COLORADO EXPLORER

By Linda DuVal

Gold in the hills
Serving up warm memories


Colorado Explorer
Crystal River Jeep Tours driver, T.G. Heard, leans against
“Big Red” amongst the golden aspens in Crystal City, Colo.
© Crystal River Jeep Tours

Gold in the hills

One of autumn’s most popular pursuits in Colorado is aspen leaf-peeping. When the hills turn to gold, take your camera and leave the driving to someone else. Book a Jeep tour of the high country, especially if you’re not comfortable driving off-road or on rough trails. Consider these outfitters:

  • Crystal River Jeep Tours, 970-963-1991, exploring the Elk Mountains near Marble, “where the pavement ends and the beauty begins.” See the Crystal Mill, Crystal City, Lead King Basin, the Devil’s Punchbowl. All off road.

  • Outlaw River and Jeep Tours, Durango, 970-259-1800 or 877-259-1800, offering breathtaking overlooks of the peaks and valleys of the La Plata Mountains. Also tours around Silverton. Off-road and Jeep trails.

  • Rocky Mountain Jeep Rentals, aka Over the Top Jeep Adventures, Salida, 719-539-2962. Tours include the areas around Salida and Buena Vista including some ghost towns and rock-hounding sites.

  • Wilderness Aware Rafting/High Country Jeep Tours, Buena Vista, 800-462-7238 or 719-395-6716. The two companies partner for the fall foliage tours, which let visitors glimpse history at the old mining town of St. Elmo and the Mary Murphy mine or explore Mount Princeton and Mount Antero.

Colorado Explorer
Rioja chef Jennifer Jasinski.
© Jennifer Olson

Serving up warm memories

One of a series featuring Colorado’s AAA Four Diamond restaurants.

Rioja
When the chef owns the restaurant, she controls both the kitchen and the cuisine. Jennifer Jasinski of Rioja uses that power carefully.

“My personal (culinary) philosophy is, keep it straightforward and clean,” she says. “I like to use seasonal ingredients and highlight them—but nothing too overdone. My cuisine is Mediterranean-inspired, with hand-made pastas and fresh ingredients.”

Her signature dish is artichoke tortelloni: artichoke broth with queso de mano cheese. Most popular is the Lamb Two Ways. But that could change, because she’s always coming up with new combinations and innovative dishes. What can she say? “I love to cook!”

Rioja won raves from Denver’s Westword magazine for its bread (served with meals) and for its excellent cookbook, The Perfect Bite, which can be ordered online.

Restaurant Kelly Liken
If you watch cable TV cooking shows, you might recognize Pittsburgh-born Kelly Liken. She competed on Iron Chef America and was a finalist on Top Chef D.C. But her many accomplishments haven’t distracted her from her primary goal: serving up a memorable meal, and experience.

Liken favors seasonal American cuisine and locally grown products, and changes the menu often to reflect that concept. A favorite of repeat guests is potato-crusted trout filets, served with caramelized Brussels sprouts, almonds and brandied buerre blanc. The restaurant serves 60 wines by the glass.

Attention to detail by the staff makes diners feel special, she feels. “I want every guest to be blown away by their experience here,” she adds.

Colorado Explorer
Recipe and photo courtesy of Restaurant Kelly Liken

Kelly’s Signature Potato-Crusted Trout Filets

with Caramelized Brussels Sprouts, Plump Golden Raisins, and Toasted Pecans

INGREDIENTS

  • 8 rainbow trout filets, skinned
  • 10 fingerling potatoes, sliced paper thin into disks
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 5 eggs, beaten
  • 1/2 lb brussels sprouts, cored and leaves separated
  • 1/4 cup toasted pecan pieces
  • 1/4 cup golden raisins, soaked in Chardonnay for 1 hour
  • Butter and olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

  1. Dust the skin side of filets in flour and then dredge through egg wash. Lay filets, egg side up, on a sheet pan. Place potato slices on filets to resemble scales on a fish.
  2. Cook the Brussels sprout leaves, slowly in a sauté pan in a little butter or olive oil until they are golden brown and wilted and season with salt and pepper. Add the pecans and plump raisins to the hot pan and toss together. Keep warm while you sauté the fish.
  3. Cover the bottom of a large sauté pan with olive oil. Heat to just smoking, season fish with salt and pepper. Place fish carefully, potato side down, in the pan and cook until potatoes are golden brown and crispy, about 3 minutes. Flip over and remove pan from heat while you place Brussels sprouts on the plates.
  4. Top the vegetables with the cooked filets and dress the plate with the buerre blanc sauce (see next recipe).

Brandied Beurre Blanc Sauce

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup French brandy
  • 2 shallots, chopped
  • 1 sprig fresh thyme
  • 10 black pepper corns
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

  1. Put everything, except butter and lemon juice, in a sauce pan and bring to a simmer, reduce until syrupy.
  2. Whisk in the butter, 1 piece at a time, off the heat, until all the butter is melted and incorporated.
  3. Stir in lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.
  4. Keep in a warm place, off direct heat.
  5. The sauce will hold in a warm place for about an hour.

Linda DuVal is a freelance writer in Colorado Springs.

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