2017 Colorado Kitchen Notebook
An in-depth look at some of our favorite dishes and cocktails from our time on the ground in Colorado.
Hop Alley’s Revival
Named for the moniker given to 19th century Chinatown (located in what is now the Ballpark Neighborhood of Denver), Restaurateur Tommy Lee’s Hop Alley is a modern take on Chinese cuisine—contemporized through cocktails. The food is excitingly authentic-ish (thanks to Chef Todd Somma), and complemented by a sophisticated, funky cocktail program with a covertly Asian touch. “We wanted our bar program to be well rounded and modern, and loosely based around Asian ingredients,” says Lee. With Wu-Tang blaring in the background, Lee and his team are serving sesame-infused Negronis, Bubble Tea-style Batavia Arrack cocktails complete with peel-back foil lid and straw, and Kalamansi punch. If you’re lucky, Lee might even pour a Fino Sherry-lime-honey-Drambuie filled porron down your gullet as you “cheers to the new Chinatown.”
The Butcher's Broth
Over the past few years, some unexpected trends have taken hold. There was toast from San Francisco, and poke out of L.A. Bone broth began to bubble up in 2014, when New York Chef Marco Canora launched Brodo. Western Daughters Butcher Shoppe in Denver took note, and owners Kate Kavanaugh and Josh Curtiss have dedicated counter space to a broth set-up. Customers can pump their choice of broth from thermoses into to-go cups, and our favorite flavor was “The Cure,” infused with turmeric, ginger, lemon, and cayenne. The Western Daughters team simmers the bones—from grass-fed beef, lamb, pork, and chicken raised within 150 miles—for 48 hours. Two pounds of bones equals one quart broth, which sells for $6 per cup. Profitability, sustainability, and trend-worthiness aren’t mutual exclusive.
The Marrow Force Awakens
Obi-Wan Kenobi warned us that our eyes can deceive us, but the marrow cubes at Western Daughters Butcher Shoppe are exactly as they seem: Star Wars-themed. Kate Kavanaugh and Josh Curtiss’ kitschy cubes are true to the roots of their shop, where sustainability is the star of the show. To make the cubes, they render, clarify, and double strain excess marrow and then pour it into silicone Stormtrooper and Yoda molds. At $1.50 a piece, they’re an added value for Western Daughters and fun for their Star Wars fanboy customers. “They’re perfect for cooking steak, making gravy, pasta, or even bone broth,” says Curtiss. May the force (and flavor) of marrow be with you.
Fifteen Hour Grits
In the immortal words of Vincent Gambini from the film “My Cousin Vinny”: “Perhaps the laws of physics cease to exist on your stove! Were these magic grits? I mean, did you buy them from the same guy who sold Jack his beanstalk beans?!” Turns out, when you’re cooking at 8,000 feet, the laws of physics don’t “cease,” but they do change due to low air pressure, which has the opposite effect of a pressure cooker. Plus, water temperatures max out at about 198ºF. So, when New Orleans native Chef Will Nolan of Eight K at the Viceroy hotel in Snowmass, Colorado, makes a 10-gallon pot of Anson Mills grits, “the breakfast crew starts them and the dinner crew pulls them. It’s like a family bonding experience. Big brother gets mad if you burn the grits!” Nolan serves his grits with shrimp, a family barbecue sauce, and a three-minute egg (that really takes six minutes).
Service-ready Blood Sausage
Jorel Pierce knew exactly what he wanted to achieve in Euclid Hall’s blood sausage—high moisture content and heavy spices without the chalky, dusty texture you find in a lot of blood sausage. He tested a dozen or so versions and kept running into the same problem. “We poach the sausages to 155℉ before service, but they’re heated well above 300ºF at pick-up. Whatever plasma was there vaporized, causing the casing to rupture,” says Pierce. To keep his links intact, he built a “vapor trap” into the recipe, grinding deeply roasted eggplant and caramelized onions into pork shoulder and incorporating raisins at the end with the blood. The fruit and vegetables (at 30 percent of the sausage’s weight) absorb and stabilize extra moisture, just as they deepen the flavor. It’s a nontraditional formula, ready-made for restaurant service.
