The Wine Cellar and Bistro does spring

Chef Craig Cyr has the Wine Cellar and Bistro’s spring menu up. Yum.

A Year of Thai

I know nothing about Thai food. Actually, I know I like it. That’s about it. And that Mrs. Show-Me Eats loves it to. There’s that.

But beyond that, nada.I’ve never made a chili paste, never cooked with lemongrass. But we are planning a trip to Thailand in the fall, so I need to get with the program.

That brings me to my question for the more Thai-minded: How should I structure a crash course on the cuisine? Regionally? Historically? By ingredient?

A copy of “Thai Food” is on its way. What else is essential reading?

What to do with 3lbs of leftover cooked white beans?

White bean dip. Just in time for the Super Bowl.

(And fear not that this is from Giada…it’s good stuff.)

Sausage on my mind

Marcia tackled gumbo pretty well this week, if you ask me. But I’m diving into sausage a little more next week. So if you’ve bought some from that guy at the Columbia Area Career Center, let me know what you think of it. I’ll be referencing four types in my column next week and could use additional thoughts.

Scott

Mardi Gras Buffet at Rock Bridge High School

I may be hitting the Brook Harlan promo a bit hard these days. And yet, I went to Mardi Gras last year and must report this:

We will be having our Mardi Gras Buffet at Rock Bridge High School next Tuesday February 9th from 10:50 until 1:00.  We will also have quarts of Gumbo, Etouffee and Red Beans and Rice available for $6 if you want to take some home to freeze for Mardi Gras the following week.
 

Bourdain gets pwned by 10 year-old

Gumbo Ya Ya for Robin Carnahan

This Saturday, hosted by Tim and Linda Harlan – and food by Brook. Details.

Domenico’s II?

No restaurant review has elicited so many strident opinions (and all-caps silliness) as giant steer-bedecked Domenico’s at the Lake. At this point I am almost required by law to make a return visit.

The Pho Tai at Chinese Wok Express is good

Really good. And while ideal for summer – especially kicked up with a few spoonfuls of chili paste – it’ll make you happy right now. I really love this place – one of the few great, under-the-radar places in town.

Brook Harlan has your sausage

Get it quick. I’m getting mine tomorrow. Oh, and they have a killer espresso machine too.

We have our Andouille along with a few other types of sausages, soups and other Items made by the culinary students for sale from the Advanced Culinary Classes at the Columbia Area Career Center.
 
We are only selling directly from the Career Center Kitchen. 
 
This week we will be open for pick up Wednesday (1/27) 7:00 AM – 5:45 PM, Thursday (1/28) 7:00 AM – 5:00 PM, Friday (1/29) 7:00 AM – 5:00 PM, and Saturday (1/30) 7:30 AM – 3:00 PM. 

A good time for Missouri wine

My wine column in yesterday’s paper:

Like many students of the University of Missouri, my first exposure to the wines of the Show-Me State came courtesy of Les Bourgeois in Rocheport.

Packed into picnic tables or standing in small groups in the baking sun, we would wolf down glasses of Riverboat Red or Pink Fox, concerning ourselves with neither the merits of the wine nor the prevailing laws regarding underage drinking. The wines were cold and available; nothing else mattered.

Sycamore whole-hog dinner

No surprise here, I’d been waiting a long time for the whole hog dinner at Sycamore. Anyone who’s dabbled in cooking and curing meat – especially pork – longs to try it done by people with the time, talent and expertise to do it right. Done not just well, but done right. And so I found myself in the vestibule outside Sycamore. Mrs. SMEs and I rolled into the special event about five minutes early and joined my parents at the bar. She snagged a red and I a glass of white.

All-time greatest SME blog comment

Seriously. It’s all-caps and pro-Domenico’s.

Death by pork

The whole hog dinner at Sycamore was awesome…truly great work by Chef Odette and staff. But 12 hours later I can’t even think about food. Full report tonight.

Sycamore Restaurant

Over the past year Sycamore – which always turned out excellent, reliable food – has become the best restaurant in town. What was once a satisfying but largely static menu has morphed into a kinetic, ever-evolving experiment – and one still very well-executed.

My next Tribune column is on the restaurant’s evolution and how it has brought Columbia diners along for the ride. It struck me that when my mom – an excellent but conventionally Midwestern cook – orders a dish of fried pig’s head and trotters, something is going on. So, is this for real or am I just in the tank?

A tale of true grit(s)

Our first memory of corn is invariably of gnawing it off the cob typewriter-style, hot butter running down our chins in a cathartic, napkin-soaking release. However, manners aside, eating corn on the cob is barely scratching the surface.

Suitable as fuel, feed and food, Zea mays is a workhorse of the plant kingdom, and at least in North America, it has been for a very long time. Corn served a number of important uses for the continent’s original inhabitants. Madeline Matson writes in “Food in Missouri: A Cultural Stew,” the Osage people “boiled or roasted on the cob, or dried after cooking for storage.”

Mandarin House

Our go-to place for Chinese in Columbia is Mandarin House, near Hy-Vee on West Broadway. The kids can get chicken lo mein; mom and dad can venture further afield. A few months ago we discovered ta-chin chicken – battered and deep-fried chicken in a spicy, garlicky sauce. Today, feeling adventurous, I branched out and was rewarded again: hot braised fish. Lightly breaded and crunchy chunks of white fish, all tossed with a hot sauce of dried peppers, onions and garlic. Maybe not Epcot good, but a damn fine option – definitely worth trying.

I have still found House of Chow to be a little underwhelming, so Mandarin House remains our family favorite.

Mandarin House
3302 West Broadway
Columbia, MO 65203
(573) 445-8868

Gotta love the Germans

The Smithsonian magazine tackles the danger megamarkets pose to traditional butcher shops in Germany. And starts off thusly:

When it comes to animal protein, the German language is lacking in euphemism. Meat is “flesh,” hamburger is “hacked flesh,” pork is “pig flesh” and uncured bacon is “belly flesh,” as in, “Could you please pass me another slice of flesh from the pig’s belly?”

Missouri wine

A few months ago I convinced myself Missouri wines really were turning the corner. A nice cab franc from Westphalia got me started. A St. James Cynthiana was pleasant as well. Les B’s Chardonel was nice, for a semi-sweet, on a hot summer day. Since then, squadoosh. And this, this freaking 2007 Norton Reserve from Les Bourgeois. It’s like a bad, flat framboise. Like drinking soured grape juice with pureed oak chips. Christ, it’s nasty.

The worst part about the “Best in Missouri Wine” lists is that you can’t find many of the good ones. Try to find Montelle’s 2008 Dry Vignoles or an award-winning chamourcin…they aren’t at Hy-Vee. I could use a few tips. What Missouri wines do you like?

The Shameless Carnivore

A friend pointed me to a book and blog the other day. The Shameless Carnivore. Regarding the former:

The Shameless Carnivore explores the complexities surrounding the choice to eat meat, as well as its myriad pleasures. Delving into everything from ethical issues to dietary, anthropological and medical findings, Gold answers such probing questions as: Can staying carnivorous be more healthful than going vegetarian? What’s behind the “tastes like chicken” phenomenon? And, of course, what qualities should you look for in a butcher?