Dinning at The Fort

We recently celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary. In a brilliant moment of foresight, we planned our wedding so that our anniversaries might correspond to Denver's 5280 Restaurant Week. Never mind that we got married 9 years before the promotion started, and that it was the first date the church was available --this is our week.

For those who live outside of Colorado (or perhaps under a Colorado rock) 5280 (pronounced "Fifty-two Eighty") Restaurant Week follows the restaurant promotions of other cities but we are one mile above sea level: 5,280 feet = one mile, representative of the Mile High City. Get it? Here the restaurants feature multi-course dinners for the low, low price of $52.80 per couple (or $26.40 for a single person or a third wheel) and according to VISIT DENVER, the Convention and Visitors Bureau 281 restaurants participated this year.

We chose The Fort for our dining experience. Known for it's gourmet treatment of game meats (Venison, Bison, Quail, et al), and its tagline "Food and Drink from the Early West." I can't confirm that my cocktail was from the early West, but it was damn good. "Traders Whiskey." Fine bourbon, red chilies, tobacco and black gunpowder. Served neat, in a cordial glass. (OK, we did look it up. Find more, here.)

For the 5280 promotion, The Fort served a prix fixe menu of house salad, choice of Bison Ribs or Bison Brochette, with a quail and sides of corn with Lima beans, and mashed potatoes. Peach cobbler for dessert. They also gave us sourdough rolls and pumpkin muffins (with little apple pieces baked inside--delightful!) We ordered nothing more, and we were stuffed to the gills. Generous portions and delicious food! Because it was our anniversary, we also had our picture taken in authentic headgear (actually, I think mine was a hardhat with some buffalo fur scraps from the souvenir counter taped to it.) And although we didn't eat it that night, they gave us an additional desert of Chocolate Chili Bourbon Cake.

The picture probably would have been better served before the gluttony, but c'est la vie.
I sincerely recommend scheduling some time next year to take advantage of 5280 Restaurant Week. With nearly 300 restaurants participating in every neighborhood and small town in the Denver Metro area, everyone can find something to suit their tastes, and this is a great way of trying something new. The dates are not announced very far in advance but for scheduling purposes, please consider that no restaurant wants to lose its Valentine's Day revenue, nor try to work around the St. Patty's day hullabaloo. I don't know what the dates will be next year, but I know when they WON'T be.
For breakfast this morning:
Brule Bananas, Oven Bacon, Eggs over Easy and freshly baked Bread
Brulee Bananas

Slice bananas lengthwise and rest on a wire rack, on a cookie sheet, over a non-flammable surface. Sprinkle very liberally with white sugar. Don't substitute here! Nothing else will burn in quite the same way.

Grab your best blow torch. (Side note: do NOT spend the extra money on a "brulee torch." They are too small, are over-priced, and you have to spend extra for fuel refills. Instead, go for the small propane bottles, and a $6 screw-on torch.) Patiently melt the sugar, holding the torch relatively still until the sugar begins to burn, turns deeply golden brown and bubbly. You can refrigerate for a few minutes, but do not cover or the crispy shell will liquefy.

Bread

2 cups Bread Flour (more gluten than All Purpose Flour)

2 tablespoons Yeast

1 1/2 cups warm (110 degrees F) Water

2 more cups Bread Flour + more for kneading

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/2 stick of unsalted Butter, melted

The night before, combine 2 cups flour and yeast in a large bowl and stir to combine. Add the water stir until everything is well mixed. Cover with plastic wrap and let it do it's thing. In the morning it will have tripled or quadrupled in size.

Add 2 more cups of flour, salt and butter and mix until it comes together in a shaggy mass. Turn out onto a floured kneading surface and knead for about 5 minutes or until it's smooth. Return to the bowl, cover with a warm damp cloth and let rise for 1 hour. Punch it down and let rise in the same way for another 45 minutes.

Shape the loaf on a piece of parchment paper let rise while the oven preheats. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes. Let cool on a cooling rack for 10 minutes (or a little more). Slice and eat it while it's warm.