I started a blog. On January 29, 2008 I kicked Show Me Eats off thusly:

Maybe it was the frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at the grocery store. Or it could have been the Missourian review that compared Addison’s (unfavorably) with Ruby Tuesday. Or maybe it was the fact that more than thirty restaurants in Columbia closed last year while Starbucks and Wal-Marts continue to pop up like dandelions. Whatever it was, it is clear that Columbia can do better. We can eat better, drink better and buy better. We don’t have to send our money to Iowa for beef, California for vegetables or Argentina for out of season fruit. We can keep our money right here in central Missouri…and have a damned fine time in doing it. That’s what this blog will be dedicated to: enjoying life, locally. How does one do that? Frankly, I’m still learning myself. But I’ve got a few ideas.

500 posts, 926 comments, two years and innumerable rants later…here we are. Still fighting the good fight for good food, hopefully at least slightly better-fed and informed. The one immutable fact is that I’ve learned more than I’ve taught. So thank you for sharing your opinions and your time with me. I appreciate it, and look forward with gusto to the next 500 posts and beyond.

Let’s get started.

…can prevent Macaroni Grill from being named Best Italian Restaurant in Inside Columbia’s 2010 Readers Choice Awards. Nominate away.

(Note: “Best Italian” should not even be a category here…you have nothing but shockingly poor options. Actually, Mac Grill’s not even your worst option.)

I will have to be dragged kicking and screaming back to Domenico’s in Osage Beach. Yes, there’s a giant plastic bull in the parking lot. Yes, their specialty is all-you-can-eat prime rib. I’m not saying there weren’t warning signs. But I naively gave it a try. It was awful. Unspeakably bad. And to lend insult to injury, it was expensive.

First, toasted ravioli. Somebody in the kitchen opened a bag of frozen, breaded ravioli and fried them. They were served with canned marinara. Pretty lame, but hey, it’s fried ravioli. As much as I hate the saying, it’s perfect here. It is what it is.

Then, caesar salad. Inoffensive, but a tad heavy on the sauce.

But then, the entrees. I’d ordered the shrimp pasta. It sounded good. It looked okay, I guess. Lots of smallish shrimp, tossed with sauteed tomatoes and mushrooms atop linguine. But then I caught the scent of fish, always a good sign screeching tires and crushing metal are to come. And boy did it.

I tried the linguine first. There was nothing to indicate that they’d done anything with the pasta beyond boiling (too long), draining and tossing it on a plate. There was no sauce, no olive oil, no seasoning whatsoever.

The shrimp, as suspected, were past their prime and – aside from their fishiness – utterly tasteless. The tomatoes and mushrooms were fine, but at $18, this was easily the single most offensive plate of food I’ve ever had set in front of me at a restaurant. Mrs. SMEs, who found her salsbury steak – I mean veal marsala – decent, brainstormed with me. We’re going to give the 5 year-old some pasta, tomatoes, mushrooms and shrimp and say, “make us dinner.” And as I paid the $103 tab (&%*$#@%$) I tried to think of ways our kindergartner would fuck up a dish of pasta more spectacularly than what I’d just experienced. We’ll see. At least he’d toss in some olive oil and salt.

Domenico’s
4737 Highway 54
Osage Beach, MO 65065
(573) 348-5335

I’m making chii for 30 Halloween revelers and winging it like usual isn’t an option. Any preferred recipes out there?

On a side note, I judged a chili contest one of our divisions put on each fall. They go all out, with decorations and everything. Freaking dry ice was involved. Anyway, four solid chilis and a welcome break from the tough news coming out of Jefferson City these days.

LINK CORRECTED

Many solid bits of turkey wisdom from Brook Harlan in Inside Columbia this month.

A pretty tragically confused column on my part but hey, it’s been a wild couple of weeks. So, this week’s installment of Show-Me Eats in the Tribune.

It’s easy to lose track of how quickly technological changes have affected the way we go about our daily lives. I was reminded of this old vs. new dynamic a few weeks ago after the announcement that Gourmet magazine would be closing after nearly 70 years.

The rest here.

Has anyone ever tried crow? According to these guys, it’s the bomb, and crow season opens Monday. What’s it taste like?

From casseroles to stews and other recipe favorites, including pie, the crow — reportedly considered a delicacy by John James Audubon — tastes like chicken with appetizing overtones of duck, according to Bradford Angier, author of Wilderness Cookery.

Having once had pigeon – at a French restaurant, naturally, and much more palatable as pigeon au jus de truffe – and loved it, I have to say I’d be intrigued to try it. And since the recipe for crow casserole involves bacon and sauerkraut, I think I’ve got the recipe to go with the gumption. Now, where does a guy go for a 12-gauge?

Two weeks ago, while hosting the steak-obsessed father in law for dinner, I reached the grilling mountaintop. Here’s how I did it.

First, I had my butcher (Roger at Weber Meat Market in Jefferson City) cut cut four, 1 1/4-inch bone-in ribeyes off the front end of a rack of beef. The steaks at the front end are bigger and more marbeled than those toward the back of the animal. This set me back almost $70, but I had enough steak for at least six or seven normal people.

Then, and this was the critical step, I left them uncovered on a rack in the refrigerator for two days. This dry-aging process concentrates the meat’s flavor, giving it an intense beefiness. Far superior than just pulling something off a styrofoam tray and slapping it on the grill.

Next came a rub. I’d received a jar of Quebec Beef Spice from The Spice House in Chicago years ago for a gift and never used much of it. It’s mostly course-ground pepper with some salt, sugar, minced garlic and cracked coriander mixed in. I thought these aggressive flavors and textures would stand up well to my dry-agd steak, so I poured the seasoning onto the steaks, rubbed it into the meat and let them sit for about 30 minutes. After eight minutes on the grill (four per side) the steaks were crusted, yet medium rare in the center, and perfect.

I made other dishes that night – potatoes, I think…and maybe grilled zucchini – but the steak was all that mattered. Tender as filet mignon but with flavor, we ate quietly, almost reverent. My father in law pronounced it the best home steak he’d ever had; not a bad bonus at all.

Note: The spice mixture I rubbed onto the steaks cost just $8 for a half a pound, which would probably service 15-20 steaks. It’s well-worth the purchase, but you could always mix up your own batch. Just remember, everything flows from the pepper on this one, so don’t be shy with the pepper mill.

The best, most reliable bbq in the area is now advertising. Lonnie Ray’s. Excellent ‘que but it works better with some company.

Now so this guy. He says the worst thing he’s had in Columbia since 1983 was a pork sandwich from Broadway Brewery. My two early visits have netted very good food; and I literally have not had a better plate of pasta in the past year in Columbia than their ravioli special one night. I’ve heard very good responses from the peanut gallery as well. Beer’s coming along too. Anyone else have an early take on the place?

“Guys, I want this to work but last night’s food was probably the worst I have tasten in Columbia in the 26 years I have been here. I ordered the pork sandwich and pork and beans side. The sandwich was way too salty and pork and beans were burnt. I could not eat either. The beer was pretty good but nothing to shout about. I hate to say it but you are way behind Flat Branch. I want you to succeed but something has to be done about the food. The beer I think there are some kinks to work out and I am willing to wait and see. Your salads are way to over priced also. The accoustics are terrible, we had to shout at each other all night. I will wait a month and give you another try, hope it improves, I am pulling for you.”