Most people who visit Indian Wells, California, are probably drawn in by the four world class resorts, the spas and the lush golf courses. The resort community in the southern California desert became a retreat for celebrities after Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz opened the Indian Wells Hotel in 1958. Since then, city officials have worked to make Indian Wells a premiere destination in the Coachella Valley.

These days, city officials are keen on sustainability, and energy-use reduction has become a key goal for the city. I had the “tough” job of visiting Indian Wells last month for an LED City^® Council meeting, and while I was there I had the city’s management analyst Susan Weisbart give me a tour of some of the city’s LED lighting installations.

Indian Wells was the first California city to become an LED City. The LED City program helps municipalities speed up the adoption of energy-saving LED lights by connecting them with information they need to make informed decisions about installing LED lights.

One of the first LED lighting installations in Indian Wells involved swapping out incandescent lights that lit the outside of city hall and other municipal buildings with 12 Watt Cree LR6™ recessed lights. It’s a change that city officials say saves nearly $7,000 a year in energy costs. That’s not counting the maintenance savings of not having to replace burned out bulbs, since the LED lights they installed are designed to last 50,000 hours – or 17 years if they’re on 8 hours a day!

The city also has plans to replace the 50 Watt halogen lights illuminating the signature palm trees lining city streets with 11 Watt LED lights. Get this: The city estimates it can save $10,095 in energy costs per year once the project is complete!

The BNP Paribas Open, considered by many to be the “Grand Slam of the West”, is the fifth most-attended tennis tournament next to the Grand Slams. It is one of the few major events combining both men and women over a two-week period on the ATP and Sony Ericsson WTA Tours. Held annually at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, a state-of-the-art facility boasting a 16,000 seat stadium, the second largest in the world is one of the world’s most beautiful venues for watching the top professionals compete. In 2007, 303,398 people attended the event, making it the first tournament, outside of the Grand Slams, to ever pass the 300,000 mark.

Through the guidance of partners Charlie Pasarell and Raymond Moore, the tournament has attracted more than 250 of the world’s top men’s and women’s tennis stars annually including Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Boris Becker, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Monica Seles, Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport and Maria Sharapova. It enjoys elite status on the ATP (ATP Masters Series) and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour (Tier I) calendars.

This tradition of strong player fields including well-known champions, coupled with world-class tennis facilities and the idyllic weather and desert scenery of the Coachella Valley in Southern California, has fueled the tournament’s emergence as one of the most prestigious tournaments on the tennis calendar and one at which a great performance is extremely important to a player’s ranking and resume.

The tournament started as an ATP fund-raising event in Tuscon, Arizona before moving to Mission Hills Country Club in the Coachella Valley in1976 where it benefited from a successful five-year run. The event’s connections with the Coachella Valley were nearly broken, however, when the ATP considered moving it to a proposed tennis stadium to be built near Disney World in Florida.

Pasarell, a native of Puerto Rico who had been the No. 1-ranked player in the U.S., was an ATP Board Member and the Director of Tennis at the La Quinta Hotel. He lobbied the ATP Board to keep the event in the Coachella Valley and convinced the owners of the La Quinta Hotel to build tennis facilities adequate for the event. Pasarell’s efforts resulted in the tournament’s move to the La Quinta Hotel, a new 7,500-seat tennis stadium, and a commitment to make the event “even better” in the future.

When the event moved into its new home in 1981, Pasarell became the tournament director. It enjoyed success in the following years and had several noteworthy finals, the most memorable being the 1982 championship when Yannick Noah ended Ivan Lendl’s winning streak of 44 matches, just two short of the men’s record.

It was Pasarell’s goal for the tournament to grow into a major tennis event at which both top men’s and women’s competitions would be take place during the same time period. To fulfill this goal, he implemented a plan that was simple in concept but difficult in execution — to build the event’s popularity with the players, the fans, the sponsors and the media through great facilities, attention to detail, strong competition, and wide print and broadcast coverage.

During the six years (1981 – 1986) the tournament was held in La Quinta, it indeed became established as a very popular tennis destination for the players, the fans, the sponsors and the media. In fact, the event achieved such success that it outgrew the tennis stadium and facilities at the La Quinta Hotel. If Pasarell’s goals were to be accomplished, and if the event were to strive for “major tennis event” status, he needed to build a larger, more modern and permanent tennis stadium with enhanced facilities.

To construct the appropriate tennis stadium and facilities, Pasarell and long-time friend Raymond Moore established a company known as PM Sports Management, and created a team along with other investors (including Alan King) to design, develop and operate a luxurious resort hotel and tennis facility in nearby Indian Wells. Pasarell signed Newsweek as title sponsor and Indian Wells became home to the “Newsweek Champions Cup.”

In 1986, construction was completed on the 350-room Grand Champions Hotel (now known as the Hyatt Grand Champions Resort). Its centerpiece was a sophisticated tennis center with 12 courts including a 10,000-seat tennis stadium (with some 7,000 permanent seats), a 3,000-seat clubhouse court, two grass courts and two clay courts. Other facilities included a 3,000 square foot retail sport boutique, a 1.62-acre hospitality village and an 8,000 square foot convention center that also served as a media facility, a player’s lounge and a kitchen facility during the tournament. At the time it was completed, the stadium and facilities were truly state-of-the-art.

The new stadium debuted in 1987, which was also the first year that a top women’s professional competition (that year featuring Steffi Graf and Hana Mandlikova) was held in conjunction with the men’s event (though not concurrently). This foreshadowed the combination of the men’s and women’s competitions that was essential to meeting Pasarell’s goals.

The tournament received significant national and international attention when Boris Becker won the first two events (1987 and 1988) held at the new stadium. The tournament took another crucial step forward in 1990 when the ATP, then under the leadership of Hamilton Jordan, restructured the men’s tennis circuit and designated the Newsweek Champions Cup as one of the elite events on the ATP in the category now known as the ATP Masters Series.

The women’s tournament went through a somewhat different evolution. Originally a non-sanctioned event, it became an official Sony Ericsson WTA Tour event in 1991 in partnership with IMG. In 1992, the women’s event was honored when Chris Evert agreed to attach her name to the competition, making it the Evert Cup. In 1997, it was designated as a “Tier 1″ event, the top Sony Ericsson WTA Tour category.

Until 1996, the women’s event was held immediately prior to rather than concurrently with the men’s event. That situation changed, however, when the ATP and the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour approved of combining the events. Thus the tournament, then with the somewhat unwieldy name of Newsweek Champions Cup/State Farm Evert Cup presented by Harman International, attained the lofty status of being one of only six Masters Series/Tier I-level tournaments in the world, including the four Grand Slams, that has a combined men’s and women’s event, a distinction it still holds today.

This success had its price as the tournament quickly outgrew the Grand Champions grounds. Pasarell now dreamed of a new stadium that would serve as a showplace for the burgeoning event.

The development of the Tennis Masters Series coincided with the completion of the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in 2000, bringing the tournament a new name (Tennis Masters Series Indian Wells) as well as helping it reach new heights in attendance, prize money, television and print exposure, and international status. During its entire existence, tournament attendance has grown from 30,000 to more than 270,000; prize money has grown from $250,000 to more than $5 million; the television audience of the tournament has grown from 25 million homes to nearly a billion homes worldwide; and the facilities have grown from 7,500 seats to a 20-court, 54-acre complex including a 16,100-seat main stadium, two smaller stadiums, 44 luxury suites, nearly 6,000 box seats and first rate ancillary facilities.

One of the reasons for this growth was Pacific Life who signed on as title sponsor back in January of 2002 until 2008. The support of Pacific Life, and dozens of other sponsors, is invaluable to the continued success of the BNP Paribas Open.

Another boost to the BNP Paribas Open came in the form of an increased playing field, which spawned additional days and sessions creating a full two-week event. Now 20 sessions strong with both the men’s and women’s draws at 96, top players are in competition beginning the first weekend, adding to the excitement and the “Grand Slam” feel of the tournament.

The next chapter of the tournament was bigger than ever as Pasarell and Moore, with the help of new partners George Mackin and Bob Miller of Tennis Magazine and Patrick W. M. Imeson of Calim Private Equity, LLC, recruited a new team of investors including the United States Tennis Association (USTA) and tennis legends Pete Sampras, Billie Jean King and Chris Evert, to acquire International Management Group’s (IMG) 50% interest in the tournament.

The tournament, which had interest from several overseas investors, was kept in the Coachella Valley because of this powerful and strategic tennis partnership. In addition, the City of Indian Wells displayed their unwavering commitment to the event by purchasing 27 acres of land adjacent to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

The tournament rang in the 2009 New Year by announcing the addition of BNP Paribas, the premier sponsor of tennis globally, as the new title sponsor of the event. To close 2009, the tournament announced that Larry Ellison, co-founder and CEO of Oracle Corporation formed Tennis Ventures, LLC and would become the new owner of the event and the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Ellison, a tennis aficionado will continue rely on Pasarell, Moore and their staff to manage the event, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year. Together they will ensure that this tournament continues to be one of the best in the world.

Roasted Root Vegetable Gratins

Ingredients:

¼ cup olive oil

2 ea medium Spanish onions

2 tbl minced garlic

1/2 cup grated white cheddar cheese

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/4 cup goat cheese

1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoons allspice

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 Tbl kosher salt

4 whole eggs

2 cups heavy cream

1 pound russet potatoes,

1 pound garnet yams

1 pound butternut squash

.5 stick butter, melted

2 cups panko bread crumbs

2 teaspoons Spanish paprika

1 bunch finely chopped parsley

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, add olive oil. Sauté sliced onions and garlic until soft and translucent. Remove from heat. Slice washed, scrubbed, seeded and thinly sliced vegetable. Thin with a mandoline and place into cream egg mixture. Add cooled garlic and onions to egg mixture. Toss well. Add nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice and pepper, 3 cheeses and mix well. Add salt and taste mixture. The mixture should be just slightly salty. Add a little more if desired. In a bowl, combine butter, panko bread crumbs, chopped parsley and paprika. Stir well. Place potatoes mixture into a casserole dish, and top with panko crumb mixture. Wrap with foil and bake in the oven for 35 to 45 minutes or until fork tender. Remove foil and cook for 10 minutes uncovered or until crust is golden brown. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving

This will go great with just about any holiday entrée.

Have a safe New Years.

Chef O

Chris P. Olson

Executive Chef

Indian Wells Golf Resort

Travel can be a somewhat stressful experience no matter what the time of year you are traveling, but taking a trip during the holidays can multiply that anxiety to an unbearable level if you do not properly prepared. Whether you’re packing up for a cross-country flight or loading the car for a road trip to spend holiday time with friends and family, these ten simple tips will help you get the most out of your vacation time and manage your travel stress during the busiest season of the year.

1. Have a Game Plan

2. Make Sure You Know What You Are Committing To

3. Make Arrangements for Home

4. Create a List

5. Try and Travel on Off Days

6. Be Prepared

7. Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff (My personal favorite)

8. Know You Are Not Going to Get It All Done

9. Recharge Your Batteries

10. Enjoy the Trip Home

Don’t endure your return — celebrate it. Put yourself in a good mood and enjoy the process of easing back into normal life. Worrying about the dog, bills and what you have to get done when you get back to work will just undo all the hard work you did to de-stress in the first place. Don’t you want to hang on to vacation bliss as long as you can?

Frost occurs when the water inside of a plants leaf freezes due to cold temperatures.  This freezing causes jagged crystals to form and remain until temperatures warm enough to unfreeze the turf.  Turf damage will occur if equipment drives across or anyone walks across the surface while frost is present.  Blackened tire tracks and footprints are visual signs that the turf has been damaged due to the crystals inside the leaf rupturing the plant.  Frost damage is permanent and requires replacement or reseeding to repair.

Operators of facilities in desert climates must be extremely knowledgeable about frost in order to maximize revenues while protecting the delicate turf during the winter months.  Those of you familiar with Indian Wells Golf Resort know that our golf courses sit lower in elevation to most of the surrounding area.  The lower elevation makes our facility more susceptible to frost due to the cold air settling during the night and early morning.  Unfortunately there is no way to accurately predict frost due to the weather factors that cause it.  During the 2008 winter our facility experienced 40 out of 60 days with frost delays.  The 2009 winter only brought 5 days of frost.

Factors that will deter the formation of frost are wind and cloud cover.  Wind will keep the air masses moving keeping the cool air from settling.  Cloud cover will keep warm air from escaping into the atmosphere maintaining higher night temperatures.

Hopefully we will have a warm season keeping all of our guests on schedule and golf courses in excellent condition.

Rolland Vaughn

PGA Head Golf Professional

Indian Wells Golf Resort

With the tempatures outside dropping, this festive soup & chicken dish may just hit the spot & turn a few heads along the way.

 Roasted Butternut Squash Soup * Goat Cheese-Cranberry Dumplings

 Bacon Wrapped Chicken with Tomato Jam

Spinach Gala Apple Salad

 3 Tbl Olive Oil

1 Ea Butternut Squash

1 Tbl Butter

2 Tea Cinnamon

1 Tbl Brown Sugar

½ Tea Ground Ginger

1 Tea Lemon Pepper

½ Tea Allspice
2 small onions, sliced
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 Ea Small Diced Carrot

1 Ea Small Dice Celery Rib
3 cups Chicken Stock
2 cups apple cider or juice
Kosher salt

Cracked White Pepper

2 Cups Heavy Cream

Wash and cut squash in ½, remove seeds. Season with small butter, salt, pepper, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, lemon pepper, allspice & roast in pre-heated 325 degree oven until tender and skin can be peeled off with ease. This may take 30-45 minutes

Once cool enough to handle, peel & rough chop.

Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat.

Add the onion, carrots and garlic and cook, stirring, until soft, about 4 minutes.

Add the squash, Stock, and cider and season with salt and pepper. Bring the soup to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer, until the squash is tender, about 30 minutes.

Using a blender, puree the soup until smooth, stir in heavy cream & adjust seasoning.

Soup can be make 2 days on advance & reheated. 

Goat Cheese-Cranberry Dumplings

4 oz Goat Cheese

1 Pkg Won Ton Skins or Egg Roll Wrappers

2 Tbl. Chifonade Basil

1 oz Chopped Reconstituted Dried Cranberries

1 oz Panko Bread Crumbs

Pastry Brush

Water for Pastry Brush

 In bowl combine cheese, basil, cranberries, bread crumbs, salt & pepper.  Lay won ton skins out on clean work surface.

Place small amount of filling in center of won.

Brush edges on won ton with water &

 Fold over corners & press to seal.

Fold corners over again, to resemble a look of a won -ton

Freeze dumplings until ready to serve.

 Once frozen- you can deep fry in small amount of oil at 350 degrees or poach your dumpling in slightly salted boiling water until soft. 2-3 Minutes.

 Ladel soup into pre-heated soup cups or soup plates

Place dumplings on top of hot soup, garnish with toasted squash seeds, and little minced chives

Applewood Bacon Wrapped Chicken * Tomato Jam

Warm Spinach Salad

4- 5-6 oz Chicken Breast- No Skin

Cracked Black Pepper

Salt

2 Tbl. Chopped Parsley

2 Tea. Chopped Rosemary

4 Strips Bacon

2 Ea. Oven Roasted Red Pepper, divided into 4 even pieces

Preheat oven to 325 degrease

Trim chicken breast of any excess fat, season with salt pepper, parsley & rosemary.

Place 2 breast together with roasted red pepper in between. Wrap bacon around chicken breast; overlap the bacon when going around chicken.

Heat sauté pan, when pan starts to smoke place bacon wrapped chicken in hot pan, once bacon has a light brown color, flip & sear other side. And place in 325 degree oven

Place in oven & cook for about 20- 30 minutes, or until juices run clear. (Meat probe reads 160 degrease)

Tossed Spoon Spinach with Frisse & Gala Apples

Winter Cider Dressing

4 oz    Spinach- Washed & Dried

1 oz    Frisse Lettuce- Washed & Dried

1 Ea    Slice Gala Apple- ½ Moon

½ Cup Toasted Walnuts

Cider Dressing

2 Cup apple cider – Reduced to 4 oz
2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup olive oil
½ tablespoon minced shallots
1/4 teaspoon salt

Cracked black pepper

In a small bowl, whisk together the apple cider, vinegar, shallots and mustard. Slowly drizzle in the oil, whisking constantly until it emulsifies.  Add the, salt, and pepper, and adjust the seasoning, to taste.  Reserve dressing until ready to toss greens.

                             Tomato Red Pepper- Jam

 12 oz               Can Dice Tomatoes- Drained & Save Juice

1 Ea.                Medium Dice Red Pepper

2 Table.          Olive Oil

¼ of a Medium Spanish Onion- Small Dice

1 Table.        Peeled * minced chopped Ginger Root

1 Tbl.         Chopped Garlic

2 Table.       Sugar

2 Tbl.         Balsamic Vinegar

2 Tbl.       Rough Chopped Cilantro

 In medium size pre-heated pan, add olive oil

Add ginger & garlic and sweat for 1-2 minutes

Add onions & continue to cook till soft

Add tomatoes- red peppers & stir to mix well

Cook over medium heat until most of juices have evaporated

Add, reserved tomato juice, vinegar, sugar and cook to incorporate.

Reduce until jam has taken on a marmalade / jelly look to it.

Adjust seasoning and stir in cilantro….Set aside

Jam can be made 2 or 3 days in advance, and brought to room temperature before service

 Time to Assemble

 Toss salad in dressing & arrange on plate

Slice bacon wrapped chicken & fan chicken over greens

Place 3 small spoons of tomato pepper jam on plate.

Sprinkle with chopped parsley

Have a safe holiday.

 Enjoy!!!!

 Chris P. Olson

Executive Chef, Indian Wells Golf Resort

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

Visit http://au.sys-con.com/node/1141364 for complete article and list of hotels.

Indian Wells, California Resorts to make list:  Hyatt Grand Champions Resort, Villas, and Spa, Miramonte Resort & Spa and Renaissance Esmeralda Resort and Spa

LOS ANGELES, CA — (Marketwire) — 10/13/09 — Sixty-six Southern California hotels and 32 restaurants have earned the 2010 AAA Four Diamond Award, the Automobile Club of Southern California announced today. Six locations appear for the first time on the 2010 list, including the SLS Hotel and the Montage in Beverly Hills; two in Rancho Mirage; one in Pismo Beach and one in San Diego County.

The coveted rating plaque featuring a design of four raised simulated diamonds and the AAA Four Diamond Award logo are presented to hotel and restaurant general managers and executive chefs to recognize the award-winning properties, which rank among the top 3.4 percent of more than 2,600 Southern California hotels, motels, and restaurants inspected by the Auto Club, the nation’s largest AAA affiliate.

“North America’s AAA Diamond Rating System is a long-time trusted method of rating lodgings and dining establishments, especially during what has been a difficult economic year for the hospitality industry and also for travelers,” said the Auto Club’s Approved Accommodations Supervisor Patricia Marenco. “Southern California’s hotels and restaurants that earn the AAA Four Diamond award maintain a very high standard of service in their hotels and restaurants in order to continue pleasing their guests.”

AAA’s Diamond rating program is the only hotel and restaurant review system in the nation that uses specially trained full-time field representatives. As part of AAA’s national network, the Auto Club’s own staff reviews establishments in Southern California without prior notification using objective and detailed rating procedures.

Lodging inspections include at least one unannounced inspection each year. Inspectors review and rate exterior, grounds and public areas, room décor, ambiance and amenities, guest room, bathrooms, housekeeping and maintenance, management and staff and guest services. Once the inspection process is complete, properties that meet all requirements receive a rating of one to five Diamonds.

AAA approves and rates more than 31,000 lodgings and 27,000 restaurants each year throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. A wide range of property listings are included in regional TourBook® guides, with a yearly distribution of nearly 20 million, and on AAA.com, where many travel planning and information services — including the well-known TripTik® Travel Planner, TourBook® listings and Diamond Ratings — are now available to non-members as well. The AAA Four Diamond rating is exclusive in that less than 4% of all AAA approved properties achieve this rating.

The 2010 AAA Five Diamond Award lodging and restaurant recipients will be announced in November.

“Season” as we affectionately call it here in the Coachella Valley has arrived.  Season brings beautiful weather to our area which in turn brings our winter residents back to their homes and fills our resorts with guests.  It is a great time to be living in the desert.

 At Indian Wells Golf Resort we are fortunate to offer 36-holes of golf for approximately ten months of the year.  During the months of October and November we continue to have 18-holes available during the overseeding process where 18-hole facilities will be required to close the course entirely.  This means that our facility becomes extremely busy with guests of all skill levels and backgrounds including country club members, resort guests, local residents, etc. 

Due to this busy time of year “Pace-of-Play” becomes an important challenge to ensure an exceptional experience for all or our guests.  Two ways to improve Pace are to choose the appropriate set of tees and to play “ready-golf.”  At our facility a target time for a round of golf is 4 ½ hours.  Finally, we ask our guests to be courteous and respectful to each other and if an issue occurs to contact a Course Ambassador for assistance.

 If you would like more information on how to improve your Pace-of-Play visit the link here at http://golf.about.com/od/golfetiquette/ht/paceofplay.htm.

Enjoy the weather and good golfing!

Rolland Vaughn

PGA Head Golf Professional

Indian Wells Golf Resort

For those of you who love the smell & taste of grilled & smoked meats, this dish is a must try. If you like your steaks big, fat & juicy, then grilled Portobello mushrooms will be very satisfying. Portobellos are flavorful and firm, it’s the mushroom that eats like a steak. They’re also perfect as a vegetarian entrée. So gather the following ingredients, and if you can’t find them, then by golly, just improvise. It’s a breeze to throw together. You know the saying “fresh is best”. All the herbs in this recipe are grown in the garden at “The IW Club”. You can find them at your local grocery.

Grilled Portobello Mushroom Salad Herb Goat Cheese / Smoked Tomatoes / Roasted Peppers Herb Garden Salad.

STEP I Fairway Garden Vinaigrette & Seasonal Greens 5 oz Washed Mesclun Greens ½ Cup Fresh Herbs, no stems (Lemon Basil, Sweet Basil, Cilantro, Chives & Italian Parsley) Or Substitute 8 oz of Herbed Micro Greens Prepare greens & refrigerate

STEP II Herb Vinaigrette *5 oz Aged Sherry Vinegar 12 oz Extra Virgin Olive Oil 2 Tbl Cool Water 1 ea Small Shallot, finely minced 1 Tea. Finely Chopped Garlic 1Tbl Rough cut Fresh Herbs. I like to use Basil, Oregano & parsley ½ Tbl. Dijon Mustard 1 ea. Juice of the lemon & the zest of half of it. Kosher Salt & Cracked Black Pepper Combine ingredients in bowl and mix well. Adjust seasoning to your own liking. Cover and set aside. This recipe will make a little extra dressing than you will actually use. But no worries, it won’t go bad in the refrigerator if covered properly. * Sherry Vinegar is available in a good wine & spirit store, or substitute your favorite brand of vinegar. Balsamic works great.

STEP III 4 ea. Portobello Mushrooms 2 ea. Heirloom Tomatoes or Large Hand Selected Tomatoes 1 Tbl Fresh chopped Rosemary, Basil & Thyme ½ cup Olive Oil ½ Tbl. Chopped Garlic Kosher Salt & Crack Black Pepper Remove stems from mushrooms, wash & drain mushrooms. Wash & slice or wedge tomatoes so you have pieces that will fit on the Portobello. Evenly coat the mushrooms & tomatoes with the remaining ingredients in shallow pan and allow marinating for at least 2 hours. Cover and set aside. Then move on to the peppers.

STEP IV For Roasted Peppers. Wash 2 red or yellow bell peppers. Toss in bowl with 1/2 Tbl of olive oil, a pinch or 2 of kosher salt & cracked black pepper. Roast over open flame until the skin is charred, black & has taken on a blistered look. This could take 5-8 minutes depending on your flame and size of pepper. Once pepper is roasted place in covered bowl or plastic bag & close end for about 5-10 minutes Peel, seed pepper, discarding the charred skin, stem & seeds. Season pepper with 2 Tbl of vinaigrette listed below. This can be done the day prior.

STEP V 1-4 oz. Package of Goat Cheese- At least open the package, I find it’s easier to handle when you’re outside grilling and building the salads. Now we are ready to grill. Go ahead and preheat your grill. Whether it’s a gas or charcoal grill, make sure it’s hot. I always like to soak some flavored wood chips and add those to my fire right before I’m going to grill my mushrooms. Now let’s grill the portobellos, about 3 minutes on each side over medium heat. At the same time you can grill the tomatoes if you choose. To get a nice char on the tomatoes place them on the hot side of the grill. They cook quickly, so watch them carefully. Now that your portobellos and tomatoes are grilled, place a nice piece of roasted marinated bell pepper and then one of the tomatoes on top of each portobello and then top that with your lump goat cheese. I like to go heavy on the Goat. Turn off the grill or move them to the side of the grill with the least amount of heat and put the lid down. Let them rest for 2 minutes or until the cheese softens. So let’s plate it up. This dish shows great on a large white dinner plate. Place one portobello in the center of each of the 4 plates. Toss your washed greens in enough dressing to lightly coat them & place them directly on top of the warm portobello. Sprinkle with your fresh picked herbs. If you like you can drizzle some extra vinaigrette around the edge of the mushroom or a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil and a few drops of Balsamic Syrup if you have it around. Dust it with some cracked black pepper. It’s time to eat. Hope you enjoy the mushroom that eats like a steak.

Good Eating!!!! Chris P. Olson Executive Chef IW Club