding the broth.  You can use either chicken or vegetable, I prefer Safeway store organic generic brand.  Once you add the broth cook at medium with herbs in a covered pot until the cauliflower is soft – not mushy. 

Move soup to blender in and puree until smooth and creamy – don’t try to do it all at one time.  Return the soup to your pot and put on simmer.  Add salt (garlic or celery salt can add variety to the taste) and pepper to taste.

Now this is where you can start having fun.  In the past I have added everything from bay shrimp and chimichurri sauce, croutons and shredded cheddar cheese, smoked turkey, crumbled bacon, shredded chicken and diced chilies, a drizzle of truffle oil to really dress it up.  You can let your imagination and taste buds run wild or you can have the soup as is.

 

Tonight I browned some ground turkey with paprika, cumin, herbs provenience, garlic salt, and pepper.  I placed a spoonful or so in the middle the ladled soup and garnished with fresh hot and spicy oregano from my herb garden.  Jacque added a little Parmesan cheese to hers, and I added my new favorite hot sauce – Trader Joe’s Green Dragon Sauce.

This is a super fun, versatile soup that some might mistake as potato soup.  The big positive is, it is just as filling but lacks the calories. 

Note: I have also served this a chilled soup.

Rosemary and Garlic Rack of Lamb from the wood Oven

Our first night home from the Mugnaini Wood Oven Cooking School, I was excited to try some of the new techniques and tricks I learned in class.  Jacque was also excited about firing the oven and pre-heating it so that it would be ready when I got home from work. 

Tonight’s menu was rosemary and garlic Rack of Lamb over a organic Marzano Tomatoes, polenta, and a little spinach salad.

For the tomatoes I placed the following:

1 can Organic Marzano Tomatoes

1 minced clove of garlic

¼ cup pitted and sliced kalamata olives

¼ to ½ cup wine

salt and pepper

in a terra cotta round casserole pot with lid, and placed it off to the side in the wood oven.  Later in cooking I moved it to the mouth of the oven where it is a little cooler, but still hot.

I prepared the rack of lamb with a light rub of olive oil, and then a massage of crushed garlic, and another massage of fresh rosemary from the garden.  I then added a crack of salt and pepper and placed it in the oven under a roasting environment.

I forget how much Jacque and I enjoy Polenta, and how simple it is to prepare.  The polenta was simply spliced about a ¼ to ½ inch thick (call it a 1/3 of an inch) treated with a little garlic salt and placed in a pan I pre-heated in the oven with a small amount of olive oil.  When the first side with lightly browned I flipped it over and sprinkled my favorite Italian style shredded hard cheese (name intentionally left out…to let you use whatever you wish or have in the fridge) and cooked past melting to almost browned.

The spinach salad was a simple combination of baby spinach, grape seed oil, and raspberry vinegar.

We enjoyed our dinner with a bottle of  2009 Palazzo Della Torre –Veronese.  It was  deep ruby red in color, brimming with notes of dark, dried cherries, black berries and hints of dates and mocha – description aided by a Google search, I did not come up with that totally myself…I got the ruby red part on my own.

I cooked the lamb to just under 125 degrees and let it come up a little while resting.  This turned out to be a truly enjoyable meal with everything except for the salad being done in the wood oven.  Note – While the wood oven gave it a special taste, you can use a normal oven for excellent results too.

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