Stuff to eat. Mostly around St. Louis.

Spencer 5/8/17 Spencer 5/8/17

Salt + Smoke's Brisket

There are a lot of things to like about Salt + Smoke, like owner Tom Schmidt's sultry voice and his Leonidas beard, dense as Germany's Black Forest, dark as night. And chef/pitmaster Haley Riley, who not only cooks meat that can't be beat, but once won a Jon Snow lookalike contest at West County mall. But what I like the most about Salt + Smoke is the brisket.

I've written about their burnt end t-ravs before, but I've never written about the brisket itself.

Brisket is my smoked meat of choice. I would pick fall-apart-tender, Texas style brisket over ribs and pulled pork any day. At the time of writing, there are three places that can quash my qraving for it in St. Louis: Salt + Smoke (obviously), Big Baby Q, and The Stellar Hog.

Before being smoked over white oak for the better part of the day, the brisket is rubbed with a simple salt and freshly ground (pre-ground stuff is for people that don't like flavor) pepper mix. Then it goes in. That's it.

The result is brisket that manages to stay together and fall apart all at the same time. It's smoky. The bark is crunchy. It's juicy, like a meat Starburst. I love it.

You can get the brisket either as a platter, which comes with two sides (I'd probably get the garlic and herb fries and white cheddar cracker mac) and a cheddar-bacon popover, or you can get it as a sandwich with burnt end mayo and tobacco onions.

When you order it, you'll get the option of lean, fatty, or burnt ends. You should order the lean—that leaves more of the good stuff for me. Oh, and I don't want to forget: Salt + Smoke has William Larue Weller bourbon in right now. Treat yo' self.

Whiskey and Soba 2/7/17 Whiskey and Soba 2/7/17

Oaxacan Mole Braised Beef

I’m not a butcher, but I’ve hung around Bolyard’s Meat enough to consider myself a meat journeyman. I’ve learned by watching, not doing. Can I break down a cow? No. Can I stand over your shoulder and tell you you’re doing it wrong? Yes.

In my almost-expert opinion, there seems there are three basic groups that exist when it comes to buying and cooking meat: Grillers, Slow Cookers, and Sausage Lovers (like your sister).

I’m a Slow Cooker. I’ve grilled 3 steaks in the last 3 years, and I’ve ordered steak at a restaurant once in that same time frame. It bores me. I find that braised (or BBQed) meats, on the other hand, tend to be more flavorful and harder to screw up. Plus, most of the cooking can be done unattended in your kitchen. Oh, and the cuts are way cheaper.

Alex Welsch, one of the Bolyard’s meat men, recently guided me to beef neck, a tender, well-marbled cut of beef perfect for braising. Jewish Santa delivered me a package of La Guelaguetza mole. Combining the two, I got one of the most flavorful braised beef recipes I’ve made yet, all thanks to Alex. What a guy.

This recipe doesn’t use up the entire amount of mole each Guelaguetza jar makes, so you’ll still have some left over for nachos, enchiladas, or protein shakes.

I pulled the neck apart into hunks, then served it over grains. The leftovers went into enchiladas. If you have a big family, there will be no leftovers.

Oaxacan Mole Braised Beef

SERVES: 4-6

INGREDIENTS

3 lbs beef neck (or chuck)
2.5 C beef stock
0.75 C La Guelaguetza Mole Negro sauce

METHOD

Make the La Guelaguetza Oaxacan Black Mole according to the package instructions. Alternatively, buy a different mole or—if you’re really going for it—make your own. Check out Alex Stupak’s recipe in Tacos cookbook. Let cool.

Preheat the oven to 500F.

Put the beef on a rack over a baking tray. Rub or brush the beef with the mole on all sides, then sear in the oven for 15 minutes.

Lower oven temp to 300F.

Combine mole and stock in an oven-safe braiser or Dutch oven. It won’t look like much liquid, but as Kenji taught me: the more liquid in there to start, the more you’ll have to reduce later. If you’re really concerned, feel free to add more mole and stock. Bring to a boil, then set in the beef, put on lid, and place in the oven.

Bake covered for about 2 hours, then about 1 hour uncovered.

Remove from the oven and pull apart or chop. If needed, simmer the sauce to thicken. Season with salt, if needed.

Spencer 4/6/16 Spencer 4/6/16

Gyro Nachos

I know what you just did—you skimmed down to the recipe itself and saw lots of text. "I'm not putting in that much work for nachos!" you say to yourself. Settle down. The nachos are almost an after thought here. The Serious Eats Greek-American Gyro recipe (link below) has been a favorite of mine since they published it. No other homemade gyro recipe has even come close. So a few weeks back, when I was in my nacho making frenzy, I realized I had leftover gyro meat and boom: gyro nachos. The first part of the recipe is how to make my variation on the Serious Eats gyro meat, which you can serve as is, or slice and freeze for future lunches and dinners. Once you add it to your recipe repertoire, it won't leave. The second part is how to take that gyro meat and make the ultimate gyro nachos, giving you all the tastes of a classic gyro wrap. Using pita chips would make them even more like the real thing, but I'm a sucker for salty corn chips.

You could also skip all the greens and chips and just cover your gyro meat with the harissa cheese sauce. I wouldn't judge.

Gyro Nachos

Yield: 4-6 | Prep: 1 hour | Cook: 5 Min | Total: 1 hour and 5 minutes

INGREDIENTS

HARISSA CHEESE SAUCE

(ADAPTED FROM SERIOUS EATS)

8 oz American cheese
1 c evaporated milk
1 T corn starch
3-4 T harissa

GYRO MEAT

(ADAPTED FROM SERIOUS EATS)

1 lb ground lamb
1 lb ground beef
3 slices bacon, diced
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
4 t kosher salt
1 t black pepper
1 t dried oregano
Pinch of dill pollen

YOGURT SAUCE

(ADAPTED FROM SERIOUS EATS)

3/4 c plain yogurt
1/4 c mayo
2 cloves garlic, minced
juice from 1 lemon
2 tablespoons parsley
water

TOPPINGS

1 c tomatoes, diced
1 c white onion, shaved
1 c mint, roughly chopped

METHOD

Make Ahead

Gyro Meat

Mix the ground lamb (Whole Foods always has it; or call Bolyard’s to order), ground beef, salt, pepper, and oregano in a bowl. Use your hands, so wash them first, you animal. Cover the bowl and put in the fridge overnight for best results.

Preheat oven to 300F. Take your meat mix out of the fridge and put it in a food processor with onion, garlic, and bacon. Blend until it becomes a meat puree.

Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with oil. Dump your meat puree (mmmm) on the sheet and form it into your favorite shape. Throw it in the oven, checking on it after about 40 minutes. The temperature of the meat should be 155F. Let cool for 15 minutes before slicing.

When you’re ready to use the meat, take it out of the fridge and slice it, then cut the slices into bite sized bits. Lay the gyro meat on a foil lined tray and broil on both sides until you’ve got your ideal level crispiness.

Yogurt Sauce

Put the yogurt, mayo, garlic, lemon juice, and parsley in a bowl and mix. It’s going to be pretty thick, like sour cream. I personally don’t like those heavy globs of sauce, so I thin mine would with water until it’s got enough viscosity that I can drizzle it off my spoon onto the nachos. Your call. You can also blend the sauce.

Toppings

Shave the onion (I use a mandolin slicer, but you can always do it by hand) and dice the tomato. Hold off on chopping the mint until just before serving.

Putting It All Together

Dice your mint so you don’t forget!

Cover all the plates you’re going to use with chips. Evenly distribute the meat onto the chips so that you get the most and everyone else gets nothing.

Put the shredded American cheese and cornstarch in a small pot and mix it up. Add the evaporated milk and cook on low, stirring with a whisk continuously. Once the cheese sauce has melted, dip a chip in and make sure that the taste of the cornstarch has cooked out. If it’s all good, add the harissa. Depending on how spicy you like things (and how spicy your harissa is—I like to use the hot Mina harissa), you can adjust the amount.

Pour the cheese sauce over the meat and chips, then put the onions, tomato, mint, and yogurt on top.

Spencer 7/7/15 Spencer 7/7/15

Truffles Butchery

As mentioned last week, I have become a bit of a meat fanatic with the opening of Truffles Butchery and Bolyard's Meat and Provisions in the last year or so. They're similar to each other in that they both deal in the art of meat, but they have their differences, as well. Rather than a single sandwich per week, the Butchery offers a selection of 5 standard sandwiches, plus a sandwich of the day. Their options are typically more 'classic' than what you find at Bolyard's, but no less delicious. The sandwiches you see below are the rib tip, pickles, and cheese special from a few weeks back and the house roast beef sandwich on their buttery, delicious brioche bun.

Roast Beef Sandwich at Truffles Butchery

Truffles Butchery is, surprisingly, connected to Truffles Restaurant, which gives them access to a large kitchen and a wide array of ingredients. With this extra space (plus the extra personnel), they're able to carry more than just meat - you can get vegetables, both raw and prepared, quiche, house sauces and rubs, marinades, and more. Their Mongolian Marinade, an orgy of Asian flavors, is easily my favorite, but a steak marinated in their chimichurri is hard to beat.

The Butchery has a constantly changing selection of cured meats, which recently included a bangin' chorizo, a spicy calabrese, and the secret topping for the delicious burgers I make at home: lamb bacon.

One of the coolest features that the Butchery has is its Himalayan salt dry-aging room, which you can see as you walk into the store. Monstrous cuts of meat hang from the ceiling, just waiting for your order. Or, if you're a big baller, you can order a quarter of a cow and have them age it for you.

If you're feeling like a glutton, they often have a FRIED chicken salad. The skin loses its crunch when mixed, but it still adds a delicious flavor you don't get with normal chicken salad. I would try it, if I were you.

Fried Chicken Salad at Truffles Butchery

Aside from their own products, they also carry a good amount of small batch and high end sauces, spreads, and oils.

Gouda Seaweed Bread at Truffles Butchery

One of the biggest surprises I had when I first started going was that their bread is great. The man behind their bread baking, Caesar, is like a mad scientist, coming up with wild stuff like fermented seaweed, turmeric and peanut, and most recently, a gouda cheese and spinach bread. If you like Asiago bagels, this will blow your face off. Using some secret techniques that I cannot divulge, he has made it so that every little bit of crust has that crunchy, burnt cheese flavor. The inside has little pockets of gouda, too. If they don't have it when you go, make sure to ask them to make it again. It should be a permanent fixture!

Truffles Butchery has become a staple in my grocery shopping. The expectation is that because it's in Ladue and connected to a fine dining restaurant, the prices will be exorbitant, but they're not. I've actually found the meat to be comparable (or even cheaper) than a number of local groceries, especially Whole Foods. Similar to what I mentioned about Bolyard's, the crew at the Butchery remember their customers and their preferences. Every time I go - literally every single time - I end up leaving with FAR more than expected. Remember all of the things I listed that were in my fridge and freezer from Bolyard's? I've got just as much stuff from the Butchery. Check it out.

Truffles Butchery

9202 Clayton Road

St. Louis, MO 63124

314.567.9100

Spencer 7/2/15 Spencer 7/2/15

Bolyard's Meat & Provisions

After suffering through three years of eating Australian, Malaysian, and Chinese beef and pork in Singapore (there's no room for animals to roam there - some houses in Frontenac are bigger than the whole island), I had all but given up eating meat. The pork lacked flavor and the beef's taste was abysmal. I needed American beef! American pork! The good stuff. When I washed ashore in the US, I slowly began adding it back into my diet. Then I turned it up to 11. All of a sudden my freezer and fridge were full of sausages, burgers, cured meats, smoked meats, raw meats, cooked meats, dried meats! Why the sudden change? Two reasons: Truffles Butchery and Bolyard's Meat & Provisions.

If you don't already know, Bolyard's is owned by Chris (formerly of Sidney Street Cafe) and Abbie Bolyard, though I believe the brains of the operation may actually be Betty, their adorable, chorizo munching daughter. They offer lamb, pork, beef, and chicken, all sourced from small Midwestern farms. When you walk in, you'll see a big board with the cuts available, plus a display case with all their creations. The creations range from the known (hot dogs, hamburgers, meatballs), to the more unfamiliar (tasso, lamb merguez, country pate), to the OMG is that?? (beef heart pastrami, blood bologna, confit chicken hearts).

Shelves at Boylard's Meat and Provisions

Butcher Area at Boylard's Meat and Provisions

Chris Bolyard at Boylard's Meat and Provisions

Watching Chris prepare a pork shoulder for smoking was awe-inspiring. His finesse with his knives was so smooth and precise - I went home and attempted to prepare my own pork shoulder at Chris Boylard speed and now have 2 less fingers. As he finished up the shoulder, a truck pulled up with two huge freezers in the back. Chris smirked and beckoned me outside.

If those guys weren't all wearing butcher's aprons and Bolyard's shirts, neighbors might get the wrong idea about what goes on inside Bolyard's. It's not every day you see a bunch of meat hook wielding gents carrying a massive plastic wrapped body. I would have offered to help them carry in the humongous cow quarters, but, you know, I was busy photographing.

Cow Delivery at Boylard's Meat and Provisions

Steer Quarter at Boylard's Meat and Provisions

The Walk In at Boylard's Meat and Provisions

Butchering at at Boylard's Meat and Provisions

Omnivurger at Boylard's Meat and Provisions

As part of the James Beard Better Burger Project, Bolyard's has been making "omnivurgers", a beef and mushroom hamburger patty that is just off the chain. I don't even really like mushrooms and I've got 12 or so of these in my freezer. Just look at that bad boy cooked and ready to be devoured.

The other thing that Bolyard's is doing right are their weekly sandwiches. Seriously. As part of my research for this post, I have eaten said sandwiches. Let's see what I've consumed the last few weeks:

Roast Beef Sandwich at Boylard's Meat and Provisions

Spicy Roast Beef Sandwich at Boylard's Meat and Provisions

Route 66: Roast beef, porchetta di testa, arugula, pickled red onion, chipotle aioli, all on a Companion Peacemaker roll. SO F***ING GOOD.

The meatball sub: housemade meatballs (get them, freeze them, break them out whenever you're feeling low), housemade sauce, shredded cheese. REALLY F***ING GOOD.

Meatball Sub at Boylard's Meat and Provisions

My favorite so far has been the special this week, the [symple_highlight color="blue"]Seoul Mate[/symple_highlight]: ham, roast beef, Korean barbecue aioli, kimchi, sunflower sprouts, crunchy Ramen noodles. Just let that sink in. How smart is it to smash up ramen noodles and use them as a topping? 5/5, EXTREMELY F***ING GOOD.

Sandwich Prep at Boylard's Meat and Provisions

Korean Sandwich at Boylard's Meat and Provisions

Korean Beef Sandwich at Boylard's Meat and Provisions

Seoul Mate Sandwich at Boylard's Meat and Provisions

Walking into a place like Bolyard's is, in a lot of ways, what things were like in days past, I imagine. Before the era of Schnucks, Dierbergs, and the faceless butcher. Chris and his team know what I like and what my family likes. They remember the things I ordered before. You want something custom ordered or prepared differently? Just ask.

If you haven't visited Bolyard's, this week is the perfect opportunity to do so. You want to impress your friends on the 4th, right? That all starts with having great meat. You can try your luck by just showing up, or you can call and order ahead. My recommendation: Omnivurgers and Berzerkers, a beef, bacon, horseradish, and cheddar sausage. Bring a military ID and get 20% off. And, if you're reading this today (Thursday), they're doing their Thursday night smoke out. Call to inquire about what's available (I do know they're doing a rabbit porcheta stuffed with bratwurst!).

Seriously. Go. This is what I've got in my fridge and freezer right now from Bolyard's: Omnivurgers, lamb merguez, berzerkers, hot dogs, bratwurst, buffalo turkey sausages, meatballs, pickled red onions, bread and butter pickles, beef tallow. I'm ready for the 4th.

Bolyard's Meat and Provisions

2810 Sutton Blvd

Maplewood, MO 63143

(314) 647-2567

Spencer 10/7/14 Spencer 10/7/14

Recipe: Chili

I feel like I failed you last week with my cornbread recipe. You undoubtedly ran to your kitchen upon reading it, made yourself a loaf, then realized you had nothing to eat it with. Perhaps you tried pairing it with some roasted chicken or a hamburger, but it just didn't feel right. I have the solution for you, friends. This may appear to be your run of the mill chili, but it's not. It's the best basic chili recipe I've come across. It's not too spicy, not too tomatoey, just the right amount of meat and beans. People like chili for the same reason they like yoga instructors: they're both hot and flexible. You can modify chili based on what you've got in your fridge or pantry at any given time, which I did. For the recipe below, I swapped out one can of red kidney beans for white beans. Because I am a wild man, I used 1 pound of ground beef, 1/2 pound of ground chorizo chicken and 1/2 pound of ground lamb. The lamb's flavor was a bit stronger than I'd prefer in a chili, but it was still better than whatever chili you're making now.

Just a few weeks ago, I judged a chili competition at work, which allowed me to try 17 different chili variations. The differences were astounding. No two chilies tasted alike. Some were good, some were great, some made me wonder if I was being Punk'd with dog food. Some key issues I noticed:

People tend to make their chili far too watery for my liking.
People don't include beans, or if they do, it's a small amount. Poor form.
People do not brown their meat. No Maillard reaction, no smiles.
People put ketchup in their chili. A lot of ketchup. Gross.

This recipe solves these issues. My recommendation is that you try the recipe below as-is your first. After that, go wild and swap all sorts of stuff in and out. I just don't want you to come here like a www.foodnetwork.com commenter and leave angry notes about how the recipe sucks when it was you who decided to swap out the cumin for Nesquik and the diced tomatoes for V8 juice.

On to the recipe!

Chili

YIELD: 4-6 | PREP: 20 MINUTES | ACTIVE: 2 HOURS 20 MIN | TOTAL: 2 HOURS AND 40 MINUTES

INGREDIENTS

2 T vegetable oil
2 medium onions, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
6 garlic cloves, minced/pressed/microplaned
1/4 C chili powder
1 T ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 lbs lean ground beef
2 (15-ounce) cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, with liquid
1 (28 ounces) can tomato puree
salt
2 limes, wedges

METHOD

Heat oil in large heavy-bottomed nonreactive Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering but not smoking, 3 to 4 minutes. Add onions, bell pepper, garlic, chili powder, cumin, coriander, pepper flakes, oregano, and cayenne; cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. I like to cook them until they’ve got a nice dark color on them for a more intense flavor.

Increase heat to medium-high and add half the beef; cook, breaking up pieces with wooden spoon, until no longer pink and just beginning to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add remaining beef and cook, breaking up pieces with wooden spoon, until no longer pink, 3 to 4 minutes. Add beans, tomatoes, tomato puree, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour.

Remove cover and continue to simmer 1 hour longer, stirring occasionally (if chili begins to stick to bottom of pot, stir in 1/2 cup water and continue to simmer), until beef is tender and chili is dark, rich, and slightly thickened. Adjust seasoning with additional salt. Serve with lime wedges and condiments if desired.

Slow Cooker Option: At the end of step 1, transfer the cooked beef mixture to a slow cooker; add the rest of the ingredients as directed in step 2. Cook the chili on the high setting for four hours.