COLORADO EXPLORER

By Linda DuVal

Fly fishing in winter?
Clean, simple, organic

Though winter sounds like a strange time to fish, there often is open water where the fish gather just waiting for an intrepid angler.
© Tad Howard.

Fly fishing in winter?

You’ve been cooped up over the holidays and you’re dying to get out of the house. How ‘bout a little fly fishing?

“It’s a great cure for cabin fever,” says Tad Howard, owner of Colorado Trout Hunters, which supplies guides for fishermen. “The rivers aren’t crowded and there’s lots of solitude.”

It’s also a good time to land that record fish.

It can be 20 below and you can catch a monster trout,” says Karen Christopherson of the Colorado Fishing Network, an organization that supplies maps and other information about fly fishing in the state.

Obviously, many streams are frozen in winter, which is why year-round anglers head for the tailwaters below dams.

“The water doesn’t freeze there and it’s nutrient-rich,” Christopherson says. “They just hang out and get fat.”

Many tailwaters are very accessible, they say. Try the Big Thompson River in Estes Park, the Arkansas River just below the Pueblo Reservoir dam, or the Yampa River in Steamboat Springs, for example.

Or check out the Blue River that runs through Silverthorne, Christopherson says. “If you get too cold, you can go shopping (at the outlet stores) and warm up.”

She also likes to “ski a little, fish a little,” and sometimes goes to Aspen, where she skis in the morning, fishes the Fryingpan River in the afternoon. “It’s perfect,” she adds.

For more information, visit www.coloradotrouthunters.com or hwww.coloradofishing.net.

Executive chef Mark Ferguson.
© Jeffrey Green.

Clean, simple, organic

This is one of a series of profiles on Colorado AAA’s four-diamond restaurants..

Happy 50th Anniversary to The Broadmoor’s Penrose Room, AAA’s only Five Diamond restaurant in Colorado.

Spago at the Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch
Spago’s executive chef, Mark A. Ferguson, is a Denver native who studied at the California Culinary Academy, then worked at several restaurants in San Francisco and Las Vegas before returning home to Colorado.

He prefers “clean, simple and natural preparations, highlighting the food’s natural flavor profiles,” in his cooking. He makes every effort to get “natural, sustainable, organic and home-grown ingredients.” If he has a signature dish, it would be the American Kobe Short Rib Diavola. Probably the most popular single entrée on the menu is the Colorado lamb chops, he says.

Besides quality food and excellent service, Ferguson says one of the most stunning features of Spago at Beaver Creek is the fact that it is located at 8,200 feet at the base of a world-class ski mountain.

Summit at The Broadmoor
Executive chef Bertrand Bouquin, also of The Broadmoor’s Five-Diamond Penrose Room, brings his classic technique and innovative style to a more casual menu at the hotel’s newest fine dining establishment, Summit.

His European roots have influenced many top restaurants where he has worked in the U.S. He wants his food to be simple to understand. “I choose two or three very distinctive flavors that go very well together and I let them speak for themselves,” he says. Though Summit’s menu has a “favorites” section, the top seller is the halibut wrapped in potato with creamy leeks and a Port wine reduction.

“The wine list and knowledge of our servers makes the dining experience for guests even better,” adds Bouquin. Summit’s manager and wine director Tim Baldwin says, “The fusion between food and beverage in this restaurant is seamless.” All the restaurant’s servers have earned sommelier certificates.

Recipe and photo courtesy of Summit
at The Broadmoor.

Potato crusted Halibut with creamy leeks and Port wine reduction
(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

4 6 oz. Halibut pieces
2 Yukon gold potatoes
5 large leeks (white part only)
2 cups heavy cream
3 cups port wine
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

Directions:

Peel the potatoes and slice very thin, lengthwise. Add a teaspoon of olive oil and mix well.
On plastic wrap, place 3 potato slices next to each other, slightly overlapped, and top with one portion of halibut.
Wrap the potato around the fish then tightly wrap plastic. Repeat Steps 2 & 3 for each portion. Set aside in fridge.
Thoroughly wash the leeks and thinly slice the white part, lengthwise.
Cook the leeks in a large pot of boiling water until tender. Strain off water and cool in an ice bath. When the leeks are cold, strain and squeeze out the water.
In a large sauce pan bring the 2 cups of heavy cream to a boil and add the leeks. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring often, until creamy. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.
In small sauce pan, bring the port wine to a boil then simmer until it reduces to a sauce consistency (this might take a while and be careful not to burn the wine.)
In a large sauté pan, heat a ½ cup of olive oil until it smokes. Then remove the fish from the plastic wrap and place it slowly into the pan. Reduce the heat so the potato doesn’t burn and cook for about 5 minutes on each side.
Poke the fish through the center with a small knife to be sure it’s thoroughly cooked. The blade should feel warm to the touch.
For presentation, spoon the leeks in the center of the plate, top with the fish, then drizzle the port reduction around it.

Linda DuVal is a freelance writer in Colorado Springs.

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