ASPEN — Here’s the recipe for a soufflé of decadence:
Ingredients
A few hundred chefs
A few hundred restaurateurs
Thousands of wealthy people who want to party with chefs and restaurateurs
Corporate sponsors who encourage the partying
Celebrities
Vast pools of alcohol
Directions
Mix all ingredients together. Pour into posh mountain town. Bake. Serve with antacids and ibuprofen.
The rolled into Aspen Thursday through Sunday for its 31st year, bringing 5,000 hard-partying people together for three days of concentrated gluttony.
The event, the largest of its kind for the food-obsessed, marinates in a blend of silly, sublime and serious — sober, however, is entirely absent. With every turn, somebody stands before a table of glasses, eager to pour a spot of pinot noir or Champagne, or lording over a tray of ready-to-nab Bloody Marys or margaritas.
People-watching here must be as flamboyant as it gets in Colorado. Aspen always offers glimpses into rarefied slices of the coasts, but during Food & Wine the spectacle is on parade. You never will see so much cosmetic surgery and clothing in pastel, so many loafers, towering heels and handbags that cost more than a Paris vacation.
And that’s just the guests. Just about every celebrity chef in the country makes it to Food & Wine, and you spot them all over town, walking and yapping on their cellphones, sitting together at bars, dancing.
My chef-celebrity highlights from the weekend: chef and owner serving me his exquisite raw bar offerings at a party Saturday night; chef and owner taking my plate at the same party and piling it with about a dozen samples of his charcuterie; hanging out at with master sommelier — dubbed “the godfather” by many other American master sommeliers for his powerful and decades-long role in the industry — and listening to his stories about the master sommelier test; talking with longtime Los Angeles chef and restaurateur (and personal hero) at a party Thursday night; and being served breakfast Friday by Feniger and chef/restaurateur .
The food-celebrities are key to Food & Wine, but not just for the sightings. They appear on stages all over town to talk about cooking and dole out all sorts of interesting, practical tips for home cooks.
I found some of the talks positively rich with helpful pointers.
What to do with leftover lamb: Chef, restaurateur and head judge and fellow judge talked about leftovers. First, he braised lamb shoulder, and urged people to let the meat cool completely in the braising liquid after the cooking is finished; that way, the meat stays moist. He then strained the liquid to clarify it, reduced it and reheated the lamb in the sauce before serving.
He used the spoon-tender lamb — as leftovers — to fill agnolotti pasta, and Simmons turned it into a breakfast hash, topped with poached eggs. She dispensed with the method for poaching eggs that many of us thought was necessary: adding vinegar to hot water, plopping eggs into water, and then vigorously stirring the water to form a vortex, with the eggs in the center. Instead, she just slid the cracked eggs into gently simmering water, used a spoon to nudge the whites closer to the yolk, and let them be. Minutes later, she placed perfectly poached — and no fuss — eggs over the hash.
Punch pointers: New York City star bartender led another talk, about preparing cocktails for home parties. He is a big fan of punches for parties, and he insists on making as much as possible in batches beforehand. Among his great tips: add the most expensive ingredients last. That way, if you mess up earlier in the drink-making process, you can toss the batch without losing the costly stuff.
Onions in marinades, always: During a seminar on rubs and marinades, talked about the importance of marinating tough cuts of meat, like flank steak. Good marinades break down the connective tissues. The revelatory tidbit, though, was his insistence on adding white onions to marinades — he said 99 percent of marinades should contain white onions. They open nasal passages, he said, and help you taste everything else.
He also likes adding wood chips to marinades, assuming you appreciate the flavors of oak, hickory and other woods that are familiar to barbecue.
For meats meant for a long roast or smoke, never press the rub into the cuts; just sprinkle it over the meat. If the rub gets smushed into the meat, it clogs the pores and forms a hard crust, which detracts from the flavors you are gunning for. He also said only high-heat oils, like peanut oil, have a place in grilling or on pans meant for searing things like steaks. Others, like olive oil, burn.
Meatball techniques from a Swede: , who grew up in Sweden but now has restaurants in New York City, devoted an entire class to meatballs, including the Swedish kind. He likes browning his meatballs first in oil, but then adding butter for flavor. One cool tip: you can drop uncooked meatballs into simmering water, like dumplings, instead of frying them.
Chilaquiles, as a sauce? Chilaquiles, a sautéed mixture of meat, chile sauces, vegetables and corn chips, is a standard Sunday-morning staff breakfast in restaurant kitchens across the country, said Atlanta chef and Top Chef victor . He made chilaquiles, and then dumped it into a blender and turned it into a sauce for poached trout. Blais urged people to think creatively in the kitchen. If you like a dish, why not turn it into a sauce, and come up with something entirely new?
Save the bits: Save all of your meat drippings. Stick them in bags, and store them in the freezer. Use them later for stocks and sauces. The same goes for things like the leftover juice in a jar of pickles. He saves it and uses it in vinaigrettes. Blais, too, is crazy for the stems of herbs, such as parsley and cilantro. Use them, he urged.
He also was crazy for a North African spice mixture called , which usually contains cardamom, clove, cinnamon, paprika, nutmeg, cumin and lavender blossoms.
A final flurry of tips
Bobby Stuckey, master sommelier and co-owner of in Boulder, urged people to look for reds that are higher in acid and lower in alcohol for summertime sipping. Let the wine sit for a spell after it is opened. At restaurants with sommeliers, ask the sommelier what is drinking well and if it is in your budget, go for it. Wine is always changing, and sommeliers know how different wines are drinking.
Susan Feniger told people to always wipe their knives after cutting citrus — the acid will harm your knife. For tempura, use sparkling water because it makes the batter more fluffy.
said one way to avoid tearing up while cutting onions is to simply use a sharp knife. Dull knives crush onions, releasing sulphuric acid. Cuts with sharp knives do not broadcast as much of the tear-inducing stuff.
He also said the best way to chop garlic is to first slice off the flat back at the base of the clove before smashing it, removing the papery stuff and chopping.
Pépin, like most chefs, is nuts for stock. He keeps an empty half-gallon milk container in the freezer, where he dumps vegetable scraps as they accumulate. When it’s time to make stock, he cuts open the container and plops the mess of frozen veggies into a stock pot. And then he keeps another empty milk carton and starts all over.
Douglas Brown: 303-954-1395, djbrown@denverpost.com or twitter.com/douglasjbrown
Recipes: Aspen Food & Wine Classic 2013
Pisco Sour
From mixologist Jim Meehan; makes 1 cocktail.
Ingredients
2 ounces pisco (such as La Diablada)
¾ ounce fresh lime juice
¾ ounce simple syrup
1 egg white
4 to 6 ounces ice
Angostura bitters
Directions
Combine pisco, lime juice, syrup, egg white, and ice in a blender. Blend and pour into a chilled glass. Garnish with 4 drops Angostura bitters swirled with two straws.
Tim Love’s Steak Rub
Makes about 3 cups.
Ingredients
2 cups sweet paprika
1 tablespoon aji chile powder
3 tablespoons cracked black pepper
5 tablespoons minced dried garlic
3 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons red chile powder
4 tablespoons kosher salt
Directions
In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients. Apply to steak before grilling.
Tim Love’s Marinade
Makes about 1 cup.
Ingredients
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 green onions, chopped
½ cup minced white onion
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon cayenne powder
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
1 tablespoon arbol chile flakes
Directions
In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients. Use as a marinade with any meat or chicken.
Mario Batali’s Tuna “Dice” With Mint and Peas
Makes 4 servings.
Ingredients
3 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground pepper
¼ cup plus 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar½ cup white wine
1 pound fresh or frozen peas
8 ounces sushi-grade tuna steaks, cut into 1-inch cubes
½ cup Wondra flour
2 jalapeños, finely chopped
4 sprigs mint, finely chopped
1 lime, quartered
Directions
Place the shallot and garlic in a large frying pan with ¼ cup slightly salted olive oil. Fry gently until soft and add the vinegar and sugar. Cook down the liquid until you have 1 tablespoon left. Add the wine and cook for a couple of minutes, then add the peas and simmer 5 minutes until you have a thick stew.
Meanwhile, in a separate pan, heat 4 tablespoons olive oil until smoking. Dredge tuna in flour, add tuna to pan and brown on all sides, add the pea mixture and jalapeños. Season with salt and pepper. Add the mint to the pan and toss to incorporate with the pea mixture. Serve warm or at room temperature with a drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lime.
Quick Pickled Cucumbers
From Marcus Samuelsson; makes about 1½ cups.
Ingredients
1 English cucumber
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1½ cups water
½ cup white wine vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 bay leaf
2 allspice berries
Directions
Slice the cucumber as thinly as possible; use a mandoline or other vegetable slicer if you have one. Put the slices in a colander, toss them with the salt, and let stand for about 30 minutes over a bowl.
Meanwhile, combine the water, vinegar, sugar, bay leaf and allspice in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and let cool.
Rinse the salt off the cucumbers and squeeze out as much moisture as possible. Put the cucumbers in a medium bowl and add the pickling solution; they should be completely covered by the brine. Cover and refrigerate for 3 to 6 hours before serving.
José Andrés’ Oysters Escabeche
Give yourself two days to make this recipe. The marinade needs to infuse for 12 hours, and the oysters marinate for 6. Makes 24 servings.
Ingredients
MARINADE
1½ cups canola oil
6 garlic cloves, crushed
1 cup sherry vinegar
2 thyme sprigs
2 bay leaves
1 rosemary sprig
1½ teaspoons sweet paprika, plus more for garnish
Salt
OYSTERS
24 oysters, shucked
¼ cup finely diced carrots
¼ cup finely diced onions
¼ cup finely diced celery
1 tablespoon olive oil
Sea salt, for garnish
Microgreens, for serving
Directions
Make the marinade: Combine canola oil and garlic in a large pot. Heat over medium-high heat. When the garlic begins to brown and oil begins boiling, remove from heat. Add the vinegar, herbs and paprika. Season with salt. Allow to infuse for 12 hours, then strain.
Cover the oysters with marinade and allow to marinate for at least 6 hours in the refrigerator.
Place vegetables in a sauté pan, add olive oil and cook gently over low heat until softened but not browned.
Transfer vegetables to a bowl. Top with oysters, arranged side by side. Drizzle marinade on top. Garnish with sweet paprika and sea salt. Top with microgreens.
Helga’s Meatballs
From Marcus Samuelsson’s grandmother Helga. Makes 4-6 servings.
Ingredients
MEATBALLS
½ cup bread crumbs
¼ cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
½ pound ground beef (chuck or sirloin)
½ pound ground veal
½ pound ground pork
2 tablespoons honey
1 large egg
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
SAUCE
1 cup chicken stock
½ cup heavy cream
¼ cup lingonberry preserves (or other berry preserves)
2 tablespoons pickle juice
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
Garnish with lingonberries (or the same berries used in the sauce) and quick-pickled cucumbers (see recipe above.)
Directions
Make the meatballs. Combine the bread crumbs and heavy cream in a small bowl. Stir in with a fork until all the crumbs are moistened. Set aside.
Heat the oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for about 5 minutes, until softened. Remove from the heat.
In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, veal, pork, the cooked onion, honey and egg, and mix well with your hands. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the bread crumb-cream mixture and mix well. With wet hands (to keep the mixture from sticking) shape the mixture into meatballs the size of a golf ball, placing them on a plate lightly moistened with water. You should have about 24 meatballs.
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the meatballs, in batches if necessary, and cook, turning frequently, for about 7 minutes, until browned on all sides and cooked through. Transfer the meatballs to a plate, and discard all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the skillet.
Make the sauce. Return the skillet to the heat, whisk in the stock, cream, preserves and pickle juice, and bring to a simmer. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the meatballs to the sauce, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer for about 5 minutes, until the sauce thickens slightly and the meatballs are heated through. Top with lingonberries (or the berries used in the sauce) and quick-pickled cucumbers.
