use real butter

Recipe: porcini mushroom gruyère burgers

My good friend, Erin, is a native of Colorado, and yet she had never been to Crested Butte before. So we invited her out to spend the weekend with us hiking, eating, and even meeting some of my entertaining nature photog pals (who were here for the wildflowers). It’s the height of the wildflower bloom, so the hikes were especially beautiful this time of year.

erin jumping for joy on beckwith pass

erin for scale next to a green gentian stalk

close up of the green gentian flowers

a windy evening at the mountain

On Sunday, we did a 13-mile hike up to the high country. The pattern of summer monsoon storms has started in the last week and we’ve been getting some really productive rainstorms in the last few days each afternoon. At a trail junction around 11,000 ft. we paused to let a trail runner pass us. She chatted with us briefly about the trails and continued on. Just then, I spotted something familiar at the base of a tree… It was a mushroom, but not any mushroom – it was a Boletus edulis or King bolete or porcini. Wendy and I have been discussing when our local porcinis would flush this season for the past two months. I had no idea I’d find one in the wilderness outside of Crested Butte! [Note: DO NOT forage for mushrooms unless you are with or ARE a trained expert. Eating the wrong mushrooms can make you very ill or even kill you.]

erin models the porcini on the trail

How timely to find my first porcini of the season because I have a recipe I’ve been waiting to post since last year’s porcini season ended. Most of the year, if you are eating porcini, it has been dried and rehydrated. But during this magical period in summer when the rains come and the mushrooms flush, you can enjoy fresh porcinis. I had them with burgers.

little bouchons

butter, white wine, gruyere, porcinis, ground beef, brioche buns

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Recipe: caterpillar sushi roll burger

The two week pine tree orgy is over and the pine pollen no longer rains down on you when the wind blows around here. That stuff does a number on my respiratory system such that all workouts have been indoors. I dare say I think it’s safe to venture out into the hills again. Our yard grows wild, literally. We have no lawn, just weeds and native grasses. But those “weeds” have begun sprouting the colors of summer. I love it.

indian paintbrush and yarrow

arnica and baby aspens

Everyone is doing their thing in summer, because it’s summer! Even the bugs. On a hike in Crested Butte a few weeks ago, we paused to observe some caterpillars in a nest. As we continued around the lake, the caterpillars still on my mind, my thoughts turned to caterpillar rolls in sushi bars. Of course, right? I’ve played around with the burgerfication of various favorite dishes, especially sushi rolls. And I even made a caterpillar sushi roll burger over a year ago, I just didn’t like it. So I shelved the photos and recipe – until I saw those caterpillars. What I realized was that the bun I used ruined the entire dish for me (us). It was the first (and last) time I ever tried Rudi’s. The bread was dry, crumbly, bland, and basically disintegrated after the first bite. I was so disappointed.

beef patties, buns, eel (unagi), nori (seaweed), lettuce, avocado, tomato, unagi sauce

I’m looking for a certain texture and flavor in my burger buns. I like the bread to be slightly sweet, soft and tender, structurally competent, buttery if possible, and fluffy. Walking through our mountain town grocery store, I spotted some barbecue buns (intended for pulled pork). They fit the bill.

cut the unagi

prep the fixings

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Recipe: chili cheese fries

It’s been a working weekend over here, both of us sitting at our computers processing photos or data, listening to my recent compilation of songs from the 80s and 90s. [I’m realizing that was a really long time ago.] We took a break on Saturday to go over to our favorite neighbors’ house for dinner. They served grouse, which they hunt each year in Canada. We’ve never had grouse before, although we’ve seen and heard a lot of them on mountain trails. The meat is sweet and tender, an absolute treat on top of the wonderful evening spent chatting with people we like. As we walked across the driveway to go back home, their flood light caught snowflakes racing past in night. By morning, our local hill had reported a foot of fresh snow for this, their closing day of the season. Dear snow, where the hell were you in December?! We scarfed down some breakfast while pulling on our ski pants and rushing out the door. This is Colorado. You don’t turn down a foot of freshies!

happy and rosy-cheeked after catching the powder

There is MOAR snow on the way too. Folks on the lift were bemoaning the snow that would come after the end of the ski season. Most of the big mountains have shut down their operations. Heck, I’m just getting started. The backcountry beckons (after the snowpack stabilizes – it has been a horrendous avalanche year). I still reminisce about skiing fresh powder on the first day of summer in 2011. One can always hope.

No matter what is flying through the air – be it snowflakes or hummingbirds, there are some foods that have no season… like chili cheese fries. Oh, I remember the first time I was introduced to chili cheese fries my freshman year in Southern California. What insane deliciousness was this?! I’ll tell you what it was. It was a pile of greasy hot french fries, fake orange cheese, and a glop of chili (I use the term loosely). These days we still indulge in the occasional chili cheese fries, but we tend to opt for a more flavorful and healthy homemade version.

cheddar cheese, potatoes, chili, salt, pepper, cayenne, olive oil

slice the potatoes

place in a pot and cover with cold water

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