December 2013 Feast Magazine

neighborhood bakeries

pop-up to permanent

baked & fried

ON THE RISE

JOHN PERKINS’ JUNIPER

DIY DONUTS

Inspired Food Culture | Saint Louis

feastSTL.com | DECEMBER 2013 | FREE

THE SwEETS ISSuE

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DECEMBER 2013

ROTHMAN MATTRESS

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Inspired Food Culture

DECEMBER 2013

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Popcorn,Fine Chocolates, & Gift Boutique The Hive Gourmet Bulk orders and gift baskets

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Downtown Alton’s Kitchen Gourmet Store

Gift Certificates • Gift Baskets • Custom Labeling

available for your • Christmas Parties arties • Office Parties arties • Schools • Corporate Gifts

Buttered,Sweet, Savory or Candied Endless selections to choose from!

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DECEMBER 2013

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Inspired Food Culture | Saint Louis

11-DAY DASH

DECEMBER 2013 from the staff

|8|

from the PUBLIsher

how chef john perkins went from pop-ups to permanent restaurant

sugar rush.

| 10 |

feaststL.com

What’s online this month.

| 12 |

feast faVes

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

| 22 |

oNe oN oNe

Talking shop with nathaniel Reid, executive pastry chef of The Ritz-Carlton, st. louis.

| 24 |

the mIx

sugar and spiked: sip on boozy eggnog this holiday season.

| 26 |

oN the sheLf

new and notable in beer, spirits and wine.

| 28 |

mystery shoPPer

DIY

donut shop

52

Buy it and try it: marrons glacés.

| 30 |

how to

Mixing cocktails with Blood & sand’s TJ Vytlacil.

| 32 |

tech schooL

Explore the sweet science behind making peppermint rock candy.

| 34 |

gadget a-go-go

We put five donut pans and gadgets to the test.

| 36 |

64

meNU oPtIoNs

Eat Italy by the bowlful with seafood-studded cioppino.

| 86 |

sugar rush how to make hard candies at home

the Last BIte

digital managing editor Kristin Brashares satisfies her sweet tooth with holiday treats from Colleen’s Cookie Caife in Clayton.

COVER PHOTOGRAPHY Of HARd CAndY (P. 64)

BY Jonathan Gayman TABlE Of COnTEnTs PHOTOGRAPHY BY

Demond Meek

71

on the Rise 6

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DECEMBER 2013

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McDonald’s. near Burlington Coat Factory

Financing Available

Mon 10-8 • Tue-Thur 11-7 • Fri 10-8 • Sat 10-6 • Sun 12-6 Inspired Food Culture

dECEMBER 2013

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PubLiShEr’S LETTEr

TOP IMAGE: PHOTOGRAPHY BY

Jennifer Silverberg

Look for this icon. It tells you which articles are part of Feast TV! Watch Feast TV on the

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

FEAST EVENTS Schnucks Cooks Cioppino Wed., Dec. 18, 6pm; Schnucks Cooks Cooking School $40, schnuckscooks.com or 314.909.1704

Get hands-on and make a meal based around cioppino. The menu features an endive, goat cheese and walnut salad with prosciutto and balsamic vinaigrette; grilled artisan bread; truffled mushroom pasta; and lemon-rosemary mini cheesecake.

St. Louis Food & Wine Experience Jan. 24 to 26; The Chase Park Plaza Pricing varies, repstl.org/foodandwine

Hundreds of premier wines, notable exhibitors and culinary demonstrations from acclaimed local and national celebrity chefs make for a not-to-be-missed, weekend-long epicurean adventure to benefit The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis.

Coeur de Paris Photo Exhibit Fri., Feb. 7, 5:30 to 7:30pm; Vin de Set $20, vindeset.com

Meet notable French photographer Bernard Puissesseau and view photos from his latest exhibition. His prints and posters will be available for purchase. Hors d’oeuvres and Champagne are included in the ticket price and a cash bar will be available.

Dessert First Thu., Feb. 27, The Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis $150, girlscoutsem.org Photographer Jennifer Silverberg, writer Tory Bahn, art director Lisa Allen and managing editor Liz Miller joined me in the kitchen to make donuts.

It seems that the entire month of December

flies by in a blur of gifting, eating, drinking and making merry, but this year I’m going to carve out time to make candies, bake cookies and immerse myself in the kitchen, which is where I’m happiest and at my most relaxed.

I’m determined to try my hand at making hard candies, thanks to Shannon Cothran’s feature, Sugar Rush (p.

64), and now that I’ve seen the range of candy molds at Toots’ Cake & Candy Supplies in Belleville, I’m already dreaming up flavors for gorgeous chocolate confections. The rich, Vietnamese cinnamon-scented marrons glacés chocolate cups developed by Mystery Shopper columnist Shannon Weber (p. 28) are definitely making an appearance in someone’s stocking. And, thanks to Tory Bahn’s DIY Donut Shop (p. 52), on Christmas morning, you’ll find me popping open a bottle of bubbles and dredging just-fried donuts in vanilla glaze. (For a step-bystep how-to on baking and frying donuts at home, watch this month’s Feast TV on the Nine Network.)

Sugary treats are a hallmark of the season, when indulgence is encouraged and decadence de rigueur. We’ve dedicated this, our December issue, to the sweet life. As we wrap up 2013 and ring in the New Year, all of us at Feast wish you and yours a delicious holiday.

Until next time,

Benefitting Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri, chefs take the famous Girl Scout Cookies and transform them into tempting desserts.

Guests and a panel of celebrity judges vote for their favorite and enjoy a formal dinner during which awards are bestowed on the Judge’s Choice and the People’s Choice.

Feast Your Eyes Tue., March 25; Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis camstl.org

In partnership with the talented team at The Libertine, CAM and Feast present an intimate multi-course meal inspired by the exhibitions and followed by a tour of the shows.

Cat’s Picks Wednesdays, 8:35am The BIG 550 KTRS, ktrs.com

Tune in as Feast publisher Catherine Neville chats with host McGraw Milhaven and gives her weekly picks for the best places to eat and drink in the St. Louis area.

FEEDbACk?

catherine@feastSTL.com

Catherine Neville

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DECEMBER 2013

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Inspired Food Culture

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OnLInE COnTEnT

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Inspired Food Culture | Saint Louis

The Feed

Dine Out

Dine In

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Multimedia

The Magazine

Promotions

SPECIaLgIvEAwAys

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Details for both giveaways at feastSTL.com/promotions.

HolidAy giFTS: Our annual 12 Days of Christmas Gift Guide is chock-full of great ideas for the food lovers in your life. If you happen to fall in love with the gifts as well, we have good news: you can enter to win them! We’ll be giving away one item per day for 12 days starting on Sun., Dec. 1.

12:00 / 28:29

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MuLTIMEDIA

FEAST TV: Go behind the scenes at Strange Donuts and Pastaria (pictured), pick up cookie-decorating tips from Colleen’s Cookie Caife and see the transformation of chef John Perkins’ pop-up to permanent space.

donuT gAdgETS: Feast TV producer Cat Neville shows you just how simple baking and frying donuts at home can be in this month’s episode. Enter to win some of her go-to gadgets, a USA Pan donut pan and a spider skimmer, courtesy of Chef’s Shoppe!

hungry FOR MORE? PHOTOGRAPHy by J. Pollack Photography

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DInEIn

BrEAd, EggS And Milk: Have a tendency to overstock on winter-weather staples? Executive chef Paul Frintrup of The Country Club of St. Albans delivers recipes for making delicious use of leftover ingredients.

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DECEMBER 2013

Share pics. @feastmag on Instagram

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Inspired Food Culture

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FEAST FAVES

| where we’re dininG

392 N. Euclid Ave., Central West End 314.696.8400, cucinapazzostl.com

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DECEMBER 2013

PHOTOGRAPHy by

Cucina Pazzo is rooted in Italian tradition, but the kitchen succeeds in bringing modern flavor that balances richness, acidity, earthiness and spice. A bright open kitchen acts as the center of the restaurant’s bustling energy and executive chef Justin Haifley, who is well known for his work at The Tavern Kitchen & bar in Valley Park, is turning out well-executed dishes such as classic linguine alla carbonara where housemade pasta is bathed in a rich, pancetta-studded cream sauce and topped with a sunny-side-up egg. Playful plates also make an appearance, like mortadella corn dogs you can dunk in beer-cheese sauce made with Moretti, an Italian lager. Salsiccia is made with chicken and pancetta and served with a sweet-tart blackberry agrodolce and earthy brussels sprouts. Main courses take a modernyet-classic approach as well. Veal piccata is accompanied by artichoke barigoule and the pork porterhouse is served with pear mostarda and a Meaux mustard sauce. – C.N.

Jonathan Gayman

cucina pazzo

FEAST FAVES

| where we’re drInkIn G

cocktails @ cleveland-heath

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314-645-2050 Mon-Sat 9AM-7PM SEE WEBSITE FOR DETAILS! www.ParkersTable.com

wRiTTen by Jennifer Johnson

At Cleveland-Heath in edwardsville, there’s no culinary ego – though, if there were, it would be quite justified considering the talent of its chefs and owners, Jenny Cleveland and ed Heath. instead, guests find a modest sort of alter ego, expressed through innovative yet

7118 Oakland Avenue St. Louis, Missouri 63117

approachable food and drink that speaks to staff collaboration and seemingly inherent encouragement to create and refine. balance governs the cocktail menu, offering classic drinks, revitalized with fresh or unusual ingredients, as well as progressive ones that would satisfy the trendiest urbanite. Try the yard Sale, a cousin to the Manhattan, with smoky mineral notes and a fuller-bodied palate, made with small batch Colorado bourbon in lieu of rye. The drink’s surprisingly limited sweetness and robust nature make it a nice match with food. The latter is complemented by subtle aromatics of nuts and ripe fruits with the addition of Disaronno, peach bitters and dry curaçao. For those who approach gin with trepidation, the

by George cocktail, served on the rocks with Lillet and rhubarb bitters, will change your mind. it is made with St. George botanivore Gin, offering a panoply of herbal notes, yet with lighter aromatics than mainstream gins that weigh the palate with telltale “old-man breath” juniper or floral-cucumber traits. A surprisingly lively treat is Cleveland-Heath’s house carbonated cocktails. On one visit, we tried one made with white wine and Kaffir lime leaf-infused Pisco

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Portón, a grape brandy from Peru. its freshness and green citrus notes made it thirstquenching and palate-cleansing, a perfectly light apéritif that easily lead into lighter fare. The staff offers an eager ear to find out what you like to drink and thoughtfully suggests cocktails within your area of interest. now that is refreshingly balanced.

106 n. Main St., edwardsville, ill., 618.307.4830 clevelandheath.com

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PHOTOGRAPHy by

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Ornaments are not just for trees

St. Louis-based wine enthusiast Jennifer Johnson is a sommelier, wine educator, journalist and hospitality and marketing consultant who loves to celebrate life, family, food and wine.

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Inspired Food Culture

dECEMBER 2013

13

FEAST FAVES

| where we’re dining

baida The cuisine of Morocco has been influenced by a richly spiced stew of cultures and its Arab, berber and Moorish flavors are all on offer at newly opened Baida on South Grand, the first Moroccan restaurant in St. Louis. Start your meal with bastilla, a sweet-savory pie where spiced chicken and egg are layered with flaky pastry, herbs, onions, almonds, honey and cinnamon, all given a dusting of powdered sugar. Another pastry, M’lwee, comes stuffed with spiced ground beef, pan fried and served with a seriously spicy harissa sauce. If you want to sample a number of textures and flavors, order The Seven Salads, a rotating selection of vegetable-based dishes.

Tajines, which are named after the conical dishes in which they are cooked, make up a large portion of the menu. The saffron-scented chicken tajine is a favorite and offers tender chicken that’s gently cooked with onions, potato, preserved lemon, olives, ginger and cardamom and the kefta meatball tajine, topped with shakshuka sauce and three eggs is a warming winter feast. – C.N.

PHOTOGRAPHy by

Jennifer Silverberg

3191 S. Grand blvd., South Grand 314.932.7950, baidarestaurant.com

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DECEMBER 2013

FEAST FAVES

| FOOD STu FF

drinking chocolate This month’s issue is one big sugar rush, with a feature on how to make donuts at home (p.

52) and another focused on how to make hard candies for the holidays (p. 64). And while pastries, cookies, cakes and confections are extra special eats, we’re just as interested in treating ourselves to indulgent drinks. These three decadent gourmet drinking chocolates not only offer dessert in a mug, they also make excellent holiday gifts. – L.M.

DECADENT AND AROMATIC

SMOOTH AND SPICY

LIGHT AND SWEET | 1 | Winter Spice drinking chocolate made with chocolate and spices, 12-oz container/$15.95; VanBuskirk Artisanal Chocolate Bar, 5326 Highway N, Cottleville, 636.352.1139, vbchocolatebar.com | 2 | Mexican hot chocolate made with two varieties of chile peppers, cinnamon, cocoa powder, sugar and semi-sweet chocolate, 6-oz container/$6; Kakao Chocolate, multiple locations, kakaochocolate.com | 3 | Ghirardelli Premium Sweet Ground Chocolate and Cocoa, 16-oz container/$6.49; Straub’s, multiple locations, straubs.com PHOTOGRAPHy By Jonathan Gayman Inspired Food Culture

dECEMBER 2013

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FEAST FAVES

| Shop-o-mATic

strange donuts Strange Donuts celebrated its grand opening in Maplewood just this past October, but people have been talking about the shop for almost a year. The city-wide interest and anticipation for Strange Donuts says a lot about the marketing and social media savvy of owners Corey Smale, Tyler Fenwick and Jason Bockman. The team kept the business relevant by hosting and participating in a slew of events, offering curious consumers free coffee and donuts. That work paid off when doors opened this fall, with lines of hungry customers snaking out the door and down the street. Smale says the goal is simple: sell quality products that satisfy their customers while also supporting their community.

“I want Strange Donuts to be an anchor, a reason people come to Maplewood,” Smale says. “I’d like to be synonymous with the city. I think we can do that. That’s been part of the goal.”

Strange Donuts offers a dozen different donuts each day, with a menu divided into two categories: Classics and Creations. Past Classics flavors have included chocolate Long John, raspberry jelly and custard. Creations flavors, however, are where the Strange baking team are able to flex their imaginations with donuts such as Bart’s Revenge, chocolate donuts topped with Butterfinger candy, and Campfire, s’mores donuts topped with toasted marshmallows. Smale says he hopes to grow the business to be as beloved and consistent in service and quality as any of St. Louis’ most popular food spots.

“Right now, we’re just kind of riding this wave and seeing where it goes,” Smale says. “I think about places like Pappy’s, Crown Candy, Ted Drewes.

These are places that are always busy. I don’t know what it takes to get to that level. I think, hopefully, we’re on the right path.” – L.M. 2709 Sutton Blvd., Maplewood 314.932.5851, strangedonuts.com

Three WiLd eATS AT STrAnge donuTS

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DECEMBER 2013

|2|

|3|

L.A.

flavors such as gooey butter, Oreo cookie crumble and Fat Elvis, filled with banana crème and topped with peanut butter and chocolate chips. | 2 | Every Thursday, Friday and Saturday the shop offers Stranger donuts, each a collaboration with different local businesses. Past Stranger donuts include “briscuits” and gravy made with brisket from SugarFire Smoke House, guanciale bacon made with a compote from Salume Beddu and a brown butter donut with mint glaze topped with crushed pistachios and Grana Padano made with Pastaria. | 3 | Strange Donuts also offers a range of Classics donuts, with six or more rotating selections of traditional donut flavors including cinnamon sugar, caramel apple fritter and vanilla custard.

|1|

PHOTOGRAPHy By

| 1 | The shop’s Creations donuts offer

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DECEMBER 2013

17

FEAST FAVES

| whAT we ’re buying

candy-making 101

|6|

|1|

|5| |3| |2|

|4| The month of December brings obligatory holiday cookiebaking and dessert-making days with friends and family. This year, we’re adding hard candy, chocolates and caramel candies to the list of confections we’re cooking up, with a feature story sharing how to make beautiful hard candies at home (p.

64). Inspired by these recipes, we went in search of the very best supplies and gadgets essential to the process and found everything we needed and more at local specialty shops. – L.M.

|7| |8|

|9| | 11 |

| 12 |

| 10 | | 13 |

| 14 |

| 15 | | 16 |

| 1 | Wilton lollipop mold with three

snowflake designs, $1.99, Toots’ Cake & Candy Supplies, 1915 N. Belt E, Belleville, Ill., 618.277.73373, tootscakecandysupply.com | 2 | CK Products six-inch white paper sucker sticks, package of 50; $3.19, Toots’ Cake & Candy Supplies | 3 | Professional-grade candy molds, call for pricing, Sallie’s Cake and Candy Supplies, 14340 Manchester Road, Manchester, 636.394.3030, salliesonline. com | 4 | Cellophane bags, multiple sizes available, prices vary; silver twist ties, $1.89/ package, Toots’ Cake & Candy Supplies | 5 | Le Jour candy paint brush set of five

18

125, $3.75, Karen Ann’s Supplies | 9 | LorAnn Oils in crème de menthe and raspberry flavors; $1.99/each, Toots’ Cake & Candy crystals, $2.25; Sprinkles and decorative Supplies | 10 | Wire utensils (fork, basket and toppings, prices vary; White edible pearls, swirl), call for pricing, Sallie’s Cake and Candy $2.25; Mixed white and pink sugars, Supplies | 11 | Favor boxes, prices vary by $1.50; CK Products white sugar crystals, size, Karen Ann’s Supplies | 12 | Large milk Sprinkles and decorative toppings, prices and dark chocolate blocks available in regular vary; $2.75; Silver dragée, $2.25; White and and sugar-free, call for pricing, Sallie’s Cake blue edible snowflakes, $2.25; Karen Ann’s and Candy Supplies | 13 | Chocolate paddle Supplies, 11553 Gravois Road, Sappington, thermometer, call for pricing, Sallie’s Cake 314.842.0886, karenannsupplies.com | 7 | and Candy Supplies | 14 | Copper 2-qt.

CK Products 2-oz “SqueezeIt” Mold Painters saucepan with lid, $325, Williams-Sonoma, (two-pack); $5.99, Toots’ Cake & Candy Supplies | 8 | 4-inch foil wrappers, package of multiple locations, williams-sonoma.com brushes; $4.99, Toots’ Cake & Candy Supplies

| 6 | CK Products silver pearlized sugar

| 15 | Stainless-steel 2-qt. saucepan with lid, $190, Williams-Sonoma | 16 | CK Products Merckens Confectionery Coating in light blue, 16-oz bag; $5.49, Toots’ Cake & Candy Supplies VARIOUS ARTISAN CHOCOLATES FROM: VanBuskirk Artisanal Chocolate Bar, 5326 Highway N, Cottleville, 636.352.1139, vbchocolatebar.com NOTE: Many of the above products are available at all of the shops listed here. We recommend calling ahead to confirm pricing and availability.

PHOTOGRAPHy By Jonathan Gayman

feastSTL.com

DeC eM ber 2013

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Inspired Food Culture

DECEMBER 2013

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Warm Crab salad pacific red crab,parmesan,tobiko,chervil,Ritz Crackers Pozole braised pork,hominy,cabbage,spicy aioli in house made pork broth KiNg oro salmoN wheatberry risotto,beets,goat cheese beigNets warm brioche beignets,chocolate sauce, Kahlua whipped cream. diNiNg hours: m-th 11am-10pm | Friday 11am-11pm | saturday 10am-11pm | Closed sunday Offering Saturday Brunch

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DECEMBER 2013

21

one on one

NathaNiEl REiD

ExECutivE PastRy ChEf, thE Ritz-CaRltoN, st. louis WRITTeN BY Valeria Turturro Klamm | PhOTOgRAPhY BY Jonathan Gayman

“As a child I made more of a mess in the kitchen than anything. I remember making homemade bread and I didn’t know you needed yeast,” says Nathaniel Reid, executive pastry chef at The Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis. The Farmington, Mo., native has come a long way from childhood kitchen experiments, studying hotel and restaurant management at the University of Missouri and ultimately finding his way to Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. After working in Florida, Nevada and California, and hitting some personal and professional milestones – Reid made a chocolate showpiece for his childhood idol Magic Johnson’s 51st birthday and was named one of the top 10 pastry chefs in the U.S. by Dessert Professional magazine in 2012 – he returned to Missouri to join The Ritz-Carlton in April. In October, three of his signature desserts were published in a cookbook titled The New Pâtissiers, alongside creations by 37 other pastry chefs from around the world.

How do you balance the art and science of pastry making? There’s precision with the technology and science that you use, so coming from a biology background, it was a perfect marriage.

It’s artistry and freedom of creativity, but based on science and facts. It’s two different sides of your brain you’re thinking with; you have to respect certain technologies, ratios and proportions, but on the flip side, you have freedom of creativity.

Do you have a house specialty at The Ritz-Carlton? We have some classics, some twists on classics and some originals.

Something that has blown up a bit is the baked Alaska. I wanted to make things that were approachable, and then make a twist on it. I make a thin almond cake on the bottom, then strawberry sorbet and a white-chocolate yuzu (Japanese citrus fruit) ice cream with a thin, barely sweet layer of meringue on top that gets caramelized.

It’s a modern interpretation of a classic dessert. What inspires your work?

I think if you’re aware in your daily life and you’re tasting things, smelling things, seeing things, feeling things – everything’s inspiring. I was in New Orleans with my wife once…[someone was] making pralines and there was this smell of brown sugar, butter and a little bit of spice in the air, like you could just float to it. When I smelled that, I wanted to find a way to recreate that flavor profile and scent in an individual cake [which inspired my amber cake]. Are you in charge of making desserts for family functions? You get pleasure out of making things for people. You make people

The Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis 100 Carondelet Plaza, Clayton 314.863.6300 ritzcarlton.com

happy. It’s crazy; my family hasn’t even tried a lot of the things I make, so I feel like I owe it to them. They supported me so much.

22

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DECEMBER 2013

Visit feastSTL.com to read the full interview with Nathaniel Reid.

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DECEMBER 2013

23

the mix

SugaR & SpiCE

SToRY And RECIPE BY matt seiter PHoToGRAPHY BY Jonathan Gayman

‘Tis the season to host and attend holiday parties, which means it’s also time to brush up on holiday cocktail recipes. In years past I’ve written about how to make a killer Hot Toddy and holiday punch. This year, I’m sharing a tradition that dates way back to before Colonial times and is a true holiday punch – eggnog.

The origins of eggnog make the drink all the more interesting – eggs and dairy products have been commonly mixed with wine and ale for more than 400 years. The earliest references are from England in the 1600s, when the aristocracy controlled the majority of the farms and had easy access to foods we often take for granted today – including eggs and milk. Adding these products to alcoholic drinks signaled wealth and prosperity.

This recipe can be prepared days prior to serving – in fact, it actually benefits from resting for a few days. By letting your eggnog rest, the oils in the spices emerge and enhance flavors, making this no ordinary ‘nog. By no means does this recipe have to be followed to the letter, but rather, it serves as a base to play with to your desired taste. Spice it up by using different varieties of rum to subtly change the flavor, or omit the booze altogether for a non-alcoholic treat even the kids can enjoy.

If you prefer less sugary eggnog, simply use less sweetener than this recipe calls for.

sugar & spice eggnog Serves | 10 | ¾ 1 2½ ½ 3 ½ 1 1 1 5 1

cup sugar, plus 1½ Tbsp cup milk cups heavy cream vanilla bean, scraped cloves tsp grated nutmeg cinnamon stick, crushed allspice berry, crushed Tbsp maple syrup eggs cup dark rum

| Preparation | In a saucepan, add ½ cup

Holiday Rum Recommendations • Angostura 7 Year, Flor de Caña 7 Year or Ron Zacapa 23 will add darker notes of rum to eggnog. The fall spice notes in all of these rums will heighten the flavors of spices in eggnog as well.

• Plantation 5 Year from Barbados or Malibu Rum will add distinctive tropical notes. Plantation 5 Year has nice banana and mango notes that pair well with fall spices, while the coconut flavor of Malibu Rum adds an additional – if not an unexpected – touch of sweetness.

• For an even sweeter eggnog, try Gosling’s Black Seal Rum or another brand of blackstrap rum. These rums create a richer mouthfeel, so it might be wise to use less heavy cream and more milk when using this type of rum in eggnog. An equal ratio of dairy will do the trick (1¾ cups of each).

• The characteristic “funkiness” of Jamaican rums such as Smith & Cross or Appleton Estate will shine through and pair surprisingly well with the fall spices included in eggnog.

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.

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sugar to milk, cream, vanilla bean, spices and syrup. Turn heat to medium-high and bring to just a boil. Turn to low and let simmer for 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat. While the cream mixture is on the stove, separate egg yolks from whites in separate bowls. Whisk egg yolks with ¼ cup sugar until sugar is dissolved. once cream mixture has cooled for 5 minutes, ladle 1 oz at a time into the egg yolk and sugar mixture, stirring constantly, until 6 oz of cream mixture is incorporated. Pour cream mixture into the saucepan. Return to stove top and simmer, making sure not to bring it to a boil.

Remove saucepan from heat and strain solids.

Stir in dark rum and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. In a medium-large bowl, whisk egg whites until soft peaks form. Slowly add 1½ Tbsp of sugar and continue whisking until stiff peaks form. Combine egg white mixture with chilled cream mixture. Chill overnight or for up to 4 days. Stir eggnog before serving.

Friends gather and the room ďŹ lls with laughter. Nothing ďŹ ts these moments better than a bottle of Chambourcin. After all, inside each bottle is a story, written by Missouri winemakers for anyone with a little Missouri in their hearts.

Learn more about Chambourcin and other varietals at missouriwine.org.

Inspired Food Culture

DECEMBER 2013

25

on the shelf

top DECEMBER pICKS

beer

WRITTEN By Michael Sweeney

Award-winning sommelier and mixologist Chad Michael George is founder of Proof Academy, which covers everything from wine and cocktail list consulting to spirits and mixology education.

gooSe iSLand Beer Co.’S SixTh day

CaLvadoS BouLard v.S.o.P.

AvAilAble At: Randall’s Wine and Spirits, 10800 Lincoln

Trail, Fairview Heights, Ill., shoprandalls.com; $6.99 (six-pack, 12-oz bottles) PAiringS: Roasted goose• Sharp Cheddar When I first heard the name of this beer, I didn’t get it.

Was this based on a terrible Arnold Schwarzenegger movie from the early aughts? No, silly, it’s the day of the week that the six geese are laying in the classic holiday song “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” This hearty brown ale eschews the spicing of many Christmas ales, and instead, provides a lovely nuttiness and warming alcohol note. It’s a perfect winter beer no matter what day of the season you’re sipping it.

Six row Brewing Co.’S vaniLLa PorTer Style: Robust Porter (5.5% abv) AvAilAble At: Six Row Brewing Co., 3690 Forest Park Ave., Midtown, sixrowbrewco. com; $5 (16-oz draft) PAiringS: Gooey butter cake• Chocolate bread pudding

I’d like to know how the chemistry of combining different flavors works. For instance, chocolate and vanilla are a perfect pairing. By adding vanilla to their already delicious robust porter, Six Row enhances the chocolaty nature of the base beer, resulting in a beer that seems slightly sweeter but pairs well with its roasted qualities.

This is a great introduction for people who don’t like “dark beer.”

LefT hand Brewing Co.’S miLk STouT niTro

AvAilAble At: Starrs, 1135 S. Big Bend Blvd., Richmond Heights, starrs1.com; $27.99 try it: Neat or in a classic Sidecar

Calvados, where the finest apple brandies are produced, is home to many delicious distilled spirits. The problem is that by the time many of those spirits make it to our shores, the price outpaces the product. Boulard is a definite exception. This brandy is one of the finest, most drinkable examples on the market and is a steal at just under $30. This bottle is a whiskey drinker’s brandy and a quality spirit. Smooth from start to finish, Calvados Boulard is balanced with a crisp apple base, with touches of brioche and vanilla. Try it as a substitute in favorite cocktails with aged spirits or in classics such as a Sidecar.

Samogon ProvenAnce: Russia (45% abv) AvAilAble At: Randall’s Wine and Spirits, multiple locations, shoprandalls.com; $19.99 try it: As a substitute for any white spirit, or in an original Old-Fashioned

Samogon, which translates to “self-distilled” in Russian, can be made from just about anything. It is to Russia what moonshine is to America. The finest samogons are distilled from grapes, which are not abundant in Russia.

Samogon shares characteristics with unaged brandy or grappa, but is a spirit all its own. The nose is very earthy and has touches of peat, orange, lemon and soft floral notes. The flavor is driven by minerals, citrus peel and good acidity. A full and almost viscous mouthfeel is the highlight and carries through to a really long finish.

Suze Saveur d’auTrefoiS genTiane Liqueur ProvenAnce: Thuir, France (20% abv)

AvAilAble At: Lukas Liquor Superstore, 15921

AvAilAble At: The Wine & Cheese Place, multiple

I don’t know how they did it, but Left Hand Brewing Co. has recreated the nitro experience in a bottle without a widget. As long as you give it the proper pour (basically dump it into a glass), it’s almost impossible to tell the difference between this and a draft nitro pour. The nitro experience helps make this already creamy beer even silkier. The slight sweetness of the lactose melds beautifully with the roasted malts.

DECEMBER 2013

ProvenAnce: France (40% abv)

Style: Milk Stout (6% abv)

Manchester Road, Ellisville, lukasliquorstl.com; $8.99 (six-pack, 12-oz bottles) PAiringS: Ancho-crusted sea bass• Truffled Gouda

feastSTL.com

WRITTEN By Chad Michael George

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

Style: American Brown Ale (8.3% abv)

26

spirits

locations, wineandcheeseplace.com; $29.99 try it: On the rocks, or as a substitute for your favorite bitter liqueur in any cocktail Suze has been in production in the south of France since 1889. This liqueur is primarily flavored with fresh wild yellow gentian that is hand-harvested from the mountains of Auvergne. Since it began being imported to the U.S. in 2012, Suze has started to spread throughout the country.

Its popularity has been propelled by bartenders at craft cocktail bars from coast to coast. Suze is slightly sweet, but has plenty of bitterness from the gentian. Vanilla, lemon peel and brûléed orange are also present.

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.

nICKel & nICKel John C. Sullenger VIneyard Cabernet SauVIgnon 2010 Provenance: Napa, Calif. available at: The Wine & Cheese Place, multiple locations,

wineandcheeseplace.com; $93.99 Pairings: Roasted duck• Smoked sausage • Dark chocolate Stumped on what to get your wine-fanatic boss this holiday season? This bottle of Cab – from a Napa winery synonymous with quality for many years – is a great option. The home vineyard of Nickel & Nickel is located behind the winery in Oakville, on a homestead originally settled by John Sullenger in the 1880s. This exquisite, 100-percent Cabernet has blackberry, cassis and earthy notes layered on top of a velvety texture that is sure to make holiday parties and dinners merry and bright.

alFred gratIen brut roSé ClaSSIque nV Provenance: Champagne, France available at: Straub’s, multiple locations, straubs.com; $78.99 Pairings: Fish stew• Country pâté with pistachios• Strawberries, fireside with a loved one

The holidays are here, which means it’s the time of year when you can splurge on a bottle of fantastic Champagne for a romantic dinner, as a gift or just “because.” The wines from producer Alfred Gratien, founded in 1864, are an excellent choice. The small winery operates under the premise that great Champagne “is not manufactured, it is created.”

The winery’s rosé is crafted with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes, and is luscious with notes of raspberry, strawberry and lightly toasted bread.

Keenan Merlot 2009 Provenance: Napa, Calif. available at: The Wine Merchant Ltd., 20 S. Hanley Road, Clayton, winemerchantltd.com; $28.99 Pairings: Prime rib with creamy horseradish• Mom’s meatloaf• Stir-fried beef and broccoli

Merlot has gotten a bad rap lately, but don’t buy into it.

There are plenty of delicious choices out there, such as this juicy, rich offering from Robert Keenan. His winery is located in the Spring Mountain District of the Mayacamas Mountain Range high above the town of Saint Helena, and has been in operation since 1977. The Keenan Merlot 2009 is made with 100-percent Merlot, mostly from Keenan Estate vineyards, and shows notes of black cherry, cocoa and tobacco.

Inspired Food Culture

dECEMBER 2013

27

mystery shopper

MEEt: MaRRons glaCés

sTOrY AND rEcIpE BY Shannon Weber phOTOgrAphY BY Jennifer Silverberg

You know the holidays are in full swing when chestnuts hit store shelves. More popular in Europe than stateside, chestnuts are at their most festive when candied: otherwise known as marrons glacés.

What is it?

Marrons glacés are high-quality chestnuts, cooked and steeped in vanilla-sugar syrup over the course of several days.

Originating in the chestnut-growing regions of northern Italy and southern France, this largely European delicacy has undergone several centuries’ worth of fine-tuning to make it what it is today.

Not all chestnuts make the cut: only large, whole nuts with shallow grooves sturdy enough to withstand the cooking process can be used to make marrons glacés. The result is a soft, slightly sticky confection with a lush density and heady chestnut flavor, set against a soft vanilla background.

What do i do With it?

Marrons glacés are often eaten by themselves, especially in late fall and during the winter holidays. They are most famously found in the Mont Blanc – a puréed chestnut dessert topped with whipped cream and popular throughout Europe and parts of Asia – and are also used to garnish the tops of ice cream and frosted cakes.

For a fresh (and perhaps more American) take on marrons glacés, pair them with other flavors of the holiday season.

Draping the confections in hazelnutstudded dark chocolate adds a delightful snap to their soft chew, and the bold heat of Vietnamese cinnamon makes an ideal contrast to the sweet vanilla from the chestnuts. It’s a surprisingly addictive treat tailor-made for holiday gift-giving.

Marrons Glacés Chocolate Cups serves | 24 | 6 2/3 6

Although using Vietnamese cinnamon isn’t a requirement, its specific flavor profile adds a nice kick to the finished candy.

You can find it (along with other types of cinnamon) at Penzeys Spices in Maplewood.

| Preparation – Marrons Glacés | remove marrons from syrup, cut into quarters and transfer onto a paper towel-lined plate to drain.

marrons glacés cup hazelnuts oz 60 percent bittersweet chocolate,

| Preparation – Hazelnuts | preheat oven to 350˚F.

coarsely chopped 6

oz 70 percent extra bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

3½

tsp Vietnamese cinnamon coarse sea salt for sprinkling

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DECEMBER 2013

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. spread hazelnuts in a single layer on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes, until fragrant and golden. remove from the oven and allow to cool, 5 to 10 minutes. rub warm hazelnuts between hands

briskly to remove skins. Discard skins and finely chop hazelnuts. set aside.

| Preparation – Chocolate Cups | In the bowl of a double boiler, melt chocolate, stirring occasionally until smooth. Add cinnamon and chopped hazelnuts, stirring until evenly distributed. set aside.

Line a mini-muffin tin with paper liners. set quartered marrons glacés in the middle of each

liner, rounded side up. stir chocolate mixture a few times to distribute nuts, then pour 1 Tbsp of the mixture over the center of each marron. sprinkle with sea salt, then place in the freezer to set, 1 to 2 hours.

| To Serve | store tightly sealed in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or the freezer for up to 2 months. If freezing, allow to thaw in the refrigerator before setting out; this will keep the chocolate cups from developing condensation on top. serve slightly chilled or at room temperature.

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Hours: Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri 6am-4pm Wed 6am-8pm • Sat 7am-4pm • Sun 8am-2pm

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(618) 281-9901

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Shop, Wine, & Dine Guide

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FREE $10 Gift Certificate with purchase of $25 Gift Certificate Offer expires 12/28/13

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Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 11-9pm

123 South Main St • Columbia, IL 62236 Phone: 618-281-2229 Chris: 314-280-5224 • Micki: 618-980-2132 Email:whodatstakeout@yahoo.com • www.whodatsrestaurant.com

Inspired Food Culture

DECEMBER 2013

29

how to

Mixology with BlooD & SanD

WrITTEN BY Brandon Chuang PHOTOGrAPHY BY Jonathan Gayman

the Negroni. “But mixology in many cases is the opposite of hip and cool, it’s actually quite nerdy.”

The marriage of food and science is a tired one, but it’s completely apropos for mixology. Every drink Vytlacil pours is precisely measured, every shaker is precisely shaken (as is evident by his direction to an apprentice at the cocktail dinner to agitate her shaker for ‘exactly 30 seconds’), but this, in Vytlacil’s mind, is completely his problem.

“Do I care how Chris [Bork] makes his tater tots?” asks Vytlacil in regards to the executive chef’s famed dish. “Nope. Do you care how I make your cocktail? Because you shouldn’t.”

The key to good mixology – nay, good cocktail making – is in comfort. One’s taste in cocktails is exactly that: their taste. Each person is different, meaning it’s up to them to taste, explore and learn what it is they like and don’t like. Vytlacil’s job is to try and make it a bit easier.

“The discovery phase is important – listening to people and being hospitable,” Vytlacil says. “A lot of places are hospitable, but misguided. They think they’re going to show you something that’s going to change you, when all you want is what you want. It’s coming from a good place, but it’s misplaced.”

There’s something about the term “mixology” that, at first, seems off-putting. It’s a visceral response, one that no doubt stems from being burned on a bar stool at a bar that is trying to pass itself off as something more than a place to enjoy drinks. You take your seat, review the drink menu and realize you have absolutely no idea what anything means. That’s when the “mixologist” steps in and suggests that he or she craft you a drink based on your specific tastes – a dealer’s choice as it’s called in the business. “A Manhattan,” you tell the barkeep, who immediately begins to pour, mash, squeeze and stir a concoction that you’re sure will be the greatest cocktail to ever touch your lips.

Fifteen minutes later, you’re served a $15 drink that tastes an awful lot like the $8 Manhattans you normally order.

Believe it or not, TJ Vytlacil knows your pain.

As proprietor and barkeep of Downtown St. Louis darling Blood & Sand, you’d think Vytlacil would spout nothing but vitriol and vermouth to naysayers. But Vytlacil thinks mixology can be bullshit. He’s seen too many eye-rolls and heard too many nays for this to not be the case.

all want humanely raised chickens; no, we don’t need to know their names). It’s this unnecessary gravitas, this stiffness that slants toward absurdity that is off-putting. Trying too hard doesn’t look good on anyone, even whiskey.

“A lot of bartenders [wear] vests and [use] stirrers as they pump out classic cocktails. But if that’s all you’re doing, you’re missing the point,” explains Vytlacil about the common plight of mixology.

“All classic cocktails have a story, an origin where it was crafted for one person. Whether they were famous or whatever, that classic cocktail started out as a dealer’s choice. In other words, you’re basically making someone else’s drink for someone else.”

To Vytlacil, mixology is all about innovation.

Creation. It’s about listening to the countless customers at Blood & Sand that belly up on a regular basis just to have him or one of his bartenders make something special just for them, even if that something special isn’t special at all.

“Mixology is a creative process, but it needs to be taken much less seriously,” Vytlacil says. “I enjoy it. I get nerdy about it, but I don’t expect others to.”

“If a guy comes in and wants [whiskey] and Coke, I’m going to give it to him, because that’s what he wants,” Vytlacil says. “But eventually he’s going to be intrigued to try something new, and that’s worth way more than me saying, ‘Let me try and do something for you.’ That’s when you can really get people involved in what we’re doing.”

Vytlacil’s main beef with mixology is the same one you probably have with the extremities of the sustainable and local food movement – the same thing getting picked and prodded on shows such as Saturday Night Live and Portlandia (yes, we

What Vytlacil and his team are doing is hard work. On the surface, it seems like a plush job – a handsome granite bar for a desk and booze for office supplies – but the amount of physical effort it takes to actually execute the liquid alchemy that

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DECEMBER 2013

true bartenders create every night is astonishing.

Cutting garnishes, juicing fruit, making mixers; all are jobs that take serious time, not to mention continuous energy (you don’t want day-old grapefruit juice in your craft cocktail, do you?). If you pay attention to Vytlacil and company, they’re always moving, cleaning, refilling – it begins to make sense why you’re paying what you pay for that cocktail sitting in front of you.

But physical exertion isn’t the only part of mixology. Listening to Vytlacil explain how he approaches making drinks can be mind-numbing in its complexity. At a recent cocktail dinner held at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, Vytlacil and Blood & Sand executive chef Chris Bork descended on the building to take notes and photographs to parallel the current exhibit. Gold leaf, billowy clouds, charred wood – all were a part of the museum’s exhibition that night, and all were represented in the food and cocktail pairings.

“The number one goal for drinking is to socialize and enjoy the surroundings, not to let people know how great you are at making cocktails,” Vytlacil says. “That’s where pretension can sneak in.”

So how does one stop the eye-rolls that surround mixology? How do you defend against the overpriced faux-Manhattan? Through knowing what you like; through testing and tasting. Vytlacil tells the tale of the time he and another bartender tried mixing the Italian apéritif Aperol with bitters. Then they added beer. Then coffee. “It was disgusting, but we were learning,” Vytlacil says.

Vytlacil’s suggestion is a combination of quality ingredients and old-fashioned curiosity.

Sip on some gin and take tasting notes, find what you like and what you don’t; experiment with ingredients that seem like they would complement each other, because there’s a good chance they will. If they don’t, congratulations, you just learned that cumin and gin don’t go together. “If you stress yourself out over it, it’s no longer fun,” Vytlacil says.

The irony that Vytlacil, a man most often found wearing a tailored vest and full-Windsor tie, is directing you to get comfortable with your high-end cocktails is probably not lost on Vytlacil himself, but he means it. His approach to wellmade cocktails at his buzz-worthy establishment is the same one he applies when off the clock as well, with just a small difference.

Pretension is something Vytlacil wants no part of, and is part of the reason why he understands the eye-rolling that ensues when people hear the “m” word.

“I mix Manhattans with my finger at home,” Vytlacil says. “There’s nothing fancy about it. If you like it, you like it.”

“People think that mixology is trendy, that it’s hip and cool,” quips Vytlacil as he reaches into his bag and whips out a collection of essays on

Blood & Sand 1500 St. Charles St., Downtown 314.241.7263, bloodandsandstl.com

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VOM FASS invites you to savor it all ` Tis the season for Aceto Balsamico di Modena–Maletti, a full-bodied aged vinegar with a rich taste of fig and dried cherry and a long-toasted finish of molasses and hints of carmelized oak Perhaps you would like to usher in the holidays with coldpressed FassZination Walnut Oil. This oil stands out, even among an outstanding collection of nut and seed oils.

Those are just a few of the products under the mistletoe and ready for tasting at VOM FASS Maplewood, owned and operated by local entrepreneur Anita von Ballmoos.

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DECEMBER 2013

31

tech school

PEPPERMint RoCk CanDY

STORy And RecIpe By Cassy Vires phOTOgRAphy By Jennifer Silverberg

Making candy is not something I do often.

It isn’t that it is terribly difficult; it’s that I always end up burning myself. So I beg of you, if you do intend to read on and try this at home, please – oh please – heed my warning and be careful. I have never felt pain quite like hot sugar landing on my wrist.

Of all candies, rock candy has to be the simplest to make at home. It’s all about the sugar. I love the science behind cooking, and the science here is actually pretty neat. The idea is to let sugar crystals grow.

The crystals start small, like white sugar, and then grow into larger crystals, which creates the candy.

The first step is to prepare a super-saturated solution. In simpler terms, a mixture that is comprised of more sugar than water, to the point where liquid can’t stay in liquid form very long. The sugar wants to come out of the liquid and return to its solid state, but it takes time. This leads to the second step, which is evaporation. As the water evaporates, larger sugar crystals form.

The longer the solution sits, the larger the crystals will become. Be careful, though, because if you let it sit too long, crystals will grow from the skewer all the way to the edge of the jar. At this point, the candy will begin to outgrow the jar. The crystals will want to adhere to any surface they can, so it is vital to hang the skewer at least an inch from the bottom of the jar so the crystals don’t grow down and attach to the glass.

Aside from the fascinating science in play here, the other fun part of making rock candy is in the many different flavor and color options available. Liquid food coloring will add pizzazz, but candy flavorings take experimentation to the next level. For the winter holidays, peppermint is great. In the summer months, try making rock candy flavored with lemon or mint; in the fall, licorice makes for a sweet seasonal treat.

Cassy Vires is the owner and chef of Home Wine Kitchen and Table.

Peppermint Rock Candy Rock candy is quite easy to make; it just requires patience. Once you get the hang of it, make rock candy to give as a fun holiday gift or treat to share at family gatherings.

| Preparation |

Soak the wood skewer in

glass jar. push the blunt end of the skewer through

in sugar to coat and then set aside

a small piece of parchment paper, and secure the

overnight to dry.

skewer with the clothespin so that the skewer is suspended at least one inch from the bottom of

Yield | 1 | 1 1 3 1 1 1

32

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DECEMBER 2013

wood skewer cup water cups sugar, plus extra for tossing tsp peppermint extract food coloring, as desired glass jar parchment or wax paper clothespin

carefully pour the sugar-water mixture into a clear

water for 1 hour. Once wet, toss the skewer

In a saucepot over medium-high heat, bring water to a boil. Add sugar, 1 cup at a time,

the jar. Secure the parchment paper with a piece of tape or a rubber band to act as a the jar’s lid.

stirring to dissolve before adding the next cup.

Once all 3 cups are dissolved, let the mixture

Set aside for 7 to 10 days in a cool, dry place.

cook on a low boil for 10 minutes. Remove

Make sure not to disturb the mixture. After

sugar-water mixture from heat and let cool

7 days, check to see if enough crystals have

for 5 minutes. Add peppermint extract and any

formed and carefully remove from the jar. Set out

food coloring as desired.

for 1 hour before serving.

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10 Clarkson Wilson Centre • Chesterfield • 636.728.1140 • sarahscafestl.com Inspired Food Culture

DECEMBER 2013

33

gadget a-go-go

Donut Pans

WriTTeN By Pat eby PhOTOgrAPhy By Jonathan gayman

babycakeS cake PoP MakeR

WiLTon 12-caviTy Mini DoughnuT Pan

aTeco DoughnuT cuTTeRS

PROS: Bakes 12 little donut holes in

PROS: Simple prep and easy mixing,

PROS: A small investment for a big

less than 30 minutes, start to finish.

No mixer needed – and no oven time, either – as this self-sufficient machine does all the work itself. Babycakes cooks on a table or counter top. Top and bottom plates cook the outsides of these round little donuts to a lovely toasty brown. Kids will love dipping the finished donuts in glaze and sprinkles.

The machine can make cake pops, too.

with baked and finished donuts dipped in glaze in less than an hour. They’re the right size for children and for people watching waistlines. They look like the real thing, right down to the hole in the middle.

return, these donut cutters work well with yeast or cake dough. A professional heavy-duty, half-sheet pan lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat allows donuts made with these cutters to bake more evenly than regular cookie pans. Unlike the other donut pans and gadgets we tested, these cutters are the ideal way to make donuts for frying in oil. Another plus – with donut cutters, you also get donut holes.

CONS: Babycakes looks like a toy and seems like a kid-friendly baking gadget, but the plates inside the machine get sizzling hot. Success depends on filling the donut hole molds nearly to the top of the well, but not beyond. Too little batter and the tops don’t brown; too much and the cute balls grow flat fins at the center line.

Clean up calls for only a damp cloth.

Plates aren’t removable.

CONS: Filling the tiny wells takes time,

even with the batter squeezed from a pastry bag or a plastic bag with a corner cut off. The bottoms brown but the tops remain pasty white, so dips, glazes and coatings are almost de rigueur. $9.95; Sur La Table, 295 Plaza Frontenac, Frontenac, surlatable.com

CONS: Donuts made with these cutters take a bit more time and vary in attractiveness, with some a little lumpy and crooked. The taste, however, makes up for the less than stellar appearance.

Fox Run DonuT Pan PROS: Bigger baked donuts in a six-

cavity pan with all the fine attributes of the Wilton 12-Cavity Mini Doughnut Pan. The bigger cavities allow for easier, more evenly filled molds. With a baking time of 8 minutes, these donuts get to the table quickly.

CONS: The six-cavity size almost demands a second pan for efficient baking to bake large servings. As with the mini donuts, the bottoms brown and the tops don’t.

$12.95; Cornucopia, 107 N. Kirkwood Road, Kirkwood, cornucopia-kitchen. com

noRDic WaRe DaniSh ebLeSkiveR iRon PROS: Jelly donuts, here we come.

Light, eggy Danish pillow donuts can be filled with jelly as they cook on the stove top in their round cups. No frying and no splattering of hot oil, either, for a resulting donut that’s very airy.

CONS: Turning these Danish delights to ensure the runny batter cooks evenly takes skill – we recommend using a knitting needle or a metal chopstick. A lift-and-turn maneuver spills uncooked batter into the bottom of the wells.

With practice, it’s well worth the trouble.

$39.95; Cornucopia

$4.99 (large) and $3.50 (small); Bertarelli Cutlery, 1927 Marconi Ave., The Hill, bertarellicutlery.com

$17.99; Bed Bath & Beyond, multiple locations, bedbathandbeyond.com

Che

Ck o pag ut e

WhaT To Look FoR : Right Size. Mini, regular or maxi, there’s a donut pan or gadget sized to

StORage. Once you’ve determined your donut profile, consider your

meet your tastes and needs.

available storage space. Pans take up a tiny bit of room, while cake-pop machines or Danish irons demand space.

DONut tyPe. Donut holes, round donuts, Long Johns or filled donuts, there’s a pan that mimics the shapes of all the fried donuts we know and love.

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DECEMBER 2013

FiNiSheS. Non-stick is the winner for ease of release post-baking, and for cleanup. Well-seasoned cast iron would work, too. Most recipes suggest a thin coating of oil or cooking spray no matter the pan’s finish.

52!

Check out this month’s feature for a collection of fun, festive donut recipes.

K eep your family and friends safe this holiday season with Davidson’s Safest Choice® Pasteurized Eggs!

SAFE HOMEMADE EGGNOG RECIPE Serves: 20 Ingredients 12 Safest Choice™ Pasteurized Eggs, separated 1 ½ c granulated sugar 1 qt (4 cups) heavy cream 2 c whole milk 2-3 c dark rum, bourbon or brandy (optional) 2 Tbsp vanilla extract (optional) ground nutmeg or cinnamon to taste

Preparation 1. Place egg yolks in large bowl. Beat with electric mixer until combined.

2. Gradually add sugar, beating until mixture is thick and pale yellow.

3. Stir in cream and milk, then rum and vanilla, if desired.

4. Cover and refrigerate until chilled or as long as overnight. Just before serving, beat room temperature egg whites with electric mixer until soft peaks form.

5. Stir egg yolk mixture. Then gently fold in beaten egg whites. Pour eggnog into punch bowl.

Sprinkle with nutmeg.

pasteurized = peace of mind All-natural All-natural · F Farm-fresh arm-fresh fl flavor avor · Hormone free free Antibiotic free · Vegetarian-fed

Get recipes at SafeEggs.com/holiday © 2013 National Pasteurized Eggs, Inc.

Inspired Food Culture

DECEMBER 2013

35

menu options

Cioppino

SToRy AnD ReCIpe by Tory Bahn pHoTogRApHy by Jennifer Silverberg

A true San Francisco treat, cioppino came to America with Italian immigrants. Varying in ingredients and presentation from one restaurant to the next and based on the fresh catch of the day, cioppino is, simply put, fish stew. In reality, though, it’s much more. Cioppino delivers bright

flavor from sweet tomatoes, citrus and a slew of aromatic herbs, but it’s also earthy, light and satisfying – with lively rosé wine and an assortment of seafood. Cioppino is the perfect warming dish for cold winter days in December and beyond.

cioppino

seeds and rosemary and process until well ground. Combine this spice mixture with salt and oregano in a small bowl and set aside.

1 1 1 1 2 ¼ 1 to 2 2 ½ 1 1 1 4 to 6 1 3 to 4 1

Serves | 8 |

Tbsp black peppercorns Tbsp fennel seeds Tbsp fresh or dried rosemary leaves Tbsp salt Tbsp dried oregano cup extra-virgin olive oil cans anchovies bay leaves cup diced celery large onion, diced carrot, peeled and chopped jar roasted red bell peppers, drained and diced cloves garlic, thinly sliced cup rosé wine Tbsp red wine vinegar quart seafood stock

1 2 1 ½ 2 to 3 24 1 24 24 ¼ 1

tsp Tabasco, plus more for desired heat Tbsp Worcestershire sauce 28-oz can San Marzano tomatoes, chopped cup fresh basil, chopped Tbsp fresh lemon juice medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (about 1½ pounds) lb firm white fish (cod, grouper, etc.), chopped into 1-inch pieces fresh clams fresh mussels, de-bearded cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped baguette, sliced, brushed with olive oil and grilled

| Preparation | In a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle, combine peppercorns, fennel

In a large pot over medium heat, add olive oil and heat until it starts to simmer. Add anchovies, break apart with spatula and stir. When anchovies begin to break down and disintegrate, add bay leaves, celery, onion, carrot, bell pepper and ½ of the reserved spice/seasoning mix and sauté for 6 to 8 minutes.

the pot, cover and cook about 6 to 8 minutes, or until clams and mussels have opened, and shrimp and white fish are cooked through.

Uncover the pot, check for and remove any unopened mussels or clams. Turn off heat so fish doesn’t continue cooking.

Divide cioppino among bowls, sprinkle with parsley and serve with slices of grilled baguette.

JOIN US!

Add garlic and cook for another minute. Add wine, vinegar, stock, Tabasco and Worcestershire and cook to reduce by half. Add tomatoes, basil and the remainder of the seasoning mix. Simmer 5 minutes, then add lemon juice and stir.

Add shrimp, white fish, clams and mussels to

RSVP:

schnuckscooks.com 314.909.1704

m a k e Th e m ea ○

chef’S TipS : Seafood 101. When preparing fresh clams and mussels, thoroughly rinse and clean them in cold water first, scrubbing shells to remove any sand or grit. As you’re cleaning them, throw away ones that are broken or have a questionable smell. If a shell is slightly open, tap on it or squeeze it shut.

If it closes on its own, it’s still alive. If it stays open, it’s dead and should be thrown away. Mussels might also need to be de-bearded, which means removing the “beard-like” fibers attached to the flat side of the shell.

Holding the mussel, grasp the beard and wiggle it up and down, pulling toward the mussels' hinge until it releases. Discard beards. Set mussels aside in a clean bowl over an ice bath. Refrigerate until ready to cook.

place it in a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap for 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove from bowl and peel off the blackened skin. freSh fruit. Though it might be tempting to buy chopped, canned tomatoes, always buy whole tomatoes and chop them at home. San Marzano tomatoes – named for the region of Italy where they grow – though more expensive, deliver a better, sweeter product.

SPice SPacing. It is necessary to add half of your spices early in the

preparation process and the other half later in the process to layer flavors. After you add the first batch, they begin to develop a depth of PePPer PreP. For the roasted red bell pepper in this recipe, I recommend flavor at the base of the dish and continue cooking throughout. When roasting your own fresh red bell pepper. To do so, place the pepper over the second batch is added, it continues to season the stew, but with a an open flame or directly under the broiler in your oven. As it blackens and different flavor profile. This is similar to adding fresh herbs at the end chars, turn it continuously until evenly blackened on all sides. Immediately of cooking a dish to retain the bright, intense flavor they add.

L: endive, goat Cheese

and Walnut Salad with prosciutto and balsamic Vinaigrette ○ Ciop pino ○ grille d Artisan bread ○ Truffl ed Mushroom pasta ○ Lem on-Rosemary Mini Ch eesecake Le a r n m Or e:

In this month’s class

, you’ll learn how to incorporate herbs into desserts with the Lemon-Ros emary Mini Cheesecake. We’ll ex plore how easy it is to cook with seaf ood and what affordable, delicious options to try cooking at home. Fina lly, we’ll learn how anchovies add am azing depth of flavor to seafood dishes.

get hands-on: Join Feast and schnucks Cooks Cooking school on Wed., dec. 18, at 6 p.m. 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.

36

feastSTL.com

DECEMBER 2013

Vietnamese & Chinese Restaurant A 2012 "FEAST" Favorite!

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DECEMBER 2013

37

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Inspired Food Culture

DECEMBER 2013

39

11-DAY DASH

ABOVE LEFT: Perkins combs through cookbooks behind the antique bar that was removed during the renovation. ABOVE RIGHT: A far cry from the former bar, the new 17-foot bar at Juniper has helped change the space’s dynamic.

how chef john perkins went from pop-ups to permanent restaurant WrITTEn By Liz Miller

|

PHOTOGrAPHy By Jennifer Silverberg

Chef John Perkins didn’t begin his culinary career with the goal to open a restaurant. Instead, he concentrated on exploring food and creating unexpected dining experiences, which is exactly what he’s done with Entre. What began in 2008 as a series of underground dinners morphed into a series of quarterly pop-up restaurants by 2013.

Perkins’ first pop-up was Le Coq, a chicken concept that ran through January. With Le Coq, Perkins wanted to highlight the humble bird through creative turns such as chicken skin-wrapped scallops deep-fried and served with braised fennel-kimchi purée and grits. In March, Perkins opened his second pop-up, this time featuring Southern food under the name A Good Man is Hard to Find – a reference to the work of American author Flannery O’Connor. On the menu, Perkins played with everything from tossing fried pig’s ears in salads to glazing quail in sorghum and tried his hand at Southern standards such as fried green tomatoes and fried chicken.

A Good Man is Hard to Find proved successful with diners, but by June Perkins was shifting gears again, this time with The Agrarian, a vegetable-focused pop-up. Menu items at The Agrarian showcased the best seasonal produce native to the region through dishes such as a radish dish with pickled, roasted and raw radishes served with a ramp-miso purée, radish flowers and black walnuts.

The success of the pop-ups boosted Perkins’ confidence in the quarterly concept, and he decided to extend The Agrarian for a second run through October 5. To close out the year, he planned to launch Gun & Grouse, a pop-up centered around wild game.

But at the last minute, Perkins had a change of heart. The second run of The Agrarian proved much slower than the first, straining Perkins and his business financially and creatively.

Though simple enough in theory, the pop-up model had difficulty connecting with customers on a consistent basis.

“That’s the part that’s hard for me,” Perkins says. “I wanted the fact that what I was doing was different to be commonplace in St. Louis. To where somebody wouldn’t think there was a gap between doing an underground restaurant and a brick-andmortar restaurant, and it was the same thing when we graduated to the pop-ups. I didn’t want there to be a difference between a pop-up and a restaurant, but there just is.”

In the weeks leading up to the end of The Agrarian, Perkins found himself at a crossroads: If the next pop-up failed, he might very well be forced to close the business for good.

“I was looking at the struggle we were having with [the second run of The Agrarian] and thinking, ‘OK, am I going to walk into another potential period of struggle that might just kill us as a business?” Perkins says. “If I’m so stubbornly persistent that I’m going to do this damn thing whether people come to it or not, who am I helping? I’m not helping anybody. ”

Inspired Food Culture

DECEMBER 2013

41

DAY 1 Instead, Perkins announced he was walking away from the quarterly pop-up series to open Juniper, a restaurant focused around Southern food, slated to open just 11 days after The Agrarian closed. No stranger to launching concepts in a short amount of time and with limited resources, it wasn’t hard to imagine that Perkins could pull off developing a new menu in the same space he’d already been operating out of – until he announced that the interior would also be overhauled.

“One of the things behind Juniper was, from the beginning, I was going to call it a restaurant,” Perkins says. “Just straight up call it a restaurant. Hopefully just using that word, and not associating it with the Underground or pop-up restaurants will really help us in the long run.”

It was an ambitious project for Perkins, but not necessarily unfamiliar territory. That would come later, when Juniper opened its doors.

“There’s been a bit of a vagabond life for me, but if I have to say I have roots anywhere it would be in the South,” Perkins says. “ My family is

all from northern Arkansas or the bootheel part of Missouri. If I had to lay claim to any tradition, that’s as much as I’ve got.”

The son of a pastor, Perkins was raised for part of his childhood on a farm in the Missouri Ozarks. After high school, he moved to Chattanooga, Tenn., to attend college, where he studied history. For a time in his 20s he considered becoming a fiction writer, a piece of his past that reveals itself in his knack for storytelling, smart branding and articulate turns of phrase. Perkins also considered following the family tradition of becoming a pastor, even earning a master’s of divinity degree in 2009, but ultimately found his calling in the kitchen through his Entre: Underground dinner series.

“The Underground basically started and continued as a way for me to learn how to cook,” Perkins says. “I was inviting people along for my journey, and then it got a lot bigger.”

Within weeks of deciding to open a full-fledged restaurant, Perkins and wife Lindsay welcomed their fifth child, Jemima Pearl.

The opening of Juniper was not only necessary for the future of his business, but also to afford Perkins more time with his family.

DISH PICTURED TOP

DAY 11

RIGHT: White gazpacho with almonds, heirloom tomatoes and basil buds.

DISH PICTURED RIGHT:

Shrimp and grits at Juniper.

42

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DECEMBER 2013

Agrarian

to Juniper

... in between, a southern Menu takes shape

LEFT TO RIGHT: Pork and beans with Red Wattle pork belly, sea island red peas, collards and maple syrup; country ham flight, a weekly rotation of three country hams; Juniper’s chicken and waffles with pickles, syrup and peanut butter.

“That’s one of the reasons I’m doing the restaurant,” Perkins says. “In the short term it will mean more time away from home, but I’m hoping for more opportunity for time at home in the long run.”

Though the restaurant means long hours away from home, Perkins’ family is still connected to his work – the new restaurant is named after his fourth child, 22-month-old daughter Juniper Jubilee.

“I like the idea of keeping a family name,” he says, “We thought about [calling the restaurant] Juniper’s, but the apostrophe ‘s’ gives it a totally different feel and I didn’t want to quite do the ‘mama’s country kitchen’ thing, which is what the apostrophe ‘s’ would make it into. That small thing would totally change the feel.”

Once the restaurant had a name, the next challenge was how to fund the renovation and purchase needed kitchen equipment and new front-of-house furnishings. Perkins says the bulk of the funding came from a small loan extended by a local credit union, but was also largely made possible by friends and family donating their time and talents to get the work done in such an abbreviated time frame.

“Think about any product you buy: You’re largely buying it based on how well a story was told about it. You’re buying some kind of narrative. I think I did a really good job telling the story of A Good Man Is Hard to Find. We did a good job branding it and people connected to it. The food was a lot of fun, the atmosphere was fun – we did a good job telling the story and I thought we could tell it again [with Juniper] in a way that was compelling.”

On the final night of The Agrarian, after doors closed for service, Perkins and his team immediately set to work changing the space, taking full advantage of what limited time was available for the transition. Six moths prior, Perkins asked his landlord to remove the large staircase that had previously divided the dining room.

The removal of the staircase created much more usable space and helped Perkins see the potential for a full-time restaurant.

“Basically I showed [the credit union] everything I had purchased in the restaurant over the past few years as collateral to get more money,” Perkins says. “We didn’t get a ton of money, but we got enough to pay for things. The guys who are putting in the furniture are giving me a bit of a break. We’re getting the doors open and trying to tell the story right – tell the story right the first time.”

Once the space was ready to be transformed into Juniper, Perkins had another favor to ask of his landlord: He wanted to put in a full bar, which required the landlord to move the small, antique bar that had been in the dining room up until that point.

Though the vintage dark-wood bar was beautiful, it was far from functional in a restaurant space, not allowing multiple bartenders to make drinks at a time and offering no bar seating for guests. The landlord agreed to move the antique bar into storage, and from there, Perkins worked closely with local woodworkers and furniture designers Rustic Grain to build a new 17-foot bar that would also add considerable seating to Juniper – and with it, hopefully a second revenue stream for Perkins.

Telling the story right the first time is something Perkins values.

He freely admits he’s not a marketing or branding expert, but he’s also quick to acknowledge how crucial those elements are to creating a successful restaurant and dining experience for guests.

In addition to building the massive bar – partially made with 100-year-old wood from crates from Kevin Brennan, owner of Brennan’s in the Central West End – Rustic Grain also built two banquettes for booth-style seating, three tables, a new counter for

44

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DECEMBER 2013

added seating inside the restaurant’s front window and a gigantic barn door to act as a divider for privacy between the dining room, restrooms and kitchen. Wood from Rustic Grain was also used to build the massive shelving unit located behind the bar, which was assembled by one of Perkins’ friends.

While big changes were happening in the front of the house, Perkins was also hard at work retooling and reorganizing the restaurant’s kitchen. He reconfigured the layout and flow of the space, elevating it from an overworked catering kitchen to a fullservice restaurant kitchen with only a few small modifications, the biggest of which was removing two stand-up, double-door refrigerators to make room for two counter-height prep fridges and a walk-in refrigerator.

“We’ve made it work for two years, but if we’re going to continue the catering business and the restaurant, there [wasn’t] enough physical space,” Perkins says. “That’s been fun actually, in some respects, to make things work when you didn’t think it was going to. Maybe having gone through what we’ve gone through, we’re able to find solutions.”

As illustrated in his deliberation over using an apostrophe “s” in the restaurant’s name, Perkins is very concerned with the details.

He played an active role in every change that occurred over the span of the 11-day renovation, but most especially in building the restaurant’s menu, which drew on his success with A Good Man is Hard to Find. Perkins says he wants to explore the breadth of Southern food and its history with Juniper, melding recipes from a wide range of sources and inspirations, with dishes that tell larger stories about the South and its food heritage.

“Southern food in the way that I’m bracketing it really has such an amount of variety that we could change the menu all the time

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DECEMBER 2013

45

then the

46

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DECEMBER 2013

doors opened ... let them eat grits!

– we’re not going to, but we’re also going to keep a chunk of it rotating,” Perkins says. “I’m going to be kind of dogmatic about keeping the menu Southern. There’s enough opportunity within Southern food and Southern tradition; look at all the influences: Spanish, North African, deep Africa, French, Scottish, English, Mexican, soul food – it’s all over. There’s a lot of stuff to cover and we’re going to cover it all. It’s going to keep us interested intellectually and artistically, and yet, provide us with a kind of food that I really think is going to connect with people.”

Ask Perkins for one example of how stories are studded throughout the menu and he’ll eagerly share three or four menu items that just scratch the surface. One of the more compelling examples is the Huguenot torte, made famous more than 60 years ago when President Harry Truman hosted U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill at Westminster College in Fulton, Mo., where Churchill delivered his historic Iron Curtain speech. During Churchill’s stay at the White House, first lady Bess Truman served one of her husband’s favorite desserts: Ozark pudding, a dish traditionally made in Missouri. A version of the Ozark pudding recipe became popular across the country, eventually traveling to Charleston, S.C., where it was renamed the Huguenot torte at a local restaurant in Charleston called Huguenot Tavern.

“I love little historical anecdotes,” Perkins says. “Stories like that are part of the story we’re telling. I think it fleshes out a food experience. Food isn’t just about what’s on the plate, it’s a much fuller experience. There’s more to it, and when you’re talking about a cuisine in general, there’s a lot more to it than what arrives on your plate. Part of what I want to do is have little nuggets buried in the menu that have little anecdotes behind them. This is one of them – and it also happens to be really good.”

With the menu at Juniper, Perkins has developed classic Southern dishes enhanced through modern technique. One of the starters, a beet dish, combines simple ingredients – beets, sorghum, local field greens, a farm egg and apple cider vinaigrette – but plates something more complex, with beets roasted in molasses to create a rich, caramel flavor served with a velvety, sous vide egg. Entrées are similarly playful, such as the chicken and waffles served with pickles, syrup and peanut butter. Juniper also serves beer, wine and cocktails, with drinks such as The Presbyterian, made with bourbon, lemon, sugar and ginger and Corn & Oil, a mixture of black strap rum, Falernum, lime and bitters, developed by Perkins’ friend and local bartender Matt Obermark.

By the end of the renovation process, Perkins met the very tight turnaround and Juniper celebrated its soft opening on October 16, allowing a few weeks to work out kinks before the official grand opening on October 30. Aside from changing the restaurant’s appearance and ambiance, Juniper’s transformation, especially its new bar, has proved transformative for the business.

“It’s catching me off guard – maybe because I was naïve about all this stuff – how different it is,” Perkins says. “The bar itself has been eye-opening. A lot of people come in, sit down, hang out, have a few drinks and then they see food come out and they want some food. It’s also a great point of contact for people. I love that kind of interaction, just personally. People are treating it differently. Our customers are treating it differently.”

At the end of November Juniper celebrated its first full month of business, and, to Perkins, hopefully what’s just the beginning of the restaurant’s story.

“With this, it’s like I can settle in, enjoy it, build for the long term and not worry about trying to make everything happen the first week, the second week, the third week,” Perkins says. “I can tell there’s a different trajectory about this restaurant than about what we were just doing.

It fascinates me, the power of storytelling. There’s something that people are connecting with, already, that they didn’t connect with before. It sort of makes me want to put my shoulders back a little bit more, stand up straighter.”

Juniper, 360 North Boyle Ave. Central West End, 314.329.7696 junipereats.com

DISH PICTURED ABOVE: Huguenot torte.

Inspired Food Culture

DECEMBER 2013

47

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Seafood here is especially remarkable, as it’s caught throughout the coast of Nayarit, and includes shrimp, oysters, tuna, sailfish, marlin, scallops, snapper, and octopus.

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sweets

the sweets issue

The holiday season is a magical time of year – after all, when else can we subsist on an all-dessert diet for weeks at a time? In an effort to make your celebrations the sweetest they can be, we’ve dedicated this issue to sugarcoated, sparkling treats. Get up with the sun and make festive, fun donuts at home for family and friends with recipes from local donut experts in DIY Donut Shop (p. 52) and learn how to make glittering hard candies in your home kitchen for lovely, unexpected gifts (p. 64). We also explore the neighborhood bakery boom happening around the city in On the Rise (p. 71). From French- and New Orleans-style treats in Botanical Heights to made-from-scratch pies perking up the streets of Maplewood, the bakers and pastry chefs featured here are changing the landscape of local bakeshops. We hope this collection of delightful indulgences will be the icing on the cake to a very special and super sweet holiday season.

PICTURED: Basic baked cake donut dusted

with sugar and cinnamon. See recipe on p. 54.

52

feastSTL.com

DECEMBER 2013

DIY

donut shop written by Tory Bahn

|

photography by Jennifer Silverberg

The once humble donut has come a long way. History charts it as a morsel of fried dough the size of a nut that eventually evolved into a fried dough cake with nuts in the middle. Many legends claim ownership of the donut moniker, but today, the hard fact is that donuts have many faces, none of which are necessarily guaranteed to look like a small nugget of fried dough.

A rising trend for years, donuts have officially reached celebrity status. As the donut craze rages on, it also continues taking turns. We used to be limited to a few of the classics: glazed, chocolate Long John, cake and old fashioned. While those still hold real estate on shop shelves, new neighbors have moved in. Hybrids, you could call them. They are old classics with face-lifts – injections of tea-infused pastry creams or cheese and delicious toppings that range from candy and gourmet glazes to bacon, eggs and even fried chicken.

There’s also the donut sandwich, bookending just about any combination of inclusions under the sun. The truest hybrid of all – the Cronut – folds croissant-like, laminated dough into a donut shape and fries it up. Donuts are now capable of sating sweet and savory cravings with one scrumptious treat.

St. Louis is no stranger to the donut movement. A good donut has never been hard to come by here, and really great donut artisans are popping up in our city’s ever-evolving neighborhoods.

What follow are foolproof donut recipes for home cooks, including some seasonal takes on classics from St. Louis donut experts at Pastaria, Vincent Van Doughnut and Ex Cop Donut Shop.

bake ‘em and dust ‘em.

sweets

Basic Yeast-Raised Glazed Donuts Recipe by Tory Bahn

Many donut recipes call for a stand mixer, but the following basic yeast-raised donut requires only a hand mixer, if you have one, and a spatula, if you don’t. If you do have a stand mixer with a dough hook, use it. If preferred, apple cider can be used in place of milk in the glaze. Glazes can be used on baked donuts as well.

Yield | 10 donuts | Donuts ½ cup warm water, 105ºF to 110ºF

1½ Tbsp active dry yeast ¼ cup granulated sugar, plus 1½ tsp ¼ tsp baking powder

1 tsp fine sea salt or kosher salt 2¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more

for kneading

2 Tbsp unsalted butter, room

temperature

2 large egg yolks ¼ tsp vanilla extract

vegetable oil for frying Vanilla Glaze 1 ½ cups powdered sugar

3 to 4 Tbsp milk or more for desired

consistency

2 tsp vanilla extract

| Preparation – Donuts | In a small bowl, whisk together warm water, yeast and 1½ tsp sugar.

Set aside for 5 minutes, until yeast gets foamy.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining ¼ cup of sugar, baking powder, salt and flour and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together butter, egg yolks and vanilla extract. Add yeast mixture and whisk to combine. Add one third of dry ingredients and mix with a spatula until flour is incorporated. Add another third of dry ingredients and mix again to combine. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix until you are unable to incorporate with the spatula. At this point, begin to knead dough in the bowl for up to 5 minutes, or until dough is smooth but slightly tacky. You may add up to 2 Tbsp flour to avoid dough sticking to the bowl.

Shape dough into a disk 6-inches wide and place on a parchment-lined or lightly floured baking sheet. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and place in an unheated oven with the light on. Let rise until doubled, 1 hour.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 12inch circle about ¼- to ½-inch thick (A ½-inch thick circle yields larger, but fewer, donuts; ¼-inch thick circle yields 10 donuts).

Cut out donuts with a 2-inch cutter or the 2-inch-wide mouth of a glass, dipping in flour after each use. Reroll dough scraps and cut more. Cut ½- to 1-inch donut holes with cutter, the large end of a pastry tip or even a bottle cap. Place donuts and holes on a parchmentlined or lightly floured baking sheet 1 inch apart.

Lightly cover in plastic wrap and place in oven for another 30 to 45 minutes or until dough has almost doubled in size.

While donuts are rising, add 2 to 3 inches of oil to a heavy-bottomed pot, such as a Dutch oven, and heat to 350ºF using a candy thermometer or digital probe. If you don’t have a thermometer, test the oil’s readiness by placing a cube of bread or one of your donut holes in the oil. If it browns within 15 to 20 seconds, it’s the correct temperature.

Fry donuts until light golden brown on each side. A wooden skewer to flip donuts is very helpful. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined baking sheet and then a drying rack.

| Preparation – Vanilla Glaze | Combine powdered sugar, milk and vanilla and stir. Dip one or both sides of donuts in vanilla glaze and transfer to a drying rack.

Basic Baked Cake Donuts Recipe by Tory Bahn

For an easier, comparatively mess-free and somewhat healthier donut, look no further than this baked cake donut. A great cake donut yields a tender crumb encased by a crisp crust.

Yield | 12 donuts |

1½ cups all-purpose flour, sifted

1½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp fine sea salt or kosher salt ¼ to ½ tsp nutmeg (optional)

6 Tbsp butter, softened

½ cup granulated sugar

1 egg

½ cup whole milk

| Preparation |

Preheat oven to 400ºF.

Grease donut pan with cooking spray and set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg, if desired, and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine butter and sugar. Using a hand mixer, beat until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add egg and mix to incorporate. Add 1/3 of dry ingredients, followed by half of the milk. Continue alternating between adding last 2/3 of dry ingredients with remainder of milk, finishing with dry. Beat just until batter is smooth. Do not overbeat.

Using a piping bag or plastic sandwich bag with one corner snipped off, pipe batter into donut cavities about ¾ full. Bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Invert donuts onto a cooling rack and continue with remainder of donut batter. *For a decadent twist on this donut recipe, melt 1 stick of butter in a small saucepan and set aside. Whisk 1¼ cups granulated sugar with 1 Tbsp cinnamon. Dip donuts, both sides, into the butter, then toss in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

fry ‘em and glaze ‘em.

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PICTURED: Basic Yeast-Raised Glazed Donuts. See recipe above.

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55

sweets

Apple Cider Donuts Recipe by Brian Marsden, Vincent Van Doughnut

mmm... warm donuts with a mug of piping hot cider.

Vincent Van Doughnut’s Brian Marsden recommends dusting these donuts with cinnamon and sugar while they’re still warm.

To do so, simply combine 1 cup sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon to toss donuts in for even coverage.

Yield | 12 donuts | 2 2 2 1 ½ 2 ½ 2 1 ¼ ¼

cups all-purpose flour tsp cinnamon tsp baking powder tsp baking soda tsp salt Tbsp vegetable shortening cup fine sugar egg yolks tsp vanilla extract cup buttermilk cup apple cider oil for frying (liquid shortening, vegetable oil or canola oil)

| Preparation | Mix together all dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside. in a stand mixer, using a paddle attachment on medium speed, combine shortening and sugar. add egg yolks and beat until smooth and fluffy. Mix in vanilla, buttermilk and cider. add dry mixture, slowly, until ingredients are incorporated and form a slightly sticky dough. once combined, remove the bowl from the stand mixer, cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes. after dough has cooled, roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about ½-inch thick. using donut cutters, cut out donuts. Reroll any leftover dough to cut additional donuts. in a large saucepan, heat oil to 360ºF using a candy thermometer. Fry donuts in heated oil in small batches until golden brown. transfer to a drying rack before glazing or sugaring.

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57

sweets

Zeppole with Chocolate Mint Cream and Chocolate Shards Recipe by Anne Croy, pastaRia

Pastaria pastry chef Anne Croy’s zeppole, while inspired by the French cream puff, is an Italian donut of sorts, similar to pâte à choux.

Yield | 18 | ChoColAte Mint PAstry CreAM

1½ ½ ¼ 5 ½ 4 2 1 4 2

oz fresh chocolate mint leaves, blanched, shocked cup milk, plus 1½ cups more cup sugar, plus ½ cup more Tbsp unbleached flour tsp salt egg yolks, beaten Tbsp unsalted butter tsp vanilla extract oz cream cheese sheets gelatin, softened in cold water

ZePPole

1 ½ 1¾ 7

cup water cup unsalted butter cups unbleached flour pinch salt large eggs parchment paper vegetable oil for frying dark and white chocolate shards

| Preparation – Chocolate Mint Pastry Cream | place blanched mint leaves, ½ cup milk and ¼ cup sugar in a blender and blend until completely emulsified. set aside. in a medium saucepan, whisk 1½ cups milk, ½ cup sugar, flour and salt until smooth. place over medium heat and continue whisking until thickened. pour a small amount of hot mixture into beaten egg yolks in a separate bowl, whisking to incorporate. add yolk mixture back into custard and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until thick and bubbly.

Remove from heat. add butter, vanilla, cream cheese and softened gelatin sheets. Whisk until all ingredients are fully incorporated. allow to cool to room temperature. add mint purée and blend thoroughly. cover and refrigerate until cold and set.

| Preparation – Zeppole | in a medium saucepan, add water and butter and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in flour all at once.

Return to low heat and continue to stir quickly until dough pulls away from the sides and bottom of pan. transfer dough to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. at low speed, add eggs one at a time, mixing until each is fully incorporated. spoon dough into a large pastry bag fitted with a ½-inch tip. pour 3 inches of oil into a heavybottomed pot and heat to 350ºF, using a candy thermometer. pipe dough into 3-inch rings on greased parchment and carefully remove into oil, or pipe dough directly into heated oil. Fry until each side is golden brown and puffed with air. Drain on paper towels and cool. pipe pastry cream into the centers of zeppole. top with chocolate shards.

enjoy this italian donut with a little french twist!

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sweets

Decadent Double Chocolate Peppermint Candy Donuts Recipe by Frank and Linda LoForte, ex cop donut Shop

you have the right to remain amazed by this ex cop donut shop creation!

This indulgent baked donut recipe by Frank and Linda Loforte, owners of Ex Cop Donut Shop in Oakville, is easy to whip up and fun to make with family and friends during the holiday season.

Yield | 8 to 12 donuts | 1 ¼ 1 1/8 ¼ ¼ 1 1 1 ½ ½ 3 to 4

cup unbleached, all-purpose flour cup dark-chocolate cocoa powder tsp baking powder tsp salt tsp cinnamon cup honey large egg cup buttermilk Tbsp canola oil tsp vanilla extract cup mini-chocolate chips peppermint candy canes, crushed

| Preparation | preheat oven to 400ºF. in a large bowl, combine first 5 ingredients and set aside. in a medium bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Slowly fold wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. coat a donut pan with non-stick cooking spray, then sprinkle mini-chocolate chips in the bottom of each donut cavity. Spoon batter over chocolate chips until half full. bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. after allowing to cool for a few minutes, remove donuts from pan and sprinkle with crushed candy canes, which will stick to melted chocolate chips.

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more donut recipes sweets

Gingerbread Donuts with Boiled Brown-Sugar Icing Recipe by Frank and Linda LoForte, ex cop donut Shop

This recipe for gingerbread donuts developed by the Lofortes evokes memories of Grandma’s holiday gingerbread cookies. Dipped in a boiled brown-sugar icing, which complements the spice, this donut is wonderful served warm.

Yield | 8 to 12 donuts | donuts

1 ¾ ¼ ¼ ½ 1/8 1/8 1 ¼ 1 ¼ 2 2 2

cup flour tsp baking powder tsp baking soda tsp salt tsp ground ginger tsp ground allspice tsp ground cloves tsp cinnamon cup brown sugar, packed large egg cup applesauce Tbsp maple syrup or molasses Tbsp milk Tbsp butter, room temperature

BoiLed Brown-sugar icing

2 ¼ 1 ½

Tbsp butter cup brown sugar, packed Tbsp milk cup powdered sugar

| Preparation – Donuts | preheat oven to 350ºF. in a large bowl, combine the first 9 ingredients and whisk. in a medium bowl, combine remaining ingredients and whisk. add wet ingredients to dry and thoroughly mix. coat a donut pan with nonstick cooking spray, then scoop batter into pan until half full. bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

| Preparation – Boiled Brown-Sugar Icing | in a saucepan, combine butter and brown sugar. bring to a boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly

more recipes from our st. louis donut experts.

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to keep from burning. add milk and bring back to a boil, constantly stirring. While mixture is boiling, add powdered sugar and remove from heat, stirring until smooth. once donuts have slightly cooled, dip the tops into warm icing and set on a drying rack.

Fresh Pumpkin Buttermilk Donuts with Malted Milk Chocolate Drizzle and Toasted, Salted Hazelnuts Recipe by anne croy, paStaRia

Croy shares a recipe based on her long-standing love of pumpkin, as well as the plethora of fresh gourds available locally. The recipe calls for malted milk chocolate made by Askinosie in Springfield, Mo., which provides a natural complement to the spices in the pumpkin and the toasted hazelnuts.

Yield | 24 donuts | donuts

1 2 ½ 1 4 1½ ½ 1 ½ 2 ½ ¾ ¼ ¼ 1

cup fresh pumpkin eggs cup buttermilk tsp vanilla extract Tbsp unsalted butter, melted, cooled cups unbleached flour cup whole-wheat flour cup sugar cup brown sugar tsp baking powder tsp baking soda tsp cinnamon tsp grated nutmeg tsp ground ginger tsp salt

chocoLate drizzLe

¾ 6½

cup heavy cream oz Askinosie CollaBARation Malted Milk chocolate bar hazelnuts, toasted and salted

| Preparation – Donuts | preheat oven to 350ºF. in a medium bowl, combine all wet ingredients. in a separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients. pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients and whisk until smooth. do not overbeat. pour batter into a pastry bag and pipe into the cavities of greased donut pans. bake for 12 minutes or until donuts are springy to the touch. Remove from pans and allow to cool.

| Preparation – Chocolate Drizzle | in a saucepan over medium heat, heat heavy cream.

Melt chocolate in heated cream and whisk until smooth. cool until slightly thickened. pour into pastry bag fitted with small round tip and drizzle across donuts. top with toasted, salted hazelnuts.

Brandied Eggnog-Potato Yeast-Raised Donuts Recipe by Brian Marsden, Vincent Van doughnut

The use of potato in Vincent Van Doughnut’s yeast-raised recipe, which was created via experimentation with Amish donut recipes, provides both moisture and fluffiness.

Yield | 12 donuts | donuts

3 ½ 2½ 3 3 1 1 3 3 1 ½ 1

Tbsp rapid-rise yeast tsp baking powder cups all-purpose flour Tbsp nonfat dried milk Tbsp instant potatoes Tbsp soy flour tsp salt Tbsp sugar eggs tsp vanilla extract cup vegetable shortening, melted cup water, 120ºF to 130ºF oil for frying (liquid shortening, vegetable oil or canola oil)

gLaze

1 1 2

Tbsp brandy Tbsp eggnog cups powdered sugar, sifted ground nutmeg, for garnish

| Preparation – Donuts | place the first 8 ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. in a separate bowl, beat eggs and mix in vanilla extract. Slowly add egg mixture to dry ingredients and incorporate thoroughly. Slowly add shortening until incorporated, and then slowly add water until incorporated.

Mix with dough hook for 5 minutes, or until no lumps are visible and the dough pulls completely away from the sides of the bowl. dough should be a bit tacky, but not wet. this is a sticky dough, but not a wet dough. you might need to add a touch of extra flour to the dough so it is not too sticky, but be careful not to add too much. When dough is ready, remove from mixer and place in a covered bowl for 10 minutes. proof until dough has doubled in size.

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface and cut donuts to your desired size. place donuts on 4-inch-by-4-inch squares of parchment paper. the parchment paper allows you to add donuts to the fryer without touching them and potentially deflating the proof. place donuts on squares of parchment paper on cookie sheets, and place in oven with the light on, with no heat, for second proofing, 30 to 45 minutes. in a large saucepan, heat oil until it reaches 360ºF on a candy thermometer. this is very important so your donuts don’t absorb the oil. once donuts have finished proofing, fry them in heated oil. Let them cool before glazing.

| Preparation – Glaze | in a medium bowl, place powdered sugar. Slowly stir in brandy and eggnog, a little at a time, to make a smooth, pourable glaze. if glaze is too thin, add more powdered sugar to gain desired consistency. if glaze is too thick, add more eggnog, 1 tbsp at a time, to reach desired consistency. glaze is the perfect consistency when the whisk leaves ribbons. once donuts are glazed, dust with nutmeg to garnish if desired.

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sugar r

how to make hard candies at home Written by Shannon Cothran

|

recipes by Casey Shiller

|

photography by Jonathan Gayman

r rush

it’s that time of year again: The time when Pinterest reaches a fever pitch, with home cooks and crafters sharing creative ideas for holiday gifts and recipes that feature a personal touch.

This year, instead of scouring the Internet for creative homemade sweets, look no further than Casey Shiller, coordinator of baking and pastry arts at St. Louis Community College-Forest Park. We asked Shiller to develop three recipes for festive turns on different types of hard candies: poured, pulled and filled sugar pillows.

For the unfamiliar, poured lollipops are usually “a round tablet you can see through,” Shiller explains, while pulled are opaque and twisted around a stick. Pillows are simply pulled sugar with a brittle-nut paste or red-fruit jelly

sweets

lollipops, candy canes & hard candy filling. Though these candies take serious skill to make at home, the rewards also make highly personalized holiday presents or hostess gifts.

“When you’re thinking about holiday gifts, hard candy is something that’s personal and takes time to make,” Shiller says. “It takes skill, and you can ‘wow’ and amaze your friends with it. You can also really control the process: We’re not using high-fructose corn syrup. You have the ability to do it the way you envisioned.”

After you master the art and science of basic hard-candy making, delve into some personalization: Try out different candy molds, food coloring or techniques such as bending to create candy in fun shapes and shades. For a more elegant gift, try adding dried fruit or nuts to plain, round molds before pouring sugar on top.

You can get just as creative with packaging and presentation: Clear plastic or white waxy wrappers are available from candy suppliers, and you’ll want to wrap your candies in either one of those first to keep the candy as dry as possible. But the sky’s the limit on the second wrapper: Drop into local craft stores to peruse selections of stickers, papers, ribbon, stamps and scissors with shaped or textured blades to cut festive wrapper edges.

Poured Sugar Candies A copper pot with a small pouring spout on the side is a candy maker’s best friend. Invest in one to make hard candy consistently and correctly every time. For this recipe, look for alcohol-based food coloring, which will work best.

Yield | 12 | 12 7 17½ 7 10 10

lollipop sticks (optional) vegetable oil oz cold water oz pure granulated cane sugar oz light corn syrup drops food coloring drops oil-based candy flavoring

| Preparation | If making lollipops, place lollipop sticks into desired silicone, tempered-plastic or metal candy molds designed for hard candies.

If using plastic or metal molds, very lightly rub molds with vegetable oil prior to casting.

Pour cold water into a copper pot. Add cane sugar and mix gently. Using a pastry brush dipped in water, wash down the sides of the pot, ensuring no sugar crystals remain on sides. Bring to a boil on medium heat. Once boiling, add corn syrup.

Continue to occasionally wash down sides of pot with pastry brush dipped in water during cooking, until mixture reaches 260ºF on a digital probe or candy thermometer. Boil on high heat until sugar registers 299ºF. Add coloring and flavoring and swirl pot to incorporate fully. Let pot sit over heat until all bubbles dissipate.

Carefully fill molds by pouring in a small stream of hot sugar. Do not use a spoon and do not scrape sugar from sides of pan into molds.

Let molds rest until sugar hardens, about 20 minutes. Gently unmold lollipops, wiping excess oil from surface of candy

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if necessary. Using a cooking or kitchen torch, pass a flame over the surface of the hardened lollipop to create a crystal-clear appearance.

Allow to cool before packaging or serving.

Pulled Sugar Candies You will need a pair of cotton butler’s gloves with a pair of powder-free latex gloves on top to avoid burning yourself or crystallizing the sugar while pulling it. Shiller recommends placing a Silpat on an electric griddle set to the lowest setting to create the ideal resting place for hardened sugar to become pliable again.

Yield | 12 | TarTaric acid SoluTion

1 1

oz water oz tartaric acid

candiES

7 17½ 6 7 10 10 12

oz cold water oz pure granulated cane sugar oz light corn syrup drops tartaric acid solution (recipe below) drops oil-based candy flavoring drops food coloring lollipop sticks

| Preparation – Tartaric Acid Solution | Bring water to a boil. Stir in tartaric acid until fully dissolved. Allow to cool and set aside. | Preparation – Candies | Pour cold water into a copper pot. Add cane sugar, mixing gently.

Using a pastry brush dipped in water, wash down the sides of the pot, ensuring no sugar crystals remain on sides. Bring to a boil over medium heat.

Once boiling, add corn syrup.

Continue to occasionally wash down sides of pot with pastry brush dipped in water while cooking, until mixture reaches 260ºF on a candy or digital probe thermometer.

Boil on high heat until sugar registers 285ºF. Using an eyedropper, add tartaric acid solution.

Continue cooking on high heat until sugar registers 320ºF. Add flavoring and swirl pot to incorporate fully (do not use a spoon or stir).

Pour 2/3 of the mixture onto a Silpat non-stick silicone baking mat. Color the remaining liquefied sugar as desired and pour onto another Silpat.

As the clear syrup cools around the edges, use gloved fingertips to push and fold the outside edges toward the center of the pool. Repeat this process with colored sugar.

Continue

to push and fold the edges of the warm sugar toward the center until the sugar forms a pliable mass that can be kneaded.

Knead clear sugar, continuously folding it in half and pulling it until it is opaque, white and shiny.

Repeat this process with colored sugar.

Roll white sugar into a long cylindrical tube. Pull colored sugar into long narrow ribbons and wrap the tube with colored strips.

While sugar is still pliable, gently pull the cylinder, creating a narrower cylinder as you pull. Wrap the narrow cylinder of sugar around a lollipop stick, twisting to create your desired color and lollipop pattern. Allow to cool before packaging or serving.

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Baked and fried, sugared and glazed, we show you how to produce perfect donuts and donuts holes at home.

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

Feast TV is presented by Missouri Wines with additional support from Chef’s Shoppe and Whole Foods Market.

Hungry for more? feastSTL.com

Inspired Food Culture

DECEMBER 2013

67

sweets

cute & classic holiday candy Filled Sugar Pillows Don’t attempt to make filled sugar pillows until you’ve mastered poured and pulled candies – these take real skill to prepare. In this recipe we learn how to make raspberry and hazelnut fillings to form the rich center of these indulgent candies.

Yield | 30 | raspBerry filling

3 ¾ 2 ¼ 2

oz raspberries oz light corn syrup oz granulated sugar tsp pectin drops tartaric acid solution (recipe on p. 66)

hazelnut filling

4 5½ ¼

oz powdered sugar oz whole hazelnuts, blanched and toasted oz cocoa butter, melted

hard candy shell

7 17½ 6 7

oz cold water oz granulated sugar cane oz light corn syrup drops tartaric acid solution (recipe on p. 66) 10 drops food coloring

| Preparation – Raspberry Filling | In a copper pan, cook raspberries, corn syrup, sugar and pectin as if making jam, until the mixture reaches 225ºF on a candy or digital probe thermometer.

Remove from heat, and,

using an eyedropper, add tartaric acid solution.

Swirl until combined, and allow mixture to cool until lukewarm.

| Preparation – Hazelnut Filling | In a food processor, combine powdered sugar and hazelnuts. Purée until a smooth paste forms. Add melted cocoa butter and continue to process until mixture is smooth. Friction from the food processor will warm the mixture.

| Preparation – Candies | In a copper pot over high heat, add cold water. Add sugar, mixing gently. Using a pastry brush dipped in water, wash down the sides of the pot, ensuring no sugar crystals remain on sides. Over medium heat, bring mixture to a boil. Once boiling, add corn syrup. Continue to occasionally wash down sides of pot with pastry brush dipped in water during cooking, until mixture reaches 260ºF. Boil on high heat until sugar registers 285ºF. Using an eyedropper, add tartaric acid solution.

Continue cooking on high heat until sugar registers 320ºF. Add food coloring and swirl pot to incorporate fully.

Pour 2/3 of the mixture onto a Silpat non-stick silicone baking mat. Color the remaining liquefied sugar as desired, pour onto a second Silpat. As the clear syrup cools around the edges, use your gloved fingertips to push and fold the outside edges toward the center of the pool. Repeat this process with colored sugar.

Continue to push and fold the edges of the warm sugar toward the center until the sugar forms a pliable mass that is able to be kneaded. Knead clear sugar, continuously folding it in half and pulling it until it is opaque and shiny. Perform the same process with the colored sugar.

Using a rolling pin, roll sugar into a rectangular sheet. Spread lukewarm filling onto the sugar sheet, leaving a ½-inch border around the edges. Starting with the longest side of the rectangle, roll into a tube (as if making cinnamon rolls). Pinch ends to ensure no filling escapes.

Pull colored sugar into long narrow ribbons and wrap the tube with colored strips.

While sugar is still pliable, gently pull the cylinder, creating a narrower cylinder as you pull, twisting to create your desired color pattern. Using a knife, cut straight down through the pliable, filled sugar cylinder to create pillows. Allow to cool before packaging or serving.

7

casey shiller’s candy-making tips 1 Buy the right gadgets. You will need a digital scale, two Silpats, a griddle, cotton butler’s gloves, powder-free latex gloves, a candy thermometer and a copper saucepan with a pour spout. Shiller prefers using copper because it cooks the sugar quickly.

“It’s one of the best mediums for conducting heat,” Shiller says. Make sure you buy molds meant for hard candies (chocolate molds will melt). “I really, really like silicone molds,” Shiller notes. You also need to have an accurate thermometer: Calibrate the thermometer in ice water and boiling water to be sure it reads 32°F in ice water and 212°F in boiling water. “Make sure it’s correct,” Shiller cautions. “As you get to the 320°F point, it starts to caramelize. We don’t want that for hard candies. We want it to be nice and clear.”

2 Buy the right ingredients. Use highquality, clean, sugarcane-based sugar.

“C&H is the brand I like because it’s so refined,” Shiller says.

3 Be careful. Remember, sugar is very hot when you are cooking it. It’s a safety concern. Shiller emphasizes not touching sugar while it is in the pot.

4 Move fast. When you’re making hard candy with sucrose, try to cook it as quickly as possible. “We don’t want to spend a long time cooking the sugar because of the crystal structure of sugar – once we add water and heat, it inverts its crystal structure into a liquid sugar,” Shiller says. “The water starts to evaporate at 212ºF. Once it reaches 300ºF, there’s very little water left. At that point, the sugar becomes brittle and is susceptible to re-crystallization. If there’s one grain of crystallized sugar that drops into liquefied sugar, it has the potential to revert liquefied sugar back into its crystal form. If there are any impurities, agitation (stirring) of crystals, it will go completely back into a pot of granulated sugar.”

5 step away froM the spoon. As you’re pouring the sugar out of the pot, do not use a spoon or a high-heat rubber spatula. “Don’t scrape the pan,” Shiller says. “Just pour it out of the pot into your molds and let it be. If you scrape it, those lollipops made from scraped sugar are more likely to crystallize.”

6 teMperature. The higher you cook it, the less water and more resistant to humidity your candy will be. “If I cook it to 311ºF, I will have a lollipop that will last longer in [a] humid environment, but I have to be cautious because it will start to turn yellow, as it wants to caramelize.” There will be overcooking (the sugar will continue to rise in temperature after you take it off the heat), so be aware of that as you work.

7 cheat sheet. If you love the idea of molding cute lollipops and wrapping them in crafty homemade papers but don’t want to trifle with sugar, Shiller says there is a way to cheat. “If you just take any hard candy that you’re able to purchase, such as Jolly Rancher Hard Candy or Life Savers, you could, in a stainless-steel pot, gently melt those to the point that they become fluid, and then cast those,” Shiller says.

68

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DECEMBER 2013

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feastSTL.com

DECEMBER 2013

on the Rise

Written by Alexandra Bates

|

photography by Demond Meek

the neighborhood bakery boom

the truism goes that history often repeats itself.

Known for its strong, diverse neighborhoods, St. Louis has a rich history of small, community bakeries, each serving a bounty of baked goods. In the past five years, we’ve seen a resurgence or return to these types of neighborhood bakeries in St. Louis, with more and more rising up across the city at a rapid pace – offering both specialty and traditional pastries. These are not replacing long-standing local shops, but sharing something new to patrons and neighbors. With these bakeshops has come a renewed appreciation and support for the neighborhood bakery. PICTURED: Pie Oh My! display case.

sweets

piccione pastry

Forty-four years in the industry has its benefits. For Richard and Elizabeth Nix, having an already successful catering business with a reputation for quality has brought its fair share. Richard, a second-generation owner of Butler’s Pantry, opened a new business in The Loop in April, an Italian bakery called Piccione Pastry. “We always knew we wanted it to be kind of an Italian slant and be kind of a single-serve Italian pastry shop – not necessarily a bakery where you would buy an apple pie or a loaf of bread, but a place where you could go in between meals or after meals, or take it home,” says Richard. Executive pastry chef Martin Lopez (pictured) mixes up small batches of treats including cannolis – seven traditional, along with some revolving seasonal treats (cookies and cream, gooey butter, pumpkin) – several varieties of cassata cake, tiramisu and Ricotta cheesecake. Piccione also serves gluten-free, sugar-free and vegan versions of its Italian specialties, careful to make sure every customer can indulge. “His forte is baking with the best ingredients possible,” Richard says. “All of the cannolis, all the fillings – really, everything is made in small batches and homemade in the store.”

Piccione Pastry, 6197 Delmar Blvd., The Loop, 314.932.1355, piccionepastry.com

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Inspired Food Culture

DECEMBER 2013

73

sweets

pint size bakery & coffee

Opening a bakery wasn’t always the goal for Christy Augustin, who recognized the value of perfecting her craft. “I realized there were a lot of great people to work for and a lot of things to learn from working at a variety of different places,” says Augustin. After working the spectrum – from a country club to a restaurant to The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans – Augustin knew there was only one thing left to do. “I felt like, after that, the only place to really go was to do my own thing,” she says. “I felt like I had tried it all and really honed my skills as best as I could, and decided to start Pint Size.” In May 2012, Augustin began the next phase of her culinary career when she opened Pint Size Bakery & Coffee in Lindenwood Park. Since then, she’s been developing recipes and creating baked goods from scratch – such as her “famous” oatmeal cream pies – using seasonal produce and only farm-fresh eggs. And now, with four full-time bakers and counter and seasonal staff, she’s helping others not so unlike herself. “That’s amazing to me that I’m providing a livelihood to such really creative and talented bakers that wouldn’t exist if my little bakery didn’t exist.”

Pint Size Bakery & Coffee, 3825 Watson Road, Lindenwood Park, 314.645.7142 pintsizebakery.com

TV WATCH THE DECEMBER EPISODE NOW! Watch the DECEMBER episode of Feast TV on the

Watch the upcoming December episode on the Nine Network (Channel 9) at 2pm on Sat., Dec. 7, and 1pm on Mon., Dec. 9.

Feast TV will also air on the nineCREATE channel periodically throughout the month.

Feast TV is presented by Missouri Wines with additional support from Chef’s Shoppe and Whole Foods Market.

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Inspired Food Culture

DECEMBER 2013

75

sweets

pie oh my!

Like many food-fascinated children turned professional bakers, Jane Callahan learned to bake from her mother. And from an early age, pies were always her favorite thing to make.

Several years and jobs later, she managed to hold onto that passion, baking pies on weekends and eventually working out of a business incubator in Downtown St. Louis. “I’ve worked in other jobs in other parts of my professional life, and having that tangible hands-on result to what you do is awesome,” says Callahan. Her shop, Pie Oh My!, opened in Maplewood in September 2012 and seemed to her a “natural progression.” In addition to offering traditional pie flavors, Callahan enjoys experimenting with new recipes and techniques, influenced by what seasonal fruits are available, as well as by other area businesses. “We do an oatmeal-maple-walnut with Schlafly Oatmeal Stout,” she says. “Then we also do a pecan pie with Schlafly Imperial Stout, and our most recent flavor is a maple-walnut with Schlafly Pumpkin Ale.” Being so creative and keeping patrons happy – and full – is more than a full-time job, but Callahan wouldn’t have it any other way. “There’s a beginning, middle and end in every pie and every day,” she says. “I start the day early, before the sun rises, and make beautiful things with fresh ingredients that make people happy. It’s really very gratifying.”

Pie Oh My!, 2719 Sutton Blvd., Maplewood 314.704.4416, pieohmystl.com

76

feastSTL.com

DECEMBER 2013

sweets

amy’s corner bakeshop

Amy Verkamp-McArthy’s decision to open her own bakeshop, though spurred by unemployment, was no less motivated by a passion for baking. “I was a copy editor at the Post-Dispatch for 13 years, and about a year and a half ago I was laid off,” says Verkamp-McArthy. “I spent the better part of a year looking for a job and I couldn’t find one that I liked as much as the one I’d had.” Having been “moonlighting” as a baker on the weekends, she decided to take the leap, making her part-time hobby a full-time gig. At her shop at the corner of Taylor and Chouteau, duly named Amy’s Corner Bakeshop, she offers hungry customers a bit of everything – following both old family recipes and new ones she’s cooked up – including cinnamon rolls, muffins, scones, brownies, bar cookies, lemon bars and cookies (including her popular white chocolate-pretzel cookies). The shop also began serving breakfast and lunch items near the end of October.

Amy’s Corner Bakeshop, 4476 Chouteau Ave., The Grove, 314.371.2253, amysbakerystlouis.com

sweets

russell’s café & bakery/russell’s on macklind For Russell Ping and his mom, Kate Ping, their bakeries – Russell’s Café & Bakery in Fenton and Russell’s on Macklind in Southampton – are extensions of their own kitchens. The first location, which opened in Fenton in 2006, seemed like the natural thing to do. “It was very much like a family business kind of started around our kitchen table,” says Russell. “I had a cooking background; my mom had a retail background.

And we had been thinking for a few years that it would be good to kind of join forces and see what we could do with our creativity.” With an almost entirely made-from-scratch menu and a focus on quality, the café and bakery has done well – so well it moved to a larger location in June 2012 and opened the second location on Macklind Avenue in March, which Russell manages. The secret to the bakery’s success, Russell says, is in its simple approach. “I’ve always said that our style is to do things kind of interesting but simple,” he says. “So, we don’t really like to [make] things overly sweet – or we’re not overly trendy, but we just try to get interesting things together that are simple that will come out to be great products.”

Russell’s on Macklind, 5400 Murdoch Ave., Southampton, 314.553.9994, russellscafe.com

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DECEMBER 2013

79

sweets

la patisserie chouquette

Angela Giancola knows a good opportunity when she sees one. Giancola’s life partner Ben Poremba was already acquainted with pastry chef Simone Faure (pictured) through his business Salume Beddu, and when Poremba introduced Giancola to Faure at a culinary event, they knew it was meant to be. “We saw an opportunity for her to partner with us to create beautiful pastries,” says Giancola. Already established in the St. Louis culinary scene, Giancola and Poremba saw the same passion in Faure that they themselves have.

“Simone’s always been in love when it comes to the pastry world, the art of pastry and also the French pastry world,” Giancola says. A native of New Orleans, Faure brings a classic French feel to La Patisserie Chouquette, located in Botanical Heights, with her beautifully designed cakes, specialty French macarons and a lighter version of a traditional French pastry called canelé. “It’s actually a custard that’s been cooked at a very high temperature, and it gets really caramelized almost to where it’s very, very, very burnt,” says Giancola. For Faure, dessert is the most redeeming aspect of any meal – and one that deserves acknowledgment. “I think it’s high time that pastry chefs rise to the top of the food scene,” Faure says. “It’s the best part of the meal, the part that makes you smile and makes up for slow service or overcooked steaks.”

La Patisserie Chouquette, 1626 Tower Grove Ave., Botanical Heights, 314.932.7935, simonefaure.com

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DECEMBER 2013

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sweets

whisk: a sustainable bakeshop

In 2010, recent college graduate Kaylen Wissinger entered the working world – only to discover she hated it. “I felt like my soul was being sucked out of my body,” she says. “I just kind of realized this is not what I want to do with my life, and so I kind of took stock of where I was and what my options were and figured, if I’m ever going to start a business, now would be the time.” So, Wissinger – who wasn’t always so good in the kitchen (“I am really clumsy and my mom didn’t really like having me help her in the kitchen as a kid,” she says) – decided to pursue her new love: baking. She applied to work out of a business incubator in Downtown St. Louis, was accepted and began selling her homemade baked goods at area farmers’ markets. And in November 2012, she opened her brick-and-mortar shop, Whisk: a Sustainable Bakeshop, on Cherokee Street, with co-owner Pete Wissinger. There, she discovered a better path for herself – and a purpose. Through some of her specialties, such as her scones (think blueberry-lemon, apple-Cheddar, bacon-blue-cheese and bacon-apple-maple), Wissinger is able to focus on her new goal: “I try to keep as many people happy as much as possible,” she says.

Whisk: a Sustainable Bakeshop, 2201 Cherokee St., Benton Park, 314.932.5166, whiskstl.com

the sweet divine

Jenna Siebert is a firm believer that if something’s meant to be, “everything just falls right into place.” But this doesn’t exactly give credit where credit is due – to Jenna and her husband and business partner, Jason Siebert.

The husband and wife team both grew up baking (Jason’s grandfather owned a bakery for 40 years) and entered the St. Louis food scene via a food truck, The Sweet Divine – easing the transition from at-home baking to commercial scale. “We started researching the whole food truck scene, and there were only a few here in St. Louis at the time, and so I thought, ‘You know what, that would be an awesome way to kind of incubate and kind of get started,” says Jenna. Tagging along with the other food trucks during lunch services, The Sweet Divine gained a customer base that always seemed hungry for more. “People kept asking, ‘Where can we get your cupcakes when we can’t find your truck?’ and we knew the next step was a store,” Jenna says. After a short stint at a storefront on Kingshighway, they finally found “the perfect spot” in Soulard, where Jenna says the neighbors do more than their fair share to support the business. “We decided it was time for a change for us,” Jenna says. “So we sold everything, put all the chips in the business, and were like, ‘Let’s do it.’”

The Sweet Divine, 1801 South Ninth Street, Soulard 636.942.2900, thesweetdivine.com

Inspired Food Culture

MAY 2013

%PG

sweets

sweets

sweetart

Located in the Shaw neighborhood, SweetArt – a veteran bakery compared to the flood of new neighborhood shops popping up around town – has established a reputation in its five years in business, all due to the direction of owner and baker Reine Bayoc. With a focus on entirely from-scratch baking, Bayoc does what she knows and loves best: “traditional American baking.”

“We’re the down-home, old-school neighborhood bakeshop,” she says, “but our slant is that we can do it with butter and eggs, we can also do it vegan, and we can also do gluten-free things as well.” Lead by someone with such a definitive purpose and goal – connecting with people in the community and beyond, as Bayoc says – it’s no wonder SweetArt continues to thrive. In addition to offering sweet treats, Bayoc’s shop also provides a canvas for husband Cbabi Bayoc’s art.

“I love the process. I love creating something with my hands. I like to see peoples’ reactions when they eat something,” she says. “It makes me feel closer to my ancestors, because they also baked and cooked and did everything from scratch.”

SweetArt, 2203 S. 39th St., Shaw 314.771.4278, sweetartstl.com

Visit feastSTL.com for details on the opening of Red Fox Baking.

check it out!

Feast extra

CLASSIFIEDS Inspired Food Culture | Saint Louis

AUTOMOTIVE AUTOMOBILE & MOTORCYCLE STORAGE The Finest in Climate Controlled Storage Close to Clayton and Ladue 314-993-1330 or Kevin@stlouiscarmuseum.com

ST. LOUIS CAR MUSEUM & SALES Now offering Upholstery Services for Your Classic, Antique, Custom and Special Interest Autos Contact Kevin 314.993.1330 Or Kevin@stlouiscarmuseum.com

'04 BMW 330Ci Convertible, Silver, 36K mi., only 1 owner, Exc. Cond., Loaded, Auto w/ Option for Manual. $12,000. If interested please call Bruce (314)965-1573

I BUY RUNNING USED CARS Buying with Integrity for Over 30 Years Cash Paid On The Spot Call Sam 314-302-2008 '05 BMW X5, 100K Mi., Gray Metallic, Loaded, 1 Owner, $11,000.

Call (314)749-7711

CATERERS/EVENT PLANNING ECLECTIC CUISINE Specializing in In-Home Private Event Catering & Dinner Parties.

Free Consultation.

For Immediate Bookings Chef Paul 314-607-9924 eclecticcuisinestl.com

HANDYMAN SERVICES KEN'S HANDYMAN SERVICE Carpentry, Electrical, Plumbing, Painting, Gutter Cleaning and Hauling. Over 25 Yrs. Exp. Ref's.

Insured.

Call Ken 314-567-6900

PRECISION REMODELING Since 1990 - Interior & Exterior We Are Here For All Your Home Improvement Needs & Repairs.

Free Estimates! Fully Insured.

Call Bob (314) 799-4633 or Jim (314) 799-4630

LOT FOR SALE 12531 Ridgefield Dr in Des Peres Beautiful Corner Lot Ready for Your Dream Home. Quick Access to Shopping, Schools and I270.

110' X 151' Paul 314-775-7263

JC PAINTS Interior/Exterior Painting Reliable, Clean & Reasonable.

Insured.

Call John for a free estimate 314-703-2794

TWO LADIES & A BUCKET Two Are Better Than One! Deep & Thorough Cleaning Service Please Contact Susie Duncan at: 314-229-1736 www.twoandabucket.com

KATHLEEN'S GREEK BAKLAVA Prepared from a Traditional Mediterranean Recipe.

Place Order Early for the Holidays!

Call 314-440-1924 24 pieces $48, DELIVERED

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

PAINTING

CLEANING SERVICES

EDIBLES

HOME IMPROVEMENT

VACATION RENTALS

SERVICES ALLEN'S HAULING SERVICE 15, 20 and 30 Yard Trash Containers. Hauling Service.

No Job Too Big Or Small.

Any Type of Trash Removal.

314-621-0481 or 581-7274

TREES PET SERVICES THE WELL BEHAVED PET....

For all your home training needs.

New Puppy, Puppy Mill, Rescue Dogs or Behavioral Problems.

OH, DON'T FORGET THE CAT!!!!

Call me, I can help.

Laura @ 636-456-9993

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE Robertsville, MO-1700 sf. 3br, 2 ba home,15 acres, woods in open,1+miles of track & trail, updated interior: new paint, floors, baths, all appls stay. 1500 Ferris Mower stays, 1+ acre lake, 1 mi. to HWY 30 & N. $329,900.

(314) 221-4892

REGENTS PARK LONDON Modern 2 Bedroom Apartment.

Convenient for Museums, Shopping, Theater.

Wireless Internet Access.

Highly Recommended!

Call 314-569-2009

Trees Trimmed & Removed

GILLS

WANTED WANTED CHINESE ANTIQUES: QUALITY CHINESE ANTIQUES: BUYING IVORY, JADE and BRONZE figurines, NICE PIECES 314-503-4847

TREE SERVICE • Stone Retaining Walls • Stump Grinding • Fully Insured

(636) 274-1378 VACATION RENTALS GULF COAST CONDO Carillon Beach, FL, Destin Area 3BR, 3BA, 3 pools, tennis courts and so much more!

Great Rates. Available NOW! Call Dave at 314-922-8344 For Pictures Please Visit www.vrbo.com/148365

ROBERTSVILLE ESTATE AUCTION CO. Entire Estates or Just Down Sizing Cash Buyout or Consignment For Onsite Evaluation Call 314-229-9274 ï 636-675-5566 www.robertsvilleauction.com OLD RECORDS WANTED Experienced Collector Pays Cash for Your Record Collection.

45 RPM, 78 RPM and 33.3 RPM. Rock, Soul, Jazz. House Calls Made. Call Kurt 314-324-0521

Make a

s h a spl with a larger ad and land future customers!

Call 314/269-8810 or email classified@laduenews.com

for more information Inspired Food Culture

DECEMBER 2013

85

the last bite

custom cookies

Photography by

Jonathan Gayman

Contributor: Kristin Brashares Managing Editor, Digital content The holiday season is my favorite time of year for cookies, as bakers whip up frosted, filled and frilly creations that let you indulge just a little bit more.

Colleen’s Cookie Caife in Clayton is a place where even the cookie-jar classics taste special thanks to premium ingredients and a soft chewiness imparted by the use of various flours, including oat. Some of my favorites are among the top-sellers: the sweet and tart white chocolate-cranberry; the rich Death by Chocolate; and the cocoa-hazelnut.

The team at Colleen’s Cookie Caife caters to every season, and this time of year you’ll find old holiday standbys like Linzer cookies and pecan balls rolled in powdered sugar. Available year-round, the signature shortbreads shine in December, with all kinds of stunning hand-decorated designs, such as winter-forest-inspired pine trees, snowmen and sleighs that I found almost too pretty to eat – almost.

Colleen’s Cookie Caife, 7337 Forsyth Blvd., Clayton 314.727.8427, colleenscookies.com Check out more of Kristin’s work on p. 10, where she shares where to find online extras from this issue at feastSTL.com.

Savor

Savor Specialty Cheeses!

Our selection of specialty cheeses rivals any cheese shop. Stop by our Deli and you’ll find everything from European classics to American artisan cheeses.

From mild to strong, create your own holiday cheeseboard for tasteful holiday entertaining!

88

To watch our Assembling a Holiday Cheeseboard video, visit schnuckscooks.com feastSTL.com

DECEMBER 2013

Š2013 Schnucks