From the Scoop on SauceMagazine.com:

Master mixologist Ted Kilgore will be moving from Monarch Restaurant to Niche Taste Bar, which is slated to open next month. “While I was not looking to make a move, the project is right up my alley,” Kilgore said. Details to follow. P

For all you grill masters in STL….

Calling all Grill Masters for the Gateway City Barbeque Festival

Gateway City Barbeque Festival
At the Old Rock House St. Louis
July 3-4, 2009
The contest is open to beginner and seasoned barbeque professionals and any team can take home the title of Grand Champion and $500.

For more information and an application visit our website
http://www.oldrockhousestl.com/gatewaycitybbqfestival/
or
Call: 314-450-5978
Email: privateparties@oldrockhousestl.com

Application deadline –July 1, 2009

Drink Recipes for KBO and BarbaricGulp!

Sorry for the delay, ladies. School and work suck!

Sour Cherry Cocktail:

2 parts Vodka

3 parts sour cherry juice (or muttled sour cherries)

Splash of Cointreau

1 lime ice cube

1 regular ice cube

In shaker…give a few jiggles…and voila…Sour Cherry Cocktail

Pineapple Rosemary Cocktail (this is Simon’s creation and I think it varies with each time….)

2 parts Vodka (sometimes we make pinepple vodka by steeping some fruit overnight)

3 parts Pineapple Juice (if not using pineapple vodka)

small sprig of rosemary

a splash of Voss or other sparkling water

ca-ching…refreshing summer cooler…If you use pineapple vodka…sub some simple syrup for the pineapple juice part.

Grandpa’s Lemonade

This one we use ALOT!
1 lemon wedge

1/2 cup superfine sugar, plus more for rims

1 3/4 cups whiskey

3/4 cup kirsch

1 cup fresh lemon juice (from 4 to 5 lemons)

4 dashes bitters

6 cups small ice cubes, plus more for glasses

Serve over ice with twist.

Thyme Lemonade

1 1/2 cups sugar ( use superfine)

2 cups fresh lemon juice

1 cup vodka or gin ( i like vodka)

bunch of fresh sprigs of thyme

Make simple syrup with sugar, thyme and 1 cup water.

Add lemon juice, vodka and 6 cups water…chill and serve.  Garnish with thyme sprigs.

Cucumber Mint Cocktail

2  cucumbers ( I like English…)

ice cubes

fresh mint leaves

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from 2 to 3 limes)

1/2 cup vodka

2 tbsp Cointreau

Peel, core and whiz cucumber into pulp.  Strain juice. Mix it all together in shaker w/ ice…serve over crushed ice with cucumber garnish. yum.

Strawberry Basil Martini

3 strawberries, plus 1 thin slice of strawberry for garnish

3 basil leaves

1/2 ounce Simple Syrup

Ice

1 ounce gin, preferably Tanqueray No. Ten

1 ounce vodka

1/2 ounce fresh lime juice

Muddle berries, basil and simple syrup.  Add the rest of the liquid to shaker…jiggle and pour.

Some of these recipes come from my MIL…some I’ve just made up and some I’ve pilfered from local restaurants in PHX and Vegas….anyway you look at it…they’re tasty…

Google Map of the Homeward Bound Trip

View Homeward Bound in a larger map

Slow Food St. Louis Announces Art of Food 2009

From STLBites Forum:

Slow Food St. Louis, a non-profit organization dedicated to celebrating and supporting food traditions, is pleased to announce that their annual fundraiser, The Art of Food, will be held on Saturday, July 25th, from 6:00 to 10:00 pm, at Mad Art Gallery (2727 S. 12th Street, 63118). Proceeds from the event will benefit both Slow Food St. Louis and Fair Shares Combined Community Supported Agriculture.

The Art of Food will showcase the area’s top restaurants, serving up delectable hors d’oeuvres using only the freshest, local ingredients prepared in the Slow Food tradition. Participating restaurants include:
• Annie Gunn’s – Lou Rook III
• Araka – Mark Curran
• Bailey’s Chocolate Bar – Robin Murphy
• Erato on Main – Kevin Willmann
• Harvest – Steve Gontram
• Kakao Chocolate – Brian Pelletier
• Local Harvest Café – Clara Moore
• Mad Art Gallery – Dave Lewis
• Monarch – Josh Galliano
• Niche – Gerard Craft
• Rooster – David Bailey
• Schlafly Bottleworks – Matt Bessler
• Serendipity Ice Cream – Beckie Jacobs
• Sidney Street Café – Kevin Nashan
• Winslow’s Home – Stephen Kovac

With all bread products will be provided by
• Companion Bakery – Josh Allen
• 222 Artisan Bakery – Matt Herren

Food-themed art by local artists and gift baskets filled with a variety of specialty goodies from boutiques, wineries, and restaurants are also up for auction. Artists include Julie Malone, Cbabi Bayoc, Greg Barth, Ron Buechele, Marie Oberkirsch, Carmelita Nuñez, Katy Fischer, and many more.

Tickets for the event are $30 for Slow Food members and $40 for non-members in advance; $40 for Slow Food members and $50 for non-members at the door. Sponsors include Mad Art Gallery, Sauce Magazine, and Schlafly. St. Louis Earth Day will also be managing the recycling efforts.

Slow Food is a non-profit, eco-gastronomic, member-supported organization that was founded in 1989 to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions, and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes, and how our food choices affect the rest of the world. Fair Shares is a non-profit organization dedicated to getting fresh, local, seasonal food into the hands of more persons in St. Louis – regardless of their income.

Tickets are limited and can be purchased at: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/69345

For more information about the event please visit http://www.artoffoodstl.com/ or contact Bill Burge at bill@slowfoodstl.org (preferred) or 314-498-1401.

The Long Road Home….

So, planning has commenced.  With the help of the AAA website, we have mapped out a tentative route.  I am having trouble figuring out how to post a photo of our Online Trip-Tik…so I will provided a timetable of our trip.

PHX-LA-Hwy5 to Napa- Hwy 101-Up to Redwood Nat’l Forest-Hwy101 up to Tillamook, OR-Portland-Seattle-Victoria, BC-down through Seattle again-Spokane, Glacier Nat’l Park, Theodore Roosevelt Nat’l Park, Bismark, ND, Fargo, Minneapolis, Glidden, WI (to see grandma & grandpa) then down to STL.

Now..this is just a driving route…we are more than willing to veer off the path if it’s worth it!!  We will be camping mostly…but if there is a must stay B&B or Inn….I’d be happy to oblige!  Thanks for all your recs so far!

baby quail….

A family of quail are nesting on the east side of our house.  The eggs hatched today:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Excuse the poor photos…mama and papa quail were sqwakin’ at us from the tree…(after we scared mama out…you can kinda see her against the tile) so we didn’t want to overstay our welcome.  They sure are cuties.

It’s official.

home by 8/1.  I’m way too excited to speak.

Summer Farm Internships

I cannot begin to tell you how many emails I receive regarding summer internships at our yet-to-exist farm…so…from now on…check out this site.  It will be of great help to those looking for internships and apprenticeships on sustainable farms.

Sustainable Farm Internships and Apprenticeships

I look forward to the day when I can make college kids work for food and shelter.

GJETOST: you either love it or you hate it…

There is no in between with this “cheese”  and I put “cheese” in quotation marks to lend the idea that some do not refer to it as such.  It actually is a product made out of whey.  Nothing at all like ricotta.  Just to set the record straight.

I have been a Gjetost (pronounced “yay-toast”)  fan for many years….long before I married the cheesemonger.  It is an accquired taste…almost along the same lines of liking provel.  Gjetost (as we know it in N. America) literally means “goat cheese” in Norwegian.  The Norwegian name brunost (the name used on the other side of the Atlantic) means ‘brown cheese’.  Over here  it is referred to and sold as gjetost, which is an older spelling of geitost that is no longer frequently used elsewhere.  Now…with that all straightened out…let’s talk about how wonderfully delicious this cheese is.  Gjetost is made by boiliing a mixture of milk, cream and whey carefully for several hours so that the water evaporates. The heat turns the milk sugar into caramel which gives the cheese its characteristic taste. It is ready for consumption as soon as it is packed in suitable sized blocks. A low-fat variant is made by increasing the proportion of whey to milk and cream..but let’s be honest, it’s not as good. I found a great recipe for making gjetost in your own kitchen.  I have yet to try it but looking forward to it.

I did a little jig this afternoon when trolling my local grocer to find it in the cheese section.  Simon turned his nose up at the sight of it…but I am happy.  I couldn’t wait to get home and dig in.  I prefer mine on toasted bread or naan/pita.  I also like it with apples or pears.  It has a decidedly unique nose….some refer to it as fishy.  I smell the caramel…but I also smell the pungent “barnyard” of the goat’s milk.  It very thick on the tongue and is best served in light curls from a cheese plane.  I chunk would be just too much in your mouth…like a heaping spoonful of cold peanut butter or rich fudge tasting of caramelly goat cheese….not too pleasing in that respect.

It has a great nutty quality and silken texture when cut right…I have yet to find a good wine to pair it with…but I do enjoy it with beer.  A dark stout or a strong lager.  It is a wintery cheese in my mind…but I do eat it all year long.  I have been playing around with making an apple/gjetost pie.  I wonder if Cupcake Project would be willing to brainstorm with me…Stef is good at this sort of thing…

I have found it at Global Market and Whole Foods in St. Louis….here in AZ it was at Basha’s.

Wine Dinner at Niche

Niche

and

Classique Wines

Present

An Australian Food & Wine Experience

Featuring the Wines of

Gemtree Vineyards, McLaren Vale

Michael Crosby, North American Sales Manager

Thursday, May 7th at 7:00 pm

First Course

Scharff Farm Asparagus with Crab, Ramp Vinaigrette,

Claverach Farm Poached Egg and Parmesan

Moonstone Albarino

Second Course

Pea Soup with Farrar Out Farm Pork Belly,

Morels and Preserved Lemon

Tadpole Shiraz

Intermezzo

Fourth Course

Fruitland Farm Organic Ribeye, Cauliflower & Potato Purée,

Fava Beans, Roasted Garlic, Claverach Farm Red Verjus

Cadenzia Red Blend

60% Grenache, 20% Tempranillo, 20% Shiraz

Fifth Course

Dark Chocolate Pots de Crème

Uncut Shiraz

$75.00 per Person

excluding tax and tip

1831 Sidney Street

For Reservations or Questions Please Call:

314-773-7755

Space is limited, credit card required for reservations.

Cancellation deadline – Tuesday, May 5th.

To learn more about these wines visit:

www.gemtreevineyards.com.au

Returning home….

It’s been a long year (well…7 months to be exact).  But by the time we return to STL permanently, it will have been a year.  I am looking forward to getting back home, close to friends and family…and especially to the city that I have come to love all over again.  I was born and raised in StL.  I left as soon as I found a car able to handle the drive….but after my years of living away from my hometown, I found myself falling in love with it when I moved back in 2004…seeing it through new, unbiased eyes….gosh, I can’t wait to get back.

We plan on doing a bit of a detour before heading home.  We will leave PHX and take a round about way home…heading over to L.A., up Hwy 101 to Napa…the Oregon Coast…up to Victoria BC….over to Glacier NP….through Montana and N. Dakota…across Minnesota…stopping in Glidden, WI to spend some time with Grandma & Grandpa…then a straight shot down to St. Louis. …then catching our breath for a couple days before flying to Massachusets for a wedding!  Whew!  It will be a whirlwind summer trip but my goodness…it will be spectacular.  4500 miles in all….over 75 hours driving time.  We hope to camp, hike…do some good eating and drinkin’…check out some dairies and meet some cheesemakers…..not bad before I head back into the final year of graduate school….

Stay tuned for a more detailed plan…and I’m always up for suggestions!!

Chris Sommers goes to Washington

photo by Whitney Curtis from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

…and he’s bringing some pizza with him.

After having a slice on the campaign trail…Barack Obama was hooked,  just like most of St. Louis, on Pi….and who can blame him.  It really is great pizza….in my book…the BEST in StL has seen in eons.  Now, I am an Imo’s fan…don’t get me wrong but as we all know..it’s an accquired taste…one that is moslty only appreciated among natives.  But Pi on the other hand is delicious any way you look at it…from any location in the Union.  That is why Barack had Chris and his crew come up to DC this week to throw some dough for him and his brood.  Now that is what I call great delivery service!!!

Not bad Sommers….not bad at all.

Three of St. Louis’ Finest are in the running for a James Beard nod…

The James Beard Foundation announced the semifinalists for its restaurant and chef awards. Three St. Louis chefs made the cut in the “Best Chef: Midwest” category: Gerard Craft of Niche, Josh Galliano of Monarch and Kevin Nashan of Sidney Street Cafe.

Five finalists will be announced on March 23rd….keep your fingers crossed.

Veruca Bakeshop closing to make way for Niche Taste Bar

That’s right folks….what once was a bright bubbly bakeshop during the day will now transform into a sleek new lounge featuring cocktails and a menu of small plates .  Wine tastings may be in the future as well.

As sad as I am to see Veruca Bakeshop go dark, I am excited for the new concept to take form!  Mathew Rice and Gerard Craft do amazing things together and I’m sure I’ll fall in love with Niche Taste Bar the minute I take my first bite.

Don’t fret though….Mathew will still be doing his famous wedding cakes, confections and cakes.  They will need to be pre-ordered through Niche!  I am very excited to see the new desserts that come from Mathew in the months to come!  Here’s a little scoop:  one of Mathew’s fabulous wedding cakes will be shown in a summer issue of Martha Stewart Weddings!!

Mathew will also be piloting a new bread program for the restaurant.  Now, all the breads will be made in house!  I can’t wait to get my chubby little fingers on some of that!

Look for Niche Taste Bar to debut this Spring!