The Best St Martin has to Offer!

Last night we decided to go to Bistro Caribe, a French Restaurant in Gran Case and we finally found the culinary nirvana we had been searching for.  The pictures above show plates that were beautifully presented and the food tasted every bit as good as it looked.  Three of us had a French onion soup for an appetizer course while one individual had an endive salad.  Both of these were excellent and when paired with the wine, a 2009 Beaujolais from Villa Ponciago was truly a memorable experience. 

Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, the main course arrived and it got much better.  The lamb was melt in your mouth good and the beef tenderloin was so tender you could cut it with a fork.  The potatoes and sauce were great accompaniments and the wine a French Crozes Hermatige Les Jalets from Paul Jabolet Aine was perfect.  A bite of lamb followed by a sip of wine was an effort in determining where the lamb ended and the wine began. 

When we asked the young girl clearing off the table what dessert was the best she whispered chocolate cake and I knew I had hit the jackpot!  The cake paired with a shot of sipping rum was one of the best chocolate experiences I have had.  Others got a crème brulee which included fresh vanilla and they claimed it was very good … but since it did not include chocolate, I think their opinion is somewhat suspect. 

Anyway as we were paying the check, they brought out a shot of their homemade house rum which was smooth with a hint of ginger and we all bought an extra bottle to bring home in the suitcase.  All things considered this was without a doubt the best meal we have had in St Martin and worthy of a repeat performance.

Not Worth a Cell Phone

The last time Tom & Janet were in St Martin, they went to an Italian Restaurant and had their daughter pick up the check to repay for her lost cell phone.  They had a great meal that night so we returned in a effort to recreate the experience.  The Granduca Restaurant by Enzo La Rosa bills itself as fine Italian cuisine and has prices to back that claim.  We should have been suspicious when we discovered that Enzo was no longer associated with the restaurant but we plowed ahead.

We started the meal with mussels and a Caesar salad.  The mussels had a good flavor but they were overcooked and tough.  The salad had enough salad dressing to complete 15 salads. 
Tom got a white wine to pair with his mussels and claimed it was good … I can’t verify this and have no data on the wine (I did say it was a white wine didn’t I).

For a main course two people had a spinach crepe with a rose’ sauce, one had a chicken parmesan, and one had chicken marsala.  The main comment on the crepe was that the sause had the texture and color of Velveeta cheese … however by turning it over they were able to hide the cheese and enjoy the spinach.  The chicken marsala was somewhat bland and the chicken parmesan was every bit as good as I could have purchased at Carrabbas. 

We did however have a good wine to go with the meal.  The 2009 Dolcetto D’Alba was a perfect compliment to all of the dishes.  It was a light red that went successfully the meals.  Unfortunately the wine could not make up for an otherwise overpriced restaurant which is certainly no longer worth a cell phone.

Time for some chocolate!

Blame it on the Rum



Well we had a great day in paradise.  It started out with a Painkiller at 10:30 and we stayed with the rum theme for the rest of the day.  Sat on the beach, snacked on pistachios and drank several rum flavored concoctions.  We had lunch about 2:00 which included ribs and more rum.  Finally it was time to go back to the villa and get cleaned up for dinner.  We went to Lee’s Beach Grill which was recommended.  Since we were not real hungry, Sally and I decided to have a sandwich.  She ordered a burger and I ordered a Mahi and we split them so we each had some surf and turf.  We paired this with a Dona Paula Malbec from Argentina.  The food was excellent and the wine … well I don’t remember how the wine tasted … blame it on the rum.  Of course the worst part was I didn’t even get any chocolate!

First Meal in Sint Maarten

We arrived in Sint Maarten and ate our first meal at “Talk of the Town”.  This lo lo (which is really nothing more than a roadside barbeque) was featured on “Feasting on Waves” with Alton Brown.  The restaurant filled the air in Gran Case for several blocks with the aroma of smoky ribs and chicken.  The boys had barbeque with rice and plantains while the girls gravitated to the shrimp creole with the same sides.   This was paired with Carib Beer.  Everybody really enjoyed their dinner but our favorite part was the Johnny Cakes which we ordered for appetizers.  Unfortunately they came after the main course was finished so they became a sort of dessert (Sally wished they had been drizzled with honey).   No worries … we are in the islands and all is good.  Of course, Sint Maarten is Dutch and there is some great chocolate available so it is once again time for some real dessert.

A Fine Line between a Tradition and a Rut

 

We have a tradition at the Trattoria that every Friday night we have homemade pizza.  It used to be I made the crust from scratch when I got home from work, but that meant it was late before we got to eat, so I started looking for an alternative.  One day we stumbled on whole wheat Naan at Wegmans, which resulted in the inspiration of using this Naan to make a quick pizza crust. Thus was born our revised tradition, which broke us out of our potential rut … whole wheat pizza.

I basically sauté mushrooms, onions, and garlic and add whatever else I have available.  In the past it has usually been leftover chicken or some other meat but tonight we had no leftover meats so it was a “vegetarian” option.  I added some banana peppers which were provided by a coworker and some kalamata olives.  I spread some homemade pesto on the Naan, then added the sautéd mixture, sprinkled with mozzarella and parmasean cheese and baked in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes.  The result was a passable alternative to a homemade pizza which competed very well with the Carrabbas pizza we had earlier this week.

We paired our pizza with a Rocca Felice Barbera d'Alba Superiore.  This wine was purchased from Total Wine for $16.  This was a very tasty wine and it went well with the pizza.  And, once again, it is finally time for a dessert of chocolate!

At Least the Wine Wasn't Leftover

Well it was destined to happen … with a vacation looming, we had to clean up the leftovers in the fridge.  Thank heavens the only thing we had leftover was the pork from yesterday.  We also had some cabbage which was sautéed with sweet onion and provided a perfect compliment to the pork.

The only other problem was to find a wine to pair with the dinner.  This resulted in another enjoyable journey through the wine cellar where I obtained a 2007 Il Pozzo. This Chianti Rufina Reserva from Florence was purchased for $20 from Total Wine.  We initially gravitated to this wine since we ate in Il Pozzo Ristorante in Monteriggioni a couple of months ago.  The pappardelle with wild boar was one of the best meals we have ever had!

We initially poured a glass of the wine right after opening the bottle but quickly realized this bottle would do better with some aeration.  So we poured it back into the carafe and “shook the snot out of it” after which it opened up beautifully.  It was a great bottle with a hint of tobacco which we thoroughly enjoyed with the dinner (even if it did fall short of a meal in an Italian castle).  Finally, the remainder of the wine made a perfect accompaniment to a dessert of chocolate.

The Grapevine was Involved … the Pig was Committed.

We have been “on” the Sonoma Diet for several years now … and when I say “on” the diet, I mean we use the cookbook to make our favorite recipes.  One of our favorites is the Sonoma Plum and Rosemary Pork Roast.  I follow the recipe pretty closely but substitute prunes for the plums which I have convinced everyone are basically nothing more than dried plums.  Not only that, they are good for flushing out the system.  I paired the pork with roasted broccoli (fixed with olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper) and roasted sweet potatoes (olive oil, cumin, coriander, fresh nutmeg, salt and pepper).  This meant we had both ovens going at the same time which was probably not a great idea on this; one of the hottest days we have had recently. 

While everything cooked, we vacated the kitchen (if you can’t stand the heat …) and opened up a bottle of Barbaresco to go with the dinner.  This was a 2004 Pio Cesare which we bought on sale at Wegmans for $47.  I can’t say enough about this wine!  We decanted it for about 45 minutes before pouring it for our initial taste and it was great … full body, great nose, and very complex flavor.  It paired very well with the pork and complimented the flavors of the sauce as well as the potatoes and broccoli.  Later in the dinner we poured a second glass and it had opened up even more.  We don’t usually drink $50 bottles of wine but this one was certainly worth it.  I highly recommend it!  Well now I believe it is time to see how it pairs with chocolate!!!

Italian … Not so Much

We had to go to town tonight to pick up my car so in an effort to “save time” (my excuse) we decide to eat out.  A friend had told us that Carrabbas had an excellent brick oven pizza.  The comment I remember was “the pizza is just like an Italian pizza”.  Having just returned from Italy about 6 weeks ago, we were very excited to try this pizza.  When we sat down at the chef’s bar (we wanted to watch the chefs at work) we ordered our wine.  By the way, I would not recommend watching the chefs at Carrabbas … this is not a 5 star restaurant and the “show” is sometimes disappointing and often appetite suppressing. 

Anyway, since I have a belief that if you are in an Italian restaurant, you should order an Italian wine, we ordered a 2007 Chianti Classico Reserva from Banfi. This turned out to be a good wine; although the $41 price tag (even in a restaurant) was a bit steep. 

            We also ordered a Margarita pizza.  Sadly, when it arrived it did not live up to its Italian heritage.  The pizza had potential … the crust was certainly thin enough, there was plenty of basil, tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese, and the edge was cooked crispy.  Unfortunately, the middle of the crust was not cooked enough and was in fact somewhat doughy and definitely not crisp.  For me pizza is all about the crust and in this case it just did not deliver.  Luckily, for dessert we had a limoncello bread pudding with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  This excellent dessert made up for the pizza and we left satisfied, even if somewhat disappointed.  Well time to go home for more wine and some chocolate (because as everyone knows bread pudding is not a proper dessert).

Bad Science

Once again we had a “problem” deciding what to have for dinner.  Luckily while we were in town, we stopped by Wegmans and discovered that they had fresh caught Mahi-Mahi for sale!   Problem solved … we would have fish for dinner.   I cooked up some roasted Brussels sprouts (cut in half with olive oil, cumin, nutmeg, salt, & pepper).  This was complimented with tomatoes with basil and a scoop of cottage cheese.   The fish was cooked with “Island Fish Spice” which is produced by Sunny Caribbee.  This spice is another one of our favorites which we purchased from St John Spice (many of you may be detecting a theme here).  After browning the fish on both sides, I splashed a little Italian Limoncello in the pan (since I didn’t have any real lemons or limes) and covered to let it finish cooking.

The next challenge was what wine to serve with the Mahi.  Well Sally wanted a BIG red (since we had been playing it safe for the last few dinners) so I searched through the wine cellar and pulled out a Cabernet Sauvignon – Syrah blend from Chile.  This MontGras Reserva is a 2009 wine from the Colchagua Valley which sells for about $10.   It is produced and bottled by Vina MontGras S. A. which according to the bottle is the “Best Chilean Wine Producer 2002 IWSC”.  I have no idea what the rules for the “International Wine and Spirit Competition” are but I am sure you can look it up on the internet if you are interested.  Anyway, the important thing to us was how it tasted and I can say it was GREAT.  We really enjoyed this wine … especially with the fish.  I know Tom will disagree and his links to solid science not with standing this was a fine combination and one which we would repeat.  The scientific link seems to imply that the reason for the bad taste is the iron content of the wine.  I looked very carefully at the bottle but could not find any mention of the iron content J so all I can say to the proof about red wine not going with fish is … there is a lot of bad science out there.  Now it is time for some chocolate which I know for a fact will go well with this wine.

Relaxing on Father's Day

 

First, what does an old man have for lunch after eating far too much the day before?  The answer is fruit and Moscato.  The fruit was blueberries which were ok but not very sweet but the Moscato more than made up for that.  We bought Annalisa Moscato from Total Wine for $11 where it came highly recommended.  It is a light refreshing wine with a low alcohol content of 6.5%.  This Moscato made for a truly refreshing drink on the hot and humid Trattoria.

Having thus recovered from my overindulgence yesterday, I prepared for a worthy dinner.  I cut about a dozen small white potatoes into strips and doused them with olive oil and fresh rosemary from the south forty.  While these roasted in the oven, I sliced some small tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, garnished with fresh basil (also from the south forty) and drizzled with more olive oil.  Finally, it was time for the main course.  I started by smothering chicken tenders with “Cruz Bay Grill Rub”.  This is really one of my favorite seasonings from one of my favorite places in the world, St John in the USVI.  St John Spice has a large selection of unique spice combinations and this is my favorite.  After browning the chicken on high heat, I poured a little red wine into the pan, turned the heat down and covered to let it simmer for fifteen minutes.  This allowed me time to select the perfect wine to pair with the meal.  In this case I went with a Tempranillo Spanish Red, LAN Rioja.  This 2006 wine is from the Crianza region.  We purchased it from Wegmans for $11 and it was well worth the price.  It is a very enjoyable wine with 13.5% alcohol and is rated 44 out of 100 in Wine Spectator.  It certainly stood up well to the spicy chicken and I am looking forward to seeing how this "better" wine works with chocolate.

OFV more like WTF!!

The evening started out fantastic!  Sally and I made a delicious dish of “Shrimp Saganaki”.  This is a shrimp stew recipe we got from Food and Wine Magazine.  The blend of shrimp, dill, black olives, and feta cheese make for a truly unique dish.  We have made and enjoyed this dish before and paired with crusty bread and the right wine, this is really a meal to anticipate.

The only problem was … what wine to pair with it?  We have a friend, Tom who insists that seafood should always be paired with white wine, but we are partial to red wine (and are also somewhat stubborn).  In the past, we have found several red wines that pair well with seafood and Pinot Noir has always been the most adaptable.  So we searched through our wine cellar and pulled out an OFV 2009 Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley.  This estate grown wine is produced and bottled by Olsen Family Vineyards in Oregon.  Despite the screw top, (I know this is not in itself an issue) we were excited to try it with our dinner.

DISASTER AT THE TRATTORIA!!  I don’t know if it was the wine or the pairing but this was TERRIBLE.  The wine was completely inappropriate.  I was ready to give Tom credit and acknowledge that red wine could not pair with this dish until I tasted some $6 Tempranillo wine Sally had left over from earlier this afternoon and much to my surprise; it seemed to go well with the shrimp.  Since, Sally has a much better palate than I do, I asked her to try the Pinot Noir and she couldn’t get it past her nose.  She said it smelled terrible and she would not even try it!

We bought this wine for $20 from Total Wine and my recommendation is to ignore it and move on to another.  Well, I will try to finish the bottle with some chocolate which I have found will make any wine better!

First Lunch

I know the title of this blog insinuates we will be focusing on wine ... but I am an equal opportunity drinker.  In that vein, I thought I would start out the blog with the first meal I have had since I started … my lunch today. We had two kinds of smoked barbeque which a friend had smoked in his backyard smoker a couple of weeks ago (don’t worry we kept it in the freezer).  I can’t remember the name of one of them but for some reason the “butt rub” sticks in my mind.  Actually it tasted good in spite of the name.  Sally made cole slaw and potato salad to ensure it was the perfect high caloric lunch. I topped it off with a Fred Red beer from Blue and Gray Brewing Co in Fredericksburg VA. This is a local craft brewery which my son and I visited this morning.  They were very helpful and graciously poured us several large samples of their brew.  We brought back a couple of growlers of our favorite and then enjoyed them with the barbeque.  As much as I love wine, I have to admit the beer was a perfect compliment to the lunch.  It brought out the smoky flavors of the meat and the remainder of the growlers improved the afternoon immensely.  Hopefully dinner will be just as memorable.