Author: thestlouiscooks

The St. Louis Cooks have a love for food and St. Louis. We share recipes, local restaurants, and small businesses.
Food

Mom’s Deli

thestlouiscooks

It was one of those kind of days when that special craving came on. In fact, it was Mother’s Day and I knew I wanted a Mom’s Special from Mom’s Deli for lunch. Many of you know exactly what I’m talking about. Little did I know the line would be out the door and down the street. Every time I go on the weekends there is a line (which is always a good sign), but never has it been so long. I guess the craving on Mother’s Day wasn’t well thought out, but I waited. As always, it was so good and satisfying. It’s one of those places that brings me back in time since I grew up in the neighborhood. As a native south city girl, this place is a favorite.

Mom’s Deli is a staple in the city. I grew up right down the street from the owners, the Vago family. In fact, I went to grade school and high school with Denise Vago who is now the current owner and sole proprietor who took it over after her Mom passed. Founded back in 1977 by Denise’s parents, Mom’s Deli is your traditional deli with good ole fashioned sandwiches made to order with fresh bread from The Hill. There’s also pasta, sides, and chips available. You can even pick up some beer or drinks to go as well. And, they’re always slammed with catering orders for all your party needs. All of the sandwiches at Mom’s are great, but they are famous for their Mom’s Special. You can get it hot or cold, but I highly recommend hot with gravy. What makes the Mom’s Special famous and different is the home made 1000 Island dressing and the munchee cheese. Let me warn you it’s messy so you will need a lot of napkins, but it’s so worth it. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Although, I don’t live in the city anymore I’m not far so when that craving hits, it’s a quick and easy drive. No matter where you are in St. Louis, it’s worth the drive to get a famous Mom’s Special or any one of their sandwiches.

Mom’s Special

Mom’s Deli – 4412 Jamieson Ave., St. Louis, MO 63109

314-644-1198

Food

Uncle Leo’s

thestlouiscooks
Mariann’s Margherita

Most Fridays we order out for dinner. 85% of the time we order pizza. Uncle Leo’s in South County has quickly become our favorite take out pizza. They’re located right in the heart of South County on Lin Ferry Road in between Tesson Ferry and Lindbergh Blvd. I knew the pizza had to be good when I found out the pizza recipe came from Failoni’s located in Dogtown. I spent many Thursday and Fridays at Failoni’s, but I don’t think I ever had the pizza. Wow, it’s so good. No, it’s great!

How awesome is it that they decided to bring their famous pizza recipe to South County. You can tell this pizza dough is made from scratch and the specialty pizzas that are offered are some of the best. Our top two favorites that we order are Mariann’s Margherita pizza and Joey’s Fav. Hand’s down, the Margherita pizza is the best I’ve had anywhere. Heck, even my kids love the Margherita pizza and they are meat lovers. If you like it a little spicy, you will love Joey’s Fav with jalapeno’s on it. Last time we ordered from Uncle Leo’s. we decided to try something new. We tried their Chicken Delight. It’s officially my new favorite. I will warn you on Fridays that the phone lines can get tied up and busy. Yes, that’s always a good sign. Keep calling back and you’ll get through. You might have a longer wait time for pick up on Friday along with a line out the door, but it’s well worth the wait. For those of you who have tried Uncle Leo’s you know what I’m talking about. For those who haven’t tried it, you’re missing out.

Chicken Delight
Joey’s Fav

Uncle Leo’s Pizza – 9975 Lin Ferry Drive, St. Louis MO 63123

314-842-7155

Food

Chicken Spinach Tomato Bake

thestlouiscooks

This Chicken Spinach Tomato Bake has become a favorite in this house and it’s healthy. Everyone’s looking for that quick and healthy chicken dish. This is it! I’ve done a few different variations with the tomatoes. Originally I was using Rotel tomatoes, but recently I tried sundried tomatoes. Both give it a little different flavor. One reason I love this Chicken Spinach Tomato Bake is because you can change it up each time to meet the needs of what you have at home. You don’t have to use mozzarella cheese each time. I’ve used shredded Mexican style cheese because I always have that in bulk in my fridge. This is a great recipe with a lot of flexibility and it tastes so good.

Chicken Spinach Tomato Bake

  • Servings: 5-6
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

Ingredients:

  • 5-6 Large Chicken Breasts
  • 16-24 ounces of Fresh Spinach
  • 1 and 1/4th cup of Chicken Broth
  • 1 can of Rotel or a jar of Sundried Tomatoes
  • Creole or Spicy seasoning
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • Shredded Mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese to your liking
  • 4-5 Green Onions chopped (optional)

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray 9 by 13 dish and any other dishes being used. For 5-6 large chicken breasts I use two a 9 by 13 and 11 by 14 dish.
  2. Next, place the chicken breasts on a cutting board between sheets of plastic wrap and pound the chicken with a flat mullet until all meat is even. This is a key step.
  3. Sprinkle the chicken with Creole seasoning, salt, and pepper.
  4. Put the fresh spinach is prepared dishes. Salt and pepper the spinach.
  5. Add the chicken broth evenly to each dish.
  6. Arrange the chicken over the spinach and add tomatoes on top along with green onions.
  7. Cover the baking dishes with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
  8. Uncover and continue baking for 10-15 minutes or until chicken is cooked to an internal temperature of 165.
  9. Top the chicken with cheese and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from oven and serve with your favorite sides.
Food

Rack of Pork

thestlouiscooks

Happy New Year! We’re back at it with a holiday favorite, the rack of pork which is a pork loin with the bone in. I never had a rack of pork until later in life. This cut of meat is so succulent and flavorful. We love it when Fall hits and Costco starts selling this meat which is typically around Thanksgiving. Preparing the rack of pork is super easy. The challenging part is making sure it’s cooked to perfection while in the oven. All it takes is a close eye and a little TLC.

We celebrated the New Year with the rack of pork. The second time this holiday season. Cheers to the New Year!

Rack of Pork

  • Difficulty: Medium
  • Print

Ingredients:

  • 5-6 lbs. Rack of Pork – Pork Loin Bone In
  • 1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil or enough to rub the whole rack
  • Rub pork with minced garlic – don’t hold back
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoon of Rosemary
  • Season with Salt and Pepper to your liking

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and prepare a broiler pan lined with foil.
  2. Place the rack of pork on the pan and rub with olive oil.
  3. Season with rosemary, salt, and pepper.
  4. Place the pork in the oven and cook in 450 degree oven for 15 minutes and then reduce to 350 degrees for 70-90 minutes or until an internal temperature of 145/150 in the thickest cut of meat. Halfway through cooking the pork, flip the rack to ensure proper cooking and browning on all sides. At some point, you may have to foil the bone part of the rack so not to brown too much.
  5. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before cutting. Eat and enjoy with your favorite sides.

Food

Breve Coffee

thestlouiscooks

Good Friends and Good Coffee! Two of life’s greatest perks taking place right here in St. Louis! Yes, that’s right my dear friends at Breve Coffee are still roasting amazing coffee. With over 23 years of coffee experience, Breve Coffee is doing something right.

Today, I’m super excited because I received my box of Breve Coffee. I received two of their best sellers; House and Jamaican Me Crazy. Why am I so excited? Well, I can’t wait to try some cold brew recipes with the weather getting warmer. Also, I have an exclusive offer. You can get an additional 20% off your order when you use my promo code – Angie20 – and there’s always free shipping. Besides that excitement, Breve Coffee is special and unique. It’s high quality coffee. There’s no comparison. Breve Coffee is a small batch roaster which has many benefits. Let me give you a little basic coffee 101.

Breve Coffee only uses the top 1% of handpicked beans in the world. They are handpicked, handwashed, and hand sorted by people – not machines. The beans are then screened ensuring all beans are uniform. There are good beans and bad beans. The bad ones might be cracked, chipped or in pieces. This is very important. Breve only uses good beans that are all uniform, not cracked, or chipped. Some people might wonder why their coffee tastes bitter, it is probably because they are drinking bad beans. The good beans which Breve coffee uses are all uniform, therefore ensuring an even roast. In addition to the importance of bean selection, the roasting process is very important. Breve coffee handles the roasting in small batches. This allows the roaster to pay extra attention to sight, sounds, and smell so they can make adjustments accordingly. This ensures that Breve Coffee is roasted to perfection; not burned and not under-roasted. The other benefit of being a small batch roaster is that you are getting fresh coffee. It hasn’t been sitting on a shelf somewhere getting stale.

As the premier Midwest coffee supplier, their Roastery is located in Pevely, MO. Shipping is always free and you can find Breve Coffee sold in many locations in the St. Louis area such as Fresh Tyme, Freddies, Digregorios, Karsch’s and more. Please don’t forget when ordering to use this exclusive promo code – Angie20 – to get an additional 20% off. You can’t beat free shipping and an additional 20% off. Please visit http://www.brevecoffee.com.

Don’t worry if you haven’t experienced Breve Coffee yet, better latte then never!

The St. Louis Cooks love to support and promote small businesses.  I hope that you will too!

Cheers!