Laughing Horse Lodge

A good friend recently asked “What’s the purpose of chilled soup?” – understandable coming from a man that builds beautiful homes around the valley (to steal and paraphrase from our esteemed US Postal Service) ‘through rain, sleet, snow and dark of night’. When  you’re working 30 feet off the ground, placing 600# roof skins in a blinding snow storm, chilled soup is most likely not on your mind – but winter does pass, and come mid- August, when the temps sneak into the 90s and the work or play day is through, there’s nothing quite like an al fresco dinner on Swan Lake with good friends and simple yet beautifully crafted food.

Each day at Caneel, I am charged with creating a chilled soup for lunch and with a large pantry and lovely produce to choose from, it’s a joy to be experimental (and for those of you who dine at the Horse, you know how I love to experiment!).  This week’s offering, although served chilled here on St. John, is also scrumptious served warm and is a spin-off of the Horse’s Mushroom and Brie Bisque.

Chilled Roasted Figs and Chevre Soup

Ingredients:    Fresh Figs (canned Kamato may be substituted out of season), fresh pears or apples, bananas, plain yogurt, guava or mango juice, brown sugar, virgin olive oil, cumin, white pepper, Kosher salt and chevre.

The key to a richly nuanced chilled fruit soup are the natural sugars existing in the fruit that -paradoxically- are only released with heat. Large dice your flat of figs, two apples or pears, and a couple of bananas and place in a bowl. Sprinkle the fruit with a bit of dark brown sugar (or honey), a pinch of cumin, salt and pepper and just enough olive oil to lightly coat the fruit when tossed. Place the fruit on a baking sheet and place in the oven at 425 for approximately 15 minutes, or until the fruit begins to brown. Remove and let the fruit cool to room temperature. Place the fruit in a Robo Coupe or Cuisinart with juice and yogurt and blend (I like my soups with some texture so I  forego the blender). Drop in chunks of tangy goat cheese and mix gently keeping bits of pure cheese suspended in the soup. Refrigerate for a few hours and serve with some fresh mint or basil. Yummm! Sweet and tangy, just like island life!  Until next week….I’m out of the kitchen today and  and heading out for a sail…take care.

One has to love the French for their contribution to the art of cooking, especially the names for those of us in the kitchen-  chef de tournant; chef de partie, and my favorite – chef garde manger. Beautiful words wrought with layers of meaning, but all boiling down to one thing…he or she is a cook and hopefully a good one!

Well this ‘cook’  is spending the winter on the island of St. John in the US Virgin Islands at the Rosewood 5 Star resort of Caneel Bay, ‘slaving’ away in a kitchen larger than the entire property upon which the Horse sits. As Anonymous once said “It’s a tough gig, but someone has to do it.” 

 While the Horse sits shivering in sub-zero temps and being buried by that lovely white stuff, I walk a mile and a half to work each day in 84 degrees; spend my day creating dishes with a group of professionals that love what they do and who they do it for (some of the staff at Caneel have been here since the sixties!); and when the work day is done, I clock out and head for one of Caneel’s amazing beaches for a refreshing swim before walking back to my humble abode in the village of Cruz Bay.

Besides the sybaritic pleasures of island life, the real reason I chose Caneel for my winter exploration was the chance of working under their new executive chef, Anthony Dawodu. Dawodu was seduced away from the Boston dining scene by Caneel a few years ago and given a great challenge -restore Caneel’s reputation as a 5 star dining experience and do it quickly.

 If you’re familiar with island life anywhere, the word ‘quickly’ is seldom used in conversation; in fact it is anathema to the zeitgetz of living under palm trees surrounded by water. Dawodu, however, was up for the challenge and has, in less than three years, restored the gloss to Caneel – the quality of the dining experience aside, the business acumen and cultural understanding shown is impressive by any standards. 

And so, here I am, seeing first hand a resort business recovery model in action; improving my kitchen chops; and filing away ideas, recipes and techniques to bring home to the Horse to make your dining and lodging experience even better in the coming years.  It’s a great way to spend the winter, and most importantly, I don’t have to shovel snow!

As the air becomes laden with the crisp smells of fall, the Horse’s kitchen fills with the aromas of savory stews bubbling on the back burner. Join us for classic French cassoulet, our famous Hunter’s Stew and our simmering fondue – the Gorgonzola Basil Hot Pot. Of course, the full menu is also available featuring prime angus steaks and prime rib, unique vegetarian offerings and wild, hand-line caught fish.

For reservations, call 406-886-2080.