it was my first culinary trip of the year, and my goal? to return home without any serious bodily damage. (i would post the pic of what happened to my face during my last trip to NY, but i still want people to come in for dinner). so my cook joe and i packed our bags, along with a helmet for me, and headed west to beaver creek.
the day of the trip started out normal… we both threw on our new matching velour jumpsuits (with our names and ‘goat you!’ embroidered of course) and hopped in a white stretch limo. before o’hare, we made just one quick stop at goat sous chef jan’s house to pick up food items for our luncheon that had been left behind. this is what happens when your sauce explodes over everything while packing up food for fedex—during the repacking you forget some key ingredients, and then your sous chef finds them in the cooler at 1am the night before your 6am flight. with no coolers available and not much time to spare, jan, who is often quite crafty, found an old drill box in his basement, emptied out the tools and filled it with bags of ice and the food, then wrapped it in duct tape. 45 minutes and a bottle of bubbles later we were checking in late for our flight and assuring the airline worker that the suspicious luggage was in fact not a firearm, but hummus and sous vide cranberries.
the late check in led to four hours of hanging out at o’hare in our matching jumpsuits…a dream come true for joe who had seemed more excited about sporting our new look than actually going on a trip. this also led to losing our luggage en route to beaver creek and attending the first of many fun bon apetit events in the forementioned jumpsuits. a couple old fashioneds into the first night and all we knew was we were the most comfortable people in beaver creek, even if we did cause a chuckle from all passers by.
[what could’ve been had we snowshoed… via jssteak’s photosteam]
after a fun first night, joe and i headed into the kitchen of our new friend chef david to get ready for our ‘snowshoe luncheon’. i was happy to find out that joe and i were not going to be snowshoeing to the luncheon location ourselves, chef knives and firearm looking luggage in hand, panting as many out of shape cooks would after a rigorous morning workout in high altitude. we were just in charge of feeding guests after they built up quite an appetite out in the snow. they were doing the snowshoeing.
my new plan for most events we attend is to serve goat. it seems to make sense and gives me a theme to base menus on which is helpful for someone as indecisive as me. so the luncheon’s first course? confit goat belly, fennel potato puree, fennel compote, vanilla bourbon-butter poached lobster. great aromatics to get your mouth watering just before biting into the tender lobster and crisp goat belly. next up: seared scallop with XO sauce, laughing bird shrimp, goat sausage bits and goat liver aioli. sounds like a lot going on but the flavors work well together. the XO sauce starts with a base of dried shrimp, ginger, lemongrass and shallot all infused into our goat braising liquid that is full of smoky goat flavor from all of the goats we get each week at the restaurant. the flavorful and potent broth is then blended with reduced cream that has a similar taste to brown butter. the end result? a shrimpy latte. yup, i said it.
to finish things off i left the goat alone and brought in my other friend, the pig. dessert: smoked fat back and whiskey gelato, miso-marcona almond cake, brown butter apples, cranberry and greek style yogurt. apple pie on crack. the only way i like it.
cooking with dave was fun, and we reached our goal… surprising diners with bold flavors and fun ingredients, and spreading the love of goat to a group of people who might never have tried it.
friday night was time for event number two, the iron chef style cook-off. i don’t know, but i have a funny feeling that cook-offs will be a part of my career now for a long time to come. my plan is to never take them too seriously. on top chef i just wanted to have fun, and it seemed to work out pretty well. that doesn’t mean i will always prevail, but i will always have a good time. chef jay and i were up against joey from ‘the little owl’ in nyc. secret ingredient? kahlua. i went with my good friend, the scallop, and made a kahlua and pork bbq sauce to accompany it. chef jay made a tasty kahlua glazed black cod for our second course. both dishes were tasty, and with our cheers of beers and other joking around we had a blast during our 20 minutes. alas joey and partner won on the creativity points, with some fun sweet and savory kahlua dishes. hopefully i’ll get to cook with jay again next year and cook for redemption.
[beaver creek village via visit colorado’s photostream]
saturday morning joe and i woke up craving a bloody mary or two. something that often happens after you spend a night celebrating your iron chef loss. strange how hard it was to find a brunch spot where we could just chill and recover. i guess most people are in town to do some skiing or boarding, hence all the people wandering around in ski boots carrying long, pointy, large objects. perhaps next year i will dare to hit the slopes, but this time around we just wanted to take in the sites and the cocktails and enjoy.
after a bloody mary induced nap it was time for the final event, the grand chefs tasting. all of the visiting chefs alongside the local chefs made tastes of all sorts for a few hundred hungry guests to enjoy. we kept the theme going with some spicy goat chili served over a bit of hummus with some crispy onions on top. again, getting people to eat goat. my new mission.
all in all a fun event filled with good food, lots of new friends, and a new plan to wear matching velour jumpsuits whenever we travel.
thank you to bon apetit for the invite!! and i look forward to hanging with you again in vegas this april for the uncorked event! i think joe and i may bedazzle our jumpsuits for the occasion.
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