Andrew Mark Veety

Instant Ramen - Good, Better And The Best

If you are like me, you can mark out the boundaries of the phases in your life with packages of instant ramen.

When I was young and poor, instant ramen was a source of cheap calories, a meal that fit into a budget centered more around the procurement of twelve packs and drum sticks than nutrition. My ramen intake centered on packets of Maruchan brand instant ramen, bought by the case for less than a few dollars and stashed into "my" cabinet in a kitchen shared with three other people and the bands that floated in and out of our basement studio.

When I was young and not so poor, instant ramen was a source of quick calories that fit a schedule centered around long work days and commutes that consisted of walking, buses and subways. For stowing lunch and dinners away in messenger bags and desk drawers, my ramen preference became noodles in styrofoam cups. The all-in-one package was easy and quick, cleanup consisted of rinsing off a pair of cheap chop sticks in the water fountain down the hall from my cube before tossing them back into a drawer for another day.

Now I am older and more middle class than I'd like to admit. As such, instant ramen has not been a part of my life beyond quick moments of recall when I happen to catch that scene in Elf when a poor Zooey Deschanel tucks into a bowl after a day's work. For me, Deschanel captures the visage of "every person," at the beginning of the journey twoard whom they will eventually become, sitting in the same position in front of the tv, in the same secondhand chair with a blanket tossed over the back to hide tears and stains in its well worn fabric, the same bowl of instant noodles doing its level best to compensate for a diet that's been missing since you've moved out of your parents' home.

Dinner With YellowTree Farm: Pizza Bianca For the Post Dispatch

I'm really excited that Justin and Danielle from Yellowtree Farm recommended me to the Post Dispatch for an article on home cooks and local farmers. 

Justin and Danielle hooked me up with a collection of once in a lifetime ingredients to make a pizza bianca that celebrates the best that late June and early July gardens have to offer. Here is my recipe for this great pizza, give it a try in your kitchen and let me know how it turns out.

Many thanks to Jonathan Pollack for the great pictures of a once a season pie.

Photos From An Early Summer Birthday Barbecue

I was lucky to have Jonathan Pollack's camera at a party we threw this past weekend for my son's second birthday. Here are a few of the dishes we shared with our friends.

In the foreground we have a salad of green beans, thin sliced onion and spring cherry tomatoes. This dish had a simple balsamic vinaigrette spiked with honey -- honey was the theme of my son's party -- for some additional sweetness. In the background I have a simple slaw with red and yellow cabbage, shallots, carrots and minced quick pickles that I made the day before. The slaw had a vinegar base, made with white wine vinegar I infused with salad burnett for a distinct "cucumber" flavor that contrasted nicely with the cabbage.

I prepared two kinds of pork for this barbecue, sourced from Caw Caw Creek Farms in South Carolina. Below is a plate of Caw Caw Creek keilbasa, smoked in hickory and cherry woods.

Next is pulled and chopped Caw Caw Creek pork shoulder, smoked for about 14 hours in hickory and cherry woods. I made two barbecue sauces for this dish. The first was a tomato based sauce, made sweet from the addition of honey and brown sugar. The second was a vinegar based sauce with a base of habanero chilis and fresh Georgia peaches. 

My wife made two cakes that played into the honey theme - bee hives -- paired with honey and ginger cookes in the shape of bees. A judicious addition of honey to the cake gave each hive a great caramelized color and made for a dish that was moist, sweet and perfect for a little boy's second birthday.

Happy birthday to my little man and thanks to everyone who stopped by to make his second birthday one to remember.

The One Where The Church of Burger Veered Off Into Food Porn

Each month Jonathan Pollack drags his camera out with the Church of Burger and takes tons of awesome pictures that never seem to make it into actual posts. So I figured to celebrate completing six months of the Church and Jonathan's photos I would careen off the road into the dark realm of food porn. 

With any luck this will totally suck -- awesomely.

Training Our Burger Future

I'm sure at some point my son will look at his old man in horror and embarassment, but right now he does not know any better. I love this picture from this past weekend because it seems to support the idea that the apple does not fall far from the tree.

I also love his tee shirt because its full of all kinds of win.

Photo by J. Pollack Photography.

Neo Neapolitan Pizza Goodness By J. Pollack

Sara and I had our new friends Jonathan and Stef over for dinner recently, and Jonathan offered to snap a picture of this veggie pie I made - just after it was pulled from the oven.

This is just a beautiful picture of one of my pies, and I'm excited about sharing here.

Jonathan is a photographer here is St. Louis. He shot our maternity pictures before Reis was born and more recently, the 60th birthday of my mother in law, Peg. When he's not busy with shooting weddings and sittings, he is also a photographer for Sauce Magazine, so I feel doubly lucky to have this photo.

Stef makes a mean cupcake and brought over her recent creation, garlic cupcakes for halloween. My favorite part of this savory and delicious treat was a whole clove of roasted garlic dipped in chocolate, riding on the top of the cupcake. Stef is currently contributing a cupcake a month until January to Paula Deen. Her first submission was a carmel apple cupcake, which I heard was amazing.

Best of all, Jonathan and Stef recently had a little boy, Myles, and he and Reis have become fast friends, which is super fun.

Thanks for the photo and the fun night - hope you guys liked the pizza.

Lazy Fall Afternoon In St. Louis

While its fleeting in duration, its hard to beat fall here in St. Louis.

I recently found a new fall past time that involves the back yard, a hammock and watching Reis check out the trees swaying in breeze until he falls asleep like his Pop.

Sara took this fantastic picture of Reis and I sharing some "Dad and Duder Time". 

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 9th, 2009

Some recent food related items that have caught my interest.

• Lack of love for hamburgers is featured in this Flickr group - Anti-Burger Propaganda! 
• St. Louis local Kelli Best-Oliver discusses the film Julie & Julia, Mastering the Art of French Cooking and an attempt at beef bourguignon over at The Novice Foodie.
• A Hamburger Today asks, "What Drink Goes Best With a Burger?".
• The American Farmland Trust publishes its list of "America's Favorite Farmers Markets" for 2009.

I've also created two maps highlighting the locations of my past reviews.

• St. Louis, Missouri Posts
• National Posts

Matt vs. Food

I was lucky to have my brother Matt and my future brother in law Chris in town for a visit recently. 

We pretty much ate and drank from the moment they got off the plane from North Carolina until they left three days later, starting off with some outstanding sushi at Tani Sushi Bistro in Clayton. For the midwest, Tani somehow manages to get fish that is of a better quality than I can normally find around town. 

Standouts at Tani include the sashimi, the dragon ball, a collection of inventive rolls (sadly many include cream cheese which continues to confuse me) and a real treat - the hot rock - served in a thick bowl and accompanied with thinly sliced raw beef in a soy, garlic, ginger and yuzu. The beef cooks directly on the stone in seconds and is a perfect foil to the sushi.

I took the guys to the City Diner for breakfast the next day and to discuss what we would end up doing during their visit. After a half hour of fruitless discussion, my brother suggested that a eating tour of St. Louis might be in order. 

I was into the idea of a tour of my favorite places here in town, however I had no desire to actually complete such a task myself. I let him know that if he felt up to it, he would be eating alone for the most part and that when in doubt, I would be ordering for him.

Lucky for everyone my brother is hungry, brave and willing to entertain his big brother - and what follows is a minute to minute and bite to bite recap of Matt vs. Food - St. Louis Edition.

09:43:46 AM - City Diner - St. Louis Missouri

The plot is hatched and the day is full of possibilities. I kick Matt's day off with a slinger - two eggs with sausage and hash browns, topped with chili and cheese. Friends recommended that the City Diner slinger should be topped with mustard as well. From the way Matt devoured the dish - I can only assume it was a good addition.

The mere mortals amongst us enjoyed BLT's and The Southsider - eggs, biscuits and gravy with hash browns.

Fortified on sturdy carbs from breakfast we headed out to get Matt the St. Louis eating adventure that he demanded, nay deserved, for flying in to spend the weekend with me.

11:37:56 AM - Woofie's - St. Louis Missouri

I last visited Woofie's in November and I reviewed and contrasted Chicago style and New York style dogs. I suggested the Chili Pie for Matt - a Vienna dog served on a bed of chili, Fritos, onions, pickles and cheese. 

Matt knife and sporking it at Woofies, enjoying each bite a bit to much.

01:22:51 PM - Carl's Drive-In - St. Louis Missouri

I wrote up a long time favorite of mine, Carl's Drive-In, last fall. I can't think of an out of town visitor that I have not tried to bring to Carl's because the burgers are executed so well. Pressed flat on a griddle, the burgers become completely caramelized and for some diners take on a sweet flavor that plays along with the toppings. Matt enjoyed a double cheeseburger with all the fixings and a mug of home made root beer the size of his head.

A few hours and stops in, Matt was motoring along and devouring everything I could put in front of him.

01:48:12 PM - Kolache Factory - St. Louis Missouri

A kolache is a small dough treat filled with any number of meat, vegetable or fruit fillings. The Kolache Factory is a small chain with a shop in St. Louis and serve several dozen varieties of this eastern European treat. 

Matt opted for a Philly Cheesesteak while Chris took a chance with the bbq pork. In hindsight, this seems to be the first time I captured gastronomic distress in my brother.

02:14:53 PM - Ted Drewes Frozen Custard - St. Louis Missouri

Ted Drewes has been serving frozen custard in St. Louis since the 1920's and its likely that no other local location has received as much attention by the national media than it has - the place is known far and wide for its frozen treats. Because of this, "that custard place" is always on the lips of visitors as someplace they would like to stop while they are in town. 

It could be that the massive quantity of cream, eggs and sugar are leading to the serious nature of this picture, however it could be that a concrete from Ted Drewes is nothing to joke about and he's just getting down to spooning that sweet treat into his already filled food hole. 

02:39:47 PM - CC's Depot Dog - Home Depot - St. Louis Missouri

A hot dog from Home Depot? You bet your ass. CC's Depot Dogs can be found nestled by the exit doors of the Kingshighway Home Depot, and they serve up some tasty hot dogs for a price you can't beat for quick lunch - a loaded Chicago style or custom dog will run you about two bucks after tossing a quarter into the tip jar.

Matt "enjoying" a CC's dog in the parking lot, not to mention his third or fourth soft drink of the day. All that sugar - rookie eating tour mistake for sure.

03:12:14 PM - Gus' Pretzels - St. Louis Missouri

Gus' rests in the shadow of the Budweiser brewery and has been making pretzels since the 1920's. With dinner reservations at Modesto for later that evening, I figured that this doughy and salty treat would be perfect for soaking up all the grease and chili Matt had taken down.

Matt Veety - eating machine - he will break you.

10:59:46 AM - Chris' Pancake & Dining - St. Louis Missouri

The next morning we began again, this time at Chris' Pancake & Dining for some much needed breakfast. To my amazement Matt dove right back into the challenge after a nights sleep and healthy constitutional, this time opting for steak and eggs with hash browns. The only issue with his order resulted from his relative unfamiliarity with the menu. When you are offered a side of toast or pancakes at a pancake house, you always, always say pancake. After a quick discussion he indeed have the pancakes.

I joined Matt for the carb load by taking down a stack of pancakes with bacon, eggs, hash browns and a bloody mary. However, to be fair, I didn't eat much the day before and I had just finished running up all 42 floors of the Metropolitan Building for the American Lung Association.

04:41:01 PM - Tin Can Tavern and Grille - St. Louis Missouri

As part of my plans for the weekend, I pulled together a bar crawl around Tower Grove Park with stops at The Royale, Three Monkey's, The Tin Can Tavern and Grille, The Amsterdam Tavern, Tower Pub, Stella Blues, Friendly's and The Blackthorne Pub. 

Matt waited all day to try out the mini corn dogs at The Tin Can and compared their doughy goodness to the classic appetizer called pigs in a blanket - an observation I can't bring myself to argue with.

Keeping up the impressive consumption, Matt didn't hesitate to enjoy a cold PBR with his mini corn dogs, while I enjoyed the opportunity to share my neighborhood and friends with my family.

07:59:49 PM - Stella Blues - St. Louis Missouri

While others faded, Matt saddled up the bar at Stella Blues and took down a basket of onion rings.

Moving into his 48th hour of eating, Matt kept taking his best shot at menu's all over St. Louis. It was an epic showing that left me proud yet concerned about his body's ability to process all that grilled, fried and steamed food. 

10:17:35 PM - The Blackthorne Pub - St. Louis Missouri

Regular readers might remember my post on the Blackthorne Pub, where they serve up Chicago and pan style pizzas in the land of the inedible thin crust pizza topped with provel - St. Louis. The Blackthorne turned out to be the end of Matt's eating tour as well as the bar crawl, which is probably a good thing for all of us.

A group of us destroyed several pizzas in a matter of minutes before retiring for the evening. While we all had a great time, I find myself wishing great piles of vegetables on my brother to help him recover from this eating challenge - because as I was creating this post - I noticed his meals were totally devoid of them. 

Good times - great meals.

Let's never do this again.

Pam's Chicago Style Dogs & More

I had actually heard about Pam's Chicago Style Dogs & More before ever going there. While I didn't know know its name, it was described to me by my wife's obstetrician. We were visiting the doctor and I was discussing how we could make changes to our diet to make sure both Mom and Baby were getting the nutrition and vitamins they needed throughout the pregnancy. 

The doctor listened to me drone on about organic vegetables and grass fed bison from Whole Foods and when I was done said, "I was just in another room with a lady who was telling me about the deep fried Twinkie she had for lunch, you guys are eating fine."

I think it goes without saying the good doctor has yet to discover this site. 

Anyway, a few weeks later I wandered into a small hot dog shop on the eastern section of The Loop to try what the River Front Times readers voted "Best Hot Dog in St. Louis - 2008". I was welcomed by the friendly staff and began the lengthly process of dissecting the menu, which includes a dozen or so hot dogs, and then page after page of "more". 

Arriving at the end of the menu I discovered that I had indeed found the restaurant our doctor had been talking about - an extensive deep fried list of treats that went beyond the fried Twinkie to include Zingers, Ding Dogs, cupcakes and muffins.

However, it is the selection of dogs that brought me to Pam's, not desert. With the help of a few strong stomached friends we managed to work our way though half of the hot dog choices:

Pam's Chicago Style Dog

You can't highlight Chicago in your name of your business (especially in St. Louis) without bringing the goods when it comes to your signature hot dog. The Chicago style dog is as one would expect - a steamed poppy-seeded bun with a Vienna beef hot dog hidden under a bright neon relish, yellow mustard, onions, tomato, celery salt, sport peppers and a pickle spear. The dog itself is true to style and quite tasty, save the tomato which seemed bland, soft and flavorless.

Pam's New York Dog

Much like the New York style dog at Woofies, the New York Dog at Pam's is a midwestern interpretation, or better yet a homage to the east coast dog. However, it is far from the real thing. The New York dog at Pam's is a Vienna Beef dog topped with a brown mustard, sauerkraut and a spicy giardiniera. The addition of giardiniera is a nice touch, but has more to do with Chicago style Italian beef sandwiches and antipasto than a dog from New York. 

Warren's Maxwell Street Polish Sausage

Paying respect to Maxwell Street in Chicago, the Polish Sausage at Pam's tasted like a slice of home to this grandson of Polish immigrants. Featuring a Vienna beef sausage that lives in the sweet spot between a natural cased hot dog and a Polish kielbasa, this dog is topped with yellow mustard, grilled onions and sport peppers. As I enjoy the play of sauerkraut and kielbasa, I had it added as a final touch. Smaczny!

Hot Dogs With Ketchup

Above you'll notice two hot dogs, naked, barren, dressed only in ketchup. To my knowledge, one was a Vienna Beef dog and the other was Pam's Turkey Dog. The menu at Pam's states "Turkey Dog - Served Chicago Style unless you request otherwise". I can only assume that is what happened here. Very sad.

Slaw Dog

The slaw dog at Pam's is a Vienna beef hot dog topped with chili, yellow mustard, onion and a creamy cole slaw. For me, this variation on a southern dog is much closer to the original than the New York dog. The chili is loose meat in a spicy sauce that pairs nicely with the slaw. 

The Pamirito

Saving the most interesting for last we have The Pamirito. Pam's takes a Vienna beef dog and wraps it in a tortilla. The pair are then submerged into the deep frier until its brown and crispy. The fried roll is then topped with onion, tomato, cheese and chili to make the only knife and fork dog that we ran into on the menu. The Pamirito is a treat on par with the Slinger as an example of St. Louis required eating.

You'll notice that I didn't end up getting desert on either of my two recent visits to Pam's. I'll have to run five miles and get an all clear from my primary care physician before my next visit, because that's the only way I'll ever get a chance to experience a deep fried cupcake.

Opinion: Recommended

6016 Delmar Blvd.

St. Louis, Missouri

Best of 2008

This has been a great year of travel and eating, discovering new tools and techniques for cooking, experiencing great slices of Americana and time spent with friends and family. I thought it would be a good idea to capture a few of my favorites for the past year.

A New Perspective Via A New Grill:

Well constructed and sporting thick cast iron grates, this Brinkman grill creates enough smoke and grill marks to turn my back yard into a decent smokehouse. In short order I adjusted to this new tool and turned out top notch whole chickens, ribs, briskets, massive steaks, pizzas and deserts. 

I really like the front loading door which allows you to feed the fire without lifting the lid and losing heat. Maintaining a steady 220 degrees with minor heat management is priceless, but at around $200.00 this grill is a steal. It takes a bit more work than my old gas grill to prep and clean, but you can't beat it as a cooking tool.

Texas Potatoes:

Potato, onion, butter and bacon in a cast iron skillet. From my post "Roasted Garlic Strip Steaks with Texas Potatoes".

Sony DSC-T500 Camera:

In a year of great new toys the Sony DSC-T500 camera has been my favorite. Small enough to fit into my pocket with 10.1 megapixels, a 3.5" wide touch screen, HD video recording with stereo mics and a 5X Optical Zoom. I also really like the macro lens which allows me to get great close ups of food for the site. I'm also loving not having to pull out my Nikon D70 in greasy diners. 

The large screen is really bright and eats though the battery in short order. After a month or so of use, I'm thinking a back up battery for this camera might be one of my "Best of 2009".

Float Trip Chicken:

There are few things better in the world than floating down a river with friends, beers and cold picnic chicken. From my post "Float Trip Picnic Chicken".

Tortas In The Park:

From my first "interview" for the site - I exchanged emails with my friend and regular Friday lunch companion Bob Baker as we made Tortas for 50 people on his birthday. He went to great lengths to get all the right ingredients and I was happy to help put together this great sandwich. From my post "Tower Grove Park Tortas".

Crab Boil:

I was so happy when my wife completed her LEED certification in September. We filled the back yard with people and I prepared the crabs the only way I know how - with lots of Old Bay and steamed in Guinness. From my post "Seafood Boil In The Heart of St. Louis". 

The New York Times Columnists:

Many thanks to Maureen Dowd, Tom Friedman and Paul Krugman for the insight, information and entertainment this year.

Llywelyn's Pub Burger:

 

One of my favorite burgers of the past year. From my post "Llywelyn's Pub".

Nunez de Prado Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil:

Happen chance introduced me to this great olive oil as I wandered around Whole Foods this year. It's got a perfect balance for cooking or for dipping bread in. Voted one of the best olive oils in America by Cooks Illustrated, Whole Foods stocks 25 oz. bottles for around 15 dollars. Next to bacon fat, this oil has quickly become my choice fat in the kitchen.

The Salt Lick:

Sure it is for show, but the open pit at The Salt Lick was a treat to see, and the folks were super nice and let me ram around in their kitchen. From my post "The Salt Lick Barbeque".

"My Life in France" by Julia Child

Probably the best book I read this year. In it Julia tells the story of learning to live, eat and cook in France. Julia lived an incredible life and her love of slow-food makes me excited to get into the kitchen.

Carl's Drive-In:

Old school burgers smashed on a flat top griddle. From my post "Carl's Drive-In".

Rear Window Defrosters and Heated Seats:

I said goodbye to my 1997 Mazda Miata M-Edition this fall. While this car was always fun to drive, it was never a great every day automobile. Instead I opted for some features the Miata never had - rear window defrosters and heated seats - attached to an Acura RL. Unceremoniously named an "old man's car" by my wife, it has made the commute into work one of the best parts of my day. Why - because I can see out the back window in the winter without risking a broken convertible top.

Woofies New York vs Chicago Showdown:

This past fall was all about hot dogs, Chicago style. From my post "New York vs Chicago Style Hot Dogs".

Fakesgiving Trisket:

I'm still not sure why I wanted to stuff a turkey into a perfectly cooked brisket, but I did it. From my post "Trisket - A Turkey Inside a Brisket".

Charlie The Butcher:

After a particularly good edition of "Meet The Press", I would send an email to Tim Russert of NBC News to congratulate him on that weeks content. To try to elicit a reply from the busy newsman, I would suggest that he reward his staff with beef on weck from Charlie The Butcher in Buffalo, New York. Tim never replied to my emails, but I got a chance to think again about how much his show meant to my Sunday mornings as I enjoyed a sandwich in Buffalo this fall. From my post "Charlie The Butcher's Kitchen".

The Penguin Drive In:

Punk rock music, burgers named after engines and a sweet soda called Cheerwine. From my post "The Penguin Drive-In".

Fatherhood:

Sara and I recently announced that we are pregnant to friends and family, and I launched another blog to document all the events leading up to the arrival of our first child in June of 2009. I think its a given that updates on homemade baby food will require equal billing with burgers and dogs next year.

Trisket - A Turkey Inside a Brisket

Trisket is an idea I thought up for a friends annual Thanksgiving celebration, Fakesgiving, where we all gather and bring a dish to pass, pot luck style.

In honor of this yearly event, I took a beef brisket and stuffed it with ground turkey thighs, bread crumbs, bacon, roasted garlic, peppers, cranberries, leeks, mushrooms, shallot and flat leaf parsley. 

Turkey inside of a brisket = trisket.

I started with a 6lb grass fed organic beef brisket from Whole Foods with a pocket cut in it to hold the stuffing. The brisket held up well using this method, as it is essentially a large muscle and up to the task of having a turkey stuffing crammed into it. All told, the stuffing added another 4-5 lb to the overall cooking weight. In hindsight I'm sure I could have gotten some more stuffing in there if I really wanted to. 

For the turkey, I used ground thigh meat which had the best chance of making it though the 13 hours of cooking without drying out. To add some Thanksgiving flavor, I mixed the ground turkey with heads of roasted garlic, leeks, shallots and dried cranberries.

The key to this stuffing is to maintain moisture throughout the long cooking time. The ample fat marbling of a beef brisket did a great job keeping the meat moist, however I also added thick cut bacon to the mix to help baste the stuffing as well. I used a mixture of bread crumbs and cremini mushrooms as a binder and to absorb moisture. 

The brisket was stuffed the day before cooking and rubbed with a mixture of sea salt, black pepper, smoked paprika and onion and garlic powders. After rubbing, the brisket was wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, placed onto a cookie sheet and stored in the coldest part of the refrigerator for an overnight rest. 

At about 4am the next morning, I took the brisket out to warm up while I made coffee and started a fire for the smoker. While the idea of letting meat rise to room temperature before placing on the grill works great with steaks, 30 minutes was not enough time to do much for a 10 lb roast and the meat was still refrigerator cold when it was placed in the smoker.

This brisket was smoked over apple and hickory wood at 200 - 215 degrees for 10 hours, refilling the smoker every 45 - 60 minutes to maintain this low temperature. I used a spray bottle filled with beef stock and apple cider to baste the meat when the grill was open. 

After smoking all day, the brisket was then placed in a roasting pan with some of the basting liquid, covered tightly with foil, and placed into a 190 degree oven for another 3 hours to finish cooking.

The end result was a great beef brisket on the outside and a turkey meatloaf on the inside. The brisket turned out perfect with a great looking 1/4 inch smoke ring. The turkey was moist and had all the smells of a Thanksgiving meal.

The Trisket was served with a vinegar-based cranberry, peach and habanero barbeque sauce on the side. The use of fresh cranberry and peach added a tartness and sweetness to play against the heat of the habanero chili. While I can't see myself making a Trisket again anytime soon (it really was a two day process) I do think this barbeque sauce would match nicely with slow smoked ribs or chicken.

Thanks to Chef David Koon for his help taking this idea from idea to application.

Uncle Bill's - 3:00 AM

Because even pigs in a blanket get cold and need a bacon quilt.

 
Jeff Lash - Photographer

Chicago 2008

My wife and I recently visited Chicago for our 1st anniversary and to tour the Smart Home at the Museum of Science and Industry.  From an environmental perspective, I’m sure the greenest thing to do would have been to stay home and read about the Smart House online. However, we wanted a chance to see the technology and materials up close so we decided that we would try to travel in the most environmentally friendly way we could - the train.

For the round trip of 602 miles, how did the train stack up against taking a plane or our car:

Airline = .458 Tons or 916 LBS of CO2
Automobile (Avg 25mpg) = .234 Tons or 468 LBS of CO2
Train = .12 Tons or 240 LBS of CO2

Via calculator at Native Energy.

Given that we are Americans and are creatures of speed and convenience, we would have loved to take the hour long flight between St. Louis and Chicago. Taking our car would have been quicker as well given the track work that delayed us on both legs of our trip. However, we saved hundreds of dollars by not flying, as well as avoiding the hassles and delays that come with trips to the airport. With gas and parking in downtown Chicago for the long weekend it’s realistic that we would have spent around $200 for transportation. Instead on the train we traveled business class to Chicago and home in a private sleeper room with a meal for the same $200. We also had time to talk and relax, watch a movie, read several magazines and enjoy the rolling Illinois countryside.

Chicago is a great city and my list of places to see and more importantly eat at was as long as our weekend was short. We walked where we could and utilized the train system to cover our adventures from Lincoln Square to Hyde Park. Highlights included the Smart House, an architectural river tour, an outstanding meal and bottle of 1999 Marques de Riscal Baron de Chirel Reserva at Café Iberico, and the morning coffee at the W Chicago City Center. A major disappointment was our brunch at Kitsch’n which can be summed up as pretty food that tastes pretty bad and the W Chicago City Center in general. Missed and saved for another day were Superdawg Drive-in, The Frontera Grill, Lou Malnati's Pizzeria and Gene & Georgetti.

Summer 2008 Chicago Trip: A Photo Essay

Inspired by tales of many friends who have traveled around Europe by train, Sara and I packed a light picnic of grapes, crackers and cheese and wine for our trip to Chicago.

Sara and I at the Navy Pier celebrating our 1st wedding anniversary. Interestingly enough, our wedding was recently included in the Missouri/Kansas print edition of The Knot Wedding Magazine.

A thunderstorm rolls across Illinois farmland.

Our return trip included accommodations in a sleeper room as the train was on its way to LA. As part of our ticket, we were invited to a meal in the dining car, which was a pleasant surprise. Sara and I each had a Flat Iron Steak and enjoyed our meal with a nice German man by way of Toronto who travels the rails around the world as a way to enjoy his retirement.

Things Discovered and More Information:

• Birds of Paradise, Price’s Chicken Coop, Charlotte, North Carolina
• Robbs Run House
• NatureMill Automatic Indoor Composter
• Michelle Kaufmann
• Smart Home Exhibit Resource Guide
• Inside the Scandal That Rocked the Formula One Racing World