The wonder that is PROVEL CHEESE!

If you are from St. Louis, then you are most likely obsessed with Provel Cheese.  Famous St. Louis pizza restaurant IMO's has introduced provel cheese into our lives by putting it on everything on their menu, from their yummy, thin crust, "square beyond compare" pizzas to their awesome salads.

Provel is actually a hybrid cheese, a combination of Cheddar, Swiss and Provelone (my favorites!), so it makes sense that putting together 3 awesome cheeses is going to create one Super Cheese!

This week at Dierbergs, IMO's brand Provel Cheese was on sale so I just had to pick up a bag.  By the end of his week, the entire bag is gone!  That's how good this stuff is!  Last night I used most of it by making my own IMO's style salad.  I bought Fresh Express Italian styled salad mix, added toppings, the provel cheese, and my favorite semi-homemade Italian Dressing.  It was amazing!!!

IMO's Provel Cheese

Semi-Homemade Salad Dressing by Good Seaons
(see also Jessie's post on our Mom's Pasta Salad)

You can also use Provel on many other things; for example, I've melted it over chicken before and Seamus McDaniels even offers it on top of their award winning cheeseburgers!  Delicious!!!

St. Louis Magazine: Best New Restaurants

The newest issue of St. Louis Magazine has come out with the top best new restaurants in St. Louis.  Here is the list (I've starred the places I've been to):

*DeMun Oyster Bar
Bistro 1130
*Vino Nadoz
*Salt
Half and Half
Home Wine Kitchen
Dave & Tony's Premium Burger Joint
*Taste
Truffles
*Three Sixty
*Mad Tomato
*PW Pizza
Bogart's Smokehouse
*Bocci Bar
One 19 North
*The Block
Prime 1000
The Tavern Kitchen & Bar (Voted Restaurant of the Year)

Do you think you'll try any of the new restaurants?  Jessie and I already have plans to go to Half and Half next week and Dave and Tony's and Tavern Kitchen & Bar are definitely on my list to try soon!!!

Just Spotted...

Just Spotted... Josie and Jessie grabbing some yummy Vietnamese soup at Mai Lee for lunch to recover from their simultaneous sinus infections (yes... it must be a twin thing ;-))

Our top pick: #24 Hoahn Thanh Mi (egg noodles with bbq pork & shrimp wontons)(voted best broth!)

It was super yummy and adding some hot & spicy Sriracha definitely clears out the sinuses!

PW Pizza Contest

PW Pizza is the new pizza restaurant in the Vin De Set building, same owners but different menu. Josie and I have been here and their pizza really is very delicious. Our favorite pizza is last year's winner from this contest. That pizza was meatballs with spinach and artichokes, yum! Now it is your turn to submit a recipe for a chance to be placed on PW Pizza's menu! Here are the details:

Starting October 1st through October 31st PW Pizza will be accepting pizza recipes. Food Outreach will be hosting a Recognition Dinner at Moulin (event space in Vin De Set building) on November 17th with 200 guests. The guests will be sampling the submissions and a winner will be selected that evening.

The winning pizza will enjoy a prominent location on the PW Pizza's menu for at least 3 months and a portion of all sales from that pizza will be donated to St. Louis Food Outreach. In addition, the winner will receive a $50 gift certificate valid at one of the following: Eleven Eleven, Vin de Set, Grand Petite Market or PW Pizza.

Recipes must include the portion amount of each ingredient as well as some basic instructions of how they should be layered on the pizza. cooking time and temperature are not necessary. FYI their pizzas are 12 inch rounds. Please email entries to stacy@vindeset.com for consideration.

GOOD LUCK!

Restaurant Review: Peel Wood Fired Pizza

One night on our Staycation, Jessie and I decided we needed to get out of town, no... make that get out of the state!  We decided to take a mini road trip over to Edwardsville, Illinois to try Peel Wood Fired Pizza!  Peel has recently won Best Pizza in Sauce Magazine and we had to see what all of the fuss was about.  Peel was actually at the Sauce Soiree this year, serving sample food, but unfortunately they couldn't bring a pizza oven with them to the set up, so they went with a buffalo chicken mac n' cheese instead... definitely got my attention!

Edwardsville, Illinois

We heard that there is always a wait at Peel, so we weren't surprised when we were asked to wait 45 minutes for a table of two.  No problem, we had a beer and sat up at the bar and watched the kick off to the Notre Dame - Michigan game.  They had over 20 beers on tap, so I went with something hoppy (of course) and tried the Founders Centennial IPA from Grands Rapids Michigan.  It was good, hoppy, and not too heavy because I drank it rather fast (usually I'm really slow at drinking beer). 

We perused the menu to pick out what we'd order once we sat down, and found ourselves deciding between three yummy choices for appetizers.  We decided on the Spinach Artichoke Involtini, not really understanding what it would be like, but knowing we liked the ingredients.  We were blown away!  It turned out to be bits of pizza dough wrapped around a spinach artichoke mixture, and baked in the pizza oven.  These bite size pieces of heaven also came with three different types of dipping sauce, which really took it up a notch.  First sauce was roasted red pepper hummus (our least favorite... it was too cold to go with the warm pizza bits and lacked flavor), followed by Roasted Garlic Olive Oil (an amazingly garlicky liquid concoction that we gobbled right up), and Parmesan Creme (think of a glorified alfredo sauce for dipping... awesome!).  We ate the entire platter of apps and ended up saving the leftover garlic olive oil and Parmesan creme to dip our pizza crust in later.  Smart move by us!!!

Spinach Artichoke Involtini
Dipping Sauces (L to R) Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Roasted Garlic Olive Oil and Parmesan Creme

We also had a three-way tie for our pizza order too, but we decided on the hot brown, which has smoked turkey, prosciutto, roma tomatoes, broccoli, mozzarella, Parmesan cream, Parmesan cheese.  I've never had a pizza with broccoli on it, and I love broccoli, so we thought we'd give it a go.  It was good, but we were pretty stuffed from the spinach artichoke appetizer that we took most of it home.  We noticed that most people in the restaurant got their own individual pizza!  We couldn't believe how they could eat so much, Jessie and I could barely split one.  I guess they didn't get the yummy appetizers ;-)

Hot Brown Pizza: Smoked turkey, prosciutto, roma tomatoes,
broccoli, mozzarella, parmesan cream, parmesan cheese

Using a pizza oven really makes a difference because the crust was really good and great for dipping in the sauces.  Next time I'd probably try the buffalo chicken pizza, because I believe that is their signature pizza.  Overall it was a really good experience and I would drive all the way back just for their appetizers!!!  When it comes to pizza though, I still think PW Pizza takes the top spot and I would rather go there.

Pizza Oven!

Restaurant Review: Franco

On the Friday of our "staycation" Josie and I ventured on over to Soulard in St. Louis to try the French restaurant Franco. It is located in the bottom of a loft building right next to the Soulard Farmer's Market. 

Ample street parking is available.

When we were greeted by the host he asked if we had a reservation to which we replied "no" and he asked if we were okay to eat in the bar areas and we replied "yes." I honestly think you would have the same dining experience no matter where you sit in this restaurant. All along the perimeter of the restaurant are high top tables in which two seats are bar stools and the remaining two seats are actually the window ledge. Josie and both sat on the window ledge and faced the bar...we both agreed we would ask for a window table next time we go back.

We both ordered a beer which I'm sorry I do not remember the names of. Josie's was hoppy and mine was wheaty (go figure). It struck us as odd that it took us what seemed like 15 minutes to receive our beer even though we were sitting in the bar area. We did have a waitress who was serving both the restaurant and the bar so maybe that was the hold up, although that was our only complaint of the night.

We ordered the pommes frites (french fries for those of you who don't speak french) for our appetizer. They were crisp on the outside and creamy on the inside. They were also heavily seasoned with fresh black pepper and sea salt. I enjoyed dipping mine in the homemade flavored mayonnaise but ketchup was made available too. Overall a great appetizer.

We liked the presentation too!

For our main courses we both had to go with seafood as that is what Franco is known for and it sounded good too! Josie ordered the local Missouri trout. It was pan sauteed and was topped with tomatoes and a parsley pesto. Her side dish was corn with jalapenos, spices and tomatoes. Luckily she shared a little with me and the trout just melted in your mouth and her side dish sounded spicy but actually wasn't and was quite addictive. Delicious dish for sure!

Josie's MO Trout

I went with the seafood stew of the night. It was served in a large bowl and came with a side of sliced bread for dipping. Everything was thrown into a soup that was a tomato base and was very yummy. The seafood included shrimp, mussels, squid, scallops and clams (although probably the smallest clams I have ever eaten). The seafood was not over cooked and the tomato broth was delicious when soaked up by the bread. I was definitely full after this meal.

Seafood Stew

I think our bill was was around $30-35 each which wasn't bad for having beer, appetizer and an entree. I think that Josie and I will definitely be going back to Franco as their menu changes regularly, the service was nice, the atmosphere was welcoming and it is tough to find good seafood in St. Louis. Let us know if you've eaten there and if you recommend any dishes!

The Mud House

Ever try a new place and then return 2 more weekends in a row? Just me? I'm sure you've done it too! That is exactly what happened when I tried The Mud House at 2101 Cherokee Street in St. Louis. 3 visits, 3 weekends in a row, 3 great breakfasts!

The Mud House is located off of historic Cherokee Street in the Antiques District. The all brick town homes are either residences, tiny antique shops or restaurants. Each weekend there were quite a few people out and about on the street either walking their dogs, biking or hunting for antiques. It is a very unique area of the city and I highly recommend you visit.

Visit #1 - 8/27

Joe and I have been in a breakfast rut, going to the same 3 places over and over. Our wedding invitation designer recommended The Mud House to us on one of our visits and we finally took his advice to go! When you first enter the casual dining area you see a large community table surrounded by smaller tables. In the back is the register, menu on the wall, and coffee station. To the far left is a second dining area that is much more casual with couches and chairs near a few of the tables. 

View from my chair. We sat near the front door.

We quickly went to the back to review our menu options. We were tempted by the daily special of biscuits and gravy but each decided on their breakfast burrito. The burrito is a large flour tortilla filled with scrambled eggs, black bean chili, bacon (addition but worth it) and cheese. To our surprise it was also served with a mixed greens salad with a very light lemon vinaigrette and fresh tomatoes. The sour cream we were told would be on the side but in reality it was on top of the salad; not anything to complain about but just beware if you do not care for sour cream. 

My burrito sliced open, yum!

Joe's burrito, can you see how big that thing is?!?

We also each had an iced coffee and they were both delicious. I like my iced coffee heavy on the milk and light on the coffee and that is just how they made it, yum!

Also, to give you a run down on how this place works....you order and pay up at the counter, they give you a sign to put on your table, they bring the food out to you, you clean up your own plates, they call out your drink when it is finished being made, you get your own water up next to the coffee area. Pretty simple!

We left very full and didn't eat again 'till dinner time!

Visit #2 - 9/3

After trying those delicious breakfast burritos last week Joe and I had to go back to try something else on The Mud House's menu! We each stuck with our iced coffees which were delicious yet again on our second visit. This time for breakfast I ordered an egg sandwich which came with bacon, scrambled egg and cheese on a nice large roll. I thought the roll was way too much bread for the sandwich so I removed one of the pieces. Overall it was a great breakfast sandwich and I would probably order it again but still take off one of the pieces of bread.

My breakfast sandwich. Did you notice the canning jar is what they use for their water glasses?

Joe decided to go sweet for his breakfast and ordered the french toast with walnuts and bananas. He definitely got sweet! I couldn't eat an entire plate of this dish but Joe definitely could and did! I think he would go back to his beloved breakfast burrito on a next visit but he seemed happy with his french toast on this visit.

It even looks sweet!

Visit #3 - 9/11

Josie and I were on our last day of our "staycation" and woke up early. We first went to Forest Park to see the thousands of flags on Art Hill in memory of all those who died on 9/11. It was quite a site to see and very moving.

Thousands of Flags on Art Hill in Forest Park

Since Josie made me walk quite a distance to see this, which I was obviously happy she made me do, I worked up quite an appetite. We decided to go to The Mud House for my 3rd week in a row! Josie ordered the breakfast burrito with bacon and no sour cream. She also had a glass of local grape juice (she loves grape juice). I ordered the breakfast burrito with bacon too and had an iced vanilla latte for my beverage. We ventured to their back patio and saw it was packed! Luckily there was an open table in the back that was in the shade and we grabbed it. I would highly recommend sitting on the back patio especially with Fall approaching. Josie and I thoroughly enjoyed our breakfast burritos and I'm happy that Josie taught me it is okay to pick up the burrito to eat it instead of cutting it up. I'm pretty sure we will be heading back to The Mud House sometime soon to try something else on their menu, maybe I can wait an extra week this time!

Bracket Challenge: St. Louis Summer Craft Beer

And the winner is.... O'Fallon's 5 day IPA!!!

St. Louis Magazine recently ran a bracket, lining up 32 local Summer Craft Beers against each other to find the ultimate winner.  My top two favorite beers ended up in the semi-finals (both from O'Fallon Brewery).  Check out the ultimate bracket of winners:



Click Picture to Expand



Staycation

Jessie and I had a Staycation this weekend here in St. Louis, and boy, am I exhausted.  On Saturday we went to the St. Louis Art Fair, held in Clayton, and then headed over to the Schlafly Art Fair in Maplewood.  These art fairs are both held on the same day, with Clayton having the more high end type of art (i.e. too expensive for me to afford) from around the nation and Schlafly having more local art that I can afford.  Clayton Art fair also has live music all day and has a whole street of food tents, so I would hit up the Clayton Art Fair around lunch or dinner time, for sure.  Schlafly's has the beer, obviously, so go there when you get thirsty ;-)

The food at Clayton was good, but I was expecting more Clayton restaurants to be represented.  I'd say about half of the food tents were catering companies that I"ll probably never have the chance to eat from again.  Jessie and Kelley got "sliders" from one catering company, which turned out to be a whole cheeseburger, cut into quarters (including a whole bun cut up) and then you got three of those quarters.  Kinda weird if you ask me.  We also got "Kick Ass Fries" which has asiago cheese and garlic on them, which were of course delicious.  I did a lap around the food tents and was probably going to hit up the Wunderlust Pizza food truck that had a yummy looking meat lovers pizza, with meat from Salume Beddu.  However, when I made it to the final tent, McCormick and Schmick's had mac n' cheese with shrimp and andouille sausage!!!  HELLO!  DECISION MADE!!!  It was soooo good!  I've never had mac n' cheese with rigatoni noodles, but it was good nonetheless.  And I just love andouille sausage!  The bread crumbs on top (which I don't really like too much of) were lightly dusted on and didn't bother me one bit.  I asked them if it is a regular menu item and they said yes!  So I'm definitely going to go there.  I'm not a huge fan of going to a restaurant at the Mall (unless it is CPK!) but in Kansas City there is one right on the plaza that I've been trying to make Ryan take me to, so I'm going to go to that one and get me some more mac n' cheese and seafood!

Mac N Cheese with Shrimp and Andouille Sausage

Both Art Fairs were fun!  At the Schlafly Art Fair, Jessie and I each bought a cheese board in the shape of Missouri and that was made of different pieces of wood found from Missouri trees.  Very Cool!

Missouri shaped cheese board
made out of wood from all different types of Missouri trees

We hit up some other places in St. Louis during our Staycation, so stay tuned for more restaurant reviews (no recipes though... we don't cook on our staycations)!

Coffee Secret

One lazy Saturday morning I paid a visit to my absolute favorite coffee spot in the city, Park Avenue Coffee in Lafayette Square. I went up to order my Skinny Vanilla Latte and kindly asked the drink maker if he could please drop a few ice cubes into my drink. He responded that he could simply make my drink at 140 degrees. I go "What the heck does that mean? That sounds hot too!" Luckily he explained to me that 140 degrees is the perfect temperature to consume coffee at but it is usually always served hotter so that it will stay warmer longer. I was still skeptical because here I am thinking water boils at 212 degrees so 140 degrees still sounds very hot. Luckily, I was proven wrong, and was immediately able to take a quick sip of my coffee, something I have NEVER been able to do. (FLASHBACK: One time I sat in a Dunkin Donuts with my Dad for over 45 minutes waiting to consume my tiny cup of hot chocolate. I think he was ready to kill me, but I just can't drink things that are that hot!)

In summary, if you are like me, and want to enjoy your coffee right away without scalding yourself, try ordering your coffee at 140 degrees. Now, I know you think you'll sound stupid doing this, but do NOT feel like that. I say it all the time ordering my coffee and no one blinks an eye! It is like a secret coffee language I swear! (Almost like that secret menu at In N Out Burger....)

ps: A full write-up on Park Avenue Coffee in the future!

I just like this picture, ha!

Monkey Bread Muffins Recipe

So as some of you know, I am not a big dessert person, but I do have a particular sweet tooth for cinnamon sugar!  (I will out eat anyone in a cinnamon roll eating contest).  So of course I go absolutely bananas for MONKEY BREAD!!!  I found a recipe that makes individual servings of monkey bread by serving it as muffins.  Genius!  I decided to try it out and they were so good!  Here is the recipe I used:

Monkey Bread Muffins (yields 12 muffins)

Ingredients:
1-1/2 sticks unsalted butter, chilled
3 tbsp maple syrup
1/3 cup + 2 tbsp granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 tbsp milk

 Directions:
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line 1 muffin tin with 12 liners

Maple Butter:
In a small bowl, microwave 4 tbsp butter and the maple syrup at high power until melted, about 30 seconds

Cinnamon Sugar coating:
- In a small bowl, mix together 1/3 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon

Dough:
- In a food processor, combine the flour, baking powder, the remaining 2 tbsp of granulated sugar, and salt. Pulse until well combined. Cut the remaining butter into small pieces and pulse together until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.
- Pulse in the buttermilk until the dough comes together.

Glaze:
Mix together confectioners sugar and milk to make the glaze.

Create the Muffins:
-Transfer to a floured work surface, and pat dough into a 10" square. Use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to quarter the dough, then cut each quarter into 16 equal pieces. Roll into balls
- Dip each ball in the maple butter, then the cinnamon sugar coating. Place 4-5 coated balls into each muffin cup press down gently.
- Tent the muffin tin with tin foil and bake until cooked through and golden, about 15-17 minutes.
-  While the muffins are still warm, drizzle the glaze over the muffins. Serve warm.

They are delicious!

Square of dough before separating into balls

balls of monkey bread in muffin pans before baking

Finished Result!