Deseeding a Pomegranate

You can also throw a towel, which you don't mind staining, over the top of the mesh sieve / strainer to keep the seeds from flying out.

Cajeta on Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Cajeta is a Latin dessert delicacy which is essentially a goatsmilk caramel sauce. The key to achieving a rich brown caramel with cajeta is the use of baking soda to increase the pH balance and increase the level of the maillard reaction. This is not quick to prepare, it is time intensive and requires patience, but the results are very memorable.


The preparation is as follows... Put 4 cups goatsmilk (whole fat) into a chef's pan and place on medium heat. Separately place 1 1/2 cups sugar into a saute pan on high heat. Incorporate 1/3 cup cow's milk into the sugar at the start, then incorporate 3/4 tsp baking soda. Bring the sugar mixture to a froth (it will start to rapidly take over your whole saute pan), then remove from heat and combine with the goatsmilk. Bring the mixture to next to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. This is the tedious part ... stir occasionally (like every 2-5 minutes) for the next 60-90 minutes. What you want to avoid is scorching the mixture, so I erred on the side of caution. There might be a better way to improve the cooking time, but the outcome was perfect. My wife is a cajeta addict, and I had promised this to my little ones as a holiday treat, so everyone went to bed happy after this dessert.

Tomato Soup with Pomegranate and Lemon

The goal here was to revisit the pomegranate and tomato flavor pairing in a new format, and determine if a little lemon would accentuate these flavors. This is a very quick soup to prepare, 20-30 minutes total.



Destem and halve 3 pounds of roma / plum tomatoes. Saute the tomatoes in 1/4 cup olive oil and a dash of kosher salt. Deseed 2 large pomegranates. Once the tomatoes have become soft to a gentle press of a spoon in the pan, blend the tomatoes with the pomegranate seeds. Strain the mixture into a chef's pan to remove the bits of the seeds. Warm through and add 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, the juice of 1 lemon, and kosher salt to taste.

Definitely a winning flavor pairing, thanks to the The Flavor Bible for the idea to incorporate lemon with tomato.

Grilled Ham Sandwich with Brie & Roasted Black Mustard

This was a first attempt at finding a flavor pairing with black mustard. The idea was to use a sweet ham, a rich double creme brie, and contrast these with the acidic earthy punch of freshly ground black mustard. The black mustard seeds were toasted over medium heat in a dry skillet for about 4-5 minutes, tossing frequently to avoid burning.


The mustard seeds were ground in a morter and pestle, then this was infused with champagne vinegar and salt. The bread was special too, a whole rye meal bread that is very dense and sliced extremely thin (a German style bread I believe).

The slices of sweet ham were briefly grilled to remove some water, then reserved under a heat lamp. The slices of bread were brushed with grapeseed oil, grilled, and topped with the ham and brie halfway through the cooking process. The black mustard was spread before combining the two halves of the sandwich. The flavors worked well, the black mustard was intriguing, so earthy, but different from the earthiness of a mushroom, it was minerally, slightly picant but had a dry woodiness as the dominant flavor. This worked well with the ham and the brie, but be careful on just using a little else the brie will become overwhelmed.

Top Round Roast with Shallots, Garlic, Rosemary and Thyme

This one really brings out the carnivores as it makes the whole house smell amazing. The prep involves mincing 6 shallots and 12 cloves of garlic. Toss this with a liberal amount of coarse sea salt (e.g. 1/2 a cup), then coat a 3 lb roast with the mixture. Finally coat with rosemary oil (olive oil blended with fresh rosemary leaves and strained). Refridgerate for 2 hours, then remove and allow to warm at room temperature for 1 more hour.




Pop it into a dutch oven, and top with dried rosemary and french thyme. Drizzle the top with a little grapeseed oil and pop it into a 425F oven for 30 minutes. At this point add a temperature probe and reduce the heat to 275F. Remove from the oven when the internal temperature has reached 145F for medium-rare to medium. Allow to rest for 15 minutes, this will let the juices to be evenly distributed.


The marinating helps tenderize the meat and allows some osmosis of the flavors of garlic, shallot, and rosemary; the thyme is just an accent here, but definitely adds to the wonderful aroma. The grapeseed oil and high heat give it a nice crust. This is an easy win with the eyes, nose, and mouth - simple old school eats, but spot on flavor.

Pasta con aglio, olio e pepperoncini

A budget friendly pantry standby and personal classic. I love to eat this when I feel a cold coming on, nothing like a bunch of garlic when you're feeling pekid.



Boil your pasta in well salted water (spaghetti or linguine work fine), then mince 4 galic cloves. In a saute pan, add 1/3 cup olive oil, the minced garlic and 1 tsp red pepper flake. Heat through over medium heat but don't brown the garlic. Once the oil has taken a golden red hue, toss in the pasta along with 1 cup of the pasta water. Let it reduce until the sauce takes on an even consistency, the starch from the pasta water should quickly suspend the oil but let it reduce just a little. A very minimalist and very Italian dish that warms the soul, great with an acidic Italian wine like an Abruzzo or Valpolicella.

Turkey Celery Soup with Avocado and Bacon

The goal was figuring out something new, quick, and cheap with familiar flavors. My infatuation with that turkey broth guided me in this direction. Shopping at Whole Foods, my goal was to get out of there for less than $15 ... you can make this for 4 adults for $13 and have concentrate left over for 3 more quarts of this excellent broth.


Ingredients:
- 3 quarts reconstituted turkey broth
- 4 strips hickory smoked bacon
- 1 head of organic celery, about 6-8 stalks chopped 3/8-1/2 inch thick
- 1 can of navy beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 can of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
- heavy dose of cayenne pepper (1-2 teaspoons)
- 1 loaf of French Boule
- olive oil
- 2 avocados, diced

After reconstituting the broth, bring to a simmer and incorporate the beans. Separately crisp the bacon, pat dry, and dice. Separately cut the boule into wedges, coat each side with olive oil, and grill (a grill pan works fine). Briefly sweat the celery in olive oil and a touch of salt; you want the celery to add texture and be crisp, so when it gets vibrant green, remove from heat and combine with the broth and beans. Incorporate the cayenne, tasting along the way to ensure the soup isn't hot, but it will take a lot of cayenne to make it warm on the palate. Finish with the avocado and bacon and serve with the toasted wedges of bread.

The flavor and texture was hearty and warming on a very cold winter night. Sopping up the broth with the bread was intoxicatingly good, total comfort food and an instant personal classic.

Dry Aged Prime NY Strips, Sunchoke Gratin, Purple Potatoes Pureed with Goat Butter, Steamed Brussel Sprouts

So what happens when you find Dry Aged USDA Prime New York Strips for seven bucks a pound? You immediately turn your kitchen into a steakhouse and share with your friends.


If you live near a Sprouts Farmers Market, run over there to take advantage of this deal; they have to be losing money on this, high grade USDA Choice tenderloin filets run $20-30 a pound, that's probably the average wholesale price for these. Retail on Dry Aged Prime NY Strips goes for $45-55 a pound [1] [2]. More on meet grading [1] [2].

The steaks were brought to room temperature, lightly coated in grapeseed oil, and grilled at 550F. To compete with these, I tried to come up with something special ... sunchoke gratin with parmigiano reggiano fit the bill. Also got a little adventurous with purple potatoes that were pureed with a LOT of goats milk butter and a touch of heavy cream. To act like there was some nutritional value to this meal, I steamed some baby brussel sprouts.


The steaks were served with a compound butter of fresh thyme, toasted shallots, pink peppercorns, and gray sea salt. Everyone raved about the steaks, truly a decadent steakhouse experience as the sunchokes were predictably amazing, and the potatoes were decadent with an exclamation point. But I deserve no credit as this was an example of me getting out of the way of great ingredients.

Obligatory Dicing an Onion Video (Small Dice)

Since I've been a critic on technique in this area, thought I'd put myself out there for criticism as well. This is how I do it, what's your technique? How can I go faster? Very interested in improving technique on mundane tasks like these, it's like a little game I play which makes these enjoyable - how can I do this better...

Wacko Fajitas

So the basis of this flavor pairing was, well, maybe insanity. Actually, the intent was a little wacko, but that's why it's called Gastronomic Guesswork and why I tagged this an experiment. Concept: take things that go well individually with beef and see if they work well together, clash, or get lost ... specifically, look for whether the bitterness of horseradish and the picante heat of the chiles works together. So the dominant flavor was guajillo, with notes of aleppo chile, soy sauce (tamari) and horseradish.

Instead of marinating and grilling a whole steak and then slicing for fajitas, I sliced the meet first with the intent of getting more of the flavor into each bite.


The strips were sauteed but I probably should have used a grill pan to get some better caramelization. Separately, onions and red peppers were sauteed with soy sauce until savory sweet. These and guacamole completed the fajitas.

The results were pretty good, better than plain fajitas in my opinion; nothing heavily clashing, but the horseradish was a little lost among the guajillo and aleppo chiles. I think this can be corrected with more salt and horseradish. Also, the world did not end due to the lack of polka dot pants thankfully (as heard in the video just before I laughed). The experiment overall was inconclusive though, and there was something very slightly clashing on the finish if you really looked for it. I think this was the lime juice fighting with the horseradish, as this missed note was more evident when I took a bite with guacamole which also had lime juice in it. The question remains, does bitter and picante go together - and a new question arises about bitter and acid, though this worked very well with the sudachi tuna preparation - both challenges to be revisited.

Top Chef Episode Six - 12 days of Christmas: Martha Stewart

Queen Martha made an appearance and did not impress. First off, the quickfire challenge was a one pot meal. Hosea decided to make paella, Ariane grilled steak and made a cauliflower puree, Jaimie made kale and seared a scallop. These were Martha's favorite dishes, but what made no sense to me was two of these really didn't qualify as one pot meals, and true paella has a crust and can't be made in 45 minutes. Maybe the rest of the dishes tasted awful, but I doubt that. I know Martha is popular with many home cooks, but she picked my 3 least favorite dishes. I'll give Hosea credit for cooking something tasty and for staying in the realm of the one pot meal, but he should have called it quick paella or something, not just paella. Steak and a puree is not a one pot meal, nor is a scallop and some kale, and both are cop outs in a nationally televised cooking competition. Anyway, the genius that is Marthat Stewart was apparently lost on me, and listening to her comments about Fabios polenta (which looked great) I'm not sure she knows anything about Italian food. As Fabio's grandmother would say, "shame on you Martha Stewart".

Fabio by the way, listen up food network, needs his own show ... even if he can't cook (don't worry he can). He's hilarious, I don't think he means to be all the time, but he's so down to earth, and his voice and facial expressions just leave my wife and I in stiches.

The elimination challenge has each of the 12 remaining chefs doing a theme based on one of the 12 days of Christmas (think a partridge in a pear tree). Fabio gets nine ladies dancing ... good luck turning that idea into food. They prep, but the next day Hosea and Radhika find that the fridge door is open so Hosea's pork and Radhika's duck can't be served. All the chefs chip in and help them out of the bind.

Ariane makes deviled eggs, Jaimie makes scallop slime, Fabio makes a greasy crab cake, Hosea is looking good with the rescued pork, Stefan makes an amuse of chicken pot pie that's eye catching, Jeff impresses with something too hard to follow, Melissa makes steak with gorgonzola. Looking like Jaimie, Melissa, and Ariane should go to judges table to face elimination. I think Ariane redeemed herself in the last couple of episodes, so she can cook, but I'm not sure she's ambitious or creative enough to make it to the final six, and honestly I'm surprised she's made it this far; deviled eggs can't be enough to compete. Fabio fumbled, but I think he was in the upper half of the failures tonight.

Judges Table - Hosea ends up on top, along with Jeff, Stefan, and Radhika - Hosea wins. Jaimie, Eugene, and Melissa are on bottom. Jaime with the folded arms finally takes a little criticism. Melissa totally misses, Euguene is obstinate about his dish being correct, but he's being blind, or maybe he's fed up and wants to go home ... seriously bad attitude compared to what we've seen from him so far. Overall, the judges are underwhelmed with all the food ... so much so that Tom has a sit down chat with the lot of them. Quote, "you're not going to win with a throw away canape ... or deviled eggs". In the spirit of the holiday, no one is going home, but Collichio sounds a little pissed that no one is cooking to win.

Cutting Avocado

The tricks are start at the top, cutting lengthwise while rotating the avocado, tap the core in the middle with your knife, twist, and pinch the core off from behind ... finally, use a spoon to dig out the fruit of the avocado.

I like to just eat these raw once or twice a week, the skin makes for a nice little bowl. Certainly a superfood in my opinion: it's a good anti-inflammatory, loaded with folate, vitamin K, the good fats, and has a ton of fiber. More nutrition data here.

Southwestern Dip Sandwich

Functionally this is a regional Southwestern take on the French Dip, but don't dismiss this dish as something silly and contrived just yet. This was absolutely delicious, my wife said, "I put up with a lot in our kitchen, but it's all worth it when something like this comes together".

The flavor concept was to see how well pomegranate and jalapenos might work together. The medium was a roasted tomato braising liquid with some kosher salt and dark brown sugar. The victim, a pork shoulder which would be served with cilantro on jalapeno cheddar biscuits, and the braising liquid would serve as the jus to complete the dip in Southwestern Dip.


The preparation was as follows:
Place a 2-3 lb pork shoulder in a french over / dutch oven, add the seeds from 2 pomegranates, a dice of 8 seeded and destemmed jalapenos, a dice of 1 large white onion, and a 28 oz can of fire roasted diced tomatoes (Muir Glen). Finally, dust the top of the roast with kosher salt, add 14-16 oz of water, and 1/4 cup dark brown sugar. Cover and braise at 275F for 1 hour, then reduce the heat to 200-225F for 2 more hours. The biscuits used the basic country biscuit recipe, but reduced the salt to 5g and added 20g of granulated sugar. Just after combining the milk in the biscuit recipe, fold in 2 cups of shredded extra sharp cheddar and a dice of 5-6 roasted jalapenos (the jalapenos were broiled for 15 minutes, deskinned, deseeded and destemmed), being careful to not overwork the dough and making sure the jalapenos are relatively dry and cool. To plate, tear shreds of the pork, put on a spit biscuit, and finish with chopped cilantro; accompany with a small dipping bowl of the braising liquid.

The flavor combination of pomegranate, tomato, and jalapeno was a revelation. There's something about the jus that gave me the palate sensation of wine, a very different and addictive taste. The only downside was my wife's desire to have me cook this again very soon.

Carrot Soup with Serrano & Ginger

The flavor concept was to use turkey broth as a backdrop to the sweetness of baby carrots, and accent this with the pungency of ginger and the unique heat of the serrano (it's very hot, but fades quickly, at least that's my perception). I discovered a fantastic concentrated broth at whole foods, with a reasonable price point (~$5.50 for 3 quarts). The box contains 12 sleeves of concentrate which each make a cup, and the turkey stock in this case had a really great flavor; highly recommended.


After reconstituting 2 quarts of turkey broth, 2 pounds of peeled organic baby carrots were added, along with about 1 1/2 tablespoons of fresh grated ginger and 3 split serrano peppers. This was simmered gently for about 40 minutes until the carrots were easily pierced with the tip of a paring knife. To retain the sweetness of the carrots, it's important to avoid overcooking these, so use a low flame and check for doneness frequently. The soup was then pureed with a hand mixer, infused with 12 ounces of half & half, and the flavor was adjusted with 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and a slight amount of sea salt. The heat of the serranos should be matched by the flavor of the ginger, but the dominant flavor will be sweet carrots with turkey as an undertone (you don't really know you're tasting turkey unless you look for it, but it just works).


The soup was finished with some crunchy bits of hickory smoked bacon; while this added some texture, the soup's clean flavor was better without it. This was a very successful flavor pairing, we had some extra and my wife was eager to share this with one of her friends who is also an adventurous eater (she was also our guest judge for the Iron Chef Denver - Battle Corn). The Savory Choice brand of stock will soon find a permanent spot in my pantry.

Green and White Soup

What happens when you ask two 2-year olds what kind of soup they want to make? Well their preoccupation with colors might mean you end up making green and white soup, hey I'm just happy they didn't bring up blue (there are NO blue foods).


The soup was really a duo of components intended to be eaten together. The white was a puree of parsnips, russet potato, cream cheese, white onion and salty water. The green was a liquified mixture of sauteed spinach, sweated celery, scallions, garlic and black pepper. The cream cheese played well with the celery, and the parsnip played well with the spinach. Going into this, I just thought that 8 bucks was cheap entertainment on a Saturday morning, but a happily edible experiment and something that was quick and cheap to cook with the little ones.

Fusion of Salsa Verde and Pistachio Pesto

The idea was to play with the flavors of salsa verde in a pesto medium. I've been on a bit of a pistachio kick as it turns out. If you're going to write a food blog and live to eat a couple times a week, then you'd better eat to live the rest of the time if you want to be writing for very long. Pistachios are a superfood in my estimation, the nutrition data shows they have a balanced amino acid profile, are rich in vitamins and minerals, have lots of good lipids, fiber, and act as a mild anti-inflammatory. Dispensing with the nutrition lesson, these are really tasty little buggers to boot.


Salsa Verde is a classic Italian sauce that is often used with bollito and is a personal favorite with steak. There are numerous variations of salsa verde, it's a sauce that encourages the chef to take poetic license, I usually like mine to have a little bitterness from horseradish if I'm making this for beef. The closest approximation to what I consider the ideal salsa verde was put forth by Marcella Hazan in her classic Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. Marcella recently wrote a piece in the NY Times I wanted to pass on to you, here is an excerpt.

The food Americans eat that is made fresh at home by someone 
who is close to them is shrinking compared with food consumed
at restaurants or prepared outside. And while eating out or 
taking in may save us time or bring us enjoyment, I would 
argue that it deprives us of something important.

I am my family’s cook. It is the food prepared and shared at 
home that, for more than 50 years, has provided a solid 
center for our lives. In the context of the values that 
cement human relations, the clamor of restaurants and the 
facelessness of takeout are no match for what the well-laid 
family table has to offer. A restaurant will never strengthen 
familial bonds.

Which is why, as we come together over the holidays, we 
should take a moment to think about how we might become cooks
again. We could even begin, in these financially straitened 
times, by replacing store-bought presents with meals cooked 
at home.

- NY Times, OpEd - Marcella Hazan 29.11.2008

Back to the food, the flavor concept was to start with the parsley, caper, garlic and lemon juice base of salsa verde, and turn this into a pesto with pistachios and olive oil. The preparation used 1 bunch of Italian flat leaf parsley, 4 cloves of garlic, 1 jar of rinsed salt packed capers, 1 cup of roasted unsalted pistachio nuts, the juice of 1 lemon, 1 shallot, a healthy dose of sea salt, a touch of black pepper, and enough olive oil to form a pesto in the food processor. The pasta used was Orecchiette, which actually was overcooked but no one complained. Our 10 year old niece was over, who is a self-described picky eater, but she happily remarked how good it was while my wife and I were busily gobbling. This is a very garlic-y interpretation, so don't expect to make any friends after this meal.

The dinner was completed with broiled plum tomatos topped with a mixture of moroccan oil cured olives and 3 year aged gouda, along with a flat iron steak finished with gray sea salt and olive oil.

Popular Posts and Diamonds in the Rough

Recent Popular Posts - Top 10 direct page views since mid August (does not include RSS feed, hits to the main page, email subscriptions or searches), just in case you missed any of these. Glad to see the brick butter resonating with people, that's seriously good eats.

1. Brick Butter Mushroom Crostini - 308


2. Grilled Banana Scallops with Maytag Blue Cheese and Guava Gelee - 303


3. Culinary Fats - 257


4. The Death of French Cuisine - 215


5. Christmas Menu 2007 - 170


6. Marczyk's in Denver - 149


7. Jing Restaurant in Denver - 116


8. Flavor Bible, Alinea, A Day at El Bulli, & Charcuterie - 106


9. Porcini Braised Shortribs - 84


10. Making Pancetta - 82

And Diamonds in the Rough (things I'd highly recommend cooking)

• Beef Tenderloin Medallions with Tamari, Real Wasabi, Scallions, and Primolio Olive Oil
  


• Spaghetti in Arugula & Hazelnut Pesto with Guanciale
  


• Habanero Pork Tacos with Romesco, Cilantro, and Onion


• Blued Hangar Steak Loins, Urfa Potato Chips & Horseradish Potato Puree with Shoestrings
  


• Baby Back Ribs with Savory Sweet BBQ Sauce

Parmigiano Reggiano Broth with Lemon

Another exercise in patience, take 1 pound of parmigiano reggiano rinds, 4 quarts of water, and simmer for 3 hours until you're left with about 3 pints.


Once you strain, you're left with an elixir that evokes all that is good about parmigiano, but one that is crying out for a little acid. A squeeze from a fresh lemon half is sufficient. Got the idea for this from a dish I had at Cafe Juanita in Seattle. Finish at the table with fresh ground black pepper.

Oxtail Braised in Celery, Red Onion and Porcini

Not sure this even qualifies as a small plate, but maybe a delectable little nuncheon - if you're into oxtail that is. After dicing red onion and celery, adding these to a casserole pan with a handful of dried porcini mushrooms, a splash of olive oil, some whole peppercorns and salt, the oxtail were nestled in along with enough water to submerge by half. The pan was covered and braised in a 250F oven for 4 hours.


This is a totally substance over style dish, not sexy, just superbly earthy - a morsel intended as a chef's treat or for the more adventurous foodie palate. This could also be finished with rosemary oil as an accent.

Bonito Del Norte on Toasted Ciabata with Salt Packed Capers, Roasted Meyer Lemon and Thyme Leaves

One great ingredient that should not be missed is bonito del norte, a canned tuna that is albacore in origin, which is hand caught with pole and line North of Spain. This is so far from the stuff in your supermarket that you might taste this and realize you've never tasted anything this good from a can before.


To highlight the delectable flavor of the bonito del norte, the flavor concept was kept simple and the preparation minimalistic. Sliced ciabatta was drizzled with olive oil and pan grilled, salt packed capers were rinsed, and the leaves of fresh thyme sprigs were separated from their stems. Separately, meyer lemon halves were pan roasted until they began to caramelize, then cooled. The tuna was drained gently, flaked with a fork and tossed with the capers and thyme leaves, then portioned onto the grilled ciabata. The meyer lemons accompanied the bonito del norte crostini and a few drops of the meyer lemon juice was squeezed onto these just before biting into them.


The flavor was stunning: clean, balanced, intoxicating ... simply delicious and a testament to the power of great ingredients, the need to let them speak for themselves, and the need to know when to hold back as a chef. This is so good, its an instant personal classic.

Butter Poached Golden Baby Beets with Pistachios

This preparation takes a little patience, but great results are easily achieved. With 4 baby beets per serving, de-stem, de-root, and hand peel these with a paring knife. Next, using a ceramic coated Emil Henry baking ramekin, place the baby beets in the center along with 3-4 tablespoons unsalted butter. Place the ramekins into a 225F oven for 2 hours, checking after 20 minutes to ensure the beets are covered with the now liquified butter. When the beets are easily pierced by the tip of a knife, remove, plate, and dust with crushed roasted pistachios (unsalted). Drizzle 2 spoonfuls of the cooking liquid onto the pistachios, and serve (salt is totally optional here).


This excellent flavor pairing was inspired by The Flavor Bible, yet another homerun from this treasure trove of flavor wisdom. The cooking approach makes more sense for individual small preparations when you're cooking for only a few people (as you save butter this way), otherwise a ramekin is unnecessary.

Linguine in Vermont Cheddar Fondue

The sauce was inspired and loosely based a recipe in the Mizuna cookbook, the concept was to do something a little different with pasta (read French / New American).


The fondue sauce was made by sweating three shallots finely diced in olive oil over high heat, covered for 5 minutes, deglazing with a cup of Catalonian white wine, and reducing by 2/3. Next a cup of whole milk was added and brought to a simmer, finally 2 cups of shreaded white Vermont cheddar were whishked in along with a dash of powdered yellow mustard, a few dashes of cajun powder, ground white pepper, and sea salt to taste. The pasta was cooked to al dente and then combined with the sauce and warmed through. Although there seems to be a lot of cheese in this, it's not heavy in the least, the 2 cups of cheddar were yielded from one 4 oz block, and the quantity was sufficient to serve 4 people as a first course. My wife loved the clean flavors, and remarked "this tastes like cheese fondue, but it's really light" ... exactly.

Where is the best burger in Denver? (Revised - Summer 2009)

A nagging question, a good cheeseburger is a guilty pleasure, so if I'm going to indulge, I want it to be worth it. Here's a list based on several informal surveys of burger aficionados whose palates I respect (wow, that's a statistically improbable sentence) ... really this is just a bunch of burger geeks opinions, but I've tried to not let my opinion overwhelm this. Below are what I believe to be the TOP 10 Best Burgers in Denver Colorado, plus one I had to include because there is a lot of buzz about it locally.

1. My Brother's Bar - best of the best, best of Lodo, a close battle with Cherry Cricket, but the JCB is revered by all who have been lucky enough to consume one


2. Cherry Cricket - best in Cherry Creek, the most popular burger, most well known, but head to head with the JCB it loses by a nose ... in the end, the My Brother's Bar vs Cherry Cricket thing underscores this is really a two horse race in Denver, everyone knows Cherry Cricket, but everyone I surveyed who's eaten both gives the nod to the JCB at My Brother's Bar


3. Trinity Grille - Best Burger in Downtown / Uptown Denver, the steak burger with grilled onions is classic


4. City Grille - the beefiest burger of the bunch (lots of sirloin in there)


5. DeliTech - DTC's finest, bacon with cheddar couldn't be better


6. Crownburger - totally a burger joint, doing it right for, well forever


7. Cheeburger Cheeburger - EVERYTHING is fried in peanut oil, best toppings, best in Highlands Ranch


8. Goodtimes - yah its a chain, but this is Coleman beef, good rings to boot


9. Ted's - another chain, but they've nailed the buffalo burger, and if you're feeling gluttonous, check out the kitchen sink


10. TIE Campus Lounge (DU) & Bud's Bar (Sedalia) - dive barely begins to describe the "pus" as it's known, but it's a casual favorite by DU and the burger with fried egg is sinfully good; Bud's is almost a hyperbole of itself, a biker bar that's on the other side of the tracks no matter which direction you're coming from; replete with attitude, the only thing on the menu is beer and burgers - and "no french fries dammit"

If you're a burger fan this list will undoubtedly raise your ire, so please post your opinion and top 10 list (top 5, whatever). One honerable mention, best onion rings goes to Finn McCool's.

Savory Spice Shop in Denver

Since my friend turned me onto Savory Spice Shop near lodo in Denver (maybe 3 years ago), I've been progressively more impressed with it. I could not be more content with a source for adding interesting flavors - whether classic, regional, or experimental. In a word, Savory is badass.


As you can see from my last pantry inventory, I'm pretty much Savory's #1 Fanboy, I know I must have referred 30 people there ... so it was time for a G^2 blog visit to get the word out.


Behind an inviting wooden screen door hides a long corridor of culinary kinetic energy ... just past the mixing room is another room chocked with chiles, including such oddities as smoked serranos and the ghost chile (1,000,000 scoville units, roughly 3-5x hotter than an habanero, so essentially mace).



Up on a little shelf is a broad array of demi glace & concentrates, including bases for duck and venison stock.



If it's not apparent yet, the selection is incomparable ... the idea I can even buy 100% wasabi in Denver is fortunate, buying it in bulk is amazing.



The selection of mixed herbs, spices and rubs are also vast and of the highest quality; but even the staples here rock; I get a big bag of bouquet garni every autumn for soup season and found shopping at Savory to be very economical based on the mileage I get out of each ingredient. And the team is very attentive, friendly and helpful ... I always look forward to a visit to Savory, and if I'm in the area, I'll always pop in to see what's new. Honestly, if I were living outside of Colorado, I'd still give Savory all my business through their web site, you just cannot beat the quality, selection, or price.