Did You Notice Anything Missing…

from yesterday’s meal? If you guessed a potato product you have won—well, you have won nothing. But you do have our thanks for being regular enough readers to notice that Mr. Potato omitted French fries or potato salad from his meal.

What led to this omission? Our plan to follow-up lunch with dessert at Creole Creamery on Prytania Street which we had seen on an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.

“Locals were already justly fond of this local ice-cream parlor, where innovative flavors are made fresh every day, but when it reopened about 3 weeks after Katrina, in a neighborhood (and city) where little else was available commercially, it earned a near-fanatic loyal following. Thick, luscious ice cream with a rotating list of flavors from lavender-honey to red velvet cake, with stops at tiramisu, chocolate with hot pepper, and more along the way” (Frommer's review found at travel.nytimes.com).

“Fantastic variety, excellent quality, a charming little ice cream shop in the historic old MacKenzie's place on Prytania, Uptown…. The flavors are so unique and creative, and he serves sorbet, gelato and sugar-free ice cream as well! There's something for everyone, even hot chocolate made with real milk on a cold wintry day” (citysearch.com).

After intense study of the flavor board, Chuck and I decided to share the small four scoop sorbet sampler and, from the day’s selection of eight flavors, chose the blueberry, balsamic strawberry, red hot cherry, and nectar. Of the four, our favorites were the blueberry and red hot cherry, the latter tasting just like the Red Hots we ate as kids. But we thought that all four were a bit too sweet.

A nice 3.5 Addie break in the afternoon, but next time we’ll return to Angelo Brocato’s for gelato.

Now it was time to walk a block down the street to the St. James Cheese Company from which Jeff Talbot of Ancora Pizzeria (see our March 13 entry) purchases the cheeses used in the restaurant. I had been lolling on the sofa one night and was watching—yes, that’s right—another food program. This time it was The Big Cheese on the Cooking Channel and that episode’s theme was mac and cheese. Now they featured some bizarre dishes like mac and cheese pizza and mac and cheese crepes but gave the recipe for a straightforward mac and cheese that uses three kinds of cheese and heavy cream.

“Richard and Danielle Sutton’s interest in cheese began as a children when they both, separately, visited Europe with their parents. However, on the way to becoming New Orleans’ premier cheesemongers, they were waylaid into banking and public relations. On a whim, and with Danielle’s fresh British passport in hand, they sold their house in Philadelphia and moved to London in 2002 to see what adventures would find them. What found both of them was Paxton & Whitfield, the over 200-year-old cheese shop in the St. James neighborhood, and supplier of cheese to the royal household and Parliament. And so began Richard and Danielle’s transition from bored banker and PR executive to passionate cheesemongers” (stjamescheese.com).

Lest one be intimidated by the vast array of cheese, many of which were unknown to me, not to worry.
“Operating on the premise that cheese should be fun, we try to make each visit to our shop unique and unforgettable. It is a playground for the cheese rookie, the rind-sniffing expert, and the curd curious” (stjamescheese.com).

St. James is a combina-tion cheese and salumi market and casual café. The chalk-board menu describes the sandwiches, salads, and daily specials.

As we were standing by the cheese case, we noticed a charcuterie board coming from the kitchen. We looked at each other and vowed to return some day for lunch.

We were excited to see a large selection of cheeses from the Beehive Cheese Co. of Uintah, UT and just had to purchase a pound of their SeaHive, which is hand rubbed with Beehive wildflower honey and local Redmond RealSalt.

And we were equally excited to see a large selection of salumi from Cristiano Creminelli in Salt Lake City. Soon we were having some of the Creminelli Mocetta added to our order.
“Pronounced ‘mo-CHET-ta,’ it is a small version of Bresaola and one of very few beef products in the Italian deli…. The beef eye of round is dry-rubbed, massaged, marinated and air-dried. It has no casing” (creminelli.com).

For our mac and cheese, I purchased some Cabot clothbound cheddar (sweet, savory, nutty, and tangy) and a milder Hooks cheddar from Mineral Point, WI. And then Chuck decided that he wanted to make grilled cheese sandwiches. Not your processed American cheese grilled cheese sandwiches, but epicurean grilled sandwiches. The knowledgeable young woman who was cutting our cheese suggested that we use the Hooks cheddar along with asiago and gruyere. The results were stupendous—no credit to us and all to the cheeses.

But then she said, “With a great grilled cheese sandwich you need some pepper jelly.”

So we purchased a jar of jelly and used it as a dip for the sandwiches. It will now be a regular accompaniment to our grilled sandwiches.

St. James gets a 5.0 Addie rating from us for having knowledgeable staff and a wide selection of cheese and salumi products. We’ll be back for lunch.

To review the role of Adler, Kitty Humbug, and the Addie rating system, read the November 14, 2011 blog.