AfricanKelli

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I try not to buy copies of magazines while I’m waiting at the grocery store. I canceled several subscriptions when I moved because I just couldn’t keep up.* But when I saw the October issue of Bon Appetit, I couldn’t resist. I so love finding a magazine recipe for something I’ve never even considered making, heading off to the grocery with a list of ingredients and watching it come to life. Rarely do I get out of my normal BBQ-meatloaf-casserole routine. Red wine braised short ribs, thankfully, shook up the schedule. Soon enough I was introducing myself to the local butcher and walking out with pounds of 2-inch ribs, vegetables and bottles of cabernet.

Worse case scenario, you open the bottle of wine and order a pizza. Best case scenario: the recipe worked. And oh, sweet heavens, it was one of the best meals I’ve ever made.

I paired the ribs with my friend Juliann’s mashed sweet potatoes and whipped up a peach cobbler for dessert, using up the last of my bushel from Palisade, CO.

I’m adding this recipe to mine for rack of lamb. So incredibly easy to prepare for such great results. The key is to find a good butcher who will trim the fat and cut the ribs for you. Otherwise, buy an extra bottle of wine to sip while these cook away.

Winner, winner spare rib dinner. (With left overs, if you are lucky!)

~K

*Come to find out after a month of careful budgeting, it’s these little expenses that kill me softly.

I know. The title sounds nuts. Bacon is the cliche ingredient in far too many recipes these days. But let me assure you, for those who love a bit of sweet and salt and are willing to try an unconventional dessert — the reviews are astounding. Folks love these cookies.

Ingredients:

Your traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe (I’m a fan of Nestle Toll House’s. Why mess with what works?)

1 pound of bacon, cooked until crispy, drained and broken into dime-sized pieces

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon maple extract

Combine, cook for 8-10 minutes, serve with milk or bourbon. As breakfast or a post-dinner surprise.

~K

I had dinner at Salt in Boulder on Saturday. The food was excellent — but again, truly the experience was made by the service. The bartenders in the downstairs cellar bar were hilariously sweet. The waitress at our patio dinner table was exceptional. The food was pretty good.

High: chilled yellow beet soup

Low: bone marrow. Two words: NEVER AGAIN. I would love to describe exactly what this mouthful of gelatinous goo tasted like, but I’ll let you imagine. I can’t believe for all the culinary hype this  – THIS — is what marrow tastes like.

The soup was actually so good, we tried to recreate it at home the next night, along with a fancy salt encrusted roasted rainbow trout. (A gift from my lovely neighbor/fisherman Clyde.)

Chilled Beet Soup:

5-6 golden beets

2 tablespoons olive oil

dash of tumeric

dash of garlic salt

dash of pepper

Cup of chicken stock

Cup of cream or full fat plain yogurt

sprig of dill for garnish

Dice beets (and peel! We did not do this and the soup was bitter.), drizzle with oil. Roast at 350 for 60 minutes. Place in blender with stock. Pulse until smooth. Mix in desired amount of cream and top with dill. Chill until ready to be served.

Salt Encrusted Rainbow Trout:

One trout, cleaned

3 cups kosher salt, mixed with 3 egg whites

Stuff cavity of fish with desired spices (we used thyme and dill). Lather fish with salt/egg mixture. (More on that method here.) Roast at 400 for 30 minutes. Salt layer will crack off leaving a delightfully moist fish.

A delightfully earthy and cool dinner to sip and enjoy on the patio on a warm, summer night.* (Nelson loved the fish most.)

~K

*to be noted, 5-6 beets makes a LOT of soup and this isn’t so good the next day. If cooking for 2, use 3 beets and cut the time back to 30 minutes of roasting.

** also to be noted, gardens love macerated fish heads and guts if you can bring yourself to run them through the blender with some warm water. This might attract other animals, however.

My friends in Phoenix are melting. And, surprise, surprise, nary a soul is happy to hear I’m blogging from my patio, in the shade, sipping a milkshake with the world’s cutest dog at my feet. I’m a wee bit smug pleased this is the first summer I can say I intentionally wanted to be out of the heat at made it happen. Although as far as the weather karma goes, I’m keenly aware this also means I’m going to be begging for Scottsdale guest rooms come winter. White stuff is rumored to fall from the sky, stick and make doing all the incredibly fun things I’ve been doing fairly difficult. I’m considering becoming a nomad.

I honestly am spending 90% of time my time outside this summer, without a sunburn, outside of a pool and even on occasion wearing jeans and scarves. Together. In the summer. JEANS AND SCARVES.

A bit of my leathery tanned Arizona heart leapt just reading that.

In other news, I’ve visited some great restaurants in the area lately with friends in town. Julia Blackbird’s is New Mexican cuisine in the Highlands neighborhood. The green chile is fantastic and the patio is delightful. Lots of shade, flowers and of course, the guacamole and tequila aren’t too bad either. It is reasonably priced, quality food with a relaxing and pretty environment.

Delite is a retro bar off Broadway and the perfect place to grab a pre-dinner drink. Next door to Beatrice + Woodsley, we people watched and enjoyed reading the creative list of cocktails. Be wary; the bartender is far too generous. By the time we took our seats at B+W, I needed food. Pronto.

Thankfully, I’d come to the right place. Beatrice + Woodsley is like walking into a fairytale. The wine is served with Alice and Wonderland inspired tags. There are giant aspen trees inside, with gauzy mosquito netting between tables glowing from hurricane lamps and candles. It is romantic and a bit dreamy.

The food was a wash. Some plates were excellent, others were simply not. It’s a little pricey for such inconsistency; next time I’ll likely have an appetizer and skip the rest.

Today I had lunch at Zoka’s in Pine, Colorado. If you are visiting me this summer — we are going here for lunch. The drive from Denver is about an hour into the mountains and couldn’t be lovelier. Zoka’s has a huge porch, with dog tie up stations at each table and the waiter gladly brought a bowl of water. The food was great, the scenery was unbelievably gorgeous and the outing was the perfect time away from the city.

Lucky, spoiled and happy to be living without an air conditioner,

~K

Rainah’s first birthday cake — a reminder that my ambition and ability rarely match. That said, if there was ever a time for a sloppy, obviously homemade birthday cake, better now than when she can remember it!

~K