Aldo's

I've wanted to go to Aldo's for years now, but it's always seemed like one of those special occasion places that we couldn't quite afford. And, honestly, it still does. However - it's a place that deserves every bit of kudos it receives. I can't remember when I've had such a perfect meal. You know me - I love to criticize. But I could only find one teeny thing to complain about at Aldo's, and that is just a matter of my own personal taste.

We were treated to a mini tour of Italy, starting off with a basket of fritto misto, or mixed fried seafood, with a marinara dip. The cod, shrimp, and calamari were all crackling-crisp, and perfectly cooked. A great start to the meal. With the seafood, we drank a glass of the house Pinot Grigio.

Fritto Misto

Panzanella salad came next. I loved that the greens were arugula, and that the tomato was juicy, red, and flavorful. And here's where my one criticism comes in: there was a little too much oregano for my tastes. I would have preferred basil.

A trio of pasta was our third course, accompanied by a glass of a bone-dry red called Ruche. The pastas included fettuccine with lobster in a rosé sauce, porcini agnolotti in a black truffle butter, and a classic orecchiette with broccoli rabe and Italian sausage. The pastas were silky, the sauces were rich, and all were amazingly delicious. But I think I liked the agnolotti the best. The mushroom flavor was so woodsy, so intense, and a little went a long way.

Pasta Trio

Our next course was the decadent Tournedos Rossini, prime filet mignon topped with foie gras, truffle and porcini sauce, and a side of four cheese risotto in a cheese cup. Wow. Generally, I don't care for filet because I often find it to be mealy/mushy in texture and livery rather than beefy in flavor. But this particular steak, which was cooked to a deep pink shade just shy of medium but not quite medium-rare, was outstanding. It had a nice salty crust and tasted like beef. And the texture was just marvelous. The sliver of foie gras on top was also perfectly cooked, browned on the outside and quivering pink inside. With this dish, we drank a glass of the house Amarone.

Finally, we received a limoncello cocktail made with heavy cream, which was delicious, but impossible to drink after all of the rich food and wine that had come before. Our trio of desserts included a mini cannoli, a slice of feather-light tiramisu, and a small bit of intense flourless chocolate cake that didn't look too pretty on the plate, but wow. All of it was wow, particularly the pastas and the filet. The service was marvelous, too, formal but not stuffy, and our busboy was extremely attentive.

Now I know where we need to go for anniversaries, holidays, and milestone birthdays - Aldo's.

Much thanks to Sergio and Aldo Vitale for the wonderful meal. Your hospitality is exceptional, as is your food.

Aldo's
306 S High St
Baltimore, MD 21202
(410) 727-0700
aldositaly.com



(I was trying to be good and didn't use the flash for any of the photos I took during the course of our meal because the next table was occupied. And wouldn't you know it - when their dessert came out, so did their camera phones with flash. But I did manage to take two that didn't come out blurry.) 

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Sautéed Radishes

Radishes are a very underrated vegetable. Most people think they're just for salads or crudité platters, but I think they work best when cooked. That's right - I said cooked. We discovered cooked radishes back in 2005 and now consume them fairly often - far more often than we eat them raw.

January's Food & Wine magazine had a lovely recipe for sautéed radishes with orange butter, provided by Emeril Lagasse. The local Safeway just so happened to have bunches of big radishes with their greens attached, so Mr Minx used them to whip up a version of the recipe, substituting some bacon jam for the freshly cooked bacon, and using about half as much butter. The radishes themselves were a little bland (cooking them in chicken stock with onions gives them much more flavor), but the greens were outstanding! They were similar to collards, but required far less cooking, and were simply perfect in the orange/shallot/bacon sauce.

If you happen upon radishes with greens in your supermarket, I strongly recommend you try Emeril's recipe. If you can only find them in little bags, try the chicken stock recipe. While radishes taste a wee bit turnip-y, it's definitely turnip-y in a good way.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Flatbread Lasagna

The April issue of Food & Wine magazine has an intriguing recipe for lasagna made with flatbreads instead of pasta. I love lasagna, but seldom want to deal with cooking and untangling lasagna noodles. And forget the no-cook variety - they require far too much sauce and often end up a soupy mess.

We had a bunch of leftover sauce, meatballs, and Italian sausages in the fridge so I figured now was a good time to try out this flatbread thing. Mr Minx prepared the dish for Wednesday's dinner, and I couldn't wait to get home from work to try it.

This is what greeted me when I walked into the kitchen:

Hello, handsome!

And this is what it looked like cut into portions:

As you could probably guess, this "lasagna" was more like a deep dish pizza than anything. Nothing wrong with that - I love a good pizza, and they are oh-so-rare in this neck of the woods. The sauce and meatballs were home-made, and the sausage had been grilled, so this dish was packed with flavor. But...there seemed to be something missing.

Me: The ricotta cheese must have become one with the middle layer of naan, because I am not tasting it.

Mr Minx: Ricotta? Damn, I knew I forgot something.

No worries. We'll find another use for the ricotta. I can eat that stuff with a spoon directly out of the container and be satisfied, but I may mix it with vanilla, sugar, and cinnamon and call it cannoli filling. But back to the lasagna....

Although it's not the real deal, neither pizza nor lasagna, it's an interesting hybrid of both, and I can imagine adapting the recipe by using different meats (or no meat), mushrooms, spinach, maybe a bechamel instead of ricotta and/or the tomato sauce. The magazine also gives recipes for using naans or Greek pitas in pizza (obvious - and we've done that already), burritos (what? too thick!), and the Web exclusive dessert panini (maybe a use for my ricotta). Personally, I like naans for soaking up the sauce of Indian food, and Greek pitas slathered with tzatziki and maybe some grilled lamb. How about you?