My good friend Karen and I were elbow-deep in Eggs Bennifer at Lucile’s when it hit us: now that our kids are basically grown, our calendars have suspiciously empty patches where lacrosse practices and dance lessons once ruled. Free time. Actual free time. A dangerous thing.

Sure, we could keep throwing charcuterie-and-wine girls’ nights like confetti, but even brie and bubbles have their limit (don’t tell brie I said that). Karen leaned in with a conspiratorial grin: “What if we went to cooking school?”

Not the “watch a TikTok and pray your chicken isn’t raw” kind. The real deal: Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts—the culinary Hogwarts hiding in plain sight in Boulder.

We cracked open the calendar and instantly lost ourselves in an edible Choose Your Own Adventure. Thai street food? French pastries? Sushi? Date-night duck? Even a two-day bread boot camp (yeast stress test = not for me). After much deliberation, we landed on Spanish Tapas, mostly because the date worked best. Olé.

The school itself has the sort of energy that makes you want to roll up your sleeves immediately. Stainless counters gleamed, cutting boards with freshly-sharpened knives lined up like soldiers, and the faint perfume of roasted garlic seemed baked into the walls. Somewhere down the hall, pans clattered, and something hissed. It was like stepping backstage at a Broadway show, except the drama was edible.

Only one other student joined us: Pam, a woman with ocean-blue eyes who looked like she could sell artisanal olive oil out of her handbag. Our instructor, Chef Dallas Houle, greeted us like old friends. If you remember the Cooking School of the Rockies, this is the same space, now Escoffier. It trains chefs from around the world—but Chef Dallas runs the “civilians welcome” side, and he makes it feel like play.

And the man knows his stuff. Chef Dallas cut his teeth at Sweet Basil in Vail, cooked in several Boulder kitchens, including as Executive Chef at Leaf Vegetarian Restaurant. As he said, he has given up cooking for other people, and now they cook for him. Chef Dallas has traveled widely, bringing back flavors and tricks from across the globe. He’s excellent with students, quick to laugh, patient with clumsy knife work, and—let’s just say it—kinda dreamy.

We started with knife skills. I came in with a certain swagger: six kids, and countless Thanksgivings under my belt = graduate-level kitchen combat. But Chef Dallas casually showed me how to slice an onion into whisper-thin slivers so perfect I almost teared up, and not from the onion. That trick alone was worth the price of admission.

And that $75? It buys three hours of professional instruction, all the ingredients, a feast at the end, and an embroidered apron to keep that you get to strut around in like you own the place. Cheaper than therapy, almost as satisfying as Target clearance.

The food? Straight-up fiesta. A Spanish tortilla (egg-potato-and-onion, not taco blanket), silky from slowly cooked potatoes and onions and then baked to golden perfection. Garlicky shrimp begging for bread. Meatballs rich enough to run for Congress. Papas bravas buzzing with paprika. And a romesco sauce so good I licked the plate when no one was spying. We roasted peppers over open flames, smashed tomatoes with our bare hands like gleeful toddlers, and obliterated an entire bulb of garlic. Reader, it was glorious.

When we finally sat at the communal table, it felt less like class and more like a tapas party we’d accidentally thrown. Plates clinked, yums were expressed, and there was that blissful hush when everyone’s too busy chewing to talk. Pam declared the tortilla “better than any restaurant,” and I had to agree. Cooking alongside strangers, Karen, who has seen me at my most feral baseball mom self, was surprisingly bonding.

By the end, we were already plotting our next stamp on the culinary passport. Morocco? Korea? Maybe eclairs? All I know is this: cooking school isn’t about learning to flip a tortilla or thin-slice an onion—it’s about remembering food is supposed to be fun. And if that means smashing tomatoes with my bare hands like a toddler every few months, then sign me up for the advanced degree.

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The post I Went to Cooking School (for Three Hours) appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

If you really want to understand the heart of Kalita Grill, don’t start in the dining room—start in the grocery aisles. One of the owners, Armen Madoyan, earnestly said that they grocery shop for their own food. He wants to see, smell and touch the ingredients to determine if they are worthy of his guests. He’s inspecting tomatoes the way a jeweler inspects diamonds, rejecting anything that doesn’t meet his unspoken standard. This is a man who refuses to outsource the heartbeat of his food. “I like to buy everything myself,” he told me, and you believe him instantly. 

Kalita Grill is a family story, but not in the sentimental, scripted way restaurants like to market themselves. It’s a story shaped by detours, stubbornness, and faith. Years ago, Armen packed up his life in Boulder and moved to Seattle, working alongside his wife Tanya’s uncle at his Greek restaurant. Armen left his job behind and stepped fully into kitchen life—learning not just technique, but the rhythm of the business: the rush, the stress, the relentlessness, the joy.

The plan was for the family to join him in Seattle. But kids have a way of redirecting adult plans, and theirs wanted to stay in Colorado. So they did. Giving up the dream of their own restaurant wasn’t an option. “Believing we could do it—that was the biggest challenge,” Tanya told me. Boulder’s restaurant density didn’t make things easier with over 450 restaurants at the time. But Boulder welcomed them. And now Lafayette, barely a month into housing their newest location, has practically embraced them as family. “Everyone walks in and says, ‘Welcome to Lafayette,’” Tanya said, smiling. “And you can tell they mean it. It’s beautiful.”

Greek and Armenian cooking share a lot of DNA, but the Madoyans will tell you there’s nothing more powerful than an Armenian kitchen. Food, for them, is memory and inheritance. And those memories don’t just come from the women in the family. Armen’s father still hand-rolls every dolma the restaurant serves and makes the baklava by hand. That detail lands with weight. Dolma rolling is meditative, repetitive, and deeply personal: leaf by leaf, pinch by pinch, the kind of old-world precision that can’t be taught in a YouTube video. And baklava? Forty precise layers of phyllo, butter brushed delicately between each sheet, walnuts folded in with practiced instinct, finished with a syrup recipe guarded like a family secret. When you take a bite, it tastes like time. Like intention. Like someone’s life woven into a dessert.

Their food philosophy comes from a culture where you learn by watching, then helping, then inheriting responsibility and the ladle—an honored position for the matriarch. Tables in Tanya’s childhood home were set with fine china and silver even for everyday meals. Holidays were etiquette classes disguised as feasts. “I like beautiful things,” said Tanya. “It’s important to me, since you eat with your eyes first. Everything that is plated must be beautiful.” That instinct pulses through everything at Kalita. Their soups—lentil and avgolemono—are made every morning from scratch, no shortcuts, no giant vats simmering for days. The gyro meat is sliced, marinated, and seasoned in-house. Their Greek vendors (and both Tanya and Armen emphasize this: very Greek) deliver fresh pita, olives, feta, and phyllo every week. 

But tradition alone doesn’t keep a restaurant alive in Colorado. “Americans prefer things softer,” Armen says with a light shrug. Less intense spice. More lettuce. “Greek salad doesn’t traditionally have lettuce,” he told me, and laughed. “Americans love lettuce.” Kalita strikes a delicate balance—staying loyal to its roots while meeting people where they are. It’s not compromise; it’s hospitality. 

Speaking of hospitality: Armen and Tanya don’t treat diners like customers. “These are my guests,” Tanya insisted. And she means it. On a recent Tuesday night, Armen walked around the dining room offering warm, homemade cookies to everyone—just because. As a testament to their hospitality after only a few weeks in Lafayette, they already have regulars who come in twice a week. That’s not marketing. That’s Armenian hospitality: you feed people until they feel like family, and then you feed them more.

When it was time to eat, Armen emerged from the kitchen with plate after plate, beaming with joy in sharing his passion with others. I started with the Veggie Combo Plate which was an artfully arranged sampling of all the classics—Spanikopita, veggie dolma, falafel, hummus and baba ghanoush served with warm, delicious pita. The flavors were vibrant and fresh, a testament to the care Armen puts into selecting only the most perfect ingredients. The gyro meat is rich and cooked perfectly, thinly sliced as you want it to be. Broomfield resident Andy Williams, grabbed an entire order of just the meat to go. “Snacking meat,” he called it. The lamb, chicken and pork didn’t disappoint. The Kalita fries have a sauce on them that is so good they sell it. “I could eat this on anything,” added Williams. 

But the hero—the meat dolma. The flavor of the meat reflects generations of tradition. “No two grandmas make dolma the same, and this is our family’s recipe,” said Tanya. 

“If our food told one story,” Tanya said, “it would be clean, healthy, homemade. Love and effort in every dish.”

And she’s right. Because at Kalita Grill, you don’t just taste the food—you taste the hands that rolled, chopped, sliced, marinated, layered, and fussed over it. You taste the grocery aisles, the Seattle apprenticeship, grandma’s recipes, the father still rolling dolmas, and the brave decision to start again in a town that wasn’t waiting for them but welcomed them anyway.

And yes—you absolutely taste the dolma. Which, in my case, might have been love at first bite.

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The post Kalita Grill: Hand-Rolled, Home-Made, Heartfelt appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Chicken soup has been used as a comfort food for illness and a natural remedy for somewhere between 7,000 and 10,000 years. In fact chicken soup has roots in southeast Asia, where medicinal texts indicated its invention around the same time as the domestication of fowl. It’s a classic dish for a reason, but even classics can benefit from re-invention sometimes.

Over the past decade the Front Range has seen a huge increase in soup shops including everything from Vietnamese-style pho to deli-style soup buffets. While pho, like chicken soup, has been around for thousands of years, often existing as a humble street food, the recent rise in pho shops could be attributed to a rise in Vietnamese immigration across the United States since 1975.

Pho-Ever

Erie, Colorado is known for many things, among them its classic Vietnamese restaurant, Pho-Ever. A casual restaurant with a wide variety of pho choices, Pho-Ever’s strength lies in its ability to bring tradition to the table. Dishes like pho tai gan take rare beef and turn it into a juicy, delectable soup with spices like star anise, coriander and cardamom to top it all off.

Among Pho-Ever’s long list of chicken-soup alternatives, diners will also find contemporary dishes like meatball pho. But what really makes pho an exciting alternative to chicken soup is its customization options.

Boulder Pho and Boba Tea

Another iconic Front Range pho restaurant is Boulder Pho and Boba Tea, which is located in North Boulder slightly off the beaten path. Boulder Pho and Boba Tea takes great pride in its dishes, creating traditional pho options as well as contemporary ones. Like Pho-Ever, this restaurant’s careful blend of ingredients yields itself to a high-caliber soup that makes a great alternative to chicken soup.

At-Home Pho

Soup season comes in the dead of winter when everyone is moving at a slower pace, which can make dining out feel like a chore. This often results in more home-cooked meals and kitchen experimentations. Fortunately, pho is one of those cuisine types that can be replicated with the right ingredients, techniques and spirit.

The base of any good pho is its broth. Traditional pho involves a bone broth, which is created by all-day simmering on the stove (those with little time on their hands can also create bone broth with a pressure cooker). Every bone broth is slightly different, but a traditional vietnamese broth usually involves the addition of anise, coriander and cardamom.

At the same time, pho lovers can prepare their choice of meat, which is generally thinly sliced, and placed into a bowl before becoming slightly cooked by piping hot broth. The addition of rice noodles, and vegetables to taste completes the dish, leaving foodies with a delectable, comforting bowl of soup at the end of a hard day.

Culinary tips:

• Pick the best ingredients: Sub-par meat and fowl contribute to a sub-par pho. For best results, look for quality cuts of meat or birds with a higher fat concentration. This contributes to a full, delicious tasting pho.
• Nail the broth: The makings of a good pho start with the broth. Learning how to balance salt and acidity contributes to a well-rounded soup to get you through the winter.

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Democracy needs journalism more than ever. We’ve been telling the truth for 24 years. Your support helps us keep telling it for at least the next four years.

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The post Bored of Chicken Soup? Try Pho appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

One of the best parts of living in Colorado is the expansive wilderness in our backyard. As the sun begins to warm the mountains and ski season winds down, other outdoor activities become addictively irresistible. Whether we’re hitting up hiking trails, setting up camp in the mountains, or casting a line in the water, we can’t seem to get enough of the great outdoors. Chefs are no exception to the love of nature that permeates throughout the state. Their years of experience in food service have given chefs a creative and streamlined edge to outdoor eating, so you spend less time on each meal and more time enjoying the beauty of our mountain majesty.

Whole Grilled Trout: Photo by Dani Cole

As a chef, outdoorswoman, and angler, I’ve developed some of my own dishes that have become fireside favorites or tasty takes for fresh caught fish. Ideally, the fish are biting and big enough to keep. That’s not always the case, and sometimes it feels lucky to walk away with just one. Yet, a single trout grilled and served whole with campfire fingerling potatoes, sautéed mushrooms, and asparagus can be a delicious and filling dinner. A simple maple bourbon butter sauce complements the dish beautifully. To make the sauce, just reduce a little bourbon and maple syrup together, and once it’s thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, swirl in a little cold butter.

A fan cut works well with trout, and the skin will get nice and crispy in your trusty cast iron pan. A nice helping of polenta and sautéed dandelion greens create another filling entrée with just one fish, and a lemon and caper hollandaise completes the dish.

Perhaps you’ve caught a good haul of assorted pan fish, catfish, or bass. Those fish are a little less suited to a composed dish, and that’s where the fish fry comes in. I bring a box of pre-mixed batter blend and sacrifice a little beer for a classic beer-battered fish and chips. To take the fish fry up a notch, ditch the chips for tortillas, chipotle mayo, slaw, and mango salsa fresca for fabulous fish tacos. Blackened fish po’ boys are also easy to make and give a nice reprieve from the classic fish fry.

Fan Cut Trout With Hollandaise. Photo by Dani Cole

I also spoke to a couple of colleagues who are avid outdoorsmen and anglers about what they make when they’re camping or with fish they’ve caught. The consensus is to prepare as much as possible at home before leaving for camp. This saves not only time and effort when you’re making dinner but also valuable cooler space.

Chef Dave Engel of Big Red F Restaurant Group is no stranger to outdoor living. Hailing from Wisconsin, Chef Engel has been camping and fishing for a long time. He told me about his homemade dehydrated meals. With the use of an at-home dehydrator, spaghetti or other pastas, beef stew, and much more can be produced for a lightweight backpacking option. Chef Engel said, “Make a big batch of it at home, spread it out on your dehydrator trays, let it dehydrate.” Then, your work at camp is just to add water and boil it. He sent his dehydrated spaghetti recipe to share. He said, “It’s a great trick to use on inclement weather days” or if “you’re just getting skunked on fish.” Having a backup meal in case of skunking is important.

As a big backpacker, Chef Engel tries to keep his meals relatively simple and employs the use of a hand-pulled food processor to make a fish pâté out of his catch, which can then be tossed into simmering soups. To make fish pâté, “crack an egg into it, a little shallot, garlic, and ginger.”

Fish Tacos. Photo by Dani Cole

When he is catching fish on the trail, he generally keeps to a few simple preparations. “Growing up in Wisconsin, I really learned to enjoy fish breaded and battered,” he recalled. Lemon pepper and Cajun seasoning go a long way depending on your preferences and the type of fish. Chef Engel always keeps a lemon or lemon juice in his pack as well. He spoke about a server he trained years ago who told him, “If it’s been a-swimmin’, it gets a lemon.”

One preparation Chef Engel spoke about that caught my attention was fresh fish moo shu. Just bring your veg mix, the pancakes, and sauce, and you have an easily composed, full meal.

Smoking trout by fanning it out above the fire is a simple and ancient way to cook fish. Flaking the smoked fish into your scrambled eggs makes a lovely camp breakfast. Ultimately, Chef Engel recommended “having your bases covered” and to keep the backup meals handy in case of bad luck. He also said that having a field guide on mushrooms and other forageable foods is helpful.

Chef Grayson Kolar, the executive sous chef at The Greenbriar Inn and Colorado native, loves the mountains, fishing, and wilderness life. Foraging is one of his favorite methods of acquiring food. “In Telluride growing up you had a veritable feast at your fingertips. During the summer, everything around you is edible walking down a trail,” he shared. He pointed out that a foraged salad with rose hips can be not only nutritionally dense but delicious.

Colorado has a wide variety of wild mushrooms that Chef Kolar recommended searching for including chanterelles and king boletes. “Hawk’s wing mushrooms are great — you can dehydrate and powder them and add them to thicken sauces.” Chef Kolar spoke about how he likes to use foraged mushrooms for beef stroganoff, Swedish meatballs, or mushroom risotto. He echoed Chef Engel’s advice to bring a field guide and added being cautious regarding mushrooms and foraged foods.

A cast iron Dutch oven can be used to elevate your meals and even dessert to your campfire experience. Chef Kolar sent along a recipe for a Dutch oven quick dinner roll that makes for some wonderful slider buns. The filling can be altered to your taste, but his teriyaki chicken and grilled pineapple sliders sounded particularly delicious.

When the fishing is good, Chef Kolar said, “I’ll bring some thyme and lemon and do a pan-fried fish filet.” For a hearty side, “I’ll do a hash cut potato in a tin foil pouch and toss it right on the fire.” Then, he’ll break the Dutch oven back out for dessert, and he passed on a recipe for a mixed berry cobbler.

Whether you’re fishing, using a dehydrator or Dutch oven , foraging,  or just cooking a meal you prepped at home, the sky’s the limit when it comes to making food out in Mother Nature. Colorado has so much wilderness to offer, it’s a disservice to oneself not to explore it. Food on the trail can be so much more than bland freeze-dried bags of space food.

If the fish are biting, then so much the better. A dinner made from fish that was caught only hours before not only tastes delicious but creates a satisfying feeling. Desserts can go beyond the traditional s’mores — though we’ll eat those too — with Dutch oven cobblers, cakes, and more.

With a little thought and planning, it’s possible to make a full, hearty camping meal without a lot of effort. The pre-prep philosophy can save a lot of time and cooler space, so you can spend more time enjoying the outdoors.

Recipes

Chef Dave Engel’s Down by the River Fish Cakes (boiled or pan-fried)

• 3/4 pound white fish filet, boneds and skinned
• 2 teaspoons water
• 1 teaspoon ginger, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Cooking instructions:

1. To make them extra special if you have the pack space, add some vegetables like carrots, snow peas, mushrooms, etc.
2. Clean and dress your fish and cut into small pieces, so it is easier to make a paste in a food processor (See note at end of recipe for the rip cord processor I have.).
3. Add your fish, water, ginger juice, garlic, salt, and sugar to your food processor and make a paste.
4. Add the egg to the paste and blend well.
5. If adding veggies, add them now with the cornstarch and process some more until incorporated.
6. If making them pan fried, heat oil in your pan. If adding to a broth, make sure your broth is boiling.
7. Wet your hands. Take 1/10 of the fish cake mixture and make a ball, then press to make a flat oval.
8. If adding to a broth, drop the cakes in and cook for about 4-5 minutes before eating. If pan frying, fry for about 2-3 minutes on each side until lightly golden brown and delicious (GBD).

Chef David Engel’s Dehydrated Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

• 500 grams ground beef
• 113 grams yellow onion, diced
• 15 grams minced garlic
• 1 gram dried basil
• 1 gram dried oregano
• 1/2 gram crushed red chile flakes
• 5 grams tomato paste
• 500 milliliters of your favorite marinara sauce
• 10 grams kosher salt
• 3 grams black pepper
• 1 box spaghetti noodles

Cooking Instructions:

1. Brown the meat in a pan over medium-high heat.
2. Add the onions to the meat and cook until softened.
3. Add your spices, tomato paste, and marinara sauce and simmer for 15 minutes. While the meat sauce is cooking, cook your noodles.
4. Combine the cooked noodles and your meat sauce and then spread in a thin layer on dehydrator trays. Dehydrate at 160 F for about 6-8 hours or until all moisture is drawn out and mixture is dry and crumbly.
5. Transfer to a Ziploc bag or individually portion. This will roughly double when rehydrated so 1 cup dehydrated should be about 2 cups hydrated.
6. To rehydrate at your campsite, measure a 1:1 ratio of spaghetti and boiling water and let stand for 15-20 minutes until fully rehydrated and the meat and noodles are no longer crunchy.

Chef Grayson Kolar’s Berry Cobbler

Filling:

• 6 cups frozen mixed berries
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

Topping:

• 1/2  cup flour
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar + 3 tablespoons butter, cut to pea size
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 individual-sized packets flavored oats (such as cinnamon apple)

Cooking Instructions:

1. Prep your campfire with briquettes.
2. Combine the filling ingredients in a 10″ Dutch oven. Combine the topping ingredients and sprinkle over the filling. Place the Dutch oven over 10 briquettes and 20 on top. Bake for 20-30 minutes. Use caution when removing the Dutch oven from the heat.

Chef Grayson Kolar’s Dutch Oven Quick Rolls

• 1 cup warm water
• 1 packet dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons oil

Cooking Instructions:

1. In a 10-inch Dutch oven, bloom the yeast in water with sugar. tir in half of the flour and mix until smooth. Add egg, oil, and the rest of the flour. Beat until smooth. Cover the dough and let rise until doubled in size.
2. Cut rolls or bake loaf in the Dutch oven for 20-25 minutes with 5 briquettes on the bottom, 10 briquettes on top. Use caution when removing the Dutch oven from the heat.

The post Go Fish! What Do Chefs Cook When Camping? appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Nick Swanson, culinary director and co-owner of Urban Field Pizza and Market in Longmont, talked about his 20-plus years in and around kitchens with such fervor, one can’t help but crack a smile. It’s the contagious type of energy only emitted by those who love every aspect of what they do.

“I was meant to end up in the kitchen,” Swanson said.

But two decades ago, he wasn’t thinking about becoming a chef. Instead, he was thinking about getting out on the ski slopes while living in Boulder and working as a busboy at Bacaro Venetian Taverna, which has since closed.

“I wasn’t very good at it,” he admitted with a chuckle.

Yet, something drew him to the kitchen.

“I was always asking the chef ‘Hey how do you cook this?’ ‘How do you cook that?’ And one day he said ‘Want to give it a try back here?’”

Swanson’s first assignment? Dice cans upon cans of tomatoes. “And I absolutely fell in love with the energy and vibe of the kitchen,” Swanson said. He worked his way up from prep cook to sous chef over three and half years. During his time at Bacaro, he also did a stage at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Italy’s Piedmont region. When he returned to the United States, he promptly enrolled in the French Culinary Institute of Manhattan — now called the International Culinary Center.

After completing school and working at several restaurants in and around New York City, Swanson returned to the Centennial State He got a job as a chef in a sorority house before running the kitchen at Under the Sun restaurant in Boulder.

Then 2020 happened. 

“[Paul Nashak, managing partner of Under the Sun] and I had thrown around ideas about a pizza food hall,” Swanson said. “When Covid hit, I was just like it’s now or never.”

Thus, Urban Fields was born. And in May, they’ll celebrate their two-year anniversary.

Making People Happy One Pizza at a Time 

Urban Fields’ staple dish? Pizza.

On the surface, pizza seems like a relatively simple food to make. After all, at its core, it’s just dough, cheese, and sauce. But that mentality is precisely why there’s so much crappy pizza out there.

At Urban Fields, however, Swanson takes pizza very seriously. And it shows. 

“Pizza is a special dish,” Swanson said. “People don’t realize everything that goes into it.” On the menu you’ll find standard pies as well as Detroit-style pizza. And what is the latter, exactly?

It’s a rectangular pie baked in a pan about two inches thick, resulting in a pizza with soft, pillowy dough and both carmalized and crispy cheese bits.

“It has nice contrasting textures,” he said.

Not Your Grandma’s Cooking (But Kinda Close) 

Alongside pizza, Urban Field’s menu also offers plenty of other dishes that Swanson characterized as “twists on grandma’s classics.” But how do you tweak the dish while still honoring the recipe that came before it?

“I think about what my grandparents had growing up,” Swanson said. “It was delicious, but simple food, after all, they grew up in a time where there was only so much available. For example, chicken parm was just breaded chicken, sauce, and cheese. I wanted to make something slightly different.”

The result? A chicken parm sandwich with all the standard fixings but with a pistachio basil pesto and, possibly the most surprising, butter pickles.

“When I see customers order it for the first time, they are often hesitant because of the pickles,” Swanson says. “Then they take a bite and I see their face light up. I’m going for those emotional connections. If you can develop that with a guest or a staff member, they are never going to forget that or you.”

A Lifelong Student 

Another thing Swanson loves about cooking? “You can learn something from anybody,” he said. “I have over 20 years experience at this point. But even if I hire someone who has worked in a kitchen for just over a year, they may have picked up a trick I’ve never seen before.”

The willingness to learn and have staff voice their ideas and opinions trickles down to the guest experience, not just in terms of the dishes but also the overall atmosphere. 

“Bring great ideas to the table and great stuff is going to happen,” Swanson said. “I try to create that kind of environment for my crew. If you create a happy crew that rubs off on the guest and makes for a great experience all around.”

The post Off Menu: Chef Nick Swanson appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Food is one of the best ways to both connect with culture and memory. Certain meals become ingrained in your soul, the smells taking you back to time long ago, the flavors inviting you in. Holiday food especially holds such a meaningful place in our minds. We had four local chefs recreate a holiday meal that was personally meaningful to them, and share stories about family get-togethers, fond memories, and cultural traditions as they shared the table with our writers.

Chef Nelly Genisson: Gluten Free French Buche de Noel | Yule Log

BY: Deborah Cameron

Chef Nelly Genisson relocated to Boulder from Fontainebleau, France in 2020, settling into the area with her husband in the middle of the Covid pandemic. It was a chaotic time, but once she settled, she was more than eager to share her culinary expertise, creating French cooking that is keto-friendly, diabetic friendly, and even can be low carb, low sugar, and gluten free.

This past September, she opened a cooking school, Bonjour Keto, where her extravagant, consciously made food is available to the area’s health-conscious residents. She appreciates how choices in ingredients and food preparation can be part of a lifestyle and can help people lose weight, enhance athletic training, help manage diabetes, or prevent cancer. She believes it’s possible to indulge and enjoy life while making positive choices.

Overly heavy cooking doesn’t have a place at Bonjour Keto. Instead, Genisson has shown that French food can be both indulgent and, when simply prepared, in sync with dietary restrictions and inspire a love for France and French cooking. “Our cooking classes are unique and immersive. They go beyond just learning to cook and talk about French history and gastronomy while offering an immersive, sensory experience.”

Genisson said that one of her favorite items to make during the holidays is inspired by an old French tradition, the Yule Log Cake, or Bûche de Noël. It originated in France during the mid-19th century and is traditionally a jelly roll-style cake decorated to look like the yule logs that have been part of European Christmas celebrations for centuries.

“French people are picky about their pastries, but everyone is always surprised that something so decadent is sugar free. It’s one of my favorite compliments.”

“One of the Christmas traditions for dessert at Christmas is a Yule Log cake,” she said. “It’s something everyone has as the centerpiece of their holiday meal. The one that I make includes different tricks to make it gluten free, healthier.”

Genisson makes her rolled sponge cake, fills it with buttercream, then ices and decorates it to mimic the bark of the Yule log. It’s a chef’s challenge to work towards making the cake look as realistic as possible. She accepts the challenge gladly and healthily, using a fork to create the bark lines on the outside of the roll and adds a final touch — mini homemade dark chocolate bars and chopped toasted hazelnuts.

She said that while the sponge and buttercream can use a variety of flavors, one of the most popular is chocolate cake and a mocha frosting combination. She keeps her version gluten free by using hazelnut flour for the sponge cake and creates the homemade almond-hazelnut praliné buttercream that is sugar-free.

No surprise, Genisson is picky about how her cake looks. “First impression is so important. When you see something, you’re either going to want to eat it or not,” she said, adding that although it looks hard to make, the cake doesn’t have to add stress to the holiday. “If you want to prepare it ahead of time, prevent stress in the kitchen, it’s perfect. Just make it in advance, it will keep. It’s so simple to do but will add to the beauty of your holidays.”

And each holiday, Genisson’s family appreciates her work to make the cake.

Chef John Bauer honors Jewish Cuisine and the connection it serves

BY: Chris Curtis

Traditions. During the holiday season, traditions surge to the forefront of everyone’s mind. Families gather, bonds are strengthened, and food always lies at the heart of these gatherings. With a singular ability to transcend time and place, I offer that every person can name at least one dish that brings back memories of a loved one, a special time, and feelings of nostalgia.

I’m fortunate because my best friend from elementary school invites me to Jewish holidays with his family. I’ve enjoyed dishes associated with Passover, Yom Kippur, and Hanukkah. They’ve managed to work their way into my heart and soul and while I’ll never be able to fully understand the depth these dishes hold, I feel blessed to at least get a glimpse of the significance.

Chef John Bauer of Kenny Lou’s Deli in Lafayette displays his love for ethnic food and traditions with his menu. A Catholic chef who married into a Jewish family, he aims to keep traditions alive all year round. He laments that the traditional deli itself seems to be a dying breed, with many only being found in big cities, but even those are disappearing at an alarming rate.

Nevertheless, Chef John persists. As he takes me on a tour of the back of the house, everything he shows me is made on site. I’m enthralled by the buckets of soup, sausage that’s ground in house, and brisket that sits in a brine for fourteen days.

The inspiration for this soup lies with Eva Szepezi, who learned to cook from her mother-in-law because her parents were not around to teach her after the shoah.

After this overview of the behind the scenes operations, I settle in to taste some traditional Jewish dishes. When I ask Chef John for his stories behind the dishes, he presents me with a cookbook entitled Honey, Cake & Latkes: Recipes from the Old World by the Auschwitz-Birkenau Survivors. “These are where the stories are,” he tells me with a smile.

The cookbook serves as Chef John’s inspiration. He doesn’t use the recipes as written, but I get the sense that the book, coupled with his experiences with his wife and her Jewish family, serves as his muse. A side dish called kasha varnishkes arrives. It’s a pasta dish with kasha-buckwheat groats and mushrooms. The book recipe comes from Tova Friedman, survivor, and it was her late husband’s favorite food.

Next comes the potato latkes. I’m definitely familiar with these and find them to be just as I expected. The unexpected comes in the form of an apple chutney which definitely takes them to the next level for me. Kenny Lou’s makes up to 130 of these at a time and I can conclude they must go fast. The inspiration for these come from a recipe submitted in memory of Elie Wiesel.

I offer up a silent cheer when my favorite dish arrives. Dubbed as a soul-warming, matzo ball soup exists as something that I can never get enough of at my friend’s Passover gatherings. Chef John makes his own schmaltz and prefers “floaters, not sinkers” when it comes to the matzo balls. Each one is hand made from scratch and you can taste the love and care that goes into this traditional soup. The inspiration for this soup lies with Eva Szepezi, survivor, who learned to cook from her mother-in-law because her parents were not around to teach her after the shoah. I smile at a note labeled as “important” in the recipe: no onion, no garlic.

Steeped in tradition, Kenny Lou’s Chef John cooks in a way that doesn’t cut corners and offers no quarter to what might be considered an easier route. You can taste it in his dishes that honor and celebrate traditional Jewish holiday cuisine and I’m honored I got the chance to try a new dish and revisit some old favorites.

Chef Manal Farrar shares her passion and culture through handcrafted Mediterranean food

BY: Tony Firestine

When stepping into Manal Jarrar’s Arabesque in Boulder, you immediately feel the warmth and generosity wash over you. I just so happened to visit the day after the first snow of the season, kicking the slush off my shoes on the mat outside the door on the way in. We had scheduled an appointment to meet at 3 p.m., Arabesque’s closing time. Right away, I understand that it’s truly a one-woman show. Manal does both the cooking and the serving in the small but cozy space. She chooses to serve only lunch and breakfast and close the doors on Sundays (with the occasional private party at the dinner hour) in order to spend quality time for herself and with her family.

There are still lingering Monday lunch diners at a couple of the seven indoor tables that Manal continues to attend to — a table for two at the end of a business lunch, a solo diner gets her baklava to go. The photographer, Kenneth, and I start setting up to ask some questions and catch some images. Manal moves with an elegant swiftness, circling the tables while bringing checks and boxing up food. Her background as a ballet dancer and teacher is evident in the grace and quickness she displays on the dining room floor — hence the name Arabesque.

She takes the time to ask if we want something to drink, and I opt for a chai due to the frigid weather and not being bundled up properly. The warming chai — rich, frothy, and speckled with spices — immediately takes the chill off. Fall is just opening up to the beginning of winter, and leaves still adorn the trees caked in wet snow along Walnut Street, where Arabesque has served up Middle Eastern fare for the past 15 years. While Manal is preparing her holiday dish for us, I ask her about her long tenure and success as a restaurateur and chef at Arabesque. She compares it to being an athlete. “Running a restaurant is like a marathon. It’s not easy,” she says. “I want to have my own rhythm. Run slowly, without stopping. Just keep running and keep moving for a long distance — and 15 years has proved that.” She measures her success by making others happy. “My success is when I am in the basement downstairs, by myself, all alone, cooking for you and preparing. I want to make sure it’s correct,” she says. “And when you eat it and enjoy it, it’s rewarding. That’s it.”

“I love okra. I know it’s not so popular, but I love it. I put a lot of garlic and a little tomato sauce. Very simple.”

She prides herself on a cozy atmosphere; it truly feels like you are stepping into someone’s living space, with an open-air kitchen exuding exotic aromas, where everything is made from scratch. This isn’t fast food by any means. She underlines that fact and talks about how she occasionally must explain that to a guest seeking instant gratification. The genuine hospitality is underlined by the fact that Manal is definitely a hugger. She gives warm embraces to regular and first-time guests alike.

In addition to prepping and serving her normal menu for the day, Manal has put together something special for us: inspired by the holiday season, her own take on Bamia, a Middle Eastern tomato-based okra and beef stew served over rice. She covers the base of a 2-foot-long serving dish with a mix of rice and vermicelli and ladles the steaming medley of vegetables and braised beef over the top, a side of luscious hummus on the side. I mention that I’m only familiar with okra in Southern American fare, but she talks about how she grew up eating the vegetable in Palestine. “I think about one thing that I have an idea about and I build the whole thing around it,” she says. “I love okra. I know it’s not so popular, but I love it. I put a lot of garlic and a little tomato sauce. Very simple.” She garnishes the dish with pomegranate seeds and almonds. The pomegranate lends a delicate pop of bright acidity to an otherwise hearty and robust amalgam of flavors, and the almonds, of course, lend texture and crunch. “Almond, in my culture, is very luxurious,” she explains. “Here, it’s not. Everybody has it in their pocket for trail mix. To bring luxury to the platter, I added to it, to make it a holiday dish.”

Manal insists that we sit and enjoy and imbibe in some wine with her creation. What starts as a brief interview and photoshoot turns into an hour of the three of us getting to know each other over an early dinner made with love, discussing our families, our careers, the state of the world. Manal also explains how she didn’t shut down one day during the pandemic due to the help and generosity of her immediate community. I leave with a hug, full and happy, understanding Arabesque’s longevity and her neighbors’ need for reciprocation of the genuine goodness I experienced on just my first visit.

Chef Yuki Chen: Chinese New Year Celebration Meals

BY: Deborah Cameron

Chef Yuki Chen, owner of Colorado Wok, moved to the U.S. in 2004 from South Canton, China. She remembers the first moment she first departed the plane in Colorado. “In China, they always showed that everywhere in America was a big city. Busy. Then when I came here and saw the area by the airport, I thought it was like a farm. Grass and stuff. I was surprised that it was so open.”

She moved here because she was looking to elevate and improve her life and find more opportunity than she saw in the rural area she came from. She has since found it as both a chef and an entrepreneur, owning Lafayette’s Colorado Wok, successfully shepherding the business even through the stresses of the Covid-19 pandemic, and coming out successfully on the other side.

Even with all that she’s been able to accomplish in America, she still relishes connections to her Chinese heritage. Many of these happen during the holidays, which for her, culturally, doesn’t necessarily mean Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa. It means Chinese New Year, the next one beginning February 10, 2024.

“We never had Thanksgiving or Christmas in China. We always celebrated the Lunar New Year. We don’t follow everything. Everyone is different there. Some people follow Buddha, but our family doesn’t tie itself to anything. At the New Year, just like Christmas, all the family gets together.” Chen talks about the traditions she cherishes most about the holiday. These include gifts of lucky money in red envelopes to the younger and older members of the community, as well as honoring the importance of the color red and the number eight.

“It takes an hour or two,” she said. “We talk. We eat. We drink. We don’t hurry. We enjoy the food. Enjoy each other.”

Chen talked about giving money to her parents, and she talked about fireworks as part of the celebration.

Now that Chen is in the U.S., she recreates the holiday dinner as best as she can. Sometimes Chen said she just makes dinner at home and that Chinese New Year itself can often be like a normal working day for her family because the holiday isn’t as widely celebrated in America.

However, when she can, she’ll create a large dinner at the restaurant, inviting friends, family, and colleagues who would appreciate the celebration. When she’s cooking for the event, she said there was one element of the dinner that was non-negotiable for her and her family when she was in China. “You must have chicken,” she said. “Put a whole one in a pot to steam it, and when it comes out, then you cut it into pieces.”

Chen also mentioned another beloved part of the meal: the pork belly her father used to make in China. “It’s a very traditional part of the meal, but it was so much work. It’s not something we’d have on a normal day. It’s too much work for every day.”

Chen also makes stir-fried vegetables along with seafood like whole fish or squid. She’ll often use tilapia because it’s easy to find in America. Also, feasts can feature crab. Because her hometown is not close to the ocean, she said it is too expensive to get where she’s from in China. “We have a lot more things in America — it’s easier to source,” she explained.

Once the food is prepared and everyone sits down, she said the meal isn’t something that’s over quickly. Guests take their time and enjoy the experience, talking to each other and savoring every dish. As she describes the event, it sounds quite a bit like any of the holiday meals I’ve ever celebrated: messy kitchen, lots of talk, and reconnections.

The post Tradition is the Heart and Soul of Holidays: Recipes Local Chefs appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Summertime is almost here again and that means one thing: summer camp! Boulder and the surrounding areas offer a near limitless array of camps, programs, and activities for youth. There is something for everyone!

Yellow Scene prides itself on providing the most up to date and thorough directory in Boulder County, but we suggest you contact camps and programs for individual schedules, availability, and safety precautions.

Animal Ecology 

Arts & Performances

Arts – Visual & Multimedia

Education & Personal Development

Equestrian

Health & Wellness

Outdoors

Pre-School

Religious

School & District Camps

Science, Technology & Gaming

Special Needs

Sports

Traditional

Unique Adventure

Writing 

Lighthouse Writers Workshop – Day camp
3833 Steele St., Ste. 1438, Denver | 303.297.1185 | lighthousewriters.org

The post 2023 Yellow Scene Summer Camp Directory appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Vegan Fusion Culinary Academy, Lifted Entertainment

Boulder ranks third in a list of top ten vegan culinary cities, according to a 2019 ranking by Apartment Guide, and the city has long been known as a hotspot for those living a healthier lifestyle with a plant-based diet. But when a state of the art cooking school opens that is led by a nationally recognized vegan superstar, that takes Boulder’s vegan food cred to the next level.

Last March, Chef Mark Reinfeld opened Vegan Fusion Culinary Academy in the Safeway Shopping Center at 4800 Baseline Road. If you’re lucky enough to speak with him, you notice that he shares his knowledge in a low-key way, but it’s always there. He explains his points simply and then moves on. He’s passionate, but not intense.

We asked about the kinds of food his school will teach about, and Reinfeld offered a lot of options. He started with nut milks that were easier to make than many people think, and moved on to homemade gorgonzola and mozzarella cheeses. Reinfield then described cinnamon rolls with a gooeyness that rivals anything other bakers can do. He finished by listing techniques for working with vegan ingredients for things like tempeh cacciatore or tofu scallopini.

“You can create really satiating, satisfying meals with exclusively plant-based ingredients. It’s easier than many people think,” he said.

As interesting as vegan cuisine can be, vegan-focused restaurants haven’t been as impacted by COVID-19 as many would expect. “During the pandemic, more vegan restaurants have opened than closed,” Reinfeld pointed out, citing data from Happy Cow, an online vegan restaurant resource.

Chef Mark Reinfeld, Lifted Entertainment

Reinfeld has experienced the trend firsthand. He has more than a quarter century of experience in cooking vegan food, after becoming a vegetarian while traveling and working on a kibbutz in Israel. Since then, he’s led the menu for places as elevated as his own restaurant in Kauai, Hawaii called The Blossoming Lotus and The Peninsula Spa in New York. He’s also consulted for Google, Whole Foods, Danone, Bon Appetit Management, and the Humane Society. He’s published eight cookbooks. The first, Vegan Fusion World Cuisine, won nine awards and featured a forward by Dr. Jane Goodall.

With everything he’s done, there was little surprise at his 2017 induction into the Vegetarian Hall of Fame.

Now he’s excited to have a school where he can teach what he knows to others. “We have a state of the art facility. We have all of the modern equipment that you would find in a professional kitchen,” he said.

Instructors include Chef April Stamm who has taught at the French Culinary Institute for more than eight years. Students learn techniques they’d find at any culinary school as well as techniques that evolved specifically for plant-based cuisine.

This summer, students can register for home cook classes, which are five day experiences, teach everything from intro overview classes to five day world fusion immersion classes.

In August, the academy will be beginning its higher level, four-month aspiring chef program. “Here’s where we train chefs for a career in the professional, plant-based culinary world. Whether people are looking to open a food truck or go in the restaurant business or become a private chef, we want to mentor students and help them go where they want to in their careers,” Reinfeld said.

Cinnamon Rolls. Photo by Mark Olson; Source: Unsplash.

The more in-depth program includes both classroom time, culinary skills, business insights, integration of food as medicine, and the vegan philosophy. It’s been accredited by the State of Colorado Department of Education’s Private Occupational School Board and students receive a diploma of Vegan Culinary Arts.

The welcome mat is now firmly in place. With accreditations in place, doors open and programs about to start, Reinfeld and his staff are more than ready to capture the enthusiasm of students.

The post Become a Vegan Virtuoso: Vegan Fusion Culinary Academy Opens on Baseline | Foodie appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

According to Dakota Soifer, chef at Café Aion in Boulder, “Recipes that take a few days, while certainly requiring more planning, seem more special, are great for holidays and special events, and always are worth the wait!” This lamb shank recipe will take you right through the entire holiday season, an impressive alternative to turkey, brisket or ham.

Ingredients

• 1 lamb shank (2 lbs)

• 1/2 tsp cumin, ground

• 1/2 tsp coriander, ground

salt and pepper to taste

• 2 T olive oil

• 6 shallots, kept whole and peeled

• 3 carrots, roll-cut

• 8 cloves of garlic

• 1 sprig of rosemary

• 6 cardamom pods

• 1/2 tsp cumin, ground

• 1/2 tsp coriander, ground

• 1 cinnamon stick

• 2 chili de arbol or similar dried

spicy pepper

• 1 T tomato paste

• 1/2 C red wine

• 1 qt chicken stock

Instructions

For best results this is a three-day process.

Day 1: Season the lamb shank with salt, pepper and the ground spices. Cover and refrigerate.

Day 2 (big day): Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F. Select a braising pot that is just big enough to hold the shank and has a lid. Over a medium-high heat bring the oil in the pot to its smoking point, almost. Sear the shank to a dark golden (about 4-5 minutes) on each side. Remove it from the pan and add the vegetables. After 2 minutes, toss in the other spices, rosemary and garlic allowing them to toast and become aromatic from the hot oil. After an additional 5 minutes, stir in the tomato paste coating everything and allowing it to lightly caramelize. Dump in the wine, stir vigorously then add the stock. Return the lamb shank to the pot and bring the whole mixture to simmer. Put the lid on the pot and place it in the oven. After 2 hours, check the shank. The meat should be tender, almost falling off the bone. Let the pot cool to room temp and refrigerate over night. Allowing the shank to cool and rest in the braising liquid lets the moisture and flavors re-enter the lamb.

Day 3: When you’re almost ready to eat, warm the lamb and liquid over medium heat, basting occasionally for 15 minutes. We like to serve the lamb with soft polenta and sauteed chard. But serve it alongside anything: quinoa, potatoes or couscous. Enjoy!

The post Braised Lamb Shank appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Homemade Pop Tarts
Recipe from Smitten Kitchen
Adapted from King Arthur Flour

Pastry
2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pats
1 large egg
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) milk

1 additional large egg (to brush on pastry)

Cinnamon Filling (enough for 9 tarts)
1/2 cup (3 3/4 ounces) brown sugar
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, to taste
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 large egg, to brush on pastry before filling

Jam Filling
3/4 cup (8 ounces) jam
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water

Alternate fillings: 9 tablespoons chocolate chips, 9 tablespoons Nutella or other chocolate-hazelnut paste or 9 tablespoons of a delight of your choice, such as salted caramel or a nut paste

To make cinnamon filling: Whisk together the sugar, cinnamon, and flour.

To make jam filling: Mix the jam with the cornstarch/water in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, and simmer, stirring, for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, and set aside to cool. Use to fill the pastry tarts.

Make the dough: Whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Work in the butter with your fingers, pastry blender or food processor until pea-sized lumps of butter are still visible, and the mixture holds together when you squeeze it. If you’ve used a food processor, transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Whisk the first egg and milk together and stir them into the dough, mixing just until everything is cohesive, kneading briefly on a well-floured counter if necessary.

Divide the dough in half (approximately 8 1/4 ounces each), shape each half into a smooth rectangle, about 3×5 inches. You can roll this out immediately (see Warm Kitchen note below) or wrap each half in plastic and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Assemble the tarts: If the dough has been chilled, remove it from the refrigerator and allow it to soften and become workable, about 15 to 30 minutes. Place one piece on a lightly floured work surface, and roll it into a rectangle about 1/8? thick, large enough that you can trim it to an even 9? x 12?. [You can use a 9″ x 13″ pan, laid on top, as guidance.] Repeat with the second piece of dough. Set trimmings aside. Cut each piece of dough into thirds – you’ll form nine 3? x 4? rectangles.

Beat the additional egg and brush it over the entire surface of the first dough. This will be the “inside” of the tart; the egg is to help glue the lid on. Place a heaping tablespoon of filling into the center of each rectangle, keeping a bare 1/2-inch perimeter around it. Place a second rectangle of dough atop the first, using your fingertips to press firmly around the pocket of filling, sealing the dough well on all sides. Press the tines of a fork all around the edge of the rectangle. Repeat with remaining tarts.

Gently place the tarts on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Prick the top of each tart multiple times with a fork; you want to make sure steam can escape, or the tarts will become billowy pillows rather than flat toaster pastries. Refrigerate the tarts (they don’t need to be covered) for 30 minutes, while you preheat your oven to 350°F.

Charming tip from King Arthur: Sprinkle the dough trimmings with cinnamon-sugar; these have nothing to do with your toaster pastries, but it’s a shame to discard them, and they make a wonderful snack. While the tarts are chilling, bake these trimmings for 13 to 15 minutes, till they’re golden brown.

Bake the tarts: Remove the tarts form the fridge, and bake them for 20 to 25 minutes, until they’re a light golden brown. Cool in pan on rack.

Cheese Straws
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 1/2 cups (about 6 ounces) grated extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick or 2 ounces) unsalted butter, softened and cut into 4 pieces
3/4 cup flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon half-and-half (I used cream, because I had it on hand; suspect milk would work just as well)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. In a food processor, combine the cheese, butter, flour, salt and red pepper in five 5-second pulses until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the half-and-half and process until the dough forms a ball, about 10 seconds.

3. On a lightly floured surface, using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough into an 8- by 10-inch rectangle that is 1/8-inch thick. With a sharp knife (or a pizza or pastry wheel; both worked great), cut the dough into thin 8-inch strips, each 1/4- to 1/3-inch wide (dipping the knife in flour after every few inches ensures a clean cut). Then cut each strip into approximate 1-inch squares. Gently transfer the squares to an ungreased cookie sheet, leaving at least 1/4-inch between them. You can also transfer the dough first, and then cut into squares. The dough may sag or may break occasionally in the transfer, but don’t be concerned — just do your best.

4. Bake the crackers on the middle rack for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the edges are barely browned. Remove from the oven and set the cookie sheet on a rack to cool.

5. Serve at room temperature. Cheese crackers will keep in the refrigerator, in a sealed container, for two days.

Homemade Ho Hos
Recipe from Gale Gand

Cake:

* 5 eggs
* 2 yolks
* 3/4 cup brown sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 6 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder
* 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 cup clarified butter, warm

Filling:

* 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
* 1 cup butter
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream

Glaze:

* 12 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
* 2 ounces cocoa butter or 1/4 cup vegetable oil
* Equipment: 2 half sheet pans with sides

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

To make the Cake: Butter the jelly roll pan and line it with parchment paper; then butter the paper to assure release.

Bring a saucepan of water to a simmer.

In the bowl from a standing mixer, combine the eggs, yolks, sugar, vanilla in a bowl and whisk briefly. Set the bowl over the simmering water and stir until warm and the sugar looks dissolved. Attach the bowl to the standing mixer fitted with a whisk, and whip until light and fluffy, about 6 minutes.

Meanwhile, sift together the flour, cocoa, and baking powder 3 times.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and, while folding the egg mixture, sift in the flour mixture, little by little, until incorporated. Drizzle in the clarified butter, while folding the batter.

Immediately pour the batter into the prepared pans dividing equally and smooth the tops with a spatula. Bake until lightly browned and it starts to pull away from the edges of the pan, about 14 to 16 minutes.

Remove the cakes from the oven and let sit in the pan for 1 minute. Run a knife along the edge to release the cake then flip it out onto parchment paper. Brush the paper (the one you lined the pan with) with water and let soak for 2 minutes. Peel it off the cake. Trim dry edges from the cake. Let cool covered with plastic wrap.

To make the Filling: In the bowl of a standing mixer, combine the sugar and butter and mix on low speed until well blended; then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes. Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream for spreading consistency, if needed.

Spread the sponge cakes with a thin layer of the filling, leaving a 1/4-inch space at the far edge. Roll the cake tightly on the long side until you have rolled a 1 1/2-inch thick log. Cut the log off from the remaining sheet of cake and place seam side-down. Repeat with remaining cake. Chill the logs for 30 minutes; then cut into 2 1/2-inch sections.

To make the Glaze: Melt the 2 ingredients together in the top of a double boiler or a bowl set over barely simmering water, stirring occasionally. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. One at a time, gently drop the cake rolls into the hot chocolate. Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl. Place on the cookie sheet and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 to 2 hours.

The post Ho Hos at Home: Recipes appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Standing between two auto shops on 25th and Pearl, the 110-year-old red wooden building with a blue-painted address is somebody’s baby. The blink-and-you’ll-miss it restaurant called John’s is owned by siblings Corey Buck and Ashley Maxwell. It’s an establishment built on their passion for food. That’s exactly why Buck, the head chef, is in the process of tweaking the menu from the lessons he learned on a recent culinary vacation in southern France and Italy. There, the meal is the day.

Cuisine Scene: How did you come to own John’s?

Corey Buck: My sister was running The Peppercorn, I was working at The Flagstaff House…I did a catering job for this woman, somehow she was friends with the owners, and they were looking to sell the restaurant to someone who grew up in Boulder…which my sister and I did. They called us up one day, and we kind of thought about it for five minutes and decided to give it a try.

CS: How will the menu change from your European culinary adventure?

CB: Cooking in Europe brings a completely new meaning to eating; it’s a way of life more than a way of surviving like it is here in America. The trip inspired me to change the menu up and experiment with a simpler approach to cooking. We’re going to go a lot lighter with more infused oils and citrus-based sauces and vinegars and lighter, whiter fish. We’ll probably do a lot more fruit and vegetable-based accompaniments with the meat dishes. My food is very much an art. You always eat with your eyes…You see it, you smell it and then you taste it. Combine all three and it creates a nice experience.

CS: What is your favorite dish on the menu?

CB: Either the veal chop or the tuna—it’s sushi grade rolled in a little black sesame, pan-seared cold. I do it with coconut rice and a curry sauce, which has lime and ginger and garlic and then I do the tempura scallops with it. You get the cold from the tuna and then the super-hot fried scallops. It’s a great contrasting plate and has beautiful colors, oranges and yellows…It’s beautiful.

CS: Do you cook a lot at home?

CB: Not really. I do a lot of light salads.

CS: Aside from the kitchen at John’s, we would most likely find you…

CB: Relaxing, hanging out, riding bikes or playing tennis. I play a lot of tennis.

For info on John’s Restaurant, 2328 Pearl St. in Boulder, call 303.444.5232.

The post Minutes to Buy a Restaurant, a Lifetime to Enjoy the Food appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.