July 2014 Feast Magazine

planted in missouri

teaching tomorrow’s farmers

lulu’s local eatery

RARE SEEDS

EARTHDANCE FARMS

TRUCK TO TABLE

Inspired Food Culture | Saint Louis

feastmagazine.com | JULY 2014 | FREE

FRESH FROM THE FIELD

Summer is calling! Only 30 minutes west of Chesterfield, explore a lake

community that offers more of what your family is looking for ... time together.

Innsbrook drive out & explore! open houses every weekend

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JULY 2014

Inspired Food Culture

JULY 2014

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Inspired Food Culture | Saint Louis

JULY 2014 |8|

from the staff from the PUBLIsher

fresh perspective.

| 10 |

dIgItaL content

what’s online this month.

| 12 |

feast tv

A peek at the July episode.

| 14 |

feast faves

Our staff and contributors share inspired ideas for tasteful living in st. louis.

| 22 |

coLUmns one on one

Our City farm’s Jeri Villarreal and her family have grown their urban farm into a thriving CsA.

| 24 |

seed to taBLe

farmer Crystal stevens savors squash blossoms.

| 26 |

mystery shoPPer

buy it and try it: halloumi cheese.

| 28 |

menU oPtIons

Celebrate the height of the growing and grilling seasons with this veggie terrine.

| 30 |

sweet Ideas

Pastry chef Christy Augustin shares how to make madefrom-scratch s’mores.

| 32 |

gadget a-go-go

five produce containers are put to the test.

| 34 |

on the sheLf

new and notable in beer, spirits and wine.

| 36 |

the mIx

Cool off with a sazerac.

| 74 |

the Last BIte

Piccione Pastry’s sfogliatella transports writer Tory bahn to the streets of naples, italy.

COVER PHOTOGRAPHY Of squAsH blOssOms (P. 24) bY Jennifer Silverberg TAblE Of COnTEnTs PHOTOGRAPHY Of RAinbOw CHARd bY Jonathan Gayman

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JULY 2014

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taking root 46

fresh frontier 57 focused on

66

field trip Inspired Food Culture

JULY 2014

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Publisher and Editor: Catherine Neville publisher@feaststl.com Senior Print Editor: Liz Miller editor@feaststl.com

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Contributing Photographers: Jonathan Gayman, Demond Meek, Travis Duncan Photography, J.Pollack Photography, Jennifer Silverberg, Steve Truesdell, Cheryl Waller

Contributing Writers: Christy Augustin, Tory Bahn, Ettie Berneking, Shannon Cothran, Gay DeMichele, Pat Eby, Kyle Harsha, Valeria Turturro Klamm, Jeremy Nulik, Matt Seiter, Matt Sorrell, Crystal Stevens, Michael Sweeney, Shannon Weber

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publisher’s letter

FeAst eVeNts

it used to be that eating your vegetables was something of a chore. canned peas, starchy carrots, iceberg lettuce salads with mushy tomatoes. and remember when a sturdy sprig of kale was just a small garnish for a big, juicy steak?

In this month’s episode of Feast TV, I demo Juniper chef-owner John Perkins’ dish, radishes three ways. Pickled, roasted and simply sliced, you’ll be surprised at what a tiny red radish can become.

Vegetables were a vehicle for nutrition, not a source of culinary pleasure. The focus of our cravings was squarely on meat, which was almost always at the center of American plates. But then things started to change. Farmers’ markets cropped up, chefs started sourcing fresh-from-the-ground produce and home cooks, as well as many chefs, began to sow seeds for their own gardens. Now, vegetables play more than simply a supporting role – often, they’re the star of the show. As Gerard Craft put it in Jeremy Nulik’s feature, Fresh Frontier (p. 46), “People want something delicious and unique, and it is hard to do a ton of new stuff with a piece of beef. …

With vegetables, I have so many different options that I can explore.”

tomato explosion Throughout July

Operation Food Search’s fourth-annual Tomato Explosion campaign runs throughout July with 70plus restaurants serving special tomato-themed dishes to raise funds for the food bank’s mission to alleviate hunger. Get the list of participating restaurants at feastmagazine.com.

Feast in the park Now to October, 5 to 8pm; rotating St. Louis County Parks

This weekly festival gathers mobile eats and popular bands in parks across St. Louis County.

Clayton Farmers’ Market Now to October, 4:30 to 7:30pm Thursdays; North Central Ave., Downtown Clayton; claytonfarmersmarket.com

The market supports local farmers, spotlights organic and natural foods and unique specialties.

Clayton’s Food truck sundays July 13 and August 10, 4 to 8pm; Shaw Park; claytonmo.gov/fts

Join us for great mobile eats and live music in Clayton’s Shaw Park.

schnucks Cooks Vegetable terrine Wed., July 23, 6pm to 9pm; Schnucks Cooks Cooking School; $40, schnuckscooks.com or 314.909.1704

Join publisher Cat Neville in the kitchen and make a meal built around a grilled vegetable terrine.

let them eat Art Fri., July 11; Downtown Maplewood; cityofmaplewood.com

Featuring a self-guided tour with live demos by more than 50 regional artists, live music, food and drink.

Feast Your eyes Tue., July 15, 6:30pm; Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis; $75; $50 for members;

This new understanding of the array of unique colors, textures and flavors that can be found in fruit and vegetables has inspired many to not just cook with local produce, but to grow it commercially. Becoming a farmer is no easy task, however, so Molly Rockamann founded EarthDance Farms to train the next generation of farmers as well as those seeking success in their backyard’s raised beds. Shannon Cothran explores Rockamann’s novel non-profit in Field Trip on p. 66.

And once one learns how to successfully plant, tend and harvest crops, where do you find the seeds to grow those heirloom tomatoes like black krim and white queen, or fun and funky greens like ching chang bok choy and sawtooth mustard greens? Look to Jere Gettle at Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. He has been shipping rare seeds to farmers and gardeners from his Mansfield, Missouri, outpost for more than 15 years and Ettie Berneking introduces you to him on p. 38.

When considering why our culinary attention has turned to produce, I think Kitchen Kulture’s Chris Meyer, quoted in Fresh Frontier, says it best: “Right now, fresh, seasonal vegetables are the new frontier of cooking.”

camstl.org or 314.535.466

In partnership with chef Katie Lee of Katie’s Pizza & Pasta, CAM and Feast present a tour of the museum followed by an intimate four-course meal inspired by the current exhibitions.

schurcipefones Festival Sun., Aug. 3, noon to 6pm; Rooster on South Grand, 3150 South Grand Blvd., baileysrestaurants.com

This annual festival closes out St. Louis Craft Beer week with samples of great local craft beers (including new and special releases), amazing barbecue and family friend activities.

2014 louFest Sat., Sept. 6, and Sun., Sept. 7; loufest.com

This two-day festival features national and local bands, great food in the Feast-sponsored Nosh Pit, cool retail and a greening effort that includes recycling, composting, bike parking and refillable water stations.

st. louis World’s Fare, heritage Festival and Games Fri., Sept. 12, to Sun., Sept. 14; Forest Park;

Until next time,

stlworldsfare.com

All are welcome to experience this unique celebration of St. Louis’ past, present and future as the magical energy of the 1904 World’s Fair is rekindled. Join us for 1904 historic exhibits, live music, inspired local eats and more.

Catherine Neville publisher@feastSTL.com

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JULY 2014

@cat_neville

@cat_neville

Pairs well with

SUNS H INE Summer is in full swing and Missouri wine country calls to us. The warm temperatures and clear blue skies create the need for adventure. Make the most of your wanderlust at one of our more than 125 Missouri Wineries. Spend the afternoon sampling some of our crisp, refreshing varietals while soaking in those beautiful rays.

Plan your escape at missouriwine.org.

Inspired Food Culture

JULY 2014

9

DIGITAL CONTENT

hungry for more? connect with us daily:

PHOTOGRAPHy By J. Pollack Photography

feastmagazine.com WE HAVE A NEW ADDRESS!

In anticipation of our regional expansion in October, we are switching over our website URL, feastSTL.com, to feastmagazine.com. As we get closer to October,

FAcEbOOk. Get our sneak previews and first

looks at new restaurants (such as Salt + Smoke BBQ) at facebook.com/feastSTL.

PHOTOGRAPHy By J. Pollack Photography

watch for exciting updates and changes to the site as well.

PHOTOGRAPHy By Jennifer Silverberg

TWITTER. Stay up-to-date on the hottest happenings around town (including Clayton’s allnew Food Truck Sundays) at @feastmag.

PHOTOGRAPHy By J. Pollack Photography

PInTEREST. Craving more veggie-centric recipes? Visit our Vegalicious board at pinterest.com/feastmag.

TOMATO TIME. More than 70 St. Louis-area restaurants are taking part in Operation Food Search’s Tomato

Explosion campaign this year. Participating is simple: simply order the special tomato-themed dishes, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the food bank. Get the full lineup of eateries at feastmagazine.com.

GIVEAWAY. One lucky winner is in for an incredible outing with our camping package, inspired by What We’re Buying (p. 20). The prize features a Mountain Hardwear Optic 2.5 tent from Alpine Shop, a $200 gas card from Bill Thomas Camper Sales and 20 pounds of grill-ready meats from Kenrick’s Meats & Catering. Details in the Promotions section at feastmagazine.com.

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JULY 2014

InSTAGRAM. Stop at notable spots throughout the Midwest (such as Firefly Grill in Effingham, Illinois) via @feastmag.

Watch our videos.

youtube.com/FeastMagazine

Open 7 Days a Week for Dinner!

Vietnamese & Chinese Restaurant A 2012 "FEAST" Favorite!

Thank You all Local Area Chefs for Making Us #1 Located in the Meridian Shopping Center at Hanley & Eager Roads behind the Best Buy.

FREE PARKING IN THE METRO LINK GARAGE Tu-Th: 11am-9pm • Fr-Su 11am-10pm 8396 Musick Memorial Dr. • 314.645.2835 www.MaiLeeRestaurant.com

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Come for the Music...

Stay for the Fun! Meramec Music Theatre July 18 July 19 July 26 Aug. 2 Aug. 9 Aug. 16 Sept. 13 Oct. 11 Oct. 12 Oct. 19 Oct. 25 Nov. 8 Nov. 22 Dec. 6 Dec. 13

The Bowling Family Ronnie Milsap Lorrie Morgan & Pam Tillis Diamond Rio Excile and Juice Newton Karen Peck & New River Booth Brothers Newsboys, Family Force 5 & 7eventh Time Down Dailey & Vincent Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers The Isaacs Lee Greenwood Triumphant Quartet The Letterman Christmas Show The Oak Ridge Boys Christmas Show

To purchase tickets, log on to www.meramecmusictheatre.com or call 573-775-5999.

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Sept. 27 New Riders of the Purple Sage Oct. 3-4 Gypsy Oct. 10-11 Little River Band Oct. 17-18 Leon Russell Oct. 24-25 America Oct. 31 - Nov.1 Arlo Guthrie Nov. 7-8 Ozark Mountain Daredevils For tickets and additional information, log on to www.wildwoodspringslodge.com

Wildwood Springs Lodge Steelville, Missouri www.Exploresteelville.com

Inspired Food Culture

JULY 2014

11

FEAST TV

watch this month’s episode to:

PHOTOGRAPHy by Demond Meek

TV

Look for the Feast TV splat throughout the magazine. It tells you which articles are part of this month’s episode!

Segment 1. baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co.’s Jere

Gettle talks rare seeds (some dating back 2,000 years) and his passion for keeping their stories alive.

Segment 2. Get in the field at EarthDance Farms, where farming education and agricultural production are growing together.

Segment 3. MOFU’s Dan brewer demos his freshmade tofu and talks about how it’s so much more than a meat substitute.

Segment 4. Chef Niall Campbell shares how

ingredients go from garden to plate at Firefly Grill in Effingham, Illinois.

Watch the upcoming July episode on the Nine Network (Channel 9) at 2pm on Sat., July 5, and 1pm on Mon., July 7. Feast TV will also air on the nineCREATE channel throughout the month.

feast tv is brought to you by the generous support of our sponsors: MISSOuRI WINES

WHOLE FOOdS MARkET

ROTH LIVING

In July, reach for a bottle of baltimore bend’s 2012 Vignoles. Feast TV producer Cat Neville pairs it with Juniper chef John Perkins’ radishes three ways with miso paste.

Get cooking at home! Pick up the ingredients and recipe from Cat’s demo at both St. Louis-area locations of Whole Foods Market.

Roth Living curates innovation and luxury in high-end appliances.

Explore Roth’s showroom to experience an appliance’s true performance and create the inspired kitchen of your dreams.

12

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JULY 2014

Attention Food & Beverage Industry Leaders…you’re invited to…

Reserve your tickets today by calling 314.444.1138 or visit stlregionalchamber.com/event

Home of the famous Sunday Bloody Mary Bar The Big, The Bad, The Muddy thebigmuddypub.com 204 State St. Alton IL 62002 www.facebook.com/bigmuddypub

Homemade Greek Food Carry out • Catering Private Parties Gyros • Kebobs • Baklava oLYmPIa keBoB HoUSe aNd TaVerNa Patio Now open 7 days a week from 11am 1543 McCausland • 314-781-1299

Creating local Italian Food

INDULGE IN CITY LIVING

with help from our Farmers and Friends Since 2007

Come savor the city at 1904 Steak House.

Enjoy a mouthwatering selection of prime, dry-aged steak and over 300 varieties of wine from around the world. Add in stunning Victorian-era architecture and you’ll discover there’s no better place to experience the art of fine dining.

$30 ~ 4 Course Tasting Menu 7266 Manchester Rd. Maplewood

314-644-1790 Fialafood.com

888.578.7289 | rivercity.com

©2014 Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

M-Th 5-9pm • Fri/Sat 5-10pm Inspired Food Culture

JULY 2014

13

FEAST FAVES

| where we’re dining

808 Chestnut St., Downtown, 314.621.3236 deathintheafternoonstl.com

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feastmagazine.com

JULY 2014

PHOTOGRAPHy by

The owners of blood & Sand recently debuted Death in the Afternoon, a new eatery located in Citygarden’s glass-and-steel structure that most recently housed Joe’s Chili bowl. Much like blood & Sand, which is just a few blocks away, this weekday- and lunch-only spot is named after a classic cocktail (which, in turn, is named after a classic Hemingway novel). Chef Nick Martinkovic has created a playful menu that melds the classic – towering American cheese-stuffed grass-fedbeef burgers – with the unexpected – snow-white steamed buns filled with proteins ranging from tofu to pork belly. The well-edited offerings include a number of shareable snacks; the spicy eggplant dip and housemade charcuterie plate are standouts, the latter showcasing Martinkovic’s considerable skill curing meats.

There are a number of salads, and our favorite is the Vietnamese grilled beef, where fish sauce and mint mingle with tatsoi and peanuts. Cocktails are available, but the drinks are focused on agua frescas along with wines and craft beers. – C.N.

Jennifer Silverberg

death in the afternoon

FEAST FAVES

| where we’re drInkIng

julia’s market café Gift Cards Available!

wRiTTen by kyle harsha

Several months ago in this column, i posited that, “shopping with booze is better than shopping without it.” This month, i headed down to Soulard Farmers Market to see if this held true in a different environment. in short, indeed it does. For a number of years, Julia’s Market Café has served “Soulard’s best bloody Mary” to the denizens and tourists that search for treasures among the vegetables, rugs, sunglasses and sports paraphernalia that adorn stalls at the market. Julia’s Market Café – located in the market’s southwest wing – has a lively vibe, and because the cocktails are inexpensive (some just $4 a pop), there is almost always a line.

Visit us at Winding Brook Estate

Lavender Farm and Shoppe for an experience that will delight the senses and soothe body and soul.

Relax and enjoy the sights, scents, and tastes of lavender.

Of the various drink options available at Julia’s – including Hurricanes, Margaritas and beer – the bloody Marys are the tasty favorites. On first pass, the bloody Mary doesn’t seem to be anything special, as its components include inexpensive vodka and ordinary bloody Mary mix, but Julia’s takes it to the next level by adding fresh celery, pickled asparagus and green beans, and most importantly, a shake or two of Julia’s Secret Spices, a Cajun-style spice mixture that gives the beverage a pleasant kick of heat. Service is quick and always comes with a smile. Julia’s also offers food options, such as red beans and rice and beignets, that are an appropriate match for its Southern thirst-quenchers. A stop at Julia’s even comes with a side of entertainment: Live music acts regularly play on the deck directly across from the stand. Like many of the market’s vendors, Julia’s is cash only, so bring dollar bills with you. The stall is open Saturdays from 8:30am to 5pm.

It's Lavender Ice Cream Time!

Discover how lavender can improve your health, beauty and well-being.

Visit our website for info about upcoming classes and tours.

730 Carroll St., Soulard soulardmarketstl.com/julias-market-cafe

Try our 18oz.

Prime Ribeye

enhanced by a delicious Mushroom Burgundy sauce, creamy garlic mashed potatoes and Rose Bud Salad.

Conveniently located in Kirkwood Dinner Hours: Tues.-Sun. 5 p.m.

133 West Clinton Place St. Louis, MO 63122 314-965-9005

3 Winding Brook Estate Dr. Eureka, MO

636.575.5572 WindingBrookEstate.com

Open Tues. thru Sat. 10 am to 4 pm

www.citizenkanes.com

St. Stanislaus

Polish Festival 2014 Sunday, July 13th 2014

PHOTOGRAPHy by

Steve Truesdell

Polka Mass 10 am Dinner Served 11:30am Carry-Outs Available.

Kyle Harsha is a certified specialist of wine and certified sommelier with over 20 years’ experience in the food and wine industry. He drinks more wine than he probably ought to.

Proceeds benefit the Restoration Fund

Live Music featuring

Heritage Band 12pm to 4pm Larry Hallar's Two Star Final 4:30-6:30pm Games, Children's Booth, Ticket-Drop Auction, Sandwich Booth, Polish Souvenirs, Cash & Prize Raffle, Polish Pastries & Beer, Church Tours and much more.

w w w. s t a n i s l a u s k o s t k a . c o m 1413 North 20th St. • St. Louis, MO 63106 Inspired Food Culture

JULY 2014

15

FEAST FAVES

| Where We’re dining

lulu’s local eatery With the opening of Lulu’s Local Eatery on South Grand, owners Lauren Loomis and Robert Tucker are the latest entrepreneurs to successfully make the jump from food truck to brick-and-mortar restaurant. The food menu will be familiar to fans of the truck’s healthy and hearty street food, featuring the same fresh and flavorful vegan eats with a few welcome surprises. For a robust main course, opt for Lulu’s gluten-free tacos, made with sweet potato, mushroom, kale and black beans with avocado and spicy chipotle sauce on white corn tortillas, or the buffalo blue burger, which stacks fresh greens, red onion, spicy buffalo sauce and creamy ranch on top of a thick housemade sweet potato-black bean patty on a pretzel bun.

Another highlight is the buddha bowl, filled with a mix of udon noodles, organic marinated tofu, stir-fried vegetables and housemade peanut sauce. Smaller fare also underscores the kitchen’s creativity in shareable sides such as spicy buffalo cauliflower bites and housemade tater tots with Cajun seasoning and chipotle dipping sauce. – L.M.

PHOTOGRAPHy by

Cheryl Waller

3201 South Grand blvd., South Grand luluslocaleatery.com

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JULY 2014

FEAST FAVES

| Food stuFF

dressed up This issue is packed with stories about seasonal eats, including how chefs across the region are experimenting with local produce (p. 46) to a collection of vegetable-focused recipes developed by these chefs (p. 57) and a look at the fresh food that is grown at EarthDance Farms in Ferguson (p. 66). As we enter the peak of the growing season, enhance fresh fruits and veggies with these three locally made salad dressings. – L.M.

sEsAME VINAIGREttE dREssING

A CITY WITH THE RECIPE FOR

CAREER SUCCESS

RoMANo CHEEsE dREssING

You’ll find all the ingredients you need for a rewarding career in hospitality at River City. We currently have various positions available for creative, career-driven individuals who are ready to share in our success.

APPLY NOW Executive Chef for 1904 Steak House Various Culinary Positions

Visit myrivercityjobs.com for details.

sWEEt ANd souR dREssING | 1 | Leaf Dressing Sesame Vinaigrette produced in Collinsville, Illinois, $4.99/8-ounce bottle; Straub’s, multiple locations, straubs.com | 2 | Vivienne Romano Cheese Dressing produced in Hazelwood, $3.99/12-ounce bottle; Schnucks, multiple locations, schnucks.com | 3 | Sisters Garden Gate Recipes Sweet & Sour Dressing, Marinade & Dipping Sauce produced in Florissant, $5.69/15-ounce bottle; Local Harvest Grocery, 3108 Morganford Road, Tower Grove, localharvestgrocery.com PHOTOGRAPHy by Jonathan Gayman

888.578.7289 | rivercity.com

Pinnacle Entertainment is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Gambling Problem? Call 1.888.BETSOFF. © 2014 Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Inspired Food Culture

JULY 2014

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FEAST FAVES

| Shop-o-M aTIC

city greens market Written by Shannon Cothran

At City Greens Market in the Grove, locally made or naturally raised produce, meat, dairy, bread, honey, coffee and more is sold at cost five days a week. For a low annual membership fee that helps keep the nonprofit market in business, you can purchase goods from local farmers, learn new ways to cook with all that fresh produce and make new friends in the process. the market is the brainchild of John Pachak, executive director of Catholic Charities Community Services Midtown Center. When Pachak learned that there was a food desert within the area covered by Midtown, he knew he wanted to help bring fresh, healthy food to residents. Pachak’s family rallied his daughter’s school, nerinx Hall High School in Webster Groves, and the students and their families raised $18,000 in seed money so Pachak and Midtown Catholic Charities could open a grocery store. it began in the basement of the charity’s offices, but in April, City Greens Market moved to its current cheery, bright green storefront.

“We want to be a healthy food oasis in the food desert,” says market coordinator Michelle erhard. Low-income families can sign up for free memberships, while higher-income families pay a low annual fee. Paying members help offset costs for their neighbors, keeping the corner market afloat for everyone. erhard stresses that anyone can come shop at the market without buying a membership first. “We invite customers to get familiar with the shop before making the commitment to join,” she says. Pachak is often at the market stocking shelves and greeting customers. According to Pachak, “it’s a place where people from all walks of life [can meet] and talk about a common thing: food.”

4260 Manchester Ave., the Grove, 314.833.3811 midtowncitygreens.org

Three FreSh FINDS aT CITy GreeNS MarkeT |2|

|3|

PHOtOGrAPHy by

Angel Baked Cookies are made by teenagers in the Jeff-Vander-Lou neighborhood through north Grand neighborhood Services, a nonprofit that seeks to empower local youths through employment, training and personal development. | 2 | City Greens Market carries fresh produce grown without synthetic pesticides, herbicides and fungicides from farms in Missouri and illinois. | 3 | One-hundred percent pure, natural, raw honey from Hilty’s Bee Yards, an Amish family farm in bowling Green, Missouri, comes in many flavors.

|1|

Steve Truesdell

| 1 | Chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin

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JULY 2014

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FEAST FAVES

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| 1 | Fields Foods, 1500 Lafayette Ave., Lafayette Square, 314.241.3276, fieldsfoods.com: 4 Hands Brewing Co. Contact High; $9.99/ Six Rowing Brewing Co. Whale Ale; $8.79/ Uncle Bob’s Blueberry Pepper Jelly made in St. Peters; $5.99/ Uncle Bob’s Blueberry Pepper Jelly made in St. Peters; $5.99/ Florence’s HomeStyle Cha-Cha Green Tomato Relish made in Florissant; $4.29/ Billy Goat Chips original flavor/16-oz bag; $10.99/ Two Men and a Garden Spicy Dill Pickles made

in Fenton; $6.39/ Red Monkey Seasoning Cajun Spice made in Mount Vernon, Missouri; $3.85 | 2 | Local Harvest Grocery, 3108 Morganford Road, Tower Grove, 314.865.5260, localharvestgrocery.com: O’Fallon Brewery Five-Day IPA; $9.29/ Companion Breaded Bliss snacks; $5.49/ The Coconut Kitchen Espress-Oh My Love Coconut Butter made in Chesterfield; $9.99/ Back to Nature honey oat graham crackers; $5.29/ Meramec Bison Farm bison sticks made

in Salem, Missouri; $1.99/each/ Todd Geisert Farms pork snack sticks made in Washington, Missouri; $4.99/ Companion three-seed crostini; $3.99/bag | 3 | Alpine Shop, multiple locations, alpineshop.com: Osprey Exos 48 Pack; $190/ Light My Fire FireSteel Scout fire starter; $14.99/ Light My Fire spork case with two sporks; $7.99/ Light My Fire Pack ‘n Eat Kit; $39.99/ Light My Fire Grandpa’s Fire Fork; $9.99/two pack/ Light My Fire Spicebox; $9.99/ Alpine spatula; $5.95/

Pinnacle Dualist Cookware Set (pot, utensil and bowls pictured); $64.95/ Light My Fire MealKit 2.0; $27.99 | 4 | Kenrick’s Meats & Catering, 4324 Weber Road, Affton, 314.631.2440, kenricks. com: Fazio’s Bakery hot dog pretzel buns; $3.19/ Kenrick’s homemade all-beef hot dogs, $3.83 | 5 | Marshmallow pies; $4/each/ Assorted chocolates; prices vary/ Kakao Chocolate, multiple locations, kakaochocolate.com PHOTOGRAPHy by Cheryl Waller

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JuLy 2014

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one on one

Jeri Villarreal

owner, our City Farm WRITTEn by Valeria Turturro Klamm |

PhOTOGRAPhy by Demond Meek

In January 2011, Jeri Villarreal and her husband started wondering if there was a connection between the foods they were eating and the fact that their three children had food allergies. The Villarreals began raising chickens and growing vegetables in their backyard in St. Louis city to get fresher, healthier foods. “I didn’t know how vegetables grew,” says Villarreal. “I’d get so excited to see something grow. Everything was magical; I felt like a kid.” Villarreal thought, “If it’s good for our family, why wouldn’t it be good for everybody?” So began Our City Farm, an eight-person CSA raising chickens, eggs and vegetables. Through the help of Kickstarter, Villarreal purchased a lot from the Land Reutilization Authority and moved the farm to the Central West End in 2012. The CSA has now grown to 33 members strong.

How do you decide what you grow each season? We try to grow things that are popular. Swiss chard was popular the first season, then it changed to kale, so we grew all types of kale. It’s hard to keep up with what the trends are. One of the things [about] growing in raised beds is that we can start a bunch of different types of crops and experiment. We have about 25 vegetables each season. What are you planning to experiment with this season? Small purple bok choy. I think it looks adorable.

Last season we let our radishes go to seed and sold radish seed pods, which were really popular. What’s the most challenging part of urban farming? Getting the entire infrastructure in place. Getting water to the vacant lot was a $6,000-plus endeavor.

Luckily we were able to use a local food grant to pay for half of it. Everything is just very expensive growing in the city. Limited space, limited resources. For electricity, we’ve decided to be off-grid and use solar power and other sources. You work a full-time job on top of this. How do you balance both? I usually try not to think about it too much. I’m like that cartoon with the coyote running across the cliff and he doesn’t realize he’s off the cliff until he looks down, and that’s when he falls. So I keep looking forward. My husband and I try to schedule things and the kids are used to coming to the farm to help as much as they can. What’s in store for Our City Farm in the future? We leased three-fourths of an acre right down the street from the farm. We plan to grow grains on that, like heirloom black turtle beans and amaranth. We’ll mill grains [like amaranth] and sell them as local [flour]. In our greenhouse we’re going to put in a hydroponic system so we can grow salad greens and herbs all year.

We already [host] workshops on how to grow

Our City Farm 4539 Delmar Blvd., Lewis Place 314.282.5290 ourcityfarm.com

in small spaces, but we’d like to get more into nutrition, so we’re thinking of adding an outdoor kitchen area so we can focus on that.

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Visit feastmagazine.com to read the full interview with Jeri Villarreal.

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JULY 2014

23

seed to table

Stuffed Squash Blossoms

For backyard garden enthusiasts and farmers, the sight of squash blossoms is a sure sign of a forthcoming bountiful harvest. The sunshine-colored blossom emerges first, followed by the long cylindrical zucchini, which is available in almost every shade of green.

Summer squash often have a crooked appearance and are found in many shades of yellow. Zucchini squash and summer squash both have a reputation for being some of the most prolific crops in the garden – they are even known to produce overnight, once the plant is established. One of my favorite varieties is the zephyr squash, a halfgreen and half-yellow variety of summer squash.

Zucchini squash is a highly versatile vegetable; it can be served hot or cold, raw or cooked, shredded, sliced, cubed or diced. And zucchini are notorious for their rapid growth; they can grow up to 2½-feet-long.

While larger zucchini can feed a crowd or make a dozen loaves of zucchini bread, the consistency becomes a little tougher and it dries out the larger it grows. The most desirable size is between 3- and 6-inches-long.

At this size, they are tender, yet crisp, and richer in flavor. The best way to maintain a crop of tender squash is to harvest it daily. In addition to their beauty and flavor, zucchini is also a highly nutritious vegetable,

containing generous amounts of A, C and B-complex vitamins, as well as minerals such as iron, manganese and zinc. Zucchini also have excellent antioxidant properties.

As if it weren’t impressive enough, even its blossoms are edible.

Zucchini squash blossoms are regarded as a delicacy by chefs for their stunning appearance and distinctive flavor. Their texture is incomparable. The blossom melts in your mouth, leaving undertones of sweet nuttiness. Zucchini are gorgeous when prepared with the flower intact. The most dramatic appearance can be achieved by using baby zucchini (less than 3 inches long) with the blossom still attached.

These can be lightly sautéed in olive oil. The squash blossoms of both zucchini and summer squash are edible; however, zucchini squash blossoms are a little stouter and remain fresher longer.

Squash blossoms are highly perishable and should be prepared within a few hours of harvest. They are excellent stuffed with any soft cheese such as goat cheese, Feta, Brie, cream cheese and more.

Squash blossoms have such an unrefined, authentic flavor that they are best prepared with just one or two simple ingredients.

Crystal Stevens is a farmer at La Vista CSA Farm on the bluffs of the Mississippi River in Godfrey, Illinois, where she farms with her husband, Eric.

They have two children. Crystal is an advocate of integrating creativity into sustainability through writing, art, photojournalism and seed-to-table cooking. Find more of her work at growingcreatinginspiring.blogspot.com, which she created to launch her forthcoming book, Grow Create Inspire.

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story and recipe by Crystal Stevens Photography by Jennifer Silverberg

Stuffed Squash Blossoms Serves | 4 | 12 freshly harvested squash blossoms 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 4-oz room temperature Brie

| Preparation | To harvest squash blossoms, it is best to cut off about ¼ inch of the zucchini end with the blossom so it remains intact and easy to use.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a sheet pan with a thin layer of olive oil.

Gently wash squash blossoms and transfer to a towel to dry. Remove pistils from each of the blossoms with a sharp knife, taking care not to damage the flower.

Place cheese package into a small Ziploc or plastic sandwich bag, which will be used to stuff the blossoms with Brie. Press cheese into one corner of the bag and tightly tie off the opening with a twist tie or rubber band. Cut the tip of the corner off with scissors. Place the open corner of the bag directly into each squash blossom and squeeze until half the blossom is filled with cheese. Use more or less cheese depending on the size of the flower. Place the stuffed squash blossoms on the sheet pan and lightly drizzle with olive oil. Bake for about 10 minutes.

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Inspired Food Culture

JULY 2014

25

mystery shopper

halloumi cheese

Have you ever dreamed of creating crostini-based appetizers and panzanella salads without the bread? Thought about how magical it would be to skewer cheese with meat and vegetables to toss onto the grill, and have it all remain completely intact? Congratulations: This summer, your fantasies have become a reality.

story and recipe by Shannon Weber Photography by Jennifer Silverberg

What Do I Do With It?

What Is It?

You don’t have to set halloumi on fire for it to be delicious, but heating it is the only way to truly experience its majesty. Grilling or pan-frying work equally well: Grilling gives it the two-tone marked look, while pan-frying will give it more of an evenly distributed golden glow. Skewer it alongside pork and lamb, toss it with warm or roomtemperature vegetables or use in place of croutons in salads.

Halloumi is a rind-less, semi-soft, brined cheese traditionally comprised of both goat's and sheep's milk. It hails from Cyprus and is popular in the eastern Mediterranean region and (more recently) in the U.K. What sets halloumi apart is how it is made: Rennet – a group of enzymes from the stomachs of mammals – is used to coagulate the cheese, giving it a particularly squeaky bite. Perhaps the most distinctive characteristic of the cheese is its ability to withstand high temperatures, which allows it to be grilled or pan-fried without losing shape; on the contrary, the exterior crisps up to a golden brown and traps the creamy interior.

Halloumi is sturdy and satisfying without being heavy, so it’s a fantastic alternative to meat or bread. It complements vibrant summer fruits as well as it does vegetables and meat. This recipe transforms it into a crostini of sorts, featuring a midsummer bounty of watermelon or peaches stacked with crispy pancetta, red onion, fresh mint and a balsamic reduction. It is a simple yet stunning way to showcase both the distinctive qualities of halloumi cheese and the onslaught of Midwest produce currently at its peak.

Shannon Weber is a writer, graphic designer and stay-at-home mom who writes the award-winning blog aperiodictableblog.com.

Watermelon and Peach Halloumi Bites with Balsamic Reduction Halloumi can be grilled just as easily as it can be pan-fried, but it’s best to keep the cheese in large pieces if you choose to grill the cheese. Simply brush each side with olive oil and heat on a medium-hot grill until marked, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Let cool for a minute, then slice into smaller segments and assemble into bites.

Yields | 32 to 40 pieces | Balsamic Reduction 1 cup balsamic vinegar ¼ cup honey Halloumi Bites 2 Tbsp olive oil 1 lb halloumi cheese, separated in half along the folds, cut into 32 to 40 pieces Assembly 4 oz pancetta, cut into 2-inch pieces, fried until crispy 1 small red onion, thinly sliced 2½ cups seedless watermelon, cut into cubes - or ½ lb peaches, pitted, sliced 1 small bunch fresh mint leaves, washed, patted dry

coarse sea salt for sprinkling

| Preparation – Balsamic Reduction | In a small saucepan over medium heat, stir vinegar and honey together to combine.

Let it reach a low boil, reduce heat and allow to simmer until reduced by half. Set aside to cool completely.

| Preparation – Halloumi Bites | In a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, heat olive oil. Fry halloumi until golden and crispy on the outside, turning once, 4 to 6 minutes per side. Transfer to paper towellined plate to remove excess oil.

| Assembly | Place halloumi on a serving plate. Layer crispy pancetta, a few slices of red onion and watermelon cubes or sliced peaches on top of halloumi. Drizzle with balsamic reduction, top each with a mint leaf and sprinkle with sea salt. Secure each bite with a small skewer, and serve immediately.

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JULY 2014

27

menu options

Grilled VeGetable terrine

terrines take on many forms, often with various meats or vegetables which are delicately arranged in a baking vessel. terrine ingredients can be cooked individually and layered, or in the case of meats, layered and cooked as a whole. Left to chill in pans and then removed to reveal beautiful layers, any terrine makes a statement on the plate. While this

grilled vegetable terrine can take a little time, it makes a great splash at a poolside party or summer buffet. it gets its burst of flavor from the vegetables that are at their peak this month, kissed with smoke from the grill and seasoned to perfection. you can grill all of the vegetables and make this dish ahead of time so there is no last-minute stress.

chef’S TipS EggpLAnt EXAM. eggplants come in different sizes and colors. the

eggplants that are less wide in diameter have smaller seeds and do not need to be treated with salt and drained before using. you’ll find them with names like Sicilian, chinese, Japanese (chinese have thinner skins than Japanese), graffiti (purple and white), indian (which are smaller and

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Make The Meal • Grilled Vegetable Terrine • Vitello Tonnato • Celery and Curly Endive Salad with Creamy Anchovy Dressing • Espresso Panna Cotta

LEArn MOrE. in this month’s class, you’ll learn how to make an italian

favorite, vitello tonnato, veal with a cold tuna sauce. you’ll also learn how to spice up dessert with a luxurious but light no-bake espresso panna cotta, made with unflavored gelatin.

get hands-on: Join Feast and schnucks Cooks Cooking school on Wed., July 23, at 6pm to make the dishes in this month’s menu. tickets are just $40 for a night of cooking, dining and wine. RsVP at schnuckscooks.com or call 314.909.1704.

Story and recipe by Gay DeMichele photography by Jennifer Silverberg

Grilled Vegetable Terrine Yields | 1 terrine | 12 large garlic cloves, brushed with oil 4 red bell peppers, halved, cored, seeded 4 yellow bell peppers, halved, cored, seeded ½ cup olive oil, plus more 2 large sweet onions, cut into ¼-inch slices, pierced with a skewer 1 eggplant, peeled, cut into ¼-inch discs 6 large plum tomatoes, cut lengthwise into ¼-inch slices 2 zucchini, washed, sliced lengthwise into ¼-inch slices 2 yellow squash, washed, sliced lengthwise into ¼-inch slices 3 large portabella mushrooms, sliced into ¼-inch thick slices 1 cup grated Asiago cheese 10 fresh basil leaves salt and freshly ground black pepper

| Preparation | place garlic in an aluminum pouch, season with salt and transfer to the grill to roast until tender.

Using a silicone brush, brush peppers with oil and transfer to the grill. grill until skins are charred. transfer peppers to a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let cool, then remove blackened skins. Set aside to drain.

Skewer onion slices with a metal skewer and brush with oil, lightly season with salt and pepper and grill until tender. Set aside. brush both sides of eggplant with oil, lightly season and grill until tender, about 1 minute on each side. Set aside. repeat this process with tomato, zucchini and squash. repeat with mushrooms, but grill for 2 minutes on each side. Set aside to cool.

| Assembly | Line the bottom of a 6-inch springform pan with parchment paper.

Starting with half of the eggplant, line the bottom of the pan with overlapping slices.

Sprinkle with 2 tbsp cheese. Using the same method, create the second layer with half of the red peppers, then half yellow peppers.

Sprinkle with 2 tbsp cheese. assemble the third layer with half the onion, then half the zucchini, crisscrossed with the yellow squash, followed by half the tomatoes. Sprinkle with 4 tbsp cheese. arrange roasted garlic evenly over the layer. then layer remaining onion and tomatoes with 4 tbsp cheese and remaining zucchini, squash and red and yellow peppers with 4 tbsp cheese. Layer remaining eggplant and arrange mushroom slices overlapping as the top layer. cover with parchment paper and put a plate on top. put a weight on the plate, such as an unopened can. Set on a rack over another plate with sides to drain. refrigerate overnight. to serve, drain liquids, remove weight, plate and parchment paper, and invert on a cake plate. remove the pan, sprinkle with cheese, arrange basil leaves on top and serve at room temperature.

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Inspired Food Culture

JULY 2014

29

sweet ideas

Made-From-Scratch S’mores

Absolutely nothing beats a campfire for melting away all your cares. While some campers show up with grocery-store hot dogs and bags of mini donuts to sustain them on a long float trip, I can’t wait to cook from scratch over a wood fire. Smoked ribs, potatoes stuffed with butter and herbs roasting in tinfoil directly on the coals, sweet tea brewing in the sun and s’mores for dessert is the perfect summer meal. The flicker of flames burning through the night in our beautiful Missouri backwoods just begs for roasted marshmallows and sweet melted chocolate. Try your hand at homemade graham crackers and marshmallows and I promise you will be invited to everyone’s bonfire.

While there are many variations on basic marshmallow recipes, I prefer an egg-white-based marshmallow for a soft, creamy texture. However, in order to toast homemade marshmallows, you will need to let them cure or age at room temperature for at least a week to keep them from being too gooey when hot. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, boil the syrup to the “softball” stage. To test, drop a small amount of the syrup into cold water; the cooled syrup should form a soft, pliable ball.

If desired, you can sprinkle uncooked crackers with sugar before baking.

To assemble, roast marshmallows over an open flame and combine with locally made chocolate between two homemade graham crackers.

Christy Augustin has had a lifelong love affair with all things sweet. After working as a pastry chef in New Orleans and St. Louis, she opened Pint Size Bakery & Coffee in Lindenwood Park in 2012. She calls herself the baker of all things good and evil. Learn more at pintsizebakery.com.

story and recipe by Christy Augustin Photography by Cheryl Waller

Made-From-Scratch S’mores Serves | 10 to 12 |

Graham Crackers (Yields 3 dozen cookies) 1¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

¼ cups whole wheat or graham flour 1 1 tsp baking soda ½ cup brown sugar ¾ tsp kosher salt 7 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cubed 5½ Tbsp local raw honey 4½ Tbsp whole milk 2 Tbsp vanilla extract ½ cup raw demerara sugar Marshmallows (Yields 2 dozen)

1 cup cornstarch 1 cup powdered sugar 3 egg whites, separated, free of yolks pinch kosher salt pinch cream of tartar 3 packages powdered gelatin 1 cup cold water, divided 1¾ cups granulated sugar 1/3 cup corn syrup tsp vanilla extract

| Preparation – Graham Crackers | Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a hand-held mixer, stir together flours, baking soda, sugar and salt. Add cold butter cubes and mix on low until butter is the texture of cornmeal. Add honey, milk and vanilla and mix on medium speed until well combined and thoroughly moistened. Chill dough in the refrigerator for 4 hours, or up to 2 days.

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Roll dough on a wellfloured work surface to a ¼-inch thickness, dock with a fork, cut into 2½-inch squares and transfer to a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until puffed in the center.

| Preparation – Marshmallows | Prepare a 13-by-9-inch pan by coating it with nonstick cooking spray and liberally dusting it with a mixture of cornstarch and powdered sugar.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whip attachment, combine egg whites, salt and cream of tartar. In another bowl, sprinkle gelatin over water to dissolve and set aside.

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, heat sugar, corn syrup and remaining water, using a candy thermometer to gauge temperature. Be careful to wash down the sides of the pan with a clean brush to dissolve any sugar crystals, and stir gently as the syrup begins to boil to make sure it has liquefied. When syrup reaches 238ºF to 240ºF on the thermometer, turn the mixer on medium-low speed. At 242ºF to 245ºF, carefully pour syrup into the whipping whites, making sure not to hit the wire whisk. Melt gelatin by placing it in the still-hot pan, then pour it into the whipping whites. Add vanilla, turn up marshmallow meringue to high speed and whip for 8 to 10 minutes until cooled and thick and glossy. Using an oiled spatula, spread the mixture into the prepared pan and sift the marshmallow dust on top. Leave to set uncovered overnight or for up to 3 days. To portion, oil a chef’s knife and divide into 24 squares. Spread marshmallows out on a sheet tray to cure at room temperature for up to 1 week.

30

feastmagazine.com

JULY 2014

Achieve Your Fitness Goals!

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Inspired Food Culture

JULY 2014

31

gadget a-go-go

Produce containers

PrOfessiOnal VeGeTable sTOraGe cOnTainers PROS

These see-through plastic food pans come with drain shelves that hold produce off the container floor, which allows for good air circulation. The lids seal tight. Covered containers stack and store on refrigerator shelves and show you the state of produce at a glance. Sizes vary from small enough to crowd a big-shouldered onion to pans big and wide enough to hold chopped lettuce for 50 salads. We tested a pan 11½ inches long, 6 inches wide and 3 inches deep.

CONS

The lids don’t yield graciously at first. It’s a real tug-of-war to get them loose the first few times.

Condensation can build up on the lids and drip onto the produce, but a quick wipe with a paper towel fixes that.

Each piece is priced separately. $15.07; Session Fixture Company, 6044 Lemay Ferry Road, South County, sessionfixtures.com

Washable PrODuce baGs, seT Of six PROS

The cool factor of bringing your own lightweight mesh produce bags to the market or the grocery store – eschewing plastics and contributing to the overall health of the planet – really rocks. The bags, generously sized at 11-by-14 inches, hold fluffy lettuce and portly peppers with equal ease. Air circulates freely, which contributes to freshness and keeps veggies dry. A drawstring keeps everything corralled. The 100-percent nylon bags come clean in the washer, too. (Note: For best results, zip them in a lingerie washing bag first.)

CONS

Celery and rhubarb won’t fit in the bags, but that’s a small quibble. No grouses here, except you’ll need to buy two sets if you like them. Six aren’t enough. $7.95/six-piece set; Sur La Table, 1701 S. Lindbergh Blvd. #295, Frontenac, surlatable.com

bluaPPle 2-Pak PROS

A product for the lazy: Simply place a BluApple in crisper drawers, on refrigerator shelves or in vegetable bins. These stealth weapons of freshness hunker down to surround and stop ethylene gas from escaping from fruits and veggies, a gas which causes them to become overripe. Twist off the top and replace the cartridge inside after three months, and the little BluApple will continue to do its thing.

CONS

No cons, but a little effort helped BluApple shine. Two bags of strawberries, each in different crisper drawers equipped with a BluApple, fared better than test berries in a plastic bag on a shelf. Strawberries in one crisper drawer had been blotted dry and bagged with a folded paper towel. They fared the best of all, lasting 10 days before darkening. $9.99/two pack; Bed Bath and Beyond, multiple locations, bedbathandbeyond.com

WrITTEN By Pat eby PhOTOgrAPhy By Jonathan Gayman

Debbie Meyer Green baGs

The OriGinal VeGGie sack

PROS

PROS

A mere $10 gets 20 light-green plastic bags in three sizes, ready to hold any kind of produce, from apples to zucchini. The extra-large bags will even hold lemongrass stalks if need be. They’re reuseable with a quick wash-up. Veggies stayed fresher in the refrigerator a few days longer than their counterparts in plain plastic. Berries developed mold at the same rate as those left in their original containers.

It’s big, sturdy, opaque and a little stretchy, so sweet and white potatoes can be stored on top of the cabinet without being exposed to light, which hastens deterioration. Soft-leaf lettuce, carefully dried, stayed crispy and green for four to six days in the fridge. The thick material absorbed moisture and slowed deterioration.

Ditto for bunches of grapes and sweet small peppers. Machine washable.

CONS

CONS

They’re plastic. Moisture builds up inside, even when you dry the veggies before placing them in the bag.

The graphics on the packaging are unsightly, just like every other “As Seen on TV” product. The company claims veggies stay fresh for up to a month in the bag. After two and a half weeks, cut cucumbers and peppers slimed sublimely. Buyer, be cautious.

Each fruit and veggie needs its own sack. Opacity can hide many sins, so bags must be checked regularly to halt destruction. $4.99; Bed Bath and Beyond

$9.99/20-piece set; Bed Bath and Beyond

Che

Ck o ut pag e

WhaT TO lOOk fOr : VaSt VaRiety. A product that extends the shelf life of fresh fruits,

greens and vegetables in our health-conscious, juice-mad culture would be a welcome addition to any kitchen. We usually have a checklist of features to help readers choose the gadget that works best, but the products we found for veggie freshness vary widely – from solidly plastic, gas-absorbing orbs and containers to the thinnest of plastic and mesh bags to thick, absorbent bags.

32

feastmagazine.com

Ju LY 2014

PReP PRO tiPS. Three weeks of testing proved one thing: The way we prepare fruits and veggies for storage matters as much as the containers we choose to store them in. Fresh summer veggies aren’t meant to last four weeks. To keep vegetables from spoiling, we need to buy them consciously, with an understanding that they are fragile cellular structures. Timely consumption, when the food is at its peak nutritionally, matters most.

57!

Put produce bags to work with the vegetable recipes in Focused on Flavor!

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JULY 2014

33

on the shelf

top JULY pICKS

beer

WRITTEN BY Michael Sweeney

When he’s not writing, Matt Sorrell can be found slinging drinks at Planter’s House in Lafayette Square or bartending at events around town with his wife Beth for their company Cocktails Are Go.

StieglBrauerei zu SalzBurg gMBH’S Stiegl-radler grapefruit

tequila caBeza AvAilAble At: Randall’s Wines and Spirits, multiple

AvAilAble At: The Wine & Cheese Place, multiple locations,

locations, shoprandalls.com; $38.99 try it: As the base for a traditional tequila concoction like a Margarita or a Paloma

Six roW BreWing co.’S SunSHine SloWdoWn

From The 86 Co. in New York City – that also brought its Fords Gin, Cana Brava Rum and Aylesbury Duck Vodka to the St. Louis market this year – comes this 100-percent estate agave blanco tequila. Tailor-made for mixing, the spirit has some agave sweetness up front that darkens and finishes with earthier flavors. Like all 86 Co. spirits, it comes in an ergonomically friendly bottle designed with bartenders in mind. The spirit has already garnered honors, earning five stars in Diffords Guide and a gold medal and exceptional rating from the Beverage Testing Institute.

Blue Hanger no. 7 Blended Malt ScotcH WHiSkey

Style: American Cream Ale (5.5% abv)

ProvenAnce: Scotland (45.6% abv)

AvAilAble At: Randall’s Wines and

AvAilAble At: The Wine & Cheese Place, multiple

Spirits, multiple locations, shoprandalls. com; $8.49 (four-pack, 16-oz cans) PAiringS: Italian sausage• Sharp Cheddar

locations, wineandcheeseplace.com; $99.99 try it: Neat, or perhaps with a touch of water to loosen things up

The dog days of summer are upon us, and it seems we all tend to slow down amid this sticky summer heat. Six Row Brewing Co. knows this, and comes to the rescue with a light American-style cream ale that is not too bitter or too heavy. This is a hybrid beer that mimics some of the aspects of a lager (crisp and slightly malty), but lets the ale yeast shine, giving it some fruity characteristics as well.

kona BreWing co.’S caStaWay ipa Style: American IPA (6% abv) AvAilAble At: Schnucks, multiple locations, schnucks.

com; $8.19 (six-pack, 12-oz bottles) PAiringS: Mango-glazed chicken• Emmenthaler I had the opportunity to visit Hawaii for the first time this winter, and it’s just as magical as everyone proclaims.

Luckily for those of us who have been and are aching to go back, we can enjoy a bit of Hawaii here on the mainland with beers made by Kona Brewing Co. The Castaway IPA showcases galaxy, citra, simcoe and millennium hops, which provide a fruity, tropical aroma and flavor.

JULY 2014

ProvenAnce: Arandas, Jalisco, Mexico (43% abv)

Style: Radler (2.5% abv)

I’m typically the kind of guy who wants his beer unadulterated. But after my first sip of Stiegl-Radler Grapefruit, I changed my tune. This beer is a 40-to-60 blend of Stiegl Goldbrau and grapefruit soda. The beer plays second fiddle to the soda, and helps provide a wonderful base that keeps this beverage from getting too sweet. This makes for a spritzy summer beer that’s perfect for sipping while backyard barbecuing or while just taking it easy.

feastmagazine.com

WRITTEN BY Matt Sorrell

The creator of stlhops.com and founder of St. Louis Craft Beer Week, Michael Sweeney is also the craft beer manager at Lohr Distributing.

wineandcheeseplace.com; $8.99 (four-pack, 16-oz cans) PAiringS: Fruit salad• Monterey Jack cheese

34

spirits

This blended Scotch whiskey is the latest from Berry Bros. & Rudd, a venerable London institution that is the U.K.’s oldest wine and spirit producer. This Scotch series takes its name from one of the store’s customers back in the 18th century who always wore striking blue ensembles and was dubbed Blue Hanger. The company sources many different whiskeys to create the Blue Hanger blend, which is crafted in small batches. Look for notes of peat, citrus, vanilla and a bit of fruit.

Breuckelen diStilling 77 WHiSkeyS ProvenAnce: Brooklyn, New York (45% abv) AvAilAble At: The Wine & Cheese Place, multiple locations, wineandcheeseplace.com; $42.99 try them: Neat, or with a cube or two

This artisan distillery started operations in 2010 in Brooklyn, New York, and currently has two whiskeys available, one made from wheat and the other made with corn and rye. Both of these spirits use locally sourced, organic New York grains and are aged in new American oak barrels, with the rye-corn combination getting a little bit more time in wood than the wheat. The results beg to be tasted on their own merits. However, I’m thinking the rye-corn whiskey – with a mash bill of 85 percent rye and just 15 percent corn – would be a pretty good candidate for a Manhattan.

wine

WriTTEN by Kyle Harsha

Kyle Harsha is a certified specialist of wine and certified sommelier with over 20 years’ experience in the food and wine industry. He drinks more wine than he probably ought to.

mouTon noIr “Love drunk” roSé 2013 Provenance: Willamette Valley, Oregon available at: The Vino Gallery, 4701 McPherson Ave., Central West End, thevinogallery.com; $19.99 Pairings: Fried-fish tacos• Greasy fast-food burgers• Salted watermelon

i love wine producers like Mouton Noir. The company is committed to producing great wines, but it does so in a way that flies in the face of the snobbery that is pervasive in much of wine culture. The Love Drunk rosé – a 77-to-23 ratio blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir – is like drinking a bowl of fresh berries. it is bright and juicy, with explosive notes of strawberry, cherry and watermelon. Drink it while on a picnic with a loved one or late at night while watching movies.

SequoIa Grove Chardonnay 2012 Provenance: Napa, California available at: Veritas Gateway to Food and Wine, 15860 Fountain Plaza Drive, Ellisville, veritasgateway.com; $24.99 Pairings: Apple slaw• Thai mango chicken• Feta and spinach omelet

Normally, when the words “Napa” and “Chardonnay” appear on a wine label together, the resultant beverage is a big, buttery, high-alcohol fruit bomb that leaves you picking splinters out of your tongue. Fortunately, this wine goes against the grain. Director of winemaking Michael Trujillo doesn’t put his Chardonnay through malolactic fermentation, resulting in a balanced effort with the expected apple, pineapple and toasty notes, but without the overbearing butter notes that others from the region carry.

TxomIn eTxanIz roSé 2013 Provenance: Getariako Txakolina, Spain available at: The Vino Gallery, 4701 McPherson Ave., Central West End, thevinogallery.com; $22.99 Pairings: Fresh fruit salad• Pulled pork sandwiches• roasted summer squash

Sometimes in July you want a wine that is cold, refreshing and has a little bit of a spritz to it. That’s where the Txomin Etxaniz comes in. This is a gulping wine, not a sipping wine, so grab several bottles (if you tell your neighbor you picked up a case of Txomin Etxaniz, they might tell you to get some penicillin). The blend is of Hondarrabi Zuri and Hondarribi beltza, and it’s sort of like drinking an adult version of cherry Sprite, with a touch more acid and minerality. it’s also perfect to drink post-lawn mowing, if you’re out of beer.

Inspired Food Culture

JULY 2014

35

the mix

The Sazerac

For those in the beverage industry, July is a month of celebration and jubilee. July marks the annual tales of the cocktail event in new orleans – a festival of learning, seeing the newest and brightest trends and products, and catching up with pals from across the globe. For those not in the industry, it is a sweltering month of heat and humidity, with the need for a cooling libation to get you through the days. this month, i bring to your attention the Sazerac – that much needed cooling libation and a new orleans classic. if you like old Fashioneds, Manhattans or Martinis, this is one to try if you haven’t already. the Sazerac is a cocktail that is generations old. it was the first branded cocktail, as it was originally made with Sazerac de Forge et Fils cognac, hence the name. it was so popular that a bar in new orleans was renamed Sazerac bar and, in 2008, it became the official cocktail of new orleans via a bill passed by the Louisiana State Senate. as with older cocktails, the true history is lost to time. however, we can look at the events of the past and trace its roots to the mid- to late 1800s. the Sazerac cocktail was originally made with cognac, a specific type of brandy. and back in those days, brandy was more popular than whiskey. in the 1880s, over in France, there was a phylloxera epidemic. phylloxera

Story and recipe by Matt Seiter photography by Jonathan Gayman

is a small bug that feeds on the roots of grape vines, sucking the juices until the plant dies – kind of like a tick or a leech. brandy is made from distilled wine that, as we know, is made from grapes. as with anything, a shortage of raw products means a higher price for manufactured goods. brandy prices skyrocketed so much that only the well-to-dos could afford it. bar owners needed to find a product similar to cognac to keep preparing the ever-so-popular Sazerac cocktails. this is where whiskey – specifically rye whiskey – began to gain traction. it was a cheap domestic product manufactured in the wilderness of the ohio river Valley and western pennsylvania and it was easily accessible via the trade routes of the ohio and Mississippi rivers, which ended in the port of new orleans. We’re not sure exactly when it happened, but this is how the Sazerac cocktail transformed from being cognac-based to whiskeybased. in books and other publications, Sazerac recipes began to call for whiskey instead of cognac, the first appearing in print in 1908. however you prefer to prepare this cocktail, it is sure to have the mollifying effect needed in the heat of July. a few notes, though: if you prefer sweeter, more viscous drinks, go with the cognac-based version. if you want something with a bit more bite, use rye whiskey. and if you’re lacking either of those, bourbon is a suitable substitute.

Matt Seiter is a co-founder of the United States Bartenders’ Guild’s St. Louis chapter, a member of the national board for the USBG’s MA program and a continuing educator for all desiring knowledge of the craft of mixology. He is a member of Drink Lab and a consultant at Sanctuaria.

Sazerac Serves | 1 |

½ 1 5 2¼ ¼

ice oz water sugar cube dashes Peychaud’s Bitters oz Cognac, rye whiskey or bourbon oz absinthe (or other anise-flavored liqueur) lemon twist (for garnish)

| Preparation | Fill an old Fashioned glass with ice and add water. Set aside. place sugar cube in the bottom of a pint glass, add water and bitters. Muddle cube until dissolved. add spirit and ice, and stir 20 to 30 seconds. discard ice water in old Fashioned glass and add absinthe. Swirl glass and discard excess. Strain contents of pint glass into the old Fashioned glass. garnish with lemon twist.

Isn’t This Just an Old Fashioned? true. at first glance the Sazerac is simply a fancy old Fashioned. but it’s the makeup of this libation that makes it distinct, and without this makeup it is not a Sazerac.

First, the glass has to be rinsed with an anise-flavored liqueur – absinthe is the traditional product used, but herbsaint, pastis or pernod are commonly used as well.

Second, you have to use a certain type of bitters – peychaud’s. this bitter is deep red in color and exudes the aroma and flavors of anise and black cherry. it was used back in the day because it was a local new orleans creation – created by apothecary antoine peychaud – and readily available. these two ingredients are vital to the Sazerac.

36

feastmagazine.com

JULY 2014

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37

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MAY 2013

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The Gettles run Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. – a 15-acre seed emporium where home gardeners and chefs flock to stock up on rare seeds to grow unusual produce from juicy black krim tomatoes to bright watermelon radishes.

Since starting his own seed business when he was just 17 years old, Gettle has watched Baker Creek grow exponentially. Each year, more and more gardeners, farmers and chefs are interested in the seeds that first captured Gettle’s imagination as a curious 3-year-old who loved nothing more than digging in the garden.

Those fruits and vegetables are now taking up more space on menus across the Midwest, and Gettle couldn’t be happier.

“I always dreamed of one day working for a seed company and introducing people to seeds,” Gettle says. “Our business really started growing as people wanted to save money on groceries and eat healthier. We see moms who are worried about what [is put into] foods or they want something to do with the kids or their grandparents. That really pushed our growth.”

As word has spread about Gettle’s impressive assortment of seed varieties – some of which date back more than 2,000 years – Baker Creek has become a destination for gardeners across the region, with two additional locations in California and Connecticut.

When you pull into Bakersville, the thicket of trees gives way to acres of flower and vegetable gardens. An assortment of woodslated and metal buildings house the seed store, restaurant, warehouses and the storage room where Gettle’s seeds are sorted and packaged.

The restaurant serves up fresh produce from the farm, while the surrounding acres play home to gardens, flowerbeds and an assortment of geese, ducks, donkeys, chickens and peacocks.

A visit to Bakersville is a little like stepping back in time. The employees all wear pioneer-themed garb and farm animals abound. The finishing touch: Just outside of the store, a donkey brays at you if you get too close to its pen. But inside the warehouse, where the seeds are packaged and waiting to be shipped around the world, the operation is very much of the 21st century.

Seeds are tested for germination in 4-foot tall incubators, and in the back of the warehouse, racks of seed packages line the walls. The room is pitch-black except for flashes of light from the light projectors positioned along the ceiling. As orders are filled, the projectors shine a light on the sought-after seeds and display the number of packets needed in that order. Employees place the packets onto a conveyor belt that runs down the middle of the room, and mechanical arms punch the packets into boxes, which will later be shipped to seed enthusiasts. It took more than 150,000 lines of code just to make the projectors operate.

This tech-heavy system has improved Baker Creek’s efficiency significantly, and has helped remove some of the human error involved in filling orders. In another room, a large machine fills seed packets one per second. This high-efficiency system is a long way from the small bedroom where Gettle started his company 17 years ago.

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MAY 2013

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41

growing up

Id a of on the Oregon side my first squas

“That was probably the best garden area of all my life. Everything grows there; it’s so fertile.” With all of his grandparents living nearby, Gettle was never without a garden to play in. His dad raised cattle and corn, and he helped his mom grow the fruits and vegetables that kept the family well-fed year-round. “We tried to sell some of the vegetables,” he says. “But everyone had a garden back then, so you ate what you grew.” When life on the farm slowed down in the winter, Gettle kept himself entertained by flipping through the pages of seed catalogs.

He joined Seed Savers Exchange and started requesting a variety of seeds.

When Gettle was 13 years old, his family transplanted to Missouri – to the farm where Baker Creek sits today – and he decided that he had saved enough seeds and wanted to put out his own catalog. “I had saved 75 different varieties and thought, ‘Why not print up a price list and send it out to people?’” he says. And just like that, the company was born. That first year, Gettle mailed 550 catalogs and received about 200 orders.

The catalog was little more than a 30-page photocopy that was bound with staples. But, the next year, Gettle mailed 9,000 catalogs.

By 2000, business was starting to really pick up, and the Rubbermaid containers that held Gettle’s seed collection in his bedroom were starting to spill into the rest of the house.

“A few of our neighbors came to help us out during the busier periods, but we were still operating out of my bedroom,” Gettle says. “Even when we put in the seed wall in the house, my parents didn’t really think the business would grow this much. I didn’t really, either.” But by 2003 it was clear that Baker Creek was going to be a hit, and that what started as a hobby for Gettle was now a full-fledged business. This year alone, Baker Creek catalogs hit mailboxes in force, reaching 430,000 households. And gardening enthusiasts aren’t the only ones interested in Gettle’s operation – Baker Creek’s story has made its way into the pages of The New York Times, O The Oprah Magazine, The Wall Street Journal and many other publications.

Gettle believes there are a mix of reasons why people’s interest in seeds has grown, whether due to more awareness of GMOs and the benefits of eating organic, or simply the sheer excitement of growing fruits and vegetables from start to finish. “There is so much more than a tiny red tomato you can get out of that little seed,” Gettle says. Gardeners can find 1,600 seed varieties in the Baker Creek catalog, from dozens of tomatoes and leafy greens to rare varieties such as the black radish, which dates back some 2,000 years and boasts a strong horseradish flavor.

With several acres of gardens to play in, Gettle and his family are constantly planting new seeds.

“We really try to grow as much as we can during the spring and summer,” Gettle says. In a small greenhouse, a collection of citrus trees including lemon and papaya offers a burst of fresh flavor during the winter, when they hit their peak. And those chickens and ducks that waddle around the farm, those are just pets. The Gettles are vegans, so they really appreciate the vast amount of flavors and texture their harvest yields.

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MAY 2013

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h e g a r d en with s in t s B oise Va ho’ his parents lley, Gettle wa and n a r e c m e grandparent h em ber s as early as . “I rem in g ember plant

dy ellow-pear tomatoes w hen I

wa s 3 ye rs old,” h e a say s.

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“the farm-to-table Two of Baker Creek’s most sought-after seeds are its Cherokee purple tomato and black krim tomato – but especially the black krim, for its bluish-purple color and fruity grape flavor.

Gettle travels all over the world looking for new seeds to bring back to Bakersville. He’s jumped from Mexico and Guatemala on over to Thailand, where he’s found a treasure trove of ancient seed varieties. “You learn lots of different stories that go with the seeds, and you meet the people who grow those [seeds] and learn their methods,” he says.

Uncovering a wealth of diverse and long-lost seeds is part of the thrill for Gettle – that, and enjoying the spectrum of flavors each new fruit and vegetable offers. “Part of the fun for me,” Gettle says, “is being able to introduce someone to a seed that might have been lost in their family for 30 or 40 years. There was a guy from Japan who was thrilled to find a squash he hadn’t seen in years, and he found it in our catalog.” The stories and history behind each seed variety are a huge part of what initially hooked Gettle’s interest all those years ago.

As interest in the company continues to grow, its once rare and exotic seeds are becoming more and more commonplace in Mansfield and across the globe. As a child, Gettle dreamed of introducing people to new and exciting seeds, but his passion has imparted another gift: spreading greater awareness and appreciation of the vivid colors and vibrant flavors that are easily grown in one’s own backyard.

Travel to Mansfield, Missouri, to visit Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. and meet Jere Gettle and his family in the July episode of Feast TV.

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MAY 2013

c ca rr s a ys. “But ff in tomi e a l o r n u o o , w tt trend was rea lly slow to take Ge our area for awhile,” and rainbow Sw of our top-selling seeds.” om e iss c hard are s

ots

best in grow Give your green thumb a teaser with Baker Creek’s 10 most popular seeds.

seed name: Mexican Sour Gherkin origin: Mexico and Central America growing conditions: Full sun to partial shade and moist, rich garden soil flavor: Tastes like a cucumber, but is tart and lemony cooking: Great for snacking as is, but also makes great pickles because of the tart flavor; as an added bonus, this cute fruit looks like a miniature watermelon seed name: Pink Brandywine Tomato origin: First identified in an Ohio garden, but ultimately its origin is unclear growing conditions: Full sun and rich garden soil flavor: This tomato is widely regarded as the standard for flavor, meaning this is what a tomato should taste like – rich and complex, with a great balance of sweet and tart cooking: The size and flavor make it superb for slicing, but less well-known is the fact that it is also good for canning seed name: Chinese Red Noodle Bean origin: Far East growing conditions: Likes full sun and lots of heat, and it can tolerate drought flavor: These pods, which can grow to be more than a foot long, have a rich, “beany” flavor cooking: Best when lightly cooked; braising or stirfrying are ideal seed name: Cherokee Purple Tomato origin: This tomato is rooted in tradition with the Native American Cherokee tribe of Tennessee growing conditions: Full sun and rich garden soil flavor: Rich, earthy, complex cooking: Great as a slicer, also widely used in salsas seed name: Arugula origin: Mediterranean region growing conditions: Likes cool conditions, takes frost and prefers full sun and rich soil flavor: Tangy and pepper-like, but also very uniquely flavored cooking: Use for a different punch of flavor in salads seed name: Bloomsdale Long-Standing Spinach origin: Introduced

by Landreth Seed Co. in the early 1800s growing conditions: Needs full sun (partial shade in warmer conditions), rich soil and adequate moisture flavor: Nutty flavor with acidic overtones cooking: Use raw in salads, steam as greens, or serve almost anything on a bed of it and call the dish “Florentine”

a L UgHs !

seed name: Country Gentleman Sweet Corn origin: Introduced in 1890

by S.D. Woodruff and Sons seed company in Connecticut growing conditions: Full sun and rich soil flavor: Sweet and very mild flavor; white shoe-peg kernels are a bit irregular in that the kernels don’t grow in straight rows cooking: Makes great cream-style corn

!

F RO M

seed name: Genovese Basil origin: Italy – Genoa, Savona, Imperia growing conditions: Full sun and a lot of moisture flavor: Very aromatic and a universal favorite among American gardeners cooking: Fine for use as an herb, but productive enough for pesto

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seed name: Boston Pickling Cucumber origin: New England, before 1880 growing conditions: Warm conditions, adequate moisture and rich soil – a definite summer crop flavor: Mild cooking: An old standard for pickles seed name: Parsley “Giant of Italy” origin: Italy growing conditions: Prefers cool to cold conditions and ample moisture flavor: Very fullflavored and aromatic, and yet very light cooking: Superb in cooked dishes such as soups and stews, but even better used raw, so the subtle flavor and delicate aroma can be appreciated

Check out our full 2014-15 Season at

LUBoxOffice.com/Feast Inspired Food Culture

JULY 2014

45

fresh frontier written by Jeremy Nulik

|

photography by Jonathan Gayman

|

Mushrooms courtesy of Ozark Forest Mushrooms

you can’t fake your first time.

No one knows this better than Christine Meyer. Her company, Kitchen Kulture, creates prepared meals made from fresh produce at the Tower Grove Farmers’ Market.

For three years, Meyer has seen the hordes of shoppers growing both in number and diversity each Saturday.

The crowd includes hipsters, city dwellers, foodies, West County families and business executives.

right now, fresh, seasonal vegetables are the new frontier of cooking Some will approach Meyer with curiosity-painted faces. They frown at menu items like the orzo salad – short-cut pasta with freshly picked asparagus and glazed radishes from Buila Family Farm in Cobden, Illinois. They pick up the salad samples, and Meyer can tell they have never smelled fresh asparagus before.

It hits them with an unexpected sweetness.

Once they take their first bite, it’s all over. Eyes close, and involuntary moans escape their throats. Their chewing slows

as their eyes re-open. Before fresh food is intellectualized or categorized, it is tasted. Meyer gets a front row seat to this interaction over and over again.

“I get to see people try things for the first time and witness the reaction they can’t control,” says Meyer. “I am seeing more people from all walks of life tasting nettles, radishes and other vegetables.

They are more curious and willing to try new things. Right now, fresh, seasonal vegetables are the new frontier of cooking.”

What Meyer is witnessing firsthand is something that Gerard Craft, the James Beard-nominated chef-owner of Niche in Clayton, has seen building in momentum for several years.

According to Craft, the majority of the country has been taking the “meat and potatoes” approach to food for most of their lives. The standard has been a block of protein, with starch and vegetables as an afterthought. And breaking out of that habit – even for chefs at fine dining restaurants – is hard. But now, he says, excitement about vegetables is starting to explode.

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Chefs have seen an explosion of interest in fresh produCe “If you would have tried to create an entrée that is entirely vegetables a few years ago, people would [have thought it was] ridiculous,” says Craft, who believes that even food critics are amazed at what an entrée of roasted carrots can taste like. “But people are much more open now to new flavors, and that openness takes away the notions of how we are supposed to eat vegetables.”

Anthony Devoti, chef-owner of Five Bistro on The Hill, has seen an explosion of interest in fresh produce. He says that a quantifiable

indicator of the shift within the industry is in the increase in the number of farmers’ markets across the greater St. Louis area.

When Devoti opened Five in 2006, there were only a few farmers’ markets in the area. Today, there are 15, serving communities from Ferguson to Kirkwood, from Clayton to Edwardsville.

“There are more urban gardens and people getting refocused on the quality of the food they’re eating,” says Devoti, whose restaurant also features 1,000 square feet of on-site and off-

site gardens, with lettuce, radishes and 35 varieties of heirloom tomatoes. “When you bite into food that we just pulled from the ground, you experience it with all of your senses,” says Devoti.

“It kills all of them. They just taste better.”

Food as EntErtainmEnt Craft asserts that much of the shift in attention has occurred because people have started to see food as a form of entertainment. Preparing and eating food has become a

Vegetables haVe taken more of a starring role on the plate

cultural experience on the same level as a concert or dance performance, and chefs have responded by experimenting and playing with unexpected flavors and textures.

“People want something delicious and unique, and it is hard to do a ton of new stuff with a piece of beef,” says Craft. “When you go to paint a portrait and all you use are primary colors, it’s bound to be boring. But with vegetables, I have so many different options that I can explore.”

And the appetite for exploration has been on the increase according to Colby Garrelts, chef and co-owner of Bluestem and Rye restaurants in Kansas City. He has seen more people demanding novelty from their dining experience.

“I think people are eating out now not only to enjoy a good meal, but often to have a new experience or type of cuisine they’ve never tried,” says Garrelts. He and wife Megan Garrelts grow much of the produce they use in their restaurants on their

family farm. “Eating dinner out at a restaurant can qualify as the night’s ‘entertainment,’ rather than just the beginning to other activities. Vegetables have taken more [of a] starring role on the plate [in] the past several years. Diners want to know about the origin of the food and vegetables – sourced locally – [that] can be showcased as such on the menu.”

The CulTure of fresh food According to Craft and Meyer, the increased demand for fresh,

consumers are concerned with what they eat, how it is prepared and how it is sourced seasonal vegetables can also be tracked to a few broader cultural trends. Between the Food Network and books by Michael Pollan, more consumers are concerned with what they eat, how it is prepared and how it is sourced.

“When you create food awareness and make it about more than sustenance, people start becoming more aware of the issues surrounding food,” says Craft. “People want to know how far vegetables are being shipped and eat things that are in season.”

Meyer has seen this same level of awareness and concern from her customers at the Tower Grove Farmers’ Market. Her customers ask about the sources of foods and make decisions based on proximity. Meyer believes this conscientious approach to cooking and eating taps into a deeper emotional connection people have with food.

“In the Midwest, a lot of people have seen fields of corn and soybeans for years,” says Meyer. “Maybe their grandparents

had a farm, or they knew someone who did. So when it comes to something like tasting fresh vegetables, it taps into part of an emotional association with food.”

Devoti’s gardening at Five backs up Meyer’s theory about there being a deeper, emotional aspect to food. When harvesting chard or tomatoes, Devoti is rarely alone. Most often, his wife and children join him in the garden as he gathers food for entrées to be prepared in the restaurant just hours later, while

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I don’t want to call thIs attentIon on fresh vegetables a trend, because It shouldn’t be his family gathers vegetables for their home kitchen. For Devoti and local farmers, the intimacy of this connection to fresh food creates a next-level dining experience.

“Growing food and serving it to people fulfills a kind of social need,” Devoti says. “When you know the person who went out in the rain that day and picked the radishes that you are eating, there is a deeper connection you make with the food. That, and fresh food just tastes 100 percent better.”

Not AbANdoNiNg MeAt Though the demand for nuanced flavors has elevated the status of seasonal vegetables, their rise has not been exclusive. Niall Campbell, chef-owner of Firefly Grill in Effingham, Illinois, describes himself as a meat-forward kind of guy. However, for the past eight years, the garden surrounding Firefly has grown in acreage and varietal diversity. His approach to cooking is one that includes harmony of flavors, focusing on the distinctiveness and beauty of fresh produce and meats alike.

“When you compose a plate, everything has a component and a part to play,” says Campbell. “What you are going for is something harmonious. The goal is to create one dish. It may be called braised pork belly on the menu, but the peas and red roasted potatoes play a major role.”

Campbell sees a food industry wrought with taglines – farm-totable, locavore – but he isn’t interested in capitalizing on trends.

Instead, he’s focused on elevating the status of seasonal produce.

This is a reTurn To demanding The fresh, ouT-of-The ground flavor ThaT food naTurally has

“We like to say that we were farm-to-table before it was cool, but being a part of some trend is not what we concentrate on,” says Campbell, who sources from local chicken farms, pork producers and bread-makers, in addition to the food grown in the restaurant’s on-premise garden. “When a chef or someone from the kitchen spends some time in the garden, it makes a difference on how they treat vegetables,” Campbell says. “They become something that is delicately cared for, prepared and plated. That means it tastes better.”

Freshly InspIred For some, this delicate reverence for fresh vegetables and their role in the kitchen has inspired new restaurant concepts.

The hours Devoti spent in Five Bistro’s garden grew not just scores of lettuce, but a new business approach: a rotating restaurant. To mirror the seasons and rotation of the crops, Five now offers a new dining experience – a restaurant within the restaurant – at its longtime location. Through the end of July, Five will feature Root & Vine, a concept with entrées that

celebrate fresh vegetables and anything Devoti and family pull out of the ground.

“I don’t want to call this attention on fresh vegetables a trend, because it shouldn’t be,” says Devoti. “Over the past 10 years, the attention to local food has increased, but that does not make it a trend. This is the way humans have eaten for hundreds of years. This is a return to demanding the fresh, out-of-the ground flavor that food naturally has.”

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JULY 2014

focused on written by Tory Bahn photography by Jennifer Silverberg

VegiVorism: a term born of a food trend, of sorts, that praises the many splendid nuances of vegetables. this subtle but ever-growing shift celebrates the abundance of the plant kingdom as opposed to animal protein, which no longer has to be the center of the plate. across the country and here in St. Louis, the culinary industry is giving vegetables their time to shine, transforming them into praiseworthy works of culinary art, and keeping local farmers and producers in business at the same time. with multiple farmers’ markets often in just one community, the local vegetable options are endless, limited only by the seasons. and even then, you can probably purchase pickled versions, alongside fresh, reserving them for winter. the

applications are endless, too. Some neglect to see the potential in cauliflower, but given its versatility, that simple cruciferous wonder can take on incredible flavors and textures. in St. Louis, niche in Clayton interprets cauliflower with simple elegance: cauliflower steaks come glazed in butter and served with green onion hollandaise and lemon-roasted radishes. at Kansas City’s acclaimed restaurant bluestem, chef-owner Colby garrelts also lets the vegetable take top billing on the plate, serving hearty cauliflower fritters with sauce gribiche.

veggie-focused pop-up restaurants continue to celebrate the height of the growing season and you can find homemade seasonal kimchi made

by Kitchen Kulture every Saturday morning at the tower grove Farmers’ Market. Kitchen Kulture also sells fresh, prepared foods, caters and will deliver right to your door. in this spirit, we asked chefs from these restaurants and businesses and other restaurants located throughout the region to share some of the incredible recipes they’re developing using fresh, vibrant and seasonal vegetables.

but fine dining restaurants aren’t the only establishments having fun with fresh produce.

Sweet potato tacos are flying off food trucks,

PICTURED: Butter-Glazed Cauliflower Steak with Green

Onion Hollandaise and Lemon-Roasted Radishes by Gerard Craft of Niche. See recipe on p. 64.

Tagliatelle with Roasted Vegetables

I find that this is a very easy summer or fall dish to make. We create different versions of this dish at Five all year-round. You must be organized, and you must pay attention to your vegetables when roasting. Different vegetables roast at different speeds because of density and water content. For this dish, we will cook our vegetables in separate pans, which allows for each vegetable to cook properly. In the last preparation step, we mix all of the cooked vegetables together and rest them to really blend the flavors. For the tomatoes, only pick the most beautiful red ripe ones. For the eggplant, I like small eggplant that cook fast and can be served whole. If you can’t find “little finger” eggplant, use whatever eggplant you can find at the grocery store or the farmers’ market that is fresh. I peel all eggplant – I don’t like the skins, it’s a personal thing – but I strongly suggest peeling. I like to serve the roasted vegetables as a bed for ravioli, a side dish for grilled meats or just when there’s an abundance of fresh vegetables available to cook for dinner.

Recipe by anthony deVoti, Five bistRo

Serves | 4 to 6 | Pasta

1 12

lb flour egg yolks

2

whole eggs

3

Tbsp milk

6

Tbsp olive oil

Roasted Vegetables

6

cloves garlic

2

yellow onions, finely diced

1

large butternut squash, peeled, cut into small cubes salt and freshly ground black pepper extra virgin olive oil

6

Roma tomatoes, halved

2

large zucchini, cut into small cubes

8

finger eggplant, peeled fresh basil leaves fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

| Preparation – Pasta | Add flour to a stand mixer. Slowly add egg yolks and whole eggs one at a time. Add milk and then olive oil. The dough will form a firm ball. Once it has formed into a ball, knead on a low setting for 4 minutes. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and allow to rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Roll to desired thickness, cut and cook in boiling water just until the pasta floats.

| Preparation – Roasted Vegetables | Preheat oven to 450°F. Mash garlic into a paste with a mortar and pestle.

Place in a bowl with onions, mix well and set aside. The onion mixture will later be divided.

Toss cubed squash with about a third of the onion mixture, salt and pepper and enough olive oil to coat. Spread evenly on a sheet pan and place in oven. The squash will be done when a knife slides through a cube with no resistance. Take care to

chop all vegetables – most especially the squash – into uniform sizes to ensure that they cook evenly. Set squash aside.

Remove the knob where the tomato hangs from the vine and cut tomato in half. Mix with another third of onion mixture, salt and pepper, and enough olive oil to coat. Spread evenly on a sheet tray and roast skin-side up. The tomatoes are ready when the skin blisters and you are able to easily pinch the skin off. Remove the skin and discard. Set aside.

Combine diced zucchini and peeled eggplant in a bowl and mix with remaining onion mixture, salt and pepper, and enough olive oil to coat. Toss well and roast. These vegetables are done when a knife slides through easily.

| Assembly | To finish the dish, mix all roasted vegetables together and fold in chopped basil and flat-leaf parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss with cooked pasta and serve.

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Radishes Three Ways with Miso Paste We prepare radishes three different ways at Juniper: raw, pickled and roasted. You can choose which radishes to do what with, however, if you are able to find watermelon radishes (most likely at the farmers’ market), you would probably want to serve the watermelon radishes raw, due to their striking color; roasting and pickling will dampen the color. Please be advised that pickled radishes smell sulfuric. This is normal and not a sign that there is anything wrong with your pickling skills. The miso paste is basically the unifying ingredient for the entire dish; all the radishes rest on top of the miso.

Recipe by John PeRkins, JunipeR

Serves | 4 to 6 | Pickled Radishes

1 1 ¼ 1

1

cup rice vinegar cup water cup sugar Tbsp kosher salt bay leaf (optional) ginger (optional) mustard seed (optional) chile flake (optional) fresh horseradish (optional) bunch variety radishes (breakfast, icicle, watermelon, etc.)

Raw Radishes

1

bunch variety radishes (breakfast, icicle, watermelon, etc.) cold water

Miso Paste

1 1 ½ 2

salted water medium leek, sliced into ¼-inch rounds ice cube cup miso paste Tbsp mirin radish flowers (for garnish)

toasted walnuts

½

cup black walnuts

Roasted Radishes

1 4

bunch variety radishes (breakfast, icicle, watermelon, etc.)

Tbsp unsalted butter, melted salt

| Preparation – Pickled Radishes | Make a simple pickle solution with a 1-to-1 ratio of rice vinegar to water and 3-to-1 ratio of sugar to salt.

You can add whatever you would like after this to flavor the pickle, though in this case I might just let it be. If you want to add additional flavor, options could include bay leaf, ginger, mustard seed, chile flake and fresh horseradish.

Wash and scrub radishes and cut into quarters.

Place in a bowl. Bring pickle solution to a boil and pour over radishes. Set aside and allow to cool.

| Preparation – Roasted Radishes | Preheat oven to 400°F. Toss radishes with melted butter. Season with salt and roast in oven for 10 minutes. They should have some give but still retain their crunch.

Remove from oven and let rest. Set aside.

| Preparation – Raw Radishes | Using a mandoline, shave radishes and transfer to a bowl of cold water. Set aside. | Preparation – Miso Paste | In a small saucepot over high heat, bring salted water to a boil. When water reaches a boil, blanch leeks, about 1 minute. Quickly remove leeks from boiling water and purée in a food processor with an ice cube; this will help preserve color and cool down the mixture. Add in miso paste and mirin. Mixture should be a paste-like consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. | Preparation – Toasted Walnuts | Toast black walnuts in a dry sauté pan. Let them darken slightly and become fragrant. Remove from pan and transfer to a plate to cool. Set aside. | Assembly | Place a spoonful of miso paste on a plate and swipe across with the back of a spoon to create a shooting-star shape. Place alternating varieties of radishes and radish preparations around the plate, nestling them in the miso paste.

Sprinkle with toasted black walnuts and garnish with radish flowers.

watch Feast publisher cat neville demo John Perkins’ radishes three ways recipe in the July episode of Feast TV.

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Inspired Food Culture

JULY 2014

61

Summer White Kimchi Pancake with Dipping Sauce Kimchi captures veggies in peak season, and not only preserves their natural nutritional properties, but also enhances them with the addition of probiotics developed during fermentation. We ferment our kimchi for up to six months. This recipe calls to ferment kimchi for a minimum of one week, which will give you some of the flavor – but for the true probiotic benefits, at least one month is ideal.

Serves | 4 to 6 | Summer White Kimchi

2 2 2 1 2

2

cups salt cups sugar gallons water large head Napa cabbage, cleaned, cut into 1-inch pieces bunches breakfast radishes, thinly sliced, green tops rinsed and roughly chopped bunches gai lan,* roughly chopped

Kimchi PaSte

6 1 1 1 1

yellow onions, chopped cup ginger root, peeled, roughly chopped cup garlic cloves large daikon radish, peeled, roughly chopped cup fish sauce

½ ½ ½

Recipe by miKe miller, Kitchen KultuRe

cup dried shrimp cup white sugar cup fresh horseradish, roughly chopped

Kimchi PancaKe Sauce

2 2 ½ 1 1 1 1 ½

Tbsp soy sauce Tbsp rice vinegar tsp grated ginger tsp sesame oil tsp chile paste tsp sesame seeds, toasted Tbsp chopped green onion tsp white sugar

raW Vegetable Salad

1 1 1 2 to 3 1 1

small bunch radishes, shaved small head bok choy, sliced stalk gai lan, sliced on the bias tsp toasted sesame seeds Tbsp rice wine vinegar Tbsp sesame oil

Kimchi PancaKe

2 ½ ½

cups all-purpose flour cup rice flour tsp salt

2½ 2 2 ¼ ¼ 2

cups ice cold water eggs, beaten cups chopped kimchi (recipe below) cup kimchi liquid cup diced green onion Tbsp canola oil

*Gai lan is Chinese kale, also called Chinese broccoli, and is similar in appearance to broccoli raab. We add it to the kimchi for a little crunch and texture. American food culture discards the stems of most vegetables. This plant was hybridized many years ago in Japan for its tender stem.

| Preparation – Summer White Kimchi | In a saucepot, bring salt, sugar and water to a boil to make brine. Allow to cool. Cover vegetables with brine. Place a weight of some sort over vegetables to keep them submerged. Let vegetables rest at room temperature overnight.

Drain off brine in the morning.

| Preparation – Kimchi Paste | Combine all ingredients, in small batches, in a food processor.

Blend into a paste. Mix paste with summer white kimchi. Place mixture into a non-reactive

container and cover with plastic, taking care to press out any air pockets. Let ferment at room temperature for 1 week, or up to 3 months.

| Preparation – Pancake Sauce | In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and whisk continuously until well-combined.

| Preparation – Raw Vegetable Salad | In a large bowl, toss vegetables with sesame seeds, vinegar and oil.

| Preparation – Kimchi Pancake | In a large bowl, mix flours and salt. Add water, eggs, summer white kimchi mixture and green onion.

Mix to combine.

In a large nonstick pan over high heat, heat oil.

Ladle pancake mixture into pan until a thin layer evenly coats the bottom. Cook over high heat for 30 to 45 seconds, then reduce heat to low and cook on same side until about 70 percent cooked through. Flip and finish cooking other side for about 10 seconds. Repeat with remaining batter.

| Assembly | When pancakes are finished, garnish with raw vegetable salad and serve immediately with pancake sauce.

TV Watch the upcoming July episode on the Nine Network (Channel 9) at 2pm on Sat., July 5, and 1pm on Mon., July 7. Feast TV will also air on the nineCREATE channel periodically throughout the month.

In July, we celebrate the height of the growing season. We take you to Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co., where Jere Gettle talks rare seeds and his passion for keeping their stories alive; EarthDance Farms, where farming education and agricultural production are growing together; MOFU’s kitchen, where Dan Brewer demos his fresh-made tofu and talks about how it’s so much more than a meat substitute; and Firefly Grill in Effingham, Illinois, where chef Niall Campbell shares how ingredients go from garden to plate.

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Inspired Food Culture

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more vegetable recipes Butter-Glazed Cauliflower Steak with Green Onion Hollandaise and LemonRoasted Radishes Recipe by Gerard Craft, Niche see photo on p. 57

This dish really exemplifies what we stand for at Niche: We use humble, accessible ingredients from Missouri with modern cooking techniques to produce an incredibly luxurious and elevated dish.

Serves | 4 | Cauliflower SteakS

1 3

head cauliflower, leaves trimmed, stem intact Tbsp butter

Green onion HollandaiSe

4

½ 4 2

green onions, green tops removed and reserved salted water ice water lb butter egg yolks Tbsp lemon juice salt

lemon-roaSted radiSHeS

2 Tbsp vegetable oil 12 red radishes, quartered pinch salt 1 Tbsp lemon juice 2 mint sprigs

| Preparation – Cauliflower Steaks | preheat oven to 350°F. cut the head of cauliflower straight down through the middle of the stem so you have two halves.

Then cut each half down toward the stem, again, just outside the edge of the stem to create a “steak” of cauliflower, which is being held intact by the stem. With the steak lying flat on the board, cut again down the middle to divide in half. you will have 4 triangular cauliflower steaks. in a sauté pan over medium heat, heat 3 Tbsp butter and place steaks in pan. Allow to cook for 5 minutes, occasionally basting the tops of the steaks with butter. place in oven until steaks are fork-tender. Remove from pan and cool until ready to use. Do not turn off oven or reduce heat.

| Preparation – Green Onion Hollandaise | begin by blanching green onion tops in salted water. Once tender, transfer green tops to ice water to cool. Drain water and purée green tops in a blender until smooth. Reserve purée until hollandaise is finished. in a saucepan over low heat, heat butter until melted. Set aside. in a stainless-steel bowl, add egg yolks and continuously whisk over a double boiler until the yolks are pale yellow and thick. When the whisk is lifted, batter should fall slowly back onto the surface of the mixture, forming a ribbon-like pattern. This is the ribbon stage. Once at ribbon stage, begin adding melted butter, very slowly, to create an emulsion.

Once all butter is added, add green onion purée and season to taste with lemon juice and salt.

| Preparation – Lemon-Roasted Radishes | Ten minutes before you are ready to serve, place cauliflower steaks back into oven to re-heat. in a sauté pan over medium heat, add vegetable oil, radishes and a pinch of salt. Allow to cook until tender, with minimal browning. Once fully

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cooked, add lemon juice to pan and hold at a warm temperature. Reserve mint for assembly.

| Assembly | place warm cauliflower steaks onto plates. Add dots of hollandaise to each plate and on top of cauliflower steaks. place lemonroasted radishes onto each plate and garnish with mint sprigs. Serve immediately.

in a large bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, egg, ice cubes and champagne. mix until there are no more lumps of flour. Dip cauliflower florets into batter to coat. Drop battered florets into the hot oil and fry until batter becomes puffy and golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain cauliflower fritters on the prepared plate. Season with salt and pepper, and serve immediately with sauce gribiche.

Herbed Chèvre-Stuffed Squash Blossom Flatbread

Recipe by Colby GarreltS, blueSTem ReSTAuRANT iN KANSAS ciTy

Recipe by niall Campbell, FiReFly GRill iN eFFiNGhAm, illiNOiS

Serves | 6 | aïoli

1 1½ 3 1 1 3 ½ ¼

cup olive oil cups grapeseed oil egg yolks tsp salt Tbsp Dijon mustard cloves garlic tsp cayenne pepper cup water (optional)

SauCe GribiCHe

½ ½ 1 1½ 1 ½ ½ ½

cup aïoli (see below) tsp Dijon mustard tsp Champagne vinegar hard-boiled egg, chopped tsp chopped cornichons tsp chopped capers tsp chopped fresh chervil tsp chopped fresh tarragon tsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley salt freshly ground white pepper

Cauliflower fritterS

¾ ½ 1 ½ ½ 6

vegetable oil, for deep frying cup all-purpose flour cup cornstarch, plus ½ tsp large egg cup ice cubes cup Champagne, plus 2 Tbsp large cauliflower florets salt freshly ground white pepper

| Preparation – Aïoli | combine oils in a large measuring cup (you want to make sure you’ll be able to pour the oil out in a thin stream, without dripping or spilling). place egg yolks, salt, Dijon mustard, garlic and cayenne pepper in a blender. With the blender running, drizzle in oils in a thin stream until all oil is added. The contents should emulsify to a thick, mayonnaise-like consistency. if it is too thick, you can thin it out by drizzling up to ¼ cup of water into the blender with the machine running.

| Preparation – Sauce Gribiche | in a small bowl, combine aïoli, mustard, vinegar, egg, cornichons and capers. Stir in herbs, and season with salt and pepper to taste. cover sauce gribiche and let chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, or overnight if possible.

| Preparation – Fritters | heat 2 inches vegetable oil in a countertop fryer or deep skillet to 350°F. line a plate with paper towels.

travel to firefly Grill and meet chef niall Campbell in the July episode of Feast TV. We are fortunate to have a wood-stone pizza oven [at the restaurant,] however, this [recipe] can be achieved with a pizza stone at home. We grow great summer and winter squash in our garden at Firefly, and as a result, we get the most beautiful squash blossoms that make for a very nice treat.

Along with produce, one of the easiest things a garden can [yield] all year are herbs, and Firefly grows a lot of them. If harvesting chives from your garden, cut chives all the way back, leaving about two inches. (Don’t worry, they’ll be back in a week.)

We do not grow asparagus at Firefly, but our gardener Bob has a great patch we yield from in the beginning of the year. At Firefly, we love when vegetables first get started; when peas are at their youngest the leaves are so tender and delicious.

Serves | 8 | mornay SauCe (Yields 2 cups)

5 ¼ 6 1 1 5 1½ ½

¼ ¼ ¼

Tbsp butter cup diced onions peppercorns bay leaf clove Tbsp all-purpose flour cups milk cup cream pinch salt pinch white pepper pinch nutmeg on zester cup aged Provolone, shredded cup sharp Cheddar, shredded cup Grana Padano, shredded

flatbread douGH (Yields 3 8-oz balls of dough)

3½ 2 ½ 2 2 10

cups Caputo 00 pizza flour tsp salt, plus more for seasoning dough oz yeast tsp sugar Tbsp olive oil, plus more for brushing dough oz lukewarm water

wHite balSamiC VinaiGrette

3 ½

1 ¼

Tbsp white balsamic vinegar tsp Dijon mustard pinch lemon zest small pinch salt small pinch white pepper Tbsp canola oil oz pea sprouts

Herbed CHèVre-Stuffed SquaSH bloSSomS

1 7 7

pinch minced thyme pinch minced chives clove garlic, minced oz Prairie Fruits Farm chèvre pinch salt squash blossoms

cup all-purpose flour egg, beaten

CHiVe oil

½ ¼ ¼

cup chives cup olive oil cup grapeseed oil

roaSted aSparaGuS

2 ¼

Cauliflower Fritters with Sauce Gribiche

This is a simple but delicious way to use stray pieces of cauliflower. I like using different ingredients for fritters, and cauliflower fits the bill. Although this recipe calls for six cauliflower florets, the amount of batter in this recipe is enough for double the amount of cauliflower. If you don’t have Champagne, any sparkling wine will do. I suggest serving the fritters with spring peas and assorted snap beans.

¼ 1

Tbsp olive oil cup asparagus tips, sliced on the bias (from about 15 spears)

| Preparation – Mornay | in a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onion, peppercorns, bay leaf and clove, and cook until onions are translucent. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. Do not allow the roux to brown. Slowly whisk in the milk and cream, whisking constantly until the sauce thickens and reaches a boil, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and pass through fine-mesh strainer. Add back to pot, reduce heat to a simmer and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the cheeses and whisk until melted. if the sauce seems too thick, thin with a little milk. | Preparation – Flatbread Dough | Sift flour and salt onto a clean work surface and make a well in the middle. in a large measuring cup, mix yeast, sugar and olive oil into the water and let sit for a few minutes until it becomes foamy. pour yeast mixture into the well. using a fork, gradually incorporate the flour in from the sides and swirl it into the liquid. Keep mixing, drawing larger amounts of flour in, and when it all starts to combine, work in the rest of the flour with clean, flour-dusted hands. Knead until you have smooth, springy dough. cut dough into three 8-oz pieces. hand-form to create flatbread shape. lightly brush olive oil on dough and season with salt. | Preparation – White Balsamic Vinaigrette | mix first five ingredients in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in oil until incorporated. Reserve pea sprouts. | Preparation – Herbed Chèvre-Stuffed Squash Blossom | preheat oven to 500°F. Thoroughly incorporate minced herbs and garlic into chèvre. Season with salt. make seven 1-oz balls of herbed chèvre. Gently open the squash blossoms and place one ball into each blossom. Squeeze blossom together right above cheese. Dip tip of blossom into flour, then in egg and again in flour. This will create a seal for the cheese. place on a sheet tray and place in cooler.

| Preparation – Chive Oil | in a blender, purée chives. With the blender running, slowly stream in oils. Once thoroughly blended, pass through a fine-mesh strainer lined with a coffee filter to extrude the oil only. | Preparation – Roasted Asparagus | in a sauté pan over medium heat, heat olive oil. Add asparagus tips and sauté for light caramelization. place on a sheet tray and put in a cooler to stop cooking process.

| Assembly | ladle mornay sauce onto dough and evenly disperse. place in preheated oven and cook until lightly browned. Remove flatbread from oven and add roasted asparagus and squash blossoms. place back in oven and finish baking until dough and cheese have nicely caramelized. Remove flatbread from oven, and let rest so ingredients can meld. in a small bowl, lightly toss pea sprouts with vinaigrette. cut flatbread into 8 pieces. lightly drizzle chive oil over slices, top with pea sprout salad and serve.

F OREST P ARK

SEPTEMBER 12-14

The St. Louis World’s Fare Board of Directors, in collaboration with The City of St. Louis and the St. Louis Parks Department, are honored to present the 1st annual St. Louis World’s Fare Heritage Festival and Games taking place in historic Forest Park!

Featuring local chefs competing in 5 categories in a 2 round competition culminating in a culinary showdown live at the St. Louis World’s Fare!

CALL FOR CHEFS! Check www.stlworldsfare.com for rules and to enter.

THE ST. LOUIS WORLD’S FARE FEATURES: Artist Palace, Battle for the Fare!, Dance Competitions, Historic Department, Kid's Island, World Business Expo, World’s Fare Games, World’s Fare Cuisine and Culinary Pike brought to you by Feast Magazine, these participating restaurants, and many more at the Fare!

~ Check www.stlworldsfare.com for an updated list of participating restaurants. ~

Inspired Food Culture

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field trip Written by Shannon Cothran

PICTURED ABOVE, LEFT: Molly

Rockamann and the team at EarthDance Farms work with apprentices to teach the essentials of organic farming. PICTURED ABOVE, CENTER: Assistant farm manager Matt Lebon pours just-cut salad mix into a harvest crate.

|

photography by Demond Meek

how molly rockamann built missouri’s only nonprofit, organic farm school

PICTURED BELOW, CENTER:

Apprentice Xanthia DeBerry harvests rainbow chard.

PICTURED BELOW, RIGHT:

Apprentice Kate Dorsey bunches Rudolf radishes.

“far and away, the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”

- A quote from Theodore Roosevelt that is pinned to the EarthDance farm school’s information station to inspire students like many people, one of Molly rockamann’s greatest pleasures in life is food. however, unlike most folks, she is not just a consumer of this pleasure, but a creator who has spent all of her adult life tenaciously building one world-changing agricultural program after another. lucky for us, she was born and raised in st. louis and assembled her latest project right here at home: earthdance farms, Missouri’s only nonprofit, organic farm school, located in ferguson. rockamann was obsessed with a vegetable-focused, healthful diet before it was popular, so she is thrilled that more vegetables are now in the spotlight at local restaurants. “there are t-shirts and bumper stickers now that say ‘eat More kale.’ i think the fact that we can have a dark, leafy green vegetable that can make its way onto a bumper sticker shows how far we’ve come [with] showcasing the deliciousness of veggies,” she says. “i think the focus i’ve seen, which may have been the case for longer than i’ve been on the food scene in st. louis, is how certain varieties will be hot and trendy. like, something we’ve grown and i’ve seen

Inspired Food Culture

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on more menus are watermelon radishes. They’re really beautiful. It’s great. You know, we eat with our eyes first, so vegetables that look unique and beautiful can maybe help us eat more of them.”

Encouraging Missourians to eat more locally and sustainably grown vegetables is the purpose of Rockamann’s work at EarthDance. She founded the school – which is a fully functioning farm – in 2009 to, in her words, “support farmers making a living by being a source of education.”

While in college, Rockamann trotted the globe, earning credits through trips abroad to Ghana and Fiji, as well as a service-learning trip to Thailand after graduation. Extended stays in these countries, where the populations rely mainly on agriculture as their primary source of income, showed her the global food system’s strengths and weaknesses.

“It was completely worldview-changing,” she says of her first trip to a Ghanaian open-air market.

“All the images that are projected to [Westerners] about Third World Africa are images of poverty and hunger, and so to go there and see, yes, there are people who are hungry – but there are people who are thriving and living joyfully even if they don’t have a lot of cash. Also, seeing at the marketplace an abundance of food everywhere – the image of scarcity and hunger really has more

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PICTURED ABOVE, LEFT: Volunteer Jane Keating and apprentice Xanthia DeBerry sort greens. PICTURED ABOVE, CENTER: Three apprentices harvest greens.

PICTURED ABOVE, RIGHT: EarthDance is located near Lambert St. Louis International Airport, which means airplanes are often spotted overhead.

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A Healthy Mouth Is Key To A Healthy Body! to do with a sociopolitical issue than an actual environmental issue. I have seen in many parts of the world now that it’s not that the Earth cannot provide for us. The Earth can provide enough for every living being on this planet. But we squander a lot of the resources and distribute things unfairly. This leads to poverty and hunger.”

found came together in food,” she says. “I was also passionate about health and nutrition: I wanted to be an environmental educator [working] outside, teaching about good stewardship practices. I realized I could bring that into my work as well, and could teach others how to grow food that sustains us and the planet.”

After returning to Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, where she was earning her bachelor’s degree, Rockamann slowly discovered how to use her passion for food and social justice professionally. “I took a course called Hunger, Plenty and Justice. In that course, we watched a video of Frances Moore Lappé talking about the myths of world hunger, and it really corresponded with what I saw in Ghana myself. It’s not an issue of bushels per acre; it’s an issue of distribution and knowledge and power to grow the food themselves.

And our trading system – there’s artificiality in the grocery store.

We’re not paying the price of toxins in the Amazon, [where] rainforests are being cut down to grow soybeans to feed cattle, so we can have cheap beef at fastfood restaurants in the U.S. That triggered in me the realization that everything I was learning about and had become so passionate about was rooted in our farming system.

One place in which she worked to connect people to the land was Fiji, where she implemented a grand-scale project to help the sugarcane industry go organic, and thereby remain solvent against bigger players in the market after the Lomé Convention ended (preferential pricing for sugar from the EU). After planning and executing the first national conference on organic sugar production, she returned to St. Louis to raise funds for her Fiji project.

“I had an opportunity at Eckerd to take courses in women’s and gender studies, anthropology, international law, human development and conservation biology. All the elements of what I was interested in I

While at home, there was an experience she couldn’t get out of her mind. On a trip to Thailand to study agricultural practices of Thai farmers, she went to a community meeting where she only understood one word spoken by the locals, which was the name of a major agricultural corporation with headquarters near her hometown.

This was a defining moment for Rockamann, one that illustrated the global nature of our food economy and made her think that changing things here at home could be key to changing things around the world. “How could I go back to Fiji when there was work that needed to be done right here?” she asks. “So, I created EarthDance, so we’re not just talking negatively about the food industry all the time. I wanted to create a positive that shows we can grow food and not depend on chemicals to feed ourselves.”

EarthDance is an unassuming 14-acre farm tucked into a small suburban area in Ferguson. The farm has been organic since the 1850s and belonged to the Mueller family before Rockamann bought

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“we’re excited about expanding our educational offerings to existing farmers and training new farmers.”

it, and their sign still graces its driveway. The 1940s farmhouse that serves as the school’s office sits facing the street, close to the curb.

Fields fan out behind the farmhouse and are easy to miss from the road, even if you’re driving the slow, pedestrian-friendly speed limit. Ruby, the farm dog, greets visitors at the back door of the house, and inside, the school’s administrative staff members take a minute from their busy schedules to offer tea to visitors.

Across the fields, Rockamann, her staff and volunteers have planted rows and rows of vegetables. The perfect fields are plowed haphazardly to create swales to better use water on the hilly land. There is a fairy garden for children, and mailboxes dot the landscape.

Inside them are gardening tools for farmers and members of the farm’s community supported agriculture (CSA) program to snip fresh herbs.

A white, domed hoop house is balmy inside and brimming with tiny seedlings.

The farm school is constantly evolving, changing its course as new needs arise. “We’re excited about expanding our educational offerings to existing farmers and training new farmers,” Rockamann explains. Rockamann recently began teaching a course in conjunction with the Ferguson-Florissant School District called YEAH!, which stands for Youth Exploring Agriculture and Health. The program – which Rockamann loves, as it gets her out from behind her desk and into the fields teaching – aims to introduce teens to agricultural and health-related jobs.

EarthDance offers weekend workshops for busy full-time professionals. The most recent one featured world-renowned permaculture farmer Mark Shepard. They also offer one-day workshops, such as Wholesale Success, “where, after a threehour workshop on selling to wholesale customers, we had a meet-the-buyers reception for growers to meet with buyers, like chefs,” says Rockamann.

There are free public tours every Monday at 3:30pm, or by appointment; interested persons just need to call the farm to let Rockamann and her crew know they’re coming. The school hosts a different artist in residence each year, fulfilling its tagline, “celebrating the culture in agriculture.” There are fun events on the farm, like Taste & Tour, where people can come and sample appetizers made with farm produce. “We’ve done weed dating events, which is like speed dating but you’re weeding across the beds. We say it’s for ‘agri-curious singles,’” says Rockamann, laughing.

PICTURED ABOVE, RIGHT: The

farm displays the sign for Mueller’s Organic Farm, the oldest organic farm west of the Mississippi. PICTURED RIGHT: Molly Rockamann shows junior farm crew applicants ways to trellis tomatoes.

Plans for growth at the school include the introduction of animals.

“We’re getting chickens, and I’d love to have dairy goats because I think they’re the cutest animals ever. I would be a big fan of making goat yogurt or goat ice cream.” The team is also building a packing shed to wash, weigh and pack the harvest. “Everything at EarthDance is dual-purpose,” says Rockamann, “so it’ll also become a place for classes.

Future plans include building an education center to have an indoor classroom space and an event space for weddings, film screenings or barn dances. We want to have the facilities to allow for more community engagement with the farm.”

EarthDancE Farms’ GraDuatEs spEak up

The pièce de résistance of the farm school is its apprenticeship program. This five-month program is part-time to allow future farmers the flexibility they need to commit to learning while still earning a living.

Reggae Singleton, class of 2013 “since my education at EarthDance, my family and I are participating in a community garden in north city. We are committed to organic production and have a much stronger commitment to soil preservation than we’ve ever had before. I’m offering organic foods to my family and members of my community. It’s a community effort that [says], ‘If you want to eat, come out here and do a little bit of the work.’ my idea is to change peoples’ minds about what kinds of foods we eat and where we’re going to get our foods from.”

Laura Caldie is the apprenticeship coordinator, and she is overseeing a curriculum change. For the past five years, the apprenticeship program was called the Organic Farming Apprenticeship; this year, its new name is the Farm and Garden Apprenticeship. While the school still teaches organic growing practices, the program is now inclusive of people who are interested in backyard gardening or homesteading, as well as larger-scale farmers. Students “will still get a lot of production farm experience, but shifts now include working in a garden-scale environment as well,” explains Caldie. “Near the farmhouse, we’re making a permaculture garden. Apprentices have different skills they can learn there. They’ll be able to compare and contrast [farming and gardening] experiences and see what is the right fit for them.”

Paul Keeven, class of 2011 “You learn not only the science of growing in their classes, but hands-on experience in everything from growing to harvesting to selling it, and everything in between. that wide range of experiences put me on a fast track to starting my new career, and over the next few years, I quickly landed jobs working on other farms, [started] a farm-to-table program at a local school, [launched] a new farmers’ market in creve coeur and [started] an organic farm myself.”

Apprentices, or “freshmen farmies” as they call themselves, attend class one night a week and then log hours working farm shifts. Their work varies until they’ve checked off every skill on their student skill checklist, which includes tool usage, transplanting or preparing beds to put seed into, turning compost, trellising plants that need to be propped up in order to produce well, harvesting the produce and other skills. Students also work at the farm’s booth at the Ferguson Farmers’ Market.

“All the things you would need to do if you were to create your own farm operation,” says Caldie.

Pam KlumP, class of 2010 “my time at EarthDance was dynamically transformative. I made new friends – met lots of people; we were so diverse. there were people from all walks of life: young, retired, educated, not-so-educated. It was late June before I knew what these other 40 people did when they left the farm, which was unlike any other experience I’d ever had.

When you walk into a party, the first thing somebody asks you is, ‘What do you do?’

We never asked each other that. We were in a semi-social situation where you usually want to know where you fit; ‘What can I glean about you in five minutes?’…we never did that. We just wanted to grow food.”

After graduating, many students go on to work in the agriculture industry, others start community gardens or homesteads, and all of them leave capable of running a farm. “Some people choose to do the apprenticeship again as a sophomore,” Caldie says, “and other people take the skills that they [learned] and do a wide variety of projects – whatever they had been interested in but didn’t have the skills, resources or confidence to accomplish before.”

The apprentices are also given a share of the CSA program. “Since the apprentices are a huge amount of the crew labor on our farm, we also give them a CSA share,” Caldie says. So students get to take home and enjoy the tangible fruits of their labor, while learning the skills they need to grow their own harvests in the future.

The apprenticeship program, events and workshops all exist to meet the needs of greater St. Louis community members who want to reconnect with their food. “We’re not just trying to train new growers,” Rockamann says.

“We [want] to help create educated food citizens. I think that affects the regional food system, because in order for farmers to grow an abundance of nutritious food while stewarding the land, consumers need to be more educated to make better choices that support people and the planet.”

Want to support EarthDance’s farm school? Join its csa. call 314.521.1006, or visit earthdancefarms.org and click on “programs” for more information.

Dig into the soil and find out what it’s like attending farm school at earthDance in the July episode of Feast TV.

pIcturED aBOVE, tOp anD cEntEr: Fresh rainbow chard

and kohlrabi harvested at the farm. pIcturED aBOVE, BOttOm rIGht: Apprentice Lucinda Sohn and EarthDance

alumni Stephanie Morgan look on as assistant farm manager Matt Lebon tallies one crop’s harvest.

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73

the last bite

sfogliatella

PhoTogRAPhy By Jonathan Gayman

CoNTRIBuToR: Tory Bahn, WriTer Standing outside the entrance to the subterranean tunnels that spider-web beneath the cobblestone streets of Naples, Italy, the soft light of a pastry shop caught my eye, beckoning me away from the darkness ahead. A glass case in front advertised sfogliate calde. The warm, crisp, buttery dough yielding to mildly sweet, custard-like filling was love at first bite. But, would I have it again? Maybe, I thought optimistically, some day on another trip to southern Italy.

Then Piccione Pastry opened in The Loop. A donut fiend at heart, I visited the shop on a mission for bomboloni (Italian donuts), but scoured the display case upon arrival, thinking: What if? With the same anticipation I take to every estate sale – maybe this time I’ll discover an overlooked copy of Ruth Reichl’s first published cookbook – I searched, and lo and behold, there they were; sitting amidst the other sweets, their delicate, brittle layers of pastry fanned out like a baroque shell.

Sfogliatella riccia, meaning stacks of leaves or layers, is an Italian pastry hailing from monasteries in the region of Campania that ultimately became the face of Napoli dolci, or Naples’ sweets. At Piccione, paper-thin dough is expertly stretched, brushed with butter and rolled into a log with layer upon endless layer of pastry. Pieces are cut and formed into pockets the shape of a shell. They are then filled with a rich, but light, mixture of sweetened ricotta, semolina and the pleasantly subtle tang of candied orange peel, baked to golden perfection and lightly dusted with powdered sugar.

Its tedious and labor-intensive method of production has turned this delectable sweet into something of a lost art, so sfogliatella should be enjoyed with a certain amount of respect for the love and labor that go into making it.

Piccione Pastry, 6197 Delmar Blvd., The Loop, 314.932.1355, piccionepastry.com Check out more of Tory’s work on p. 57, where she shares a collection of chef-developed, vegetable-focused recipes.

Throughout July, area restaurants are donating a portion of a tomato-themed dish to Operation Food Search, a local leader in hunger relief. These partnerships support the OFS mission: Nourish and educate our neighbors in need to heal the hurt of hunger. Enjoy special tomato dishes of 70+ participating restaurants. For listing, visit www.operationfoodsearch.org.

Every month, Operation Food Search provides over 2.75 million pounds of food to 270 community partners to feed 150,000 individuals, one third of whom are children.

CWE & Laclede’s Landing Ellisville, Kirkwood, U-City, Webster Groves, Edwardsville, IL

Clayton & Kirkwood

Downtown & Webster Groves

Maplewood & South City

Creve Coeur & Midtown

/OPFoodSearch ENTER TO WIN a $100 gift card to your favorite participating restaurant in our “Tomato Selfie” photo contest!

1. Take a “Tomato Selfie” photo of you enjoying your Tomato Explosion dish!

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3. Use the hashtag #TomatoExplosion in your post to be entered into a drawing!

@OPFoodSearch /OperationFoodSearch #TomatoExplosion Inspired Food Culture

JULY 2014

75

we produce!

As your neighborhood grocery store, Schnucks has been supporting our neighbors and the community by providing the freshest local fruits and vegetables for 75 years.

Our buyers are proud to partner with local growers like Thies Farm & Greenhouses and Eckert’s Farms for the best locally grown produce – picked fresh and shipped to us for that just-picked flavor. During peak season, we get deliveries from local farmers every day!

©2014 Schnucks

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