use real butter

Recipe: mexico city style roasted corn with chipotle mayonnaise

I just got back from a lovely dinner at Mizuna in Denver. I rarely get down to Denver (to be honest, I avoid the city – I’m a country mouse), but 1) I’ve been hearing about this restaurant for seven years 2) we were meeting with a super fun couple and 3) there was a hand off of goods. More on the goods in a second… I’m so glad we finally went to Mizuna because everything about it was terrific – the food, the wine, the service. Here are two of my favorite plates from tonight:

hamachi crudo with edamame and shishito peppers

lobster mac & cheese

Now what exactly was handed off, you ask? I brought three jars of Chinese hot chili sauces to my friend, Ellen, and she gave me a delivery of her delectable salt caramels. Why salt caramels?

Well, I needed them for a couple of care packages… for you!

This isn’t a sponsored any such thing, this is me saying thank you for being a wonderful, supportive, funny, kind, and friendly readership. I love my regular and irregular commenters as much as those who de-lurk to say hi as much as the folks who are too shy to comment, but send really touching emails to me directly. You know who you are – you’re all awesome! So I have put together a little bit of Colorado in two care packages to give away to two of my awesome saucesome readers. The packages will include:

helliemae’s salt caramels

a bag of whole bean coffee from boxcar coffee roasters

frasca‘s red pepper jelly from cured

a boulder county farmers market tote bag

a t-shirt of your choice from either salto coffee works or tin shed sports

That’s not all! I’m also tucking in a jar of organic Colorado peach jam and a jar of organic Colorado tomato jam, both from my kitchen.

ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY!

1) Introduce yourself to the rest of us by sharing one interesting fact about YOU in the comments section of this post.
2) One comment per person, please.
3) Entries will be accepted through Friday, September 28, 2012.
4) The care packages will ship worldwide.
5) Two winners will be selected at random by Kaweah.
6) Winners will be announced on Monday, October 1, 2012.

Good luck!

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Sometimes you find the best food in the darnedest places. For instance, when I was in Portland, Maine last month, everyone was telling me to eat lobster, lobster, and more lobster. Sleep on lobster, bathe in lobster. Lobster lobster lobster! The first night, we started at El Rayo Taqueria and then moved on to Cantina El Rayo next door. There was no lobster on our menu. But wait – someone casually set a plate of roasted corn covered in cotija cheese in front of us early on in the meal. The cobs were cut up into 2-inch wide nibbles and everyone politely sampled the corn. Joy was sitting across from me and later into the evening I saw her reach for a second one which totally made me feel okay about grabbing a second! We were pretty hooked on that corn.

nice, healthy ears of corn

give them a soak in cold water

My neighbors seated to my right were Margaret Hathaway and Karl Schatz of Ten Apple Farm. They wrote and photographed this brilliant book (among others!) that I received upon my arrival in Maine titled Portland, Maine Chef’s Table which is a collection of recipes from the best chefs around Portland. IT INCLUDES THE RECIPE FOR THIS FABULOUS CORN. When Karl and Margaret told me, I smiled and did a happy dance (Gangnam style) in my head.

chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, mayonnaise, garlic, cilantro, lime zest and juice

chopped, juiced, zested

As soon as my package of goodies from Maine arrived in the post, I opened the book and went straight to the recipe. The ingredients are relatively easy to source and corn is still in season although at the tail end. Get on this now.

purée the peppers, sauce, garlic, cilantro, zest, and lime juice together

stir the purée into the mayonnaise

chipotle mayonnaise

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: peach upside down cake

It would seem that everyone on the flats got word of the leaves turning and came in droves to the mountains over the weekend. Either that or they were looking for their final summer jaunt before the autumnal equinox arrives this Saturday. Bluebird skies and gold stands mark the start of my favorite season. We lose our daylight hours fastest this time of year.

cottonwoods gone yellow

sunsets don’t linger as long

We drove in the opposite direction from most of the traffic and joined my parents for dinner at our favorite sushi bar in Boulder. Fall is when they leave Colorado, because they aren’t big fans of winter. I think they had a nice summer here though, with all of the happy hours, exploring, dinners, lunches, visits, bottles of wine consumed, and Kaweah-time.

hamachili special

And the farmers market was abuzz with activity. People were looking to get their summer loving on, but it started to look like the season was winding down. At the northern end of the market, there was a sign where I normally bought my peaches, “Sold out! See you next year!” That was like a little knife in my gut.

greens, peppers, eggplants, onions…

and still some tomatoes

I promised if you came back today, I’d have something other than tomatoes. I did manage a few pounds of late season peaches from Colorado’s western slope. Sweet, juicy, almost buttery. Panic sets in when you realize these sunshiny orbs are on their way out for the year and a sudden urge to make yet another batch of jam overrides all reason. I did just that and still had a few pounds left over. It’s been a while since I’ve baked a cake…

peaches, butter, sugars, flour, milk, vanilla, eggs, baking soda, salt

There is an ever-growing list of recipes I want to make. I should say lists, because they reside on sticky notes – both virtual and physical, scraps of paper, notes on my iPhone, emails to myself. Fruity upside down cakes surfaced recently. They have great appeal because I’m more of a fruit girl than a cake girl and then there is that whole business of caramelized goodness. Why not use some of the last peaches?

melt the butter and brown sugar

cook until it bubbles

Something I learned about the peaches this summer was that different varieties marched through the markets. When I first got my grubby little hands on peaches for jamming in July, they were clingstone peaches. Good thing I was jamming them because it was like a peach murder scene trying to get those buggers off the pits. Thankfully, this late season batch was of the freestone variety – which easily releases from the pit and makes for pretty slices.

wonderful

arrange in the pan

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: artichoke roasted pepper crab dip

***Jump to the recipe section***

I grew up sailing in southern Virginia since the age of nine, but living in Colorado doesn’t present many (any) opportunities to sail. So it was a huge enticement for me when part of my trip to Maine included a 4-day (4-night) cruise aboard The Schooner J. & E. Riggin, a historical landmark as decreed by the National Park Service. You can find the recap of the first half of my trip to Maine (the part on land) here.

Full disclosure: The Maine Office of Tourism and The Schooner J. & E. Riggin sponsored my transportation, lodging, and meals with no obligation on my part. All photographs, words, experiences, and especially opinions, are my own.

Day 4: Rockland, Russ Island, Lobster Bake
Day 5: Stonington, Islesboro
Day 6: Camden
Day 7: Rockland

Day 4: The Riggin was originally an oyster boat, built in 1927 and converted to a passenger boat in 1977. Now when I say cruise, I should note that this is not the kind of cruise that most people envision when they hear that word. It’s a real sailboat and guests participate in many of the manual operations on deck (no motorized winches or even winches for that matter) and partake of chores like dish duty. The sleeping quarters remind me of camping… but different. Each cabin has a small sink with cold running water and there are two communal heads (bathrooms) above deck which require manual flushing and minimal use of toilet paper (8 squares max per flush, kids). One of the heads doubles as a shower stall.

rockland

down the hatch leading to my cabin

where i slept

It’s an adventure, and if you’re game – it is a tremendous experience.

Before we set sail in the morning, chef and co-captain Annie Mahle (wife of Captain Jon Finger) and her galley crew, prepared a hearty and beautiful breakfast of banana cardamom pancakes with cinnamon pecan coffee syrup, fruit, and bacon for everyone. Maine boasts the largest windjammer fleet in the United States, but the Riggin is only one of two that has an actual chef on board. Annie has authored two cookbooks: At Home, At Sea: Recipes from the Maine Windjammer J&E Riggin and her latest book Sugar & Salt: A Year at Home and at Sea. Most of what is served aboard the Riggin is locally sourced and masterfully prepared in a closet-sized kitchen on a wood-burning stove under the restrictions of limited water usage (there is a finite amount of fresh water on board). Annie does not waste food, the Riggin composts as much as possible, and tries to keep trash to a minimum.

breakfast was served below in the galley

you can’t not love a woman serving a heaping pile of bacon

Sharon joined us for breakfast, but hugged us good-bye before we set sail, leaving us in the care of Captain, Annie, and the crew. I learned from Captain that there is no set agenda per se, that they sail based on the wind.

first mate, scott or “scoot”, keeps it tidy

scott and ian do a safety demo

the galley is small, but everyone congregates there

Once we cleared the harbor, passengers were asked to help the crew raise the sails. It was a bluebird day with steady winds as Captain sailed us across West Penobscot Bay past North Haven and through East Penobscot Bay. Annie served up a lunch of Asian rice noodles, cilantro and coconut duck, salmon zucchini rice cakes, and a whole slew of fresh vegetables and pickles on deck as we sailed. We set anchor just off Russ Island and Annie gave us a lesson on lobsters.

ian and scott on the throat

tying off the sheet

sails

we got schooled

Captain shuttled us from the Riggin onto Russ Island where Annie and crew had set up a lovely spread of crudités, bacon blue cheese dip, watermelon, chips, and homemade apple cider. While the crew prepared for the lobster bake, Annie and Captain sat with their youngest, Ella, for some quality reading time together. Ella is part of the crew and you would be hard-pressed to meet an eleven year old as mature, hard-working, talented, and sweet as her. It’s a testament to the loving environment that her parents have provided for her. The kid is awesome.

appetizers

boiling the lobsters

family time

**Jump for more butter**