Fantastic Apple Pie Recipe

My next door neighbor is a genuinely nice man.  He always says hello and gives me advice on how to tend to our garden and always has a flower cut fresh from his ready for my daughter when she plays outside.  Neighbors like this are hard to find anymore, but I am happy to say that I have one.  Earlier this week, we had a storm here in St. Louis and his beautiful apple tree had a branch broken during the windy and rainy day.  My neighbor, being the good guy that he is, brought us a bag full of Granny Smith Apples from the broken branch.

I do love apples but I was a little perplexed as this seemed like a lot of them and as I am sure that most people who know me would tell you, I am not a fan of wasting much of anything.  So my mind naturally gravitated to what I could make with that many apples.  Then it came to me... APPLE PIE!!!

As I usually do with my ideas, I scoured the Internet to research recipes and techniques and then molded them all together with a few of my ideas thrown in to come up with one of the best apple pie recipes I have ever eaten.  The result was a wife and daughter with enormous smiles on their faces as we enjoyed our dessert last evening.  I hope you enjoy too!

Adam's Apple Crumb Pie

Ingredients:

• 9-inch pastry shell, unbaked, chilled
• 1 cup sifted flour
• 2/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup soft butter
• 1/2 cup walnuts (almost any other nut will do fine here) 
• 6 cups peeled, sliced cooking apples
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Preparation:

Combine flour, brown sugar, salt, walnuts and butter; blend until crumbly then set aside. Mix together the sugar, Cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmeg.  Combine apples and sugar/spice mixture; mix gently to coat apple slices. Pack apple mixture into chilled crust. Sprinkle crumb topping over apples. Bake in 375° oven until apples are tender, about 50 minutes.

Yes, I put Cream Cheese in my Spaghetti Sauce!!!

Man oh man does it seem like more and more people are finding ways to use underutilized ingredients in their cooking.  Well, I definitely am an advocate of just that.  I hate wasting anything; especially food. 

A few weeks ago we had some guests in town and I ran down to the local bakery to get some bagels and cream cheese for them to have for breakfast.  Yes, I should have gotten my lazy self out of bed and made pancakes, but we are not a big breakfast family here.  Usually it is just cereal and coffee (except my daughter --- she gets whatever she wants). 

Anyway... back to my story...

Today I was making my usual Monday spaghetti sauce recipe for dinner tonight.  I came across the cream cheese in the fridge and I remembered my wife telling me something about how she liked the creaminess of a sauce I had made for her recently.  So, I thought, "Why not?" 

I took 1 tablespoon of cream cheese and finished my already outstanding spaghetti sauce with it.  I just tasted it and cannot wait until dinner time!  Here is the recipe:

Quick and Creamy Spaghetti Sauce

1 lb ground beef (I use ground sirloin)
1/2 white onion
1 green bell pepper
Salt to taste
1 clove of garlic
1 jar pasta sauce (any kind will do, I use Prego)
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 Tbsp cream cheese


Start by browning the ground beef until it is 3/4 cooked through.  Add the onions and green bell pepper and season with salt.  Cook until they are soft (around 3-4 minutes).  Add the garlic and cook 1-2 minutes.  Stir in the pasta sauce, chicken stock and brown sugar.  Cook on low for about 10 minutes.  Stir in the cream cheese until well incorporated throughout the sauce. 

To serve, cook pasta however you would like or according to package directions.  Once the pasta is cooked, drain and poor the pasta into the sauce (never poor sauce over pasta... it works better the other way around).  Enjoy!

Note:  if you want to kick up the sauce, add about 1/4 cup of red wine after the onions and peppers cook and reduce for about 5 minutes.  It adds a lot of body to the sauce.

Out in the County

As I've stated a number of times here, I am a big advocate of reading up on things that you love.  Since food and drink is a big interest of mine, I don't often skip over an article or publication I run across that speaks to these things.  Recently, I was reading West News Magazine (a bi-monthly publication devoted to the residents of the West County area of St. Louis).  I was reading the latest dining review and was thinking about how this is the only local periodical that even remotely gets that there are residents in St. Louis that live pass the I-270 corridor. 

I remember reading the St. Louis Post Dispatch and watching Show Me St. Louis on TV and only 5% of the time (if any time at all) do they mention restaurants or establishments in West County.  Its almost as if the local media here in St. Louis think that the area west of 270 is considered it's own culinary jurisdiction.  Sure, I can read and article or watch a spot about any number of downtown area St. Louis restaurants, but can rarely see anything about some of the best St. Louis has to offer out here in the county.

True also is the fact that there is a distinctive line between "County Folks" and "City Folks" here and it goes a lot deeper than just what high school you attended (here in STL, people always ask you what high school you went to when they want to know what part of STL you are from).  County people don't typically like to venture to the city too terribly often unless there is a Blues, Rams or Cardinals game involved (or perhaps they want some free beer at the AB brewery tour) and City residents hardly ever come out to the county.  I realize that a tank of gas costs more than it used to and time is money, but aren't we all missing out on great experiences by staying confined to our area of town?

Some of my favorite restaurants in St. Louis are located in the city area.  I've dined many a time at establishments like McGurk's, Mosaic, Ambighetti's, 1111 Mississippi and PW Pizza.  If you've had the chance to eat at any of these great places, you know how awesome they truly are.  Still, there are great restaurants in county as well: Mosaic (same as the one downtown), Yia Yia's, Mulligan's and Veritas just to name a few.

My point is, everyone here in St. Louis needs to travel a little out of the geographic culinary comfort zone.  If we do so, we will be rewarded with fantastic food and a great experience.  So, City Folks: COME ON OUT TO THE COUNTY!!!  And County Folks: LET'S HEAD INTO THE CITY!!!  And St. Louis Media: PLEASE START COVERING RESTAURANTS IN THE COUNTY!!!  Deal?

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Easy BMW Salad (BMW - Bacon Mozzarella Watermelon)

In the past few years, I have discovered a crazy combination of flavors that I have thoroughly enjoyed and worked into my weekly dinners here at home.  Many of those flavor combinations involve bacon.  After all, who doesn't like bacon?  If you don't, then I don't want to know you.  It is un-American to dislike bacon.  Unless you're a pig, but I'm getting off subject here...

One of the best bacon flavor combinations is the melon.  There is something about adding a salty and crunchy consistency to some sliced cubes of watermelon.  The only things needed after that is the tanginess of a dressing and the creaminess of some good cheese.  Now that makes for a summer side dish that anyone can get behind.  Here is the recipe:

BMW Salad (Bacon Mozzarella Watermelon)

1/4 - 1/2 of a Watermelon
1 ball of fresh Mozzarella
4-5 Strips of Bacon
1 Tbsp White Wine Vinegar
1 Tbsp Honey
1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Prepare the bacon.  I use a wire rack and a sheet pan and bake it at 350 for 30-40 minutes.  Set aside.  Chop the watermelon into 1 inch cubes.  Do the same with the mozzarella.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the vinegar, honey and olive oil.  Place the watermelon and mozzarella in the bowl with the dressing.  Mix it together to allow the dressing to cover the mozzarella and watermelon.  Place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.  Top with bacon and serve.

A VERY GOOD Birthday Dinner

My wife will tell  you that I am one that doesn't like to make a big deal about my birthday.  Sure, I like the occasional get together and time with family (and who doesn't like presents???) but for the most part, I just want to have a little me time with the family that day of the year.  One thing that seems to be a tradition anymore is the dinner out that evening.  My wife always likes to take me out to a nice dinner for my birthday and this year, she, my daughter and my parents did just that.

We visited my hometown of Lexington, KY over the weekend and dined a tremendous new (well... new to me anyway) establishment in the Beaumont Center area of town (not far from the very house I grew up in).  The name of the restaurant was Azur and it was a place that I found on the page of one of my Facebook subscriptions (The Bourbon Review --- also a good recommended reading area for bourbon lovers such as myself).  All I saw on my FB page was a picture of what had to be one of the greatest looking steaks I had ever seen.  Of course I clicked on it and the link took me to the picture and it's caption: Cowboy Ribeye Steak with bourbon salt rub.  I was sold.  I immediately emailed the restaurant's URL link to my wife and told her I had found my birthday dinner spot!

Let me tell you, I was not disappointed.  First off, they have truffle frites.  If you don't know what these are, boy are you missing out.  They are essentially french fries (frites is basically french for fries) that are covered in truffle salt (or sometimes actual shaved truffles) and a garlic aioli.  If you dine at any restaurant that has these, it may not even matter what the main course is.  They are just fantastic!  I of course had the frites along with the special appetizer which was an egg roll that contained chicken and smoked sausage --- also VERY good.  Then I moved onto the main course: THE COWBOY RIB EYE.

I ordered it medium as I always do.  It was perfectly seasoned and covered with pickled peppers which accompanied the meat extremely well.  It was served along side a side dish that has to be one of the single best side dish creations in the known universe:  Beer Cheese Whipped Potatoes (THAT'S RIGHT!).  Everything went so well together and yes I had that feeling I often refer to on this blog.  For those of you not familiar, it is that feeling of sadness when the meal is done.  You are satisfied yet sad that the experience is over.

As always, it was a great trip to Kentucky.  This one was just a bit better though thanks to Azur and my wife, daughter and parents for making it a truly wonderful birthday.

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Southern Cuisine is AWESOME at South City Kitchen in Atlanta!

I just returned from yet another business trip; this time to Atlanta.  I like Atlanta a lot.  Although it is crazy hot in the summertime, Atlanta has so many things one can do to pass the time (if you're not spending all day in meetings --- like I did).  One thing that Atlanta has is a great culinary scene.  I've eaten at a few restaurants in my time there but none were better than the establishment I dined at on this most recent trip.

South City Kitchen was by far the BEST restaurant I've ever eaten at in Atlanta and has made their way into my top 10 restaurants I've EVER eaten period.  A customer of mine suggested we try it out last week and boy was this ever a great recommendation.  As soon as you pull up to the Midtown Atlanta restaurant, you are immediately hit with a feeling that can only be described as Southern charm.  It is a very nice restaurant but is also very inviting and just by looking around, you can tell that this is the place in Midtown to see and be seen.  I was told by my customer that it is not unusual to see movie and TV stars as well as athletes sitting at the next table over from yours.  It's not surprising as this place has got what it takes from the aformentioned atmosphere to what has to be by far the best Southern Cuisine menu I have ever laid eyes on.

I always know if a restaurant's menu is top notch by how indecisive I am when it comes to choosing what I will eat.  I had that issue with the appetizer, salad, entree and dessert.  There were far too many wonderful sounding things on this menu to be forced to have to choose.  Appetizers included southern fried catfish filets served with remoulade and slaw, smoked pulled pork served with southern slaw and house made BBQ sauce atop a hoe cake (if you don't know what a hoe cake is, man are you missing out) and fried green tomatos coated in goat cheese prior to being breaded and pan fried.  The salads sounded just as phenominal sporting such awesomeness as Georgia Peach Salad with hazelnuts or watermelon salad with farmers cheese and heirloom tomatoes.  As for the entrees, that was the true test of decisiveness.  I had the donting task of choosing between buttermilk fried chicken, shrimp and grits (one of my favorites), pan roasted duck breast or the smoked pork chop.  And for dessert, I had to pick between house made banana pudding, individual buttermilk pecan pie or cheesecake bread pudding.  C'mon!  It was like a fat guy's Sophie's Choice!  What was I to do?

I composed myself.  Then I realized we were with 7 people that night and could get all of the appskies and share so I was good there.  I had had watermelon salad before and opted to get the Georgia Peach salad instead (I mean, I was in Georgia, right?).  I went for the duck breast for dinner seeing as I love this dish and was just imagining how good it had to be.  And for dessert, I went with one of my favorites of all time, pecan pie.

The appetizers started the meal off with a bang.  The catfish was crispy on the outside, tender on the inside and went well with the sauce.  Coating the green tomatoes in goat cheese prior to frying them was a revelation.  And the pulled pork and hoe cake were the stars of the first course.  When my salad arrived, I was a little less than thrilled.  I'll be honest, as much as I liked this restaurant, this salad was just okay.  I got a look at my neighbor's watermelon salad and must say that it did look fantastic so perhaps I made the wrong choice there.  Live and learn. 

Now the duck.  I want to make sure I don't oversell this.  It was by no slim margin the absolutely, positively without a doubt best duck breast I have ever had.  And I have had some great ones.  The skin was crisp.  Not oily, just really crisp.  The meat was fork tender and so rich, I must have gone through 3 glasses of water while eating it.  It was served with sweet garlic jus (that's right!), velvet potatoes (let's just say, the smoothest and creamiest mashed potatoes you'll ever have) spring peas and roasted carrots.  All were just outstanding and went well together.

The buttermilk pecan pie was to dessert what the duck was to dinner.  Bar-setting.  I make a good pecan pie.  After having this one, I now say that my pecan pie is not what it should be.  The buttermilk was key.  This dessert was rich and creamy and sweet and salty all at once.  Oh yeah, and they serve ice cream with it too! 

Needless to say, I left the restaurant longing for a nap and a bigger pair of pants.  Just as I said before about knowing how good a menu is by my indecisiveness, I know how good a restaurant is by how sad I am when I leave at the end of the meal.  Not sad because it was bad.  Sad because the meal/experience is over.  So I said, "so long" to South City Kitchen.  But I knew that it was only "so long for now" as Atlanta is a city I visit yearly and South City Kitchen will now be a restaurant I visit at least as often.

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BBQ ASAP? Not Exactly...

I fully intended to post something today discussing why reading food and drink publications was a good way to get out and experiment the great food in your local community.  That was, until I tried to exercise this myself and it didn't exactly work out. 

I am a subscriber to St. Louis Magazine.  This is a wonderful magazine full of great insights into the city of St. Louis (although they should certainly get out to "the burbs" a little more often).  It was their recent issue that sparked my interest in trying a local restaurant that is literally 2 minutes away from my house; BBQ ASAP.  In the article, they describe how the award winning BBQ is exemplified by the burnt ends (rich and tender corner pieces of a brisket that are cooked a 2nd time for full flavor).  I, being the curious foody that I am, wanted to go and try this wonderful sounding dish at a local business and earn my good juju for the day.

It was there that my jubilation ended.  While I would love to tell you how awesome the burnt ends were or how succulent the corn souffle was, I cannot.  No, it isn't because they weren't good.  It's because I never tried them.  I walked into the restaurant at lunch time to find a line.  No problem, I'm pretty patient and understand that lunch time warrants a line.  What I found appalling is the fact that this line (which was 5 people in front of me) lasted for 15 minutes.  OK, I was appalled but I could still deal with it.  The straw that broke the camel's back was me getting to the front of the line only to see the person who was supposed to be taking my order walk off into the kitchen... and didn't come back.  While I'm sure she did eventually come back, I didn't stick around to find out.  I'd been in line at a BBQ joint waiting to order my food for 20 minutes without so much as a smile from a staff member at BBQ ASAP.  I was angry, hungry and I was out of there.

Like I said, I'm a pretty patient person but I have very little tolerance for poor customer service and this situation exemplifies just that.  Now, I will say, the food may be great, and the customer service may be wonderful once they take your order, but I haven't found that out just yet.

So it is with a heavy heart that I am currently giving this restaurant a thumbs down for the time being.  It is with a heavier heart that I cannot post about the importance of using publications to find great food.  Not that I don't still believe that, I just don't feel like it right now and it is my blog and I can pout if I want to.  I will say that I have tried other "award winners" from the BBQ edition of St. Louis Magazine and I can say they were spot on with their descriptions and ratings of those restaurants such as Pappy's Smokehouse (which is LIFE CHANGING BBQ by the way --- I'll cover Pappy's another time though).

I'm sure I will give BBQ ASAP another try.  After all, they were featured in one of my favorite magazines so that has to say something.  And perhaps I should head my own advice when I say that everyone deserves a 2nd chance.  I just hope that I make it to the front counter next time.

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