Tomato Frenzy



The tomato crop keeps coming in a frenzy. Farmer Alan Nolte, who just started delivering to me brought a beautiful heirloom variety which he called German Stripe. It is a golden and red stripe. The flesh is mostly golden with a few streaks of red.

We've also been enjoying Brandywines, Purples, Pinks,and a couple of others.

We've made Caprezi and Greek tomato salads daily.

I prefer to skin and chill the tomatoes before making salads, but the true purists like to pick them off the vine and eat them still warm.

Food and Wine magazine did a spread on a Napa Valley tomato party and I got inspired to make the yellow tomato juice from the story. Of course I didn't follow the recipe, but made my own as I went. I added some carrots, parsley, and celery to the mix. I believe they called them "Blondie" Marys.

Wine Combinations

The exercise was to pair a wine with Lamb chops/mint julep sauce and slow cooked green beans. Since I make my home in St Louis, which is just a skip-hop-and-a- jump North of Memphis, home of Benito's Wines, the task master, the food was familiar and comfortable. Memphis has much better BBQ than we do, but what we do share is incredible blues music. Lots of hole in the wall places with incredible musicians.

I usually like to pair lamb with a Merlot or Syrah, but this time I went a little classier and chose a Pinot Noir from Domaine Drouhin. The whole story of Domaine Drouhin is so romantic. A legendary Burgundian family buys land in Oregon, the daughter moves to Oregon and makes new world wine with all that old world pedigree . The Oregon wine is a more vibrantly hued wine than most French Burgundies. The wine seems fresh and lively without too much complexity, but it still exhibits elegant structure with a balance of fruit, alcohol, and acid. The mint of the chops and the sweetness of the beans is enhanced by the fruit of the wine. The alcohol and acid of the wine matches well with the richness of the meat and sauce. I did add some garlic and chervil mashed potatoes, and I also added a bit of lamb demi-glace to the mint julep sauce to further round the flavors.

Grilled Pork Medallions with Strawberry Salsa


I had planned on running lamb chop specials all weekend, but they sold out on Friday night due to a larger than usual dinner rush. I had an extra pork loin left from a private party we did on the third floor-we call it the "Top of The Town"-it is a beautiful party venue with an art deco bar and a speakeasy feel. Al Hirschfield cariacatures from the 1920's and 1930's decorate the walls.

So I marinated the loin in some orange juice, rice wine vinegar, cumin, oregano, and cayenne. I cut the loin into medallions and grilled them to order, brushing them with the marinade (you must first boil the marinade after you take the pork out, if you want brush it on the meat as it grills).

On the plate I spooned an unusual strawberry salsa across the medallions. The salsa contained oranges, red onion, jalapeno, cilantro, rice wine vinegar. It was lovely on the plate and sold out quickly.

Banana Dacquiri



We had alot of bananas about to turn brown. We bought them last week when my nephew was visiting-mostly for cereal and pancakes for breakfast. We didn't eat them all and it is too hot to make banana bread or banana bread pudding-which is what I usually do. The perfect answer seemed to be banana dacquiris. I got out my Grandma's vintage Osterizer (chrome with wood paneling on the front) and set it on liquefy, added ice, banana, sugar, fresh lime juice, and a bit of rum. And viola` a retro frozen concoction from a retro kitchen appliance. It makes me wonder why we ever needed Margaritaville when we loved Dacquiriville so much.

Hobo potatoes

It is still in the middle of the heat wave, so no cooking inside. All done on the grill outside. We bought some really unique charcoal at a little shop in the Bosnian neighborhood. I've used it before on big barbeque catering jobs, I get it from the food wholesaler but I don't usually see it at the stores.

We dry rubbed ribs (cinnamon, brown sugar, red pepper flakes, cumin, and coriander) over indirect heat and made a hobo foil pack filled with potatoes, onion, and whole garlic cloves(they truned very sweet and caramelized) with rosemary, sage, and olive oil. They were so good, I think I'll plan on doing them at the restaurant, but add some other vegetables. The corn on the cob sales have dropped off a little-maybe I'll do some kind of corn and potato hobo pack.

We also bought tea at another Bosnian store-this one Muslim. They have some beautiful teas-not quite the selection as the Asian groceries-but very nice just the same. I chose three different kinds. We've been drinking pitchers of iced tea in this heat wave, and these teas taste delicious when freshly brewed and iced

Cooling summer dishes

The tomatoes are ripe and delicious.
for the restaurant I made the ubiquituous Caprezi salad (tomato, basil, fresh mozzarella cheese, balsamic), chilled watermelon and peach soup-flavored with a little fresh ginger.

At home a triple creme cheese with fresh blueberries and nectarines with gin and tonics. Temperatures are over 100.

Seafood slaw



I have been making this salad for years, usually with crab, but any seafood works. Just shredded cabbage, grated onion, mayo, red wine vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, and sometimes dill or tarragon. It is refreshing to eat in this heat. Make the slaw and let it sit an hour in the refrigerator, fold in crab and chopped shellfish, garnish with whole shellfish, tomato, and sliced avocado. Sometimes I drizzle the tomato and avocado with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Stormy Wednesday


It has truly been a challenging week in the aftermath of the storm last wednesday. The storm hit Waterloo-the power went out. Two tables had not been served yet. The dining rooms actually became more charming with just the candle lamps glowing, but the kitchen became at least the second ring of Hell-cooking by candle lamp is not nearly as charming as dining by candle lamp light. The first table was a no brainer and went off quickly, but the second table ordered medium rare steaks after already consuming two bottles of $100 plus Silver Oak Cabernet. So we now have expense and extremely discriminating palates thrown into the pressure pot. Then I remembered touch is always the best way to test for doneness of meat, and I relaxed a bit. Just in the way blind musicians are more sensitive, my temporarily blind grill man performed superbly with perfect steaks. I think I'll blindfold him on Saturday nights just for the fun of it-just kidding Tim-great job.

We've tried a couple Tutti di mare recipes one creamy, one tomato, one white wine and garlic. It was my choice light and delicious for summer.

Also made duck this week with fresh Monroe county peaches-quite tasty. Picture doesn't do the dish justice

And lastly pot roast -I know-in July? Because of the storm it was difficult getting deliveries. One delivery was a grade of prime rib not acceptable to me for anything but pot roasting. In the spirit of making lemonade when handed a case of lemons, we made pot roast. We sold out. Who knew people were dying for pot roast on a Saturday night in July?

It seems I'm on a fish and shellfish kick lately. It may seem at odds with my preference to eat locally grown things, but last I checked Missippi River had no Mahi Mahi , or shrimp or crabs. They arrive via a company named Plitt. They are based in Chicago, and my sales rep tells me the fish is 48 hours out of the water, and I do believe him. I have never refused delivery on anything sent to me. I once refused an entire truck of 48 cases because the peppers were soft. That's extreme, and I was making a point because every week there was one or two things not acceptable. When that happens they start paying attention to your order.

I always write about my specials, but our menu items are nice too. They usually start life as a special. When one sells particularly well and doesn't cost too much to produce I move it onto the menu the next time I change it. One menu appetizer we do at the restaurant is a seafood cocktail. We use an ice cream sundae glass and layer it with crab, lobster, shrimp, cocktail sauce, and chiffonade of lettuces.

Back to the fish story, The fish leave Chicago by truck. My order is routed through Springfiled, IL. In Spring field he entire St Louis area order is moved onto a secondtruck (this is about 3:30 to 4 AM). The St Louis order arrives in St Louis in the morning (6:30 or thereabouts) from there it is divided into smaller trucks and routed for delivery. It all works remarkably well. Sometimes the truck is a little late, but not nearly as aften as some of the local comapanies.

Two other suucesful fish dished this week were blackberry and mustard glazed Mahi Mahi with blackberry wine sauce, and seared tuna on noodle salad with wasabi cream and wonton chips.

Sunday Panfried chicken dinner

I don't usually do fried chicken at home. We make a lovely family-style fried chicken dinner at the restaurant, but Dan's sisters were coming-some of them aren't very adventuresome eaters-they requested fried chicken. I fried it in my prized Griswold iron skillet which was a gift from my mama when I moved into my first apartment in Chicago over 30 years ago.

Also on the menu-deviled eggs, potato salad, carrot-apricot-date salad, and pineapple upside cake. It could have been the 1950's in the prosperous and peaceful "I Like Ike" era. I don't know how to characterize this era other than violent, divided and intolerant, and I can't think of an affectionate saying for our current president like "I like Ike". I could resort to name calling, but I won't. It is amazing how good fried chicken and lazy summer Sundays can let you forget the troubles of the world for awhile

Monroe county sweet corn

Last week we got the first of the locally grown sweet corn. Mrs. Crook, a local farmer, grows alot of things for me and last week was the first of the sweet corn. I grilled the corn in the husk and served it with a spicy cajun butter. Sales were brisk.

Also the Mahis mahi was a big seller. I had planned to use an Emeril Lagasse recipe, which includes a fussy pecan breading and a delicious piquant lemon sauce, but the fish truck got there too late and I didn't have time to get all the prep done, so instead I marinated the fish and served it topped with a lemon-crab butter with some fresh chopped dill. It was a lovely dish and probably nicer than Emeril's fussy one in some ways.

Chambord Ice Cream



This is an ice cream we used to make at the Richard Perry Restaurant in St Louis. At least I think it is, I'm not sure if it was black raspberry or blackberry. In any case I chose to make it with black raspberry, but it would work as well with blackberry or black cherry or what ever strikes your fancy. I also experimented with a custard base for this ice cream, but I didn't like the color the addition of egg yolk made. The color of the black raspberry and cream is really pretty, but the yellow of yolk muddied the color.

1 12 ounce jar of seedless blackraspberry preserves
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
4 cups half and half
1/3 cup Chambord liquer

melt the preserves and sugar over low heat-until the sugar is dissolved-cool slightly

combine the cream and half and half

slowly whisk the preserves into the cream mixture-if you do this too quickly or add the cream into the preserves, the acidity in the raspberry mixture will curdle the cream

pour into your ice cream freezer and freeze

Some interesting specials this week



Some of the interesting special this week were chilled avocado soup with tomato-crab relish, shrimp and zuchinni with spaghettini, and flan with pineapple and strawberry sauces. Hot and busy all week, plus additional catering-finally cooled off on Friday. Forgot my mom's birthday and my parents anniversary-same day-I guess I'm in the dog house, and I was so good with mother's and father's days-got the cards off early. I even talked to them on the day or the day after and they didn't mention it and neither did I. I guess I'm an ingrate-sorry mom and dad.

Here is a dish for the Cookbook Challenge #6 Picnics



It is from the book "Cooking from Quilt Country" by Marcia Adams, published by Clarkson N. Potter, Inc. in 1989. It is a book of recipes and traditions of the Amish and Mennonite communities in Indiana. I chose a dish entitled "Jellied Chicken"-also known as pressed chicken. It is a beautiful and elegant picnic addition-seems French with the "gelee" or aspic component, but I think most of the Amish and mennonites are German descent. It would also make an excellent terrine if you added some vegetable layers. I might also have liked some addition herbs such as tarragon or sage in the flavor mix.

JELLIED CHICKEN

6 pounds meaty chicken pieces
2 quarts water
2 ribs celery, halved
2 carrots, halved
1 medium onion, studded with 6 whole cloves
2 bay leaves
handful of fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
Cider vinegar or lemon juice (optional)
additional parsley for garnish
sliced hard-cooked eggs (optional garnish)

In a large stockpot, place the chicken, water, vegetables, and seasoning. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour. Remove meat from the bones while still warm-it's easier that way. Discard skin and place chicken in a lightly oiled 9 or 10 inch loaf pan. Cover and refrigerated overnight.

The next day, skim fat off the broth. (Save this fat for another use;it freezes very well.) Place broth in a large saucepan over high heat and boil util about 2 1/2 cups remain. Soften the gelatin in cold water, add to the hot broth and bring to a boil again. Add a bit of vinegar or lemon juice, if desired. Pour broth over chicken to cover completely, then refrigerate overnight. This can be made 3 days ahead of time.

Serve garnished with Parsle, hard cooked eggs and her mayonaise.

Fried Green tomatoes, Grilled Shark, and Blueberry Bread Pudding


Here are some specials I made this week. First Fried Green Tomatoes. Fried green tomatoes have to be on my menu all summer. I know some tomato purists will say you should leave the first tomatoes to ripen in order to have ripe tomatoes sooner, but I'm not going to wait when I can have a juicy fried green one. Also I don't like the standard cornmeal crust-too gritty-I dust them with flour and dip them in beer batter and serve them with some chipotle aioli. Next week I'm experimenting with a lighter tempura batter made with rice flour.

We grilled shark steaks at least three different ways this week. This is the only one I photographed. It had a marinade William-my extremely talented sous chef-gave me. Then I added some extra ingredients to the marinade to turned it into a hawaiian kind of barbeque sauce, and served it with a pineapple and shrimp fried rice. The flavors were marvelous, but one of the other cooks-who shall remain nameless-overcooked the rice in the middle of the dinner service and ruined it.

And lastly some dessrt. Last week one of my cooks, who did a lot of the baking, left in a little temper tantrum. I asked him to leave until he got it under control and hoped he would talk to me the next day-I gave him that option-but no deal. Kitchens are not democracies, and my kitchen is my space and it's my way or the highway. Soooo-I was baking alot this week-Panna Cotta, Chocolate Creme Brulee, Pastel des Tres Leches with pinapple-here is a photograph of my bread pudding with blueberries and white chocolate.

We went to Dim sum yesterday at LuLu in University City or is it Olivette all those suburbs sort of blend together. There aren't any good Chinese restaurants in the city-lots of great Viet Namese and Thai-but not Chinese. There are several really goods one on Delmar in University City and Olivette. My favorite is LuLu. Often we have a few more people with us which works out well because you get to sample more things. Yesterday we got full before we sampled everything we wanted from their carts.

Foris Pinot Gris


I really like this wine. We're selling lots at the restaurant. It pairs well with our signature Heartland dish-Pork Chops with Peach Beautiful sauce. Also goes well with our Asian grilled salmon and shrimp with strawberry sweet and sour. I photographed it at home in my red parlor-the glass sculpture in the background is entitled "Aphrodite" and is by the artist Dino Rosin out of Murano Italy.

A Tale of Two Soups


I prepared a couple of interesting soups this week. In our restaurant kitchen all the cooks love to make the soup. We make a delicious gumbo that is on the menu daily-never changes, then there is the second choice. Often the day sous makes the soup. He's in the kitchen first and begins the prep, if his load is too heavy, he assigns the soup making to the second or third cook in. And sometimes the chef pulls rank and makes the soup himself, just because he still loves to make soup.

First up is chinese egg drop. I started with a rich chicken broth, flavored with white pepper, a little sesame oil, and soy sauce. I thickened it ever so slightly with a corn starch slurry. It should have a luminous viscosity-not thick and gloppy. Next break a couple of eggs into a small bowl and whip slightly. Bring your thickened broth to a barely moving simmer, stir in one direction continually slowly pour the eggs through fork tines into the slowly swirling soup. The eggs should create lovely ribbons in the soup (in some places this is also called egg flower soup because it is so pretty)-beware that if you pour the eggs too quickly, stir incorrectly, or have the soup too hot you will end up with scrambled eggs in broth-not pretty. I garnished the soup for service with a scallion flower and some diced radish. I used an extra hand to hold the fork, while I poured the eggs through the fork and stirred. If you are cooking alone you would have to rig some kind of fork holding device-position the fork on a box that is the right height and secure it with a heavy can-improvisation always rules the day.

I also made an Italian wedding soup. I started with small meatballs of ground beef flavored with onion, garlic, basil, and oregano. I browned the meat balls and drained them. You need a rich chicken broth for this soup as well. It quite easy to make once the meat balls are made. I should have made them smaller than I did. Next drop the meatballs into the simmering stock, add some orzo pasta, and some shredded fresh spinach or curly endive and fresh basil. I also like a pinch of thyme and sometimes a bit of fresh lemon juice. It only needs to simmer about ten minutes together to cook the orzo. Serve grated parmesan on the side. This is a very rich and satisfying soup.

I purchased some beautiful red pepper pasta at Tower Grove Farmer's Market from Mangia-an Italian restaurant that also wholesales freshly made pasta. It was simple and fast. First rehydrate dried mushrooms in some stock and sherry, then sautee garlic, shallot, and ginger in a small amount of oil. Add the mushrooms and a bit of cream. Salt and pepper to your liking. Cook pasta, reserving some cooking liquid for the mushroom sauce. Stir it all together and let it rest so that the noodles can absorb some of the sauce and serve with a little sesame oil drizzled over the top.
No parmesan-please-I don't think asian flavors and cheese marry well.

More asparagus

Does anyone ever get tired of asparaus-I can't imagine it! I am continually inspired by it, amused by it and what else can I say? Asparagus-I love you. Here's more asparagus, only white this time.

White apsaragus is covered as it grows so it doesn't turn green. The stalks are more fibrous, they have to be thoroughly peeled. The flavor is more assertive and some what bitter-not in an unpleasant way, but like wild greens taste. I peeled them, blanched them, then sauteed them in a caper butter with parsley, sundried tomatoes, and proscuitto, and a spritz of fresh lemon juice.

Trader Vic's


A couple of years ago I was smitten with a nostalgic interest in Polynesia and Trader Vic's restaurant. I went on-line and purchased a vintage copy of The Trader Vic's cookbook and planned a couple whole menus from the book for special events entitled "Return to Trader Vic's". It really was a blast and quite good with rum cocktails and variations on terriyaki. Trader Vic's was the first successful "theme" restaurants and of course started many trends. This was before the revolution in American cooking.

One silly thing that I still like to make occaisionally is Crab Rangoon-who says food has to be serious "high church" all the time. It is simple to make. Cream cheese is flavored with garlic, ginger, and green onion, crab meat is then folded in and the mixture is stuffed into wonton wrappers and deep fried. I served it recently at the restaurant with a puree of mango and pineapple with rice wine vinegar and hot Asian chili sauce.