Holly Arnold Kinney - The Fort Restaurant Cookbook: New Foods of the Old West from the Landmark Colorado Restaurant

I WANT TO THANK my father, Samuel Paul Arnold (Saml), and my mother, Elizabeth Ann (Bay) Arnold, for creating The Fort and me! The Fort not only has been my home since I was nine years old, but it sparked an adventure to last a lifetime! Id also like to thank my husband, Jeremy F. Kinney, for insisting I purchase The Fort when my father put The Fort on the market in 1998. I purchased 49 percent and created a partnership with my father in 1999. In 2006, I purchased the land and his remaining interest after he passed in June 2006. Jeremy said, It is your DESTINY! Its in your blood... you MUST do this! Given his unconditional love and encouragement over 25 years, Im so grateful that I married my soulmate!

I give a big-shout out to my past and present loyal Fort family of employees, who give shinin times to our guests every night, since 1963! You are Waugh-some!

Thank you to my amazing Kiowa food photographer, Lois Ellen Frank, and Din chef Walter Whitewater, whose eagle eye for detail, in front of and behind the camera, brought The Forts recipes alive in this book. Id also like to thank TwoDot and editor Erin Turner for producing a beautiful book that will be cherished by not only our guests, but the general public, who hunger for recipes inspired by our ancestors.

Our guests love our guacamole, and for good reason. Its been voted the best by Denvers Westword newspaper, but even without the accolade we know how truly spectacular it is. We make it the way its traditionally made in Mexico, where it originated as a way to use overripe avocados. Mexican cooks stirred salsa crudamade with fresh tomatoes, serrano chiles, and cilantrointo the avocados and a glorious dish was born. In most Mexican households, neither garlic nor lime juice is part of the mix, but cooks lay slices of fresh lime on top of the dip to prevent it from oxidizing and turning brown. At The Fort, we add lime juice but never, ever use garlic or cumin. Cumin is a big no-no in New Mexican cooking, a regional conceit we follow here.

SERVES 46

3 ripe Hass avocados, pitted and peeled

3 whole serrano chiles, seeded and minced

cup freshly squeezed lime juice (2 small limes)

teaspoon salt

2 large, ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced

1 medium white onion, diced

cup whole fresh cilantro leaves (no stems), minced

1. Place avocados, chiles, lime juice, and salt in a large bowl. Mash avocados with a fork or potato masher, leaving small lumps.

2. Gently fold in tomatoes, onion, and cilantro. Taste, and add more lime juice if desired. The guacamole should be spicy, so add more serrano chiles as your taste dictates. Serve with freshly fried corn tortilla chips.

WHEN A BEGINNER IS A BEGINNING

My father, Saml, called appetizers beginners because during the 1800s, that was a popular term for any small dish served before the main event. Why fool around with an unfamiliar word when an obvious one does just as well?

Our menu at The Fort offers a long list of beginners. Some have been there from the 1960s, while others were added as the years went by. I have introduced a few I particularly like and have found to be great favorites with our guests.

Back in the day, my dad and a group of chefs took an annual fishing trip to friend Fritz Covillos cabin in Ouray, Colorado, high in the Rocky Mountains. Fritz always served a hot sausage dip that, as Dad said, was so good as to make a grown man cry! Since then, we have served a version of the dip at The Fort, and while we hope no one cries when they taste it, its fantastic for any sort of celebration at any time of year. I especially like to make this during football season, and its also great heated up over a hot, smoky campfire. At the restaurant, we use buffalo sausage, but use your favorite pork or poultry sausage if you prefer.

SERVES 810

2 pounds refried beans (two 16-ounce cans)

8 ounces dark beer

pound buffalo sausage

cup finely chopped white onion

35 serrano chiles, seeded and finely minced

12 cups grated cheddar cheese

1. Heat the beans and beer in a double boiler to prevent burning.

2. Meanwhile, in a large saut pan, brown sausage and onion over medium heat. Stir to crumble the sausage as it cooks. Pour off any fat and add the chiles. Saut a few minutes longer, then combine with the bean and beer mixture.

3. At the last minute, stir in the cheese, which will melt nicely into the warm dip. Serve with fresh, warm corn tortillas.

My father recognized how delicious these boudies were and made them whenever possible. They are a staple at The Fort, and we have any number of customers who cannot get enough of them. Saml wrote about their history: During the fur-trade period, the American West was populated by many French-Canadians making their living as beaver trappers. A favorite food was boudin, or any type of sausage, preferably those similar to the blood sausage of France. The English word pudding originates from the French word boudin, and the recipe for boudin generally consisted of meat and some form of cereal cooked together and pushed into intestine casings. English-speaking mountain men couldnt pronounce dem furrin languidges, so they simply called boudin dem boudies.

MAKES 12 SAUSAGES; SERVES 6

1 cup hulled sunflower seeds

3 pounds buffalo round, brisket, or plate

pound buffalo, beef, or pork fat (see Note)

1 cup uncooked instant oatmeal

2 yellow onions, finely chopped

1 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper

1 tablespoon chile caribe (coarsely ground red chile)

2 cups dried breadcrumbs

1 teaspoons ground sage

1 teaspoons dried thyme

1 teaspoons dried leaf oregano

1 tablespoons whole cumin seed

10 feet large pork casings (optional)

1. Toast sunflower seeds in a small skillet over medium-low heat, stirring until lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Allow to cool.

2. Fit the meat grinder with the chile plate and grind the buffalo meat with the fat. Put the mixture through the meat grinder again, so that the meat is ground twice.

3. Combine the ground meat mixture with the remaining ingredients, oatmeal through cumin seed. With a sausage stuffer, fill the pork casings to make individual boudies twisted off every 6 inches. If you dont want to bother with casings, simply shape the mixture into patties.

4. Grill the links or patties over medium-hot coals for 3 to 5 minutes per side. They can also be cooked on a griddle or in a greased pan. To be true to history, the boudies would be boiled and served hot. At The Fort, boudies in casings are boiled ahead of time, then grilled.

5. After they are boiled, boudies in casings keep very well in the freezer. When you want to eat them, defrost in the refrigerator, then grill or cook them on a griddle as indicated above. If you make patties, freeze them raw, then defrost and grill or cook on a griddle.

Note: The fat around the kidneys is the purest, so ask the butcher for it when you order the fat. You can also ask the butcher to grind the meat and fat for you. If you would rather not use fat, use 3 pounds of lean beef and put it through the grinder twice.