MAGAZINES 
Fall recipes for a town of unflappable food & fashion
By Carol Brock
Boulder has the distinction of being both well fed and poorly dressed. According to an “irrefutable” 2011 poll by GQ magazine, we’re ranked No. 40 in their list of the nation’s worst-dressed communities (although they did say we’re the best-looking naked people). Even though we dress like crap, we eat high on the hog, as Bon Appétit attested by naming us America’s Foodiest Town in 2010.
So don’t feel too bad about pulling on your sweats and jogging over to one of our town’s amazing restaurants. Whether you crave mainstream cuisine—with innovative twists, of course—or something more exotic, you’ll find it all in Boulder County.
Not into dining out tonight? You can still wear your sweats while preparing some of America’s best food with these easy, mostly vegetarian recipes supplied by local chefs in our Foodiest Town (one recipe uses chicken stock). All recipes feature seasonal ingredients for the freshest fare, so invite your friends over to taste these great fall dishes.
Bon appétit, and if you want to look your best, cook naked!
Restaurant 4580’s Golden Beet & Goat Cheese Salad
Created by Chef Jeff Barbour
Honey-Sherry Vinaigrette
1 tablespoon white-clover honey
2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
2 teaspoons canola oil
Salad
2 cups loosely packed Jay Hill Farms arugula
1 large roasted golden beet, diced*
2 tablespoons Haystack Mountain goat cheese
3-6 crostini (the restaurant uses toasted baguettes)
Dressing to taste
Toss salad with desired amount of dressing and serve with crostini. For gluten-free, crumble goat cheese directly onto the salad and omit crostini. Serves 1-2.
*To cook beets: Salt and pepper the beets and 1 whole shallot. Add a halved lemon and toss all with olive oil. Roast 1 hour for every inch of the beets’ width at 300˚ F. After beets cool, rub off skin.
Brasserie Ten Ten’s Maple-Bourbon Acorn Squash
Created by Chef Anthony Hessel
½ cup bourbon, preferably Maker’s Mark
¼ cup maple syrup, Vermont or New York Grade B
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
½ lemon, juice and zest
1 whole short sprig of fresh rosemary, leaves and stem
2 acorn squash (approximately 1½ pounds each), split in half and seeds removed
1½ tablespoons coarse sea salt
1 tablespoon butter
1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil and set aside.
2. Put bourbon in a saucepan, bring to a simmer over low heat and reduce by half.
3. Add maple syrup, bay leaves, peppercorns, lemon juice and zest, and rosemary. Simmer for 20 minutes, strain and set aside. If mixture reduces too much, add a few tablespoons of water so it is not so thick.
4. Dust acorn squash with coarse sea salt and glaze the entire squash with most of the maple-bourbon mixture.
5. Place the squash, flesh side down, on the baking sheet and place in preheated 350˚F oven. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on size. (After a half hour, check the squash with a fork every 10 minutes until it feels tender.)
6. Remove from oven, flip the squash over and coat flesh lightly with remaining maple-bourbon glaze. Let squash cool until you can scoop out the flesh.
7. Place squash in a bowl and add 1 tablespoon butter, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and serve. Serves 4.
The Mediterranean’s Juniper-Roasted Beets
Created by Chef Anthony Hessel
3 pounds organic or local red, Chioggia or golden beets (do not mix colors!), left whole and rinsed. Remove the leaves and save for another use, if you like, but do not cut into the beets.
1 tablespoon + ½ teaspoon salt
½ tablespoon black pepper
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
3 garlic cloves, whole
2 tablespoons + ½ teaspoon juniper berries, dried and crushed
2 bay leaves
½ cup water
1. Place rinsed beets, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and ¼ cup olive oil in a large mixing bowl, toss well and set aside.
2. Place the onion, celery, carrot, garlic, 2 tablespoons juniper berries, and bay leaves in the bottom of a roasting pan, and place the olive oil-tossed beets on top.
3. Add water and seal the roasting pan with aluminum foil.
4. Place pan in preheated 350˚ F oven and roast for 45 minutes. Check the vegetables after 20 minutes, and then every 10 minutes until you can pierce the beets with a fork.
5. Remove pan from oven and let vegetables cool, approximately 2 hours.
6. Remove beets from pan and discard other vegetables, or save for future use.
7. Peel beets and chop into 1-inch wedges or cubes.
8. Toss beets in a mixing bowl with the remaining olive oil, juniper berries and salt. Serve chilled or at room temperature. Serves 6.
Sugarbeet’s Pumpkin & Quinoa-Stuffed Poblanos
Created by Chef Seth Witherspoon
4 large poblano peppers
2 cups red quinoa
1 small Full Circle Farm “Rouge vif d’ Etampes” pumpkin
½ cup yellow onion, diced
½ cup celery, diced
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 small pomegranate cut in half, seeds tapped out with a wooden spoon and reserved
2 cups sour cream
1 cup walnuts, toasted
3 tablespoons flat parsley (leaves only), chopped
1. Prepare peppers by fire-roasting them, and peel off all char. Make a lengthwise incision big enough to admit a tablespoon, and remove all seeds. Set aside.
2. Cook two cups dried quinoa as indicated on packaging and season to your liking.
3. Peel and deseed pumpkin, dice into small, ¼-inch cubes. Steam diced pumpkin for 8 minutes or until tender.
4. Sauté onions and celery in olive oil and add to quinoa.
5. Once quinoa mixture has rested, fold in pumpkin and veggies, and gently stuff the peppers with the quinoa mixture. Lay peppers on an oiled baking sheet to reheat (15 minutes in 350˚ F oven).
6. Mix sour cream and walnuts in a food processor and pulse until smooth.
7. Spoon walnut cream sauce over peppers and garnish with pomegranate seeds and parsley. Serves 4.
Agave’s Crema de Poblano Soup
Created by Chef Olivia Vasquez
3 pounds roasted poblano peppers (skin and seeds removed), chopped ¼ cup chicken stock*
2 cups queso cotija cheese, grated
½ bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
½ pound cooked potatoes, chopped
2 cups heavy cream*
4 cloves fresh garlic, pressed
½ red bell pepper, cut into very thin strips
1. Mix all ingredients except red bell pepper in a pot and simmer for 1 hour. Let cool and transfer in batches to a food processor or blender, and process until creamy.
2. Reheat soup in pot, transfer to bowls and garnish with red bell pepper strips. Serve with Mexican bread and jalapeño jelly. Serves 4.
* Editor’s note: You could adjust the proportions of stock and cream to suit your tastes, using, for example, 2 cups chicken stock and ¼-½ cup heavy cream, or more to taste. l
Carol Brock is the editor of Boulder County Home & Garden Magazine.
Share:
