Andrew Mark Veety

Dinner With Yellow Tree Farm - Morel and Hop Shoot Frittata

Few dishes provide the week night dinner punch of the frittata -- a dish that is so easy to prepare that it should be in every home cooks arsenal. A frittata is essentially an open faced omelet that is cooked over low heat on the stove top before being finished off in a hot oven -- or better yet -- under the rocket hot heat of a broiler. 

Beyond being criminally easy to prepare, a frittata is also a magnet for the odds and ends that you find floating around your fridge between trips to the market. The vegetables you didn't use a few nights ago, that last bit of cheese from last weekends mac-n-cheese -- they all get a reprieve from being unceremoniously tossed into the compost or garbage -- because they all have the potential to contribute something to a frittata.

For this dish I combined fresh ingredients -- a giant morel mushroom and the thin shoots from the hop rhizome from this weeks CSA delivery -- with ingredients I already had in my fridge -- Yellow Tree Farm eggs, grated Prairie Breeze cheddar cheese, onions, spinach and some tomatoes that I had roasted off a few days before.

It was a menagerie of flavors for sure, but that's kinda the point of a week night frittata.

Highlights were the smokey morels, foraged from around St. Louis within the last day or so and the mellow green and asparagus profile of spring hop shoots. Within a few weeks, these particular flavors will be gone for the rest of the year. However, I'm already thinking about sharing them with friends this time next spring. 

About this post

Yellow Tree Farm is a family owned, biointensive, urban homestead located in St. Louis, Missouri. The farm provides produce to some of the finest restaurants in town, runs a local CSA and is a vendor at the Maplewood Farmers Market. I am a proud member of the Yellow Tree Farm CSA. This post is part of a planned a series highlighting the fine ingredients that come in their weekly delivery.

Yellow Tree Farm has been an advertiser on this site since January 2011.

The Space Where Beer And My Phone Meet

I recently reviewed the Schlafly Beer iPhone application for the Riverfront Times and in the process I do little to refute the idea that I'm out to destroy local businesses on a daily basis.

Amuse Bouche For September 14th, 2009

• Sam Calagione of the Dogfish Head Brewery wants to spit in your beer.
• Excited that a second Pi location is scheduled to open in the Central West End the day before Thanksgiving.
• The jury is still out regarding the new pizza place opening at the old TFA shop - corner of Wyoming and South Grand. There was a sign in the window stating "National Pizza, thinking outside the square". The sign is gone and construction is ongoing. Interestingly enough I've seen 2 dudes sporting Dewey's tee shirts in the area - that is just blatant rumormongering though.
• Alex Hozven of the Cultured Pickle Shop talks with Lynne Rossetto Kasper about the realm of pickling.
• Also from this weeks Splendid Table, the BLT Cocktail, or as I am now calling it, "The Official Morning Beverage of the Tour de Moose".
• A Hamburger Today asks "What's Your Favorite Burger Size?"
• Gourmet Magazine showcases the recipe for some great looking corn dogs, kudos for leaving the ketchup out of the picture.

Amuse Bouche For September 11th, 2009

Another day, another group of disjointed things I've been reading and doing....

• Excited that I'm developing a new concept around work day lunch time eats, angered that I forgot my camera when I left for work, again.
• Lamenting that it looks like I will miss American IPA night at The Good Pie as well as Hop In The City this year.
• S. 1650: A bill to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to improve the purchase and processing of healthful commodities for use in school meal programs has entered the Senate. More at Slow Food USA
• Really enjoying the September 21st edition of "The Nation" which is dedicated to essays on Food Democracy, with essays by Alice Waters and Michael Pollan among others. Complementary to a recent article in Time on the real cost of cheap food.
• Sauce Magazine takes a tour of some of the best fries in St. Louis, manages to forget the amazing fries at The Dubliner. They make up for it with the recipe for the Subcontinental at The Royale on page 30 of the Wine, Beer & Spirits supplemental to the September print copy. While I almost always avoid cheese sandwiches, I'm oddly intrigued by the photo of the meatloaf melt at Jennifer’s Pharmacy. I blame Jonathan Pollack's tasty photo for my change in attitude.
• A year ago today I juxtaposed George Washington, Geroge W Bush and Sarah Palin. 8 years ago I walked out of my office to grab some coffee, looked up Broadway and saw the WTC on fire. I'm also still unsure if I should develop the roll of film I took that morning as I walked out of the city to Queens.
• Sure it works on the coasts, but will my Son get beat up when I pack him his first Bento Box for a school lunch?

Amuse Bouche For September 10th, 2009

A collection of items that peeked my interest and raised my dander on this Thursday afternoon.

• Wishing MJB the best of luck as he leaves for TechCrunch50. Very cool stuff, if only I had an iPhone.
• Looking forward to putting up and taking down some O’Fallon Chocolate by the Barrel Cream Stout, which after a long wait has finally arrived. STL Hops via Twitter
• St. Louis' own Dave Nelson provided the bubbly to an overview of sulfates and headaches for The Noble Writ.
• Mark Graban continues the series of posts on Slice that feed my desire to design and build a back yard pizza oven. Permission from the wife, check. Backyard to build one. Nope. Perhaps its time to move.

I'm also preoccupied with being worried about my good friend Dave, formally the sous chef at Morimoto NYC and currently of Marea, who experienced a stroke yesterday morning. I have known Dave, in his early thirties, since college. Dave got me through several hard years when I lived in Queens, stood next to me in my wedding and helped me work out the logistics of my greatest culinary adventure, last years Fakesgiving Tristket, a turkey stuffed inside of a brisket.

The last time I saw Dave was this past spring when we had dinner at Rod's Steakhouse in Morristown, New Jersey. Dave was just back from a 6 month trip around Asia to research street food and ramen shops before attempting to open his own place in New York City. At the time he was not feeling well and did not have health insurance, which worried me greatly.

While his new position in the kitchen at Marea surely will cover his health care needs, (I hope) it highlights the need to provide a safety net for everyone in the United States. This was only highlighted when I heard about Dave a few hours after President Obama's address to congress last night.

"Irony can be pretty ironic sometimes." - Buck Murdock

I'm worried about my friend as he lays in a hospital bed in Brooklyn, and I'm angered that after 40 years, we don't have a public option for health care in this country. I'm distressed that Mr. Obama has to go before both houses of congress and state the following like it's news to the masses:

"Here's what you need to know. First, I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits – either now or in the future. Period. And to prove that I'm serious, there will be a provision in this plan that requires us to come forward with more spending cuts if the savings we promised don't materialize. Part of the reason I faced a trillion dollar deficit when I walked in the door of the White House is because too many initiatives over the last decade were not paid for – from the Iraq War to tax breaks for the wealthy. I will not make that same mistake with health care."

Seriously. This is an idea that totally escapes a segment of our population. They complain about the cost of providing for the worst off in our society, yet they allowed the Bush Administration to take a budget surplus and make it deficit. They said nothing as the cost of the war in Iraq, which has already cost over 10 times the anticipated amount, was accounted for via special requests to congress and supplementals to the overall budget process.

As Mr. Obama wrapped up his speech, I took to Facebook and posted a note with the quote above. Then I added my own post script:

"To my Republican friends - that means you lose.

You got your war and your 8 years of lower taxes, now its everyone else's turn. Additionally, in the spirit of fair game, the health care that we want to give to everyone can be enjoyed by you as well."

For more reading, the Citizens for Tax Justice argue that the Bush tax cuts cost almost $2.5 trillion over the decade after they were first enacted (2001-2010).

And while Maureen Dowd encourages President Obama to be "Less Spocky, More Rocky", I'm inclined to borrow a quote from Mr. Spock that fits my mood perfectly:

"Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

Get better soon Dave. Wake up America.

2009 Tour de Moose

As summer turns to fall here in St. Louis, my attention starts to focus on my favorite event, the Tour de Moose. 2009 marks the 5th year we've run this bike race / bar crawl though the city, and we are looking forward to a record turn out again this year after reaching close to 80 riders last year.

This years race is scheduled to start at 11:00 AM on October 17. If you are into bikes, beer and St. Louis, think about registering.

This years ride will visit Lemmons, The Tin Can Tavern, The Three Monkeys, The Square One Brewery, The Schlafly Tap Room, Laclede Street Bar, Milo's Tavern and The Hide Away.

I've been posting updates and photos to the Tour site on a regular basis as we roll into October and I'll be live blogging during the race as well. Loyal readers who have not vanished in my absence might remember the White Castle cross over from last year's training and tour rides.

Welcome fall - long live the Tour de Moose.

Old Guy Extra Special Bitter - Update

The Old Guy ESB has spent some quality time in the cellar since we last checked in on it in October. 

A little over two weeks ago I bottled this beer in one liter bottles with Grolsch style tops. The EZ-cap brand bottles are a favorite of mine because they always provide a satisfying "pop" when you open them if the beer has carbonated well.

My first thought is that this beer is over carbonated as it put on quite a show when I popped the lid, but I was happy that the beer did not foam out of the bottle. Served at a cellar temperature of 55 - 58 degrees, a slow pour produced a rocky and long lasting head that actually climbed several inches out of the glass before cresting and running down the side of my pint.

This bottle conditioned and unfiltered ale had little evidence of haze or residue thanks to the addition of roasted barley. This grain added a stout-like color that would make it hard to see any perceived imperfections in the beer to drinkers who are used to filtered mass marketed products.

The toasted flavors of roasted and crystal barley played nicely with the nutty overtones contributed by an addition of Munich and pale malts. Hidden in the background was some bitterness contributed by a very small addition of rye to the grist. I will look to add more the next time I make this recipe, perhaps doubling the addition to half a pound.

A fantastic balance of East Kent Goldings and Williamette hops complemented the malty character of this beer. This ESB could benefit from dry hopping in a second fermentation, but that extra step would be a nice to have, not a must have.

Suggested pairings include braised beef short ribs, whole roasted chicken with root vegetables, sharp cheddar cheese or dark chocolate.

Breakdown by the numbers:

Original Gravity (OG) - 1.061 - 1.065

Final Gravity (FG)- 1.011 - 1.013

Alcohol By Volume (ABV) - 5.5 - 6.0

International Bitterness Units - (IBU) - 65

Standard Reference Method (SRM) - 25 Lovebond

Old Guy Extra Special Bitter

With the daytime temperatures in St. Louis dropping to around 65, its getting to be a great time to make home brewed beers. My first beer of the year is an Extra Special Bitter, or ESB. 

Extra Special Bitter belongs to the pale ale family of beers, but with a larger hop profile. Well known commercial versions of this beer are Boddington's and Fuller's ESB. While I kept to style for the base of my ESB with American pale and crystal malts, I included Munich malt, roasted barley and a small amount of rye to round out the grain bill. I'm excited about the addition of rye, which should add a understated spicy finish to this beer.

I started with a first wort hop addition of East Kent Golding's and followed up with additional doses of Golding's and Willamette hops though out the boil in 15 minute intervals.

I would like to have this beer in bottles by the middle of November and share with friends and family over the holidays. I hope you enjoy these pictures showing several parts of the brewing process.

A yeast starter at krausen. A yeast starter increases the number of active yeast cells and aids in kicking off a fast and healthy fermentation. I made this starter about 36 hours before brewing.

Grains rolling through a mill. The grains are cracked so water and enzymes can help the sugars contained within each grain "escape" during the mashing process. This sugar becomes the fermentable that the yeast above will consume in the production of beer.

Sparging the mash and collecting the first running of wort. You can think of sparging as washing the last of the sugars off the grain bed.

A first wort addition of whole hops, soaking as the wort comes to a boil. Hops can be thought of as the spice of beer. Added early in the boil, hops contribute a bitter flavor to beer. In the later stages of the boil hops contribute aroma. 

Collecting wort in a fermentation vessel. In a few weeks this wort will become a young beer, and a month or so after that, a beverage shared with friends.

Can Chicken Experiment 01 - A Delicious Failure

I've always enjoyed making beer can chicken on the grill. With a little practice this method for cooking a whole chicken produces a moist and flavorful bird that will leave your guests asking for seconds.

A while back I threw a barbeque for a dozen friends and I decided it might be fun to switch up this classic meal by not only using a twelve ounce can of Budweiser, but also a Coke, a Dr. Pepper and a Schweppes Ginger Ale as well. My goal was to have a taste test to see which liquid additive resulted in the best tasting bird.

I began by brining each chicken overnight in apple cider, kosher salt, brown sugar, fresh ginger, quartered oranges and allspice berries. The next day I dried and rubbed each bird with the spice mixture I described in my post about float trip picnic chicken. The goal was to treat each chicken the same until it was put on the grill, which conveniently enough is the time when this culinary adventure veered off into failure. Yes, the final product was moist and delicious, but it was a failure nonetheless. 

As I planned this day my goal was to push as much barbeque flavor as I could into each bird, and for me this included cooking each chicken over indirect heat and using an abundance of mesquite smoke. After five hours of smoke and slow and low cooking, each bird was indeed flavorful, moist and fall off the bone tender. However, lost in the brine, spice rub and wood smoke was the purpose of this experiment - the taste imparted by each individual liquid. 

 

My guest were gracious and insisted that as far as taste was concerned we had reached a tie between beer and ginger ale. That may have been the case, but I’d like to reserve judgement until I have a change to revisit this idea. Next time I’ll skip the massive dose of smoke and cook at a higher temperature to really test my idea. 

Here is to happy mistakes and crazy ideas. I can’t wait to try this experiment again, because failure or not, can chicken makes for a great summer time meal.

Giving Into the Crave.

A highlight of the fall in St. Louis is our yearly bike race, The Tour de Moose. We've stepped things up this year with a planning board and training rides to accommodate a ridership that has grown from 20 to 60 in three years, with 100 expected this year. 

Our first ride of the season was this morning and what started as a quick bike ride with a few adult beverages planned afterward quickly evolved into a culinary and gastrointestinal adventure as well. 

Our Sunday morning ride started around 9:30 AM and about an hour later we happened past a White Castle that my friend Moose (of the Tour de) wanted to put on this years tour as a pit stop. The idea is to offer a break between legs where riders can roll past and grab a slider like marathon runners reaching for bottles of water. As we were already testing our bikes and the race route, we figured it would be a good idea to test our stomachs as well with a mid-morning slider break. 

From left to right we have a fish slider, a traditional White Castle, and resting like a king on its orange throne the new A1 White Castle. My impromptu goal was to compare the A1 slider against the original, and truth be told the only difference is a dollop of A1 Steak Sauce and a lack of pickles. For me, the pickle is what makes a White Castle and they are missed on the A1 where the bite of sour would play nicely against the steak sauce and onions. 

Both burgers benefited from the early morning visit. While the sign out front states that they are always open, it seemed that the bun was fresher than you would find at midnight visit to White Castle. The freshness of the bread did a good job soaking up the grease and onion juice that usually meld a slider to its box and eventually the bag. 

In full disclosure, I added the fish slider because I had skipped breakfast and really, who orders the fish at White Castle? In my opinion it is the best item on the menu, but it too could benefit from the liberal application of a pickle or two, alone or riding in some tarter sauce.

Opinion: Recommended with reservations, usually the morning after.

The Nexus of St. Louis, Politics and Beer

KWMU/St. Louis on the Air recently hosted an hour long discussion on the debate surrounding Belgium Brewing Powerhouse InBev’s offer of $65.00 per share to buyout Anheuser-Busch (AB). The discussion included commentary from Bill Finnie, Adjunct Professor, Washington University School of Business, Senator Kit Bond (R - MO) and Congressman Russ Carnahan (D - MO).

Yes, the entire hour includes what is probably an appropriate level of American protectionism surrounding the King of Beers. However, it also covers the important role that AB plays in St. Louis and what side effects might stem from ownership by a foreign company.

Common consensus is that the AB board will reject the first InBev offer, along with developing whatever poison pills it can to protect itself and push for a higher bid. However it appears that AB is fairly defenseless from a takeover for two reasons:

Low family ownership of the common stock. As an example, Warren Buffet owns more of AB than the Busch Family. Also, there is a segment of the family who have little to do with the day to the day running of the company and support the buyout. Warren continues to sit on the sidelines but I would expect that he can not maintain a neutral position for long.

Poor stock performance over the last 5 years (13% return before dividends vs. 41% for the S&P Index - pre buyout announcement). The majority of AB’s shareholders are mutual funds, whose investments have lagged the market for some time. It would seem reasonable that should this deal not go through, we could see its share price fall back to the pre-announcement levels. This may be unacceptable to long term shareholders.

Beyond the risks to AB and St. Louis, there is also risk to InBev, who must finance the purchase of AB to the tune of 40 Billion Dollars. Yes, the Euro is strong right now, but that is still an impressive amount of debt to assume for the brewer. American backlash against Belgium ownership may also be an issue, cutting into future cash flows should beer drinkers in the US boycott AB/InBev products post deal. Would they move to Miller products? Probably not as SABMiller is a South African company. How about Coors? Again, maybe not after their merger with Canada’s Molson. If anything, it may be an oportunity for US craft brewers, especially if states lift barrel production levels from current rates to meet increased demand for American product.

Moving InBev from Belgium to St. Louis and keeping the AB name may help this situation, but it remains to be seen if this option will be explored.

More to come.

Anheuser-Busch in the News:

• Brewer Bids $46 Billion for Anheuser-Busch
• Anheuser-Busch - King of Missouri Donors
• Grupo Modelo CEO Resigns from Anheuser-Busch Board
• Busch Family Members Divided in Response to InBev Takeover Bid
• Don’t Knock InBev, Invite it to St. Louis
• Unreal Helps Schlafly save AB

Authors note: I currently hold Anheuser-Busch shares