Korean BBQ with the Kims

While in Durango we ate out twice; once at a private restaurant on Electra Lake and then at a bar called Olde Schoolhouse Cafe.  I ate a tuna steak with a watermelon, blueberry and mint relish at Electra Lake and yummy vegetarian pizza at the Schoolhouse.

The other nights at the house we cooked.  My sister Lisa and her husband Randy offered to make Bulgogi one night.  We were all pretty excited about the menu and that excitement only increased as they started cooking.  The combination of sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, soy, ginger and garlic were so incredible.  Along with the beef and chicken Bulgogi, we had white rice, kimchee, pot stickers and a salad of thinly sliced cucumbers, bean sprouts, and scallions with crispy fried scallions and rice wine sesame dressing.

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kbbq8Bulgogi means “fire meat” in Korean because it is traditionally grilled over an open flame, but can be cooked in a pan.  Randy did the grilling.  Grilled meat always smells good, but the marinade on the chicken and beef made for an especially wonderful aroma wafting from the grill downstairs to the kitchen window.  I always find it funny how men seem to flock to a heated grill.  Once the first tray of meat went to the grill every man in the house grabbed a beer and headed outside to help supervise.  This attraction of men to a fire will always amaze me.

The meat is sliced thin and wrapped in large lettuce leaves usually spread with ssamjang, the jar of spicy red sauce you find in the Asian food aisle.  When we ate this meal, we also put rice in the lettuce leaf.  It was delicious.

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Cowboy Gelato

Following a high scoring game of bowling this afternoon, Ben and I needed something for lunch before we passed out.  Amarillo is not known for local restaurants that are open on Sundays and Mondays.  I was not thrilled about the idea of getting something at McDonalds or Taco Bell, so we tried to eat at a local burger place on 6th street (historic Route 66), but as expected, they were closed.  So we kept driving and saw a place I hadn’t seen on 6th before boasting fresh made gelato and tasty sandwiches.  We decided to take our chances and try it out.

164_cowboy-gelato-logo-09The restaurant is called Cowboy Gelato and has been open since the 1st of August.  The owner was there, her daughter took our order and I think her son was making the gelato.  The owner was such a sweet woman.  She came and talked to us a few times, complimenting me on my lunch decision, the Leone, which I will describe shortly.  Everyone there checked on us more than once to make sure we were enjoying our food, and offering to refill our drinks.  I love Texas hospitality.

The name of this place seems like quite an odd combination.  Cowboy food and Italian gelato are not a match made in culinary heaven, but it works people…it really works.  The inspiration for the place is film “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”. Most menu items are named for Spaghetti Western movies, directors and actors.  The walls are hung with Spaghetti Western movie posters.

The sandwiches are called The Eastwood, Van Cleef, Wallach, Bronson, Leone, and Hill.  Salads choices include The Ferzetti, and Volonte.  Kids meals are the Django, Red Sun, Sabata and Campaneros.

Are you lost?  I was.  I knew Eastwood meant Clint Eastwood and that Van Cleef referred to Lee Van Cleef who starred alongside Eastwood in “For a Few Dollars More”.  I also knew that Sergio Leone was a direcor.  I did not know that he directed “For a Few Dollars More” and “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”.  Other than that I was pretty clueless about who the other food items on the menu were named for.  I found the answer to all my questions here!  I never thought a restaurant would lead me to a wiki article devoted to the Spaghetti Western.

Ok, to the food!

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Portabella Burgers and The Magic Dog

When the lodge was built here in 1983 they cleared quite a bit of the land and dug their own lovely lakes fed by a stream that flows through the property and creates a tranquil atmosphere.  If you walk toward the stream from the house you can walk over a bridge and find yourself in a little meadow with a gazebo lit with twinkle lights, a grill, and a couple picnic tables.  We had dinner out at this adorable gazebo this week.  We had hamburgers, hot dogs, portabella burgers, potato salad, skewered grilled mushrooms and roasted zucchini.  There are few things better than grilled food cooked over a real fire, not a gas grill.  There is a completely different flavor and smell to the food that is just not there when you cook with gas.

The burgers were delicious.  You just cannot go wrong with a juicy meat patty, melting cheese, ketchup, crisp lettuce, tomato and pickles on a toasted sesame seed bun.  This is close to perfection.

We also decided to grill some portabella mushrooms.  I made my portabella “burger” just as I would a regular burger, all the same toppings as my meaty burger.  I think I would trade the cheddar cheese in for swiss cheese next time.  I liked the veggies on it, but it would be tasty with just cheese.

FYI, try to buy portabellas that are ready to grill.  Scraping out the gills was quite possibly one of the nastiest tasks I have had to complete in the kitchen.  Sometimes it is OK to buy a food product that makes life easier…and less nasty.

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Colorado Oatmeal, Coconut, Chocolate Chip Bars

I am part of a family who thoroughly enjoys snacking.  That is why we needed some cookie bars up here in Durango for after finishing off all the cookies we had from Bread Bakery in Durango.  They have some incredible cookies, a delicious ham and brie sandwich and an incredible goat cheese and thyme scone that I plan to try to duplicate at some point.  So, after all the crazy delicious goodies were gone I made these cookie bars.  I found a recipe for oatmeal, coconut cookies from Allrecipes.com, and changed a few things in the dough and also made bars instead of cookies.  I was reminded by my sister after I had pressed the dough into the pan that I should have done something to compensate for the high altitude, but it was a little late for that.  So, I took my chances.  It turned out not to be an issue.  The bars did take a bit longer to bake than I would have thought.  Other than that, the flavor and texture were good.

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Raspberry Buttermilk Cake, My Cute Nephew and My Crazy Husband

The flavor of this cake was absolutely delicious, and slightly sweet.  The tartness of the raspberries is lovely.  The texture was wonderfully moist with a nice tender crumb.  I got this recipe from Smitten Kitchen.  I was disappointed that mine did not end up looking as beautiful as hers, but I am sure I will make this cake again, so we’ll see if I can improve on the appearance.  I followed her recipe and instructions completely except that I added a cap-full, about 1/4 teaspoon, of almond extract just because I love the flavor of almond.  I served this cake when my parents came through Amarillo after dinner.

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It was a light cake, perfect all by itself, no whipped cream needed.  I used turbinado sugar instead of white granulated sugar and loved the crunch it provided.  This cake is so easy to prepare and has simple ingredients most people have on hand.  The buttermilk is also non-essential since you can make your own buttermilk in 10 minutes with regular milk and some lemon juice or vinegar.

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Cinnamon Rolls in Durango

cinnrolls1These cinnamon rolls began their life in Amarillo, Texas and will see the end of their days in Durango, Colorado.  My family,all 13 of us, are spending the week in Durango.  My brother-in-law’s family has about 80 acres of land just outside of the city that backs up to National Forest which means that we are completely isolated in peaceful, beautiful, glorious nature…well, I still have internet access and cell phone service.  It is incredible out here and I am going to really enjoy the next 7 days of vacation.

My parents, my sister, her husband and my nephew all drove up to Amarillo on Friday evening to stay the night.  I decided to make cinnamon rolls for Saturday morning before we left for Durango.  I found this recipe for “Overnight Cinnamon Rolls” on the Food Network website, from Alton Brown.

I started the rolls on Friday night.  The dough was nice and soft after mixing it up, and so I set it aside to double in size which, according to the recipe, should have taken between 2 and 2 1/2 hours.  Not so, Alton!  I let the dough sit, covered, in my kitchen for almost 3 hours and it increased a little, but not near double.  I was ready to admit defeat and I was prepared to make a trip to Donut Stop on Saturday morning.  I decided to keep going with the rolls and see what would happen.  Maybe there was still some hope.  I rolled out the dough, brushed on some melted butter, sprinkled the cinnamon sugar filling, rolled the dough into a cylinder and cut the rolls into 11 pieces (it should have been 12, but 11 would have to do).  I placed the rolls into a 9×13 pan, covered the pan in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for the night.

In the morning, there was no change in the size of the rolls.  Ok, so now I was REALLY thinking we’d have store bought donuts for breakfast.  But I continued with the recipe, letting the rolls sit in the oven with a tray of boiling water for 30 minutes.  No rising occurred in this time either.  But I was determined to finish this recipe to the bitter end, so I baked the rolls for 30 minutes…a miracle!  They finally spread out, rose nicely, turned a golden brown, filled my house with a warm cinnamon aroma and were practically begging for some cream cheese icing.  I spread the icing on the warm rolls, and they were ready to be eaten.  We did not finish the pan, so we brought them in the car up to Durango and just finished them off.

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