think i am finally almost recovered from a fun filled weekend at the aspen food and wine festival.  **note to self… when you drink a glass of wine at altitude, you have basically had an entire bottle already.**  will have to keep this in mind next year.  for now, will just fill you in on all of the details that have not escaped me.

i landed in aspen and immediately fell in love.  i spent a number of years surrounded by mountains in scottsdale, but that does not slightly compare to the beauty of aspen.  pillowy green tree covered mountains with a backdrop of snowy cliffs surrounding a little town with brick streets and cute little shops and restaurants (granted these cute little shops and restaurants will eat away your piggy bank rather quickly but for a weekend that is ok).  i spent my first morning wandering around, getting a pedicure, drinking lattes and loving life… certainly one of those moments when i thought, wow my life really just does not suck.

i headed into the kitchen at the st. regis hotel in the afternoon to get ready for my first event on thursday night, an opening party hosted by food and wine featuring four of the winners of top chef (hung could not make it).  each of us were to choose a different country and make an hors d’oeuvre for about 800 people.  i of course chose my country after dinner (and drinks) with friends and thought going with egypt was a great idea since i had no clue about their cuisine.  that is what makes it fun, trying new things.  i came across a classic recipe for fried gebna cheese and since i have an obsession with or possible addiction to cheese this seemed the way to go.  i had my good friend giles at the great american cheese collection hunt me down some egyptian cheese and ship it on out for me.  turned out to be a tangy sheep’s milk cheese with the texture of a soft jack cheese.  i just shredded it up, mixed in a little egg and flour and fried it in a bit of oil.  who does not love crispy, melty cheese (special thanks to my new friend rico who formed 800 miniature disks of cheese for us to fry up, such a great cook and i wish him the best of luck).  to top it off, and take away from everything egyptian about it, i made a salad of asparagus, english peas, fava beans and basil along with a drizzle of strawberry gastrique.  just wanted to add a nice spring twist.

i have to say that working in this kitchen with the help of chef adam, his sous chef robert, and everyone else was a pleasant surprise.  i have invaded a lot of kitchens throughout the past year and this was one of the cleanest, and the staff was the most helpful that i have come across.  just a little shout out.

the event was a success.  of course it started to rain a few minutes into it and my table was out by the pool, but we just laughed our way through it and continued to fry up cheese.  i actually did have someone from egypt try my dish and though it was not a complete replica of a classic, they enjoyed it.  another gentleman came back for his twelfth helping which is always a good sign.
 
aside from a couple of interviews, the next couple days were mine to cause trouble and enjoy the festival.  the main tents are situated right in the heart of town and when you look around all you see above them are the gorgeous mountains.  quite picturesque.  now i am quite the wine drinker but this was overwhelming to say the least.  rows and rows of wines from around the world with tasty snacks to accompany them.  the great part is that we were surrounded by fun, friendly foodies who were all there to mix and mingle and enjoy.

in the evenings, we were able to attend some beautiful events (now i am going to mention these in no specific order as the evenings are where things begun to get a bit hazy).  a ten minute gondola ride, that i was able to enjoy with gail simmons and her husband, took us to the top of the mountain where more food and wine awaited.  a trip over to jose andres house and we found a backyard lamb roast where jose himself was carving and serving up perfectly cooked lamb sandwiches and other goodies.  then of course was the food and wine best new chefs event where we were able to try tasty morsels prepared by the rising stars.  the corn custard with crisp popcorn and corn foam was the star for me.
 
sunday came along quickly with the quickfire challenge for me and hosea.  we each drew knives to cook alongside either jacques pepin or ming tsai.  i drew the latter and we got to work on our “breakfast” dishes.  when i thought of breakfast in aspen i thought to go with some hangover cures.  the fridge was filled with some leftovers, including pizza, so i topped it with lobster and bacon along with a couple of fried eggs.  gail claimed it was the perfect breakfast while dana said i bastardized lobster… i am going to have to side with gail on this one.  in the end, team pepin/rosenberg triumphed.  it was all in good fun.  jacques has never lost a challenge and i am glad his streak could continue with the help of hosea, who i had a great time hanging at the classic with.  though my leg still has sharpie lines drawn on it from over the weekend from during our book signing.

 
the weekend finished off with a huge pool party with even more cocktails.  we all celebrated another beautiful day and wished the weekend was not coming to an end.  though i am pretty sure my body could not have kept up much longer.
thank you to everyone at bravo and food and wine for such a great weekend.  i look forward to next year!!