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Cunetto - St. Louis, The Hill

 

 
The worship team from Schweitzer is going to a workshop at La Croix in Cape Girardeau this weekend. On the way there we visited a Saturday evening service in St. Louis then headed to Cunetto on The Hill for dinner. Above you can see the remnants of several people's food, also known as my supervisor's tasting platter. I ordered the veal parmigiana which was served in an excellent red sauce. As a side I had shell pasta with a cream and garlic sauce. Before dinner we had toasted ravioli and calamari. The best part of Cunetto is that the food is very reasonably priced. Pasta dishes are  mostly under $10 and most of the entrees (which are served with a pasta side and a glass of wine) are between $10-20. Cunetto doesn't take reservations, so be prepared for a wait (usually over an hour) unless you arrive right when they open. You can enjoy an appetizer in the lounge upstairs or In nice weather you can sit outside. If you've never been to Cunetto, my favorite restaurant on the hill, you should go when you get a chance.

Clary's Tasting Menu

 Last night for Sarah's birthday we went to Clary's for dinner. The restaurant was fairly slow on a Monday night, and as such the service was almost annoyingly attentive. We decided that for the birthday dinner we would do the chef's tasting menu that Clary's offers with a small modification -- Sarah's not a fan of gumbo or the soup they had last night, so those were traded for crab cakes.

The amouse bouche of the evening was a  sweet potato chip with a smoked salmon mouse. It was quite tasty, but after having discovered the joy of smoking my own fish the mouse was a bit lacking.

 Each course of the meal was paired with a two ounce pour of an appropriate wine. Only one of which I didn't like. I'm not a fan of Sauvignon Blanc, I always think it tastes flat. The rest of the wine was very good and matched well with the food. We were served two different ports with the first dessert course, one that was a late bottle and the other that wasn't. The late bottle port one out handily.

The food was exceptional, although Sarah and I think we probably could have split the tasting menu. I was also disappointed that the tasting menu featured smaller portions of regular menu items. In my  mind a tasting menu should showcase the best of what is available and should change more than once a season. Thomas Keller's restaurants write a new tasting menu each day.

Our menu was a slightly modified version of the Winter 2005 tasting menu:

Madeira Braised Mushrooms - These mushrooms were served over a  garlic toast in the brasing sauce. This was probably my favorite course of the evening.

Crab Cake - The crab cakes at Clary's are thick, moist, and nicely crisp around the edges. Probably the second best I've ever had - coming in second to the fresh dungeness crab cakes we had on the Oregon coast.

Pepper Seared Tuna - This tuna served with shallots on a bed matchstick french fries was good, but the first indication that the tasting menu would probably be sufficient food for two people. It was essentialy a sauceless steak-aux-poivre made with tuna - a dfferent but good taste. The fries were a great combination. 

Filet - The filet was the most disappointing part of the meal for me. Mine was a bit fatty and cooked slightly under what I would call a rare steak. This was also the part of our meal where our waiter couldn't be found - and we were without steak knives. The filet was served with roasted green beans and brussel sprouts and a potato gratin with a smoked cheese (I'm guessing fontina). The potatoes were the best part of this course. Sarah ended up bringing half of her steak home (keep in mind this entire meal is smaller than menu sized portions - but the filet was probably 4 oz).

Chocolate peanut butter cake - This mini muffin sized cake  is gooey in the middle and tastes of peanut butter. We had them box one of the cakes and just ate one, waiting for the souffle.

Souffle - Last night's souffle was amaretto flavored. I'm going to make souffle sometime soon, this may be one of the first flavors I try. I almost like the custard that is served with the souffle more than the souffle, but I'd feel silly just eating a bowl of it straight.

Overall this was an excellent meal. I wish the menu changed more regularly - this was clearly a winter menu. I also wish the portion sizes were just a bit smaller on some of the earlier courses. I was a bit disappointed that we ended up getting shorted the salad course of our meal. We traded soup and gumbo for the crab cakes but ended up not getting the salad that should have come before the tuna. I say this not because I really needed more food, but because I did think the meal was lacking in vegetables and I really like the salads at Clary's.

Smoked Pork Chops For Lunch

I'd fired up the smoker to cook for the meat/xbox fiesta Steve Kirks and I were having on Friday night (I promise a post about this too). Sarah was going home to a bridal shower for her sister. She called on her way home from work -- she took half the day off -- and I asked her to pick up some thin pork chops. After a quick trim, and pounding them thin I seasoned them with salt and pepper and tossed them on the smoker. The chops took about 35 minutes in the 240° smoker. I'm starting to compile a list of things that are easy, quick, smokable foods for weeknight cooking. Usually the smoker involves 6 hours or more so foods that can meet the smoked meat craving in a short cook time are great.

 

Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker

Okay, so Steve Kirks has had a couple of bbq experiences at my house and now has posted about the Smokey Mountain Cooker on his blog. I think it's a ploy to make me post more, well guess what Steve, it worked. I've been pondering what to post about this smoker for awhile, mainly during my blog hiatus.

I have been wanting a smoker for a long time, pretty much since we moved to Springfield. As the few regular readers I have left will know, I don't think there is any good bbq in Springfield, MO. Last fall I finally decided I was going to get a smoker and started researching. What I came up with was spend a lot of money on a custom Klose smoker or get the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker. The WSM is a charcoal bullet smoker. For more information that you've ever wanted you can check out the Virtual Weber Bullet. Sarah's parents gave me money towards a smoker this Christmas and I found the WSM for a mere $199.99 at the local Westlakes hardware store - cheaper than even Amazon.com which usually has a cheaper price.

I've fired the smoker up three times now - once for our day before New Year's Eve party, for a bbq dinner party, and then a couple of weekends ago when Steve brought the brats to our house. So far I've smoked two pork shoulders, a brisket, three slabs of ribs, a chicken, salmon filets, and assorted sausages. I've yet to be disappointed with the smoker.

To make my life easier I use the Minion method for firing the smoker and have a Maverick remote probe thermomter. I'm able to get 6-8 hours uninterrupted cooking and usually 13-14 hours with only a couple of checks. I'm very comfortable firing the smoker up and going to bed and letting the thermometer alert me to any issues.

More on the smoker will come, I'm planning to start posting my cooking logs each time I fire it up. 

Agrario: Mmmmm

Last weekend Sarah and I met several of her coworkers for drinks at Bodega and dinner at Agrario. I have to say the food in Eric's restaurants never disappoints. I had the pan seared dover sole, which was served with an onion quiche. I've had sole before, but this was probably the best. It was tender and moist. I think many times it's easy to overcook a flat-fish like sole. The quiche was an interesting side -- not something I would have personally picked, but still good. Sarah had the lobster and crab lasagna. The alfredo sauce for this dish is slightly sweet and matches perfectly with the crab and lobster.

I've been wanting to try the Sunday brunch at Agrario. I've also been wondering if they would do a chef's tasting menu. I think it would be both a lot of fun and incredibly delicious.