So if you haven’t had the chance to leave the office or the ranch this summer, now is the time to make your plans to let Kathleen and her staff spoil you rotten with good food, good wine and a comfortable bed.

Our fall package includes:

♦Two nights of lodging for two
♦Gourmet dinner for two each evening with a bottle of wine personally selected by Chef Kate to compliment your meal. (Dinner includes one appetizer, two organic lodge salads, two entrees and one dessert.)
♦Gourmet breakfast for two each morning including French Roast Coffee and freshly baked scones.
Package Price $289 (gratuity not included)

Our autumn package is available September 7 – October 30, Wednesday to Sunday only.

Optional add-ons:  

Enjoy a two hour trail ride up the Swan Front to view the magnificent autumn colors. Two hour ride for two – $140

Experience the beauty of Swan River in all of its glorious fall foliage with a Guided River Float for two. Three hour float with brown bag lunch for two – $150

Bliss out with your own private in-room (or weather-permitting, lake-side) massage. One hour massage $75, two consecutive massages $140.

When Booking Your Autumn Escape: When making your secure on-line reservations, select your two nights and in the note field write: Autumn Special. Include in the notes any add-ons. Upon finishing your reservation, you will receive an automatic confirmation for rooms only…Kathleen will adjust your reservation with package details and pricing and resend a new confirmation.

We look forward to welcoming you to the Horse.

Put your taste for epicurean adventure (say that fast three times!) into our hands for an evening of beautiful food inspired by the great chefs of Singapore, Maui and Kauai, Hong Kong and even San Francisco. We’ll be featuring all natural meats, wild fish, organic cheeses, and, for the first time, organic greens and vegetables from the Horse’s garden! Each course will be matched with a wine selected by Rocky Mountain Wine Distributors.

Our Pacific Rim Menu

Ceviche of Prawns, Scallops and Lobster  -in passion fruit citrus over organic spicy micro greens and slivered green papaya

 Brie and Mango Quesadilla in Roasted Tomato Tortilla   -with cilantro macadamia nut pesto 

Roasted Maui Onion and Goat Cheese Salad  -organic Tyee spinach and fresh mandarin orange with Haixin basil vinaigrette

Grilled Natural Pork Tenderloin Medallion and Wild Mushroom Polenta  -marinade of Makers Mark and fresh pineapple juice with warm pineapple chutney

Chilled Sticky Black Rice Ball Infused with Ginger and Maui Honey  -with young coconut ice cream

Secured reservations are limited to 24 people. Dining room opens at 6:30pm, dinner begins at 7:00pm. $65 per person with wine, $39 without wine.

To make your reservations, call Chef Kate at 406-886-2080 or email laughinghorselodge@gmail.com.  Laughing Horse Lodge is ranked #1 on TripAdvisor.com.

While the Horse still slumbers under several feet of snow, and Chef Kate still lingers somewhere near the equator, plans are underway for an exceptional year of good food, music and even better Montana hospitality at Laughing Horse Lodge.

So where exactly is our intrepid hostess? We caught up with Kathleen at a remote 5 star eco-resort on the west coast of Panama where for the past few months she has been guest chef, teacher, student and explorer…a typical winter for this 12 year Montana resident.“I originally came to Panama to build up my Spanish so that I could bring in a South American guest chef for the summer and have a way of communicating in the kitchen,” says Kathleen. But not satisfied to have just one ball in the air, the study trip turned into a temporary gig at one of Panama’s newest luxury resorts, Boutique Hotel Cala Mia located on an isolated Pacific island in the Archipelago Chiriqui.

“This has been an experience in self-sufficiency and creativity,” laughs Moon as she recounts the first trip to Isla Boca Brava…a two hour journey by bus, cab and boat from the nearest town. “ I arrived all jazzed only to discover that there wasn’t a single piece of chocolate on the island and it would be two more weeks before anyone was going shopping back on the mainland.”

Surrounded by troops of howler monkeys, noisy parrots, and a 3’ iguana living in the thatched ceiling of her bungalow, Kathleen went to work (without chocolate) with the property’s Italian owner Vittoria Ghini, establishing a Spanish-language SafeServe-style  training program for the kitchen, setting up an on-line reservation system, and giving the island chef a break each week. “It’s been a real struggle in the kitchen being ‘forced’ to work with fresh fish and lobster brought to the dock each afternoon,” Moon quips, a smile in her voice.  “I’ve also learned a bit about making artisan cheese…and in Panama of all places.”

Ghini, and her Dutch husband Max, opened the resort 4 years ago and  support the dining room at Cala Mia with an extensive organic farm and dairy operation located a few kilometers east on the island. Fresh arugula, herbs,  aubergine, peppers, tomatoes and a dry-land rice are produced, as well as organic butter, cream and an outstanding Gouda.

Building and maintaining a luxury eco-resort and an accompanying organic farm with a small but state of the art dairy processing facility would be a challenge even in the US or Europe, but to do so on a remote second-world  island with a single car ferry (built by Max) and the feat becomes extraordinary.

“These people are impressive,” states our traveler, “my highest complement to Vittoria and Max would be that with their independence and entrepreneurial abilities remind me of many of the Montanans I’ve befriended over the years.”

Kathleen returns home just in time to participate in the annual Taste of Bigfork on May 1st.  She’ll be bringing with her new ideas and a renewed dedication to providing even more organic offerings on her already outstanding menu.

The dining room at Laughing Horse Lodge reopens May 20^th with dinner served Wednesday – Sunday, from 5pm. Reservations are highly suggested.

Howlers in the trees.

“When the ingredients are optimum, the cooking can be simple”.

No truer words have been written, especially when it comes to fresh -beautifully fresh - fish still redolent of brine, eyes bright, firm fleshed and loaded with culinary possibilities. Last evening four Americans showed up at the dock, a stringer of corvina (sea bass) in hand, and a request for dinner. The menu was already set for the Cala Mia dining room, and with only 30 minutes before the hotel’s guests would be arriving, an uncomplicated dish was required.

I remembered reading David Shalleck’s Mediterranean Summer, a biographical journal of his first year’s as Chef on a luxury sailing yacht in the Med, and how he was challenged to create new dishes every day using only the freshest of ingredients for his discerning and demanding owners. Cheffing at an isolated island resort is similar to cooking on a yacht…you just can’t make a quick run to the market when the whim hits you. So you get creative and simplify, simplify, simplify…and use what your location offers up…in this case fresh fish.

One of Shalleck’s ‘go to’ recipes was Pesce in Acqua Pazza (Fish in Crazy Water), a traditional Neapolitan dish that exemplifies simplicity.  With Cala Mia’s ‘go to’ guy, Beto, cleaning the sea bass, I began to assemble the dish. Thirty minutes later, as our four fishermen finished their first course of organic gazpacho with Feta and virgin olive oil, their pesce was served.  After the ‘oohs and aahhs’, silence reigned as they quite obviously enjoyed their dish. (Although I would like to take full credit for its success, the kudos go to the Neapolitans who for centuries have mastered the art of simple, yet elegant dishes; and of course, the tasty corvina.)

Pesce in Acqua Pazza (Cala Mia Style)

Ingredients:  

Fresh fish…the best is flaky fish like halibut, snapper, bass or grouper.

Garlic

Firm, ripe tomatoes

Italian Parsley

Zucchini

Capers

Kalamata Olives (optional)

Leeks

Virgin Olive Oil

Sea salt and white pepper

[Although this recipe is designed for cooking whole fish, I have adjusted it to individual-serving stoneware  oven-to-table dishes.]

Brush the ramekins with olive oil.

Cut fish into 1″ chunks and season lightly with salt and pepper.

Layer the ramekins with thinly sliced leeks, zucchini and a touch of minced garlic.

Place the fish chunks on top of the vegetables.

Place thinly sliced tomatoes over the fish.

Sprinkle with minced parsley, a bit of diced kalamata olives and capers (rinse both well to remove excess brine).

Drizzle with olive oil and cover for the oven.

Note: The dish will appear somewhat dry, however, after 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven, the fish will be simmering in a lovely bath of ‘crazy water’. Do not overcook!

Bon appetit! Chef Kate

 

Not willing ‘to go to the dogs’? Please join us for Christmas Supper. $35 per person, one seating only at 5pm, December 25, call 406-886-2080 to make your secured reservations.

Ranked #1 on the independent www.tripadvisor.com, your holiday meal is sure to be memorable at the Horse.

One such trout – a particularly rotund specimen of approximately 20 inches – has forced me to alter my dining room schedule for the fall allowing me one more evening to try to land ‘her holiness’.  There are many  great reasons to live in Montana, fall trout fishing is one of the best…and spending a stolen evening on the river with a 5 wt in my hand beats standing over a hot stove, even if I’m cooking up some special fare for great friends and visitors. So please forgive me, but I’ve changed my dining room hours to Thursday – Sunday, 5pm – 9pm for dinner and Sunday Brunch, 9am – 2pm…on the flip side, I have extended my season through the holidays.

The lodge dining room is available Monday – Wednesday for private dinners and events for 12  to 56 persons. So if you are planning a holiday party, special family get-together or just a night with good friends, include the Horse in your plans. We’d love to host your event here or help you give a stellar performance in your home.

So here’s to a great fall, brilliant fishing and a delicious dinner at the Horse..see you soon. Kathleen

Our Menu

 Borek with Ezme – Delicate phyllo rolls filled with organic spinach and Feta floating in a chunky roasted tomato and bell pepper sauce. The Pour: Lachini Rose of Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon

Salad of Watermelon, Chevre, and Organic Blueberries in Kafir Lime and Mint Vinaigrette.  The Pour: Domaine de La Greffiere Macon Charnay, France

Roasted Baby Eggplant with Lebni – Organic eggplant stuffed with charred vegetable salad drizzled with a yogurt, garlic and walnut sauce.  The Pour: St. Innocent “Zenith” Pinot Noir, Mark Vlossak, Willamette Valley, Oregon

Veal Manti – tender veal dumplings in roasted garlic and butter sauce.   The Pour: Domaine DuSeigneur Lirac “Antares”, France

Char grilled Minted Lamb Kebab with Cypriot Rice Pilaf.   The Pour: Carlisle “Pelkan Ranch” Syrah, Mike Officer, Sonoma, California

Traditional Baklava and Almonde Chocolate Pistache with Chilled Honey Pistachio Soup.  The Pour: Turkish Coffee

$109 per couple, Limited Seating, Secured Reservations Call Kathleen 406-886-2080 x 3 Laughing Horse Lodge, MM 71.5 Hwy 83, Swan Lake