Make These Boulder Restaurant Dishes At Home

Looking for a way to spruce up your weeknight meals? Our friends at First Bite graciously shared these delicious recipes from some of Boulder’s best recipes. Try them yourself the next time you find yourself in a cooking rut!

Looking for even more delectable Boulder dishes to cook up at home? Snag a copy of “A Bite of Boulder,” a cookbook from the team behind First Bite. Find it in select stores around town and online.

Bohemian Biergarten’s Spicy Hungarian Chicken Paprika

Bohemian Biergarten, 2017 13th St., Boulder, 720-328-8328, bohemianbiergarten.com

Ingredients

• 5 pounds boneless chicken thighs, skin on
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
• 3 tablespoons garlic, chopped
• 1 bay leaf, crushed
• ½ cup Hungarian paprika
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground marjoram
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 ½ quarts chicken stock
• 1 16 ounce can tomato sauce
• 4 slices smoked bacon, chopped
• ½ cup cornstarch
• 1 cup of cold water
• Sea salt and Wondra flour to mix with chicken thighs
• ½ cup canola or grapeseed oil

Instructions

Clean the chicken thighs of excess fat and then season them with salt and Wondra flour.

Heat the oil in a large braising pan or Dutch oven. When the pan is hot, gently add chicken thighs skin side down. When the chicken is browned, flip over and add the bacon, onions, garlic, and all the spices. Turn down heat to medium-low and sweat all the ingredients.

After all the ingredients are sweated, add the chicken stock and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil and skim off excess fat. Stir in the cornstarch slurry, bringing back to a light boil, and adjust the seasoning.

SALT’s Organic Butternut Squash Soup w/Toasted Almonds & Nutmeg

SALT, 1047 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-444-7258, saltboulder.com

Ingredients

• 2 pounds organic local butternut squash, washed and cut in half
• 1 pound organic yellow onions, peeled and cut into large dice
• 1 pound organic carrots, cut into medium dice
• 4 ounces olive oil
• 3 quarts of water
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons nutmeg
• 4 ounces almonds
• 8 ounces heavy cream
• Sugar to taste (approx. ¼ cup)
• Salt to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place squash cut-side down on a baking tray lined with oiled parchment paper. Roast until tender in the neck.

While the squash is roasting, sweat the onions and carrots in olive oil in a sauté pan starting on high heat, then lower the flame to sweat until softened. Add 3 quarts of water and simmer.

Remove squash from the oven and lower the oven temperature to 250 degrees. Place almonds on a sheet tray and toast for approximately 8 minutes, checking every 2 minutes to make sure they don’t burn.

Scoop out the seeds while holding the squash with a heavy kitchen towel. Then, scoop out the roasted squash and add to the onion and carrot mixture. Add the cinnamon and half the nutmeg. Simmer for 20-30 minutes to let flavors come together.

Let the mixture cool, then blend until the soup is smooth. Finish soup with ¾ of the cream, salt and about a ¼ cup of sugar.

Place the remaining cream and nutmeg in the saucepan with a pinch of sugar and bring to a boil.

Place the soup in a warm bowl. Drizzle with the nutmeg cream and sprinkle toasted almonds on top.

Dagabi Cucina’s Pisto Manchego (Spanish Ratatouille)

Dagabi Cucina, 970 Broadway Unit 101, Boulder, 303-786-9004, dagabicucina.com

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon of minced garlic
• 1 white onion
• 1 pound of green bell peppers
• (seeded and chopped)
• 1 pound zucchini (chopped)
• 2 pounds tomatoes (peeled and chopped)
• 1 pinch of sugar
• Salt
• 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

Heat olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the green bell peppers and cook over medium heat, shaking the pan from time to time. Add the onion and the garlic and cook for 15 minutes. Add the zucchini and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and sugar, then continue cooking for another 10 minutes. Simmer until all the liquid from the tomatoes has evaporated. Season with salt. This dish is best prepared in advance, served with toasted bread.

Farow’s Rutabaga Cacio y Pepe

Farow, 7916 Niwot Road, Niwot, 303-827-3949, farowrestaurant.com

Ingredients

• 1 pound rutabaga, peeled and spiralized
• 2 oz freshly grated parmesan
• Fresh cracked black pepper
• 1 cup water with 1 tsp flour
• 2 Tbsp butter

Instructions

Spiralize rutabaga and add to a large skillet, along with water and flour. Cooking on high, reduce the water by ¾. Now add the butter. Once melted, turn off the heat and toss the pan while slowly adding parmesan. Finish with cracked black pepper and salt.

Cafe Aion’s Paella

Cafe Aion, 1235 Pennsylvania Ave., Boulder, 303-993-8131, cafeaion.com

Ingredients

• Paella Pan (14”)
• 1 large link of fresh chorizo or other spicy, smoky sausage you really like
• 1lb mixed chicken pieces on the bone
• 1 small red onion, julienned
• 6 cloves of garlic, sliced
• 8oz. canned tomato
• saffron – a nice three finger pinch
• 1/4c cup white wine
• 3/4 cup Spanish paella rice or similar short gain white rice.
• 1 1/2 qt. chicken stock
• ½ lb. mussels or clams
• Fresno chili, minced
• Flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• Lemon wedges

Instructions

Over a medium-high flame, add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Once the oil has reached its smoking point, add the chicken and sausage, turning every now and then to achieve a nice sear on each side.

Add in the onions & garlic. Once the onions have caramelized nicely, add in the rice. Continue to stir, allowing the rice to toast to a nice golden brown. Add the tomatoes and the saffron, then turn up the heat and let the mixture reduce to a thick consistency. Add a liberal splash of wine, being careful of any possible flare-up. Give the pan a little shake to even out the distribution of rice. Ladle stock around the outer edge of the pan until the liquid just reaches the top of the rice.  Reduce the heat to a slow bubbling, adding more stock as needed.

When the rice is al dente and has absorbed most of the liquid, add the mussels. Arrange them on their hinge in the rice. Once they all pop open, pull the paella off the heat and top with chopped parsley, Fresno chili and a generous drizzle of great olive oil.

Ash’Kara’s Drunken Mushrooms in Coconut Broth with Cilantro Oil

Ash’Kara, 1043 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-993-5286, ashkaraboulder.com

Ingredients

• 2 T neutral oil (grapeseed, local sunflower)
• 1 lb mushrooms chopped into 2-inch pieces (your choice of mushrooms)
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• 1 cup red wine
• Salt to taste

• 3 – 13.5 fl oz cans of coconut milk
• 2 T cardamom
• 1 T ground cumin
• 1 T ground Coriander
• 1.5 T salt or to taste
• ½ C local honey

• 2 C cilantro
• 1 C parsley
• 1 C neutral oil
• Popcorn

Instructions

In a medium saucepan, heat oil on medium to high heat. When oil looks thin, about 1 minute, add mushrooms. Stir to coat. Allow mushrooms to cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add red wine and a large pinch of salt. Continue to stir.

Add vegetable stock and cook for about 10 minutes, until mushrooms are soft and all alcohol is cooked out. Salt to taste, then set mushrooms aside.

In a separate medium saucepan, combine coconut milk, cardamom, cumin, coriander, salt and honey. Simmer on low heat for 15 minutes until the coconut sauces has thickened a bit. Taste and adjust to your liking.

Combine cilantro, parsley and neutral oil in a blender. Blend on high for 4 minutes or until mixture is hot and smoking from heat. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer and save the green oil for topping.

Pop some popcorn for garnish.