Festive Appetizers, Noted Chefs
Tricks of the trade from Vail Valley's finest chef's and their spectacular creations
With a Little Help From The Chefs
Preparations are complete as guests begin to arrive. The dazzle of the holidays is in the air. And you have a secret: A selection of appetizers that adds brilliance to the evening and delights them all.
Vail Valley’s chefs do this every day — planning and creating delicious food to please customers. Tonight you have borrowed from their expertise.
For this holiday issue, Vail-Beaver Creek Magazine presents a variety of recipes provided by select area chefs to celebrate the holidays and satisfy our taste buds.
Cocktails and Spicy Shrimp
Centre V in Lionshead’s Arrabelle at Vail Square has a new chef who comes to the French brasserie after two years at Game Creek Restaurant on Vail Mountain. Chef de Cuisine Darrell Jensen’s three-year apprenticeship under Master Chef Raimund Hofmeister, was followed by work at the Los Angeles Country Club and Michel Richard’s Citrus. The opportunity to open the Snake River Grill in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, brought him to the mountains.
He knows everyone loves to try the shrimp cocktail at a party. His recipe of Roast Shrimp with Spicy Cocktail Sauce can be made ahead and cooled or cooked and eaten immediately. He marinates and roasts the shrimp, which gives it an exciting flavor. He then adds lime juice, garlic, and smoke-dried jalapeno pepper (aka chipotle) to the sauce for a little kick.
Holiday Cranberries
Terra Bistro’s executive chef and part-owner, Kevin Nelson, combines flavor, color, and a balance of nutritious ingredients to produce his Cranberry Butternut Yogurt Cheese Spread. The result is a tasty yogurt spread that can be used for hors d’oeuvres on crackers or toast points. At his restaurant in the Vail Mountain Lodge and Spa, Chef Nelson’s menu is 100 percent natural and 75-85 percent organic all the time.
Wintery Mussels
Chef Gunther Schmidt of Alpenrose Restaurant says winter is the best time to enjoy mussels. He chose Steamed Mussels Brunoise in a traditional seasoned stock for their simplicity. His cooking background in Vail includes the legendary Blue Cow of the town’s early days, the Red Lion and its Flambé Room, Lancelot, Lord Gore, and Ambrosia.
For Chef Schmidt, his choice was a toss-up between the steamed mussels and marinated Herring in a sour cream sauce with potato latkes, “The latkes go down well with wine. They feel good to eat with a cocktail because they are marinated.”
The Delights of Soup
Spago in the Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch is known for the presentation of stunning foods, thanks to creator Wolfgang Puck. Executive Chef Mark Ferguson offers his Cauliflower Soup and suggests garnishes that might include caramelized cauliflower, parsley and curry powder, or black truffles. The soup is served, and final preparations are made tableside.
The Restaurants
The elegant surroundings of Centre V set the stage for its more relaxed lunch menu, just like a French brasserie. Facing the mountain next to Lionshead’s “ski yard,” this restaurant invites anyone with even a tinge of hunger to sit down, relax, and partake. Appetizers on the dinner menu feature fruits de mer (those are the stars of seafood: oysters, shrimp, clams, mussels, lobster tail, calamari salad, and periwinkles). For a delicious and hearty appetizer, there’s the Swiss dish “melting raclette,” with new potatoes, Swiss raclette cheese and garnishes.
Terra Bistro takes eating for health seriously. A member of the Rocky Mountain Growers Directory, the restaurant supports local farmers and their garden-fresh ingredients, including Colorado wines. “My cuisine is influenced by Southwest, Mediterranean, and Asian cultures,” says Chef Nelson, who has received such honors as being a featured chef for Valbruna, Italy’s wine and food festival, for Festival Gourmet in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and has participated in the kitchen at the James Beard House in Manhattan.
Among the excellent entries in Chef Mark Ferguson’s résumé is the position of chef de cuisine for the opening of Spago in Las Vegas. During his eight-year tenure there, the Colorado native cooked alongside such culinary greats as Paul Bocuse, Thomas Keller, and Alain Ducasse.
Spago has featured a fusion of sustainable, natural, and organic products since the ‘80s and showcases healthy and lighter fare, along with its signature game dishes. With a total commitment to the environment, Chef Ferguson explains that Spago is very conscious toward the ocean and endangered fish. “We don’t go there anymore,” he says.
Steeped in tradition, Alpenrose Restaurant has for decades been known for authentic dishes right out of Europe. Originally from Mainz, Germany, Chef Schmidt apprenticed for three years in the rolling hills of Wiesbaden along the Rhine River not too far from home. He serves traditional German and Austrian cuisine with a broader European emphasis. Alpenrose’s famed pastries can be purchased all day long, eaten in or taken out. Belgian pastry chef Laurent Noel prepares apple strudels, Black Forest cakes, fruit tarts, and chocolate raspberry mousse tarts. You know who you are.
Be they presented simply or theatrically, fine foods made from healthy and reliable products spark a festive atmosphere and warm those chilly evenings among friends.
Rosalie Hill Isom writes, edits, and teaches French through her business, Word for Word. When a writer entertains, directions for preparing new recipes must be followed one word at a time.
