March 2017 Feast Magazine

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march 2017 67 74 76 80

behind the rind dig into eight different styles of cheese made at creameries across the midwest.

from the staff

|6|

The dairy issue

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dr. cheese

when aspiring and established cheesemakers across the country need guidance, they turn to neville mcnaughton of st. Louis-based cheezsorce.

from the PUBLIsher

dIgItaL content

What’s online this month

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feast tv

A look at the craft-beer episode

dIne

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on trend

New-wave waffles

milk money

Low commodity dairy prices are herding small, family-owned dairy farms toward big changes to their business models.

farmstead fresh seven ways to make the most of a whopping 44 midwest-made dairy products, from cultured butter and cream-line milk to bloomy-rind cheese and greek-style yogurt.

| 18 |

where we’re dInIng

The Blue Duck, Aep Restaurant, Yoselin’s

| 20 |

one on one

Nate Feldmiller of Cafe Europa

| 22 |

In season

Sunchokes

drInk

| 28 |

on trend

Pilsners

| 30 |

where we’re drInkIng

The Understudy, Brewery Emperial, The U.R.B.

| 32 |

the mIx

Clover Club

shoP

| 36 |

get thIs gadget

A double-duty cheese board and sleek cheese slicer

| 38 |

one on one

Kristina Briseno of Las Californias Shrub Co.

| 40 |

artIsan ProdUcts

Cheese from Hemme Brothers Creamery and Green Dirt Farm

cook

| 44 |

heaLthy aPPetIte

Savory breakfast bowl

| 46 |

mystery shoPPer

Labneh

| 48 |

qUIck fIx

Shakshuka

| 50 |

sweet Ideas

Chèvre cheesecake TABLE OF CONTENTS PHOTO OF COOL COW CHEESE GOUDA (P. 67) BY jONATHAN GAYmAN COvER PHOTO OF COW FROm ROLLiNG LAWNS FARm (P. 76) BY GREGG GOLDmAN

Volume 8

| Issue 3 | March 2017

Vice President of niche Publishing, Publisher of feast Magazine

Catherine Neville, publisher@feastmagazine.com

sales

director of sales

Angie Henshaw, ahenshaw@feastmagazine.com, 314.475.1298 account Manager

Jennifer Tilman, jtilman@feastmagazine.com, 314.475.1205 sPecial Projects editor

Bethany Christo, bchristo@feastmagazine.com, 314.475.1244

eDITORIal senior editor

Liz Miller, editor@feastmagazine.com Managing editor

Nancy Stiles, nstiles@feastmagazine.com digital editor

Heather Riske, web@feastmagazine.com Kansas city contributing editor

Jenny Vergara st. louis contributing editor

Mabel Suen

In the beer episode of Feast TV, I had a chance to talk with some of the region’s most interesting and innovative brewers, including David Wolfe, the co-founder of Urban Chestnut Brewing Co., which is located in the Grove neighborhood of St. Louis.

editorial intern

Kaitlynn Martin fact checKer

Lindsay Toler Proofreader

Christine Wilmes contributing Writers

Christy Augustin, Sherrie Castellano, Gabrielle DeMichele, April Fleming, Natalie Gallagher, Mallory Gnaegy, Hilary Hedges, Lauren Miers, Brandon and Ryan Nickelson, Ana Pierce, Matt Seiter, Jenn Tosatto, Jessica Vaughn, Shannon Weber

aRT

art director

Alexandrea Povis, apovis@feastmagazine.com Production designer

Jacklyn Meyer, jmeyer@feastmagazine.com contributing PhotograPhers

Zach Bauman, Sherrie Castellano, Judd Demaline, Curt Dennison, April Fleming, Jonathan Gayman, Gregg Goldman, Aaron Ottis, Sandra Park, Anna Petrow, Ana Pierce, Jonathan Pollack, Jennifer Silverberg, Christopher Smith, Mabel Suen, Cheryl Waller

FeasT TV

producer: Catherine Neville production partner: Tybee Studios

COnTaCT Us Feast Media, 8811 Ladue Road, Suite D, Ladue, MO 63124 314.475.1244, feastmagazine.com

DIsTRIbUTIOn To distribute Feast Magazine at your place of business, please contact Jeff Moore for St. Louis, Jefferson City, Columbia, Rolla and Springfield at jmoore@post-dispatch.com and Jason Green for Kansas City at distribution@pds-kc.com.

Feast Magazine does not accept unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or artwork. Submissions will not be returned.

All contents are copyright © 2010-2017 by Feast Magazine™.

All rights reserved.

Reproduction or use in whole or in part of the contents, without the prior written permission of the publisher, is strictly prohibited.

Produced by the Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis, LLC

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publisher’s letter M

ilk is one of those things we take for granted. Go to any convenience store, gas station, big-box store, grocer, anywhere that sells food, and you’re likely to see a generic plastic jug of milk sitting behind glass in a refrigerated case. It’s everywhere. It’s a product that has become commoditized, which means prices are driven by the wholesale market and can fluctuate – sometimes wildly – from week to week and year to year.

more stable price tag than milk alone.

That instability in pricing has led to consolidation in the dairy industry as well as a shrinking number of small, family-run dairy farms. But things are starting to change. Dairy farmers are taking their economic health and the future of their business into their own hands. Many are choosing to bottle and sell milk under their own private labels rather than selling in bulk to a local co-op. Others have decided to create value-added products with their milk and are making cheese, butter and yogurt, all of which carry a higher and

Our local dairy products have never been more varied or of higher quality, which is why we’ve dedicated our March issue to exploring the industry.

dont miss

the new season of

It’s easy to romanticize life on a dairy farm.

It seems so serene – the cows (or goats or sheep) grazing on rolling pasture. The reality is that it is an extremely demanding life to lead; milkings every 12 hours are just the beginning of the responsibilities.

People who are dedicated to dairy farming put their heart and soul into caring for their animals and also creating quality products that sustain the farm.

Until next time,

Catherine Neville

debuting

in april

03.17 ana pierce Springfield, Missouri Writer and Photographer “I was welcomed into Yoselin’s by Juan Pavon and his wife, Maria, and witnessed them delicately prepare favorites inspired by Central and South American fare. Juan and Maria are quick to go into detail about what they love about their home country’s food culture. Originally from Mexico, their carne asada recipe is authentic to what Maria has traditionally made for family and friends. Juan isn’t shy about his enthusiasm to bring genuine Mexican food to the area, either; in his opinion, Springfield has too much ‘Tex Mex’, and his passion for handcrafted, globally inspired food was contagious. I had fun photographing the eats at Yoselin’s, as well – the large windows in the front of the restaurant make for a picture-perfect meal.” (Where We’re Dining, p. 18)

W E ’ R E G R OW I N G !

jonathan pollack St. Louis, Photography “On his latest trip from New York to St. Louis, my father-in-law demanded that we make a stop at Urban Chestnut Brewing Co. after he read about their beers in a national news story. The brewery’s success, it seems to me, must be due in part to the spirit of camaraderie that they foster; when I walked into my photo assignment for this month’s magazine, I saw the brewers at Urban Chestnut laughing and drinking beer (of course) with over 40 other brewers during the brewery’s annual Wolpertinger festival. Witnessing this spirit of friendship and collaboration shared by just about everyone in the local food-and-beverage industry gives me yet another reason to be proud to live in St. Louis.” (On Trend, p. 28)

With all the growth we’re experiencing, we need some great people to help. We’re hiring at all locations, for all positions.

Whether you’re a barista, a chef,

jessica vaughn Columbia, Missouri, Writer “Food writing is always a treat for me, and it’s especially rewarding when there are truly inspiring stories behind the subjects I’m reporting on. When I sat down to talk with the owners of Three Story Coffee, it was quickly apparent that this would be one of those stories. I appreciated the owners’ honesty and dedication to revealing all aspects – pretty and not so pretty – about the coffee industry, and their mission to focus not just on the coffee itself, but on the farmers who work so hard to support their families by crafting a quality crop. I hope this story helps readers and coffee drinkers form a deeper connection with their morning brew. For me, it has certainly made every cup taste much more complex.” (One on One, p. 23)

anna petrow Kansas City, Photographer “Ted Habiger was one of my first clients when I started photographing food, and as anyone who knows him can attest, he is a great friend to have. I’d been hearing about his plans for the brewery for a long time, and taking that first sip after the shoot, it was clear right away that he’s nailed it. The beers are fantastic, but as always with Ted, the food is the real star at Emperial – beautiful, local, unpretentious cuisine that really showcases the best of what the Midwest has to offer. The burger might be a new contender for the best in Kansas City, and I’ll be back for that roasted chicken as often as they’ll let me! ” (Where We’re Drinking, p. 30)

a baker, or especially a people person, we want you.

OUR ST. LOUIS LOCATIONS: Chesterfield, Kirkwood, Crescent, Demun, Kayak’s, Farrell, MCC, the Euclid, Gerhart, Citygarden, and the Roastery OUR KANSAS CITY LOCATIONS: Power & Light District, Stateline, 47th in the Plaza, and Jefferson in the Plaza KALDISCOFFEE.COM/CAREERS

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KC

Waldo Week Sat., Feb. 25 to Fri., Mar. 3; participating locations; 816.523.5553; waldomo.com

Waldo Week is a weeklong celebration of one of Kansas City’s oldest neighborhoods. From Gregory Boulevard to 85th Street, participating Waldo restaurants, stores and services are offering 25 percent off select merchandise and services if you mention Waldo Week. A complete list of participating merchants is at waldomo.com.

02/25

COMO

True/False Film FesT Thu., March 2 to Sun., March 5; prices vary; locations vary in downtown Columbia, Missouri; 573.442.8783; truefalse.org

True/False Film Fest returns to downtown Columbia, Missouri, March 2 to 5. True/False is a transformative four-day celebration featuring all-new nonfiction films, plus music, art, parties, and the best food and drink mid-Missouri has to offer.

20 SOUTH BELT WEST | BELLEVILLE, IL 618.257.9000 WWW.BEASTCRAFTBBQ.COM

03/02

p a r il 1st s n e po

The Rustic Room

STL

Sat., March 4, 7 to 11pm; $35 general admission, $60 VIP; Majorette, 7150 Manchester Road, Maplewood, Missouri; 314.865.0060; artscopestl.org/wallball

s pa c e

03/04

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pub

Seats 100+

nt

o t h by sout

Wall Ball 2017

STL

This live-art extravaganza Wall Ball returns to highlight the creative process of top artists in the St. Louis area. The dazzling party held at Majorette includes a unique silent-auction format for you to bid on the works in progress, and an open bar is included in VIP admission.

schnucks cooks: shakshuka Wed., March 22, 6 to 9pm; Schnucks Cooks

03/22

3707 S. Kingshighway Blvd. | St. Louis, MO 63109 Southtownpub.net | 314-832-9009

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Cooking School; $45; schnuckscooks.com or 314.909.1704

In this class you’ll learn how to make pita bread from scratch. You’ll also learn how to make a pistachio-studded baklava, a popular pastry in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries made with layered phyllo dough, honey and chopped nuts.

d l e Fi lass to g

03/23

STL

Food Fight 2017 – Main EvEnt Thu., March 23, 7pm; tickets starting at $25; Magnolia Hotel St. Louis, 421 N. Eighth St., Downtown, St. Louis; kmox.com/food, y98.com/food

A sellout in 2016, the Food Fight – Main Event is your chance to watch eight locally renowned chefs face off, then sample their dishes and vote for your favorite. The winner, as chosen by the audience and a guest-judge panel, will receive a prize package, bragging rights and the title of St. Louis Food Fight Champion 2017. Plus, through the downloadable Passport to Food Fight 2017 program, enjoy unpublished specials at participating restaurants throughout the month of March.

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Distillery Tours & Tasting Room New Florence, MO woodhatspirits.com | 573-835-1000

MOVE YOUR MEETINGS

STL

Happy Hour

FEast Your EYEs at thE ContEMporarY art MusEuM st. Louis Sun., April 2, 6:30pm tour, 7pm dinner; $75, $50 for members; Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, 3750 Washington Blvd., St. Louis; 314.535.4660; camstl.org/feast

at Herbie’s

CAM presents a museum tour followed by an intimate four-course meal by chef Michael Gallina of the upcoming Vicia, alongside co-owner and general manager Tara Gallina. The dishes served will be inspired by four current exhibitions at CAM and will be announced in the upcoming weeks. Seating is limited; reserve your space early.

STL

aLton Brown LivE: Eat Your sCiEnCE Sun., April 9, 7:30pm; $40 to $125; The Fabulous Fox, 527 N. Grand Blvd., St. Louis; 314.534.1678; fabulousfox.com/events/detail/alton-brown-live

Don’t miss television personality, author and Food Network star Alton Brown live at The Fabulous Fox. Brown’s show mixes science, music and food together into two hours of pure entertainment, plus you’ll see things he’s never been able to do before on TV.

04/09

2-6p daily

herbies.com

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this month on

feastmagazine.com the feed

PhotograPhy by aPril Fleming

We’re giving away a pair of tickets to see alton brown live: eat your Science at the Fabulous Fox theatre on Sun., april 9! just head to the Promotions section at feastmagazine.com for the details.

KC The menu at the newly opened KC Taco Co. in River Market reflects owner Arthur Leduc’s love for travel. That’s why you’ll see Korean bulgogi tacos alongside pork empanadas and tempura-fried portobello mushrooms.

PhotograPhy by ana Pierce

PhotograPhy by jacklyn meyer

After fleeing Laos during the Vietnam War, Mao Her and her family found refuge in Noel, Missouri. Last year, they launched the Oriental Fusion food truck, bringing big flavors to the tiny southwest Missouri town.

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Last month, Clémence Pereur and her mother, Christine, opened Like Home French Café and Pastry in Grand Center. The small shop specializes in authentic French treats, including macarons, choux, quiches, sandwiches, salads, croques and tartines.

sgf You can now find sweet slices of pie served up daily at Druff’s and Cherry Picker Package x Fare, thanks to Eleanor Taylor’s Prairie Pie. Look for varieties including sweet potato and a lemon chess. feastmagazine.com

march 2017

Supplying the ingredientS you need to create your outdoor retreat.

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Springfield

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TV

The craft beer industry just keeps growing, and in this episode, we visit Brew Hub, a company that is helping small brewers meet the growing demand. You’ll also get behind the taps at Urban Chestnut Brewing Co., Mother’s Brewing Co., Earthbound Beer and Crane Brewing to meet the brewers who are pushing the industry forward and find out what makes each brewery unique. Then, get in the kitchen with host Cat Neville and make Spanish-style beer-steamed mussels with an ale from Public House Brewing Co.

In St. Louis’ historic Cherokee-Lemp District, Earthbound Beer is renovating a 19th-century brewery to accommodate its upcoming expansion.

Don’t just drink beer – cook with it! Host Cat Neville shows you how to make Spanish-style mussels with beer and sausage.

At Mother’s Brewing Co. in Springfield, Missouri, the tap room is full of beer lovers trying out experimental brews that may (or may not) end up on store shelves.

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

Missouri Wines

Whole Foods Market

l’ école culinaire

the raphael hotel

Missouri Wines supports the more than 125 wineries operating in the state and is focused on promoting the industry’s growth and vitality.

Feast TV is proud to feature Whole Foods Market’s 365 Everyday Value line of products. Pick up ingredients at Whole Foods locations in the St. Louis area.

In St. Louis and Kansas City, L’Ecole Culinaire offers high-quality culinary education from basic culinary skills to careers in management.

The Raphael Hotel is Feast’s official hotel, offering luxury accommodations and dining near Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza.

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Experience the best of Kansas City

new season begins in april!

Historic Landmark Hotel & Iconic Country Club Plaza Luxury Boutique Accommodations & Romantic Getaways Classic Kansas City Steak & Seafood Restaurant

In St. Louis, tune into the Nine Network (Channel 9) to watch Feast TV Wednesdays at 7pm.

Live KC Jazz Nightly & Weekend Brunch

Historic Hotels of America

In Kansas City, watch Feast TV on KCPT (Channel 19).

325 Ward Parkway I Country Club Plaza I 816.756.3800

raphaelkc.com I chazontheplaza.com

DON’T WORRY! You can watch Feast TV throughout mid-Missouri on KMOS (Channel 6) Thursdays at 7pm and Saturdays at 4:30pm.

SUMMER IS COMING

Feast TV airs in the southern Illinois region on WSIU (Channel 8).

MAKE YOUR LAKE OF THE OZARKS PLANS NOW Check mylaketv.com to watch Feast TV in the Lake of the Ozarks area.

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2016 Best pizza, best pasta

&

best restaurant

$100,000 donated to local charities! award winning patio opening soon

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9568 manchester rd. rock hill, mo katiespizzaandpasta.com (314) 942-6555

all thai'd up

Aep Restaurant spices up 39th Street in Kansas City on p. 18. photography by anna petrow

The Waffle nuT ST. LOuIS. in st. Louis, simon Lusky is best known for healthy eating: He's the

new wave

waffles Written by HeatHer riske

Move over, Eggos: The frozen waffles of your childhood are going gourmet. Instead of just a liberal douse of maple syrup, chefs are using the breakfast treat as a canvas for inventive sweet and savory dishes. Whether topped with candied lemon curd and blueberry gel or loaded with an entire lamb burger and red-eye aïoli, it’s safe to say the humble waffle has come a long way.

chef-owner of revel kitchen in brentwood, Missouri, which offers paleo, vegetarian and gluten-free food, and also a nutritionist for the st. Louis Cardinals. but in December, he and former niche Food Group corporate chef adam altnether launched a pop-up concept devoted to his favorite breakfast food. The Waffle Nut’s initial menu included three savory and three sweet waffles. the Fluffer nutter, for instance, featured housemade marshmallow fluff and peanut butter, while the best-selling the roscoe featured buttermilk-brined and cornflake-crusted fried chicken with a creamy maple-sriracha slaw. “We really wanted to do something fun and simple but elevate it by making everything from scratch and using high-quality ingredients,” Lusky says. “We’re taking these nostalgic foods people are familiar with and putting our twist on them.” to that end, the pair also served cereal milks – inspired by Christina tosi’s Momofuku Milk bar in new york City – in flavors like Cocoa Puffs and Fruity Pebbles, which kaldi’s Coffee roasting Co. used as the base for whimsical cappuccinos and lattes. Lusky says to look for more Waffle nut pop ups, featuring a few new flavors, throughout the year.

314.647.2222, twitter.com/eatrevel PHOtO by J. POLLaCk PHOtOGraPHy

The Waffle iron LaWRENCE, KS. this past new year’s eve, sam Donnell noticed several restaurants in

Lawrence, kansas, serving chicken and waffles on their prix fixe menus. “if we’re making waffles cooler and elevating them to the point where they can be on a menu next to beef tenderloin and other fancy dishes, that’s awesome,” he says. as the owner of The Waffle Iron, which holds pop ups around Lawrence and kansas City, Donnell is known for his creative, elevated takes on waffles. His cookie butter-banana brûlée waffle, for example, features ground-up gingerbread cookies (popular in belgium, they’re known as speculaas) and fresh ginger, topped with sugar and torched banana, plus brownbutter whipped cream. On the savory side, the Waffle iron’s popular Hank benedict subs a waffle in for the traditional english muffin, then adds Hank Charcuterie tasso ham, poached eggs and spicy whipped hollandaise. “i’ve had a lot of success tapping into nostalgia,” Donnell says. “People love it – and i love it too – when you can take something they’re familiar with and do it better than they’d ever had it.” this month, catch the Waffle iron popping up at brew Gallery in Lenexa, kansas, on sat., March 11. facebook.com/wafflelfk PHOtO by CHristOPHer sMitH

ThE COuRGETTE aND ChEDDaR with a base of egg and spiralized zucchini, topped with a housemade veggie sausage gravy from Kingdom Coffee

Kingdom Coffee SPRINGFIELD, MO. When Kingdom Coffee launched its first full brunch menu in

springfield, Missouri, last fall, co-owner Jason strother knew he wanted to focus on waffles, as they’re easy to prepare to order with limited kitchen space. the he coffee shop’s waffle menu, which changes periodically, currently features two savory and two sweet options. the Courgette and Cheddar strays furthest from tradition; strother says it’s more similar to an omelet than a waffle. rather ather than the typical flour base, it’s made with a base of egg and spiralized zucchini, then topped with a housemade veggie sausage gravy. “it’s t’s got a totally different texture and flavor with the majority being egg,” he says. kingdom’s ricotta and sriracha waffle brings the heat, featuring the two ingredients in the batter as well as freshly ground black pepper, cayenne and red pepper; it’s then topped with a sriracha-honey sauce and housemade pico de gallo. On the sweet side, kingdom offers a house waffle with organic maple syrup and fresh berries, as well as the banoffee waffle with askinosie skinosie chocolate ganache, banana-caramel sauce and mint whipped cream. strother says new flavors will appear on the menu this summer.

417.350.1234, kingdom-coffee.com PHOtO by ana PierCe

The FluFFer NuTTer with housemade marshmallow fluff and peanut butter from The Waffle Nut

The haNk BeNedicT with tasso ham, poached eggs and spicy whipped hollandaise from The Waffle Iron

The roscoe with buttermilk-brined and cornflake-crusted fried chicken with creamy maple-Sriracha slaw from The Waffle Nut

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where we’re dining From new restaurants to renewed menus, our staff and contributors share their picks for where we’re dining this month.

Yoselin’s STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANA PIERCE

SPRINGFIELD, MO. Juan Pavon and his wife, Maria, say the new Yoselin’s in Springfield, Missouri, isn’t their first rodeo. After successfully operating a Yoselin’s in Pittsburg, Kansas, the Pavons recently opened their Springfield location, offering Mexican cuisine and more – much more. Many of the items on the menu are inspired by different areas of Central and South America, such as chicken

Milanesa and the Pavons’ version of Colombian patacon pisado, a fried plantain on a bed of tomato and onion topped with chunks of steak covered with a cream sauce. Juan expects carne asada and carnitas to be popular dishes at the new Yoselin’s; both can be ordered with tacos, burritos or a taco salad. “It seems Springfield has been overpopulated [with] Tex-Mex foods,” he says. “We’re excited to offer the community new flavors.”

417.771.5059, yoselins.com

tHe Blue DuCK WRITTEN BY LIZ MILLER

MAPLEWOOD, MO. Last month, The Blue

816.832.8866, aeprestaurant.com

314.769.9940, facebook.com/blueduckstl

Aep RestAuRAnt WRITTEN BY JENNY VERGARA

|

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANNA PETROW

KANSAS CITY. After a trip to Southeast Asia, Aep Restaurant

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY CURT DENNISON

executive chef Jakob Polaco and general manager Adam Northcraft discussed bringing their talents together. The resulting restaurant is located on 39th Street and serves regional dishes from Thailand using Midwest ingredients. Aep – pronounced “ape”– employs a mix of modern and traditional cooking techniques to prepare a signature take on Thai street food. Try the laap neua, a Thai tartare, which features raw chopped sirloin with shallots, kaffir lime and house pickles topped with taro chips. Another standout is laap pla duk featuring flaky shredded catfish mixed with galangal, toasted rice powder, compressed long beans and Vietnamese mint served with sticky rice. Order a round of ice-cold Thai beers, a glass of wine or cocktails inspired by the flavors of Thailand to pair with your feast.

Duck opened in Maplewood, Missouri, serving the creative, from-scratch comfort food so beloved at its flagship location in Washington, Missouri. The restaurant is located in a portion of the space that housed the late, great Monarch in the neighborhood’s bustling downtown district. Owners Chris and Karmen Rayburn feature new dishes not served in Washington, including rye steamed buns filled with house-brined pastrami, pickled cabbage, cucumber kimchi and red miso-Russian dressing; and the smoked BeetLT salad with mustard greens, smoked green tomato jam, sourdough croutons, a white bean purée and toasted pumpkin seeds in a smoked scallion-honey vinaigrette. Fans of the original restaurant can rest easy, as some classic dishes made the cut, including the popular DLT sandwich with cured and smoked duck breast, lettuce, tomato and a fried egg with honey-chipotle mayonnaise on sourdough.

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carly love owner, como confectionary

q&A

Written by Kaitlynn Martin

CoLUMBIA, Mo. although Carly love has a master’s degree from

PHOtOgraPHy by aarOn OttiS

the University of Missouri in occupational therapy, her passion is rooted in the kitchen, with her hands covered in flour. in august 2016, love opened CoMo Confectionary, a cake service that she runs out of her kitchen and Harold’s Doughnuts’ commercial kitchen in downtown Columbia. after taking a part-time job as a donut artisan a Harold’s, love realized how much she loved baking, and started to consider opening her own business. now, she makes cakes for events ranging from weddings to birthday parties. each cake is customized to the client’s wishes using a variety of cake and frosting flavors.

Why open a cake business in Columbia? i chose Columbia because, first of all, i live here, and after looking into some research and talking with people, i found that there really isn’t that middleman between the grocery store and the high-end cake options.

For example, someone who wants get a cake for their wife’s birthday might go to the grocery store and get a cake that has likely been frozen for a while.

Or they may have to use a high-end place that is out of their price range.

My goal is to meet in the middle between those two markets. What can clients expect from your cakes? What i find most motivating is to create a cake that tastes good, looks good and is functional. Sometimes you get a really fancy cake and the caterer is the one who has to cut it because there is fondant layered over it. i pride myself in making cakes that are beautiful and easy to eat. Do you use fondant at all? When i use fondant, i feel like i’m covering up all of the really great buttercream and the design. Doing a design with buttercream is a lot different than fondant, even though both come out gorgeous. but if i can eliminate a step to make the overall experience better, for me, that’s the way to go.

Tell us about your baking inspirations. Some of my greatest inspirations came from my two mentors at Harold’s, Melissa Poelling and Michael Urban. i just really loved getting to be part of their brand and seeing what they built there, and that experience has pushed me to do something that brings joy to people. What’s next for you and CoMo Confectionary? [in] the immediate future, one of my goals is to create more intricate cakes. there are a few different trends coming out, like the geode cake that looks like a rock, made up of colorful rock candy. that’s a really interesting one i will be practicing to put my own spin on.

573.808.0820, comoconfectionary.com Inspired Local Food Culture

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nate feldmiller co-owner and chef, cafe europa

q&A

Written By liz miller

|

PhotograPhy By zach Bauman

KAnSAS CITY. Cafe Europa has been a fixture in Kansas city’s crestwood shopping and

dining district for about nine years, and now fans of the restaurant and bakery can catch its seasonal fare in the union hill neighborhood, too. chef and co-owner nate Feldmiller opened the second location in early December along with general manager Dan Weber in order to expand cafe europa’s hours and introduce a small retail market. the original location is open for lunch and dinner – and brunch on Sundays – while the union hill outpost serves breakfast from 7 to 10am and an “all-day” menu from 11am to 9pm. Feldmiller makes as much as possible in house, from rustic breads to house-cured pastrami. the market, which opened earlier this year, stocks a selection of dry goods, oils, vinegars, housemade sauces and spreads, cured meats, cheeses, housemade crackers and more.

What inspired the second location? our location in crestwood is extremely limited due to space, and so we couldn’t do a lot of the things we’d been asked to do by customers, including private events. We built a bigger kitchen so we could transfer our bread-making from the crestwood location. We also wanted to have a private room so we could have smaller events. We expanded on our bar and bakery. We’re excited for people to come in and still feel like they’re in a cafe europa, but a slightly more city version. Are the menus the same? We’re doing a smaller version of our hamburger that is much faster and better suited to a fast lunch crowd. We’re also offering all-day specials to focus on different things each day that we think are fun and that will rotate seasonally. [in January we had] a duck confit molé (pictured left) on thursdays and fish and chips on Fridays, for example. it’s a lot of back and forth with the chefs that i work with, and then a lot of it’s just staying up on trends around the world and around the country. if we can get some of those ingredients around here, [we] put our own spin on it and see how it works. What about the bakery selection? We hired a new bread baker [at union hill], so we’re doing morning stuff like muffins, scones, cookies…

We’ve allowed the people at union hill to put their own stamp on the menu. We have about 60 percent europa favorites and standbys, and then we pepper it with things we like doing for the neighborhood here. Why introduce a retail market at Union Hill? We’re treating the market like a pantry for our kitchen. We get in great olive oils and vinegars from specialty producers. We’re offering a lot of dry goods [like] the crackers we make in house, some of the cheeses in the deli case – kind of a one-stop appetizer place where you can come in, maybe pick up some smoked salmon, cheese, crackers, and then go next door to underdog Wine co. and pick up a bottle of wine for a great picnic lunch or a light evening meal on your way home. How will the menu change this spring? i really look forward to spring, when we can start getting in some of the greener things; we always do a sweet-pea risotto with our scallops, and we get some nice asparagus in. i look forward to that transitional period where we’ll start seeing a little bit of green on our menu. coming out of winter in the midwest, you really look forward to that. and spring goes so fast – before you know it we’ll start getting in great summertime stuff by late may. that’s when we like to have fun with the specials we do – we get so much great stuff from our farmers that we let that dictate the menu.

816.214.5425, cafeeuropakc.com

promotion

Delicious dishes From tried-and-true favorites to just-opened joints or hidden gems, here are the must-try dishes at some of the best restaurants and cafés across the region.

grits bowls

There are four new wholesome and hearty grits bowls at The Corner Restaurant & Bar in Kansas City, including one with white hominy grits topped with brown-sugar heritage pork, housemade kimchi and roasted red peppers.

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816.931.4401, thecornerkc.com photography courtesy the corner restaurant & bar

cuban pulled pork

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In Kansas City, The Homesteader Cafe’s Cuban pulled pork lunch sandwich is a sweet-and-spicy mix of citrus- and herb-marinated pork from local Windhaven Farms that’s served on an everything bun with quick-pickled slaw and yellow mustard.

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816.474.8333, thehomesteadercafe.com photography by megan kendall

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this pear is on fire The This Pear is on Fire salad at Crushed Red hits all senses – sweet pears tossed in a hot-and-spicy mix, cool greens and avocado, savory bacon and goat cheese, and sweet candied walnuts and dried cranberries, and is available at all Missouri locations. crushed-red.com photography by katherine bish

1. Bacon, Avocado and Egg Sandwich Executive chef Rex Hale takes an elevated approach – physically and culinarily – to a lunchtime staple in St. Louis with Boundary’s bacon, avocado and egg sandwich.

Stacked tall on thick slices of wheat bread, the sandwich is layered with housemade aÏoli spread, local tomatoes, butter lettuce from Gateway Garlic Urban Farm, avocado, a farm egg, Marcoot Jersey Creamery pepper jack cheese and strips of Rain Crow Ranch pork belly bacon.

314.932.7818, boundary-stl.com photography courtesy boundary

2. duroc spare ribs

3. steak mudega

4. shrimp a la Diabla

Across the river in Belleville, Illinois, Beast Craft BBQ Co. pitmaster David Sandusky has made a name for himself in the already-impressive local barbecue scene with his thick pork steak and burnt ends special. The full rack of pork spare ribs are not to be passed up, however: The restaurant sources Duroc heritage pork from Compart Family Farms in Minnesota and smokes the well-marbled ribs over cherry wood, with developed sugars and subtle spice notes from the house rub and basting of its Standard barbecue sauce.

The ribs are available daily (but often sell out!) and come with two sides – try the savory Brussels sprouts and hand-cut crispy fries.

There are many signatures at Favazza’s on The Hill among its traditional Italian dishes, but an annual top-seller is Steak Mudega, a dish with St. Louis roots.

A local favorite, Favazza’s version features an 8-ounce center-cut filet mignon lightly coated with seasoned Italian breadcrumbs, charbroiled and topped with melted cheese. It’s served with a buttery white wine sauce, sliced mushrooms and local Volpi prosciutto – and any leftover drippings should be soaked up with a thick slice of its complimentary toasted garlic bread.

Spice things up with the Shrimp a la Diabla entrée at La Chata Mexican Cuisine in Cottleville, Missouri. Large butterfly shrimp are sautéed in rich garlic butter and fiery “a la diabla” sauce made with habanero peppers. The flavorpacked shrimp are artfully served over a bed of achiote rice and garnished with fresh cilantro. For something with a bit less kick, opt for the shrimp in either buttery garlic or creamy chipotle sauce. Pair it with a housemade signature Margarita, or try a cocktail made from the wide selection of tequilas.

618.257.9000, beastcraftbbq.com photography courtesy beast craft bbq co.

314.772.4454, favazzas.com photography courtesy favazza’s

636.477.6228, lachatamexicancuisine.com photography courtesy la chata mexican cuisine

Tomahawk RibEye A notable new item at Ruth’s Chris Steak House in St. Louis is the 40-ounce tomahawk ribeye, a bone-in USDA Prime cut broiled to 1,800°F and sliced and deboned tableside. Pair it with new à la carte sides like lobster mac ‘n’ cheese. ruthschris.com photography courtesy ruth’s chris steak house

crawfish hush puppies For a taste of Cajun, the spicy crawfish hush puppies at The Silly Goose in Augusta, Missouri, feature deep-fried crawfish tails drizzled with a housemade remoulade sauce and Creole seasoning, served over a hefty helping of maque choux.

636.482.4667, sillygoosemo.com photography courtesy the silly goose

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in season: Late Fa FaLL to earLy spring

SunchokeS S Written by nancy StileS

Sunchokes,, also known as Jerusalem artichokes, are tubers from a type of sunflower native to North America.

Although the flavor is somewhat artichokelike, the vegetable’s starch content hints at a nuttier potato, with an underlying sweetness.

Maple-roasted eFFingHaM, iL. at Firefly Grill in effingham, illinois, llinois, chef de cuisine Michael

crawford rawford wants to get sunchokes out to guests who may not be familiar with them. “probably robably the most common [question] is, is it really an artichoke?” he laughs. “We lightly roast them with sweet potatoes, lightly sauté them with an asian-inspired maple syrup sauce and serve it as a side.” niall iall and Kristie campbell opened firefly in 2006, and ever since, whatever they can’t grow on site, they source from local farmers. crawford rawford is also experimenting with a watercress salad with sunchokes, Granny Smith apples, Gruyère and pine nuts. he e says he loves to work with sunchokes because they can take on different flavor profiles and textures depending on the cooking method. “a really easy thing [to do at home] is sunchoke chips,” he says. “you you you just slice them really thin and fry them in a shallow pan of oil – dip [them] in hummus and that’s a healthy snack. [Sunchokes] taste good and are good for you.”

217.342.2002, ffgrill.com

onLine eXtra

visit feastmagazine.com for a watercress salad with sunchokes and Granny Smith apples recipe from firefly Grill.

octopus prairie ViLLage, Ks. at Story in prairie village, Kansas, chef-owner carl thorne-thomsen packs a double sunchoke punch in his octopus appetizer. the seared octopus is served on a purée of sunchokes, cream and dried habanero; shaved, raw sunchoke slices garnish the finished plate, plus capers, Great northern beans, salt, lemon juice and olive oil. ““i like both versions of the flavor,” he says. ““cooking it brings a different depth of flavor, and the raw version is almost refreshing – it’s just a nice counterpoint.”

Story sources its sunchokes from Green Gate family farm in Wheatland, Missouri. the octopus appetizer debuted in december; a previous iteration featured fresh shrimp with sunchokes. ““they’re a little bit difficult to work with because they’re hard to make presentable – they’re a little bit knobby, of course,” he laughs. at home, thorne-thomsen suggests shaving raw sunchokes as a salad topping to get an introduction to their flavor.

913.236.9955, storykc.com

CHeF’s tip “Just roast [sunchokes] with olive oil, salt and pepper. Sauté them in a hot pan and then roast them in the oven at 350°F for 15 to 20 minutes. Play with it, and then see what you want to do with it,” says chef-owner Anthony Devoti of Five Bistro. “Anything you use a water chestnut in, you can use [sunchokes in]; anything you use a potato in, you can use it there.”

RoASted SuNchokeS With SWeet PotAtoeS ANdd MAPle-SyRuP GlAze Aze This recipe serves two portions as an appetizer or one portion as an entrée recipe by Michael craWford, chef de cuiSine, firefly Grill ServeS | 2 |

1 2 1 1 ½ ¼ ¼ 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 1

lb sweet potatoes, peeled, 1-inch dice Tbsp canola oil, divided lb sunchokes, unpeeled, 1-inch rough dice onion, thinly sliced cup maple syrup cup water cup plus 1 Tbsp soy sauce Tbsp sesame oil Tbsp cayenne pepper (optional) Tbsp unsalted butter cup Swiss chard tsp fine sea salt Tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro tsp toasted sesame seeds

| preparation | preheat oven to 350°f. onn a lipped sheet pan, toss sweet potatoes with 1 tbsp canola oil; roast until fork tender, 8 minutes. onn a separate lipped sheet pan, toss sunchokes in remaining oil and lightly roast, 10 to 12 minutes. in n a small saucepan over medium heat, combine onion, maple syrup, water, soy sauce, sesame oil and cayenne, if using, and cook until mixture thickens into a glaze, about 8 minutes. in n a frying pan over high heat, add butter, Swiss chard and cooked sunchokes and potatoes and sauté until lightly colored, about 2 minutes. evenly venly coat vegetables with glaze and toss in cilantro. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds. Serve.

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bread pudding st. L st LoUis. oUis. chef-owner anthony devoti of Five

Bistro grows some of his own produce for the restaurant, and he’s planning a sunchoke patch for later this year. currently, he sources “probably the nicest sunchokes i’ve seen in a long time” from nicola Macpherson of ozark forest Mushrooms for his savory bread pudding. five bistro’s housemade sourdough is mixed with mushrooms and roasted sunchokes, and cooked with egg custard in a water bath. after it chills, it’s served with a roasted sunchoke purée and topped with a fried egg. “i don’t think a lot of people know what to do with them,” devoti says. “it’s this thing that looks like a knob of ginger, cooks like a potato and tastes like a water chestnut. it’s totally wicked.” although sunchokes can be invasive if you let them go, devoti says they’re great for a home garden in the Midwest. “they’re in the sunflower family, so they’re absolutely beautiful to grow," he says. "you " can cut the flowers and let the roots hang out and mature – after it frosts, they get a little bit sweeter.”

314.773.5553, fivebistro.com

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brian walsh owner, circa stl

q&A

Written by Kaitlynn Martin

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photography by Mabel suen

DeS PeReS, Mo. What started as a collection of st. louis memorabilia has

turned into much more for brian Walsh, owner of Circa STL, which opened in october in Des peres, Missouri. Walsh likes to describe the concept as a museum featuring local history and collectibles where you can also grab great food. the walls are lined with all manner of nostalgic local collectibles, from st. louis Cardinals and st. louis blues memorabilia to vintage neon signs promoting Falstaff brewing Co. and griesedieck brothers beer. along with the st. louis treasures that line the walls, local staples like toasted ravioli, barbecued pork steak, st. louis-style pizza and chicken modiga dominate the menu, making Circa stl the place to get your fix for all things st. louis.

What inspired the idea for Circa STL? i would say [for] the better half of the past 20 or 25 years i’ve been talking about opening my own place when i have the time and opportunity. it was a dream and something i always wanted to do. i turned 60 in July, and you know, it’s the truth – life is short. you can talk about it all you want, like i did. and i thought, you know what? it’s either now or never for this. i’m retired, so i had the time to take this on, and the timing just felt right.

What’s your favorite item on the menu? oh boy – you know what? i’d have to say toasted ravioli, because it’s such a classic st. louis item. We make ours a certain way with wonton shells, so they aren’t as thick and doughy; they’re individually hand stuffed and formed so you can really get a great amount of filling. We sell the heck out of those! What are you most excited about with Circa STL? i'm excited to share our collection with the public. i’ve really never completely finished decorating, because we wanted to open. i actually have a lot more stuff – [more] wall space to utilize. We are [also] going to expand [our patio], as well as tweak our menu and add a bar menu because right now we just have happy hour drinks. Do you know how many items are on display in the restaurant? it’s at least a thousand, that’s for sure, and i don’t want to exaggerate. We have all these display cases, too, with smaller items. What do you hope people enjoy most at Circa STL? besides the fact that they had a satisfying meal with great service and quality food, i want them to understand that st. louis is really a great place and has a rich history. i want some of the younger people to come in here and say, “oh my gosh, i never realized this was made in st. louis, or this was part of st. louis.” i want them to learn something – walk out with something they never knew before.

Feast Your Eyes James Beard award-winning Chefs Michael and Tara Gallina, owners of Vicia, present a fourcourse dinner inspired by CAM’s exhibitions.

Sunday, April 2 Tour: 6:30 pm Dinner: 7:00 pm $75; $50 for members camstl.org/feast

Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis 3750 Washington Blvd 314.535.4660

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

5501 Locust Street, Augusta, MO 63332 (636) 482-4667 Call for reservations!

Nothing cures spring fever like the fresh flavors of our new seasonal menu. Enjoy southern comfort food at its best. Now accepting dinner reservations!

Go to: Sillygoosemo.com to find out more!

Like us on Facebook.com/sillygooseaugusta

314.394.1196, circa-stl.com Inspired Local Food Culture

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Regional RestauRant guide

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4 Hands Brewing Co. 1220 S. Eighth St. St. Louis, MO 314.436.1559 4handsbrewery.com

Chaz on the Plaza at the Raphael Hotel 325 Ward Parkway Kansas City, MO 816.802.2152 raphaelkc.com

Farmers Gastropub 2620 S. Glenstone Ave. Springfield, MO 417.864.6994 farmersgastropub.com

Katie’s Pizza & Pasta Osteria 9568 Manchester Road Rock Hill, MO 314.942.6555 katiespizzaandpasta.com

Aya Sofia 6671 Chippewa St. St. Louis, MO 314.645.9919 ayasofiacuisine.com

Cleveland-Heath 106 N. Main St. Edwardsville, IL 618.307.4830 clevelandheath.com

Favazza’s on The Hill 5201 Southwest Ave. St. Louis, MO 314.772.4454 favazzas.com

King & I 3157 S. Grand Blvd.

St. Louis, MO 314.771.1777 kingandistl.com

Basso 7036 Clayton Ave. St. Louis, MO 314.932.7820 basso-stl.com

Cork & Barrel Chop House and Spirits 7337 Mexico Road St. Peters, MO 636.387.7030 corkandbarrel.com

Fox & Hounds Tavern 6300 Clayton Road St. Louis, MO 314.647.7300 cheshirestl.com

La Chata Mexican Cuisine 3891 Mid Rivers Mall Drive Cottleville, MO 636.477.6228 lachatamexicancuisine.com

Beast Craft BBQ Co. 20 S. Belt West Belleville, IL 618.257.9000 beastcraftbbq.com

The Corner Restaurant 4059 Broadway Kansas City, MO 816.931.4401 thecornerkc.com

Fratelli’s Ristorante 2061 Zumbehl Road St. Charles, MO 636.949.9005 fratellisristorante.com

La Cosecha Coffee Roasters 7360 Manchester Road Maplewood, MO 314.440.0337 lacosechacoffee.com

Bella Vino Wine Bar & Tapas 325 S. Main St. St. Charles, MO 636.724.3434 bellavinowinebarstl.com

Crushed Red multiple locations crushed-red.com

Gallagher’s Restaurant 114 W. Mill St. Waterloo, IL 618.939.9933 gallagherswaterloo.com

Mai Lee 8396 Musick Memorial Drive Brentwood, MO 314.645.2835 maileestl.com

Best Regards Bakery & Café 6759 W. 119th St. Overland Park, KS 913.912.7238 makethemsmile.com

Drunken Fish multiple locations drunkenfish.com

The Grille at the Mansion 1680 Mansion Way O’Fallon, IL 618.624.0629 mansionsteakhouse.com

Molly Darcys 26 N. Meramec Ave. St. Louis, MO 314.863.8400 mollydarcyspub.com

Bissell Mansion Restaurant & Dinner Theatre 4426 Randall Place St. Louis, MO 314.533.9830 bissellmansiontheatre.com

Duke’s 2001 Menard St. St. Louis, MO 314.833.6686 dukesinsoulard.com

Helen Fitzgerald’s 3650 S. Lindbergh Blvd.

St. Louis, MO 314.984.0026 helenfitzgeralds.com

The Muddled Pig Gastropub 2733 Sutton Blvd.

Maplewood, MO 314.781.4607 themuddledpig.com

Boundary 7036 Clayton Ave. St. Louis, MO 314.932.7818 boundary-stl.com

Edg-Clif Farms & Vineyard 10035 Edg-Clif Drive Potosi, Missouri 573.438.4741 edg-clif.com

Herbie’s 8100 Maryland Ave. Clayton, MO 314.769.9595 herbies.com

Olympia Kebob House & Taverna 1543 McCausland Ave. Richmond Heights, MO 314.781.1299 olympiakebobandtavern.com

Castelli’s Restaurant at 255 3400 Fosterburg Road Alton, IL 618.462.4620 castellis255.com

Eleven Eleven Mississippi 1111 Mississippi Ave. St. Louis, MO 314.241.9999 1111-m.com

Kaldi’s Coffee Roasting Co. multiple locations kaldiscoffee.com

Porter’s Steakhouse 1000 Eastport Plaza Drive Collinsville, IL 618.345.2400 porterscollinsville.com

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Regional RestauRant guide PW Pizza 2017 Chouteau Ave. St. Louis, MO 314.241.7799 pwpizza.com

Square One Brewery and Distillery 1727 Park Ave. St. Louis, MO 314.231.2537 squareonebrewery.com

Ramon’s El Dorado 1711 St. Louis Road Collinsville, IL 618.344.6435 ramonseldorado.net

Stone Hill Winery 1110 Stone Hill Highway Hermann, MO 573.486.2221 stonehillwinery.com

We encourage you to visit any of these fine establishments as proud supporters of Feast Magazine. From fine dining to fast casual to local wineries, there is an array of experiences to choose from, so support and eat local!

BY Region: St. Louis St. Charles County

Range Free 110 Orr St. # 101 Columbia, MO 573.777.9980 range-free.com

Syberg’s multiple locations sybergs.com

Kansas City Columbia, Missouri

Righteous Pig Bar-B-Que 124 E. Main St. Belleville, IL 618.520.8817 righteouspigbbq.com

Three Sixty 1 S. Broadway St. Louis, MO 314.241.8439 360-stl.com

Mid-Missouri and Southern Missouri Southern Illinois

Ruth’s Chris Steak House 315 Chestnut St. 1 N. Brentwood Blvd. #150 St. Louis, MO | Clayton, MO ruthschris.com

Trattoria Giuseppe 5442 Old State Route 21 Imperial, MO 636.942.2405 trattoria-giuseppe.com

Schlafly Tap Room and Schlafly Bottleworks 2100 Locust St. 7260 Southwest Ave. St. Louis, MO | Maplewood, MO 314.241.2337 schlafly.com

Twisted Tree Steakhouse 10701 Watson Road St. Louis, MO 314.394.3366 twistedtreesteakhouse.com

The Silly Goose 5501 Locust St. Augusta, MO 636.482.4667 sillygoosemo.com

Urban Chestnut Brewing Co. 3229 Washington Ave. 4465 Manchester Ave. St. Louis, MO 314.222.0143 urbanchestnut.com

Southern 3108 Olive St. St. Louis, MO 314.531.4668 stlsouthern.com

Vin de Set 2017 Chouteau Ave. St. Louis, MO 314.241.8989 vindeset.com

Southtown Pub 3707 S. Kingshighway Blvd.

St. Louis, MO 314.832.9009 southtownpub.net

Wood Cask 10332 Manchester Road Kirkwood, MO 314.858.1085 thewoodcask.com

Winery and Vineyard Brewery Stay tuned for brewery profiles in the April issue of Feast!

Visit

Feastmagazine.com to view the regional restaurant guide and read more about some of the places listed here.

stay up to date with the latest restaurant news by connecting with Feast: feastmag

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feastmagazine Inspired Local Food Culture

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participating restaurants • Barcelona • ruth’s chris steak house • Beast craft BBQ • silly goose • edgewild restaurant & winery • southern • favazza’s

check out feastmagazine.com for the latest update

on participating restaurants and wineries! sponsored by 26

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on the rocks

Take a study break at The Understudy in Columbia, Missouri, on p. 30. photography by aaron ottis

pilsners WRITTeN By NATALIe GALLAGHeR

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PHoToGRAPHy By J. PoLLACK PHoToGRAPHy

The craft-beer boom of recent decades has largely focused on hop-heavy, bitter beers – the bigger the beer nerd, the more hops he or she can take. Pilsners and their ilk were left to the masses. But lately, local craft breweries have been putting out Pilsners; after a day of tasting and testing hops and barley, brewers crave something light and easy to drink.

Jason Thompson, urBan Chestnut Brewing Co.

Cat Golden, Mark twain Brewing Co.

Urban ChestnUt brewing Co. st.louis. urban Chestnut Brewing Co. was early to get on the Pilsner train: It’s been

Charleville brewing Co. ste. genevieve, Mo. Charleville Brewing Co.’s signature Pilsner, Long White Cloud, is far

producing their Stammtisch, a traditional German Pilsner, since 2013. “When I think of a Pilsner, I think of a nice, clean lager,” says Jason Thompson, Urban Chestnut’s production manager. “We use a blend of noble and French hops – Hallertau and Strisselspalt – and I think they really stand out.” Pilsners are notable for their intensive production process. At Urban Chestnut in St. Louis, this means taking a variety of hops and working a rigorous mash schedule. And because Pilsners are light and not heavily hopped, it’s hard to hide any flaws. Thompson says the skill required for brewing Pilsners is partly why brewers enjoy making the style so much. “It tests your skill as a brewer,” he says. “Brewers want to show off that they can make a cleaner, more delicate beer. And for drinkers, I think it’s really approachable.” Urban Chestnut also has a new single-hop Pilsner, Reine Liebe, a portion of which benefits the children’s charity Catherine Cares, plus Forest Park Pilsner, a pre-Prohibition American-style Pilsner brewed to celebrate the iconic St. Louis park’s 2016 anniversary.

from traditional. It’s made with hops from New Zealand, where lead brewer Kevin Klein lived for about a year and a half. “There are a fair amount of tropical-fruit flavors, lime zest and a little bit of grape from the Nelson Sauvin hops,” he says. Klein uses the same hops he brewed with in New Zealand: Nelson Sauvin, Motueka, Green Bullet and Pacific Jade. Although Ste. Genevieve, Missouri-based Charleville has only been brewing Long White Cloud since May 2016, director of operations Tait Russell says his team has noticed an uptick in craft Pilsners for several years. “I’ve always felt that Pilsners are kind of the brewer’s beer,” he says. “If we had a choice to sit down at a bar and order anything, that’s probably what we’re going to have.” The longer production time means that a Pilsner will tie up tanks longer than an ale, and the yeast tends to be more expensive, too. “But that’s what makes a great Pilsner all the more rewarding,” Russell says. This spring, look for the second run of Long White Cloud, plus a new brew called Paul’s Pils, a traditional Czech-style Pilsner exclusively available at Hamilton Hospitality restaurants.

urbanchestnut.com

573.756.4537, charlevillevineyard.com/charleville-beer

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Still thirSty? ▶ BrewerY emperIAl There are just six beers on tap at Brewery Emperial, the newest microbrewery in Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District. Don’t miss its pre-Prohibition-style Pilsner. ▶ SToCKYArdS BrewINg Co. Want a Pilsner with a twist?

Kansas City’s Stockyards Brewing Co. has a smoked imperial Pilsner; weighing in with a whopping 8.5 percent ABV, it’s anything but your average Pilsner. ▶ whITe rIver BrewINg Co. This Springfield, Missouri, brewery’s Pulltite Pilsner is made in the traditional Czech style, brewed with double the malts for a bigger flavor.

Rebecca Schranz, eArThBouNd Beer

Troy Bedik, CIvIl lIfe BrewINg Co.

KC Bier Co. KANSAS CITY. It’s no surprise that KC Bier Co. – opened by German-beer enthusiast Steve Holle in Kansas Citys’ Waldo neighborhood in 2014 – produces an excellent Pilsner. Simply called Pils, KC Bier’s brew is a northern German-style Pilsner brewed according to the German Purity Law of 1516, which allows only four ingredients in a lager: barley malt, hops, water and yeast. “We use imported malts from Ireks Malting, which started in Germany 160 years ago,” says KC Bier Co. brewer Mike McGuigan. “We also use the traditional noble hops from Bavaria as well as some from the Czech Republic.” McGuigan also emphasizes the labor-intensive process involved in creating the Pils, which is naturally carbonated and clarified by extended cold fermentation. “This process creates a beautiful malt aroma and flavor,” McGuigan says. “For me, it has a kind of wine-fruit flavor. It’s dry and a little bitter – and it’s really tasty.”

816.214.8691, kcbier.com Inspired Local Food Culture

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where we’re drinking Check out what we’re sipping at bars, restaurants, breweries, wineries and coffee shops.

The U.r.B. story and photography by MabeL suen

ST. LOUIS. across the street from urban Chestnut brewing Co.’s brewery and bierhall in the grove neighborhood of st. Louis, The U.R.B. – or urban research brewery – offers a glimpse into the craft-beer development process. the experimental pilot brewery offers an intimate, hands-on experience where guests can sample suds while partaking in a semi-scientific study of what they’re sipping, all while eating generous slices of new york-style pizza. at the consumer-research bar, test-beer flights feature four two-ounce samples for just $1. Visitors then fill out a digital survey about each brew. the beers come fresh from the in-house two-barrel system.

Like the flights, each pizza at the u.r.b. features variations on classics from day to day, occasionally offering more creative combinations: try everything from tried-and-true cheese and pepperoni to bacon, jalapeño and pineapple, served by the slice (you can also buy an entire pie if you’re with a big or hungry party). Canned versions of flagship urban Chestnut beers are also available for purchase.

urbanchestnut.com

The UndersTUdy Written by Lauren Miers

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photography by aaron ottis

COLUMBIA, MO. true to its name, The Understudy sits directly below Kaldi’s Coffee

roasting Co., a favorite frequented by students. Located down two short flights of stairs, the nightlife spot is neither a club nor a lounge, but rather a bar with a “wider drinking palate in mind.” shot bar owners ben Monsees, ryan Walsh and andy o’neill created the understudy to bridge the gap between the college-town spots that offer penny pitchers and those serving custom cocktails in a lounge atmosphere. the partners want customers to feel comfortable ordering a busch Light or a rum runner. the cocktail list features eight standards – think tom Collins and Cosmopolitans – as well as signature takes on classic drinks. Wines from around the world are available for just $5 a glass, and beers on tap include selections from regional, national and international breweries.

573.442.4992, facebook.com/theunderstudycomo

Brewery emperial Written by Jenny Vergara

kAnSAS CITy. one of the most-anticipated breweries

photography by anna petroW

of 2016 finally debuted in december. three couples co-own Brewery Emperial, a 65-seat brewery and restaurant; each of them handles a separate aspect of the business of beer, food and service. Master brewer Keith thompson offers a rotating selection of six beers: a pilsner, a Kölsch, a porter, an ipa and a milk stout. additionally, you’ll find a full bar and a selection of a few solid wines by the glass. Chef ted habiger turns out a tasty menu from the kitchen, which has a custom-built wood-fired grill. enjoy items like grilled Caesar salad, shell-on crispy shrimp, a juicy cheeseburger and half of a wood-fired chicken served on a board with tortillas and salsa. restaurant managers rich Kasyjanski and Julie thompson ensure the service is casual, friendly and fast.

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816.945.9625, breweryemperial.com march 2017

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chris goode owner, ruby jean’s juicery

q&A

Written by Kaitlynn Martin

kAnsAs city. in July 2015, Chris Goode opened Ruby Jean’s Juicery

PhOtOGraPhy by Sandra ParK

in the Westport neighborhood of Kansas City, offering colorful and nutrient-packed cold-pressed juices and healthy eats. named after his late grandmother, the juice bar has been hugely successful; it was even recently named among yelp’s top 100 businesses in 2016. now, Goode plans to open a new location in Springfield, Missouri, another storefront in downtown Kansas City’s town Pavilion, a Kansas City-based distribution kitchen and a juice food truck.

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What sets Ruby Jean’s apart from other juice bars? Our story. everything we do is for the common person. ruby Jean never prioritized [her] health, and we lost her very early. Sixty-one is just too young to go when it’s something you can prevent. Our brand, purpose, energy, and the whole reason we opened our doors is to make this world of health more palatable and more accessible to people from all walks of life. What drew you to Springfield? Springfield is a great place for us. i [lived] there for undergrad, and it’s a growing town. it’s an area that is underserved from a health perspective. Pyramid Foods approached us about being part of their new health-food store, and i thought it was a great opportunity to expand the ruby Jean’s brand to a market that we are familiar with.

What will the new location look like? the place is called ruby’s Market, and it’s located at 2843 e. Sunshine Street. it is a full health-food store, featuring a ruby Jean’s Juicery. ironically, the owner of Pyramid Foods’ grandmother’s name was ruby, so it’s in honor of his grandmother as well. [the store] is comparable to a Whole Foods, and we’ll have a physical [juice bar] inside of it.

Will the menu be similar to your Westport location? Our menu will be the same, and we’ll have a couple of menu items that will be specific to Springfield. at our Westport location, we have a lot of drinks named after things in Kansas City, like our Vine Street Greens, which is an ode to our jazz district. So we’ll have similar menu items that’ll relate to Springfield. What’s next for Ruby Jean’s? i think Springfield will be on board pretty quickly. We’ll take the lessons we’ve learned so far – opening [our] downtown Kansas City location [will be] a lot easier and faster. For the distribution [kitchen], it’s about making a strong foundation and allowing us to create more capacity for us to serve our customers. We’re also doing a juice food truck in the summer that will help us identify markets [for us to] continue in our expansion. [this] year will tell the tale of what we’ll become as a brand and a company.

816.399.2596, rubyjeansjuicery.com Inspired Local Food Culture

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The Clover Club Story and recipe by Matt Seiter photography by Jonathan gayMan

The Clover Club Bombay Sapphire is my preferred London Dry gin for this cocktail.

ServeS | 1 |

4 1 ¾ 2 ½ 1

fresh raspberries, divided tsp sugar oz fresh lemon juice oz London Dry gin oz Dolin Dry Vermouth egg white ice lemon twist (for garnish)

| preparation | in a cocktail shaker, muddle 3 raspberries with sugar and lemon juice until sugar has completely dissolved. add remaining ingredients, except ice and garnish; shake without ice, 10 seconds. add ice and shake for another 10 seconds. Fine strain into a chilled cocktail glass. garnish with a lemon twist and a fresh raspberry on a pick. Serve.

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The Clover Club cocktail is an old, simple drink that gets a touch of weight and silkiness from adding one egg white. The egg white also adds a nice, foamy head to the cocktail. Incorporating raw eggs into a drink can be tricky, though, so be sure to use the freshest eggs possible and chill them until they’re nice and cold to prevent bacteria from forming. (You can use pasteurized eggs, but I’m a firm believer that fresh is best.)

Created at the turn of the 20th century, The Clover Club is named for Philadelphia’s Clover Club in the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, where it was first concocted. It’s a delicious combination of gin, fresh berries, citrus, sugar and of course, that silky egg white.

Matt Seiter is co-founder of the United States Bartenders’ Guild (USBG)’s St. Louis chapter, a member of the national board for the USBG’s MA program, author of The Dive Bar of Cocktail Bars, bar manager at BC’s Kitchen, and a bar and restaurant consultant.

WINE

ChaRleville vineyaRd’s 2014 BaRRel-feRmented ChaRdonel ProvenAnce: ste. genevieve, Missouri PAIrIngs: Pork chops • Salmon with dill • Chicken piccata • Mild cheeses

this dry Chardonel from Charleville Vineyard has bold aromas of apple, honey, vanilla and oak. it was fermented in Missouri oak barrels and aged sur lie for nine months, giving it a fuller body and great depth of flavor. the aging process makes this white wine creamy and complex, and gives it a rich golden color. luscious flavors of crisp apple and stone fruit lead to hints of smoke that linger on the palate. it’s currently available at Charleville’s tasting room in ste. genevieve, Missouri, and at select retailers in the st. louis area; look for it at Charleville’s new st. louis brewery and restaurant, opening near lafayette square on Chouteau avenue this spring.

573.756.4537, charlevillevineyard.com Hilary Hedges is a former newsie whose passion for wine led her out of the newsroom and into the cellar. She is currently director of sales and marketing and assistant winemaker at Amigoni Urban Winery in Kansas City.

Une année’s PêChe written by ryan niCKelson

sTyle: american wild ale (6.5% abV) PAIrIngs: Ceviche • Funky blue cheese • Peach sorbet

american wild ales, a style gaining incredible popularity in the U.s., are belgian- and French-inspired beers introduced to wild yeast strains, such as Brettanomyces. “wild” usually refers to sour, tart and funky flavors and notes; breweries will sometimes add fruits, herbs, spices or even vegetables to put an american spin on the style. Une Année out of niles, illinois, brews Pêche (French for peach), an american wild ale made with – you guessed it – peaches. this wild ale is slightly tart with a mild acidity and a delicate sweet peach flavor.

312.489.3705, uneannee.com Brothers Brandon and Ryan Nickelson are available to help with beer picks and pairing recommendations at their store, Craft Beer Cellar, a craft beer shop located at 8113 Maryland Ave. in Clayton, Missouri. To learn more, call 314.222.2444 or visit craftbeercellar.com/clayton.

SPIRIT

tony anderson owner, three story coffee

written by Hilary Hedges

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J. RiegeR & Co.’s Caffè amaRo written by Jenn tosatto

ProvenAnce: Kansas City (31% abV) Try IT: served neat as an after-dinner digestif

816.807.3867, jriegerco.com You can find Jenn Tosatto at the helm of the new bar program at Kansas City barbecue destination, Q39. She also loves donating her skills to many charity events around the city, as well as working private events.

written by JessiCa VaUgHn

Jefferson cITy, mo. tony anderson, the owner of Three Story Coffee, a specialty coffee shop and roaster in Jefferson City, Missouri, wants you to connect with more than just the beverage in your cup. anderson, along with his wife, sarah, started the company in 2012 with the mission to share the stories of small coffee farmers from around the world. three story currently has relationships with coffee farmers in Kenya, burundi, el salvador, guatemala and indonesia. last fall, the andersons launched the #oneninetyinitiative, which aims to create a trade partnership between 190 churches, businesses and individuals nationwide and 190 burundian coffee farmers.

Tell us about the #OneNinetyInitiative. we want the churches [we sell coffee to] to know where the coffee comes from, and we want to go back and tell the farmers where the coffee went. Usually, once they harvest it and send it to the washing station, that’s the last time they see it. we want to be able to go back and say, “these are the people who are drinking your coffee; they love your coffee, and they care about you.”

Why did you choose churches as your initial partners? For quite a while, i have felt called to focus on churches. Part of it is educating them on coffee, because churches as a whole do use a lot of coffee. Most churches’ single-greatest ties and connection to developing countries is their coffee, but for many, it’s just a budget item. so when they ask, “How could we get involved in mission work in guatemala?” i [can say, “instead of putting a team together to go down and build a house for somebody, how about you buy coffee from someone – support the farmer in a way that maybe allows him to build his own house? Why did you choose to partner with Burundian coffee farmers? burundi is kind of the poster child for the disconnect in coffee, and how the system is just totally broken. Coffee is 80 percent of their total export revenue; it’s a country that economically lives and dies by coffee. they’ve had lots of other issues, so i don’t think coffee is the sole problem, and it’s also probably not the sole solution. but if nothing else, if the coffee trade was at least fair, they could be doing oK. Coffee should be enough to mitigate some of the other problems. What about that really stuck with you? i met [a farmer named] Jepson Karau in nairobi, [Kenya]; he’s a pastor and runs two orphanages. He and his wife started their coffee farm in hopes that as the orphans start to age out – whether they want to go to college or start a small business – the farm would help support them. it wasn’t just meeting a coffee farmer – it was meeting somebody who had an amazing story and really unique potential to partner with. it’s been a fascinating thing for me: how we’ve met people and the variety of relationships we’ve built.

PHotograPHy CoUrtesy tHree story CoFFee

amaro is a category of spirits getting a lot of attention lately, and J. Rieger & Co. distillery has thrown its hat into the ring with an interesting twist. Caffè amaro starts with an amaro base featuring the usual flavors – cardamom, gentian and vanilla – and then introduces single-origin coffee from Kansas City favorite thou Mayest Coffee roasters. the result is a beautiful, bittersweet flavor that’s just as satisfying whether served neat as an after-dinner digestif or mixed into a cocktail. Caffè amaro is more bitter than traditional coffee liqueurs, giving imbibers a new option in their favorite coffee cocktails; it particularly sings in a classic highball with Fever-tree tonic and an orange twist garnish.

q&A

573.418.2081, threestorycoffee.com Inspired Local Food Culture

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shrub club

Las Californias Shrub Co. brings the Golden State to Lawrence, Kansas, on p. 38. photography by zach bauman

I Love JuIce Bar sTory anD phoTography by Mabel suen

ROCK HILL, MO. at I Love Juice Bar, visitors

can enjoy much more than fresh and delicious juice. The selection at the rock hill, Missouri, outpost – the first location in the state for the nashville-based chain – features everything from smoothies and shots to spring rolls and sandwiches. The shop uses centrifugal juicers to create its grab-and-go small-batch drinks several times daily, and the combinations come in specially formulated blends that pack in nutrition while balancing unique flavor combinations.

Choose from vitamin-rich greens-based drinks such as the best-selling sweet greens with apple,

kale, spinach, cucumber, parsley and lemon. or, try root-based concoctions like we got the beet, featuring beet, carrot, apple, ginger and lemon.

The smoothie selection includes the Cocoa banana with raw cacao powder, organic peanut butter, plant-based protein powder, banana, spinach, organic coconut milk and himalayan pink salt. I love Juice bar also offers cleanses and shots such as the sniffle stopper with lemon, ginger, cayenne and an essential oil blend.

Vegetarian dishes include a rotating selection of soups and spring rolls filled with romaine lettuce, spinach, cucumber, carrot, avocado, cilantro, mint and a spicy chile-peanut sauce.

314.803.8959, ilovejuicebar.com

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sur la table marble and acacia wood cheese paddle This paddle is one step above the traditional wooden cheese board. Chill it before your guests arrive, and the marble will keep cheese and fruit cold while you entertain. The wooden side is perfect for crackers, bread or cheese that doesn’t need to stay chilled. The twine on the handle allows for easy hanging, too.

For more information or to purchase the paddle, visit surlatable.com. phoTo CourTesy

boska holland oak cheese slicer Ideal for slicing hard and semi-hard cheeses, this slicer combines a stainless steel blade with a hand-polished european white-oak handle. Made by renowned Dutch company boska holland, which has been making cheese tools since 1896, the slicer will make it easy to serve your favorite firm cheeses.

For more information or to purchase the slicer, visit boska.com.

sur la Table

phoTo CourTesy boska

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q&A

kristina briseno

owner, las californias shrub co. and salt + flint WrITTen By APrIl FleMInG

|

PHoToGrAPHy By zACH BAUMAn

LAWRenCe, KS. Kristina Briseno is not content to limit herself to just one project. Two years ago, she founded Salt + Flint, which specializes in hand-crafted caramels featuring flavors like local bee pollen with honey and French lavender. In 2016, she branched out to create a line of shrubs under the name Las Californias Shrub Co., inspired by her childhood spent in California. Briseno’s pineapple-cilantro-habanero shrub was honored with a Good Food Award in January, which recognizes products created with a commitment to sustainability, flavor and authenticity. But Briseno isn’t finished: In 2017, she wants to expand her line of ice pops, Poquito – Spanish for “little one” – which launched last summer.

How did California shape the flavors of your shrubs? The sage and fennel, just growing along the coast, mixing with the sea air. Just having that smell around – I wish I could bottle it. I’m trying to bottle it. There are so many rare fruits there, [like] pixie tangerines, which have a juicy, floral flesh, and jujubes, which taste like a sweet apple and a date when dried. What brought you to Kansas 17 years ago? I was a Hare Krishna, and I had some Hare Krishna friends that I was really close with move out here and start a rural community. They still have it – growing their own food, raising their own cows, a very integrated, vegetarian farm community in Baldwin City. Did that experience inform how you grow food? I was into permaculture then, and always have been. I think I’ve always been inclined to grow my own food, and [inclined] toward natural, simple living.

I think a lot of what I’m doing food-wise is to connect with my roots in California. With Salt + Flint, it’s taking the salt from the sea of California and merging it with the flint hills of Kansas. I do find a lot of inspiration in what is available locally here. I have a persimmon tree in my front yard that’s huge. A botanist from [The University of Kansas] told me that it’s the most prolific persimmon tree in the county. I pull what I can from here. My yard grows chanterelle mushrooms; it takes 100 years for a tree and the mushroom to form a symbiotic relationship. I try to find magic wherever I can. I plan to expand my garden this year and focus on my herb gardens. What flavors are you working on this year? I just found paw-paws at the farmers’ market this summer. I had the idea for a paw-paw ice pop. I started an ice-pop company last summer, Poquito, and I’m going to push that more this spring. What is your process for making shrubs?

I have a commercial-certified kitchen on my property, separate from the house. I use a cold process, which in my opinion actually preserves the nutrients better. I use organic apple-cider vinegar, which isn’t pasteurized and has medicinal qualities.

I find that the cold process captures the brightness of the fruit and the herbs. If you can imagine the difference between the [flavor] of fresh cilantro versus when it’s cooked – it smells and tastes different. What’s neat about it is that the vinegar and sugar combination is so shelf stable that you really don’t need to cook it – the shrub was invented before refrigeration. saltandflintconfections.bigcartel.com

Molly on the Range: Recipes and stoRies fRoM an Unlikely life on a faRM written by HeatHer riske

Molly yeh certainly didn’t set out to live on a farm. but in 2013, the Juilliard-trained percussionist and food blogger moved from new york City to east Grand Forks, Minnesota, with her now-husband, a fifth-generation sugar-beet farmer. Her days spent in the kitchen developing fun, clever recipes like tahini-blondie ice-cream sandwiches, pretzel challah and Funfetti cake quickly made My name is yeh one of the most popular food blogs around, leading to work contributing recipes for betty Crocker and Food52. Her first cookbook, Molly on the Range: Recipes and Stories from an Unlikely Life on a Farm, combines her signature beautiful photography and delicious recipes with a few irreverent stories. the recipes give a glimpse into yeh’s life, including growing up in the suburbs of Chicago (Mum’s Matzo brei and Lindsay Lohan Oreos), her college years in nyC (schnitzel bao with sriracha mayo and sesame pickles), her post-college years in brooklyn (shakshuka couscous), her travels (asian scotch eggs) and more.

From learning to love Midwestern specialties like tater tot casserole to crafting an instagram-ready tiered cake, yeh doesn’t hold anything back.

By Molly Yeh mollyontherange.com

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Brioche Pastry shoP Written by Jenny Vergara

kansas city. Brioche Pastry Shop

chef-owner brandon Kelley and his wife, ida, moved their pastry business from Jefferson City, Missouri, to Kansas City’s Crossroads arts District last fall. the couple makes pastries with laminated brioche dough, similar to the kind that Cronut-creator Dominique ansel made famous at his eponymous new york City bakery. thanks to lamination, everything from cinnamon rolls and sticky buns to ham-and-cheese croissants has a light and puffy appearance with an addictively flaky texture. Made with copious amounts of butter that is layered again and again into the brioche dough, the lamination process is time consuming, but the finished pastries make all the hard work worth it. Don’t miss the eye-level pastry case filled with treats like savory scones and bread pudding made with leftover cinnamon rolls and sticky buns.

photography by april fleMing

816.389.7512, briochekc.com

artisan products kansas city. The Better Cheddar, a cheese and specialty food store with locations in Kansas City and prairie Village, Kansas, has a wide array of cheeses, from those made in europe to artisan farmstead cheeses produced in the Midwest. Manager and buyer lincoln broadbooks recommends two popular Missouri-made cheeses available at the shop:

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Written by Kaitlynn Martin

| 1 | Green Dirt Farm, based in Weston, Missouri, makes aux arcs, a firm, alpine-style cheese. the cheese, made with cow’s and sheep’s milk, is aged for two to six months and has a nutty, milky, brown-butter and delicate fruit flavor. broadbooks suggests pairing it with crisp white wines or hoppy beers; you can purchase it cut to order at the better Cheddar.

| 2 | Hemme Brothers Creamery in Sweet Springs, Missouri, makes a delicious fresh german-style Quark. the cheese is soft and spreadable; broadbooks says to use it like you would cream cheese. thebettercheddar.com photography by ChriStopher SMith

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Healthful. Sustainable. Craveable.

Crushed Red is coming to Overland Park!

Crushed Red is Overland Park’s new destination for artfully chopped salads, hand-stretched pizzas, savory shareables and a great selection of beer & wine.

Oh, and did we mention we cater? We do!

Opening mid-March 2017!

10640 Roe Avenue Overland Park, KS 66207 crushed-red.com

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chèvre forever

Slice into savory chèvre cheesecake with pecan-pretzel crust on p. 50. photography by chEryl wallEr

healthy appetite

story, recipe AND photogrAphy by sherrie cAstellANo

Savory oatS BreakfaSt Bowl If you don’t like Greek yogurt, you can substitute sour cream or crème fraiche, and Feta is great in place of the goat cheese. serVes | 4 bowls |

2 cups rolled oats 4½ cups water ¼ tsp sea salt ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus more for serving ¼ tsp granulated garlic 2 Tbsp crumbled goat cheese 4 eggs 1 tsp hot sauce 1 Tbsp Greek yogurt 1 tsp fresh cilantro

| preparation | in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring oats and water to a boil. reduce heat to low, add salt, pepper and granulated garlic and simmer for about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. stir in crumbled goat cheese. Keep warm. in a small saucepan, poach or fry eggs.

Divide oats into four bowls. top each with hot sauce, greek yogurt, cilantro and an egg. season with more black pepper to taste. serve.

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Savory oatS BreakfaSt Bowl i’ve never been much of a sweet breakfast kind of person. My ideal first meal of the day is savory – something i can serve in a bowl and eat while snuggled up on the sofa under a blanket with a cup of coffee. if you haven’t ever tried oats in a savory application, this is a great starting place. the oats create a solid base, the egg and Greek yogurt add protein and goat cheese and hot sauce brings a dash of umami, plus a little heat. it’s versatile, simple and allows for great flexibility with additions and toppings.

Sherrie Castellano is a health coach, photographer and private chef based in St. Louis. She writes and photographs the seasonally inspired vegetarian and gluten-free blog With Food + Love. She has contributed work to Driftless Magazine, Vegetarian times, Go Gluten-Free Magazine, Food52 and Urban Outfitters, among others. You can find her hanging with her aviation-enthusiast husband, sipping Earl Grey tea, green juice and/or bourbon.

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mystery shopper

Meet: Labneh story and recipe by shannon weber photography by jennifer silverberg

Labneh With Green OLives, Pine nuts and dukkah dukkah is a nut and spice mix popular in the Middle East. Like labneh, you can find it in specialty and international markets, or make your own using the powers of the internet. Each recipe is a little different, which means you can customize it with your favorite flavors and ingredients. serves | 4 to 6 |

1 2 1 ½ 3 ¼

cup labneh, drained of excess liquid Tbsp plus 2 tsp fruity olive oil, divided sea salt and freshly ground black pepper Tbsp dukkah cup large Spanish manzanilla olives (with pimentos), roughly chopped Tbsp pine nuts, pan-toasted tsp chile flakes toasted bread, pita chips or crackers (to serve)

| preparation | in a medium bowl, whip together drained labneh and 2 teaspoons olive oil until incorporated; season generously with salt and pepper. spread out into a 6-inch round on a serving platter, swirling top. drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil over labneh and sprinkle dukkah on top. scatter chopped olives and pine nuts evenly over top, then sprinkle with chile flakes. drizzle remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over mixture. season to taste with salt and pepper. serve with an assortment of warm or room-temperature toasted bread, pita chips or crackers.

this is the dairy product Greek yogurt doesn’t want you to know about.

WhAt Is It? Labneh (or lebneh) is an ultra-thick, high-protein yogurt cheese popular in the middle east. traditionally, the cheese is made with camel or goat milk, but stateside, you’ll find it made almost exclusively from cows’ milk. It’s tangy like the Greek stuff, but because the whey is completely strained out, the consistency is more similar to cream cheese or mascarpone. Labneh’s thickness is its virtue: firm it up or smooth it out, it handles both with ease. In middle eastern countries, you can find it dried and preserved in olive oil with spices, perfect for using on sandwiches, or whipped and served with pita bread, like hummus.

WhAt cAn I Do WIth It? Anything Greek yogurt can do, labneh can do better. except for a soft sourness, the cheese has a completely neutral

flavor profile and an immensely versatile texture ready for you to take in all directions. For something sweet, swirl in local honey or maple syrup and sprinkle with nuts or granola, or use it as a spread on toast or bagels with fresh fruit. try baking with it – the texture is a fabulous stand-in for recipes that call for sour cream or yogurt. If you’re more into the savory side of labneh, mix in your favorite finely chopped vegetables, herbs and spices to use as a dip for crudités or chips, or drown it in olive oil and marinate it as you would Feta or fresh mozzarella.

Unless you frequent an amazing middle eastern market that makes its own labneh in house, most store-bought varieties will be a little looser than they should be. Before using, place labneh in cheesecloth and wind it into a tight ball; secure tightly at the top. set a mesh strainer over a bowl, place labneh in strainer and top with a plate to add some gentle weight. Let it drain for two to three hours until excess liquid is removed.

Shannon Weber is the creator, author and photographer behind the award-winning blog aperiodictableblog.com, and her work has appeared on websites such as Bon Appétit, Serious Eats and America’s Test Kitchen. She is a self-taught baker and cook who believes that the words “I can’t” should never apply to food preparation and that curiosity can lead to wonderful things, in both the kitchen and life.

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quick fix

ShakShuka story and recipes by Gabrielle deMichele photoGraphy by jennifer silverberG

ShakShuka serves | 4 To 6 |

2 2 1 1 3 1 ½ ¼ ¼ ¼ ¼ to ½ ½ ¾ 6 2

Tbsp grapeseed oil, divided large onions, julienned red bell pepper, julienned yellow pepper, julienned large garlic cloves, sliced 28-oz can whole plum tomatoes, crushed tsp cumin seeds tsp dried thyme tsp dried oregano tsp dried marjoram tsp red pepper flakes tsp paprika tsp sesame seeds large eggs Tbsp fresh parsley, minced freshly ground black pepper

| preparation | heat a 12-inch straight-sided sauté pan with a lid over medium heat. add 1 tablespoon oil, allow oil to come to temperature and add onions and peppers. sauté for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring only occasionally. increase heat to medium-high and let vegetables char just slightly. (don’t keep stirring; allow vegetables to absorb heat, then flip them as they color.) reduce heat to medium and add garlic; cook until garlic releases its aroma, about 1 minute. add tomatoes and stir. in a small bowl, mix together all spices and sesame seeds. in a small skillet over medium heat, add remaining oil. add spice mixture and heat for 1 to 2 minutes, until spices become fragrant. carefully add toasted spices to tomato mixture and stir. cook for 10 minutes to reduce. in a small bowl, crack 1 egg. Make a well in tomato mixture and add egg to well. continue until all eggs are added to tomato mixture. cover pan with lid and cook for an additional 3 minutes. sprinkle with parsley and season with black pepper to taste. serve.

Any combination of ingredients can be used to make shakshuka, a popular dish in North African and Middle Eastern countries. A variation of the name, shakshouka, translates to “a mixture” in several Arabic languages, and it’s also known as chakchouk in Tunisia. Whatever you call it, the underlying similarity in each preparation of shakshuka is

poaching eggs in a tomato-based sauce studded with onions and richly seasoned with herbs and spices. in the following recipe, we add even more flavor with garlic, paprika, red pepper flakes, thyme, oregano and marjoram for shakshuka with a Mediterranean flair.

chef’s tip SPicE SPEcS. Dried spices benefit from heat to release flavor, whether you heat them in a dry pan or with oil. This is why you toast the dried thyme, oregano, marjoram, red pepper flakes and paprika before adding this mixture to the shakshuka.

ALL cHAr. The ratio of onion to peppers in shakshuka is

often a source of contention among chefs. regardless of the proportions you use, sautéing and charring the onions and peppers before adding the tomatoes will deepen their flavor and make for a more complex dish.

the menu • Grapefruit-Avocado Salad • Pita Bread • Asparagus with Tahini Sauce • Shakshuka • Pistachio Baklava

LEArN MorE. in this class you’ll learn how to make pita bread from scratch at home. You’ll also learn how to make a pistachio-studded baklava, a popular pastry in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries made with layered phyllo dough, honey and chopped nuts.

get hands-on: Join Feast Magazine and schnucks Cooks Cooking school on Wed., March 22, at 6pm at the des Peres, Missouri, location, to make the dishes in this month’s menu. tickets are just $45 for a night of cooking, dining and wine. RsVP at schnuckscooks.com or call 314.909.1704.

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Save time and money – let us season and cook your fresh Check your local listings to watch Feast TV in the Lake of the Ozarks area.

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sweet ideas

Chèvre CheeseCake story and recipes by christy augustin photography by cheryl Waller

Chèvre CheeseCake With PeCan-Pretzel Crust If you prefer to omit the fresh goat cheese, increase the cream cheese to three 8-ounce packages. yields | 1 9-inch cheesecake |

Pecan-Pretzel crust 1 cup salted pretzels ½ cup pecans 2 Tbsp packed brown sugar 2 Tbsp melted unsalted butter cheesecake Batter 2 8-oz packages cream cheese 1 cup fresh goat cheese 1 tsp kosher salt ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper 1 Tbsp minced fresh thyme 4 room-temperature eggs 2 tsp Champagne or sherry vinegar ½ cup shredded or crumbled sharp cheese (white Cheddar, asiago, Gouda, Feta or blue)

| preparation – crust | preheat oven to 350°F. in the bowl of a food processor, pulse pretzels, pecans and brown sugar to a fine crumb. stir melted butter into crumb. press mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan. bake until golden brown and firm, about 15 minutes. Keep oven at temperature. | preparation – batter | in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese on medium speed until soft, creamy and nearly to room temperature. add goat cheese, salt, pepper and thyme; cream until smooth. scrape bowl well and begin adding eggs, one at a time. scrape sides of bowl between additions. Finish by stirring in vinegar and remaining cheese by hand. pour batter into prebaked crust in springform pan. transfer to oven to bake until puffed and a light golden color with only a slight jiggle in the center, 50 to 60 minutes. cool to room temperature and then chill in refrigerator for 4 hours before serving.

With Pecan-Pretzel crust

savory cheesecake is a great way to showcase the flavor of fresh goat cheese. (turn to p. 67 to learn about a handful of local creameries producing high-quality goat cheese.) this tangy and savory cheesecake makes a lovely addition to any spring brunch spread, either served as an appetizer with mixed greens tossed in a light vinaigrette or as an unexpected dessert. there are endless ways to play with ingredients and flavors to fit the seasons, too.

this recipe is a variation on one given to me by my good friend amanda, who hails from the Gulf coast of alabama. she adds hot sauce, creole mustard, green onions and andouille sausage – yes, sausage – to her savory cheesecake. try an even more decadent version by adding lump crab, chives and toasted garlic. savory cheesecake is also a great vehicle for your favorite chutney, dried fruit, candied nuts or pepper jelly.

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

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Spring

entertaining guide ideaS for planning the perfect party

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Inspired Local Food Culture

party theme ideas

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Feast Magazine’s

Spring EntErtaining WINE& guidE The surest sign of spring is not the sight of flower buds and green grass popping from the soil or even the aroma of the earth thawing from a long wintry slumber – it’s the arrival of a plethora of party invites or planning one of your own. Use our guide for everything from party themes and seasonal catering ideas to sweet treats to serve and hostess gifts to share, and all that will be left to do is enjoy yourself.

Party Theme Ideas Tabletop Ideas Invitations Seasonal Catering Ideas

• • • •

Drinks & Cocktails Sweet Treats Hostess Gifts Party-Planning Tips

Planning Begins

with the art of entertaining

CHEESE ADVENTURE!

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wine and cheese pairings gourmet sandwiches homemade ice cream local small batch delectables

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photography

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/fserram and

edited by bethany christo designed by jacklyn meyer photography on cover: photography by ©istock.com/sarsmis, fserram, torriphoto, thitareesarmkasat, and anna_shepulova 54

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march 2017

alexraths

6 flavors of heat Original | Mild | Medium Hot | Cluck’ Hot | general tso Catering inquiries: elisa@stlsouthern.com or 314.295.8220

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party theme ideas

Move over winter; warm weather has arrived. If you’re celebrating the season with friends and family, there are plenty of party theme options – from holiday-specific ideas like Cinco de Mayo, Easter and Passover to rejoicing in the best of spring like cherry blossom blooms and picnics in the woods.

Cherry Blossom Celebration These pale pink buds will bloom near the end of March, which is the perfect time to celebrate with white and blush-pink sweets, linens and décor.

photography by ©istock.com/ sergey_ko, kazoka30 and miuda_21

Cinco De Mayo A Cinco de Mayo party is more than just tacos and tequila: Get creative with menu items like single-serve layer dip, a spread of colorful salsas and boozy infused Margarita cupcakes.

photography by ©istock.com/rez-art, yulia_davidovich and bhofack2

High Tea Take a trip across the pond with an afternoon tea party, pairing elegant finger foods like savory scones and delicate madeleines with the Brits’ favorite – or should we say favourite – sipper.

photography by ©istock.com/janscherders, travellinglight and sarahkatedorman

Woodland Dinner Party Add enchantment inspired by magical forests and fairy tales – twinkle lights, lace tablecloths, candelabras and picnic baskets all emanate woodland wonder.

photography by ©istock.com/archikatia, franz12 and shaiith Inspired Local Food Culture

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promotion

tabletop ideas

Even if it’s still chilly outside, there are plenty of ways to spring forward indoors.

Bright bouquets and floral arrangements are an easy way to bring the outdoors in, but make sure your focal point, the table, is spruced up and springlike, as well. A minimalist and clean table dotted with

tulips or roses in glass vases are timeless, or go for a pastel color palette in hues of light pink and pale blue. You could also try your hand at glittered or painted vases or scour the shelves of your favorite thrift shop for vintage versions for your tablescape.

Clean and Bright An easy way to incorporate light and clean lines is to keep it simple and stick to one color: white. Glass accents add to a minimalist look and draw attention to food displays and fresh blooms.

photography by ©istock.com/manifeesto,maximkabb and ruslanshramko

Crafty or Vintage Vases Repurposed and do-it-yourself containers are a way to show off your artistic side.

Glue glitter or wrap twine around Mason jars, or use chalkboard paint to reinvent milk jars and wine bottles as vase centerpieces or candleholders.

photography by ©istock.com/oksix, ruslanshramko and kairosing

Pretty Palette photography by ©istock.com/jodiejohnson, millefloreimages and sbytovamn

Boost the party’s energy with an ethereal mix of spring colors like pale pastels and natural neutrals, incorporated into the bites and drinks served on the table as well as complementary plates, glasses, napkins and linens.

Turn Place Cards Into Centerpieces Directing your guests to their seats can also make a statement on your table.

A place card’s purpose is functional, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun. Springy ideas include potted succulents flagged with names (which guests can take home as favors), adorned notecards stuck into fresh produce like artichokes and radishes that are then set on a napkin and plate, or small bouquets of paper or fresh flowers wrapped with twine and a label or placed in an inscribed vase.

photography by ©istock.com/bootsie322 56

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invitations

Let guests know what to expect at your fête with the arrival of any of these trendy and seasonal invites: It’ll set the tone and theme of the party from the get-go.

Chalkboard

Craft Paper

Invitations mimicking a chalkboard incorporate nostalgia and whimsy with a delicate aesthetic that complements an array of party color palettes and themes.

If your party décor leans more toward rustic or vintage, keep the invites neutral, as well, with craft paper that can embellished with natural elements or rolled up with twine.

photography by ©istock.com/katyakatya

Watercolor Art Take cues from outside elements, and design your invite with pretty pastels painted in watercolor. Contrast with shimmery gold embossed lettering or reverse type to complete the ethereal effect.

photography by ©istock.com/maljuk, sirichoke and katyakatya

photography by ©istock.com/ princessmaro, loliputa and aninata

Urban Crafted goodness is coming to CHESTERFIELD! Opening late March, 2017

Catering available.

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SeaSonal catering ideaS

After being cooped up for months, we’re all itching to throw a party in the spring. Plus, with milestones like graduation and bridal showers or seasonal holidays like Passover and Easter, there are plenty of reasons to celebrate. Here, local caterers offer insight on tasty ideas for any occasion.

Farmers’ Market Feast Embrace the bounty of spring produce at an outdoor get-together. Folded housemade flatbreads and the Farmers’ Market Salad from Crushed Red Urban Crafted Catering burst with fresh, seasonal ingredients including field greens, roasted turkey, goat cheese, apples and dried cranberries. crushed-red.com/catering

photography by johnny graham

Colorful Appetizers Spring is a great time for colorful fresh food, especially appetizers with flavor and texture variety, recommends Revel Catering & Events in Jefferson City, Missouri. Try market-fresh options like beet-pickled deviled eggs or crispy heirloom potato cakes with smoked salmon and tomato confit.

573.636.0023, reveljcmo.com

Graduation Party Family-style Southern food is an easily customized catering option for a grad party, recommend Rick and Elisa Lewis, owners of Southern in St. Louis. Try an assortment of fried chicken breasts, legs, thighs and wings (with six heat levels); deviled eggs; mac ‘n’ cheese; and seasonal sides like heirloom tomatoes.

314.295.8220, stlsouthern.com

photography by katherine bish and jon dittmer

Dessert Bar Line up creative displays of bite-size treats that feature in-season ingredients like lemon, rhubarb and berries in festive recipes like mini pies, jam-shortbread cookies, crêpe cakes, scones, cheesecake bites and handheld trifles.

photography by spencer pernikoff/whiskey and soba

Barbecue Picnic Feel that fresh spring breeze with an outdoor barbecue picnic. Righteous Pig Bar-B-Que in Belleville, Illinois, caters to crowds of any size. Load up your picnic basket with pork belly pastrami, slabs of slow-smoked ribs, pit-smoked beans and loaded baked potato salad, or choose from one of the “party packs” – just make sure to bring extra napkins.

618.520.8817, righteouspig.com

photography by william edwin willis 58

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march 2017

photography by ©istock.com/vlfoto, shalamov, garnish_design and dragonimages

Mother’s Day

promotion JEN & DAYTON PHOTOGRAPHY

Treat the woman who gave you everything to a brunch of her favorite breakfast dishes, suggests Ces & Judy’s Catering in St. Louis. Think “mom”-osas, smoked salmon pâté in savory cones, a short stack with her choice of toppings, and yogurt parfaits with fresh berries and granola.

314.991.6700, cesandjudys.com

Bet Better ter T Together ogether

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photography by heather roth fine art photography

Spring Brunch Buffet Start your brunch with fresh and seasonal fruit and vegetable assortments bursting with flavor. St. Louis-area catering company The Art of Entertaining recommends also including more filling options in your spread like its mini potato baskets of halved new red potatoes filled with a savory cheese mixture or chicken crêpes covered in a rich cream sauce and topped with berry relish and toasted almonds.

314.963.9899, theaofe.com

photography courtesy the art of entertaining Inspired Local Food Culture

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Globally influenced

locally sourced

photo credit: rebecca rademan

“Our food tells our story.”

Jefferson City, MO | 573.636.0023 | revelcatering@gmail.com | RevelJCMO.com

Photo credit: Wildflower Photography

Specializing in Wedding Cakes, Cupcakes, Cookies, and More!

Columbia, MO • range-free.com • anna@range-free.com • 573.777.9980

Spirits of St. Louis Distillery Operated by Square One Brewery & Distillery 1727 Park Avenue ~ St. Louis, MO 63104 ~ 314-231-2537 SpiritsOfStLouisDistillery.com facebook.com/SpiritsOfSt.Louis Twitter: @SpiritsOfSTL

drinks & CoCktails

With spring comes cravings for lighter cocktails using fresh fruit, bubbly and more.

signature cocktail Neukomm Tea

Sangria Put a new twist on your spring garden party with sangria. Mix Edg-Clif Farms & Vineyard Sunset Chambourcin – produced in Potosi, Missouri – with fresh peaches, strawberries and kiwi, and finish with peach schnapps and ginger ale.

573.438.4741, edg-clif.com

photography courtesy edg-clif farms & vineyard

Strawberry Margarita Fresh strawberries, from-the-garden basil, tart rhubarb, fragrant lavender – spruce up traditional Margaritas with seasonal ingredients.

JJ Neukomm Missouri Malt Whiskey from Spirits of St. Louis Distillery complements the citrus flavors in this cocktail. The recipe can be used as a basic formula, customized to taste: For more whiskey-forward notes, try Earl Grey tea and Angostura bitters. For a more exotic twist, use lapsang souchong black tea. You can macerate fruit in the iced tea for added flavor, and this recipe can easily be batched to serve more.

Serves | 1 | 2 oz JJ Neukomm Missouri Malt Whiskey 1 to 2 oz black iced tea, to taste ¾ oz peach simple syrup (or 1 Tbsp sugar) orange bitters, to taste ice 2 slices fresh peach (for garnish) | Preparation | In a mixing glass, combine all ingredients except fruit and ice, and stir.

Pour in an ice-filled lowball glass, and garnish with fruit.

314.231.2537, squareonebrewery.com

photography by ©istock.com/5ph and nikitos77 60

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photography courtesy spirits of st. louis distillery

promotion

sweet treats

The turning of the season is a time to celebrate spring’s bounty, but it’s also a chance to indulge with sweet bites and candy-coated confections. Set goodies out on display or make them the centerpiece.

Treats to Go Planning the savory side of a springtime gathering is easy – fresh produce, zesty dips and grilled fare – but satisfying a guest’s sweet tooth is a little trickier. These light and seasonal treats are convenient for mingling and mobile partygoers.

Boozy pound CakE A fruity and boozy pound cake is welcome at a spring party. The limoncello version from Best Regards Bakery in Overland Park, Kansas, is moist and tart from the freshly squeezed lemon juice and a heavy douse of real limoncello.

Pound cake is best served cold with fresh fruit.

913.912.7238, makethemsmile.com

photography courtesy best regards bakery anGEl food CakE This spongy cake can be topped with spring fruit or whipped cream infused with coffee. Plus, it’s gluten-free, and Range Free bakery in Columbia, Missouri, offers the treat in a traditional Bundt cake, individual cupcakes or rolled with sweet fillings.

573.777.9980, range-free.com

photography by anna meyer

photography by ©istock.com/rtimages

Edible Centerpieces

Candy EGGs. Spring egg hunts are fun for the thrill of the chase and also for the sweet surprises once you’ve gathered your booty. That same idea translates to a pretty bowl or Mason jars filled with chocolate eggs that can be opened to reveal artful sweets inside.

Whether you’re throwing an intimate afternoon tea, small cocktail gathering al fresco or full-blown graduation party with a lengthy guest list, food will play a large part and so will your décor. If space is limited, or if you want to deviate from the traditional flowers, try an edible treat as your centerpiece instead.

BounTiful BaskET. Arrange fresh-cut fruit in a woven basket for a healthier sweet centerpiece: Alternate red and green grapes with raspberries and strawberries on skewers, and cut melon and orange slices into floral shapes to fill in your “bouquet.”

Spring for a centerpiece that’s as gorgoeus as it is delicious.

roBin’s nEsT. Mix crushed shredded wheat cereal with coconut and chocolate for edible chocolate nests that you can set up on a pretty cake stand and line with mini candy-coated eggs.

layEr CakE. Pull from spring’s pretty palette, and make a towering four-color layer cake (a lot simpler than it sounds) to rest majestically in the middle of your table. For more fun, keep the frosting simple and the cake unadorned to enhance the colors when you finally cut into it.

frEnCh maCarons Light and airy, macarons are easy handheld treats, with colorful shells that brighten up any display. Try The Tipsy Goat’s seasonal flavors like strawberry-balsamic and honey-lavender, available in the St. Louis area.

314.604.4522, tipsygoatstl.com

photography courtesy the tipsy goat Inspired Local Food Culture

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Bring a variety of cheese types and textures to create visual and flavor interest, suggests Sarah Hoffmann of Green Dirt Farm in Weston, Missouri, like its Woolly Rind, Bossa, Prairie Tomme and spreadable Fresh Plain.

816.386.2156, greendirtfarm.com

photography by natasha bailey and anna petrow

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partyplanning checklist Rediscover the ConneCt with Conne

 Make Your Guest List Decide who you’d like to invite, and reach out about available dates. Take into account space limitation and that a few folks will likely decline.

 Choose a Theme Try our creative spring party-theme ideas: a cherry blossom celebration, Cinco de Mayo party, afternoon high tea or a woodland dinner party.

 Send Invitations Two or three weeks before, choose invites (or evites) that match your theme, and make sure to note if it’s being held outdoors.

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 Plan the Menu On your own or with a caterer, choose a menu that reflects the theme and seasonal foods available. Place orders with local bakeries and delicatessens.

 Make a Shopping List

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Compile a master list, and organize it by how far in advance you need to buy everything – make sure to check your pantry for staples beforehand.

 Set a Cooking Schedule Divide the grocery list into nonperishables or dishes that can be made ahead and frozen from ones that have to be made the day of. Prep as much as you can in advance.

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 Lay Out the Space Arrange furniture so guests can move from one room to another, and make sure you have enough chairs for everyone. Don’t forget a place for jackets!

 Make or Buy Décor

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Make your tablescape the focal point (see our earlier recommendations), and set the scene by picking up or DIY-ing what you need ahead of time.

 Decorate Buy flowers the day before, arrange candles, put up your decorations, and set up displays and table settings.

 Perfect the Playlist Music shouldn’t be an afterthought. Use apps like Spotify or Pandora to build a playlist in advance based on the guests in attendance.

 Notify Neighbors

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Even if you’re not throwing a raucous affair, it’s a common courtesy to let neighbors know about increased cars and noise.

 Stock the Bar Use the RSVP list to your advantage to stock up – three to four cocktails per guest for a three-hour party, plus signature-drink ingredients.

 Clean Before the Party Look at your space with the fresh eyes of a guest, and do any touch ups as needed. Declutter, and remove personal and delicate items that could be broken.

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the new season TV is coming in april The new season of Feast TV is set to debut in April, with 13 fresh episodes airing on PBS across the region. This season we explore urban farming, the dairy industry, food trucks, artisan bread, distilling, local wine, foraging, pop-up dining and more.

Since August, producer and host Cat Neville and the show’s intrepid crew have been on the road, gathering stories of the best in local food and drink, so watch your local PBS station for listings and turn to feastmagazine.com for episodes online.

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farmstead fresh

Dig into eight different styles of cheese made at creameries across the Midwest.

When aspiring and established cheesemakers across the country need guidance, they turn to Neville McNaughton of St. Louis-based CheezSorce.

Low commodity dairy prices are herding small, family-owned dairy farms toward big changes to their business models.

Seven ways to make the most of a whopping 44 Midwest-made dairy products, from cultured butter and cream-line milk to bloomy-rind cheese and Greek-style yogurt.

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Dig into eight different styles of cheese made at creameries across the Midwest Written by Liz MiLLer and nancy StiLeS

photography by jonathan gayMan

Glossary Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery’s Fresh Chèvre

An abbreviated guide to cheesemaking terms that appear in the following pages

Cultured.

The term cultured refers to any dairy product made from milk inoculated with certain bacteria to achieve flavor, aroma and texture characteristics in the final product.

Curd.

The semisolid portion of coagulated milk, curd is generally produced for cheesemaking.

Lactic Acid.

An organic acid created by the fermentation of lactose by beneficial lactic acid bacteria in starter culture used to turn milk into cheese. Lactic acid gives cheese acidity and tartness and also acts as a preservative.

Rennet.

The substance found in the mucous membranes of a calf’s stomach, rennet contains rennin, an acid-producing enzyme that aids in coagulating milk. Rennet can also be used to describe any substance used to facilitate the separation of curds and whey during cheesemaking.

Starter Culture.

Also referred to as a lactic starter, a starter culture is bacteria added to milk at the beginning of the cheesemaking process. A starter culture usually contains Streptococci and Lactobacilli bacteria, which ferment lactose into lactic acid and reduces the milk’s pH to the proper range for rennet to coagulate the milk into curds and whey.

Whey.

The liquid portion of coagulated milk, whey cheese is a fresh cheese – such as ricotta – made from the whey that remains after a cow’s-milk cheese has been made.

L

eslie Cooperband and Wes Jarrell didn’t move to Champaign, Illinois, to raise goats. Instead, the couple, both professors of agriculture, relocated from Madison, Wisconsin, in 2003 to take jobs at the University of Illinois. They planted buckwheat, and by the next year, more than 350 fruit trees and 600 berry plants, and began raising their first four Nubian goats. Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery was certified as a grade-A farmstead creamery in 2005 – the first in the state – meaning the couple makes cheese from their own herd of goats. This spring, Cooperband and Jarrell’s 12th season on the farm, they plan to milk about 75 Nubian, LaMancha and Nigerian Dwarf goats, which will produce 14,000 pounds of cheese.

Around 60 percent of the farm's cheese production this season will be fresh chèvre, which comes in original, cracked pepper, and herbes de Provence flavors. “[March] is the start of our season – the goats start having babies and we start making cheese again,” Cooperband says. “March is mostly about chèvre, but we also try to make several batches of Moonglo and Magia Negra, our raw-milk cheeses, to take advantage of the high milk solids in early lactation milk."

The first step is a low-temperature pasteurization; goat’s milk is pasteurized for 30 minutes at 145°F, which preserves the milk’s natural chemistry as much as possible. Next, starter culture and a little bit of rennet (which helps the milk solids coagulate) is added, and the milk ferments for 18 to 20 hours. The curd is then ladled into cheesecloth-lined baskets and drained overnight; the next day, it’s salted, “Then it’s cheese!” Cooperband says. The creamery makes several styles of goat cheese, including bloomyrind; a Camembert-style; a raw goat-milk tomme; a raw-goat milk blue and a whole goat-milk ricotta.

You can buy Prairie Fruits’ fresh chèvre at the farm in Champaign, the Urbana Farmers’ Market or through Fair Shares CCSA in St. Louis. Look for meals on the farm and tours later this year. –N.S. 217.643.2314, prairiefruits.com

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Catch Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery in the new season of Feast TV, debuting in April!

Terrell Creek Farm’s Caprino Romano

T

he focus at Terrell Creek Farm in Fordland, Missouri, is fresh goat cheese made with milk from a herd of adorable brown and white Nubian goats. Owners Lesley and Barry Million founded the farm in 2012 and quickly became favorites at the Farmers Market of the Ozarks in Springfield, Missouri, for their fresh, spreadable chèvre. The Millions soon added crumbly Feta and then creamy blue cheese to their lineup, followed by the Big Bluff Tomme, a slicing cheese that won Best of Show at the Missouri State Fair last year. In the fall of 2015, they added their first grating cheese, Caprino Romano.

To make the whole goat’s-milk Caprino Romano, milk is pasteurized and then culture is added. Unlike the farm’s fresh goat cheese, which is set with lactic acid, the Caprino is a rennet-set cheese, meaning more rennet is added before the curd is cut. The cheese is then pressed and left to rest for several hours. Holes are poked into the cheese wheels to drain even more liquid, as the finished product should be on the drier side. The Caprino then ages for a minimum of nine months before it’s ready to bring to market.

The hard cheese is similar to Parmesan, with a sharp yet sweet and nutty flavor perfect for adding to soups, shaving over salads or pasta dishes, or slicing and serving with crackers. “We’ve gotten a good response from Harvest Restaurant in Rogersville, Missouri; they’ve used it in some of their pastas,” Lesley says.

Terrell Creek’s cheeses are sold at farmers’ markets in Springfield and the surrounding area, as well as fresh on the farm. Check out the creamery's new monthly Cheese Night on the Farm events, which launched last fall and resume on Saturdays this month.

Lesley, who majored in art education, serves artistic cheeseboards featuring Terrell’s cheeses as well as locally made charcuterie, nuts, fruits, pickled vegetables and more, plus cheeses from other regional producers. “We do really big, elaborate cheese and charcuterie boards all made with local products,” Lesley says. “It’s an opportunity for people to come out, tour the farm, eat some cheese, listen to live music and relax on a Saturday evening.” –L.M. 417.209.0021, terrellcreekfarm.com

Baetje Farms’ Miette

V

eronica Baetje first made her popular Miette, a bloomy-rind sheep's and goat’s-milk cheese, out of necessity. The summer of 2012 was particularly hot, and the goats at Baetje Farms in Bloomsdale, Missouri, were so uncomfortable that they weren’t producing enough milk. Baetje tried to find additional milk from nearby farms, but all she could get her hands on was sheep’s milk. After some experimentation, she came up with Miette by blending the two milks.

“It has the consistency of a baked cheesecake – kind of melts in your mouth,” Baetje says. “It has aromas of a really fine white wine and yeasty bread dough. The flavors are just amazing: When you put it on your tongue, it

melts like butter and you really taste the fermented cream – a really rich flavor and a little toasted sunflower note.” Since Miette is a lactic-style cheese, it takes a little bit longer to make – about 14 days from start to finish, including allowing the culture to set, ladling, draining and aging.

Baetje makes about 200 pounds of Miette a week – all by hand, with no automated equipment – and ships it from coast to coast, particularly the West Coast. In 2015, Miette placed in the top 50 cheeses at the World Cheese Awards, out of 2,800 cheeses from 35 countries. “It’s a lovely little cheese,” Baetje says. – N.S. 573.483.9021, baetjefarms.com

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Goatsbeard Farm’s Franklin Island Feta

I

n Harrisburg, Missouri, about 20 miles north of Columbia, Ken and Jenn Muno raise around 50 goats on pasture at Goatsbeard Farm. Their herd is a mix of crosses between Nubian, Sable Saanen and LaMancha breeds, and because goats are seasonal breeders, the Munos plan their farming and cheesemaking schedules around the goats’ natural breeding and birthing cycles. “[Goats] naturally are bred in the fall and have kids in the spring, and so we go with that schedule,” Jenn says. “There’s

always a break of about three months where we aren’t milking or making cheese [in winter], which is great because it’s so cold and there’s no pasture [for the goats] to eat.”

Ken, the cheesemaker, uses the goat's milk to make a range of cheeses, including fresh chèvre, a bloomy-rind cheese, a range of raw-milk cheeses and Franklin Island Feta. Named for a small isle in the Missouri River, the Feta is made with gently pasteurized milk and finished in a slightly salty brine. Milk is pasteurized and then cultured for an hour before rennet

is added; it then sits for another hour. The curd is then cut, stirred and dipped into Feta “boxes,” where it's left to press for about 16 hours. Next, the cheese is cut into two-pound blocks and placed into plastic buckets filled with salt brine. The Feta ages in the brine for about a month before it’s ready to package and sell at grocery stores and the Columbia Farmers’ Market, as well as Local Harvest Grocery in St. Louis. Look for the 2017 batch available for purchase next month. –L.M. 573.875.0706, goatsbeardfarm.com

Cool Cow Cheese’s Gouda

T

om Blatchford is a self-described “Gouda guy.” At his creamery, Cool Cow Cheese in Owensville, Missouri, Blatchford makes five varieties of Gouda: young, aged, smoked, smoked red pepper and blue, a cross between Gouda and blue cheese.

This month, he’s releasing a Gouda cross made with baby Swiss called Missouri Special, with an intense and rich flavor. (Altogether the creamery makes 16 varieties of cheese, including Cheddar, Havarti and Jersey Jack, a Monterey Jack cheese.)

Like all of Cool Cow’s cheeses, each Gouda variety starts with full-fat milk from Blatchford’s herd of Jersey cows. Blatchford, who graduated from the University of Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese, doesn’t cut the fat content of the milk, which he says yields a silky texture and fuller flavor. The pasteurized milk is heated, and culture and rennet are added before the curds are cut and the whey is drained. The young Gouda only matures for a few weeks before being packaged and has a creamier, smoother texture, as opposed to the aged, which is a bit rougher and more rugged.

Intensity and purity of flavor are important to Blatchford for the flavored varieties of Gouda, as well. For the smoked red pepper variety, peppers are added when the whey is draining but not completely drained off, “and that allows the whey to neutralize the intense heat of the red pepper and yet get the flavor into the cheese,” Blatchford says. “We don’t kill the gentleness of Gouda with heat; we just try to augment the flavor.”

He says the key to making any great cheese is allowing the core taste and essence to shine. “A real Gouda person doesn’t cover up that basic Gouda flavor – you just work constantly to enhance it and tweak those notes a little bit,” Blatchford says. “I enjoy making Gouda and I just keep on playing with the flavor.” –L.M. 573.437.2699, coolcowcheese.com

T

he Ozark Mountain Blue cheese at Edgewood Creamery in Purdy, Missouri, is more of a milder blue, but that’s what makes it so popular. “Many people say [they] don’t like blue cheese, but [they] like our blue cheese because it’s not quite so strong – you can taste the cheese around the blue,” says co-owner Melissa Fletcher. Fletcher, who opened the creamery in August 2015 with her husband, Charles, has been making Ozark Mountain Blue since the beginning. The Fletchers’ herd of cross-bred cattle is grass-fed on the 260-acre dairy farm, which they run with their children, bottling non-homogenzied cream-line milk. The “girls,” as the Fletchers lovingly call their pasture-raised cows, produce milk for the full-fat, yellow-hued blue cheese; after about a half a day spent processing the cheese (culturing, draining, etc.), it’s aged for three to four months. The result is a nutty, dense blue with salt and a little spice.

“We make about 140 pounds [of Ozark Mountain Blue] every week,” Fletcher says, noting that she expects to “double up” on that number in 2017 thanks to increased distribution, including in Kansas City; Joplin, Missouri; and northwest Arkansas. It’s also used at Farmer’s Gastropub, Metropolitan Farmer and The Order in Springfield, Missouri.

You can tour the farm and creamery in Purdy, which includes a farm store, and watch the cheese being made. Other Edgewood products include cloth-bound Cheddar (mild and sharp); fromage blanc, a chef favorite; and cheese curds. “[It’s] very hands-on, handcrafted, artisanal cheese,” Fletcher says. “People want to know where their food comes from and they enjoy seeing the process. That’s really been a neat thing for us to do.” –N.S.

Washed Rind Edgewood Creamery’s Ozark Mountain Blue

417.442.3010, edgewoodcreamery.com

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I

n quiet Jamesport, Missouri, home to the largest population of Amish in the state, the Flory family is making one of the most highly regarded cheeses in the region. The family operates Homestead Creamery and partners with Milton Creamery out of Milton, Iowa, to produce award-winning Flory’s Truckle, an aged, cloth-bound Cheddar cheese.

The cheese gets its name from the Old English word “truckle,” or cylinder, which was the traditional shape of medieval Cheddars.

The Florys combine unpasteurized cow’s milk with culture, rennet and salt; after curds form, they are separated from the whey and wrapped in cheesecloth to form its signature cylindrical shape.

Homestead Creamery’s Flory’s Truckle

cheddar

“With cloth-bound [cheeses], you’re going to lose some moisture – that’s a given,” says Rufus Musser, owner of Milton Creamery.

“Cloth-aged cheese is drier, with a small bit of funky flavor from the mold. If you tasted the cheeses side by side, one aged in plastic and one aged in cloth, they’re two distinctly different cheeses.”

Although many modern Cheddars are aged in plastic, Flory’s Truckle is swaddled in cheesecloth until it’s packaged for sale, producing a crumbly texture. The Florys let the cheese dry outside for 10 days and then coat it in lard to reduce mold penetration. The truckle is aged in cloth for two months in Jamesport and then trucked off to Milton, where it’s aged for another 10 to 12 months.

In addition to aging Flory’s Truckle and helping manage its distribution across the country, Musser and his family make their own Cheddars, including Prairie Breeze, a sweeter cheese with a bit of bite. Look for Flory’s Truckle and Milton Creamery Cheddars in select specialty food stores in St. Louis and Kansas City. –L.M. 641.656.4094, miltoncreamery.com

A

t Green Dirt Farm in Weston, Missouri, the Tuffet lactic-style cheese is a staff and customer favorite. "We often wax on about how it’s kind of like cheesecake,” laughs owner Sarah Hoffmann. “It has a sweet honey and nectar flavor to it, and saltiness, too. It’s fairly unique – just a lovely flavor that’s almost like bread dough.”

Green Dirt Farm’s Tuffet

That touch of sweetness is thanks to the Geotrichum yeast in the rind. Lactic-style means the curd forms due to lactic acid in the cultures, resulting in a soft, delicate curd that ripens from the outside in. As the Tuffet ages for seven days (after 24 hours of ripening and 48 hours of draining), “it undergoes a ripening process where it gets a lovely, creamy, gooey layer just underneath the rind that progresses toward the center,” Hoffmann says. Head cheesemaker Rachel Kline first made Tuffet while she was a cheesemaker-in-training, and the staff loved it so much, they added it to the regular catalog.

It took several rounds of trial and error before Hoffmann and crew found packaging that could protect the delicate Tuffet during shipping. She estimates Green Dirt made between 1,000 and 2,000 pounds last year, but thanks to the new packaging, it’s poised to produce it in much larger quantities in 2017. –N.S. 816.386.2156, greendirtfarm.com

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Written by HeatHer riske

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pHotograpHy by judd demaline

When aspiring and established cheesemakers across the country need guidance, they turn to neville mcnaughton of st. louis-based cheezsorce

Neville McNaughton visits the goats at Baetje Farms in Bloomsdale, Missouri. The red barn houses Baetje's goats and dates back to 1912.

W

hat’s the secret to a really great cheese? A rich, nutty Cheddar; a buttery, sweet Parmesan or a creamy, earthy brie? Just ask Neville McNaughton.

Since 2001, McNaughton – known to many as Dr. Cheese – has run CheezSorce, a consulting firm that educates aspiring cheesemakers on everything from business planning and plant layout to sanitation and equipment design. A lifelong cheesemaker who got his start milking cows on his family’s small New Zealand dairy farm, McNaughton has more than 40 years of formal education in cheese technology and hands-on cheesemaking. So if you’re wondering why some of your cheese is growing black flecks or how to build the most cost-efficient aging room possible, he’s the guy to call.

McNaughton helps cultivate the best cheese possible, turning fledgling dairies into some of the most celebrated creameries in the country. CheezSorce works with cheesemakers both small and large, from those just getting into cheesemaking to more established operations looking to expand their capacity. “Cheesemaking is quite hard, but it became my passion,” McNaughton says. “Knowledge is a powerful thing, right? When you realize you’re working for people who don’t know what they’re doing, you’re able to be very helpful. I’ve spent most of my life doing things that are not very mainstream – I know how to make cheese differently. I learned that in order to produce the difference, you had to do it differently.”

Although CheezSorce is based in St. Louis, McNaughton advises cheesemakers across the country, including Milton Creamery in Iowa, Jacobs & Brichford Cheese in Indiana and LaClare Farms in Wisconsin (whose Evalon Gouda, made with goat’s milk, beat out every cheese in the country to win the U.S. Cheese Championship in 2011). And he also helped establish some of the most acclaimed local creameries, including Baetje Farms in Bloomsdale, Missouri; Green Dirt Farm in Weston, Missouri; Homestead Creamery in Jamesport, Missouri; Goatsbeard Farm in Harrisburg, Missouri; and Jason Wiebe Dairy near Durham, Kansas. Most recently, McNaughton helped set up operations for Hemme Brothers Creamery in Sweet Springs, Missouri.

These cheesemakers produce a wide range of products – from Baetje’s award-winning moldripened Bloomsdale cheese to Green Dirt’s bloomy-rind Dirt Lover to Jason Wiebe’s aged Cottonwood River Cheddar – but in addition to working with McNaughton, they’ve got another thing in common: Each creamery has won fans across the country for its cheeses. And they’re all in agreement – they couldn’t have done it without Dr. Cheese.

BAETJE FARMS In 2005, Veronica Baetje and her husband, Steven, were researching their soon-to-open goat-cheese dairy and creamery, Baetje Farms, on a business trip. Veronica was completing the first of several advanced cheesemaking courses at the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese in Burlington. From there, they traveled to visit Glengarry Cheesemaking in Lancaster, Ontario, and then to Wisconsin for a three-day conference on artisan cheesemaking. By the time the couple reached their last stop, seven different people had recommended McNaughton.

Because McNaughton is based in St. Louis – just about an hour north of the Baetjes’ farm in tiny Bloomsdale – Veronica says the collaboration was a no-brainer. “It was really an instant connection with him,” she says. “I don’t have anything but good to say about him, honestly.”

Steven and Veronica had been making cheese and raising goats since 1998, but tapped McNaughton on everything from plant design and placement to insulation and consulting on cheesemaking techniques. He designed the cheesemaking plant and aging rooms to be efficient and, perhaps most importantly, conducive to the type of cheese the Baetjes were making – namely, the French-style goat cheeses that have won Baetje considerable acclaim.

Baetje does all of its work by hand, with no help from mechanized equipment to process or cut its cheeses. McNaughton immediately knew the creamery would need a positive displacement pump to transfer milk from its bucket milker to the pasteurizer. Unlike many goat’s milk operations that use a pump designed for cow's milk, Baetje’s more delicate system preserves the integrity of the fat particles in the milk, resulting in a richer flavor. “I think that pump helped a lot,” McNaughton says. “That’s why her cheese has been so incredibly good.”

The aging rooms at Baetje are also particularly unique, as they use radiant cooling to simulate a cave-like atmosphere. “People tend to spend the least amount of money on their aging rooms,” McNaughton says. “When cheese is one day old, it has no value, and then you put it in the aging room. It will go from being worth $5 in cost to becoming $15 wholesale value and $30 at retail.

All of that happened after the production room.”

Above trays lined with perfect pyramids of Bloomsdale cheese – rolled in pine ash and salt and then aged until a beautiful bloom of white mold forms – ice water is pumped through stainless steel tubing. This cools the space and also drips condensation, providing just the right temperature and humidity for the cheeses. “It’s very energy-efficient, and we couldn't have come up with it ourselves,” Veronica says. “I think that when you work with someone like Neville, you have to really respect him and follow through with the instruction that he gives. I really do believe that if it wasn’t for us connecting with him at the beginning and getting his input on our business, that we would not have achieved the accolades that we received.”

573.483.9021, baetjefarms.com

JASON WIEBE DAIRY One morning in 2009, Jason Wiebe had just finished milking the cows on his small, third-generation dairy farm near Durham, Kansas, when McNaughton quite unexpectedly roared up on his motorcycle. A client of McNaughton’s had mentioned Wiebe’s name, and so he stopped by to chat with the cheesemaker. After cleaning up a bit, Wiebe took McNaughton out to the cheese plant, laid out a few of his cheeses to sample and, as McNaughton began giving his suggestions, Wiebe realized just who he was talking to. “I made use of every minute,” Wiebe says. “I knew right away I wanted to work with him. He had expertise and I knew I wasn’t an expert. Although we’d been making cheese for a few years, I knew there were things we could improve on.” Wiebe says those two hours were among the most useful he’s ever had, and McNaughton soon began consulting for the small dairy and creamery.

Wiebe has been producing Wisconsin-style farmhouse cheeses, including eight flavored raw milk Cheddars (think jalapeño, garlic-herb and bacon), raw-milk white Cheddar, Colby, and mild and medium aged raw-milk Cheddars, as well as cheese curds, for more than 10 years.

One of McNaughton’s first suggestions was for the company to set itself apart from other creameries by producing a specialty cheese with a flavor and texture all its own.

“Everybody wants a signature cheese – one that’s uniquely theirs [with] a unique name so when it takes off, nobody can steal your thunder,” McNaughton says. “But we don’t write recipes; we write procedures, because you have to hit your targets on time. We always empower the cheesemaker – if you give people the tools to be in control, you get satisfaction.”

Developed with McNaughton, Wiebe’s signature aged Cottonwood River Cheddar is made with raw milk that develops a nutty, slightly sweet flavor without the acid bite of most aged Cheddars. It uses an original blend of cultures, and it’s aged eight months, as opposed to the standard two to three weeks for most varieties. The first batch was produced in October 2010, and it’s quickly become a best-seller for the small dairy. Wiebe continues to order cheesemaking equipment from McNaughton's Sanitary Design Industries, and says he wouldn’t hesitate to recommend working with McNaughton to another local cheesemaker. “I call him with any question at all,” Wiebe says. “I consider him extremely valuable to our business and I just really enjoy working with him. I wouldn’t want to do what I’m doing without him.”

620.732.2846, jasonwiebedairy.com GREEN DIRT FARM Sarah Hoffmann of Green Dirt Farm in Weston, Missouri, has known McNaughton so long, she has trouble remembering exactly how they met. But she does remember chatting with him during a cheesemaking workshop she took at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in 2003, where McNaughton was lecturing. She was immediately impressed by how knowledgeable he was about cheesemaking, in addition to his grasp of the science, technology and equipment behind it all. On top of that, she was surprised to learn that he lived in Missouri.

“At the time, there was very little artisan cheesemaking going on in Missouri,” Hoffmann says.

“The workshop was in Wisconsin where lots of artisan [cheesemaking] – and cheesemaking of all sorts – takes place, so it seemed ironic that he would be based in my home state, yet I had to go to Wisconsin to learn from him.”

Hoffmann attended other short workshops taught by McNaughton at the University of Oregon, the University of Missouri and the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, and says they each proved instrumental in developing Green Dirt’s award-winning cheeses. McNaughton says his “Continental Cheeses” course, for instance, teaches the value of understanding where flavor comes from and how to control texture. That course ended up playing a crucial role in developing the recipe for Green Dirt's nutty, mountain-style Prairie Tomme. And his “Camembert Six Ways” course taught Hoffmann the principles that allowed her to develop Green Dirt’s signature bloomy-rind aged Woolly Rind cheese.

“The interesting thing for me was to see what she brought to the table,” McNaughton says.

“Sheep’s milk is so different. If you make goat’s or cow’s milk and then you go to a sheep’smilk farmer, you won’t believe how much cheese is in the vat. Sheep’s milk is amazing stuff: There’s more solids in the milk, so your cheese yields can easily go over 20 percent; whereas goat’s and cow’s milk is half of that, usually around 10 percent yield.”

Over the years, Hoffmann has bought equipment from Sanitary Design Industries, and also periodically seeks McNaughton's advice on cheesemaking, equipment and food safety – of which she says he is a “treasure trove” of information. Reflecting on all that McNaughton has taught her about cheesemaking, Hoffmann credits him with setting Green Dirt up for its considerable success. “[His] workshops were very instrumental in helping me improve my cheesemaking and make award-winning cheeses.”

816.386.2156, greendirtfarm.com Inspired Local Food Culture

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Low commodity dairy prices are herding small, family-owned dairy farms toward big changes to their business models.

Written by MaLLory GnaeGy PhotoGraPhy by GreGG GoLDMan

D

riving through rural Missouri and Illinois, you’ll spot plenty of happy cows lazing around on pasture. It’s nice to think that these cows produce the milk we buy at the grocery store, and yet when we stroll through the dairy department, we don’t usually make the same connection.

If you read the labels on most gallon jugs of milk, there’s usually no way to learn about the farm where the milk was produced, or what was required of the dairy farmer to get the milk into the store. You won’t read about when the cow was milked or even where the farm is located (and likely, the milk in one gallon isn’t sourced from just one farm).

Also unseen by the average consumer are the challenges facing small dairy farmers. The current price of milk is making it difficult for farmers to cover their operational costs and plan ahead. A decade ago, in 2007, retail dairy prices were at record highs – around $3.87 per gallon – and they spiked again in 2014 to $3.82.

The next year, they tanked to $3.31. In January, the average retail price in St. Louis was $2.82, which demonstrates the instability of milk pricing. This volatility makes it difficult for small dairy farmers to survive by milking cattle alone. So what can they do?

It’s an industry-wide question without a simple answer.

▼ What LoW Prices reaLLy Mean Beneath the fluorescent warehouse lighting inside a large supermarket chain, like Wal-Mart or Costco, consumers push extra-large shopping carts filled with value-priced groceries, including milk priced as low as $1 to $1.50. Such rock-bottom milk prices are a loss-leading tactic designed to attract customers and stimulate sales for other products sold in the store. It’s great for retailers and consumers, but less so for dairy farmers.

Dairy farms are paid by the hundredweight (Cwt), which is equal to 100 pounds of milk. For example, a dairy farmer in Greenville,

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Illinois, milking 120 cows has a break-even of around $20 a Cwt. Wal-Mart’s pricing computes to paying around $15 per Cwt.

of fresh dairy products, sold at the farm and through retailers across the Kansas City area.

By the end of 2017, Wal-Mart will open a 250,000-square-foot milk-processing plant in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The press release announcing the facility promotes the 200 jobs it will bring to the community, but it doesn’t address the reality that Wal-Mart’s move into milk production might very well push out local businesses – and jobs – as well.

▲ Don’t cry over sPiLt MiLk

The plant will make it possible for Wal-Mart to contract directly with farmers for milk, instead of going through distributors and wholesalers like Prairie Farms or Dean Foods. This allows Wal-Mart to operate under its own private label more profitably, without the margin of distribution. It’s hard to say if pricing will decrease even more.

For small farmers to get their milk to an economical level of pricing, they’d need to operate with lower costs, and for most, that means producing a higher volume of milk – or making value-added products with their milk, like cheese or yogurt.

This also means employing an entirely different business strategy, but the alternative might very well be exiting the industry altogether.

Michael Turley, owner and operator of Rolling Lawns Farms in Greenville, Illinois, wears tan work overalls and a baseball cap branded with his farm’s logo. He moves from stall to stall in the farm’s milking and feeding bar, shoveling feed into each feed bin as his cows happily chomp away. He has 120 Holsteins currently milking, and a total of 300 in his herd.

Turley gestures around the barn, which is divided into large stalls; and suggests that many farmers don’t do it this way: “It’s a very labor intensive way to take care of [feeding cows],” he says.

Turley feeds the cows individually twice a day; they each eat about 100 pounds daily. In the summer, he grows corn and alfalfa for them, but feed is only about half of his operational cost.

Although he’s still operating the farm the same way his father did five years ago – and the cows are still getting milked at 3:30am and 3:30pm every day – a lot has changed.

Closing the family dairy farm wasn’t an option for sisters Amy and Beth Marcoot of Marcoot Jersey Creamery in Greenville, Illinois. When they faced this same crossroad for their family’s sixth-generation farm in 2008, the sisters shifted the dairy’s focus from milk production to artisan cheesemaking.

Turley came to full-time farming a little differently than one might expect. Prior to taking ownership of Rolling Lawns after his father’s death in 2012, he enjoyed a successful career in advertising, helping his dad on weekends and evenings as needed. In 2015, after a 25-year career, Turley retired as chief executive officer and part owner of Osborn + Barr, a St. Louis-based agency touting an agriculture-heavy client list. Retirement didn’t mean slowing down, but rather, running the farm.

Similarly, in the Kansas City area, Shatto Milk Co. has reignited interest and sales for its small-production milk with throwback packaging – glass bottles – and a delivery service, plus milk in fun new flavors like root beer and cotton candy. Shatto has also added ice cream, fresh butter and cheeses to its collection

Although Turley took over Rolling Lawns in 2012, it wasn't until last year that he made a change he’d been thinking about for a decade. In that time, he witnessed the expenses of the farm threatening to outpace its income, and knew he would eventually either have to make big changes or dissolve the

operation while he still had a say.

Turley makes it clear that he doesn’t feel victimized by the changes in the industry. He respects dairy farmers at the helm of big commercial operations, which are often also family owned and operated, and he doesn’t expect consumers to stop seeking the lowest prices available.

“Agriculture is no different from any other industry,” Turley says. “We’re consolidating… Big companies get bigger and the challenge is then, how do you create new value that doesn’t come in the form of low cost?”

At Rolling Lawns, it meant quitting the dairy cooperative Turley’s family had been part of for 30 years. Instead of shipping milk daily to Prairie Farms, where it was bottled and then put on shelves under the Prairie Farms brand name, he decided to produce, process and distribute the milk himself.

Turley stands outside the milking and feeding barn on the edge of his property, which is a total of 700 acres, and points to an old barn a few hundred yards away. It’s where he’s building a 10,000-square-foot bottling center, which he expects to be completed in late April or early May. (Rolling Lawns’ milk was previously bottled at nearby Marcoot Jersey Creamery.)

He continues to walk around his property pointing out certain details he does differently. Focusing on freshness and animal husbandry are the two important ways that Turley intends to stand out on store shelves. For him, the goal is to get milk from the farm to the vendor within 24 hours rather than the industry average of 48.

As Turley nears an area of the barn where a cow is elevated on a platform, allowing a trimmer to file its hooves – he jokingly calls it a “pedicure” – he explains another difference in his process.

Because happy cows produce quality milk, he also strives to care for his cows in a way that increases their average lifespan by 50 percent.

“This is the type of stuff people don’t know about or realize [when it comes to animal care],” he says pointing to the trimmer.

Turley explains that a commercial dairy cow has about four years and two or three periods of lactation before it’s usually processed for meat.

“We want 10- and 12-year-old cows on our farm,” he says. In fact, he’s got four generations of cows in one family (the eldest cow is 11 years old). This requires keeping his cows on a consistent diet of quality feed (which also helps maintain the flavor of the milk), giving them antibiotics when they get sick and taking care of them like family.

Once his bottling facility is up and running, Turley also plans to create biking and walking paths on the farm, inspired by his time training for marathons in St. Louis’ Forest Park. And following that, he also wants to open an event venue on the farm.

Turley hopes these plans will help bridge the divide between consumers and agriculture by making his farm more of a destination – one that encourages people to spend time there, learn about the cows and how the milk is made. (He thinks places like Eckert’s, with three pick-your-own orchards in southern Illinois, and local vineyards that offer tours and education about their wines, are getting this right.)

He envisions families spending afternoons at Rolling Lawns, looking at the cows, watching the milk be bottled and enjoying a picnic as they look out over the farm. And he pictures chefs hosting dinners on his land. “Education and hospitality – I think farmers are known for that, and we want to share it,” Turley says. “We want to be part of the answer.”

He explains that because he’s managing all the steps himself, chefs and restaurateurs have a direct relationship with his operation – something that didn’t previously exist under the family's former dairy cooperative. This newfound connection has proved profitable, too: Almost 90 percent of Rolling Lawns’ sales are to restaurants and the food-service industry; the other 10 percent is direct to consumers. Gallons of Rolling Lawns milk are located at 14 specialty food stores around the St. Louis area, including Straub’s, Larder & Cupboard, The Smokehouse Market, Ladue Market, Freddie’s Market, Eckert’s Belleville Country Store and DiGregorio’s Italian Market.

Turley has also worked to cultivate relationships with local chefs as another revenue stream for Rolling Lawn. He doesn’t just want restaurants or grocery stores to source his farm’s milk, he wants them to visit the farm and truly understand what sets his product apart.

Tara and Michael Gallina, owners of Vicia in St. Louis, visited Rolling Lawns last year. The couple moved to St. Louis, Michael's hometown, in the fall of 2015 after working together at James Beard Award-winning restaurant Blue Hill at Stone Barns in upstate New York. Michael was chef de cuisine at the restaurant, which was named Restaurant of the Year by Eater in 2016, and Tara led the service team as senior captain. “[We] believe that the value of the relationship with the producer is paramount to the overall quality of the restaurant,” Tara says.

During the visit, Connie Turley, Michael’s mother and the matriarch of the farm since she married into the family at 19, treated the Gallinas to berry cobbler and freshly churned ice cream, which they enjoyed over conversation with the Turleys. They discussed, among many things, the struggles Rolling Lawns faces in the wake of Wal-Mart pricing. Tara, who Inspired Local Food Culture

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“You are awash in challenge every day on the farm because of the volatility. It’s omnipresent and you learn to live with the highs and lows, with the years you finish in the black and, the years you finish in the red – – and with most farms there’s a lot of years you lose money.”

-michael turley, rolling lawns farm

Since David Drennan became executive director of the Missouri Dairy Association (MDA) in 1995, he’s seen a declining number of dairy farmers in the state.

“Missouri was the 14th largest [state] in milk production [in 1995],” he says. “Today, we’re the 25th.”

Drennan thinks the primary reason for the decline in dairy farming in Missouri is farmers closing operations due to diminished profits. Other causes include farmers relocating to more dairy farming-friendly states and the lack of available labor, or young people entering the industry. Drennan believes the state has a responsibility to help keep the industry thriving “if it wants to maintain a local milk supply and the economic activity generated by the dairy industry.”

“When the price of milk you get doesn’t cover your feed bill, then you aren’t going to last that long,” Drennan says, echoing the challenges Turley faces in Illinois.

In 2015, the Missouri state legislature passed the Missouri Dairy Revitalization Act, an effort to help support dairy farmers. It made Missouri the first state to pass a bill that enhances the dairy title provisions of the federal farm bill. And although the $2.5 million funding was passed, and former Gov. Jeremiah “Jay” Nixon signed it, approving $1.3 million – he later ended up withholding all but $200,000.

The bill would have served three priorities:

received a culinary education with her hands in the dirt at Blue Hill, is very familiar with the challenges facing small farmers.

He hopes to also grow specific produce for chefs like Michael Gallina on his expansive plot of land.

“But that part of the conversation, [how milk prices are set in general], was something I had never been exposed to,” she says. “It kind of stuck with me that someone with a huge buying power [like Wal-Mart] can say, ‘We’re only going to buy it for this price.’”

It’s too early to say if Turley’s plan will be financially successful, though, as Rolling Lawns is still in the first year of its new operation.

Tara understands having to buy the cheapest milk for your family, but believes that if people can truly afford to spend a little more, that it can help make a real impact in the lives – and livelihoods – of local farmers. “Knowing we’re supporting a farm that’s doing the right thing is something [we’re proud of],” she says. “Doing it the right way makes us feel good about using it.”

Max Crask, co-owner of Ices Plain & Fancy in St. Louis’ Shaw neighborhood, says when you’re working with four primary ingredients – milk, heavy cream, sugar and vanilla – that the quality of each is something you can taste. He says there’s a subtle but very distinct difference in flavor and texture when it comes to fresh, quality milk like Rolling Lawns’, particularly when you whip it with heavy cream. He says Rolling Lawns’ milk whips in half the time compared to others he’s used.

Last summer, Crask visited Rolling Lawns and took a tour of the entire operation.

“I like to be able to see the product through from the beginning to when we serve it, and make sure it’s being taken care of to a standard we can be proud of,” he says.

Crask appreciated the freshness of Rolling Lawns’ feed and how Turley treats his animals. He says the milk is a little more expensive, but the superior quality enhances the nitro ice cream served at Ices, so it’s well worth it.

“They’re the nicest people and they make you feel bad that you’re not as good at what you do because they are so good at what they do,” Crask says with a laugh.

Turley has bet big in the hopes that Crask is right – and that many other chefs and consumers will agree with him. “There’s not a fiber in my being that doubts this was [the] right decision for us and that it’s going to sustain the farm,” Turley says.

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“There are a lot of farms already doing what we’re doing,” he says. “Having those friends in the industry [serve] as a great example of what’s possible.”

▲ The Land of MiLk and Money One thing Turley would like to see change is support of the dairy industry at the state level. He praises Indiana for supporting its dairy farmers through state leadership. In fact, in 2015, the state of Indiana announced a dairy strategy to focus on expanding processors, attracting new processing facilities and adopting policies that support dairy farmers.

Turley says Indiana has a “pure sense of identity” and hasn’t lost sight of its agricultural roots, which is a $31 billion industry for the state. It’s likely the key reason why Wal-Mart selected Indiana for its processing center (a benefit for the chain of superstores that ironically might hurt the farmers it's intended to protect). He thinks Illinois doesn’t value agriculture as much because of the divide between Chicago and the rest of the state, especially considering agriculture is around $20 billion of its industry, with farms covering 76 percent of the state’s total land area.

Turley doesn’t point to specific examples of how he doesn’t feel supported by Illinois, but rather says it’s a lack of support for agriculture generally. He says if you look at a comparison of state fairs, of how fairgrounds are maintained and how well attended the events are from state to state, you’ll get a good idea of the state’s commitment to the industry. And in Illinois, he sees condemned buildings and fairgrounds in disrepair.

“I think because of political ambitions and the pursuit of the urban vote [that politicians in Illinois have] lost a sense of where they come from,” he says.

He points to Missouri as an example of a state that works to support its small dairy industry, although some Show-Me State dairy farmers might disagree.

The first priority, and one of the most important components, was to establish a dairy producer insurance-premium assistance program to producers who participate in the federal margin protection program for dairy farmers. This means farmers can buy insurance, or margin protection, to protect themselves from volatility. So when there’s a bad year, farmers are insured at a certain price to help protect their farms against catastrophic losses.

The second priority was to give 80 $5,000 scholarships to students studying agriculture to help increase and develop the number of dairy laborers. The shortage of qualified dairy managers is a significant reason for the diminishing number of dairy farms. Gov. Nixon did follow through with partial funding for scholarships, but according to Drennan, there wasn’t enough money, or more importantly, time, to promote the scholarships to agriculture students. Only six applications were submitted for the 80 scholarships (all of which were accepted). The entire $200,000 allocated by Gov. Nixon was for funding these scholarships, but since only six applications totaling $30,000 was used, it’s possible that much less will be granted in the future. (The application period has since been reopened and submissions are due this month.)

The third priority required the University of Missouri’s Commercial Agriculture program to conduct an annual study of the state’s dairy industry and develop a plan to grow it. The university released its first study in 2015, funded by the Missouri Agricultural and Small Business Development Authority. The first line of the executive summary of the study should come as no surprise: “The number of Missouri’s dairy farms and processing plants are declining slowly… Unless reversed, the state will lose thousands of milk production and processing jobs.” It addresses the most critical dairy-producer need as higher milk prices and profit margins, and the top challenge as labor.

Drennan says representatives of the MDA visited with key figures at the state capitol in Jefferson City to keep funding for the Missouri Dairy Revitalization Act in the state budget, which will be finalized in May. Drennan says they’ve had positive support from legislators, but he doesn’t know what or when, if anything, might happen for sure.

“We have hope that new Gov. Eric Greitens will release the dairy money that Nixon allocated in the current budget cycle."

▼ Dairy Farmers make Butter Cheese Charles Fletcher knows the Missouri Dairy Revitalization Act well. Gov. Nixon signed it back in 2015 on Fletcher’s property in Purdy, Missouri, where he owns and operates Edgewood Dairy. The signing was enthusiastically attended by local dairy farmers, producers and kids on behalf of Future Farmers of America from across the state.

“We were very excited the government decided to sign the bill and make an effort to recognize the dairy industry in Missouri,” says Fletcher, who is also a member of the MDA. “We expected [Nixon would fully fund it], but he didn’t, which was a huge disappointment to dairy farmers in Missouri.”

Fletcher says the biggest letdown was in not funding the margin protection plan. When the first farm bill was passed in 1933 – officially called the Agriculture Adjustment Act – it was to give farmers financial assistance to survive during the Great Depression. Over the years, Fletcher says the farm bill has acted as a safety net for American farmers. The Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) was introduced in the 2002 farm bill to help compensate farmers when prices fell below a certain number, but it expired in 2014. Today, volatility in milk pricing has increased to the point that margin protection is a necessary replacement for MILC, Fletcher explains.

“Can you imagine your salary being $50,000, and one year you get $20,000, and then $80,000?” Fletcher says. “How hard would it be for you to set your budget?”

He continues the analogy, suggesting it would be a lot easier if you could give your boss a little money to hold your salary at $50,000 per year. “That’s what margin protection does,” he says. Fletcher knows the need for such consistency firsthand.

In 1997, he and his family were running their dairy as a family partnership with his father, brother and brother-in-law.

Together, they invested in equipment and machinery to grow and harvest feed for cows, and they ran the dairy together.

They kept a careful budget and balanced books, but there was a down cycle in the milk industry, where prices became too low to cover operational costs.

“All of the sudden, we couldn’t pay the feed bill,” he says.

The Fletchers had to look at ways to change the cost structure.

“That was my first moment [seeing] how devastating low prices can be,” he says. “We all know if we can ride the ups and downs in the market, that we can take the good and live through the bad. The trouble is that the bad is just long and hard enough that we can’t make it to the good.”

His solution back then was to move to a pasture-based operation, which meant the Fletchers divided their land into paddocks and systematically rotated the cows to fresh patches of grass as an alternative to feed, which accounts for nearly half of most farms' operational costs. The switch proved successful; the Fletchers noticed lower feed costs and vet bills, and cows living longer.

Since then, Fletcher has continued to notice the squeeze on margins and volatile milk pricing. He says the gross income for cattle from 2014 to 2015 has varied more than $1,000 per cow.

“That’s pretty huge.”

In 2001, Fletcher moved Edgewood Dairy 30 miles north of its original location, where he built what he calls a “purpose-built pasture dairy.” Divided into 52 5-acre paddocks with a water system, the farm is built to rotate cows to a fresh area of grass every 12 hours during the growing season, and in the winter they are fed alfalfa and hay.

In 2013, Fletcher’s son and daughter-in-law were getting ready to graduate from college. He planned to have them join the family dairy farm, but that meant having to incorporate two additional salaries. However, the fluctuating dairy prices were making it difficult to predict his revenue year over year with existing costs. Fletcher needed to figure out how to grow while also working within the changing industry. “[The constantly changing price of milk] makes it extremely difficult to predict what kind of income [you’ll have, and to] keep good help because you don’t know what your pay and salary is – so what can you do to stabilize your price?” Fletcher asks.

He couldn’t expand because there wasn’t additional land available near his farm, and growing the dairy herd with the existing land meant confining the cows, which he didn’t consider an option.

(After all, letting them freely graze on pasture was important to their quality of life and of the milk they produce.)

His wife, Melissa, came up with the perfect solution. She taught herself to make cheese, and with that basis of knowledge she could build a family creamery. By pricing the cheese consistently and absorbing the variation caused by ever-fluctuating milk prices, they could stabilize a portion of their business.

The Fletchers did build a creamery, and they built it with enough room to expand in the future. (They continue to sell some of their milk to a dairy cooperative.) Today, Fletcher and his son Tyler operate Edgewood Dairy, and his wife, Melissa, and daughter-inlaw Aubrey run Edgewood Creamery.

The women make Edgewood Cheddar, Ozark Mountain Blue, Farmhouse Original and a couple of varieties of fromage blanc, plus cheese curds. They’re currently producing 2,500 pounds of cheese a month – about half of what they’re capable of making.

Edgewood Creamery cheese can be found online, as well as at 30 different restaurants in and around Springfield, Missouri, including Farmers Gastropub, Metropolitan Farmer and The Order. Consumers can purchase cheese at retailers in Springfield such as Hy-Vee, Brown Derby International Wine Center (where Edgewood’s milk is also sold) and Hörrmann Meat Co. “We’d like to continue to grow the creamery and see where the markets take us,” Fletcher says. “I think the sky’s the limit there.”

For small dairy farms like Rolling Lawns and Edgewood, and for others who have found their niche in a fast-changing industry, looking toward the future is easier today – and will hopefully be even easier tomorrow.

Edgewood Creamery, 417.442.3010, edgewoodcreamery.com Rolling Lawns Farm, 618.664.3240, facebook.com/rollinglawns Inspired Local Food Culture

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farmstead fresh seven ways to make the most of a whopping 44 midwest-made dairy products, from cultured butter and cream-line milk to bloomy-rind cheese and greek-style yogurt StORY anD ReCIpeS bY ShannOn WebeR phOtOgRaphY bY jennIFeR SIlveRbeRg

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airy products occupy a large percentage of any grocery store’s real estate. Yet while most other departments scream with color – shimmering cans and brightly colored boxes, fresh and vibrant produce, and even gleaming gradient pinks and reds in the meat case – shelves in the dairy aisle have one thing in common: paleness. Dairy products are humble and unassuming: white on white or yellow on yellow, with nary a difference between them. Yogurt is yogurt, right? Milk is just milk; grab anything! It’s all the same.

Or is it?

If you look closely, differences abound. We live in a dairy Mecca of sorts; family-run farms are making products far superior to mass-produced alternatives. Responsible animal husbandry and minimal processing make local dairy offerings healthier for you and the environment, but it’s a quality you can taste, too. Milk is creamier and more satisfying, yogurt and sour cream more voluptuous, butter and cheese sparkle with grassy flavor, even caramel sauce gets more complex when made with local goat's milk.

I’ve fallen hard for the dairy products featured on the following pages, and for the farmers and producers who make them. Some of these products are hiding in plain sight at grocery stores; others you have to seek out at specialty food shops and farmers’ markets. Often, the best starting point is the farms themselves: Check websites for retailers in your area, or contact farms directly and they’ll point you in the right direction.

Fresh dairy is magical, and worth the extra work – and in some cases, the extra dollars – to source. Savor it, and then, try one (or all!) of the following recipes: each one uses a dairy product to its fullest, allowing the nuances and flavor of each special product to shine.

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Eggs Benedict with Smoky Hollandaise Eggs Benedict might seem like an intricate dance of pots and pans, but it’s not as tricky as you think: You just need a plan – and some fabulous local butter.

Rich and creamy, cultured butter makes a difference here: It has a clear sweetness that shines through, especially in hollandaise, where butter is the star.

L o ca L M u st - try s: ▶ Cultured butter from Larder & Cupboard in Maplewood, Missouri, made with milk from rolling Lawns Farm in Greenville, Illinois, larderandcupboard.com ▶ Plain Ol’ Butter or unsalted butter from shatto Milk Co. in Osborn, Missouri, shattomilk.com ▶ raw butter from Gasper Family Farm in Fort scott, Kansas, gasperfarm.com

Have all your components ready to go before you begin making your eggs, and whip the hollandaise up as your eggs are cooking. If you have a favorite trick to poaching eggs, go for it. I make them straight up, with no vinegar or water swirling in the pot, and it works every time. serves | 4 |

Eggs BEnEdict 1 bunch watercress (about 1 cup), thicker stems removed 1½ Tbsp fresh dill fronds, plus more for garnish 1½ tsp olive oil 1 tsp fresh lemon juice sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 4 slices Canadian bacon 4 eggs 2 English muffins, split into halves (to serve) hollandaise (to serve; recipe below) smoky HollandaisE 12 Tbsp (1½ sticks) cultured butter 3 egg yolks ¼ tsp smoked Spanish paprika ¹⁄₈ tsp ground mustard ½ tsp red wine vinegar 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, divided sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

| preparation – eggs benedict | In a medium bowl, toss watercress leaves and dill fronds together; drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice and toss to coat. season eason with salt and pepper and set aside. In a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat, drizzle a little olive oil and cook bacon until browned, flipping halfway through.

Fill a high-sided skillet with water and heat over medium-high until water just begins to bubble; reduce heat until water is at a low simmer. Crack eggs gently into water, one by one, and use a small spoon to guide stray edges into the center of each egg. Bring back to a low simmer and cook 3 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to carefully flip each egg to finish cooking, 1 minute. Use slotted spoon to transfer eggs to a towel-lined plate to drain.

| preparation – smoky hollandaise | In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat butter until completely melted. Keep butter hot but not bubbling. In a blender, add egg yolks, paprika, ground mustard, vinegar and 1 tablespoon lemon juice; pulse 4 to 5 times to incorporate. Turn motor to medium-high power, remove fill cap from lid, and slowly drizzle in hot butter; this should take 50 to 60 seconds total. Continue blending until emulsified; if mixture needs loosening, slowly whisk in remaining 2 tablespoons lemon juice until desired consistency is achieved. season to taste with salt and pepper.

| to serve | Toast english muffin halves and divide onto plates. Top each with a slice of Canadian bacon and divide watercress mixture over each. Top each with one poached egg (yolk-side up) and spoon hollandaise over top. Garnish with dill fronds and serve immediately.

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Herbed Fresh Cheese and Asparagus Flatbreads Fromage blanc sounds fancy, but it’s a workhorse in the kitchen. Think of it as your favorite cream cheese and ricotta rolled into one soft little package, only with a gorgeous flavor you’ll never get in mass-produced cheeses. I love it on everything – including just a spoonful – but one of my favorite ways to cook with it is in these spring vegetable flatbreads. They're creamy, packed with fresh herbs and brown beautifully – one bite and you’ll be hooked. sErvEs | 8 |

8 2 2 ¼ 2 4 1 8 4 to 5 4

oz fromage blanc or other fresh cheese tsp fresh thyme leaves cloves garlic, minced tsp kosher salt large egg yolks medium (6- to 8-inch) naan flatbreads, divided lb asparagus, ends trimmed oz ball fresh mozzarella, sliced into ¼-inch rounds scallions, ends trimmed, sliced lengthwise into very thin matchsticks tsp olive oil, divided

| preparation | Preheat oven to 400ºF. In a medium mixing bowl, combine fromage

blanc, thyme leaves, garlic, salt and egg yolks together until incorporated. spread all but ¼ cup onto 4 flatbreads, leaving a ½-inch border around the edges. Cut asparagus diagonally into 3-inch lengths, then lay in a single layer on flatbreads; tear mozzarella slices into 1-inch pieces and layer into asparagus, on top and underneath.

Crumble remaining ¼ cup fresh cheese mixture over flatbreads, then scatter scallion matchsticks evenly over top. Drizzle each flatbread with 1 teaspoon olive oil.

Place flatbreads on a sheet pan and bake until vegetables are roasted and cheese is melted and beginning to brown, 17 to 18 minutes. remove and slice flatbreads into long triangles; serve immediately.

LocaL M ust- t ry s : ▶ Fromage blanc from Edgewood Creamery in Purdy, Missouri, edgewoodcreamery.com ▶ Fresh goat cheese or Feta from Terrell Creek Farm in Fordland, Missouri, terrellcreekfarm.com ▶ Fresh goat cheese from Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery in Champaign, Illinois, prairiefruits.com

Roasted Beets and Fennel with Creamy Tahini-Lemon-Dill Dressing Beets and fennel get a spring wake-up call with tahini, lemon and dill, but they couldn’t do it without the soft tartness of local sour cream, which brings it all together. There’s no fussiness here: The vegetables provide their own drama if you treat them right. Give them a few minutes together in a hot oven while you whip together the creamy and tangy dressing, and you'll have a stunning side dish or vegetarian main course.

ServeS | 8 to 10 |

Roasted Beets and Fennel 2½ lbs red, golden, or Chioggia beets, or a mix (4 to 6, depending on size) 3 Tbsp olive oil, divided sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 lbs fennel bulb (2 to 3, depending on size) CReamy tahinit tahini-lemon-dill lemon-dill dRessing 1 cup sour cream 2 Tbsp tahini 2 cloves garlic, minced 1½ tsp lemon zest 3 Tbsp fresh dill fronds, finely chopped juice of 3 to 4 lemons sea salt and freshly ground black pepper small bunch fresh dill fronds (or fennel fronds from fennel bulbs), for garnish

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| preparation – roasted beets and fennel | Preheat oven to 425°F. Tear aluminum foil in lengths large enough to wrap each beet; set a beet in the middle of each square, and drizzle with 1 teaspoon olive oil. Season generously with salt and pepper; wrap tightly to avoid leaks.

Place directly on oven rack to one side, leaving enough room for a sheet pan; roast until tender, 1 hour.

Slice each fennel bulb from top to bottom into ½-inch thick wedges and toss in large bowl with 1 tablespoon olive oil; season with salt and pepper and spread onto lipped baking sheet.

Place in middle rack of oven, off to one side; place wrapped beets directly on oven rack next to pan. roast fennel for 30 to 40 minutes until fennel is deep golden on one side, placing in oven so both fennel and beets are done roasting at the same time.

| preparation – creamy tahini-lemon-dill dressing | In a medium bowl, whisk together sour cream, tahini, garlic, lemon zest and dill fronds until incorporated. Add lemon juice to thin dressing until desired consistency is reached; season to taste with salt and pepper.

| to serve | Lay fennel wedges out on a serving platter; unwrap beets, slice into wedges and lay around fennel. Garnish with dill or fennel fronds if desired, and serve warm with small bowls of dressing alongside on serving platter.

LocaL M ust-t ust- try ry s : ▶ Sour cream from Central Dairy in Jefferson City, Missouri, centraldairy.biz ▶ Quark, a soft cheese similar to sour cream, from Marcoot Jersey Creamery in Greenville, Illinois, marcootjerseycreamery.com

Loca L M ust - try s: ▶ Bloomsdale from Baetje Farms in Bloomsdale, Missouri, baetjefarms.com ▶ dirt lover from Green dirt Farm in Weston, Missouri, greendirtfarm.com ▶ Prairie Bloom from Goatsbeard Farm in Harrisburg, Missouri, goatsbeardfarm.com

Savory Bloomy-Rind Toasted Cheese Crackers Bloomy-rind cheese is an amazing thing. It's versatile and flavorful yet not overbearing, and an ideal companion to spring produce. Remember those sumptuous charcuterie platters you dove into over the holidays? Give them a spring makeover with a pop of fresh fruit, snappy vegetables, and these toasty crackers, which not only use a bloomy-rind cheese as their base, but beg for more to be thrown on top. yields | 50 to 60 crackers |

6 6 ¹⁄₃ ½ ¼ ¾

oz bloomy-rind cheese Tbsp unsalted butter cup pecans, finely chopped tsp kosher salt tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus more for sprinkling cup plus 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

| preparation | Roughly chop cheese, including rind, and place in the bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment.

Add butter and beat on high until creamy and light, 4 minutes. scrape down sides of bowl with spatula, add pecans, salt and pepper and beat again until combined, 1 minute. Add flour and blend on low until dough is damp, crumbly and just comes together. Remove bowl from stand mixer and use spatula to incorporate any dry patches. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface and shape into a ball.

Roll ball into a log 12 inches long, pressing firmly as you roll to ensure no pockets form. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until very firm, 4 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 400°F. line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Unwrap dough log on a workspace. Use a thin-bladed knife to slice dough into very thin wafers between ¹⁄₁₆ - and ¹⁄₈-inch thick. lay on prepared sheet pan 1 inch apart and sprinkle more black pepper over top. Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, until just golden around edges. Remove and allow to cool completely before serving.

| to serve | serve at room temperature with cheese, or as part of a charcuterie platter.

Chicken Tandoori Skewers with Simple Slaw and Flatbread Americans have oil-based marinades and spice rubs down cold, but we don’t do enough with yogurt-based marinades; a shame, if you ask me. Change that with this boisterously-spiced chicken skewer to herald the arrival of grilling season. The yogurt marinade tenderizes the meat and also flavors the slaw dressing.

You can make the spice base for the marinade several days ahead of time – just store it in a sealed jar and add the yogurt and lime juice when you’re ready to begin marinating the chicken. serves | 8 to 10 |

ChiCken tandoori SkewerS You’ll need about 8 10- to 12-inch skewers.

2 tsp whole cumin seed 1½ tsp whole fennel seed 1½ tsp whole coriander seed 1 Tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 Tbsp kosher salt 1 Tbsp garam masala 2 tsp sambal oelek 2 tsp sweet paprika 1 tsp ground turmeric 1 tsp chile powder ¾ tsp cayenne pepper 3 Tbsp grapeseed oil (or vegetable oil), divided ¹⁄₃ cup fresh-squeezed lime juice (from 3 to 4 limes) ²⁄₃ cup plain yogurt 3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of fat and cut into 1-inch pieces Simple Slaw ½ cup plain yogurt 1½ Tbsp tandoori chicken marinade (recipe below) juice of 2 limes 2 cups green cabbage, sliced into very thin ribbons 1½ cups red cabbage, sliced into very thin ribbons 1¼ cup sugar snap peas, halved lengthwise ½ cup fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped ¹⁄₃ cup red onion, sliced into very thin rings sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 16 to 20 pieces naan flatbreads or pitas (to serve)

| preparation – chicken tandoori skewers | In a

L o ca L M ust - t ry s: ▶ Only ewe yogurt from Green Dirt Farm in Weston, Missouri, greendirtfarm.com ▶ Greek-style plain yogurt from Windcrest Dairy in Trenton, Illinois, windcrestdairy.com ▶ Bulgarian plain flavored yogurt from YoBul! in st. Louis, balkantreasure.com

small stainless steel skillet, toast cumin, fennel and coriander seeds until fragrant, 3 to 4 minutes, shaking pan frequently. Transfer to a mortar and pestle, grind seeds into a coarse powder, and transfer to a medium mixing bowl. Add next 9 ingredients and 1 tablespoon oil and whisk to form a paste. stir in lime juice and yogurt until incorporated. Add chicken to a shallow baking dish and add yogurt mixture, reserving 1½ tablespoons of marinade for simple slaw dressing (recipe below), mixing it with chicken until chicken pieces are coated on all sides; toss until chicken is coated. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

| preparation – simple slaw | In a small bowl or lidded jar, whisk together yogurt, reserved 1½ tablespoons tandoori chicken marinade and lime juice until desired consistency is reached. Cover tightly and refrigerate until ready to serve. Add cabbage ribbons, snap peas, cilantro and red onion to a large mixing bowl and use your hands to toss until evenly distributed. set aside.

| to serve | remove chicken from refrigerator to allow chill to come off meat. Heat grill or grill pan and generously oil grates with remaining oil; remove chicken from marinade and divide onto 8 10- to 12-inch skewers.

Grill over medium-high heat, rotating until chicken is cooked through on all sides. Toss slaw with dressing and season generously with salt and pepper. Warm flatbreads or pitas in oven on low, around 225ºF, or on the grill, wrapped together tightly in foil. serve skewers family-style with simple slaw and flatbreads or pitas.

Goat M Carame ilk l Sauce

LocaL M ust-t ust- try ry s : ▶ Goat's milk caramel sauce from Borgman’s Farmstead Dairy near Kansas City, borgmansdairyfarm.com ▶ Goat's milk cajeta (seasonal) from Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery in Champaign, Illinois, prairiefruits.com

Banana-Bacon Waffles with Sautéed Bananas and Cajeta-Maple Syrup Cajeta should be Spanish for “caramel, but better.” Even surrounded by all that sweetness, the distinct twang of goat’s milk is undeniable. That balance is what makes cajeta addictive, and it keeps these decadent waffles from entering dessert territory. serves | 6 to 8 |

Banana-Bacon Waffles 3½ cups cake flour, sifted 1 Tbsp baking powder 1 tsp kosher salt 10 Tbsp room-temperature unsalted butter ¼ cup granulated sugar 2 medium very ripe bananas, mashed 2 large eggs, separated 1½ cups buttermilk, chilled 12 oz thick-cut bacon, crisped, cooled and finely chopped, divided pinch kosher salt sautéed Bananas and cajeta-Maple syrup 6 medium-large bananas, firm and slightly under ripe 4 Tbsp (½ stick) unsalted butter 2 Tbsp granulated sugar 1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp plus ¹⁄₃ cup salted goat’s milk caramel sauce, divided 1½ tsp ground cinnamon ²⁄₃ cup pure maple syrup

| preparation – banana-bacon waffles | In a large bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

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Add butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on high until fluffy, 4 minutes. scrape down sides of bowl, add mashed banana and egg yolks and beat on high to incorporate, 1 minute. scrape sides of bowl again, add flour mixture, and stir on low as you stream in buttermilk. Continue to stir until just combined, scraping sides and bottom of bowl as needed, 30 to 45 seconds. remove bowl from mixer. Fold in all but ¼ cup bacon.

In a medium mixing bowl, use a hand-held mixer to beat egg whites with salt until stiff peaks form. Carefully fold into batter until fully incorporated and no streaks remain.

Heat waffle iron; preheat oven to 200°F. scoop out batter evenly and cook until golden and crisp, then transfer to oven rack to keep warm. repeat with remaining batter.

| preparation – sautéed bananas and cajeta-maple syrup | slice bananas on a deep diagonal, ½-inch thick, and set aside.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add butter, sugar, 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon caramel sauce and cinnamon; whisk to incorporate. When butter has just melted, add banana slices and toss to coat. Heat until warmed through and slightly caramelized, with bananas still holding their shape, 3 to 4 minutes.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, add maple syrup and remaining caramel sauce and whisk to combine. Heat until very warm but not bubbling. Transfer to a syrup pitcher. remove waffles from oven and divide onto plates. spoon sautéed bananas over top and drizzle with syrup. serve.

Lo ca L Mu st - trys : ▶ Cream-line milk from Ozark Mountain Creamery in Mountain Grove, Missouri, ozarkmtncreamery.com ▶ Cream-line milk or homogenized whole milk from Memory Lane Dairy in Fordland, Missouri, memorylanedairy.com ▶ Milk from rolling Lawns Farm in Greenville, Illinois, facebook.com/rollinglawns

Creamy Celeriac-Pear Soup Nothing takes the chill off a crisp spring dinner (or late-morning brunch) like a vibrant soup.

This one takes a hearty root and turns it upside down with fresh pear, lemon and a generous splash of cream-line milk, which adds a clean roundness to the finished product similar to heavy cream, but without the heft. serves | 8 to 10 |

2 2

Tbsp olive oil leeks, white and light green parts only, sliced into ¹⁄₈-inch rings (about 2 cups) ½ cup dry white wine 2½ to 3 lbs celeriac (3 roots), peeled and chopped into 1-inch pieces, leaves reserved 3 medium Bartlett pears, peeled and cored, chopped into 1-inch pieces 6 cups unsalted chicken stock 3 lemons, divided ½ tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste 2 cups cream-line milk warm crusty bread (to serve)

| preparation | In a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, heat olive oil. Add leeks and sauté until softened, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Add wine and bring to a bubble. Let cook 1 minute. stir in celeriac and pears and cook, stirring occasionally, 4 minutes. Add stock. Halve 1 lemon and place both halves in liquid. Add salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat until soup is at a steady, low boil.

Cover and cook for 30 minutes.

Check soup: Celeriac should be tender when pierced with a fork. remove lemon halves from mixture and blend soup using an immersion blender until smooth (or blend in batches in a blender and transfer back to Dutch oven). Add cream-line milk and increase heat to medium to heat through. season to taste with salt and pepper. remove from heat and juice remaining two lemons, straining out seeds, and stir juice into soup to taste.

| to serve | season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into low bowls, garnish with celeriac leaves if desired, and serve hot alongside warm crusty bread.

#feastgram cheese and thank you

Say cheese! This month, we’re highlighting cheese made at local creameries.

We asked to see the different styles of artisan cheese you’re devouring – from bloomy rinds to hard Cheddars and Parmesans to fresh goat cheese and fromage blanc – by using the hashtag #feastgram.

|2|

|1|

| 1 | megan davey @chasingdavies I could sustain on Champagne and cheese I think. #GirlsNightOut (at Ça Va) | 2 | ludwig farmstead creamery @lfc_artisancheese Three layers of wholesome goodness! #BestCheeseEver

|4|

| 3 | anna petrow @annapetrow Tonight’s plans. (at Urban Table) | 4 | baetje farms @baetjefarms Coeur du Clos. It’s what’s happening today. #CheeseAddict | 5 | nancy smith @nancysmith_123 Cheese & #truffle (at Michael Smith Restaurant)

|3|

| 6 | giulia okoniewski @giuliaohh Holidays are for eating “too much cheese” (but we all know that’s not possible). (at Green Dirt Farm) |5|

| 7 | grassroots grocery

@grassroots_grocery Have you tried our delicious local cheese curds? A yummy filling snack that supports local farms! Come try them out at your very favorite @grassroots_grocery.

| 8 | stephanie sullins @scout_says Sometimes I think making cheese boards is my biggest creative outlet ;) |7|

| 9 | stlfoodbaby

@stlfoodbaby Euro smash + rosé

| 10 | jennifer @freckledcrazian Dessert in the form of a #CheeseCourse.

|9| |6| Want to see your photos in the April issue of Feast?

| 10 |

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|8|

Next month, we’re looking for your favorite food and drink photos, from appetizers, entrées and desserts to wine, cocktails and beer. To submit your photos for consideration, simply include the hashtag #feastgram and tag @feastmag on your Instagram photos.

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