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Recipe: red bell pepper honey vinaigrette

I’m out of the cave. ‘Tis a good thing.

Back when we were in Crested Butte for the wildflower shoot, Jeremy and I got chased off Daisy Pass by thunderstorms. I don’t mind shooting in rainy weather, but high winds are a deal breaker. This stormy weather lasted for a few hours each afternoon, so we’d take the opportunity to roll into the town of Crested Butte and grab a bite. As I’ve mentioned before, we know the backcountry around Crested Butte better than the town itself because we’ve always driven through it rather than walked around in it. It wasn’t until last summer when we met up with my aunt’s family for dinner one evening (we were shooting, they were on vacay) that we had a meal in town.

prayer flags

The first stop was Secret Stash for some pizza and salad. We get this way when we’re spending a lot of time hiking and shooting – we crave fresh vegetables. You know what I love about mountain towns? You can look like complete hell and smell worse and it’s okay. I nearly fell asleep in my salad, but we still had another 5 hours of shooting.

gringo greek salad

they are famous for their pizzas

The second day we moseyed down the main drag to grab a bite and chose a place at random – McGill’s. It’s a nice place for lunch. We both opted for salads. Jeremy ordered a seared ahi tuna salad and I had the blackened grilled skirt steak salad. The dressing was so good that I asked if they shared their recipe and was told that they don’t. Really? Okay… it’s not like they don’t give half of it away in the name of the dressing: red bell pepper honey vinaigrette. As Jeremy settled up the tab, I tasted the dregs and identified the flavors and jotted them down on my iphone. Guess what I did when we got home?

we’ll start with red bell peppers

and some honey

It’s not hard to deconstruct these things, so that’s what I did. I’m not much of a recipe developer. I don’t have that kind of patience. Salad dressings are relatively simple though. I could do this. I used some of the honey I had leftover from a client’s shoot. Have you heard of Grampa’s Gourmet Honey? They are local here in Colorado and the honey products are as gorgeous as they are delightful.

that blender is getting a lot of use this summer

red wine vinegar

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Recipe: chinese sweet mung bean popsicles

When I posted last week about Chinese sweet red bean (adzuki) soup I got a few comments from people about mung bean soup. Mung beans are green and slightly smaller than adzuki beans. They are another favorite of mine, although if red beans and green beans went head to head, red beans would win 9 times out of 10 for me.

pictures always help, because the word “beans” is a little vague

beautiful little green beans

So yes, you can make a sweet mung bean soup just like you make the sweet adzuki bean soup although you don’t need to soak these beans since they’re smaller. You want an 8:1 ratio of water to beans. Bring to boil, reduce to a simmer, and simmer simmer simmer until the beans are soft (about 90 minutes for me).

add plenty of water

the beans are practically falling apart

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Recipe: blue cornmeal-crusted green chiles

On the way into the house the other day, Jeremy and I paused to admire a salsify puffball in our yard. It’s a weed. People always call them giant dandelions, but they are salsify. I like the weeds that grow in my yard. Sometimes I think people worry so much about things they want, things they don’t have, that they overlook those wonderful, simple gifts that are right under their noses.

a gift

My freezer is no different. In the heat of summer, that door opens and closes – a parade of liquids marching in and frozen treats marching out. Every time I have to make room for a new batch of frozens, I engage in the nontrivial task of rearranging the contents of the freezer. Sometimes I’ll delve into the depths of the freezer and unearth (read: rediscover) amazing finds. Delightful little gems… This week?

roasted hatch green chiles

topped, skinned, deseeded

I covet these green chiles. Each October the state of New Mexico goes gangbusters with the chile harvest. Yeah yeah, I’ve seen peppers roasting at farmer’s markets in California and in Colorado, but with the exception of Pagosa Springs, they were roasting Anaheims and Poblanos, NOT Hatch green chiles, and there is a difference. My aunt lives near Santa Fe and scores me several bags each year. I usually break into one bag immediately and then squirrel the rest away. It isn’t until summer when I realize that October is not that far off and I’d better make some headway into these green chiles so I can make room for MORE come autumn.

dredge in blue cornmeal

pan fry

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