Goat Cheese Truffles, Lemon, Herb, Beet Vinaigrette, Raspberry Balsamic, Lavash, Black Figs, Turkish Olive Oil

Seared Scallop, Squid Ink Vinaigrette, Saffron Aioli, Boar Bacon Jam, Fried Sage, Celery Root Puree, Grilled Artichoke Hearts

Black Mission Fig, White Cheddar Crumbs, Spiced Apples, Olive Oil Powder,

Colorado Beef, Ruby Red Trout, Juniper Butter, White Asparagus, Oven Dried Tomatoes, Wild Mushrooms

Main Course from a dinner tonight

Butternut Squash, 5 Spice Popcorn, Goat Cheese, Micro Sage

New Soup for the menu starting on Monday October 8th....

Harvesting our Herbs before the Snow Falls

 This is a few pictures of our herb garden here at the Craftwood Inn.  Since we had an official freeze alert, all the herbs had to be harvested and preserved for the winter.  The kitchen is now full of herbs drying or being vacuum sealed to be freeze dried.  I'm looking forward to the spring time arriving and planting many items for the spring and summer menus.

The Back Door of My Kitchen Leads to the Mountains and a Garden

Fall Menu

Just finished writing the first draft of the new fall menu for Craftwood Inn located in Manitou Springs, CO and I think it's a good first step.  Here is a small taste for now until we roll out on Monday....

Pastrami Spiced Ostrich
Golden Beets, Red Grapes, Cabbage, Fingerling Potato, Mustard Seeds, Cured Onions, Rye Croutons

 

Rocky Mountain Elk
Roasted Apple Risotto, Crushed Hazelnuts, Fontina, Nutella Powder, Wild Mushrooms, Arugula 
 
Red Deer
Rosemary Milk, Black Garlic, Potato Puree, Honey Marinated Figs, Root Vegetable Pickles
 
Nilgai Antelope
Roasted Butternut Squash, Caramelized Brussel Sprouts,  Black Olive Dust, White Cheddar, Whipped Potato

A new chapter begins....

Brother Luck is new executive chef at the Craftwood Inn

September 13, 2012 9:33 AM

By TERESA J. FARNEY

teresa.farney@gazette.com

There’s a new day dawning for the culinary team at the Craftwood Inn, 404 El Paso Blvd., in Manitou Springs, starting with the hire of Brother Luck as executive chef. Luck was the award-winning executive sous chef at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort until 2010. He transferred with Benchmark Hospitality to take an executive chef position at a property in San Antonio, Texas.

“I am so excited to allow Brother to put his personal and professional mark on the cuisine at the Craftwood Inn,” said Dave Symonds, owner of the restaurant. “Truth be known, we have been ‘working on’ Brother Luck for some time and finally we were able to talk him away from the big corporate environment so that he can showcase his true talent.”

There had been a couple of executive chef changes at the Craftwood Inn in recent months: Ben Hoffer left Feb. 1 and was replaced by Dave Cottrill, who left just a few months later in May. Tim Richardson has been the interim chef.

Symonds has added other members to his food and beverage staff.

“Over the years we have assembled a team in the front house that he (Luck) is very comfortable with, too,” he said. “E.J. Kelley worked with Brother at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort, running their dining room, and Steve Kander is our sommelier and he too worked with Brother at the Resort.”

Luck takes the helm of the Craftwood Inn kitchen Sept. 17.

“Expect to see exciting things from the Craftwood Inn,” said Symonds.

Call 685-9000. Visit craftwood.com.

http://www.coloradosprings.com/articles/teresa-16394-farney-chef.html

Farewell San Antonio Paella Party

 So yesterday I was invited to a Sunday dinner amongst friends and was totally surprised to find out that it was actually a surprise going away party for my upcoming departure.  Yes, I'm leaving San Antonio once again and returning back to Colorado in the next few days.  Leslie Horne (who is the maker of Aurelia's Chorizo..http://aureliaschorizo.com/... Amazing by the way) and Troy Knapp (Executive Chef of the Hyatt Hill Country Resort) got together and invited an all star cast of local foodies to send me off in style.  The biggest surprise of my arrival was that I had been given the task of cooking the main course for everyone which was to be a traditional paella...Now for those who don't know, this is the signature dish at our restaurant downtown "Las Ramblas" located in the Hotel Contessa and we serve over 250 of these a month (much smaller portions of course).  Leslie and I met at a local paella challenge a few months back and I enjoyed her Spanish chorizo so much that we started serving it in the restaurant.  I've known Troy for a few years and can always expect him to host a great party or bust out a flamenco guitar at any moment which of course he eventually did.  

As I was ushered into the kitchen and handed a clean apron, they began to show me all the ingredients provided for my paella challenge.  Opening the refrigerator I found smoked pork belly, chicken thighs, black mussels, littleneck clams, head on shrimp, spanish chorizo, calamari, and of course 2 bags of calasparra rice sitting on the counter.  After securing some onions, peppers, garlic, tomatoes, paprika, and saffron I enlisted my sous chef who was happily drinking in the crowd.  Once he was given an apron as well (Yeah, I totally made him help) we went into the back yard and fired up the propane tank with an enormous paella pan waiting for our arrival.  After some quick knife work and stock preparation we started to build the flavors one ingredient at a time.  The smoked pork belly was rendered in hot fat and then set aside.  Next the chicken thighs were caramelized in the pork fat and removed.  The head on shrimp got a quick dance in the pan before we started to make the sofrito.  Red peppers, onions, garlic, tomatoes, paprika, saffron were all cooked together before we added the calasparra rice.

The rice was toasted before adding the first baptism of stock which was fortified with the chicken bones, lobster shells, shrimp shells, and vegetable scraps.  Now the hard part began which required socializing, enjoy a few glasses of wine, snacking on some great tapas, and monitoring the temperature to ensure the rice was cooking evenly.  Once the rice started to swell, we would add a few more ladles of stock and slowly simmer again and again for about 20 minutes.  Towards the end of the cooking process, we started to garnish the paella rice with all of our reserved proteins.  At the very end of the dish, I cranked the heat up to finish reducing the liquid and begin building the famed soccarat, a crispy almost burnt caramelization that occurs on the bottom of the pan ... After a final nod of approval between my sous chef and myself we started serving up plates and enjoying the fruits of our labor.  I felt truly honored to cook for this amazing group and also throw down with my sous chef Joseph Carrejo one last time.  This was a great way to close this chapter on my career and begin moving on to the next.  As a chef, I truly love cooking for others but even more so when it's people who share my passion. - Brother Luck

Lamb Shoulder, Squash Blossoms, Brussel Leaves, Dried Tapenade, Fingerling Potato Confit, and Queso Fresco

This dish was inspired was two different products that arrived straight from the farm.  The first was some lamb shoulders from Twin County and then 2 clam shells of baby squashes with blossoms still attached arrived this morning.  We wanted to create a dish that felt like the in between time of summer leaving and fall arriving.  The lamb shoulder was rubbed with lemon, garlic, rosemary, and garlic.  After I tied the shoulder into roulades with butchers twine, I made a salt crust.  The egg whites were mixed with some salt and packed onto the lamb shoulders.  We roasted them for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees before cracking the shells and slicing thin medallions of lamb.  The squash blossoms and fruit were served in multiple variations; baby squash parpadelle, raw squash blossom petals, and zucchini preserves.

Texas Quail, Foie Gras Torchon and Powder, Duck Confit Arancini, Blood Orange Gastrique, Pickled Fennel, Red Wine Onions, Rabbit Succotash

So this dish has been evolving in my head over the last 3 or 4 days and I've finally had some time to put my thoughts on the plate. I'm thinking the dish will pair better with poached pheasant breast and  making the arancinis out of pheasant leg confit to utilize the whole bird.  Overall I'm happy with this dish and will continue enhancing the flavors over the next few weeks before it's hits a dining room table.  The foie gras torchon is sliced and garnished with foie gras powder (foie fat from poaching liquid solidified overnight and mixed with tapioca maltodextrin).  The arancinis (meaning little oranges resembling their color and shape) are hand rolled spheres of creamy risotto with chopped duck confit folded in at the last minute.  The quail breast are glazed with a blood orange reduction and underneath is a mixture of rabbit pancetta, pistachios, sweet corn, portabello mushrooms, and red bell peppers.  Pickled fennel, red onions, and fronds garnish the dish with fresh blackberry to balance the fat and acidity.