Once in a while, we have readers tell us that we miss certain posts or segments. One of those segments is the “At Home” segment. I eat three square a day, but am usually too lazy to type out what I made. Indianapolis Amy writes a blog here in town and she reminded me how much that segment rocked and if I wanted to write one for her blog. I took her up on the option, so head over there and check it out. A picture of the pasta I made is below.
-wibia
Review: Augustino’s
8028 South Emerson Ave.
Indianapolis, IN 46237
http://www.augustinosindy.com
Italian food. What’s not to like? Sure there are tons of red-sauce emporiums around but there are also the more adventurous places that can take the world’s second most influential cuisine (Yeah, France at least you are number one at something other than being annoying) to new heights. I’m easy; I like ‘em both. Honestly it’s going to take a couple more visits for me to tell you with any certainty where Augustino’s fits. I’ve had a few of my south-side brethren speak highly of the place so I decided to give it a try for lunch. The décor is very comfortable and actually felt more fine-dining than strip-mall storefront.
What I had: I read in Indianapolis Monthly that the Italian wedding soup was good so I started with that and shared the Toasted Ravioli appetizer with my wife.
Before I get to those I have got to say something about the bread basket delivered to our table. It was fantastic. Hot and crusty with just the right amount of reluctance before giving way to reveal a wonderful spongy interior. A slather of butter and I was very happy. The Toasted Ravioli arrived and the too uniform appearance leads me to believe that they are not house-made and rather than toasted in a pan, I’m guessing deep fried. Nonetheless, they were tasty, half with a beef filling and half with cheese., served with Alfredo and Marina served with a swirl in the same bowl for dipping. Nice.
A cup of wedding soup was next. My wife is a former regional manager for a high-end food manufacturer and one of the best things they made was Italian Wedding soup. I think that Augustino’s is buying this soup. It was good but again, I just didn’t think it was house-made.
For my entree, I ordered the “Supreme Sausage Sandwich.” If you’ve read more than just a couple of my reviews you know that I am a sausage junkie (Yeah, I just wrote that). This really is a knife and fork sandwich for a couple reasons: first, it is piled with sliced sausage coins, peppers, onions and cheese on that awesome bread and is just impossible to pick up and second, it was as hot as the face of the sun. It was also really good. I could have used a bit more sausage but that’s just me. The pepper/onion mix tasted as if it was simmered in the generous marinara giving it a nice spicy bite. Did I mention this was really good?
Would I Buy It Again? Sure. The food was really well prepared, attention to detail was evident and it tasted good. I do want to return for dinner so that I can see what else this kitchen can do. I can’t remember what I paid for it but it was worth it so who cares?
-Smokin DB
Some Guys Pizza
12552 N. Gray Road
Carmel, IN 46033
http://www.someguyspizza.com/
Whenever I review pizza on the North side of Indianapolis, people always ask me if I have tried Some Guys Pizza. Giving into peer pressure, I decided to give it a try. Upon walking in, you are greeted by a server and taken to a table. The interior is nice for a pizza place, but not as comfortable as most Italian Restaurants. Also, the color scheme is right out of the 1990s, and so is the website. They could use a little updating. At the time, we were one of two tables at 6:00 on a Thursday night, however take out business was steady.
What I Ate: Classic Pizza $14.25 for a medium. Sausage, Pepperoni, Mushroom and Extra cheese. In fact, my favorite pizza combination and the one I judge all others by. My wife ordered the Penne Vodka $11.95.
They brought out complimentary garlic bread. There were two different kinds, but they tasted very similar and were barely warm. I was thinking, “uh oh…screw up garlic bread and how are you going to make a decent pizza?”
The pizza arrived promptly and overall, it looked pretty good. There was a good amount of sausage, but it could’ve used a few more slices of pepperoni. The crust was slightly thicker than Donato’s and had a little bend to it. As far as the taste…eh…it didn’t blow my socks off. I found it to be a little bland. They could benefit from a dash of oregano or something…
On the other hand, I had a few bites of the Penne Vodka. I enjoyed the Vodka cream sauce so much that I put the leftovers on top of my leftover pizza. This was just sauce and noodles, no meat here.
Would I Buy It Again? Ehh…maybe? I wasn’t disappointed, I just didn’t love it. Here is the problem: Some Guys lacks a niche. If I wanted pasta and didn’t want to travel, I would drive a few blocks and hit Pizzology. If I wanted pizza in the area, I would probably just order whatever is on special from Jet’s or Donato’s. I have heard that they do an amazing Lasagna a few times a month and that might be worth a try. Maybe they shine outside of the standard ingredients, who knows.
-wibia
Antonio’s Italian Ristorante
1105 Goshen Avenue
Elkhart, IN 46517
574-295-8424
http://www.antoniositalian.com
In all honesty, this is more of a love letter to one of my favorite restaurants in the world than a straight-on review. Paul Cataldo and his family own this place tucked near downtown Elkhart. If you’ve never been to Elkhart (and why would you?), it’s an odd place. Lots of guys who made huge money in the recreational vehicle or manufactured home business and the folks who work in those factories. The haves and the have nots, with little middle class. Toss in a road system that seemingly was created without use of a compass and well, you’ve got a strange place. I don’t know why Paul’s father Antonio landed in Elkhart, but I am certainly glad that he did.
The food is outstanding. The family hails from Calabria so there are plenty of authentic and original pasta and seafood dishes on the menu. The pizza is awesome as well. Paul Cataldo is a national champion pizza chef and has represented the USA more than once internationally as a member of the USA Pizza Team.
While the food is great and the atmosphere cool and relaxing, the best part of a trip to Antonio’s is being treated truly like family. I cannot count the number of drinks and food that Paul has given me over the years. He is a kind and generous man who cares about his customers like family. Not a cliché, it’s true.
Here’s a great story about Paul: when my wife and I were married we naturally had the rehearsal dinner at Antonio’s. We told Paul the date, time and number that would be attending. We never discussed a menu. Never had a tasting. We just showed up and ate and had a wonderful time. He’s amazing.
What I Got: Penne Pasta with Vodka Sauce and Clams, $12.95.
Clams are really difficult to prepare correctly. One second of over-cooking and they are pencil erasers, chewy and tasteless. These were perfect. Tender and sweet in a creamy tomato sauce that was light enough to let the crispness of the Vodka and bite of the crushed red pepper shine through. Just great.
Would I Buy It Again? Yes, a thousand times over. The dinner comes with a house salad that is a mix of greens and includes fresh mint. That’s a cool and tasty addition. Get the house dressing and you’ll love it. I have to say as well, Antonio’s has the best breaded mozzarella sticks in the world. Don’t be an idiot, order them.
Still not convinced, how about the price? $12.95 for a plate of Penne and Clams with Vodka Sauce that you will not be able to finish. $4.99 for a pile of Mozzarella sticks that you better be sharing. Yeah, the place is cheap too.
I love this place.
-Smokin DB
Luca Pizza di Roma
7407 N. Shadeland Avenue
Indianapolis, Indiana
http://www.pizzadiroma.com/nam/index.php?lang=en®ion=nam
I was driving around one random Sunday weeks ago and came across this place. I’ve known this place from the Castleton Square Mall for years (most of their locations are in mall food courts) but I didn’t know that they had locations outside of the mall, so I was intrigued. When I got closer, I saw the sign for the All You Can Eat Buffet and I was hooked. Unfortunately, I had already eaten lunch that day, so I went back a week later and gave the buffet a shot.
What I Got: All You Can Eat Buffet $6.99 (drink not included)
I went with two friends and when we walked in on a Saturday around 11:45, we were the only ones there, so that was not a good sign. We walked in and asked if they had the buffet going and they said they would get it going. Again, not a good sign that they were totally unprepared for something despite the fact that they open at 10:00 or 10:30.
They threw a couple of pizzas and some breadsticks in the oven (they already had lettuce salad, pasta salad and cookies out on the buffet, so at least they were partially set up). I’ll just go through this by the types of menu items they had out there.
Pizza: This wasn’t their normal huge size pizza by the slice type pizza that they put out there at the mall. These were normal sized (think a medium pizza at any pizza place) and they were pretty basic types of pizza. Sausage and pepperoni, pepperoni, etc. The pizza was fairly tasty, but the lack of originality and the lack of pizzas being changed out was very disappointing. Granted, we were the only three in there but I was hoping I could have a pizza that wasn’t just a normal type of pizza.
Breadsticks: After a bit, they took a batch of these out of the oven and I must say, these things were awesome. They weren’t stuffed or anything like that…they were just basic breadsticks and they were wonderful. I’ve never been a huge breadstick guy, but I could have sat there and eaten these all day long (I did have about five of them, so I did do some damage). They also included a nacho cheese style dip (not a fan, so didn’t try it) and a marinara style dip (runny, gross and flavorless).
Salad Bar: Didn’t have any, but this was just your basic salad mix that you see at the grocery store with lettuce, carrots, cabbage, etc. There was some shredded cheese to throw on there, but that is about it. They just had basic dressings as well (Ranch, French, Italian, etc.). Boring.
Pasta: At first, they had two mayonnaise based pasta salads out there. One was your basic tri-color rotini with broccoli, etc. (boring and essentially flavorless) and the other was a small shell shaped pasta (like you might find in some macaroni and cheeses) that included chunks of bacon and honestly, it was awesome. Later, they threw out some spaghetti that they didn’t strain that was watery and terrible. The marinara sauce you were supposed to use was the same one for the breadsticks, so that was depressing.
“Dessert”: They had chocolate chip cookies out and I’m a huge cookie lover and will eat almost any type of cookie and like it, but these were awful. They tasted just like the cheap store brand cookies that you get at the grocery store that are dry and hard. Not cool at all.
Would I Buy It Again? Most likely not. I really was upset after this experience because I was really looking forward to it. The only way that this place could ever give a positive experience is that if you went there during the busy part of the day when they were continually cycling food and fresh pizzas out of there. The funny thing is, I’m not sure when the busy part of the day would be because of the location of this place. It is near an office park, but I don’t think that office park could sustain it to stay busy enough to make it worth it. You’d almost have to rally twenty of your friends to go with you so that the kitchen would stay busy.
That said, if you want a calzone, this is your place. As I was depressingly looking at the buffet, I looked over at the “regular” food and saw some of the most delicious looking calzones that I’ve ever seen in my life. I wish I had gone that route instead of the buffet. Oh well, from now on, I’ll just stick to ordering by the individual slice at the Luca in the mall. By the way, even as depressing as this place was, it is still better than CiCi’s. Just thinking about that place makes me want to gag.
-IndianapolisEater
I love Beef Stroganoff, but it can take a while to make it. This is a go to meal for me in the winter, but I bet it will be mighty tasty during the early spring or fall too.
Ingredients
Flank Steak
Thyme (5 sprigs)
Rosemary
4 T of unsalted butter
1 lb. mushrooms
3 cloves of garlic
2 T Sour Cream
1 T Dijion Mustard
Parsley
1 lb of egg noodles. Whatever kind you like, thick, thin…doesn’t matter.
OPTIONAL: Add onion.
This is really simple and should take about 25 minutes. Take the flank steak and add a little rosemary and thyme to cover. Dried spices will do the trick, but use fresh if you have it. You should be setup like this:
Take the flank steak and either do it on the stove or grill it. It doesn’t matter. Keep in mind it cooks quickly, about 4-5 minutes on each side regardless of saute or grill. You never want to cook flank steak past medium. The first pic is a solid medium.
Cut your mushrooms in quarters. I have tried slicing them here and I just think it tastes better with meatier mushrooms. Two count of olive oil, add a little rosemary and thyme. If your garlic is fresh, then add it now. If you are using the minced in a jar type, add it later. When finished, it should look like this.
Add 2 T of butter to the above. Low-medium heat. Add the 2 T of sour cream and the 1 T of dijon mustard. Fold it all together. Take the other 2 T of butter and toss it into the egg noodles, add a little parsley, salt and pepper to taste.
Add noodles to the plate, put the sauce on top and add the flank steak.
Most awesome quick version of a classic.
-wibia
The last At Home segment showed you how to dress up your quick pasta. This is a little more work, but not a lot. This is one of my favorite meals and a really simple preparation. You will never be the same person after you eat this.
Take four chicken thighs, add kosher salt (Diamond Crystal is my favorite), pepper (from a pepper mill), rosemary and thyme. Dried spices are fine. Leave the skin on, although you may need to trim them. Roll the skin around so it is stretched around the meat.
Two count of olive oil in a sauté pan and sear them. Make sure the oil is hot enough for sizzle before you put them it. Skin side down first for about five minutes, then flip them for about five minutes. They should look like this:
Put them in the oven at 375 for about 18 minutes and do not cover. Approximate timing, depending on how long you leave them in the pan, more time in the pan = less time in the oven. Ya dig?
Now, put some mushrooms and onion in the same saute pan that you just used. Leave about 2 T of fat/oil…you will probably have to take some out.
8 oz mushrooms, 1/2 large onion.
Toss the onions in the saute pan, they should have about a five minute head start on the mushrooms.
Now pay attention here!!
You should be cooking your pasta now, but before you strain your pasta, reserve 1 cup of the starchy water. My favorite for this dish is Nicole and Taylor’s Mushroom Pasta. Sorry out of towners.
The mushrooms and onions are about 10 minutes in the pan and then add the one cup of starchy water and four tablespoons of unsalted butter. It should be looking like this:
Reduce this for around 5-10 minutes until it looks like sauce instead of buttered water.
Plate, finish with a good pinch of salt/pepper and garnish with parsley.
This just might be the best pasta that you have ever had.
-wibia
Remember this segment? Yeah, I doubt it. Last recipe was from IndianapolisEater on February 10th. Understand that since my son (el diablo) is 9 months old, my pursuit of “the good stuff” is compromised. Additionally, where I would normally have two hours to cook dinner, I now have 25 minutes and 1 hand. I know…it was my choice to have a kid, stop yo’ b**chin wibia.
Now, I look for a few shortcuts here and there and ways to add flavor to items that are already in my pantry. In this case, pasta night to a lot of people looks like this:
Look familiar for pasta night?
Emeril’s sauce is okay and I would give it a 6/10, but it is what I had. Don’t buy the really cheap canned stuff…spend a few bucks more. Same goes with the pasta, buy good quality dried pasta. This is a start, a sad start, but if you add a few things, you might have something to talk about.
Getting warmer...
Ingredients: L->R Garlic, Parmigiano Reggiano, Italian Sausage (links), Spanish Onion, Baby Bellas, Sauce, Pasta, Italian Seasoning, Fennel and Red Pepper.
Again, this is quick, easy..cheap and pretty flippin’ good. The trick is, how you prepare this. Let me explain.
So take the pork sausage links (4), cut off the casing. Roll it into a ball like this, and then cover it with the whole fennel, red pepper, and italian seasoning.
TIP: A lot of times, pork sausage is cheaper than ground pork. Watch your prices.
Then break it into pieces, something like this…
Two count of olive oil into a pan and drop the balls of sausage in the pan. Have a big enough pan that they are not sitting on top of each other. Could you have put all the sausage in at one and then break it apart with a spatula? Sure, but that is more of a bolognese and not what we are doing here. After a few minutes, add onion and garlic. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
After about 10 minutes, it should look like this. TIP: the sausage needs to be dark on the outside. In fact, almost a little burnt. Don’t stir this a lot, otherwise it will not carmelize.
It's ready
Add the sauce to the pan above (if most of the oil/fat is gone, if not, dump the oil out). Cook for about 3 minutes until it is warm. I sautéed the mushrooms in a separate pan with 1 T of butter and a two count of olive oil. If you time it out correctly, you can cook the mushrooms in the above pot. Either works just fine.
Add it all together and give it a snow shower of Parmigiano Reggiano on the Microplane and call it dinner.
In future segments, I will teach you how to make all of this from scratch. This is my version of “Semi-Homemade” from wibia.
Enjoy,
wibia
