The Gourmet Guy

Indian Chai/Chicken Curry
By Pemba Sherpa – Sherpa Café, Gunnison and Crested Butte
(Dedicated to the people of Nepal)

Indian Chai
(Makes five cups)
1/4 cup of Chai tea leaves or seeds
2 cinnamon sticks
About 1/4 cup of cardamom seeds
(Break up the cardamom to release the flavor)
Small piece of ginger
2-3 pinches of black pepper
About 1 tablespoon of sugar
1 or more liters of milk (depending on how strong you want the Chai)
2 cups of water

In a pot, mix Chai tea leaves, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, black pepper, sugar and water. Bring to a boil for at least a minute, then add the milk and bring to a boil again. Strain the liquid into a cup, and the Chai is ready.

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The Delectable Dandelion

By Doann Houghton-Alico

What? You think there’s a typo in the headline? No, as it turns out, every bit of this plant is edible, and in France, certainly known as an international culinary center, they are grown as a commercial crop. In fact, the name is from the French dent de lion or lion’s tooth for their serrated leaves.

The deer and our climate and lack of water make picture-book green lawns a rarity here, but if you’re one who yearns for that, you hate them; even gardeners pull them up every chance they get. But wait! There’s another side to these ubiquitous plants.

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Pesto from the Almost-Summer Garden

By Susan Tweit

Summer’s almost here, and our kitchen garden is loving the heat after a truly weird winter and spring, including more wind and less precipitation between October and May than any time in the century-plus that weather records have been kept in this valley.

May brought a detour back to the weather we might have had in March and April, including some precipitation, with a wet snow on May first, an all-day rain ten days later, and then a cold period that had me leaving the row covers on some beds in the kitchen garden all day, not just at night. The warm-weather plants, including the tomatoes, basil, and Japanese eggplants sulked.

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green cat gallery crab dip

 by Steph Brady

I’ve been making this crab dip for 16 of the 19 years of Salida Art Walk. I used to offer other appetizers but once I started offering this particular dip the patrons wouldn’t hear of me serving anything else. I serve this on Friday night and often, shrimp ceveché on Saturday. Many of my patrons come in on Friday just to sample this crab dip. Some have been coming for all of the 16 years. It’s almost like a green cat staple and it’s not unusual to serve 50 to 120 people. This dip is easy to make and takes only minutes. Now, I’m a cook that never measures – it’s a little of this or that – so I’ve tried to convey what I do. I usually make about four times this recipe for Art Walk.

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Recipe – Fideo (and Old Friends)

Fideo sounds like a dance, maybe a Rumba, or the sound when you discover something you’ve lost, like “Eureka!” This simple and satisfying pasta dish is all of the above. Origins unknown, it arrived on the plates and palates of the lost and weary time travelers Donna, Ruth and Jan, originally from Long Island, New York. Now the story really begins. Hungry from their journey to Salida for a high school reunion, the ingredients arrive in the hands of a local gal, ready to cook. Soon the steam was rising from the pan and the smell of the spices piqued the nose. Having been one of those individuals arriving from afar nothing could have smelt or tasted better.

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Roubideau Rabbit Cacciatore

Courtesy of Joseph Coniglio of Robideau Farm to You

3249 1600 Road
Delta, Colorado 81416
(970) 399-7175

This is a simple recipe and an inspiration to all hunters and the wives and children of hunters.

It has given much warm satisfaction bringing home the hunt and serving it warm by late afternoon before retiring next to the fireplace with a glass of cognac or burbon. My father did just that where we lived on the Canadian border. Dad brought the rabbit(s) home, us boys skinned and cleaned them, and mom did the cooking…

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