Fresh from Colorado's Farms to Our Table

My mouth is already watering for tomorrow morning’s trip to the Dillon farmers market, twenty minutes down the road and around the lake from our Breckenridge, Colorado home.

My favorite organic farmer who has provided me with salad greens, fresh herbs and squash blossoms for the past several years wasn’t there – I heard she has moved on to Vail – but in her place I discovered Pastures of Plenty out of Longmont, Colorado. Their gorgeous display of home-grown organic baby lettuces, an heirloom variety of speckled salad greens called “Flash Trout Back”, deep purple-red baby beet greens, and rainbow Swiss chard – all beautifully displayed in giant woven baskets – was all it took to send my creative culinary juices into overdrive. As I filled my canvas bags with some of each variety, I could already envision the pretty-as-a-picture salads Randy and I would enjoy for the next several nights, and as I’m still preparing occasional meals for our next door neighbor recovering from a broken ankle, I knew I’d have the joy of sharing the wealth.

At last, I discovered Jumpin’ Good Goat Dairy from Buena Vista, Colorado. This small dairy is reportedly one of the nation’s fastest-growing commercial cheese makers, and I love that they are dedicated to sustainable farming. With forty varieties of farm-made goat cheese, this one-year old dairy knocked my socks off with their award-winning, soft “Lemon Dill” cheese and their firmer “First Snow” goat cheese marbled with vegetable ash. Jumpin’ Good’s Don Kanagy explained the vegetable ash adds no flavor to the cheese, but mellows it by modifying the cheese’s acidity. I purchased a portion of each, and Don tucked an extra wedge of “First Snow” into my bag, probably because I had tasted several samples and kept telling him how fabulous it was.

Meals on Wheels a la Christy

It happened again last week. I had to mobilize my “meals on wheels” kitchen. Each time a relative, friend or neighbor is in need of a little tender loving care, I break out my favorite comfort food recipes and start cookin’. The result is a series of meals that are packed into containers and loaded into my car for transport to the one who is in need of nourishment for body and soul.

This time is was a Colorado friend and neighbor who fell and broke his ankle in three places while spraying trees to prevent pine beetle infestation – Ouch! After surgery and a brief overnight hospital stay, he’s home recovering for the next few months under the care of his sweet wife. The meals are for both of them during this ordeal.

My philosophy on all this is that we may not be able to change the world, but we can make a pretty good dent by using the gifts we’re given. In my case, it’s meals lovingly prepared to improve a friend’s situation and brighten their day. For someone else, it may be picking up the mail, watering plants, walking a dog, reading to a friend, mowing the grass, or running a few errands. We’re all blessed with abilities that can be invaluable to others when their lives are disrupted, and what a joy it is to watch another’s face light up when we show up with one of those inner “gifts”.

Culinary Words of Wisdom

I’ve just returned to Swan’s Nest from the International Association of Culinary Professionals annual conference in Portland, Oregon – a happenin’ city when it comes to food, wine, beer, coffee, tea, and all things culinary. Portland is one of the key places in the United States to learn about culinary trends, because as host city committee chair Mike Thelin describes it, Portland’s residents are “obsessed with food”. And why not – so much of Oregon’s fertile land is used for food production. Here, the population understands where their food is sourced, from wine to berries, and fish to quail.

Conference attendees were focused on issues such as sustainability, local sourcing, eating lighter, and the role of food as a way of life, not just a way of supporting life. By the end of the week, I had spent time with food and wine producers; learned how earthquakes and the shifting of the earth’s plates under the ocean millions of years ago literally gave rise to three distinctive growing conditions in Oregon’s Willamette Valley – world renown for its Pinot Noirs and acclaimed for Pinot Gris and Chardonnay; and I had learned tips for reaching out more effectively to culinary schools, cooking class students, my readers, and fans of celebrating Home and Family.

There were a couple of highlights for me during the conference. One was the class led by IACP member, Art Institute Culinary School of San Fransico instructor and dear friend, Linda Carucci. Chef Carucci’s class wasn’t about how to cook, it was about how to teach through student interaction, fun activities, quickly assessing the background cooking class students bring to class and what they already know, and class goal. So there we were, eating Jelly Bellys while holding our noses to learn how flavors are perceived by our taste buds, and learning how to season dishes while discovering how salt brings out the flavor of individual ingredients in a recipe. It was fascinating.

Another highlight was the “Wild and Rare” dinner I attended in a private banquet room in Portland’s Heathman Hotel. I had actually dined in The Heathman the evening of my arrival, and the perfectly-cooked tender lamb chops and Oregon Pinot Noir I enjoyed that evening were superb. The focus of the “Wild and Rare” dinner was twofold – learning about Oregon’s sustainable wild game industry and memorable wines while chatting with the producers who contributed to our meal. I was fortunate to be seated with two of the producers who supplied the elk, rabbit, and quail from Nicky Farms. Guest chefs from some of Portland’s finest restaurants joined The Heathman’s chefs Andrew Biggs, Philippe Boulot, and Karl Zenk in creating this deliciously memorable evening that ended with a demonstration on the art of pulling sugar by pastry chef Daniel Jasso of “Genoa”.

As I settle once more into our lives at Swan’s Nest, I’ve come home with a renewed passion in meeting and learning from our local food producers. I look forward to sharing my discoveries with you.

-Christy

The Photo Shoot

After months of anticipation, an ambitious schedule to finish construction of Swan’s Nest’s kitchen addition, and in a final blur of major appliance, cabinetry, and countertop installations – plus a full week of removing every trace of dust – the weeklong photo shoot of Swan’s Nest’s kitchens, baths, and other areas of our 1898 historic home has wrapped up. During the photo shoot, the days started early and lasted well into the dinner hour, the crew who moved seamlessly through our home was terrific, and I had a blast!

This was a photo shoot for Waypoint Living Spaces™, a new cabinetry brand from American Woodmark, but it became much more than photos of our cabinets. Through the gifted eyes of shoot director Connie Edwards, photographer Jim Davis and his assistant Lisa Seamon, and with the decorative genius of Flourish Agency’s Henry Frey and Scott Bell of Cleveland, Ohio, the rooms Randy and I have spent three years carefully restoring and building became something out of Architecture Digest, ready to inspire others who are contemplating simple home projects and major home renovations.

The new kitchen addition replaced an inadequate and cramped side entry, and has become the jewel of Swan’s Nest. This is the kitchen where most of my television cooking shows will be filmed, where I’ll teach cooking classes and host photo shoots. It’s also the kitchen where our family, friends, and colleagues will hang out. It had to be great – and it is. Here, Waypoint provided maple cabinets with a mocha glaze to highlight the beauty of the mountains outside our windows and create a feeling of warmth in a region where it snows 8 months of the year. “Space Black” Zodiaq® quartz countertops provide elegance and drama with copper-colored translucent particles that reflect light and complement the mocha glaze, and once again, stainless steel KitchenAid major appliances provide the technology and ease-of-use I need to create memorable, nutritious recipes and meals for my family, television shows, and cookbooks.

Back In The Kitchen

I’m back in the kitchen this week after a break to take care of my mother in Illinois following her hip surgery. My sister, Lynn joined me for the week and we worked as a team to care for our parents – one who had had surgery, and the other who was exhausted from his “night nurse” duties.

Our two younger sisters Nancy and Judy were in Illinois the week prior, and brilliantly handled Mom’s immediate post-operative days. By the time Lynn and I arrived, our mom was starting to move into the next level of care – frequent, but not constant. As she grew stronger and started to take an interest in other things, my sister and I began to spend more time in the kitchen. For three and a half days, we cooked like wild women, not only preparing nutritious daily meals, but also filling Mom’s freezers with meals for weeks to come.

So here I am, once again in my own kitchen, or should I say kitchens. Swan’s Nest has two kitchens – the smaller “old” kitchen that was once the home office of 1800’s gold baron Ben Revett, and the “new” kitchen we added on while restoring the house these past three years.

For months, my husband Randy and I have been working to complete the new kitchen in time for a mid-March photo shoot, and we’re almost finished. Today, I’m wiping down the cabinet exteriors and interiors – not a very glamorous job, but a necessary one if I’m going to move all my cookware and “pretties” into the cupboards in time for the photo shoot. But it could be worse. Randy has the job of washing the wall of windows on the South side of the kitchen. Better Randy than I! After doing windows much of the morning, he took off for an afternoon of downhill skiing in fresh powder at Keystone.

One would think after whipping up 32 meals with my sister in just under four days, I would turn to frozen dinners now that I’m home, but I love cooking no matter what the circumstances. Last night, I created the most divine Colorado lamb chop recipe with a blackberry glaze, and it was so easy, I want to share it with you. You’re going to love it!

-Christy

Season the lamb chops with coarse salt and pepper. Preheat a large skillet over medium heat, add the oil, and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Add the meat to the pan and cook 4 to 5 minutes until the meat is brown. Turn the meat over and cook 4 to 5 minutes to brown the remaining side. Turn the meat over again and cook until it is pink inside, about 4 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chops.

Transfer the meat to a platter and cover to keep it warm. Add the garlic to the pan and sauté 1 minute. Deglaze the pan with wine and beef broth, stirring to loosen brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the blackberry preserves and stir until the preserves have melted. Cook the sauce several minutes until it has thickened and reduced by half. Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, spoon the sauce around the lamb chops and garnish them with fresh rosemary.

Yield: 2 to 4 servings