Three Latest and Best

The last few weeks were a flurry of food! I'm still catching up, but in the meantime, here are my three latest and best:

Little Goat Cheese Tarts: Sometimes having a party catered can be hit or miss. You're juggling budgets, staff, and a hope that you get lucky and get good food, but when you've got it dialed in, it shows. On Derby Day, I put on a hat and attended a lovely party with -- wait for it -- good catered food! MBP did the honors with a great buffet table balanced with sweet and savoury. My favorite? The mini goat cheese tarts with the sweet sauce drizzle. (I didn't ask, I just enjoyed.) Bonus: Best mint julips *ever*.

Smoked Onion BBQ burger at Meridian: Most days when I go to lunch with a colleague or pal, I opt for the sensible choice. A salad. Seafood. Lighter fare. (Unless I'm corrupting Cory with the burger at MacNiven's.) And the other day, fully intending to order a Bibb salad, I was sidetracked by a big ol' burger at Meridian. This one was thick with BBQ sauce, onions, (I added avocado) and fries. Why is it I always feel a little dirty afterwards?

Produce at Saraga: I had a dinner party last week and a needed fairly long and disparate list of produce. Trying to keep my grocery shopping stops to a minimum, I could only think of one place that's blowing the doors off produce right now -- Saraga. When Marsh or Wild Oats/Whole Foods consistently leave me hanging, this funky international market manages to keep an enormous array of fresh fruit and vegetables in stock -- and it's not only good but at reasonable prices. I didn't just find the basics (onions, shallots, cucumbers, fruit) but some of the harder to find -- and expensive at other stores -- items (tomatillos, leeks, true green onions, baby bok choy, mint leaves in bulk, fresh thai basil, Japanese eggplant, 3 lbs of fresh shitake, enoki, and portabella mushrooms.) The big frozen food coolers are back online for dumplings and frozen breads. And the best part? This place is always busy. So glad to see they just keep getting better and better.

Three Latest and Best

Duck Ham from Peterson's: For a place that used to be known mainly for steaks, Peterson's is a restaurant with range. From an amuse bouche of lobster and duck ham (housemade, of course) to the handmade chocolates that appear after dessert, everything at a recent dinner was delicious. Signature aged rib-eyes, tender veal, perfectly cooked scallops, and seared yellowtail rounded out the evening. (And don't think I didn't have an eye on someone's foie gras tart.) Even the seafood dishes are created with the diner in mind -- a perfectly nutty, pinot noir risotto gave mine depth with the slate of cabernets we were drinking. Excellent service, attention to detail, and a richness round out the Peterson's and making it one of the finest restaurants in our city.

IndyPubCrawl: So, not a meal, but Saturday, about 65 people made it for the 11:30 a.m. rock star start of the Winter Indy Pub Crawl. Pub crawlers braved freezing temperatures to make roughly 15 downtown stops -- with 45 minutes to an hour at each one. I gave it my best effort but dropped off mid-afternoon. Either way, it's a great chance to catch up with old friends, make some new ones, and check out lots of places one wouldn't normally go (like the OTB stop after Weber Grill. Hmmmm.) Thanks for organizing it, guys! Great work! I can hardly wait until the summer crawl.

Saraga Market on Sunday Night: Bustling with customers, Saraga International Market is a treat every time. Sunday evening the Mexican bakery was serving up fresh buns. The tortillas in their white paper wrappers smelled like the freshest masa, and even the halal killed lamb looked fresh from that day. The produce section expands every time I'm there. This time of year when curries and sauces taste so good, authentic rice and native ingredients (like Thai coconut milk instead of the Americanized grocery store brands) make a huge difference.

Two Minute Warning: Darn it, just when I go and tout a dish I love, they screw it up. Went back to lunch at McCormick and Schmick's for the Mahi cakes with cucumber and peanut sauce. They were only so-so -- overcooked and dryer than salmon cakes made with canned fish. My friend's salmon "stew' was a salty, gummy mess. Boo!

What's in Your Saraga Basket?

Well, possums, (to quote Amuse-Biatch), I've just finished my meat odyssey and while I'm sure the finished product won't be nearly as impressive as it feels like it should be, it's still a relief! I feel like I've finally gotten my culinary life back! Who knew that seeing, eating, and writing about steak, chops, and pork would take that little extra part of my brain that makes me actually have creative and amusing things to blog. So, fresh from the grocery for some inspiration -- and loaded with Chinese Dieter's green tea, recommended for all manner of purging by one well-known local chef -- I'm ready to eat and cook and enjoy again! (For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, don't worry. Come October, I'll give you a heads up.)

Saraga International Grocery, I'm happy to see, is hopping with life! There were times I was concerned as shelves seemed to empty and produce looked grim, but they've adapted, changed a few of their products, and voila! A thriving and well-stocked international market! Great produce including monster papaya, mangos, and watermelons right now, plus a new separate counter for halel goat, lamb, and beef. (The butcher had an entire lamb on his counter while I was there. He kept pointing it out. I think he thought I'd be grossed out by it. Little did he know I'd probably seen it slaughtered.)

They've added a few more American frozen foods and dairy products and there's an expanded beer/wine section. (They have Zipang Sparkling Sake but it's pretty dear at $6.99 for 12-ounce bottle.) And best of all, at 4:00 p.m. on a Saturday, the market was teeming with customers of every ethnicity, a pleasant sight to see in Indianapolis.

What's in my Saraga basket?

*Thai eggplant (the mystery vegetable that cost CJ the quickfire on last week's Top Chef. He's clearly never had the green curry at Sawasdee.)
*Galangal root

*Thai lime leaves (more diplomatically named than "Kaffir" lime leaves, "kaffir" being an ethnic slur in many parts of the world.)

*5 limes

*2 cans coconut milk
*1 can bamboo shoots (sensing a theme here? Maybe see a green curry in my future?)

*fresh cut pineapple

*baby carrots

*chocolate gallettas (better looking than the simply named Chinese confection "Big Gluten Ball")

*3 Ballerina brand Chinese green dieter's tea.