Sometimes you just have a need for ’cue on a summer evening. When that craving struck, I headed to a familiar place I hadn’t visited in a long time. KT’s BBQ opened in North Boulder in 1995, dishing classic smoked meats and sides in an ambience heavily loaded with Elvis Presley memorabilia. It was nice to hear the sound of meat being chopped and smell that smoke.
I dug into a chicken sandwich, a white bun loaded with smoked dark and white meat pulled from the bones, dressed with sweet-hot barbecue sauce. It’s the kind of messy sandwich that you need to hold onto until you finish eating it or it falls apart.
KT’s has a great offer: a smoked rib with purchase for $1. It was a satisfyingly, meaty chew laced with tart, hot Memphis sauce. On the side was mac and cheese, and red beans bolstered with bits of barbecued meat.
It reminded me that I judged an Elvis impersonator contest for KT’s in the late 1990s.
Bones and the remains of decimated wet wipes and napkins littered my table.
Pro-tip: Order your sandwich “Elvis-style” and you get some free coleslaw on it.
Another Roadfood Attraction: Halo-Halo for All
You don’t have to look far to find a Chinese, Thai or Vietnamese restaurant in Boulder or the Denver metro area. There are even pan-Asian spots, but when was the last time you saw a Filipino eatery?
Manila Bay Filipino Restaurant in Aurora dishes the real thing. Filipino cuisine is a fascinating fusion of Chinese, South Asian, Spanish and even American. It’s easy to love the lumpia, the thin, crisp pork and vegetable egg rolls, and pork adobo simmered in vinegar, soy sauce and garlic broth with steamed rice, as well as the noodle dishes. If you’re more adventurous, order the whole grilled pompano with potent garlic fried rice and wash it down with calamansi-ade—it’s a hybrid lemon-orange flavor.
Make the drive to Manila Bay just for the halo-halo, which is as much fun to say as it is to eat. It translates as “mix-mix,” and that’s how you consume this refreshing combination of shaved ice, sweetened beans, coconut, and ube (purple sweet potato) ice cream and evaporated milk.
Summer Food Hack: Lime in the Coconut
Upgrade your summer by making ice cubes with coconut juice and a spritz of fresh lime juice. It adds that little something else to beverages and cocktails as it chills the liquid. For a change of pace, use fresh watermelon juice.
Finding Farm-Fresh Flavor Statewide
The July 14 Boulder Weekly included a guide to Boulder County’s roadside farm stands. For more information on the state’s farmers markets, stands, U-pick places, wineries, ranches, apiaries and other local food producers, consult the state’s 2022 Colorado Farm Fresh directory: ag.colorado.gov/category/farm-fresh
Recipe Flashback: Adobe Mayo for Corn
Chef Jimmy Schmidt operated the Rattlesnake Grill, a groundbreaking Southwestern eatery, in Denver’s Tivoli Brewery building from 1985 to 1989. It elevated Colorado’s dining savvy immediately. Schmidt shared this recipe back then for big flavor mayo to use on sandwiches, Mexican-style street corn and as a dip for hot fries.
Jimmy Schmidt’s adobe mayonnaise
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon grained mustard
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon achiote paste
1 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon chipotle chilies in adobo sauce, minced
Salt, to taste
In a mixer or blender, combine yolks, lemon juice, mustard, vinegar and achiote paste. At high speed, gradually add oil until blended. Add chipotle peppers and blend. Taste and adjust salt. Thin, if necessary, with a little warm water. Refrigerate.
Culinary Calendar: Get your Okonomiyaki
Osaka’s restaurant in Boulder hosts Natsumatsuri on July 24 from 3-7 p.m. in the parking lot near McGuckin Hardware. On the menu for the summer festival are okonomiyaki pancakes, sake and Japanese sweets. … Colorado Brazil Fest takes place Aug. 13 at the Boulder Bandshell with Brazilian music and food, thedairy.org … The Colorado Polish Food Festival is Aug. 27-28 in Denver, polishfoodfestival.org … The Taste of The Middle East Festival is Sept. 17 in Aurora, tasteofthemiddleeast.com. … Send information about local food events, classes and fairs to: [email protected]
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Send information about Boulder County and Colorado food and drink events, classes, festivals, farm dinners, farm stands and tastings to: [email protected]
