Entries Tagged 'Food' ↓

Quite possibly the best barbecue in St. Louis! We went there last night and I can’t wait to get back for more. I recommend the pulled pork and rib tips. Definitely my favorite for St. Louis-style barbecue (of the places I’ve been to so far). Check them out if you haven’t yet!

We checked out The Fountain on Locust, the new ice cream parlor on Locust & Cardinal in Midtown (a block away from the new [and also good] Pappy’s Barbecue on Lindell) last night and it was really, really cool (and yummy!). The inside is amazing. Beautifully restored 1920s-era decor by owner Joy Christensen (who was a K-SHE DJ in the late ’70s), who spent two years working on the place. She even went so far as to hand-paint the Fountain’s logo on the tops of the toilets in the restrooms! Great selection of fancy candies, coffees, and old-fashioned ice cream specialties, plus other light food as well (soups & sandwiches - although we just went there for desert). Gina had the Chocolate Brownie Cake in a Cup, Miles had the Dark and Sinister with Zanzibar Chocolate, and I had a nice thick Malt with caramel topping (the malt was delicious, too, with a kind of rum flavor to it). My only complaint was that the the malts are advertised as coming with the tin, but for some reason the tin was absent from my order (and I wouldn’t have minded a refill!). Otherwise, it was splendid. We even got a visit at our table from cheerful owner Joy Christensen. Check it out when you get a chance! This place has the potential to give the Crown Candy Kitchen a run for its money…

The Fountain on Locust
3037 Locust Street in Midtown
314-535-7800

Oh yeah, and the “Soap Hospital” radio comedy series they have running at the booths on the west side is hilarious… sit over there and check ‘em out if there is a booth available.

Every year when we carve out our jack-o-lanterns for Halloween I always save the seeds and bake ‘em in the oven. This year I decided to use a different recipe, and I’ll be damned if they’re not the tastiest, crispiest, lip-smackin’est pumpkin seeds I’ve ever had (made, bought, or otherwise), so I wanted to share the recipe with, well, whoever the hell wants it. The only thing I added was to sprinkle some spicy Cajun-style seasoning salt to them after I pulled them out of the oven, but that’s because I usually like my salty snacks with a bit more kick. (By the way, I baked them for 25 minutes as opposed to 20 as it calls for below… but that’s just how long it took them to get slightly browned in our oven. Your mileage may vary.)

Fall has arrived and with it, the pumpkin season. There are always plenty of pumpkins to carve up around Halloween time and a great way to make use of the pumpkin seeds is eat them, salted and toasted. Our preference is with the shells on - if they are toasted properly they are wonderfully crunchy and easy to eat. It helps if you are going to eat them with the shells on that you use seeds from sugar pumpkins, somewhat smaller than the mega-sized carving pumpkins (not really pumpkins but large squash). The trick? Boil the seeds in salted water first, and then toast them in the oven.

• One medium sized pumpkin
• Salt
• Olive oil

1 Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut open the pumpkin and use a strong metal spoon to scoop out the insides. Separate the seeds from the stringy core. Rinse the seeds.

2 In a small saucepan, add the seeds to water, about 2 cups of water to every half cup of seeds. Add a tablespoon of salt for every cup of water. Bring to a boil. Let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and drain.

3 Spread about a tablespoon of olive oil over the bottom of a roasting pan. Spread the seeds out over the roasting pan, all in one layer. Bake on the top rack for 20 minutes or until the seeds begin to brown. When browned to your satisfaction, remove from the oven and let the pan cool on a rack. Let the seeds cool all the way down before eating. Either crack to remove the inner seed (a lot of work and in my opinion, unnecessary) or eat whole.

I ain’t shittin’ ya… these are delicious! And absolutely no diacetyl!!