As the celebrity chefs, slick magazine editors and wine vendors wing their way over the city toward the 25th annual Aspen Food & Wine Classic this weekend, six Denver chefs will load their chuck wagons and head for the hills to show the flyover folks what Denver’s cooking.
The Denver Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau is sponsoring a Taste of Denver booth at the grand tasting tent, where local chefs will attempt to wow the people who pay $1,000 to attend the event.
“We have had all the top food writers coming into our ‘hood for years,” says bureau spokesman Rich Grant. “Dining in Denver has changed dramatically in the last few years, and we hope to make them aware of that.”
Elway’s executive chef Tyler Wiard hopes to send an ironic message with his steak tartare: “We’re not a cow town.”
To raise the city’s culinary profile, the bureau created restaurant week, sponsored a Taste of Denver dinner at the James Beard House in New York, and hopes to make Aspen Food & Wine a yearly event. The bureau bought the tent space; chefs and restaurants are paying their own expenses and lodging.
“In great cities the chefs are as famous as the sports personalities,” says Grant. “That’s starting to happen here. Everything has to start at home.”
The chefs shared their recipes and their inspiration with us before packing their coolers and hitting Interstate 70.
Ian Kleinman, chef de cuisine for O’s Steak & Seafood at The Westin Westminster, is a Colorado native who chose to showcase local ingredients … in a test tube: “Beets and goat cheese are a natural fit, so I wanted to come up with a new presentation. I have been asked to cook at the James Beard House and in Hawaii but I always wanted to cook at this event in my backyard.”
Solera chef Goose Sorensen grew up in Wyoming, but his dish includes neither steak nor potato, and no lab equipment. His Mango Tuna Salad on Crispy Wonton with Orange Wasabi Aioli represents the growth in Denver’s food scene, he says.
“I’m kind of a redneck from Wyoming. The cook quit in my fraternity house, and I took over and that’s when I found out I had a real knack for it,” Sorensen says. “Denver has gone from a steak-and-potatoes city to truffles and other finer cuisine. We are getting better and better independently owned restaurants. It’s great to go up there to rub elbows with the top chefs in the world.”
If you aren’t lucky enough to have a ticket, try one of these recipes at home from the city’s own top talent.
Desiree Belmarez contributed to this story. Food editor Kristen Browning-Blas can be reached at 303-954-1440 or kbrowning@denverpost.com.
RECIPES
Dungeness Crab Salad with Cantaloupe Sorbet and Crispy Speck Chip
From chefs Matt Anderson of Bistro Vendôme and Jennifer Jasinski of Rioja, makes 8 appetizer servings. Have your butcher slice the speck (smoked prosciutto) thin. Place it on a baking sheet and bake 10-15 minutes at 300 degrees until crispy. When ready to use, break off chips.
Ingredients
1 pound Dungeness crab meat
DRESSING:
6 tablespoons crème fraiche
1 tablespoon orange juice
1 tablespoon tarragon, chopped
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon orange zest
Salt and pepper, to taste
CANTALOUPE SORBET:
1 small ripe cantaloupe
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup superfine sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
GARNISH:
4 ounces crisped speck
Directions
Clean crab and remove any shell bits, while trying to keep the crab chunks as big as possible. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Dressing: Combine crème fraiche, orange juice, tarragon, coriander, orange zest, and salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate.
Sorbet: Place water, sugar and salt in a pot and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Remove the rind and seeds from the melon. Cut the flesh into 1/2-inch cubes. You should have about 2 heaping cups of fruit. Place the cut-up melon in a blender with the sugar syrup. Blend until the melon is puréed, about 30 seconds. Cover and refrigerate until cold.
Stir the chilled mixture, then freeze in one or two batches in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions. When finished, the sorbet will be soft but ready to eat. For firmer sorbet, transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze at least 2 hours.
To assemble: Toss crab with dressing. Scoop sorbet into a martini or other glass. Place a portion of the crab salad on top and garnish with a crispy speck chip.
Wine ideas: The delicacy of this dish calls for a wine that’s transparent in flavor yet has the acidity and sweetness to stand up to the bracing sorbet. A German riesling will do the trick: Zilliken’s Butterfly bottling is both zesty and ethereal – and a bargain at about $15.-Tara Q. Thomas
Elway’s Beef Tartare
From chef Tyler Wiard, serves 8 as an appetizer. He uses USDA Prime beef, but that is hard to find, so Choice will do.
Ingredients
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons Moutre Grove extra-virgin olive oil
1 egg
8 ounces beef tenderloin, finely chopped
1/4 cup minced capers
1/4 cup minced red onion
Zest from 1 medium lemon
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1 teaspoon sea salt
8 toast points
Directions
In a mixing bowl, whisk mustard, olive oil and egg. Add beef, capers, onion, lemon zest, parsley and salt, and fold with wet ingredients. Spoon onto toast points and serve.
Wine ideas: Beef typically likes red wines, but when it’s in such an unadulterated form – just raw beef chopped to a melt-in-the-mouth consistency, spiked with just enough salty sharp condiments to bring out the full flavor of the meat – go with white wine. A sparkling wine, to be exact. Splurge on Champagne, great buys can be had with lesser-known names like Chartogne-Taillet, Gimonnet or Gobillard, all of which can be found for around $50 or less.-Tara Q. Thomas
Brown Palace Bison Fricasee with Gnocchi
From Ellyngton’s executive chef Curtis Lincoln, serves 6-8.
Ingredients
1/3 cup grapeseed or canola oil
20 shallots, peeled and chopped
2 organic carrots, peeled and chopped
1 small celery root, peeled and chopped
1 leek, trimmed, washed and chopped
3 garlic cloves
16 Tellicherry black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs fresh thyme
3 sprigs flat parsley
2 cups pinot noir
2 cups chopped tomato
8 cups beef stock (or veal if you have it) 1 1/2 pounds roasted beef or bison bones
2 pounds bison filet, cut into 1-inch cubes and tossed with salt and pepper
1 pound steamed morels or other mushrooms
1/2 pound shucked fresh fava beans
4 tablespoons butter
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Gnocchi (below)
Directions
Heat oil in a heavy-bottom stainless saucepan. When the oil reaches the smoking point, add the shallots and caramelize on medium-high heat. When the shallots are lightly amber, add carrots and celery root and cook until well caramelized. Add leek, herbs and aromatics, and sweat for 5 minutes. Deglaze with pinot noir and reduce by half. Add tomatoes, stock and bones. Simmer uncovered 1-2 hours, until lightly viscous. Strain stock and reserve.
Sear bison cubes in a hot, heavy skillet. Deglaze with enough of the bison sauce to half cover the meat. Add the morels, fava beans, lemon zest and butter, stirring until butter is emulsified. Taste for seasoning and adjust if needed. Arrange over the gnocchi, garnish with parsley and serve.
Wine ideas: It’s a good bet that the wine you used in cooking a dish will be good alongside it as well, but this dish is so hearty it will knock the socks off of any pinot noir that’s true to its name. Take a hint here from the gnocchi and head to northern Italy, where beefy red wine stews are common: Barolo gets the most press, but a good Barbera d’Alba will offer plenty of meaty red fruit, tannin and acidity for a fraction of the price. Look for Vietti, Marchese di Barolo and Poderi Colla for variations that run $16 to $30.-Tara Q. Thomas
Truffle-Chive Gnocchi
Look for truffle carpaccio (sliced truffles in oil), white truffle oil and fleur de sel (hand-harvested sea salt) at specialty stores or online. Makes 5 servings.
Ingredients
1 pound russet potatoes
Kosher salt
3 large egg yolks
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons truffle carpaccio
1 tablespoon white truffle oil
2 tablespoon fresh chopped chives
1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
Directions
Wash potatoes, poke with fork to release moisture, cover with kosher salt. Bake on baking sheet in oven at 375 degrees until a little overcooked (approx 45 minutes to 1 hour). Let cool, cut in half, and scoop out the flesh.
Pass the potatoes through a potato ricer to make about 2 cups. Mound potatoes on a clean work surface, and make a well in the middle. Add egg yolks, cheese, truffle carpaccio, white truffle oil, chopped chives, salt and pepper. Mix in the potatoes and form a well with your hands. Sprinkle 1/2 cup flour over the potatoes and press it into the potatoes. To form the dough, fold the potato mixture over on itself and press down again while lightly sprinkling flour until it holds together.
Keep your work surface and dough lightly floured; cut the dough into desired sizes. Shape this into a classic gnocchi shape by using a gnocchi board (or make free-form half-moons). Roll dough into a 1/2-inch rope. Cut into 1/2-inch-long pieces, lightly flouring while cutting them. Take each gnocchi and press it lightly with your thumb against the board while pushing it away from you at the same time. It will roll away and around your thumb, taking on a cupped shape.
As you shape the gnocchi, lightly dust them with flour and scatter them on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Alternatively, you can poach them, drain and toss with a little olive oil, let cool, then freeze. To cook the gnocchi, bring a large pot of water to boil, add salt and olive oil. Drop in gnocchi until it rises to the surface then shock in ice water to prevent overcooking. Shake off excess water and coat with olive oil.
Solera Mango Tuna Salad on Crispy Wonton with Orange Wasabi Aioli
From chef Goose Sorensen, makes 4 portions. Yuzu juice (from a Japanese citrus fruit) is sold in Asian markets and on
Ingredients
15 whole wonton wrappers
Salt
TUNA SALAD:
8 ounces grade 1 ahi tuna
1 small white onion, chopped
2 ripe mangoes, chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, chopped
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 bunch mint, chopped
3-inch piece fresh ginger, chopped
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup yuzu juice (or half lemon, half lime juice)
Salt and pepper to taste
AIOLI:
Juice of 3 oranges
1/4 teaspoon yuzu (or lemon-lime) juice
1 cup canola oil
1/2 to 1 teaspoon fresh grated wasabi root, to taste
1/4 teaspoon fish sauce
1/4 teaspoon garlic
1/4 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
Salt and pepper
Cilantro leaves
Directions
Wontons: Cut into triangles and deep fry until brown, salt and set aside on towel.
Tuna salad: Chop all ingredients, place in a bowl and refrigerate.
Aioli: Combine orange juice and yuzu juice in food processor. Slowly add oil until mixture emulsifies. Add remaining ingredients and season to taste.
Place tuna mixture on wontons and top with aioli. Garnish with cilantro leaf and serve.
Wine ideas: When a dish has this much tropical flavor, there’s no reason why you can’t choose a brawny white. An Oregon pinot gris (King Estate, Henry Estate make good, affordable options), is as silky-rich as the ahi tuna.-Tara Q. Thomas
Roasted Colorado Baby Beets with Goat Cheese, Basmati Rice and Caviar
This recipe from Ian Kleinman of O’s Steak & Seafood in the Westin Westminster is intended to be an appetizer. They serve them in test tubes, but you could layer in any glass.
Ingredients
BEETS:
10 each baby yellow and red beets, not peeled
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/8 cup coarse sea salt
4 sprigs tarragon
GOAT CHEESE PURÉE:
11 ounces Haystack Mountain Goat Cheese
2 tablespoons Madhava honey
1 cup whole milk
RICE:
1/2 cup basmati rice
1 cup water
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon sea salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons yuzu juice (or lemon/lime juice)
CAVIAR:
1 ounce tin sevruga caviar
Directions
Toss beets with the olive oil, salt and tarragon and place on a baking sheet. Roast in a 350-degree oven for 40 minutes. Remove and let cool. Peel beets and cut into 1/4-inch pieces. Refrigerate.
Place goat cheese, honey and milk in a blender. Blend until smooth and add it to a squeeze bottle. Place in the fridge.
Place rice, water, bay leaf and salt in a pot. Place over high heat until boiling. Reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook until all the water is evaporated. Cool in the fridge. When the rice is cool, place in a bowl and fold in the other ingredients.
Place two pieces of red beet first in the test tube or other tubular serving container. Roll a ball of rice the same size as the opening of the test tube and drop in. Add the baby yellow beet next. Follow with 1/2 teaspoon caviar and the yellow beet. Next, put a small amount of the goat cheese mixture on top of the beet. Garnish with cilantro.
