iu eats

Monday Night Romance @ Restaurant Tallent

I'm sorry I don't have pictures. A date to Tallent was a special occasion. I was so giddy figuring out what I was going to wear (cute, but comfortable enough to accommodate a food baby) and excited that I was FINALLY going to go to David and Krissy Tallent's shrine to homegrown cuisine that I completely forgot to grab my digital camera. I've even been practicing flash-free macro shots. But I still worry that I'm not discreet enough to pull it off at a fancy restaurant.

Restaurant Tallent is something special. It's Bloomington's own fine dining establishment. White tablecloths. Local ingredients, creatively transformed into something in between comfort food and culinary voodoo. And the menu changes every season, to keep up with south central Indiana's bounty.

Being the pragmatist that I am, I waited on couples on Valentine's Day dinner rather than being one of them myself. Which was great, because I had the extra income to go dutch on an all-out Restaurant Tallent dinner. Not the prixe fix, which is $60 a person (add $12 for tip, more if you want a glass of wine, at least $165 a couple), but the pragmatist (read: on a budget) way to go white-tablecloth: Monday night Tallent. Buy one entree, get the other half off. You'll save around $12. But share an appetizer, get a really reasonably priced bottle of wine (or a glass, but if you're both going to have a glass, get a bottle), and share dessert, and you'll still get a once-in-a-lifetime experience at a "yeah, I could do this once a year" price.

We went Dutch this year. There's no shame in it. We're both saving for a move at the end of this school year, and it seemed more practical. But my, what a feast. We started with the house smoked whitefish with potato latkes, horseradish foam, spoonfish caviar and fresh herb garnish ($15). To my surprise, it was all served hot, but the temperature worked. The warm, crispy hash-brown potato worked perfectly with the intensely savory smoked fish. Horseradish added a nice spicy snap and the caviar on top gave perfect bursts of brine to cut the richness. And despite looking like a light seafood option, this dish IS rich. And delicious.

We also had the lamb pappardelle, made with local braised lamb, house made egg noodles, and broccoli raab, the perfect, slightly bitter, green for such a rich luscious sauce. The whole affair was dotted with Capriole Chevre, locally made soft goat cheese, the funky sweetness of which married perfectly with the savory lamb tomato sauce. If I didn't know any better, I would say that the lamb pappardelle would make a very nice main course. But you'd still be hungry for dessert, which is perfect.

Before dessert, and our entrees for that matter, there was salad to contend with. This is not your light "frou-frou" salad. This is serious gourmet matter. Roasted beets, cauliflower, parsnips, and fresh butterey brioche which is in part topped with creamy, earthy Old Kentucky Tomme from local goat cheese producer Capriole ($11). I really wish licking your plate was acceptable. It's not. Don't try it. Even though you want to.

Entrees were a treat. I forgot how much both of them cost. It didn't matter. Tallent is reasonable, and they were both exceptionally good enough to warrant the $25-$35 price tag (most of the entrees are in that range). I had a special: artic char (similar in taste and texture to salmon), served on top of butter beans (white limas) cooked with bacon, wild mushrooms, winter herbs, and magic. It was delicious, savory, and totally not your momma's fish special. My date, at the advice of our incredible server, got the elk loin, wrapped in ham, pan seared, and served on top of braised greens and chestnut polenta. Holy dear sweet food porn. The elk, once again at the advice of our saintly server, was served cold rare, almost sushi-like in tenderness and minerality, with a crisp porky exterior. Elk is a lean meat, and the rich crispy pork really added to the texture and lusciousness. The nutty, silky grits and savory greens rounded out each bite, and we both delighted in being able to cut through the center of each purple-pink meaty morsel with a fork. Bacon-wrapped elk sushi. Who knew it was so delicious?

Dessert was impossible. We were too full. But the menu looked incredible. I was transfixed on a citrus tart. I'm a grapefruit (and any-type-of-orange) addict, and mix that tartness with some kind of richness, and I'm all over it. I promise to come back for some sort of dessert and a glass of wine. And I'll probably get something off the bar menu, because it all looks so good and is a way I can try the Tallent's creativity without making it a super-special occasion.

Nothing Says Love like Saucy Lamb Chops

In case you haven't noticed, it's Valentine's Day. Although it would be really close to impossible not to notice. Anthony Bourdain aired a "Food Porn" special (wildly entertaining, especially the 101 on how to make a cooking show: tight sweatered babe, fondling of food, borderline obscene displays of gustatory appreciation), as did Andrew Zimmern. Just as I expected, Mr. Zimmern talking with bystanders at the Mall of America in great detail about the aphrodisiac qualities of bull testicles, chicken uterus, and tuna sperm both gave me the heebie-jeebies and made me laugh hysterically. 

Television aside, you might have figured out the hard way that if you don't book Valentine's Day dinner two months in advance, you're not going to get a table at a reasonable hour at any restaurant you'd like to dine at. Which is sort of crazy, but makes sense when 40,000 students, not to mention the other residents of Bloomington, all want to take a special someone out for dinner to celebrate America's favorite Hallmark Holiday. 

Or maybe you'd like to do something special for Valentine's Day, but are strapped for cash and the thought of dropping $80 for you and your date to wine and dine doesn't sit so well. Or you'd like to celebrate, with a group of equally cynical friends as I have done a couple of times, in opposition to the farce that is Valentine's Day. One day for love? Pssh. 

I recently got a slow cooker as a graduation/Christmas present, and I must say that if I was giving out Valentines this year, my slow cooker would get one. She is a beautiful and helpful companion. I was trying to figure out more jobs to give my slow cooker AND ways to use up the lamb in my freezer (more about that... once a year I buy a whole local lamb from Jenny at Ewenique Sheep Farm. They sell at the Bloomington Farmers' Market). Browsing my favorite blogs, I saw lots on braised lamb shanks. Lamb shanks are great, but I didn't have enough to feed a crowd, and ever since they became the "it" thing to make, they aren't really the bargain they used to be.

Chops. I would like to make slow cooked chops. Yes, chops are luxe, but shoulder chops are affordable and still pretty sexy. I decided on something Italian-ish, because nothing says romance like Italian food. And something easy and hands-off. As much as I love a piece of rare lamb, coordinating dinner like an orchestra is not my forte and overcooked shoulder chops are inedibly tough. But braising I can do ahead of time, and when everyone shows up all that's left to do is to cook the pasta, and maybe saute some pleasantly bitter greens. An apt side for an anti-Valentine's Day dinner, don't you think?

Braised Lamb Chops Provencal

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

3 pounds shoulder chops, about 1/2 inch thick

One half of a large fennel bulb, thinly sliced

One large onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

One large bunch baby carrots (about 10), peeled, trimmed, and sliced in half lengthwise

1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme*, chopped

1/2 teaspoon fresh savory*, chopped

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

2 tablespoons flour

1 anchovy, chopped

3 cups diced tomatoes, with juice

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 cup dry, medium bodied red wine (you'll have the rest of the bottle, so make sure it's something you would actually like to drink)

OR, substitute 2 teaspoons aged balsamic vinegar for wine

2-4 cups chicken stock

1 cup kalamata olives

Fresh parsley

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat in a large, deep, ovenproof skillet, dutch oven, or similar cooking device that can go from stovetop to oven and has a lid. Sprinkle chops with salt and pepper and add to pan, being careful not to crowd them. You want them to get a nice brown crust on them, and if there are too many in the pan that won't happen. Leave them for about 3 minutes and then brown on the other side (it will take a little bit less time than the first). Remove them and put them on a plate, and repeat this procedure with all of the remaining chops.

Add a little bit more olive oil to the pan if it looks too dry, or drain some out if your lamb gave up a ton of fat. If you use local, Icelandic lamb, you shouldn't have too much fat. Reduce the heat to low and add the vegetables (fennel through baby carrots), stirring them around and making sure they do not brown or crisp and getting all of the brown tasty bits from the lamb off the bottom of the pan. Turn down the heat if you have to. When the onions and fennel have softened a bit, add the herbs. Cook, stirring constantly, for about a minute. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for two minutes or until veggies start to stick a little bit to the bottom of the pan.

Add the tomato paste and chopped anchovy. If you REALLY hate anchovy and can't even think about buying them, leave it out. BUT, you can't even taste the anchovy in the final dish - it just adds delicious depth and is awesome with the lamb. Stir the vegetable mixture until the tomato paste and anchovy have disappeared into the rest of the veggies. Then add the diced tomatoes with their juice and the half glass of wine. Turn up the heat and bring this mixture to a boil, letting it cook down until it starts to look like a sauce (about 4 minutes). 

Take your lamb chops and any juice that has accumulated on the plate and add to the sauce mixture. Stir the chops around and try to cover them with the tomato mixture. Then add just enough chicken stock to BARELY cover the chops, and bring that mixture ALMOST to a boil. Put the cover on your cooking pan and put it in the oven. Let it cook for at least two hours, but no more than four. 

When you are ready to serve dinner, remove the dish from the oven. Evaluate your sauce. Is it thick enough for you? If it is, just add the olives, cook for about 10 minutes longer to heat them, and serve. If your sauce isn't really where you want it, remove the lamb chops from the braising liquid, put them on a separate plate and cover. Take the pan with the sauce and put it on the stove over medium high heat and boil it down, stirring often, until it has reduced to a good consistency.

Ladle the sauce over pasta (I like linguine or spaghetti, but you could even serve this over other things like polenta or mashed potatoes) and serve each guest with 2 or 3 chops and maybe some sauteed broccoli raab. 

* You can substitute chopped rosemary for the savory and/or thyme, but I really like a combination of two fresh herbs. 

If you want to make this a slow cooker dish, a couple of points:

- Make sure your slow cooker has a removable aluminum (or other heat-safe) insert that can go from stove to slow cooker. These are really the best kind to buy because you can use the insert itself as a cooking vessel, the insert is dishwasher safe, and you can brown your meats and saute veggies before slow cooking them, amping up the flavors of the things you cook. 

- Move the insert back into the slow cooker when the original recipe calls for moving it to the oven. Use the HIGH setting on your slow cooker, keep it covered, and cook for at least 2 hours.

- If you want a recommendation for a slow cooker, this is the one I have. I love it. Thanks, Mom!