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Recipe: lox eggs benedict

What a roller coaster season it has been for fall colors. Despite the late change and early snow putting a damper on the leaves this season, we were headed for a bounce back that still held potential. I’m what you might call an optimistic realist. I knew the signs were pointing to a less than stellar fall shoot, but I hoped a few choice locations would pull through. The looked like they were on their way to something good.

the sun sets on the largest aspen stand in the world

she left a little color on her way to bed

apens and conifers

recon on the anthracite range

And then came the snow. Now, I LIKE the snow. I like skiing it and I like seeing it. And it adds this magical element to the fall colors. It’s one of the components of a slam dunk during the fall shoot – if you can just get some snow with the colors and yadda yadda yadda. If the storm is cold enough though, it spells the end. When our mercury dropped to 13°F overnight, I knew the next morning was the last chance to catch what magic was left around Crested Butte. The following day, all of those beautiful fluffy gold stands fringed with reds and oranges had turned to rust – the color of death – after the hard freeze. But I managed to get out before it all went to hell in a hand basket.

whetstone mountain delivered nicely

sunlight emerging from storm clouds

snowy peaks

As with Nature, as with the kitchen, things don’t always turn out as planned. I’ve adopted the attitude that we just have to make the most of what we get and run with it. That said, it’s nice that I have a little (just a little) more control over what works out in my kitchen. When I cured salmon lox in September, I tried to expand beyond good old bagels and lox. I tried to go for something slightly more sophisticated. Eggs benedict with lox instead of Canadian bacon came to mind. Actually, Benedict Cumberbatch came to mind first and then eggs benedict (cumberbatch) and then lox eggs benedict (cumberbatch). I’m rather fond of Mr. Cumberbatch and not particularly fond of Canadian bacon at all (it’s wishy washy). So let’s get the ball rolling with the Hollandaise sauce first.

some white wine vinegar, lemon (juice), eggs, and butter

combine the lemon juice and vinegar

whisk in the egg yolks

whisk until it is frothy

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Recipe: lobster corn chowder

I’m wearing pants. PANTS! We’ve had cool, rainy weather this week in Colorado. Well, the cool isn’t such a reach for this time of year, but the rainy is. My oven and stove have seen more use in the past few days than they have all summer thanks to the cooldown. One of the recipes I tried recently was a knock-my-socks-off gem of a soup. I love it because it is at the intersection of summer and fall. Summer, because of the ingredients and fall, because it warms you from the inside to fight off the chill outside. I’m talking about lobster corn chowder.

two whole lobsters and two tails

cooked (steamed)

extracting the lobster meat, saving the shells, and catching the juices

Because I reside in a landlocked state far far away from Maine, I bought frozen cold water lobsters. My fish monger only had two, and I needed three, so I supplemented with two petite lobster tails (also cold water). These were not cheap, so this is clearly a soup for special occasions or when lobsters grow on trees. I’m smiling at the thought of lobsters growing on trees. The thing I love about this recipe is how you use every part of the lobster – the meat and the shells and the dribbly juices. Makes me feel a little better about the price. Then the other main component is corn, which is dirt cheap right now and sweet as can be.

cream, wine, lobster meat, lemon, corn, celery, leek, bacon, potatoes, parsley, pepper

cut up the lobster meat

slice the green and white parts of the leeks (keep them separate)

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Recipe: homemade salmon lox

It’s my favorite month, you know… birthdays, autumn colors, potential snow storms, fleece weather. A three-day weekend saw August off and welcomed September with sweaty open arms. It always gets hot in early September which merely increases my anticipation of the first frost in the mountains. For the most part, we remained at home and worked through the holiday weekend to avoid the throngs of people flooding into the mountains. Except we did venture down to Denver at the last minute to score a great deal on some season passes for Crested Butte this winter.

sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet

Granted, it is technically summer until September 22nd and I accept this. If summer didn’t have such a bounty of wonderful foods, I’d be a lot less tolerant of the heat. Wild-caught Alaskan salmon graces my fishmonger’s display these days. It’s downright distracting when I’m swinging by to pick up some scallops or shrimp and then these jewel-colored filets or steaks draw my attention to the “sale” sign. Sometimes, I can’t help myself.

salmon, dill, tarragon, bay leaves, shallots, black pepper, green peppercorns, vodka, kosher salt, sugar

I’ve been wanting to cure my own lox for several years now. I’m not sure if I should be happy about finally getting around to doing it or if I should be sad that it took me this long. Part of the problem is that I wanted to use wild salmon rather than farmed salmon. Farmed salmon is available year-round while wild salmon is seasonal. Summers kept slipping past me before I remembered to make lox, and farmed salmon doesn’t really appeal to me these days.

the filet will have pin bones

remove those with some (clean) pliers

What I love about making lox is how easy it is. Aside from finding space in my refrigerator, it was just a bit of chopping, mixing, smothering, and wrapping. Most of the work doesn’t involve you at all.

mix the sugar and salt together

chop the dill

slice shallots

mix the herbs and spices and aromatics together

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