Montana's famed resort, Chico Hot Springs, is celebrated in this volume with 100 of the most popular recipes from its well respected kitchen . Following a brief history of Chico, the book presents recipes from caramel rolls at breakfast to a Beef Wellington dinner and a Flaming Orange dessert. Special dinners are profiled and the sauces, stocks and dressings used by the chefs are detailed.
Located in Paradise Valley, just north of Yellowstone National Park, Chico Hot Springs is a remote resort most noted for its natural hot water pools. Only in the last 15 years or so has Chico's restaurant, now upscale with a classic and regional menu, begun to rival the popularity of its baths.
"This is not a glitzy spot," author Seabring Davis cautions. "Chico is a Montana icon, full of good times and hard work. It is a place of simple roots located in a breathtaking valley with a constant flow of hot water."
Begun as a modest boardinghouse, Chico originally catered to miners during Montana's gold rush more than a century ago. It grew into the Chico Warm Springs Hotel early in the 1900s and boasted a full-service dining room that served a meat-and-potatoes menu complemented by fresh fruits and vegetables harvested from the resort's year-round high country garden warmed by the hot springs.
This reference allows home cooks to receate some of the Chico experience with recipes and instructions for Smoked Trout, Baked Brie with Huckleberry Coulis, Wild Mushroom Bisque, Yellowstone Chicken, Frenched Pork Chop with Cornbread Stuffing, and Montana Mud Pie.
The Chico Dining Room Menu
Appetizers
Smoked Rainbow Trout
Hickory and Cherry wood smoked rainbow trout with toasted almonds, garden cream cheese, caper onion relish and basil oil.
Escargot
Mushroom caps stuffed with escargot, baked in white wine and garlic butter.
Oysters Rockefeller
½ dozen Rockefeller baked with fresh spinach, Pernod, shallots, garlic and country bacon.
Classic Caesar Salad
Classic Chico Caesar with Parmesan croutons and anchovies finished with Parmesan.
Entrees
Rack of Lamb
Herb and hazelnut crusted rack of lamb served with a basil-mint jelly.
Montana New York Strip
A 12-ounce Montana New York strip charbroiled with garlic-chive and sun-dried tomato compound butter.
Stuffed Pork Loin Chop
Pork Loin chop stuffed with a sundried cherry, walnut and cornbread stuffing served over a hot and sour Granny Smith apple sauté.
Mixed Grille
Mixed grille of meats, game, poultry or fish with seasonal accompaniments and sauces.