Crave burgers are seriously INSANE!!

Last night my wife and I went to Crave in Castle Rock again. I had no intentions of ordering this obscene beast but the bad men behind the counter forced me, I had no choice. I walked in and the dude just pointed at the Specials Sign. He looked at me and I back at him and he said "It's all you bro". He was pointing at a burger called The Luther, as in Van dross. More like as in Lex Luther because this bad ass mo fo was my nemesis. Well hell yes I finished it. It was FRICKIN' DELICIOUS. Before I go on, I need to tell you what the Luther is. The Luther is a burger with cheddar cheese, fried egg, bacon, onion and......hmmm there's something else but I can think of it hmmmm.....oh yeah! TWO GLAZED LAMARS DONUTS AS THE BUN!!!! If I'm not mistakin' didn't Luther Vandross die of diabetes and heart disease? The best part of the whole story was this morning when I said to my beautiful wife "man my stomach isn't feeling so great" and she said (having momentarily forgotten where we ate last night) "what did you eat last night?" I replied "well I did have a hamburger with donuts on it"

I'm starting Weight Watchers this week thanks to Crave.

Shannon

Pizza Republica - the bee's knees

If you've never been to Pizza Republica at the Landmark, you need to go this weekend. Chef Eric created a Roasted Duck Breast, Confit Duck Leg (oh god, do I need to go on? Yes, yes I do...), Prosciutto, Fig & White Truffle Oil Pizza...while he "was relaxing". Holy crap! Just go get 1 or 5. Soooooo good. Oh and the tiramisu, which I've never had there, was stellar. Well done Eric and crew! Serious Grub Chub today. Thanks for making my mom's birthday lunch so special! (and a special thank you to Drew Shope for the "bees knees" comment) -- Drew

Heading to New Orleans.

This weekend I'll be in The Big Easy so watch for some insane grub. - Shannon

Last Sunday. It was a good day.

I cooked dinner from my good friend Joey and his wife last Sunday. I let them pick the meal out of some choices I sent them and they picked Rick Bayless' Beef Short Ribs with Tomatoes, Roasted Poblanos and Herbs and my Wild Mushroom Risotto. I threw in some sauteed sugar snap peas and we were good to go! Thanks to my wife for making a delicious New York Cheesecake.

My Big Green Egg was the perfect oven, as usual, maintaining 325 for a couple hours while the Ribs simmered away.

It was the perfect day...mid 60s, sunny, beer flowing, music blasting, kids dancing, me cooking. One of those perfect storms of goodness!

I think the kids were happy rockin' out to the music. What do you think?!

Lord have mercy! Base jumping, here he comes.

Gabriel channeling his inner Eddie Van Halen

Wild Mushroom Risotto (early on)

Wild Mushroom Risotto (gettin' happy!)

Beef Short Ribs

Browning the Beef Short Ribs

Ready to go into the Egg

The finished product! Man, it was gooooooooooood.

Big Papa's BBQ - OH BABY!!! We found the spot for BBQ in Colorado.

I'm not sure how a BBQ place could possibly be any better. The people are awesome and the food is insane, or are the people insane and the food is awesome? Either way it's my kind of place. The Bison ribs where my favorite, yes bison. Total Colorado BBQ, The Brisket? tender with a killer smoke ring. The Pulled Pork rocked, very tender and great smoke flavor. The ribs might be the best I have ever had. Beef, Bison and Baby Backs oh and the St louis style ribs kicked ass as well. The sides we had where amazing too. Great mac and cheese. Seriously just close your eyes and point to the menu and there is a very good chance that it will be the best you have ever had. I say get into Big Papa's before the word really gets out and you can't get a table. I think they have two locations so there should be one pretty close to you, if not it's worth the drive from anywhere in the state. Dear God, I almost forgot about the Brownie Sundae. Another Grub Chub kind of place. -- Shannon

What a spread!

Did someone say smoke?!

Denver Food Tour - Last Stop

Ok, before you start reading, I realize that these are in reverse order and Blogger doesn't let you reorder posts. Sooooo, if you want to read them in order, scroll down to "Stop #1" below and start there. (sorry for the hassle!)

Our last stop on Chelly's tour was Little Raven Vineyards, located in the Riverfront complex. Peter Klann has done a great job with this store, focusing on undiscovered wines instead of all the usual "stuff". Our group was able to taste a couple different wines and he taught us how to properly do a tasting. Tanette and I thought we knew how to do one, but he instructed us to put our nose in the glass and then slowly move the glass towards the tip of the nose. The difference in smells between the "inside" and "outside" of the wine was incredible! Thanks for the lesson, Peter.

And a special thanks to Chelly for putting together a great tour! If you're interested in taking a food tour around Denver, contact Chelly at 303-775-5038 or CV@DenverGourmetTours.com.

Denver Food Tour - Stop #4

In the past, you've heard me talk about Penzey's spices, but I have been scolded for not going to the LOCAL shop, Savory Spice Shop. Well, Chelly took us there for our (mine and Tanette's) first visit and now we are definitely converted. I love that they not only grind everything in town, but that you don't have to buy large quantities. They will sell you what you need in just about any quantity. The employees are very passionate about their spices, so if you haven't been there yet, just go already!

Denver Food Tour - Stop #3

I think Chelly was just warming us up, because this was probably our favorite stop of the tour. Mick and Carolyn Major run EVOO Marketplace. They are located on the corner of 15th and Market in a beautiful space. One wall is all brick and two of the other walls are glass and brick. It creates a wonderful atmosphere to try their dozens of olive oils and balsamic vinegars. We had no idea there were so many flavors of each and if you ask, Carolyn will give you a some great combinations to try.

We also learned the difference between "fused" oils and "infused" oils. Infused oils refer to an ingredient that's been added (think rosemary or lemon) to the oil after it's been pressed. These are nice, but have a very short shelf life. Fused oils, on the other hand, are olive oils that have the additional ingredients added at the same time the olive oils are being pressed. They create a much more flavorful oil and have a much longer shelf life.

  

Denver Food Tour - Stop #2

On our next stop, Chelly brought us to Crepes n Crepes, thankfully, because I was starving! Tanette and I had never been to a crepe joint before, so we weren't sure what to expect. It was cool! Those guys make hundreds of crepes everyday and everything we tried was delicious. I know I keep saying that, but that's because it was true! They are also the only place in town with a 100% French wine list. Between the employees there, they can speak at least 15 (!!) different languages. Love that. We definitely felt like we were in another world.

He makes this look really easy. I'm sure it's not.

Building the crepes

Ham and Swiss with a Roasted Pepper Tapenade

Dessert! Bananas and Nutella. OH BABY!!!

Gourmet Food Tour - Stop #1

My wife bought me a gourmet food tour last year and we finally went last weekend. We had a wonderful day and Chelly at Denver Gourmet Tours was great. She offers several different types of tours, including street food (can't wait to do that one!) and chocolate (um, that one too!).  Thankfully, the snow held off until the day after the tour.

Stop #1: Amore Gelato -- Located on the 16th St Mall and 100% locally owned and operated, Amore Gelato makes premium gelato and sorbetto. We were able to go behind the counter and try as many flavors as we wanted. I tried at least a dozen and they were ALL delicious. Seriously, every flavor was great! And, did you know that gelato is much healthier for you than ice cream? Eat up!

Gelato

Sorbetto (Vegan gelato...but don't let that fool you, it's delicious!!)