Benjamin Henion

Its been a while since I've done a terrine for an amuse- bouche . Today proved to be the right day for one. This one consists of only a few items, which work very well together. First, I roasted a couple veal chops with nothing but salt, pepper and a touch of garlic. I also sauteed a mixture of portabello and oyster mushrooms which I hit with a splash of white wine. I cut the cooked veal and mushrooms into strips and tossed them into a bowl with some thin asparagus. Next was the pheasant mousse. A simple puree of cleaned pheasant breast, whipping cream and egg whites made a nice soft mousse to hold together my terrine. After testing a small batch of the mousse for flavor and consistency , I mixed all ingredients together, holding all the different elements together as one. I layered the mix into my terrine mold which happens to be a triangle mold, wrapped it very tightly and poached the terrine for about 20 minutes. After removing the terrine from the mold, I could see that it had...

When I was given these Elk chop t-bones and told to run them as a special I was stoked. They had been seared for a party but we had prepped way to many. I decided to use our braising liquid from the buffalo Short ribs to heat the chops. It was the right decision. The coffee and ancho chili flavors complimented the flavor of the chops perfect. When deciding on a starch I saw a bag of orzo and thought it might be different to do a cold salad for this dish. I tossed our roasted mushroom salsa with the orzo and coated the salad with a nice truffle infused olive oil. A simple dish, but lots of flavor. I was defiantly happy with the completed dish.

It occurred to me tonight as I enjoyed a couple games of billiards and a Black and Tan, I was frequently returning to the computer to check an e-mail or document some menu ideas. Maybe the keeping work and life separate needs another look. I can tell you that what I do for a living isn't for most. I can tell you that it also can take its toll on home life. That being said, my situation is similar to this nicely poured Black and Tan. I consider my work to be like Guinness , not for everyone, but I enjoy it. Everyone likes a taste, but not everyone finishes the glass. On the other hand, Bass seems to reflect family life. They call it a pale ale, but if you have ever had one you know that its much more than that. It seems to have a comforting taste and finishes nicely. Alone they are both taste great, but the complexity of them together is what every man dreams of. It seems that they compliment one another well satisfy life's palate. That applies, of course, to both the beer a...

I had some chicken that needed a home. I figured on being busy so I wanted to do a cold amuse. Chicken salad seemed to be the answer, but with my Colorado Fusion twist. I made the salad more like a salsa, using diced tomato, jalapeno , onion, cilantro, garlic, avocado and lime juice. A very fresh salsa, which I then added finely diced cooked chicken and seasoned just right. The flat bread just seemed like the right vehicle to deliver this mouthwatering bite to ones mouth. I decided to rub the flat bread with cumin scented olive oil and grill it before building the amuse. Not only does it work well to stimulate the palate, but it fits very nicely with the overall theme of the restaurant.

This was thrown together last minute today but came together nicely. The slaw is a mix of chopped snow crab and shrimp along with finely diced jicama , poblano pepper, and red bell pepper. I seasoned it with garlic and a splash of Cholula before soaking the mix in our honey-cayenne vinaigrette. This slaw sits on a small fried plantain chip and some diced avocado. Hawaiian pink sea salt adds a nice look and great finish to this amuse- bouche . This combination is very refreshing due to the heat of summer that we have been seeing.

These " Manitou " Shrimp Rolls are similar to Mikado spring rolls. They can be a pain in the neck to make for restaurant service, but boy are they good. I have had several employees ranging from dishwashers to bakeshop employees and even bussers ask for a recipe to try them at home. It sounds like they all went over pretty well with all three that I followed up with. We start out with some cooked, chopped shrimp. Adding just a few ingredients including soy, ginger, sambal , sweet Thai chili sauce, garlic, cilantro and scallions makes the filling phenomenal (top picture). An important thing to remember when rolling these spring rolls is to use a mixture of cornstarch and water to "glue" the roll together(picture 2). This keeps the spring roll tight when frying. When sealed properly the roll should be a tight, cylindrical spring roll with the contents held firmly inside (picture 3). Simply fry the rolls in clean oil heated to approx. 350 degrees for no more than a c...

This is just the right combination of flavors. A nice savory herb and garlic roasted pheasant breast, with the light acidity of an heirloom tomato slice, the sweet flavor of a port-onion compote come together nicely. The sourdough crostini not only adds the crunchy texture, but also becomes the vehicle that brings this palate teaser to your taste buds . The heirloom tomatoes we get are a variety of colors, so each person at the table gets the same flavor in this bite sized appetizer and they look the same, but each has a different color that catches their eyes.