I just got back from a great weekend of food and wine, and a lot of other fun activities in Montana. I was lucky enough to be invited, along with Casey from Season 3 of Top Chef, to enjoy and participate in the annual Montana Master Chefs weekend at the Paws up resort and ranch just outside of Missoula. Each year a great, fun loving group of guests enjoys a weekend of wine dinners, chefs demonstrations, wine tastings and outdoor activities at this beautiful ranch.
Being that this was going to be my first visit to Paws Up, I had no idea what to expect. All I knew was there was to be a cook off between Casey and myself on Saturday, and the rest of the weekend was going to be filled with mixing and mingling with the guests. We drove from the airport with one of the featured chefs from New York Daniel. Humm along with his sous chef and pastry chef. They were to be preparing a six course tasting menu paired with one of the featured wineries on Friday evening. I was immediately excited for some great meals throughout the trip. I figured I would get to the ranch and check out the work out facility to get energized for the weekend. This of course did not end up happening.
Upon arrival at Paws Up, we were greeted with a champagne reception. The lobby was filled with guests sipping on champagne and getting to know one another. It was fun to start meeting such a fun group of people, all of whom seemed to like bubbles as much as I do.
After mingling and checking out the kitchen stadium where our cook off would take place, we were brought to our house in the woods. Casey, myself and my friend Jen who was staying with us were all amazed. An absolutely beautiful house, all newly built with a beautiful kitchen, living room with fireplace and all master bedrooms. Not sure we deserved all of this but we sure were excited. Of course the three of us had some trouble lighting a fire, and getting our electric car started but the staff was right there to give us ladies a hand.
Each evening began with happy hour followed by a multiple course, wine paired dinner. The first night was prepared by the resort’s chef Wes Coffel, and was filled with hearty treats of squab, elk and bison. The entertainment of the evening came when Casey (after a bit too much wine) decided to get up and give us all a talk about the Pinot grape (a moment she was unable to let go as the weekend went on with teasing from some of the friends we made). I had a feeling this was going to be quite the party weekend.
Jen and I started off bright and early the next morning with a mushroom foraging hike. I had never really thought of Montana as a huge mushroom growing area but it turns out that many varieties can be found there. We had a great tour guide, Larry, who has dedicated his life to mushrooms. We learned that lobster, matsutake, and oyster mushrooms among many lesser known varieties could be found on the property. We hiked for a few hours finding many mushrooms along the way. I am sure that throughout my life I have just walked by or maybe stepped on more mushrooms than I know. What looked like simple piles of pine needles were actually little pine caves hiding various mushrooms all over. I decided to taste a small piece of one that we were told was a little spicy. At first I thought Larry was crazy as I did not detect any spice at all…then suddenly my mouth was on fire with an almost cinnamon like burn on my gums. A few of the fellow hikers got a good laugh out of the face I made when the burn finally started to kick in. Pretty cool I must say. A little later we came across some huge oyster mushrooms growing on tree trunks; bigger than any I had ever come across. Another highlight was the puff ball mushroom that was found. I am a huge fan of this variety when they are available at the farmers market in Chicago. They look like soccer balls and are so tender and spongy inside that they soak up the flavors you cook them with (garlic and butter being my simple choices). Unfortunately this one was a bit past its prime since we were a week or so past the prime mushroom foraging season, but it was great to see a few growing in the wild.
Our afternoon activity was skeet shooting. I had had one previous experience with firing a rifle in Iowa and had once fired a machine gun in Vietnam (strange I know) but am certainly no expert. The course was set up a little like golf with 12 holes each of which had four chances to hit the clay pigeon. We had a lot of fun though both Jen and I woke up the next morning with huge bruises on our arms (guess I have not perfected the proper way to hold a gun). I did hit 11 targets! I was excited about my score, granted it was out of 48 possible targets.
That evening was another great meal created by chef Humm from New York. Highlights were the foie torchon and the venison glazed with salsify and wild mushrooms. This meal was paired with wines from the Saviah Cellars in Walla Walla, Washington. We had been lucky enough to sit with the vintners during dinner the night before and were eager to taste the wines. Another great meal and fun evening finishing up with a party back at our beautiful house in the woods.
Saturday started out with an ATV ride for Jen and me. We geared up with our helmets and were ready to go. The ride was beautiful and we were able to see some wild life. A large herd of elk were off in the distance and were pretty spooked by our group so we let them get ahead. Strangely when we drove past some deer they were not phased in the least. With dirt covered faces, it was time to freshen up and get ready for our big cook off.
The stadium where the cook off was set to be was actually the cattle auctioning arena. Pretty impressive setup with cameras set up to show the spectators what was going on in our very own “kitchen stadium”. In the first round, Casey and I were paired up with a married couple that was celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. A friendly and fun competition of course, but Matt (the husband) and I were ready to win. The secret ingredient was revealed as elk. Though we had tried it a couple days before, I had never actually cooked elk. I just knew it was a very lean meat and that we needed to make sure it was served nicely medium rare. Matt is a fan of Asian flavors so that is the direction we went. The dish we ended up with was seared elk over melted leeks and mushrooms, topped with a salad of shaved cucumbers and peppers and drizzled with a ginger and roasted jalapeño vinaigrette. We seemed to have won the judges over with our Asain flare and Matt was announced the winner.
Round two of the cook off was between me and Casey. As the secret ingredient was about to be announced, in walks a man carrying four live pheasants! For a minute I thought we were going to have to do a quick slaughter on stage and lots of plucking. I would not have been surprised since I had a strange feeling my rifle shooting from the day before was going to come in handy at some point. Luckily the livestock were taken away and some pheasant breasts were revealed. Another protein I had not yet worked with but I figured it could not be too much different than preparing chicken (everything tastes like chicken, right?) I decided to go Italian in style by preparing pan roasted cauliflower with a saor (Venetian sweet and sour) of cranberries and sunflower seeds with roasted pheasant breast. I often make saor or golden raisins or currants and pine nuts but with the limited pantry we were given this seemed liked a fun variation. The judges enjoyed both of our dishes but I was able to pull through. I get to return next year to defend my title.
The final dinner was prepared by our new friend, Bradley Ogden, who owns a number of restaurants out West. The highlight for me was his blue cheese soufflé that he had done a cooking demonstration of the day before. He has an interesting twice baked method that works great in a restaurant or a dinner party setting. The soufflé is pre baked until just baked through then can be kept for three to four days. When it is time to serve, it is placed in a baking dish with some warm heavy cream. While it is baking, it soaks up all of the cream and rises resulting in a very moist soufflé. Quite tasty.
After one more fun night with our new friends, it was time to head back to Chicago. I am looking forward to next year’s event and highly recommend it for a fun weekend getaway. It looks like a beautiful place to visit in the summer as well as they have tents and other riverfront areas to stay as well.
Time to get ready for a week full of charity events back in Chicago.
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