I was forewarned that there was an emotional adjustment akin to culture shock when leaving life in Aspen/Snowmass.  I think it’s similar to PTSD and no one knows how long this adjustment takes because there are so many variables, i.e. age, exercise, hobbies, diversions, etc.

 

So, upon leaving Aspen, I moved to Houston which was where I called home before moving to Aspen, and it was where I went to high school and my parents still lived there.  At the time of our move back to Texas, my wife, Debby was pregnant with our first baby, soon to be known as Andrew.  We moved to far west Houston where I began the job search in the restaurant industry.  I was not sure if I should apply for a kitchen position or for a job in the front of the house because I was not confident with my kitchen skills but I knew I would get bored in the midst of waiters, busboys, hostesses etc.  I needed to be employed by a restaurant that challenged my culinary skills as well as my hospitality skills and front of the house service skills. 

 

This period of time in my restaurant career is all a little foggy.  I was losing contact with Gert and the Aspen family, but I needed to independently prove myself.

This was all part of my adjustment to the real world. 

 

I decided on a General Manager position at RG Maxwell’s at Westheimer and Alabama Street.  Maxwell’s was an exact carbon copy of Houlihan’s old place which was a successful restaurant chain.  This was at the beginning of Houston’s restaurant industry explosion and according to the U.S. courts, a restaurant cannot insure that their theme cannot be copied.  Therefore, in the 70’s most restaurants followed the very same format, you’ve seen a TGI Friday’s you’ve seen a Houlihan’s you’ve seen an RG Maxwell’s.  After that had been established, Maxwell’s copied Houlihan’s management style, menu format, beverage service, glassware, china, flatware, everything.  Maxwell’s went to extreme expense to get secret recipes.  Danny Rabinowitz the owner of Maxwell’s was from New Orleans and wanted the famous shrimp dish from Pascal Manale’s restaurant in the garden district of New Orleans so Danny sent a restaurant spy to Pascal Manale’s and this spy withdrew the juice from the shrimp dish into a syringe and then sent it to a lab to have the ingredients and their quantities recorded.  There are two dishes that I held onto from Maxwell’s, the shrimp dish from Manale’s and the apple pie with bubbling brandy butter served on a hot fajita skillet, stolen from Houlihan’s.  The aroma that both dishes emitted would turn heads as they traveled from the kitchen and through the dining room.  Fun fact: In finer restaurants, just before opening for service, the Maître D’ would fill the air with a combination of sautéing butter, garlic and shallots because this combination of flavors is known to excite the appetite and encourage the guest to order more. 

 

Maxwell’s turned out to be a great place to transition back into the real and civilized world.  They implemented a system where the manager on duty (MOD) would go through the cooking line with the chef to make sure everything was fresh and up to standard and this MOD also became the expediter during service and called all the waiters orders to the kitchen, then garnished the fresh hot plates and finally helped the waiters tray up and deliver the hot food in a timely fashion, all while also keeping an eye on the kitchen to keep all components running smoothly.  The other manager on duty worked the front of the house and assisted the hostesses and waiters and visited with every table to make sure the guests were pleased.

As General Manager, I oversaw the entire process and found the new environment to be interesting at the onset and the job did have many new approaches to learn and this kept me engaged for several months until I had it down pat and it became tedious.  Seriously needing a diversion, I saw stacks of empty mayonnaise buckets in the kitchen and upstairs there was an attic that was empty so I put two and two together and did the obvious, I started a marijuana grow room.  Everything was growing well and I had found a new purpose and then one unfortunate day, an assistant manager saw the grow light oozing out of a crack in the attic door!  He reported it to the home office.  This was obviously breaking bad.  They sent Dan to fire me which he did.  But that is not the end of this story. 

 

I was at home trying to come to terms with my dismissal and what to do moving forward, with a third member about to join our little family, immediate reemployment was of the utmost importance.  I decided to edit my resume to show that I had stayed in Aspen for an extra 6 months, leaving no trace of my time at RG Maxwell’s as I felt certain I would not receive a glowing reference from them.  I was all set to begin the job search again when the phone rang.  It was Dan from the home office of RG Maxwell’s and he asked me to meet him at the TGI Friday’s bar because he wanted to talk.  I arrived at the bar and waited for him but he was late so I began doing shots.  I figured “what the hell” he had already fired me, what more could he do?  I was drunk when he showed up and I continued to do shots after he joined me and drunkenly I informed him he had made a big mistake firing me, I think I listed the reasons why it was a mistake.  I don’t remember much else except I do remember chasing him through the parking lot screaming at him.  When I finally caught him, he offered me my old job back, but it would be in a different Maxwell’s restaurant in a different city.  He called me a cab and told me he would give me all the details tomorrow, when I sobered up.  He called me the next morning to explain the details.  The company kept me on the payroll and paid all relocation expenses, sending me off to Dallas. Hmm I wonder what happened to those attic plants.

 

In Dallas, it felt like I was a firefighter. 👨‍🚒   They had me fill in the gaps and stomp out the nightly restaurant fires at both of their restaurants.  They had two restaurants in Dallas, an RG Maxwell’s and a huge restaurant in North Park Mall called Churchill’s.  Churchill’s did 600 to 700 lunches a day and 300 dinners at night.  Churchill’s volume was so large that they needed 2 expeditors to keep the food sailing away. 

After they verified that I wasn’t the Sean Penn character from “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” the company sent me to San Antonio and gave me my own restaurant to manage.  It was across the street from Tesoro Petroleum and we did very high volume, the bar was always packed and we did about 500 meals a day.  I introduced several innovative money-making ideas that made me the star of the corporation.  They made me “area director” of all their restaurants in the corporation, that being a total of 4 with many new ones in the works. 

 

Steve Davis, a corporate VP with Maxwell’s and a UT grad with an MBA, approached me about doing our own restaurant together.  We determined our theme to be much like The S & D Oyster Co. out of Dallas, a simple seafood concept that delivered fresh delicious food with little fanfare.  We called our version, The Broadway Oyster Co.  Stay tuned for the next blog to hear our adventures from the “Alamo City”.   And never fear, the story of Hudson’s on the Bend is just around the corner, with 31 years of delightful and delicious shenanigans! 

 

This recipe was stolen from Pascal Manale in New Orleans in the Garden District.  I highly recommend that you take the St. Charles trolley into the Garden District.  Along the way you will see antebellum mansions, etc.  The ride on the trolley transports you into an earlier time in the old south.  Pascal Manale is a two-block walk from the trolley where you will be greeted with fresh oysters chilled on crushed ice.  Their shrimp dish is served with the head and shell still on, messy, but what flavor.  The head and shell are full of fat and that is the secret ingredient.  They call it BBQ shrimp.  Make sure you have a large French baguette to sop up every drop of the juice. That’s what you get when French trained cooks do BBQ.  Over the years I’ve changed amounts and ingredients.  I think it’s better than the original!

 

New Orleans Shrimp aka BBQ Shrimp 🦐

This recipe is for 4, but there is enough sauce for 6 people.

 

Ingredients

2 lbs shrimp (head & shell on) large, fresh shrimp, ½ lb. per person with head on.

1 lb. butter

3 tablespoons of minced red onion

4 tablespoons of minced garlic

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 bay leaves

1 cup fresh rosemary, packed

½ teaspoon oregano, dried

½ teaspoon basil, dried

3 tablespoons paprika

2 tablespoons cracked black pepper

½ cup fresh lemon juice

Zest of 4 lemons

½ tablespoon cayenne powder, use less if you prefer less heat

 

Method

In a large sauce pot (6-8 qts.) over medium heat, melt the butter.

Add all ingredients except the shrimp.

Simmer all ingredients for 10 minutes before you add the shrimp. 

Stir in the shrimp and cook over medium heat until the shrimp are pink, 4-5 minutes

Serve in a large bowl with French bread. 

It is messy, a lobster type bib is in order and a bowl for the shells and heads or if you’re outside throw the shells over your shoulder for some added fun. 

Wet hand napkins help with the hands.  It’s a messy job for your hands.

Trust fund babies were in abundance in Aspen and it was not unusual for many of the locals to possess platinum American Express cards.  They never saw their monthly statements as that went straight into Dad’s mailbox and they were completely out of touch with reality, so if you were hanging out in the right place at the right time with the right card holder, life could be surprisingly extravagant.  It was not out of the ordinary to be in a bar and to have a local at the bar draped in an expensive fur coat to buy several rounds of shots for the entire house.  It gives you a foggy sense of reality and in fact one of the sayings by the administration of Aspen State Teachers college was “if you were here in the 70’s you may not remember much” it was a unique, drug induced time in Aspen.  Dr Hunter S. Thompson ran for sheriff, Andy Williams (Moon River) moved into town to support his wife, however they were separated, Claudine Longet who had shot and killed Spider Sabich nationally known skier and Claudine’s boyfriend during a cocaine fueled fight that ended in gunfire.  Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac was a local resident at the time and she wrote “Landslide” while residing in Aspen, which was inspired by the instability in the area, some geological some emotional. Mass murderer Ted Bundy escaped from the Aspen jail twice.  Star Wars 1^st episode came out in 1977 and just prior to the movies premiere, Twentieth Century Fox bought the Aspen Ski Corporation. The Hollywood prop and costume rooms in the newly acquired Aspen Ski Corporation frequently got raided and the costumes in the Halloween party scene became ever so elaborate…light sabers were everywhere.  As you can tell Aspen State Teachers College was a perfect fit with all its zaniness.  One of the founders worked at a print shop and needless to say, Aspen State Teacher’s College took full advantage of the print shop and they printed glossy newsletters, football schedules, course listings, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera, the list goes on.  Old time locals drove beat up 4-wheel pickup trucks with equally beat up brooms sticking up and out of the back of their truck beds, always ready to sweep some snow, so Aspen State Teachers College founders named their football team the Aspen State Teacher’s College Brooms and made the broom their mascot and the school newsletter was called “The Clean Sweep”.  The newspaper headlines read “ASTC sweeps over Alabama”, the first line of the story read “it’s like they were not there”.  It was then reported that Notre Dame conceded their game for an easy win for the Brooms.  The ASTC Brooms went undefeated so you can understand when there was outrage when the Brooms got snubbed from bowl bids.  All done tongue in cheek and silliness and great fun for all.  

My favorite newsletter said on the cover “Wild game gets even” with an accompanying picture of a hunter tied to the hood of a pickup with a deer in the driver seat. 

The courses available always made me laugh and I especially got a chuckle out of fluid mechanics 101, how to speak Texan 101, or sex education 069.  Aspen Mine Company served as the headquarters where you could get a college ID, you could buy a class ring, a mug, an ashtray, etc.  When going to purchase an EU rail pass in Europe they honored the ID and several passes were bought at a student discount rate.  FYI, you can still purchase shirts and sweatshirts at prepsportsware.com with the Aspen State Teacher’s College Brooms’ logo proudly displayed, but sadly they do not still offer Student ID’s.  ASTC had a marching band which only marched on the 4^th of July, you know since there weren’t any real football games.  I suspect that someone took the look of the ASTC Marching Band and this is where the Stanford band got the idea for their unique look.  

The founders were always a source of laughter and I often thought they were destined to become writers for Saturday Night Live.  Only in Aspen of the 70’s would an idea this silly be taken seriously. 

This recipe for green tomato relish came from Jay Moore, Hudson’s first real chef.  I think it came from his mother who probably got it from her mother. I used my recipe rule “change 3 things and the recipe is yours” and added diced cactus pads to the recipe to make it more southwestern and more Hudson-y.  It was taught at cooking school. It’s great served under grilled chicken or fish 🎣 or stuff it in a pork tenderloin.  Serve it hot or cold.  It tastes so good you can enjoy it on a spoon. Yum.  If you leave the cactus pads out just add more green tomatoes. 

GREEN TOMATO SALSA

Ingredients

1 sweet onion (Texas 10-15) ¼” dice

1½ lbs. green tomatoes, quartered

½ lb. nopalitos (cactus pads) they are best in the spring

3 tablespoons minced garlic

2 tablespoons mustard seed

1 cup rice vinegar (any mild vinegar)

1 cup granulated white sugar

1 tablespoon sea salt

3 tablespoons minced jalapeño peppers.

1 tablespoon Cholula hot sauce

3 limes, zested and juiced

3 tablespoons cornstarch (made into a slurry with 3 tablespoons of water)

1 poblano pepper, 1/4” dice

1 red bell pepper, 1/4” dice

1 yellow bell pepper, ¼” dice

I cup of fresh corn kernels

 

Method

Combine onions, tomatoes, cactus, garlic, mustard seed and vinegar in a sauce pot. 

Cover with a lid. 

Over medium heat simmer until tomatoes are cooked but firm.

Transfer to a food processor to pulse.  Chop not puréed.

Return to heat and add sugar, salt & pepper and lime juice

Bring to a simmer and cook 10 minutes

Thicken with cornstarch while salsa is simmering

Fold in the lime zest, corn and peppers 🌶

Cool & enjoy!  It will hold in your refrigerator for 2 weeks.

 

More restaurant tales from Aspen 🌳

 

There are many hard to believe tales from our restaurant in Snowmass.  Almost all of our staff had completed graduate levels in college.  We had MDs, veterinarians, MBA types, a large array of over educated employees that quickly became no longer challenged and got bored with restaurant biz and skiing.  They were very bright and equally creative and that was exhibited in the most amusing ways.

 

Every year as ski season began to wind down, the tourists were beginning to disappear and the chair lifts were just about to shut down for the season, Spring Fever would set in hard with the staff and they would begin to go just a little bit crazy!  We were a European style restaurant and we did a lot of table side performance cooking, so we decided it would be a fun little competition to see who could fire up the largest flame while doing a table side flaming dessert.  One particular night, we were featuring mangos flambé.  Two of the servers, Oliver and Craig, were preparing a flambé at a nearby table and they impressed as they ignited some really big flames when they poured the rum into the sauté pan.  Game on!  To ensure that I got a winning flame, I switched the Mount Gay rum for the highly flammable 151 Bacardi rum.  When it was time to add the rum, I tilted the mango pan and let the fruit and juices run down to the bottom half of the pan and then got the dry upper half of the pan smoking hot.  When I finally poured the 151 rum into the super-heated sauté pan the rum vaporized before it reached the dessert.  When I pulled the pan back towards me the rum ignited and sent a fireball to the ceiling where it mushroomed out.  One guest screamed, another guest ran for the door, Gert came running out of the kitchen, but in a matter of seconds the flames subsided and everything returned to normal. I served the dessert as if this dramatic procedure was just your everyday tableside protocol.  Nevertheless, the only part of this story that is important is that I did indeed win, hands down.

 

Every morning, the restaurant served breakfast due to our agreement with the ski lodge.  The breakfast staff was out of bed, suited up and on the clock with nothing to do as the tourist population had diminished.  We began to use our idle mornings to have our pre-skiing meeting.  We migrated to the bar where we would blend a fruit daiquiri and I would toss in several magic mushrooms as the blender was spinning.  The veterans in our group were aware of the contents of the morning beverage but the newbies were soon to learn by experiencing.  It was amusing when we had an unaware newbie and was always fun to quiz them an hour later to see how they felt.  It was entertaining to stand at the top of a ski run while our large hallucinating group skied “wildly” down the slope and watch as the tourists skied into the trees on either side of the run to get out of the way and allow our crazy group to pass.  Jack and Winston had a buffalo hat complete with horns and we never knew who was going show up wearing the head piece, but it certainly added a little extra crazy to our possessed look. 

 

One overcast day in the mountains the light was extremely flat and there were no shadows which made visibility a bit more challenging.  Gert had decided to join us on this low light ski day and got in the line to take his turn.  Gert was not a regular on the slopes and was not familiar with the lay of the land.  This particular ski run had a jump in the middle of the run that was not visible that day because of the lack of sun shine and this roll would always throw us in the air.  I knew that Gert was completely in the dark in more ways than one so I let him go in front of me in the line so I could get the full Gert show.  I stood at the top of the run looking down as Gert skied down into the invisible jump.  You can imagine my excitement as I was watching with anticipation, knowing Gert would be unaware of the jump and be taken completely by surprise.    Gert did not disappoint, I laughed hysterically as Gert was flying in the air with his feet above his head, but don’t worry he was okay after a hard landing.

 

Chuck Barris and The Gong Show was all the rage at the time and we had the genius idea of putting together our own version and we called it “The Bong Show”.  We printed up fliers and posted them all around the village in all the highly trafficked places weeks in advance.  Jack and Winston were the obvious choice because of their lack of inhibition and so we appointed them to be our MC’s and judges.  On the evening of “The Bong Show”, the tavern was packed beyond our expectations with audience and talent.  The talent that showed up to compete varied from singers in strange costumes,

magic acts, and even animal/pet acts.  It was all fun and games until someone got in on the fun and filled pie tins with whipped cream and hit the judges in the face.  Winston leaped towards the whipped cream throwers and tore down our make shift stage as he flew across the stage and into the crowd in a fury.  Fights broke out and “The Bong Show” was over.

 

John Beauchamp always gave Winston a ride to work and one day he was running late for work but still had to pick up Winston so he was hauling down the road at an unsafe speed.  The parking lot at Winston’s condo was on the same level as the second story of the condos and there was a railroad tie fence defining the end of the parking lot that acted as the stop barrier for the approaching parking cars.  The snow plows pushed the snow smack dab up to the railroad ties and there was a steep hill leading down to the first-floor condos.  John was in an extreme hurry and was going way too fast and blew over the snow bank and over the ties and proceeded to go down the hill and crashed through someone’s plate glass window, crushing their dinner table where his car came to a stop.  The residents of this condo were in their living room smoking a joint when the crash happened.  John got out of his Jeep just as Winston walked into the condo to see what the heck.  Winston acted like nothing was out of the ordinary and asked the stunned residents if they would kindly push their sofa out of the way so John could turn around and drive out and up the hill.  They didn’t see the humor and called the sheriff.  The only time Jack and Winston got in trouble was when their humor was misunderstood.

 

One night I was with Winston at a bar when Winston and a friend decided it would be a good idea to do shots of 151 rum set aflame.  I in an uncharacteristic moment, opted to stick with observing this shenanigan.  Somewhere around the 6^th shot Winston missed his mouth and splashed his face with the blazing rum and caught his face on fire.  He quickly patted the fire out and ordered another shot.  I was aghast and turned to Winston to suggest “another shot was not a good idea” and as I spoke, Winston’s eyebrows were still smoking.

 

There were many embarrassing and hard to believe events that occurred with our drug induced unconsciousness.  It was 1971, my first year in Aspen, I was the nighttime desk clerk at the Wildwood Inn and my shift began at 11:00pm and I almost always arrived very high.  Upon arrival I would post all of the room charges and taxes to each room’s billing, then I would do the hard part, blow up my air mattress and take a lovely drug induced nap.  Then I would get up from the floor nap at 6:00am to greet the guests as they passed by the front desk to get their complimentary coffee and sweet roll.  I could go on and on about all of the benefits this job afforded which most importantly included a ski pass, but I’ll stop. 

 

I lived up the Frying Pan River Valley with Tom Mertz.  We decided it would be a good idea to take peyote buttons and go cross country skiing.  I found the psychedelic cactus and some large empty capsules, I carefully removed the hair like centers which contained the strychnine poisonous centers that made you sick (so I was told), I then proceeded to chop and fill the empty capsules.  I gave Tom 6 caps and I had 6 caps and we agreed to ingest the cactus at the same time, 7:00am.  Tom was driving my ’69 VW Bug and was going to pick me up from my job at 8:00am just about the time we would begin feeling the effects of the Peyote.  By 8:00am I had dutifully greeted all of the guests and my desk replacement had arrived, I followed the agreed upon time line and was ready to go but unfortunately Tom was late and I was starting to get high and sick.  It was a weird combo, but experienced friends had told me everyone gets sick at the onset, just in varying degrees.  So, I took an empty ice bucket and hid out of view of the hotel guests.  About 8:30 I heard my car.  Tom had parked by a picture window and on the other side of the window were the guests I had just greeted. They were enjoying their complimentary coffee and roll and waving at me as I headed to get into my car.  I was white as a sheet and smiled sickly as I passed them but when I was halfway into the passenger side of my car I couldn’t hold my illness any longer and to the guest’s amazement I projectile vomited onto the picture window.  Tom drove the car while I hung outside the car window throwing up the entire way around the circle drive.   I felt embarrassed, but so much better.  I enjoyed Tom’s turn at illness and the day of skiing in the back country.

 

Two ingredients that you very seldom see cooked together are at their prime during the summer.

Peaches and Tomatoes.

The method is very much like a Tarte Tatin.

In this recipe I don’t peel the peaches or tomatoes 🍅

I find the intense flavor is next to the skin.

We use Roma Tomatoes because they have more meat and less juice.

 

Ingredients

1 stick of butter (4 tablespoons)

6 ripe peaches

6 Roma tomatoes

1 lemon juiced with zest

1 cup of granulated cane sugar

1 tablespoon of cinnamon (canella)

2 tablespoons of vanilla

1 tablespoon of corn starch

1  12” sheet of puff pastry.  Found frozen in the dairy case.

½ tablespoon of sea salt

2 eggs, whisk the yolks & set aside

 

Method

In a 12” skillet with slanted sides and an oven safe handle, melt the butter. 

Mix the sugar, cornstarch and salt. 

Add this mixture to the skillet and mix until smooth. 

Whisk in the vanilla and lemon juice and lemon zest. 

Remove the skillet from the fire. 

Cut the peaches and tomatoes into quarters and add them to the pan in a pinwheel formation. 

Place more peach and tomato wedges into the skillet as they heat and shrink. 

Fit as many of the wedges into the skillet as possible while on medium heat. 

The sugar will start to brown. 

Cook for approximately 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat. 

Cover the tomatoes and peaches while in the hot skillet with a sheet of puff pastry (you may need to use a rolling pin to stretch the pastry to 12”). 

Press the excess pastry onto the pan to cut off the excess. 

Brush the pastry with the egg yolks to insure a golden, shiny and crisp base. 

Bake at 375degrees for 20 to 30 minutes or until the pastry is a deep golden brown.

Allow to cool but only cool to warm.

Now comes the tricky part.  When the pan is warm place another 14” platter on top of the skillet and invert. 

When you remove the skillet 🍳 you have the ingredients on top of the pastry.

Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Yum

Stories from Aspen 🌳

 

Gert and I were in our 20’s when we started our Aspen/Snowmass restaurant.  Not having too terribly much experience in the running of a restaurant from the front to the back of the house, we were making up procedures as we went along.  With our “fake it until you make it” approach, we frequently put us and our staff in unique positions.  The following collection of accounts are hard to believe but they all happened-enjoy.

 

We had made several trips from Austin to Aspen and Aspen to Austin while making the restaurant happen.  As soon as our intentions were made public “friends” came out of the woodwork wanting to be part of the adventure.  A friend of a friend introduced me to Robert Gower who was the stage manager at the Armadillo World Headquarters whose true ambition in life was to be a ski bum.  He saw his opportunity to make that dream come true by jumping on the bandwagon.  I told him that with no restaurant experience under his belt, the best job I could offer him was a busboy job.  That was fine with him.  Meanwhile, he would let me sneak in the back door at the Armadillo as long as I behaved myself and this allowed me to see many shows up really close.  One of my favorite memories at the venue was seeing Dandy Don Meredith huddled in the corner with friends discretely doing lines of cocaine.

 

The World of Tennis (WCT) had just been opened as the high-class part of Lakeway and they hired Jack Silver and Winston Shipman to bartend who quickly became my favorite people, what with all their antics behind the bar.  It was like being served adult beverages by the Two Stooges, no boundaries, nothing was “too much” if it got a laugh.  As part of our business agreement with the ski lodge in Aspen, The Wildwood Inn, we agreed to serve breakfast. I knew it would be very hard to find staff to work the morning shift because it is a dreaded shift in the service industry, but somebody has to do it.  Part of my agreement with Jack and Winston when I hired them to come to work at our restaurant was that they would be part of the morning shift.  They agreed to the bargain, but it gave them an excuse to misbehave by the early light of the dawn.  The ski lodge was a “U” shape with the outdoor pool and our restaurant being in the middle of the “U”.  During the first week we were open, early one morning I heard a loud banging and yelling coming from our deck.  I went outside to see what the racket was about and I found Jack and Winston on the deck banging Gert’s sauce pots together and yelling “hot coffee, you want it, we got it”.   It was 7:00 am and all I saw was the guests in the Inn peeping out of their curtains wondering what the heck the noise was all about. 

 

Years later Jack and Winston were my roommates at the Blue Roof Condos in Snowmass.  Jack snored so loudly that we put him in the third story loft bedroom but his snoring was so loud that it kept me awake three stories below.

 

One morning I woke up to three feet of fresh powdery snow but I had no one to ski with me on the fresh powder.  I could hear Jack snoring from overhead, so clearly, he was deep asleep, but I knew how to get Jack up.  I had a few spoons of cocaine left from the night before so I climbed the stairs to find Jack and I placed a spoon of coke under Jack’s nose while he was snoring.  He inhaled the spoonful at the inhalation part of his snore, choked and then yelled “you son of a bitch”.  After he realized he could not go back to sleep he got up and skied. 

 

On our first day of business as restaurant owners, we catered a party for Dallas Dental for about 125 guests.  We did a beautiful job and all went well.  We loaded up my blazer with the bus tubs full of dirty china, glassware and silver and headed back to the restaurant to drop off the dirties to be washed at the restaurant by the dishwasher.  Gert was driving my blazer and the road to the restaurant was curvy and steep, as mountain roads tend to be.  The tailgate on my blazer was NOT latched and it popped opened as the blazer turned up the hill.  All the china, glassware and silver slid out, tumbling and breaking as it bounced down the road.  I watched it all happen in horror.  We ordered all new china the next day discovering how expensive that accident was.

 

One day Gert was complaining to the dairy delivery guy that the whipped cream was flat and had no propellant. The dairy guy was just as mystified as Gert.  The mystery was solved when Gert found his loyal cook breathing in the gas/propellant emptying the whip cream cannister of all the gas and leaving it dead.  The gas propellant in the cannisters was nitrous oxide (laughing gas).  I always wondered why Chris was always smiling as he was exiting the walk-in.  Problem solved.

 

At the end of our first year we added a bar to the restaurant and built it at the top of the stairs and called it Brushy Creek Tavern naming it after Brushy Creek which ran through Snowmass Valley.  So, you get the lay out, when you walk in to the restaurant there was a staircase leading up to the tavern.  We had wood lattice to partially hide the stairs and it served as an instant wine rack. It was all good until bottles of wine started to disappear.  It had to be the drunk and/or high locals leaving the tavern late at night.  We put our cheapest wine by the door at the end of wine rack, but the bottles kept disappearing. What to do?  Chateau d’Yquem Sauterne, an expensive dessert wine had disappeared and was the same color as pee.  You know where this is going.  I sold a bottle of Chateau d’Yquem and saved the bottle and cork.  I was very careful removing the lead at the top, knowing I would re-use it again.  After the care taken during the opening ritual Gert and I peed in the bottle, recorked it and reapplied the lead top.  It looked like the real thing, so I slid it into a wine rack slot close to the front door.  Gert and I were giddy when the bottle disappeared.  We had great joy imagining the thieves opening the bottle and taking a sip.  They got what they deserved and a smelly wine.

 

There are many amusing stories that happened in Aspen/Snowmass during our stay.  So many that I’ll have to tell more during the next blog, Aspen State Teachers College, a fake college, may take the entire blog. The professors said “if you were here in the 70’s you may not remember it”.

 

Below you will find one of my summer faves.

Grilled Pork tenderloin marinated in a spicy watermelon marinade.  Eat this and you will start to see fireflies and barefoot children.

 

Ingredients

3 cups of cubed seedless watermelon

3 jalapeños (remove the seeds & ribs for milder marinade). Mince the jalapeño

1 tablespoon sea salt

2 cups granulated Cane sugar

¼ cup watermelon liquor (pucker liquor)

2 lbs. pork tenderloin

 

Method

Hold pork tenderloin in the refrigerator. 

Place all other ingredients in a blender and purée until smooth.

Place tenderloin and marinade in an airtight bag.

Put the baggie in the refrigerator to marinate overnight.

On a hot grill, cook until 150 F interior temp.

Slice and serve atop watermelon salsa.

 

Watermelon salsa

Ingredients

2 cups watermelon (1/4 “dice)

1 Granny Smith apple (1/4” dice)

1 medium red onion julienned

2 cloves of garlic, mashed and minced

1 mango peeled and diced ¼

2 jalapeños seeded and de ribbed, minced

1 bunch of cilantro julienned

¼ cup of granulated organic sugar

2 limes juiced and zested

2 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar

S & P to taste

 

Method

Combine all ingredients & chill

 

After grilling the pork, slice ¼” medallions of the pork and serve atop the salsa.

OUR CULINARY AUDITION

 

We thought we were invited to first prepare dinner and then enjoy dining with Jimmy Buffet and friends because we were cool and fun…wrong.  It was many years later that I realized this particular dinner was to see if we knew our culinary shit.  Being in the dark worked out, we would have been too overly excited if we knew we were being judged.  It definitely would have been more than we could handle, especially considering the guest list.  Jimmy’s entourage of the night included Dr. Hunter S. Thompson.  He was a local cult hero.  Hunter ran for local sheriff and only lost by 500 votes according to the New York Times.  Hunter’s campaign poster was a large sheriff star with a closed power fist in the center of the star and in the center of the fist was a peyote button.  At the onset of his campaign, Hunter had long hair but before the first debate with the incumbent sheriff he shaved his head bald and kept that look for the rest of his life.  Hunter wrote for Rolling Stone magazine as a political reporter and he also wrote several books.  The book that got the most attention was “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”.  Hunter created gonzo journalism.  His entire political platform was based on drugs and/or the legalization.  Johnny Depp, upon Hunter’s death, shot Hunter’s ashes into space – a perfect tribute as he was not of this world.  I could go on and on with stories about Hunter but I have to stop somewhere, after all this story is not about him it’s about JB.  Jimmy’s entourage included two others besides Hunter, Ronnie Mann and a man I only knew as Simms.  Ronnie Mann was a friend of ours and our contact with Jimmy.  Simms was Hunter’s handler as he was the drug holder and over all keeper of Hunter.  When Hunter was on a deadline with Rolling Stone Magazine, Simms would remove all the alcohol and drugs from Hunter’s house and nail 4 X 6 sheets of plywood over Hunter’s windows.  Locking Hunter up was the best way to get him to focus on matters at hand and write.  Simms would then pitch his tent in Hunter’s front yard until it was time to FedEx the column to Rolling Stone Magazine.  A fellow Austinite, Donna Johnson lived down the road from Hunter in Woody Creek.  Simms once called and asked if she had a calico cat.  When Donna said yes, he informed her she’d better come over and retrieve her cat because Hunter was chasing her cat with a cattle prod.  This was an average day in Hunter’s life.  There I go, back on the Hunter shenanigans.  He was just constantly delving into the absurd.  Enough talk of the guests and onto the dinner.  Dinner was at our house where Debby and I lived in a nice duplex on Ridge Run close to Snowmass.  Gert was preparing the food while Debby and I took care of the service.  I also doubled as Gert’s assistant.  As dinner began, I opened a good red burgundy to breath and a nice fruity Chardonnay and poured our guests a glass of the chardonnay in anticipation of our first course.  Simms fired up one of his joints and it was so strong I only remember parts of the evening and those are a bit hazy.  Only once before have I smoked pot that strong.  I was skiing solo and I found myself on the chair lift with a mystery local.  He immediately sparked up one of his joints.  He did a big toke and offered me the joint.  It was my usual m.o. to ski high, so l took a toke.  It seemed like strong pot, it had a skunky smell which was new to me.  It was 1977 and high-grade pot was not normal.  We were on the lift to the “Big Burn” run.  (Google “Snow Mass Big Burn” for that story because this story will never end if I retell every story I know as it surfaces.)  As we reached the top (over 12,000 feet altitude) I realized I was very high and when I stood up I caught both edges of my skis and belly flopped spread eagle on the chair lift exit ramp.  My friend in the lift cabin got on the loudspeaker and said “real nice Jeff”.  Embarrassed, I dusted off, stepped into my skis and I slowly skied down the mountain.  Back to dinner with Mr. B…Here is the menu…. best I can remember.

The appetizer was Shrimp Scampi, a very large shrimp in lemon garlic sauce. 

The salad course was Boston lettuce tossed with veggies and tomatoes in a light vinaigrette.

The entrée was Beef Wellington with a rich Demi glaze

It was angus prime tenderloin rubbed with duxelle (mushroom based thick sauce) and topped with a very good goose liver pate.  Then covered and decorated in a puff pastry.  The beef tenderloin needs to salted liberally with a good quality sea salt first.

The dessert was Banana Flambé…this was done in the living room.  Smoked out thanks to Simms, filled up thanks to Gert and myself everyone was super relaxed.  Being the ultimate host, I always try to add lots of special touches to every event I cater.  So, I had lined up a gram of coke for an after-dinner treat in lieu of espresso.  It was on a tray in readiness on my bed adjacent to the bathroom and it was visible from the bathroom.  Hunter and Gert were the only ones to use the facility.  When I went to fetch the after-dinner treat, the tray was wiped clean.  Hunter must have helped himself.  With no pick me up after dinner, everyone left shortly thereafter leaving lots of compliments about the meal.  It was a few weeks later when we learned we were cooking the rehearsal dinner and the unique seafood buffet for the bachelor party.

Below you will find my fun recipe for banana flambé.  The father of modern cuisine was Escoffier.  He first did cherries jubilee and my recipe for bananas flambé is just a variation of Escoffier’s cherries. It is a simple yet showy and glamorous way to conclude dinner.  I always say that if you change or add 3 ingredients then the recipe is yours.

 

Ingredients

2 bananas sliced into wheels or discs

¼ lbs. of unsalted organic butter

½ cup of granulated sugar

½ cup of packed dark brown sugar

1 vanilla bean split and scraped to release the seeds

1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon

¼ bean of fresh ground nutmeg (use a micro plane)

1 orange zested and juiced …. use an old fashion zester – long strips of zest will add a candied orange texture.

4 ounces of dark rum

4 scoops of vanilla ice cream…if you pre-scoop and put it in the freezer the ice cream will be frozen hard.

 

Method

Over medium heat, melt the butter, both sugars, orange zest, orange juice, nutmeg, cinnamon, scraped vanilla bean.  Stir constantly.  After they are melted turn the heat up to high or to a rolling boil. Take the pan off the flame before you add the rum but add the rum immediately.  Remember the flambé will only flame if the rum is very hot.  Tilting the flambé over the flame will ignite or use a match.  Add the bananas last.  The bananas will stay firm.  Serve over very cold ice cream.

The combination of heat, sweet and cold is magic!!

My favorite meals (I didn’t cook)

From Paris to London to Aspen to New York City and back home in Austin.  Great dining has taken me around the world and no matter where you are a big slice of the total dining experience is about the ambiance.  The atmosphere and service are just as important as the food and wine.  At some point food preparation only goes so far to impress, atmosphere and service take it over the top.

A drum roll please….

My favorite dining experience was at the Hotel Plaza Athenee in the Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athenee Restaurant.  This restaurant is in Paris and is Alain’s flagship restaurant.

My dinner companions were Betsy and Michel Bernardaud and my great friend Mike Reese.   The Bernardaud family have been making French porcelain for hundreds of years and they get rock star treatment whenever and wherever they dine out.  Mike Reese and his wife Pam designed interiors of planes for Arabs.  Timing is important when designing and charging top dollar.  Mike’s timing was spot on, the Arabs would say “I want it like my brothers but better”.  The Sultan of Brunei holds the record for the largest fleet of planes.

Pam would help with the design and bring a softer touch to the finished product.  They would buy the best porcelain the Bernardaud’s had to offer to put on the planes.  Price was no object.  At the time when Mike and Pam were slowing the plane design business down Michel asked them to design a line of porcelain.  So, they did and Michel produced Mike’s unique new line of plates, etc.  Once the dishes were ready for presentation the Bernardaud’s have a restaurant incorporate their newest tableware with a 5-star meal.  I was tagging along for the deluxe ride.

The great thing about flying with the Reese’s is their plane flies faster than all commercial planes.  You know you are flying fast when you look down and you are passing the commercial planes. The Reese’s plane flies just under the speed of sound.  Austin to Paris is a mere 8-hour journey.  The other benefits are there is no suffering of jet lag and there is no limit on what you can bring back.

Mike and I had loads of extra time so we went to the best and oldest restaurant supply house in Paris.  Mike is a self-taught chef and was thrilled to show me around the shop.  When I have to ask “what’s that for” you know it’s unique.  I could have shopped for hours, but I started to feel guilty because I wasn’t the only one bringing goodies home on Mike’s plane.  I was struggling to exit the shop as both of my hands were busy juggling all of my newly purchased treasures.  I started to push the door open with my foot when I realized that a kind soul was holding the door open.  I looked up to say thank you and realized that the kind soul holding the door open was none other than Gordon Ramsey.  The next day Chef Ramsey was doing an interview on skyTV about his newest restaurant. The interviewer asked him how many nights did he cook in his new restaurant?  He reached across and touched her blazer and commented on how nice her blazer was and asked her who was the designer.  She replied, Ralph Lauren.  Gordon’s immediate comment was “Do you think Ralph stitched that coat?”.  There was not another comment from the interviewer about Gordon cooking!

Back to the hotel.  I knew the hotel (Plaza Athenee) was special when I rounded a corner and ran into Leonardo DiCaprio and simultaneously spied Jennifer Aniston having hot tea on the porch while I was trying to be nonchalant.  Everything in my room was gold leaf.  I thought I was in Trump Tower!

Chef Ducasse’s restaurant was off of the lobby of the hotel.  The maître d knew the Bernardaud’s by sight.  I knew we were in for a special experience. The staff was middle aged and very crisp, career servers.  Michel ordered the wine as we perused the menu.  A very nice Burgundy for the red and an equally delicious Chablis for the white.  Michel did something I have often done when going through the wine approval ritual, before giving his approval for the red wine to be opened, Michel felt the temperature of the bottle with his hand as the thermometer, making sure the bottle is cool.  60 degrees Fahrenheit means the red has been stored properly.  If it’s temperature is restaurant hot, it has been stored improperly.  After the wine tasting and approval process, our Captain Waiter rolled a tray with a large silver bowl filled with chilled champagne to our table and poured everyone a complimentary glass.  The kitchen sent out an amuse bouché which was a prawn in a lemon garlic sauce.

I ordered foie gras followed by turbo which was very fresh and de boned table side.  Everyone had a salad following their entrees.  We had not an inch to spare in our bellies for dessert, just enough room for an espresso or tea, or so we thought.  Our wait staff wheeled over the cheese cart and each cheese description was so enticing and irresistible.  We got a slice of many of those cheeses.  A plate of chocolate petit fours was served along with the cheeses.  Betsy Bernardaud ordered lemon herb tea. Another cart (in France they are called gueridon or Jerry Don) was wheeled over with potted live herbs on display.  With silver scissors our waiter clipped fresh lemon thyme into a steaming tea server to steep.  Now that’s fresh.

The entire meal was perfect.  What took it over the top and made the experience unforgettably special was the attention to details, such as the fresh thyme to make the herb tea.

Onto London and The Savoy.  We stayed at the Sanderson hotel, home of Spoon restaurant. The Sanderson is a very hip artsy boutique hotel.  We had several good reasons to visit London.  My daughter was living in and teaching school in London and Sara’s adopted son, Cory was in London following a girl and adventures.  While we were in London, thanks to the internet we knew that Hudson’s had just received a number 1 rating by Dale Rice.  We are always looking for a reason to celebrate and need very little good news to celebrate, so off we went to the legendary Savoy.  We had good seats to see Monte Python and the Holy Grail a play in the west end and The Savoy was close to the theater so we were able to get to the theater quickly after a lavish dinner.  I was in a celebratory mood, so I ordered big expensive wines.  The food and wine were exceptional but the service and ambiance were over the top. There is something about a centuries old restaurant.

Our Captain Waiter presented the bill in a leather folder.  In Europe the waiter is the runner and the captain stays on the front floor. The captain takes the orders and serves.  The waiter is more like the American busboy.  At Hudson’s we called busboys “back waiters”.

When the captain presented the Savoy bill he opened the book, gasped and then said playfully, “oh…I’m sorry, would you like a tour of the kitchen”.  He was assuming a tour of the kitchen would take the sting out of the bill.  Well I did enjoy the tour.  You could see years and layers of remodeling.  There are parts lost in the remodeling that can’t be replaced.  We finished the tour and made it to the theater on time.  We really enjoyed David Hyde Pierce.

Next stop New York City and Thomas Keller.  I have eaten at French Laundry in Napa Valley and Per Se in NYC.  At both restaurants I ordered the tasting menu.  While the tasting menu was tasty and creative it was too much food.  Between the two restaurants, Per Se was victorious, the food was great at both restaurants but the extra details at Per Se made it the clear winner.  Two of the staff members at Per Se had worked at Jeffrey’s Restaurant in Austin and they alerted the restaurant manager that I was a fellow restaurateur.  Having the staff know me was a big plus and we got special treatment.   It also didn’t hurt that Mike Reese ordered the most expensive Chardonnay on the list. The Chardonnay was a very limited production wine, only 2 oak barrels, about 50 cases.  Per Se and The French Laundry got the total production of those 50 cases.  Our waiter explained that they had 2 milk cows In Vermont that supplied the cream for our butter.  I jokingly said “what are their names?”  The waiter responded with their names.  One of the courses was wagyu beef, thinly sliced and raw and it was served with a selection of salts.  Black salt and pink salt both from Hawaii, French salt, smoked salt, herb salt, nine salts in all. It made the carpaccio extra special.  To say I love salt is an understatement.  The waiter was very knowledgeable and informative.  The restaurant is on the 10^th floor of the Time Warner building on Columbus Circle and the multiple leveled dining room has a magnificent view of NYC which added to the ambiance.  The only distraction was Trump Tower.  At the end of our flawless dinner, we were taken on a tour of the restaurant that was over the top.  When we walked into the kitchen the first thing you saw was the expediting table surrounded by at least 8 garnishers.

I later learned that the garnishers were all interns and they paid the restaurant $1000.00 a month for the privilege of being there.  Wow, what a scam.  They also had a video camera focused on the expediting table, as did the French laundry, and each kitchen had a monitor so the Per Se and the French Laundry could watch each other’s production in live time.  Per Se will remain one of my all-time favorites!

In Aspen, one of my favs was the Parlor Car.  It was a restored railroad dining car from the Victorian age with all the frills.  The food was classic European cuisine, rich and heavy…all tasty and the atmosphere made it a fun and great dining experience.  One night when we dined at the Parlor Car, the staff applauded at the conclusion of our meal because we made it through the entire meal without a single snort.  Again, the ambiance and service sent it over the top.

Back to Austin and it’s restaurant scene.  It is more about beer and BBQ but I have seen that change in my decades in the Austin food scene.  David Bull and Tyson Cole are the standout chefs in ATX.  David Bull began his Austin career at the Driscoll hotel.  The Driscoll has a lot of old Austin history.  You feel like you have wandered into a time capsule.  It is elegant and old, a great combination.  David’s cuisine matched the architecture.  He since has opened and closed Congress Restaurant and is currently and successfully running Second Bar & Kitchen.

Tyson Cole took sushi and Asian cuisine to a new level at his restaurant Uchi.  He combined flavors that surprise and really work.  The seafood is always very fresh.  When Tyson expanded and created Uchico another Asian/sushi restaurant he put Paul Qui at the chef spot.  Paul was an up and coming chef.  Tyson made the right choice putting Paul in charge.  Mike and Terri Burke joined us for the Uchico tasting menu.  It was super.  This high-quality food was rich and clean at the same time.  The food was tops.  It superseded the atmosphere. The restaurant is always full.  Paul Qui went on to win “Top Chef” on the Food Network.  I was enjoying an interview with one of the winners of “Top Chef” when he was asked how he would spend the prize money.  He said he would buy several things, one purchase being a kefir lime tree for about $6000.00.  I felt I was a winner.  I bought my kefir lime tree for $5.95 in front of a local grocery store.

 

The following recipe is for an Espresso rub and is one of my “go to” recipes.  It has a unique flavor.  We put it on elk back strap before we grilled it.  The combination of espresso, ancho chili and chocolate have a unique flavor.  It can go on most grilled foods.  It’s great on beef or poultry or any wild game such as venison or quail.

Enjoy

 

Ingredients

¼ cup espresso (dry)

¼ cup ancho chili powder

¼ cup Dutch process cocoa powder

2 tablespoon of sea salt

 

Process

Mix all the ingredients in a shallow casserole pan.

Season the meat you’re going to grill with a liberal amount of sea salt.  Remember you are seasoning on the outer layer so be liberal.

Next roll or sprinkle or rub or all of the above with espresso mix.

There should be a generous coating of the espresso mix on the exterior before you grill.  If you grill to medium well or higher, the grill meat will have what appears to be a burnt crust.  Not so, enjoy.

THE BEATLES CONCERT CIRCA 1964

 

The Beatles had just been featured on the Ed Sullivan Show and Beatle-mania was at a fevered pitch in the States.  The fans were so crazed that the opportunistic hoteliers would cut up the bed sheets that the boys had slept on and sell the small squares of their sheets to the screaming herds of young girls that were surrounding the hotel to catch a glimpse of the band as they departed.  In the early days the Beatles had been condemned by young males because they captivated females and were making females act in a way that could not be explained.  Screaming until you passed out could not be explained.  Why were these long-haired boys from Liverpool getting all of this attention?  Until I witnessed them in action first hand I personally was skeptical and downright envious of the female attention that they had drawn.  

I was 14 years old and lived in Houston, Texas.  I frequently went to Galveston Beach for the day as it was a mere 45-minute drive from my home.  I had just arrived home from a day at the beach and I was very sunburned and pooped from my day of fun in the sun when the phone rang.  It was my friend John calling.  John explained that his sister’s birthday party had been cancelled at the last minute due to a bout of mumps.    John went on to explain that his parents had purchased tickets for his sister and her friends to attend the Beatles concert at the Houston Coliseum. The Houston Coliseum was an art-deco building downtown that backed-up to the Buffalo Bayou that seated about 6000 people.  It was torn down during one of many of the revitalization projects in Houston.  My first response was NO WAY but after hearing his plea, I said yes because John was an old summer camp buddy and had stood up for me at camp many times and I owed him a favor.  I knew his mother was pressuring him to find someone to use those tickets.    What could it hurt, I wouldn’t see anyone I knew so I wouldn’t risk any embarrassing encounters.  You could get your driver’s license at the age of 14 in Texas and John not only had his license but he had his own car.  What an adventure, going downtown to a concert with no adults.  How could I say no?  So effortlessly the next thing I know, we have arrived, parked and are at our seats in the Coliseum.  There were rows and rows of metal folding chairs with very wide aisles about every 30 chairs or so.  Our seats were smack dab in the middle, about half way down from the stage so truly in the middle of the audience.  There was not an opening act so it all seemed very calm at this point and the stage was fairly empty with just a drum kit, three microphones and three small amps.  The stage set up looked nothing like the towers of speakers and elaborate instrumental set up you see nowadays.  As we waited for the show to start, the coliseum filled up in an orderly manner.  The show was sold out so eventually every seat was filled.  This was my very first concert so I had nothing to compare it to but it all seemed normal to me, with a couple of exceptions.  What were all of the stretchers and smiling EMS folks doing amidst the audience?  And why was there a double ring of Houston Policemen locked arm in arm forming a barrier in front of the stage?  There were at least 60 policemen in this curious formation.  Hmmm since I had no previous experience with concerts I did not realize that this was a loud and clear sign of things to come.  All looked under control until the Fab Four entered the stage and just like that the order and calm immediately disappeared.  I think the first song was “I want to hold your hand” there was so much screaming you couldn’t hear a word or note and the screaming masses of frenzied females began to climb onto their chair seats.  I looked at John, we shrugged our shoulders and climbed onto the seats of our folding chairs which was precarious at best.  We still couldn’t hear a thing as the screaming was relentless, but at least we could see over the madness.  The young girls screamed so much that they became oxygen deprived and one by one began to pass out and as they fainted they would fall onto each other or hit the chairs on the way to their eventual destination…the floor.  They looked like mighty pine trees crashing down in the forest, straight and tall.  Very few of the fallen fans made the fall to the floor without incurring a bloody head wound.  The presence of the EMS fellows suddenly made perfect sense to John and I as we watched them peel the girls off of the floor and carry them out on the stretchers.  I will never forget the girl in the row immediately behind me screaming her lungs out while pounding and slapping on my tender sunburned back and then suddenly it stopped.  I turned around to see that she was attending to her friend who had fainted and hit the floor and she was waiting for assistance from EMS.  Then my attention was drawn to a very sturdy and somewhat hefty girl rushing down the aisle heading for the stage.  She had gotten a 40-yard start and was running like a full-back, hurtling straight for the stage.  With her full throttle momentum, she became airborne and she blew through the police line and made a successful landing.  She landed on her belly on the stage and as she was swimming towards Paul the police grabbed her by her pants legs.  By the time the cops finally succeeded in pulling her off of the stage her pants were around her knees.  Ringo seemed to be very amused by her laser focused attempt to get to Paul and got caught up in the silliness of the moment and threw the Greek fisherman hat he was wearing Frisbee style into the screaming crowd.  All I know is that I would not want to be that hat.  What a sight.

We determined that we would not hear a single note of the Beatle’s songs in this pandemonium and chaos and we had seen all we could handle so we made a break for the exit knowing we would have to catch their tunes on the radio.  It was truly a once in a lifetime, thank goodness, experience.  I was glad to have witnessed it and even more thankful to have survived it.  All you need is love.

 

Speaking of love, our garden is in full production and we have more zucchini then we can give away so soup it is.  Enjoy this zucchini soup recipe.  It was made with love and excess squash.

 

Southwestern Squash Soup

Makes 8 hefty bowls

 

Ingredients

Eight cups of zucchini, peeled and chopped

Two cups chopped white onion

Eight cloves of garlic smashed

Four tablespoons of fresh ginger, rough chop

Six cups chicken stock, homemade is best

Eight tablespoons of butter

Quarter cup chopped jalapeño

Two tablespoons of sea salt

 

 

Method

All items go into the blender so rough chop is fine.

Melt two tablespoons butter in an 8-quart sauce pan.    After butter has melted add the onion, garlic and ginger to soften. 

Then add the zucchini, chicken stock, jalapeño and salt. Simmer for twenty minutes. 

Pour half of the soup into a blender and blend until smooth while adding two tablespoons of butter.

Purée the second half the same way. 

Steam always expands so vent your blenders

Remember what Julia said “if you are afraid of cream use butter”.

Serve hot

 

 

 

What do you do when you sell your restaurant?  You take a three-day trail ride on horseback.

Gert and I woke up one morning and our Snowmass restaurant was sold.  We were suddenly and unexpectedly retired.  When we initially opened the restaurant in the Wildwood Inn, our contract with the hotel covered the possibility of the hotel selling.  According to the contract, we had agreed to sell the restaurant with the hotel with a predetermined formula to derive the sellout price.  It was activated when the ski lodge was sold.  The formula was two times the gross volume from the previous year’s business added to four times our profit from that same year.  This could have been a profitable deal for us however, the year that we had to use for our mathematics we saw nary a flake of snow that winter.  It did not snow until spring so the numbers didn’t reflect the best scenario or the true value.  It was a devastating season all around the area.  The Aspen Ski Corporation seeded the clouds, locals did snow dances, nothing worked, no snow.  A ski town without snow is like farming without rain.

We made enough money to pay off all of our restaurant debts, but not enough to open another restaurant.  After we recovered from the shock of the sale we decided that a three-day celebration was in order.  We were in our early thirties, the great outdoors was stunning and calling our names, a trail ride through the White River National Forest was a no brainer.  Gert and I did get a little carried away planning the trip.  We had six horses to carry the beer and ice, five pack horses to carry food, supplies, tents etc.  We took a previously employed dishwasher from the restaurant to do Gert’s biddings.  We took our house band, Chuck and Dave of the “Gator”.  They specialized in blue grass music.  Dave was the fastest flat picker we had ever seen and Chuck specialized in bass but could do whatever complimented Dave.  They would be great entertainment around the campfire.  Improvisation was there greatest strength.  Dave made up songs about people and events…always hilarious.  We took a photographer to document the trip.  He was known as “Magic John”.  I still wonder what happened to all those photos.  We employed six wranglers to join us and keep us from harm and to handle the horses and tackle.  All said and done, we had about 30 horses in our posse.

Our horses were bred for strength and sure footedness, they were half mule and half mustang.  Descending the narrow trails was very frightening and you just had to put your trust in the skill of the horse.  I was feeling like the “Cosmic Cowboy”, riding the range and acting strange is where I wanted to be.  I had my plastic beer can holder hung off my saddle horn, in one pocket was rolled reefer, in the other pocket I had a zip lock of chocolate mescaline (organic I was told).  I went around and asked trail riders if they would like a lick……holding up the bag.  Being a generous soul, this went on and on and you can probably guess that everyone was high.

One of the funniest memories from this trip that I will never ever forget and made me laugh so hard I almost fell off my horse was when the trail boss told Gert to give his horse head.  These were trail horses that felt most comfortable looking at the tail of another.  The rider really needed to let the horses do what they do and all would be fine.  Gert was pulling tight on the reins and bit and he was pulling way too tight.  His horse was actually bleeding at the mouth.  That is when the trail boss told Gert to give his horse some head in laymen’s terms meaning “quit pulling on the reins”.  Gert’s reply in a thick German accent was “I’m not giving this damn horse a blow job”.

We stopped for lunch at 12,000 feet.  It was magical looking down at the Maroon Bell Mountains and Lake.  After our much-needed break the crew mounted their horses and headed down the trail.  Three of us, Magic John, Cindy Cimino and I stayed back to take pictures.  Our three trail horses were getting anxious seeing the other horses heading down the path without them.  Cindy and John mounted their horses without incident and were on the trail to rejoin the group ahead.  But when I put one foot into the stirrup of my horse it went into a full canter to catch his fellow horses on the trail.  I was doing my best Roy Rogers impersonation with my left hand on the saddle horn and my left foot in the stirrup, leaving the right side of my body in a free for all.  I was flailing up and down with the rhythm of the horse.  I thought to myself,” I can do this”.  So, with wild abandon I threw myself up and onto the horse.  My shoulder had been re built by the Aspen doctors after a skiing accident.  I did my body toss with too much enthusiasm and threw myself up and over the other side of the horse and hit the ground landing on the re built shoulder…. ouch. l was rolling in pain, grabbing my shoulder I looked up to see Cindy and John laughing so hard I thought they would fall off their horses and join me on the ground.  Once I was fairly certain that there was no permanent damage to my patched-up shoulder I stood up, dusted myself off, mounted the horse while John held the reins.

At the end of the first day we were all tired and saddle sore, some more than others.  I was sitting at the camp site watching the saddle worn staff come in when one rider in particular caught my attention.  It was Scott Fellows.  Scott was so high he thought he would be safer if he tied himself to his saddle.  He looked like Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou.  Scott’s saddle had slipped but he was lashed to the saddle. It wouldn’t be long until he would be completely upside down with his head bouncing off the trail.  One of the wranglers released Scott from his whompy jawed saddle with no harm done.  Looking back, I am just amazed that no one was killed or seriously hurt on the trail.

The first night Gert grilled pheasant over the campfire with basil pesto, and he cooked the potatoes by tucking them into the coals.  We had bread, butter, salad and cheesecake for dessert. After dinner, the band played and they rallied the troops, but the audience thinned out quickly because everyone was completely exhausted.

Dining on the trail was extra delicious.  Our lunch menu was fresh fruit and beef sandwiches.  Breakfast was spicy tacos made with ground spicy pork sausage, egg and potatoes wrapped in tortillas, cooked over a campfire…. yum.

The second day about half of the riders chose to walk and lead their horses as they were too saddle sore to ride.  Luckily for the walkers most of the second day the trail was downhill.  Day two was a perfect day on the trail, peaceful and lovely with no wild tales to tell.  We made camp early and had plenty of time to cook dinner.  We had campfire grilled tenderloin steak, grilled asparagus, new potatoes in herb butter and a berry cobbler for dessert.  After a day in the mountain air, shoe leather would have been tasty so you can imagine how much we enjoyed our mountain meal!  The band was playing as the sun was setting and they did what they do best and sang an impromptu song about the ride, the people and our old restaurant.  The song was fabulous, never to be repeated.

We woke up to the sound of the beavers slapping their tales, reminding us that this was their home and we were invaders.

We packed up and ended another adventure at the trail head.

Enjoy the grilled pheasant & the basil pesto recipe.

 

Ok you can substitute chicken for the pheasant if you must.  Grilled over an open fire it is hard to tell the difference in chicken and pheasant.  Prep the bird one day in advance.  Bring the pheasant up to room temperature before grilling

 

Pesto & the Bird

½ cup toasted pine nuts.  Pine nuts should be toasted to a light brown (oven).

5 cloves of garlic

¾ cup olive oil

2 cups of packed basil leaves

¼ cup grated Parmesan

1 teaspoon sea salt

 

Method

Place all the above (except oil) into a food processor with the S blade and process.  After processing for 2 minutes drizzle in the oil.  Place pesto in a pastry bag that has a wide tip. After pheasant or chicken has been boned, loosen the skin of the bird by wiggling your fingers between the meat and the skin.  Squirt the pesto in and use your fingers to even the pesto.

Grill the bird skin side down to begin the cooking.  Turn only once after the skin is crispy.  Grill over medium hot fire for 10 minutes before flipping.  The bird should be about 4 lbs.  ½ bird per person.

The fun of writing a blog is that you can write about any and all adventures as they pop up in your consciousness without going in chronological order.  Follow me now as we zoom out of Colorado and on to my fond memories of flavorful experiences in old Mexico. 

 

My first memory of the culinary flavors south of the border came whilst I was on vacation in the Yucatán in the early 80’s.  There was one hotel in the sleepy town of Playa del Carmen.  About 5 miles north of this hotel and next to La Posada del Captain Lafitte’s was a small tent resort called Kailuum.  This tent resort had the amenities of a central dining hall, a kitchen and a bar all under one palm roof called a palapa.  The bar was self-service with a chalk board to be used by the patrons to keep track of consumption with a live hawk named Garp keeping a watchful eye to keep you honest.  The kitchen was minimal to say the least.  The water was in 5-gallon bottles.  The refrigeration was ice chests.  The hood system was the Caribe breeze.  The flooring was beach sand.  The cooking fuel was propane tanks with very crude and rustic burners.  At the end of the night, cleanup was laid-back, just wipe everything onto the floor and rake it away.

The accommodations were large designer tents with a stunning view of the coral reefs just 40 yards from the shoreline.  The pathways on the property were lit by kerosene torches.  It was so rustic and romantic.  The cost could not be beat.  $40.00 a day for a room and two meals.  The food was exceptional Yucatán cuisine.  I was very complimentary of their flavors and was therefore invited in to their kitchen to observe.  I watched them make Limon caldo (lime soup).  They used sour oranges instead of limes. You cannot find sour oranges north of the Yucatán, but 1-part orange juice and 3 parts lime juice are a good substitute.

 

In the early days of Hudson’s, I was employed by the U.S. Meat Export Federation to travel into the big hotel kitchens that featured U.S. meats and teach them how to barbecue Texas style.  One of the reasons I was hired to do this travelling barbecue tour was because I was my own boss and didn’t have to ask permission to leave my restaurant.  So off to Mexico City, Acapulco and Cancun I went to get in the trenches with some of the best Mexican chefs to show them what I knew about the Texas “cue”.  The ultimate goal was for them to learn it so well that they would continue this style of BBQ long after I left.  This traveling BBQ festival was also a PR stunt that would interest the media. 

I made everything from scratch that would be at a Texas BBQ; two BBQ sauces, brisket, rubs, smoked chicken, cole slaw, ranch beans, potato salad, etc.  My first challenge came while making the BBQ sauces.  Both of them required Worcestershire sauce.  No one in the kitchen knew what that was and my kitchen Spanish was poor and it was a flavor that was distinct and I was unable to communicate.  So, I was lead to the storeroom to see if I could find a substitute.  I got a tour of the bowels of the hotel which was much like being in Downton Abbey’s back halls.  Instead of the Minute Maid juicer that cut the fruit and juiced it, there was an old man who would throw the orange into the air and cut the orange in half with a swift swing of his sharp knife while the orange was airborne.  Another man would take the cut orange and squish the juice out using a margarita squeezer. Quite the assembly line and like nothing I had ever witnessed before.  When we got to the large storeroom, I found the Worcestershire

sauce.  It was the same recognizable label as Worcestershire at home, but it was called Salsa Ingles.  Flash forward 30 years, I was watching a show on PBS “Patti’s Mexican Table”.  Patti was doing a recipe that had Worcestershire sauce in the recipe and she said “no real Mexican could ever pronounce ‘Worcestershire’”.   I’m sure that changing the name to Salsa Ingles was a good marketing move.

 

I was assigned a French trainee who to took me to the open-air market in search of sausage that was a good substitute for “Texas sausage”.  I was eating raw sausage trying to find the right one.  My French helper was by my side tasting right along with me.  He got Montezuma’s revenge and was absent for a week. 

 

The market was huge. The entire market seemed to be out of control, but I’m sure there was a method to the madness. It fed 25 million people.  

 

In the poultry area there were six 18-wheeler semi-trailers packed with head on chickens in crushed ice.  Two guys were in each trailer throwing the chilled birds out to the poultry butchers.  

 

The flower section was visually stunning with all of the colors and took your breath away with the intoxicating smells.  It was blooms forever.

 

When we returned from our day of shopping and were preparing to BBQ, I realized there was no smoker or pit.  What to do?  There were rows of banquet warming carts that are normally used to hold warm plates of food for large banquets, bingo.  I bent the bottom of the door to allow oxygen in.  Now to find wood to create smoke.  We were in downtown Mexico City and there was no wood in sight.  I prefer a lighter smoke, pecan wood or a fruit wood like apple, cherry or peach.  I have smoked with grapevine, cedar or even newspaper when in a jam.  The hotel’s veggies were delivered in wood slat crates.  So, I tore some crates down and created a small fire out of the busted-up crates to get the wood flavor and then finished the cooking in conventional ovens.  I was doing an interview with a food editor of one of the Mexico City papers when asked what kind of wood did I use to get that tasty flavor?  I replied quickly, without hesitation, tropical fruitwood. 

 

Next stop on my tour was San Miguel for several days.  From San Miguel I traveled on to a BBQ festival in Acapulco at the Hyatt.  It was becoming clear to me in my travels that each region of Mexico had its own style, just like the difference in cuisines of New Orleans, New York or San Francisco.  I was becoming the king of improvisation.  My kitchen Spanish was improving, but I still had problems understanding when they spoke too fast.  The kitchens didn’t have air conditioning which took me back to the early days at Hudson’s when our only cooling power was a warehouse fan.  We didn’t use the fan much because when we turned it on it was so powerful that it would suck the dining room doors open and empty the dining room of its cooled air creating steamy customers.  We did later install 8 tons of cooling power, but that was after a couple of years of being open for business.

 

Back to Acapulco, the kitchen staff would brew Jamaica tea and blend it with sugar water to keep cool and hydrated.  It worked.  There are more electrolytes in the tea than a sports drink.

 

One morning I went for a swim in the Acapulco Bay and midswim, I realized that most of Acapulco was not on a sewer system.  Take it from me, don’t swim in Acapulco Bay.

 

Leaving Acapulco, I headed to another Hyatt south of Cancun.  After having done many BBQ festivals throughout Mexico, I had learned to access the willingness of the hotel’s cooks to do most of the prep work and this allowed me time to eat and absorb the local cuisine.  One such day with some spare time while in the Cancun area, I joined a hike through the Yucatán jungle.  It was sold as an eco-walk.  After I survived the day, I renamed it the “Mexican death march”.  It was 105 degrees with 100% humidity with green switches brutally whipping us as we hiked the narrow path through the jungle.  It was all worth it, I saw a lot of firsts for me; wild vanilla orchid, wild chocolate pods, annatto seed trees (base for achiote) and a green python snake.  At the conclusion of the march we had a traditional meal prepared by the local ladies of chicken marinated in sour orange and achiote grilled over hard jungle wood.  It was worth the march.

 

This tour of Mexico exposed me to vast world of exotic spices and flavors.  I had to become immersed in the interior of Mexico before I could appreciate their flavors aka “sabor”.  I gained a deep understanding that the rustic yet elegant style of our Texas cuisine had originated in Mexico.  Even though the original intention of my job as BBQ Teacher was to travel and teach, at the end of the day, I was the one that acquired the most education that carried me along on a 32-year ride at Hudson’s on the Bend. 

 

My favorite trip to Mexico was the trip to Oaxaca with Pam and Mike Reese.  We flew into Oaxaca via private jet and proceeded to eat and eat and eat.  I tried mole until I was dizzy and diabetic.  We went to the local market where I tried the likes of dried crickets, ant eggs in garlic butter, not to mention a bowl of mescal worms.  Lord I do love the street food.

 

We arrived in Oaxaca during “day of the dead”.  We experienced all of the local events.  The path to the cemetery was ablaze with vases and vases of marigold flowers.  We saw colorful sand paintings depicting the past relatives and their beloved vices were incorporated into these paintings.  But, my favorite memory of this trip was a short trip we took to a small village just a few miles outside of Oaxaca.   All the locals from two different villages, about 150 villagers in all, young and old, were dressed in colorful costumes and were playing musical instruments, i.e. tubas, trombones, horns, guitars etc.  The two villages marched towards each other as they played their music louder and the dancing became wilder.  When the two groups of villagers merged the music and dancing reached its peak with the villagers energetically jumping up and down in dance.  It was a true celebration.  As far as I could tell there were very few onlookers, the event was purely for the joy of the villagers.   The next day we were walking the streets looking for Oaxaca wood creatures when the smells of chocolate filled the air. I followed my nose to a shop that was roasting and grinding the chocolate bean with native sugar.  I had found the birthplace of chocolate and if you know me at all, you know that I died and somehow landed in heaven.

 

Mexico, the country, its people, the art, the culture, the food have all left dinosaur tracks on my heart and soul.  I have had some of my greatest moments and adventures in that country, it is so beloved to me.  I have an employee of 30-years that has become one of my most treasured friends that has an avocado ranch in the mountains west of Mexico City that has shared his home and hospitality on this ranch with me.   The adventures go on and on.  I do love Mexico and all the flavors it has introduced to the world.  It has without a doubt guided “Texas cuisine”.

 

 Enjoy the recipe for Chipotle BBQ Sauce

A chipotle pepper is a jalapeño pepper left on the vine to turn red.  Then dried and smoked, it still has pepper heat.  If you don’t like spicy heat leave a portion out.

 

Chipotle BBQ Sauce

Ingredients

3 strips of bacon, minced (frozen bacon minces more easily without becoming gummy).

½ cup white onion, minced

2 tablespoon garlic, minced

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

¼ cup Worcestershire sauce (Salsa Ingles)

¼ cup rice wine vinegar

3 teaspoon hot sauce

2 cups catsup

1 can chipotle in adobo (4 oz.), minced

1 teaspoon sea salt

 

Method

In a skillet, cook the bacon until it is brown.  Do not discard the bacon grease.  Add the onion and garlic to the skillet with the cooked bacon and drippings and cook until they are translucent.  Add all remaining ingredients and simmer 10 minutes.  Adjust salt to desired taste.

 

Hold in an airtight container in the cooler.  It will hold for 2 months in refrigeration.

 

Aspen/Snowmass was chock full of celebrities and I quite often had the good fortune of being at the right place at the right time which has given me so many fun memories to look back upon.  And my name-dropping ability is a well-honed tool for cocktail parties.

 

JOHN DENVER

One summer I was employed as the gopher boy for the Summer Tent Music Series in Snowmass.  My payment was two tickets and an all access pass to the concerts.  On one such evening, Jimmy Buffet was the headline act with Townes Van Zandt as his opening act.  As an Austin boy I was really looking forward to seeing my hometown boy, Townes perform.  Because of all of our time together during Jimmy’s wedding events, his band, The Coral Reefers, were on first name basis with me and they were really quick to use and abuse my services for every little whim.  Those whims first and foremost being drugs and alcohol, they kept me running to keep them well stocked.  I finally made it back to my second-row seat where Debby, the mother of my children, was guarding my seat.  I sat down, exasperated and tired from being an abused runner boy.  I asked Debby for the cocaine and proceeded to take several snorts.  Two spoons per nostril would be just right.  I was shoveling in the third spoonful when Debby leaned over and said “John Denver is staring at you”.  I looked to my right and there he was, John Denver’s round face grinning at me behind those signature circular wire rim glasses.  I smiled back at him and made a motion with the vial to which he nodded a decided yes, so I passed it over.  We all enjoyed the show however, Townes disappointed as he was so stoned and drunk that he fell off of his bar stool and was unable to do his routine.

 

LUCILLE BALL

One snowy winter morning, I was grabbing a coffee at the village deli when I spied Lucille Ball.  She was ready for the slopes and looked the part in her expensive ski outfit with all the accessories.  Lucy had two condos at the top of village in The Interlude condos.  It was one of her family vacation spots.  I approached her and said “This maybe corny but could I have your autograph?”.  Her reply was, “I don’t think it’s corny” and she took her pen with red ink and drew a heart with an arrow and signed “Love, Lucy” in the middle of the heart.  Later that day I was riding the chair lift to Sam’s Knob and I heard a big commotion.  I looked down to see what could possibly be wrong and there was Lucy laying under the lift on the summer road, near the top of Sam’s Knob, broken leg and all.  The pain did not deter her from screaming at her instructor.  As I passed overhead I heard her yelling, “I told you not to bring me up here”.   Those of you who are old enough might remember she did the entire series that year in a plaster cast.  I have always wondered if that instructor got fired.

 

STEVE MARTIN

After a long day on the slopes, we would frequently go to the Aspen Inn for a night of music and fun.  The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band lived in Aspen and played at the Inn frequently.  I also saw Bo Diddley, Glenn Yarborough and many others performing there. 

The first time I saw The Dirt Band, I went with my dear friends Michael and Terri Burke.  Michael leaned over and said “I’m sitting next to Liza Minelli”.  This was during her CABARET era.  The warm up act was little known Steve Martin.  He strolled out onto the stage wearing a white tuxedo, a fake arrow through his head and of course his banjo.  This was our first exposure to his unorthodox folly.  We became instant fans and saw his routine many times and always enjoyed his new jokes.  After he became better known nationally, we saw him at a fundraiser in the basement in the Aspen Cabaret.  At the end of the show, we walked outside to a typical night in Aspen, crisp beautiful starry sky with a barrage of big flakes of snow.  We were discussing where to go from there when we heard a banjo and voice coming from the third-floor staircase above the club.  Martin who was still in character, white tux and banjo, walked down the exposed staircase while being his silly self, asking the gathering crowd “Was that guy in there funny?”.  He descended to the street level and began his pied piper act, captivating and leading the procession of about 75 happy locals through downtown.  Cars came to a standstill to allow the parade to pass and seemed to enjoy the show as Steve strummed his banjo.  When the group was in front of The Red Onion, an old local bar, Martin said “Shows over, I’m going in for a beer.  Join me.”  What a wild and crazy guy!

 

BUDDY HACKETT

Buddy Hackett was a fixture in Snowmass during the Christmas season.  He was not a skier, so you never knew when or where he would appear.  I was going into the Refectory Restaurant with my girlfriend Barb Sanders.  I was hanging our parkas when I heard Barb say “I know you, you’re Buddy Hackett”.  I turned towards them just in time to see Barb tap him on his chest.  He tapped her back and said “You’re right, but who are you?” Luckily, he was in a playful mood that evening.  At the Wildwood Inn where I was a desk clerk, we had large blue checkered shirts as part of our look.  Buddy Hackett was known to ride the elevator to the top floor to avoid the loss of breath as the village’s elevation was 8700 feet and the air was thin.  One day he entered the ski lodge and headed for his shortcut to the elevator which passed by our staff meeting and there we were in the checkered shirts when Buddy approached.  He said to us, “I would have brought the Chianti if I knew we were having an Italian party”.  This was all said as he entered the elevator.  Just like that he was up and gone.

 

STEVIE NICKS

One reason “star” types are drawn to Aspen is because they are not hassled.  I was at the “J” Bar at the Hotel Jerome when I noticed Stevie Nicks was perched on the barstool next to me.   A guy came up and started to hit on her.  She turned her head toward him and said “Fuck off buddy”.  The scorned guy walked away.  This was the exception to the “no hassle” code in Aspen.

 

CANDICE BERGEN

I was getting lunch at Sam’s Knob Cafeteria when I noticed a very attractive girl in front of me.  Before I spoke I looked again, it was Candice Bergen. She was in her 20’s and quite the looker.  I applied the “no hassle” policy and zipped it.

 

 

CLINT EASTWOOD

Normally I was not a stalker, but I did, very intentionally ski down a steep slope following Clint Eastwood all the way down.  I observed that he is a very good skier.

 

BONNIE RAITT

Bonnie Raitt must have worked as a hostess in a restaurant earlier in her life.  Bonnie walked into our restaurant one night knowing that Janie and Jimmy Buffett were coming in for dinner.  The Buffets had not arrived yet, but Bonnie saw the reservation book on the podium and found the table number and transcribed the floor diagram and determined which table had been assigned and saved for the Buffets.  Like I said, she had to have had restaurant experience in order to be able to decipher the seating code.  When the hostess arrived, Bonnie said “I want to sit there”, pointing at the Buffet’s table.  The hostess said that table was reserved for a special guest.  The hostess did not recognize Bonnie.  Luckily a waiter, Craig Cooper, saw what was going on.  Craig hip bumped the hostess out of the way and said “Ms. Raitt right this way please”.

 

Aspen/Snowmass was always populated with lots of Hollywood types.  One of my favorite times in the area was Halloween.  They all tried to outdo each other and it was a spectacle to say the least! 

  

I had so many encounters and sightings of the rich and famous that it was “just another day”.  You need to be gone from the Aspen area for years before you can look back and appreciate all the shoulders you rubbed.

 

Below you’ll find one of my favorite entrees.

 

WATERMELON MARINATED PORK TENDERLOIN WITH A WATERMELON SALSA

Marinade

 

Ingredients

3 cups diced seedless watermelon chunks

3 jalapeños, use less if you like milder

1 tablespoon sea salt

2 cups granulated sugar

2 pork tenders, cleaned with silver skin removed

 

Method

Add all the above ingredients (except pork) to a blender and purée.

Pour the purée in a zip lock with the pork.  Refrigerate and marinate overnight.

 

 

Watermelon Salsa

 

Ingredients

2 cups of diced watermelon (1/4 inch dice)

1 Granny Smith apple (1/4 inch dice)

1 red onion, julienne

2 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced

1 mango, diced

2 jalapeños, minced

1 bunch cilantro, minced

2 tablespoons sugar

2 limes, juiced and zested

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

S&P to taste

 

Method

Combine above ingredients and chill.

 

Grilling and Taking it to the Plate  

On a wood fired grill, cook the pork tender to 160 degrees

Slice and serve with the salsa.

 

It’s also tasty with grilled chicken or fish.