Zengo Restaurant

A few weeks ago, we went on a great adventure up to Denver, CO. We took our son who had just graduated from high school and his best buddy as a 'graduation' present. Instead of spending the money on a party, we spent it on a trip. We took them to Waterworld and to Six Flags Elitch Gardens AND the Denver Skateboard Park. The boys were in hog heaven...we even took them to a skate board park in Boulder!

While the boys were at the Denver Skateboard park, we decided to go and explore what is known as Lo Do (lower downtown Denver)...I told Mark that I felt some good food and a glass of wine in our future!

We arrived upon a restaurant located on 1610 Little Raven St. on the Riverfront Park. It is called, Zengo. The menu is a fusion of Asian and Latin cuisine. For me, that would be a perfect food fusion! The menu is fabulous-not intimidating or 'full of itself' and very inventive. The fusion works well. We opted for our favorite way of dining: appetizers and dessert.

Marquis Phillips Cabernet Sauvignon (Australia)

I ordered a Cabernet from Australia that met and exceeded my expectations. A rich bodied, silky, jammy kind of Cab that made a great first impression and had a beautiful finish to it. A lot of wonderful things going on with each sip. Mmm, mmm, mmm...

(Beef Rib Eye steak grilled, sliced thin and topped with a Vietnamese salad)

They were offerering a special appetizer that wasn't on the menu which is the steak pictured above. That's what Mark got. I took a bite and with each and every bite of this dish, you could taste every single component. Not one flavor competed with the other. The cilantro, the mint, the lime, the cucumber that was in the 'salad'; it was absolutely amazing  how all these flavor components came together. That, paired with a tender, full flavored beef. My, oh, my! Talk about balance.

In Hawaii, we have a saying when the food is really good and flavorful. We say that it was so good that it "broke da mouth" (you need to say this in a Pigeon English accent and with gusto).

This is one of those dishes, for sure! Broke da mouth...

(Empanadas: Thai Chicken, poblano rojas, Oaxaca cheese, mango-curry salsa)

I choose these lovely Empanadas. Once again, you could taste every single ingredient without one overpowering the other. That sauce is what really took me down though! It is a Thai curry sauce and the ratio of the coconut milk to curry to lemon grass and ginger were perfection. I'm not sure if I ever could achieve making dishes like these; I think not. But the flavor of these two dishes were out of the park and off the hook!

Broke da mouth times two.

We also had dessert, but, by the time I realized that I had not photographed the food, we were almost done eating! It was as wonderful as everything else was. I had some sort of berry cobbler with ginger  /ginger ice cream and an oat crumble topping. As I sit here and write this, I realize that I now have no idea what Mark ordered! I even had a bite of it and recalled it being good enough for me to consider stealing it from him. 

Oh yes... he had Banana 3 Ways:

warm banana cake / banana ice cream/bruleed banana/chocolate ganache /cajeta.

We had a marvelous meal and a marvelous time which makes for an amazing memory.

Carmelized Rosemary Red Potatoes

My rendition of caramelized red potatoes

Boil a bunch of red potatoes-be sure to select them to be fairly consistent in size to one another to ensure that they all get done at the same time. They are ready when you can pierce them easily (I use a two pronged fork). Let them cool down and then place them in the refrigerator to get cold. This will help when you go to cut them up into quarters as the starches will have settled down and they won't be sticky to cut.

Have your herbs ready to go. I was lucky enough to get these from my garden: sage, rosemary and parsley. You don't have to have all of these herbs but the one you should have does need to be the rosemary. If you don't have it fresh (although it is easy to grow and grows just about anywhere with much neglect), the dried version is fine.

This is the approximate portions I used in this batch of potatoes. Those are whole pepercorns about to be crushed in my mini mortar/pestle thingie. This little 'gadget' is perfect for crushing seeds and dried herbs. I prefer this over the pepper mill in this case since it gives me the abilbity to give them a very coarse grind. But, use what you have! If all you have is ground pepper in a jar, that will work just fine, really!

Next step is to heat up your skillet pan along with an oil that can take a high temperature such as peanut oil. Allergic to peanuts? Safflower oil is a good choice too. You skillet needs to be big enough to accommodate all the potatoes without them getting crowded or stacked up on each other.  I used the burner on my BBQ grill  when I did this as I didn't want to add extra heat to my kitchen. Besides, it was summer and outdoor cooking goes with summer!

Now's the time to add your salt (to your taste). I only use coarse Hawaiian salt when I cook because I love the flavor that it imparts (Aloha brand is the absolute best) . It doesn't have a sharp,off, taste to it and is 'bright' to the palette with a nice 'finish'. The kind of salt you use does make a difference in the outcome. And, it should be about personal preference.  To help you decide what salts you like, go to a gourmet cook store and ask to sample their salts. You will see what a difference there is and may never go back to those round blue boxes with the girl and the yellow umbrella again!

Be patient and try not to turn the potatoes as they cook. Leave them be so that they can caramelize (nice word for burnt).The goal here is to almost burn them! You are looking for crisp, brown sides to the potatoes. If you are using dried rosemary, go ahead and add that half way through the process. If using the fresh herbs, add those in the last 5 minutes of the process. How long does it take to cook these? As long as it does! Depends on your skillet, how good it is at conducting heat and the BTU's on your burner. I used an 18" Caphalon skillet.

Here is the finished product. I always make a huge batch of these as they keep well in the refrigerator as 'leftovers'. But, with an 18 year old son in the house, they never last more than 24 hours!

These potatoes are a great side dish to dinner, or as a snack, or as  your breakfast 'hash browns'! I'm also thinking that it would make an incredible potatoe salad if I can hang onto them long enough to make a batch. They disappear all too soon.

Fat Squirrel

MMMMMMMM.......Nachos...at an 'English Pub"?

Only if this pub is located in the north central area of New Mexico! These are at the Fat Squirrel Pub and Grille restaurant in Rio Rancho. I haven't had nachos this good in who knows how long. The chips were not greasy; they were light and extremely crisp and delicate at the same time. Just the right amount of cheese, sour cream, guacamole and salsa distribution too. I was pleasantly surprised.

I suppose you are wondering why an eatery would name themselves after an overweight, medium sized rodent. If you aren't motivated to go to the website link I've provided, here's how it got it's name (this is totally a copy and paste from thier site, so that is where the credit lies!):


"The name Fat Squirrel comes from the old Turtle Mountain days. One of the brewers discovered that a squirrel had been stealing the grain from the alley and by the dumpster after the brews were done. Gorging on the spent grain this squirrel quickly became so fat that she had a hard time running around the parking lot and had taken to lying on her belly in the shade under cars. After the first winter she returned with her babies for the free and easy meals. In English pub tradition, we decided to name this restaurant after her and serve a namesake English style IPA that we contract brew with Turtle Mountain Brewing Company."

So, yes, they serve some traditional pub fare such as bangers and mash. But, they offer a variety of items on their menu to please just about any kind of diet. Except, perhaps if you are a vegan.

Steak and Spinach Salad 

With the raspberry vinaigrette dressing. One of my favorites. When I'm 'trying' to be good. The steak on their menu is awesome too and they have a nice selection of side dishes. Which could become meals in themselves! You order your steak to the doneness that you want, it comes with Gorgonzola cheese, dried cranberries, walnuts and spinach (of course). Every bite was scrumptious.

My friend Barbara loves to go there just so she can get their desserts. I forgot to take a picture of the desserts that everyone ordered because we all just dove in, you know! I love bread pudding and their bread pudding is something to be proud of. In fact, next time I'm there, I'll be sure to save room for some!