Flashback Friday - Chiapparelli's

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on August 31, 2011.

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When I was a kid, growing up in Fells Point, a trip to Little Italy (or, as we pronounced it, "Lil Lily") was usually reserved for special occasions. Once in a while we'd get a pizza from DiNitti's, or a bag of ossa di morte ("bones of the dead" - very hard, clove-flavored cookies) from Vaccaro's, but we wouldn't have a sit-down dinner at any of our favorite red-sauce joints unless it was for a special reason. Ok, so sometimes the occasion was merely that we wanted to get dressed up and go out to eat. If we felt really fancy, we'd go to Vellegia's, which seemed to us to be the poshest restaurant in the area, otherwise we'd go to Sabatino's or Chiapparelli's.

Vellegia's is gone now, but Chip's and Sab's live on. Recently, Chip's offered a Groupon, which I snatched up, knowing that Mr Minx had never experienced any of the classic Little Italy restaurants. We had an opportunity to use it for his birthday - a very special occasion indeed.

While offering many of the same classics as every other restaurant in the neighborhood (ravioli, veal Parmesan, chicken Marsala), Chip's menu has been modernized a bit and offers new classics like stuffed portobello mushrooms and grilled salmon, along with crab cakes and a rib-eye for those weirdos who go to Italian restaurants but not to eat Italian food. Don't get me wrong - Chip's is still very much an old-school restaurant: the bread basket contained squishy Italian bread and a handful of prepackaged butter pats. You'll find no plates of artisinal olive oil enhanced with house-dried herbs here! And every entrée automatically comes with the famous garlic-and-cheese-laden Chiapparelli's salad, practically a meal in itself.

Once upon a time, Italian restaurants suggested ordering a pasta course AND a meat course, but since most Americans consider pasta a dinner unto itself, that's usually not the case anymore. But how could we dine at a restaurant that makes its own pasta and not have a pasta course? We opted to split an order of the "besto pesto" - the classic Genoese basil/pine nut/parm purée, mixed with a judicious amount of cream (that the menu, in a bit of reverse exaggeration, describes as a "touch"), coating strands of nicely toothsome maccherone. The dish is also available with chicken or shrimp, but I think the dish was plenty decadent without the addition of protein.

Honestly, after the giant salad and the rich pasta, I could have called it quits, but I had ordered an entrée, too. While not normally a fan of veal, I was in the mood for brasciole. Chip's version is rolled with some prosciutto and served with a generous portion of old-school potato gnocchi and a brightly-flavored marinara. Because it's so easy to make tough gnocchi, I find that most cooks try too hard to achieve the opposite effect. Eating a bowl of squishy pillows can occasionally get boring. One bite of Chiapparelli's gnocchi, however, took me instantly back to my childhood, to gnocchi that actually required chewing, and that occasionally caused an upset tummy after overindulgence. This is a good thing. Too much of one, it seems, because after three pieces of pasta and a quarter of the meat, I was done.

Mr Minx didn't have as difficult a time scarfing down most of his veal Saltimbocca, with spinach, proscuitto, and Parmesan in a Marsala wine sauce that tasted as if it contained a (un)healthy amount of butter. While not the most elegant version of saltimbocca, it was a hearty, rib-sticking dish, with tender veal and perfectly-cooked spinach.

We opted not to have dessert at Chip's, but after learning that it was Mr Minx's birthday, our (lovely, accomodating, and very suave) waiter brought a house-made mini cannoli as a sweet little gift to end the meal.

We went home that evening very full, quite content, and reeking of garlic. And with a large bag of leftovers (including an entire salad, since the pasta dish was considered an entrée) that would constitute my lunch for the remainder of the week. I don't know why we don't eat in Little Italy more often. Next time - Sab's.

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Posted on Minxeats.com.

New Fall Menu at B & O Brasserie

B & O Brasserie in the Hotel Monaco is one of our favorite restaurants, especially for special occasions, but also for a simple weeknight dinner. The restaurant has seen several executive chefs over its relatively short existence, but each has created complex, high-end dishes that have never been boring or predictable. B & O's current executive chef, Scott Hines, continues the tradition set by his predecessors with a new fall menu that entertains the palate with layers of flavor and ingredient combinations that are new and exciting. We were happy to be invited to try out the new offerings recently.

We started our meal with a Brussels sprout salad made of the bright green outer leaves of the sprouts. Crab apples, onion, Marcona almonds, and pancetta round out the salad, providing a variety of flavors and textures. When I first tasted it, I thought the pancetta was Mexican chorizo. I later found out that the maple vinaigrette included achiote (or annatto) which lends an earthy flavor as well as a yellow hue, and is also used in chorizo. I was glad to discover that my tastebuds were not playing tricks on me. 

The oxtail marmalade is slow cooked oxtail (actually the tail from cattle we think of as cows, as opposed to oxen) blended with sweet and savory ingredients to create intense, meaty, flavor. When combined with a bit of bone marrow schmaltz (a rich combination of bone marrow and beef tallow) and a little of the lightly acidic pickled shallot and peppercress garnish on a slice of ciabatta, the result is a rich and satisfying bite that is lovely and well-balanced. A top-notch appetizer that would also be a perfect bar snack when paired with one of the B&Os always inventive cocktails. In that vein, I had the Harvest Moon from the new fall menu, a surprisingly dry combination of apple brandy, cacao nib syrup, lemon, and Millstone gingerroot cider. The Minx had the Rock Wall, a combination of mezcal and rum with cider, lemon, and spiced sugar syrup that reminded her of wood smoke and fall leaves.

The lamb noisette features medallions of medium rare lamb over a bed of fregola flavored with black olives and merguez sausage, and escarole, with a simply perfect lamb jus. An intensely carrot-y spiced carrot reduction is spread across the plate and feta cheese is sprinkled on top for an additional layer of flavor. There was just so much going on in this dish, and all of it was exactly the right thing.

A exciting surprise for me was the marjoram and orange gremolata atop the house made pappardelle with veal sugo. The veal is slow braised for 6 to 7 hours, making it unbelievably tender, and the pasta is lovely and silky on the tongue. While the dish would have been amazing as is, the salty pepperiness of pecorino pepato cheese nudged it over the top. While I might not be ambitious enough to tackle the slow braised veal, I would like to try the marjoram and orange combo on one of my own pasta dishes. It was quite the flavor revelation. Marjoram, a member of the mint and oregano family, is a somewhat underutilized herb when fresh, at least in such an obvious way. The flavor is reminiscent of both oregano and mint and added a fresh herbal contrast to the rich meaty sauce.

Although we were bursting at the seams, Chef Hines wanted us to try out a selection of their desserts. The lavender and caramel flan was redolent of lavender and finished off with slices of crisp meringue.

From the moment we arrived at the restaurant, everyone was raving about the lemon bar, and the praise was completely in order. Feuilletine white chocolate crunch, berry gelee, toasted meringue, vanilla ice cream, and lemon brittle make for a wonderful variety of flavors and textures that all work together. Your palate never gets bored with this dessert.

The B & O ice cream sandwiches are nothing like the ones you pulled out of the freezer as a kid. Almond macarons sandwich rich vanilla ice cream and are set on a pool of dulce de leche. To cut the sweetness and provide a little warmth on a chilly fall evening, the sandwiches are served with a cup of spiced hot cider.

While we've never had a bad meal at B & O Brasserie no matter what time of year we've gone there, this fall menu created by Chef Scott Hines is something worth checking out before the season is over. It makes us excited for the new, inventive dishes he will create in the future.

Full disclosure - Chef Hines provided several recipes for our latest book, Maryland's Chesapeake. He's a terrifically creative chef who is also very generous. We are so pleased that he's running the kitchen at B & O, and look forward to many more delicious meals there.

B & O Brasserie
The Hotel Monaco
2 North Charles Street
Baltimore, Maryland, 21201
443-692-6172



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Kitchen Sink Chili and Cornbread

When the Ravens play at 4pm, we tend to eat dinner in front of the television. Most of the time, I'll make something that doesn't involve utensils, but this particular Sunday, I had lots to do between waking up and settling down on the sofa, so I decided to whip up some chili.

Chili is great because there's relatively little prep and plenty of unsupervised cooking time. Just chop up an onion, open some cans, and go do other stuff while the meal basically makes itself.

I had some odds and ends that I wanted to use up, so they went into the chili. Also, straight-up ground beef seemed really expensive last week for some reason, so I bought whatever other ground meat I could find that was less-expensive. All-turkey is kinda boring, so a package of mixed meats went in with it. Honestly, we couldn't tell that it wasn't beef chili, what with all of the other flavors going on.

Kitchen Sink Chili

2 tablespoon ancho chile powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
2 cups chopped onion
drizzle olive oil
1.5 lb meatloaf mix (ground pork, veal, and beef)
1.5 lb ground turkey
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup leftover salsa (I used salsa verde)
1 5oz can chopped green chiles
1 roasted red pepper, diced (from a jar, or roast it yourself over a gas flame until blackened, place in a paper bag until cooled, peel off charred skin)
2 cans fire roasted tomatoes with garlic
1 can black beans, drained
2 cups chicken stock
1 jalapeno chile
2 dried chipotle peppers
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
honey or agave syrup, if necessary
salt and pepper to taste
sour cream, cilantro, chopped scallions, shredded cheddar cheese for garnish.

Mix first four ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a dutch oven, heat a bit of olive oil and add onions. Cover pan and sweat onions until translucent. Add ground meats. Cook until meats are no longer pink, breaking clumps with a wooden spoon. Stir in garlic and half of spice mixture. Add salsa, chiles, red pepper, tomatoes, beans, chicken stock, jalapeno, and chipotles. Bring mixture to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Cover and cook on low heat for 2 hours, stirring every once in a while. After two hours, if there seems to be too much liquid, remove lid and turn up heat to evaporate some of it. When consistency is more to your liking, check for seasoning and add the remaining spices and the cocoa powder. If you think it needs a bit of sweetness, add the honey. Allow to cook for another 30 minutes or so, then add salt and pepper to taste.

Remove from heat and serve in bowls with garnishes and corn bread or muffins.

Moist and Dense Corn Muffins

2 cups corn meal
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups milk
2 eggs
1 8.5oz can creamed corn
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
3 scallions, white and some green part chopped

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Lightly grease muffin tins or corn stick pans with a bit of butter or oil. Place pan in oven to heat.

In a mixing bowl, combine the corn meal, baking powder and salt. Stir in the milk, eggs, creamed corn, and oil, mixing together until the batter is smooth. Stir in frozen corn and scallions. Pour batter evenly into preheated muffin tins or corn stick pan. Bake 20-25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes 12 regular or 6 jumbo corn muffins.

Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.

Chiapparelli's

When I was a kid, growing up in Fells Point, a trip to Little Italy (or, as we pronounced it, "Lil Lily") was usually reserved for special occasions. Once in a while we'd get a pizza from DiNitti's, or a bag of ossa di morte ("bones of the dead" - very hard, clove-flavored cookies) from Vaccaro's, but we wouldn't have a sit-down dinner at any of our favorite red-sauce joints unless it was for a special reason. Ok, so sometimes the occasion was merely that we wanted to get dressed up and go out to eat. If we felt really fancy, we'd go to Vellegia's, which seemed to us to be the poshest restaurant in the area, otherwise we'd go to Sabatino's or Chiapparelli's.

Vellegia's is gone now, but Chip's and Sab's live on. Recently, Chip's offered a Groupon, which I snatched up, knowing that Mr Minx had never experienced any of the classic Little Italy restaurants. We had an opportunity to use it for his birthday - a very special occasion indeed.

While offering many of the same classics as every other restaurant in the neighborhood (ravioli, veal Parmesan, chicken Marsala), Chip's menu has been modernized a bit and offers new classics like stuffed portobello mushrooms and grilled salmon, along with crab cakes and a rib-eye for those weirdos who go to Italian restaurants but not to eat Italian food. Don't get me wrong - Chip's is still very much an old-school restaurant: the bread basket contained squishy Italian bread and a handful of prepackaged butter pats. You'll find no plates of artisinal olive oil enhanced with house-dried herbs here! And every entrée automatically comes with the famous garlic-and-cheese-laden Chiapparelli's salad, practically a meal in itself.

Once upon a time, Italian restaurants suggested ordering a pasta course AND a meat course, but since most Americans consider pasta a dinner unto itself, that's usually not the case anymore. But how could we dine at a restaurant that makes its own pasta and not have a pasta course? We opted to split an order of the "besto pesto" - the classic Genoese basil/pine nut/parm purée, mixed with a judicious amount of cream (that the menu, in a bit of reverse exaggeration, describes as a "touch"), coating strands of nicely toothsome maccherone. The dish is also available with chicken or shrimp, but I think the dish was plenty decadent without the addition of protein.

Honestly, after the giant salad and the rich pasta, I could have called it quits, but I had ordered an entrée, too. While not normally a fan of veal, I was in the mood for brasciole. Chip's version is rolled with some prosciutto and served with a generous portion of old-school potato gnocchi and a brightly-flavored marinara. Because it's so easy to make tough gnocchi, I find that most cooks try too hard to achieve the opposite effect. Eating a bowl of squishy pillows can occasionally get boring. One bite of Chiapparelli's gnocchi, however, took me instantly back to my childhood, to gnocchi that actually required chewing, and that occasionally caused an upset tummy after overindulgence. This is a good thing. Too much of one, it seems, because after three pieces of pasta and a quarter of the meat, I was done.

Mr Minx didn't have as difficult a time scarfing down most of his veal Saltimbocca, with spinach, proscuitto, and Parmesan in a Marsala wine sauce that tasted as if it contained a (un)healthy amount of butter. While not the most elegant version of saltimbocca, it was a hearty, rib-sticking dish, with tender veal and perfectly-cooked spinach.

We opted not to have dessert at Chip's, but after learning that it was Mr Minx's birthday, our (lovely, accomodating, and very suave) waiter brought a house-made mini cannoli as a sweet little gift to end the meal.

We went home that evening very full, quite content, and reeking of garlic. And with a large bag of leftovers (including an entire salad, since the pasta dish was considered an entrée) that would constitute my lunch for the remainder of the week. I don't know why we don't eat in Little Italy more often. Next time - Sab's.

Chiapparelli's
237 S High St
Baltimore, MD 21202
(410) 837-0309


Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.