A New Market in Town

We have a new gourmet market in downtown St. Petersburg, Messineo's, which opened in late June. I have visited twice and like it, although it isn't as extensive as Mazzaro's, the large Italian market I have mentioned in the past.  But Messineo's is more convenient since it is downtown. They have a wonderful fresh meat and seafood selection. The meat is hormone and antibiotic free. The seafood is delivered six times a week. The bakery selection looks very tasty, although I haven't tried anything yet. We have tried a couple of their made-to-order sandwiches which were very good. I really hope they do well in this difficult economy. It is a nice addition to St. Petersburg.

Thomas Keller and I Rock

What can I say, last nights meal was in a word, awesome ! The "Ad Hoc at Home" Rack of Lamb and Potato Pave were exceptional. (Sorry, I have to brag a little, I was so pleased with the results.). First, a picture of "Pressing the Pave" which then refrigerated overnight, cut, and finished in canola oil, thyme, and garlic, to give it a nice crisp exterior.

And the final presentation: 

As you can see the lamb came out a perfect medium rare. We took it out after 25 minutes as it had reached desired temperature, less time that expected, but we were only preparing one rack. While the lamb rested we braised the endive. This was a slight disappointment as the endive did not brown on the cut side as expected,  so we drained the braising liquid, added butter, and finished on the stove top, which yielded the desired results. We also finished the pave just before cutting the lamb.

The honey-mustard glaze on the lamb added a hint of sweetness, and the breadcrumb mixture provided another level of texture and flavor. This was a "killer" recipe, and I would definitely do it again.

The Potato Pave was a fair amount of work, and definitely needed to be prepared a day ahead. But it was worth all the effort. The exterior crispness from the finishing sear, was a nice contrast to the smooth creamy interior. Another winning recipe.

Wine: We opened a bottle of 2007 Maison Bouachon Chateauneuf-du-Pape from France. The winery is the parent winery to my Napa standby, St. Supery. It was a nice match for the meal.

The Honey and Thyme Poached Figs came out very good. The warm figs over cold vanilla bean ice cream worked very well. The only down side was that the sauce was a little thin. I would definitely reduce it further next time, and possibly cut back on the honey just a tad. We used a 2005 Petersons Semillon dessert wine from Australia for the poaching liquid, as it is what I had on hand, and we also poured a couple of glasses to drink with the dessert. Yum!

That's All I'm Saying

Menu du Jour

As mentioned yesterday,  I am preparing a nice meal for Frank and me tonight, which I started on yesterday. Thomas Keller's "ad hoc at home" is the inspiration for this menu. Liz, my friend, I actually will use three, count them, three, recipes from Keller. The potato pave, the rack of lamb, and a garlic confit, which is used in the lamb recipe. 


Le Menu:

• Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb with a Honey Mustard Glaze
• Potato Pave
• Braised Endive 
• Honey and Thyme Poached Figs for dessert

The recipes follow - the pave recipe was in yesterdays post. Please note, I pared down the ingredients for two, the recipes are for the servings shows, so you do the math.

Herb-crusted rack of lamb with honey mustard glaze

From “ad hoc at home” by Thomas Keller

Serves 8

Ingredients:

2 Frenched 8-bone racks of lamb (2 to 2 ½ lbs each)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Canola oil

¼ cup Dijon mustard

3 tablespoons honey

6 tablespoons (3 ounces) unsalted butter at room temperature

4 gloves Garlic Confit (recipe follows)

3 to 5 anchovy fillets, salt or oil packed, rinsed,, dried , and minced

1 ½ cup dried bread crumbs or ground panko crumbs

3 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 tablespoon minced rosemary

Gray salt or course sea salt

Preparation:

1.          Score the fat covering the lamb in a ½-inch crosshatch pattern; be careful not to cut into the meat. Season the racks on all sides with salt and pepper

2.         Set a roasting rack in a roasting pan. Heat some canola oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Put 1 rack fat side-down in the pan and sear until golden brown, 1 ½ to 2 minutes; carefully move the lamb as it sears to brown as much of the fat as possible. (It is best to sauté 1 rack at a time, so the temperature of the pan doesn’t drop dramatically.) Transfer the lamb to the roasting rack, meat-side-up. Drain off the fat, reheat the pan, adding fresh oil, and sear the remaining rack.

3.          Combine the mustard and honey in a small bowl; set aside. Combine the butter, garlic, and anchovies in a small food processor and puree until smooth. Transfer the puree to a medium bowl and stir in the bread crumbs, parsley , and rosemary to combine. Do not overmix; the mixture should be moist, but it may not all come together.

4.         Brush the mustard mixture over the fat and meat (do not coat the underside of the racks). Spread the bread crumbs evenly over the racks, pressing gently and patting them so the crumbs adhere. (The lamb can be refrigerated, on the rack in the roasting pan, for up to 6 hours; remove it from the refrigerator 30 minutes before roasting it.

5.         Position an oven rack in the bottom third of the oven and preheat the oven to 425^oF.

6.         Put the lamb in the oven, with the meat side toward the back, and roast for 25 to 35 minutes, until the temperature in the center of the meat registers 128^o to 130^oF.  Let the racks rest on the rack in a warm place for about 20 minutes for medium-rare.

7.          Carve each rack into four 2-bone chops and arrange on a platter. Sprinkle with gray salt and serve.

Garlic confit and oil

Ingredients:

1 cup peeled garlic cloves

About 2 cups canola oil

Preparation:

Cut off and discard the root ends of the garlic cloves. Put the cloves in a small saucepan and add enough oil to cover them by about 1 inch; none of the garlic cloves should be poking through the oil

Set the saucepan over medium-low heat. The garlic should cook gently; very small bubbles will come up through the oil, but the bubbles should not break the surface; adjust the heat as necessary and/or move the pan to one side of the diffuser if it is cooking too quickly.  Cook the garlic for about 40 minutes; stirring every 5 minarets or so, until the cloves are completely tender when pierced wit the tip of a knife. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the garlic to cool in the oil.

Refrigerate the garlic in a covered container, submerged in the oil, for up to one week.

Braise endive

Serves 4

4 heads Belgian endive, halved lengthwise

2 ¼ teaspoons kosher salt

1/4 cup chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth

1/2 orange, cut into 4 pieces

Preheat oven to 325°F. Lay endives, cut sides down, in large shallow pan or braising dish with lid. Sprinkle with salt, pour in stock, and arrange orange pieces around pan. Cover and braise until tender, about 25 minutes. (Endive can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cool to room temperature and discard oranges, then refrigerate, covered, in braising liquid. To reheat, add 1/2 cup fresh chicken stock and simmer, covered, over moderate heat until warm, 5 to 10 minutes.)

Honey-and-Thyme-Poached Figs

From Gourmet and www.epicurious.com

Serves 4

Ingredients

            1 cup Sauternes or other dessert wine

            1/2 cup apple juice

            1 tablespoon honey, or to taste

            1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

            1/4 teaspoon vanilla

            1/2 pound dried Calimyrna figs, stemmed, halves, and each half cut into 5 thin strips

            mascarpone, crème fraîche or sour cream as an accompaniment

            1 tablespoon julienne strips of lemon zest

Preparation

In a saucepan bring the wine and the apple juice to a boil with the honey, the thyme, and the vanilla and simmer the mixture for 3 minutes. Add the figs and simmer the mixture, covered partially, for 5 minutes, or until the figs are very soft. Serve the figs warm with the syrup in stemmed glasses topped with the mascarpone and the zest.

Comments:

I used fresh figs as they were in season.

I served the poached figs over vanilla bean ice cream and skipped the mascarpone, etc.

Comments on the results will be posted tomorrow.

Two from Keller

I am preparing a nice dinner for Saturday evening, and decided I should start on some to the prep work today. I have selected two recipes from Thomas Keller's "ad hoc at home" cookbook.  (Thank you Liz for the lovely gift.) The entree will be a Herb-crusted Rack of Lamb with honey mustard glaze, and one of the side dishes is Potato Pave. I am working on the pave today through step 6, which will save me a lot of time tomorrow.  Actually, the pave is in the oven as I type. Here is the recipe, pulled from Martha Steward's website, but Keller's recipe for sure. (Saved a lot of typing)

Potato Pavé

Thomas Keller – “ad hoc at home”

INGREDIENTS

Serves 6.

            1 cup heavy cream

            Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

            3 pounds russet potatoes (three 1-pound potatoes if possible)

            5 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon softened and 4 tablespoons cut into 1/2-inch cubes

            Canola oil

            2 fresh thyme sprigs

            2 cloves garlic, skin-on, lightly crushed

            Minced fresh chives

DIRECTIONS

1.          Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.          Pour cream into a large bowl; season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Peel potatoes. Trim all sides of one potato to make a rectangular shape. Set a mandoline over bowl of cream and, starting with the flat side of the potato, slice potato lengthwise into very thin slices (alternatively, if you cannot set your mandoline over bowl, slice potatoes, adding slices to cream as you work). Toss potato slices in cream occasionally to keep them from oxidizing. Repeat process with remaining potatoes.

3.          Brush a 10-by-5-by-2 3/4-inch-high baking pan with half of the softened butter. Line pan with parchment paper, leaving a 5-inch overhang on all sides. Brush parchment paper with remaining softened butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

4.        Trim slices to form an even layer in the bottom of the pan; repeat process to form a second layer. Dot with a few cubes of butter; season with salt and pepper. Continue layering potatoes and adding butter and seasoning after every two layers until pan is filled. Fold sides of parchment paper over potatoes. Cover pan tightly with aluminum foil and transfer to oven.

5.          Bake until potatoes are completely tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife, about 1 hour and 50 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Cut a piece of cardboard slightly smaller than the size of pan; wrap with aluminum foil. Place foil-wrapped cardboard on top of potatoes and weight down with heavy cans; let potatoes cool to room temperature. Remove weights and tightly wrap pan. Refrigerate potatoes at least 6 hours or up to 2 days.

6.         To serve, run an offset spatula between the parchment paper and pan to release. Using the parchment paper overhang, carefully lift pave out of pan or invert onto a cutting board. Trim sides of pave and cut into 12 equal pieces; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

7.          Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat; add enough canola oil to coat. When oil is hot, add potatoes, cut-side-down, along with thyme and garlic. Cook, basting with oil, until browned on first side. Carefully turn and brown on opposite side.

8.         Transfer potatoes to a serving platter and arrange browned side up. Place a small piece of butter on each and sprinkle with chives. Serve.

The Green Bowl

I have a new addition to my glass art collection, this one thanks to my co-workers. As you can see it is lovely. Thanks all, especially Pat who selected it for me.

Here's Looking at You Kid !

Chicago 2010

To "see" photographs from our trip to Chicago, click on the giant eyeball. 

Good Friends and Good Food

The feasting continued all weekend. Saturday evening found Karen, Bob G., Frank, and me at Cafe Ponte, which in my opinion is one of the best restaurants in our area. Karen is on a mission, and has included us in her quest. Last January, there was an article in the St. Petersburg Times titled "40 Dishes Worth Relishing", and we are working our way through most of the 40. At Cafe Ponte, it is the Wild Mushroom Bisque with truffle cream that made the list. Saturday evening it was offered to us as an Amuse Bouche, a complementary starter. WOW! It was wonderful, rich, creamy, and earthy. The truffle cream was a great addition. The soup was served in espresso cups and the portion size was perfect. We ordered the fig and prosciutto flat bread appetizer, which was very nice. Our entrees included Bouillabaisse (me), Butternut Squash Ravioli (Frank), Diver Scallops (Karen), and Hatfield Ranch Pork Chop (Bob). We all proclaimed our dishes wonderful. Frank selected a Willamette Valley Vineyard Pinot Noir to accompany our meals, which paired nicely with all of the items. 


On Sunday, Bob G arranged a "Group of Eight" dinner at Savannah's in St. Petersburg. The event celebrated Bob S. and Clyde's birthdays, and my retirement. Frank enjoyed the always good Shrimp and Grits while I had Mississippi Fried Catfish. The mustard and cornmeal crusted catfish was very good, and I would order it again. Savannah's is always a good option in St. Petersburg for Southern style food. And it was a fun evening with good friends.

Fly and Art

My last day at work was Friday. To celebrate, Frank treated me to a night (well, OK, for me, an evening) on the town. We started with dinner at Fly Bar and Restaurant in downtown Tampa. It is a funky hip place with high energy especially on a Friday evening after work. The crowd is mixed; you will see some suit-types, some young professionals, as well as the pierced and tattooed crowd. Fly primarily serves small plates for sharing. They have a large list of imported and domestic beers as well as a decent wine list. Our selections included: Hanger Steak with fingerling potatoes and sauteed mushrooms; hummus with a cucumber/onion relish; and panko crusted fried goat cheese. Everything was great. We finished with a key lime tart. Liz, you would love this place - come on down.


Next up, after a brief trip through IKEA, was Art After Dark at the Tampa Museum of Art. This monthly event usually features art from local artists in the lobby as well as admission to the permanent galleries and special exhibits. This month featured art by disabled students from the McDonald Training Center in Tampa. There were two special exhibitions of interest. The first is a series of light installations by Leo Villareal. My favorite was titled "Horizon" and is three long horizontal tubes filled with colored LEDs. The waves of changing colors was mesmerizing. In addition to the installations inside, he had large set of LEDs installed on the exterior of the museum titled "Sky".  (Photo pulled from the museum website). Paul... you would enjoy this.

The other exhibit of interest was a collection of three short films by Jesper Just., titled "Romantic Delusions". Each file was very different but all had a high emotional impact. The website blurb states: "Just’s films explore the complexities and contradictions of human emotion."


We finished the evening with some gelati at the museum's Sono Cafe. It was a fun evening and a great way to celebrate my last day at work.


That's All I'm Saying

Chicago day 3 - Rug-rats in the Field

On our final day in Chicago we went to The Field Museum, the wonderful natural history museum. We met Sue, the most complete and largest T.Rex skeleton. She stands in the grand hall towering over the crowd of admirers. We ventured to RoboSue, a special exhibit of dinosaur animatronics showing Sue and her prehistoric friends. This included TV monitors showing the view of the visitors, (us), from the dinosaur's perspective. We traveled to the Egyptian exhibit and climbed in and around the tomb of an ancient Egyptian and his possessions and some 23 shriveled up mummies. We explored the land of The Mammoths and Mastoids. Is pigmy mammoth an oxymoron? We ventured underground al la "Honey, I Shrunk the Visitors" to see the creepy crawly creatures in our soil, eye to eye. We marveled at the totem poles in the Northwest Coast and Arctic Peoples exhibit. We saw a lot, but we only touched the surface of this large, amazing museum. As with the Art Institute, you could spend days here.
But one thing we did not miss seeing, was the bands of rug-rats parading through the museum. These creatures were dressed in various gang colors to distinguish their clan from the others. Some were even harnessed together on a long rope with a separate handle for each member of the group. And watch out if you hit the restroom at the same time as they get a bathroom break. While we tried to stay out of the way as they serpentine through the museum, it is good to see so many young kids exposed to this great museum.

Back to the hotel to grab our bags and head to the airport for our flight home... End of journey.

Chicago Day 2 (a couple days late) Art in the Park, and Art at the Institute

Sunday was an artful day for us, or should I say a day filled with art. We started at Millennium Park as few blocks from our hotel to see the large silver jelly bean, with the official name of Cloud Dream. Check out the photo from the prior post, with the Chicago skyline reflected in the jelly bean. It is large enough that you can walk under it for very different perspective due to the concave nature of the underside. 


Later in the day, on our return to the hotel, we stopped at another park near our hotel, to see the 30 foot tall Eye Ball; yes folks, a very large human eye ball, blood vessels and all. Both of these sculptures attract a large number of visitors, both tourists and locals. Chicago has a wonder park system, especially the very large Millennium Park and the adjacent Grant Park. As Frank mentioned, any art that draws people to see it is a good thing.


Also in Millennium Park is the Frank Gehry designed band shell, which in addition to being functional is a work of art too. I will post pictures later. 

Next stop was the Art Institute of Chicago. While we have been here before, we never tire of seeing the wonderful permanent collection. The Art Institute must have one of the largest collections of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art outside of France. Many museums may have a couple Monet's, or a few Renior's; but here entire rooms are devoted to a single artist. One of the highlights of the museum is George Seurat's "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte", (photo at end of this post.) We also saw an exhibit of painting from the Ashcan School of American art (early 20 century), which is also referred to as Urban Realism (did I get that right, Frank?). This style portrays scenes of the poorer population of urban environments and is quite dramatic.

Since our last visit, the museum has opened a new (large) contemporary art wing. Again, the collection was amazing, with all the suspects like Rothko, Pollack, Picasso, Jasper Johns (yes Paul), and many others. I really like Rothko, and still don't "get" Pollack, especially his splatter paintings. But that is what makes art interesting. 


I could go on for many more paragraphs about what we saw, and we really only saw the highlights. But I will leave it to you, if you are interested, to check out the museum's website (link provided earlier).


Our original plan was to visit both the Art Institute and the Field Museum of Natural History, but we decided to spend the extra time today at the Art Institute and hit the Field on Monday before our departure.


Our "art" theme continued with our dinner at Ristorante Al Teatro. OK, that may be a little stretch, but the restaurant was a former theatre and social club for Czech immigrants in Chicago It is in the Pilsen district of Chicago and a cab ride from the hotel. Al Teatro is owned by the parents of a young lady who works in the same office building I do, and when learning we were going to Chicago, recommended Al Teatro. Her parents spent years renovating the building's commercial space, and the restaurant. Please check out their web site as I can't do it justice. Cristina's father gave us a brief history of the building which just received the Historic Landmark designation. He also kindly provided us with a sparkling after dinner wine - very nice. The space they created is wonderful, and the food was awesome. The wood-fired pizza overs were built by a gentleman they brought over from Sicily just to do that. The pizza will have to wait for a return visit, as we elected to have pasta entrees. Frank loved the homemade Papparadelle al la vodka with spinach. He let me taste, and I can verify the awesomeness of the dish. The pasta was a perfect al dente, and the sauce was very flavorful. I enjoyed my Risotto ai  Fruitti di Mare (seafood risotto) with large perfectly cooks shrimp, clams, calamari, and mussels. 


Al Teatro makes their own gelati for which they get rave reviews. It was difficult to pick from the 24 flavors, but we did; two flavors each as is the tradition. I had blood orange and lemon; Frank had Panna Cotta and Bacio (chocolate/hazelnut). Five-star yummy all around.


This restaurant may be a little out of the way, but deserves your consideration if ever in the Windy City. It is in a transitional neighborhood, but go for it, you will not be disappointed. 


That's all I'm Saying

Chicago skyline

As seen in the Cloud Dream.

For Paul T.

View in coach in case you have forgotten.

Chicago - Day 1: Bayless, Boats, and Berghoff

Arriving too early for our room at the Silversmith Hotel to be ready, but not too early for lunch, we headed to Frontera Fresco, a Rick Bayless "fast food" eatery at Macy's (the old Marshall Fields). Here Rick serves what he calls Mexican street food, which we sampled and very much enjoyed overlooking the 10 floor open atrium of the lovely old Marshall Fields building. I had a grilled shrimp quesadilla and Frank has shrimp tacos. And to top it off, Rick was there, very seriously tasting all the sauces and other ingredients prepared for the day. Oh how I wanted to ask him to snag us a reservation at one of his other restaurants, as they fill up 90 days in advance, but he was busy.

We still had a couple of hours before our previously reserved architectural boat cruise, so we spent some time "window" shopping at Macy's... who knew Lacoste has some may products, and I LOVE Lacoste, (so European, you know). The we walked up Michigan Avenue along The Magnificent Mile. The temp was in the mid 80's and sunny; a lovely day in the city.

We booked our boat cruise through Chicago Line Cruises, which offers multiple architectural and historic cruises throughout the day. The 90 minute cruise took up up and down the Chicago River and it's North and South branches with a very knowledgeable guide discussing the various architectural styles, the history of architecture in Chicago, and some general highlights about the city. It was almost an overload of information, but well worth the time and the cost. Plus it was a very nice way to spend 90 minutes viewing the city from a different perspective.

We headed back to the hotel to check-in and for a short rest. We were pleasantly surprised that they had given us a complementary upgrade to a suite. (Paul T. please note, you are not the only one who gets free upgrades, although you are still two ahead of us our our current journeys.), Our short rest ended up being longer than expected. But we had been up since O'Dark:30 and had walked a few miles in the Chicago heat, so the rest was needed and deserved.

Dinner was at a local institution, The Berghoff, which originally opened in 1898. The restaurant is past it's glory days as the premier dining establishment in Chicago, but still serves good basic German food. I would not go here for the food, but just to see this historic place.

We had a fun-filled, very enjoyable day. Day 2 will be our Museum day.

Chicago, Chicago

We are at Tampa International waiting on our flight to Chicago. Stay tuned for travel and food updated. We had to get up at O'dark:30 and now we sit and wait. But we arrive in Chicago at 10:30 so we get a full day to start our adventure.

Unsolicited Plugs

 Your attention please. Some of my very best friends have their own blogs, as I have mentioned before. I would like to take this opportunity to direct your surfing to them again.


First, Paul and Libby have hit the road again. Well actually the high seas as they embarked on another Mediterranean cruise. Paul is frequently missing from the blogosphere except when the travel bug bites in their quest of the travel trifecta - to visit 100 countries, 50 states and 7 continents. Follow their travels at Paul & Libby's World of Travel.  (Oh, and this plug isn't based on the mention Frank and I received in today's post as the ship sailed from Venice, Italy)


Next, is my often mentioned culinary guru, Liz. She earned another mention because she put a picture of the two of us on her blog, and she has issued me a culinary challenge; to cook my way through the lovely "Ad Hoc at Home" cookbook by Thomas Keller which she gave me for my birthday. She speaks the truth about our friendship and experiences, except for the risotto - she definitely taught me! Her blog is filled with wonderful recipes so fire up the oven and check Never Trust a Skinny Cook.


Liz dear! Do you think I can find pork belly for the Confit of Pork Belly at Publix, or will they laugh and say "What?" with the deer in the headlight look? 


Both of these blogs are listed in My Blog List on the right sidebar, including the blog of David Lebovitz who I have never met, but writes a fun, foodie oriented blog.

St. Supery is No Saint

... but the wine sure is good. Six times a year I receive a wine shipment from St. Supery a Napa Valley winery which we visited a few years ago. I have enjoyed every wine from them and have on occasion, restocked my chiller with special orders. The club shipments always arrive with a brief newsletter including a recipe to pair with each of the wines in the shipment. (Hang on, I'm getting to the point). A few nights ago, Frank and I fixed Grilled Flank Steak with Chimichurri Sauce from the most recent newsletter. It came out great, hence this rambling post. Here is the recipe:

Grilled Flank Steak with Chimichurri Sauce

By St. Supéry chef, Ron Barber

Chimichurri sauce is a classic grilled beef accompaniment that originated in Argentina. It is also great with chicken or fish. You can substitute cilantro for the parsley if you prefer.

For the sauce:

1 cup flat leaf parsley leaves – also known as Italian parsley
4 cloves garlic – peeled
2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until well combined but not pureed.

For the steak:

2 -3 pound flank steak (or skirt steak) - I prefer Flat Iron steak if you can find it (D.)
Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Remove the meat from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before grilling.  Season liberally with salt and pepper and grill over hot coals to desired doneness. Serve with Chimichurri sauce. (Or if lacking a grill, like me, sear in a cast iron skillet.)

Serves 4

Now for the wine. The newsletter arrived with a bottle of 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon. The St. Supery website recommends Petit Verdot, and we served it with a wonderful 2006 St. Supery Cabernet Franc. I thought the Cab Franc was great with the steak, but you can't go wrong with any of those mentioned.


For another Chimichurri recipe, click here --> Never Trust a Skinny Cook- Need Some Mint. My dear friend, Liz uses mint and cilantro and adds some red pepper flakes. I like the addition of the mint, which was included in some chimichurri sauces i have been served in restaurants. Both recipes are simple and very tasty with grilled meats.