Limelight Hotel Snowmass Recipes: Pizza and Honey Stung Brussels Sprouts

A few weeks before Colorado ski resorts closed in accordance with the COVID-19 restrictions, The Traveling Bornsteins were media guests at the Limelight Hotel Snowmass. To gain an understanding of how the pandemic has affected the Limelight Hotel Snowmass, I connected with Taylor Rumble, the executive chef. He provided an overview of the situation and also shared two easy to make recipe for pizza and Brussels sprouts. 

The current Corona virus epidemic has been very challenging. Being a chef is all about being hands on in the kitchen, supporting staff growth, and creating dishes in an atmosphere people will love. Since Pitkin County Covid-19 restrictions have been in place, this has halted the opportunity to do so. In order to do our part in keeping the community at home and healthy during these uncharted times, we have temporarily closed. To stay connected and spread goodwill, we have put together home videos on how to make a few favorites dishes. This allows for our guests to remain engaged in Limelight fun without visiting the property.

Chef Rumble was born and raised in New York where he developed a passion for cooking in his teenage years. He enjoyed helping his grandmother make Sunday night dinners for the family. From an early age, his grandmother showed how it was possible to make something amazing from a home kitchen.

Rumble’s love for the hospitality industry came a few years later when he was pursuing culinary training at SUNY Cobleskill. Cobleskill opened the door for a position at the Mission Point Resort on Mackinaw Island, Michigan. For three summer seasons, Chef Keith Shockling mentored the promising chef by demonstrating how to use available foods to make amazing dishes. Chef Rumble feels that these early years helped to cultivate his creativity and to identify his personal style of cooking—”a mixture of comfort and fine dining with unique twists.”

In Michigan, he saw first-hand how kitchen chaos can be fun. Chef Rumble began his career with Aspen Skiing Company at their Ketchum, Idaho property. When a Limelight restaurant was scheduled to open in Colorado, he check it out and was offered the position.

The Limelight uses seasonal produce for its menus but also offers a few items year round. Ingredient selection, especially in a mountain location, is vital to the success of his recipes.

As a chef it is important to use ingredients in their peak and having seasonal menus helps us provide the best quality product to bring something unique to our guests throughout the year. Additionally, we thrive on the opportunity to help support local ranchers and farmers throughout Colorado. Limelight Snowmass in addition to Aspen Skiing Company, as a whole, work diligently year round to seek sustainability in its restaurants and beyond.

Working in various mountain communities from Sun Valley Idaho, to Park City, Utah and now the Aspen Snowmass area, has greatly affected the way I use ingredients and the way I cook with them. In mountain areas, locating the best products can be challenging. If it isn’t trucks struggling to bring deliveries over snowy mountain passes than it’s the short growing seasons the mountains naturally yield. Due to these issues we have adapted. I need to be creative and resourceful when I create dishes.

During our visit to the Limelight restaurant, all of the surrounding tables were filled with families. The Happy Hour was definitely a draw but I wondered if the emphasis on families was part of the restaurant’s philosophy.

Above all else my philosophy on cooking is about the people around you. Bringing families together to enjoy stories over cocktails and snacks while the smell of the main course cooking wafts into the dining room. Food is the best way to bring the community together and to help experience something unique. Don’t be scared to try to cook at home. It can be one of the most fun experiences you’ll ever have. Perhaps, it will be life changing like it was for me.

Chef Taylor Rumble shared two of the restaurant’s popular recipes—the Limelight Pizza and the Honey Stung Brussels Sprouts.

Recipe for the Limelight Hotel Snowmass Restaurant Pizza Dough

Ingredients for Limelight’s Pizza Dough

• 1.5 c – water
• 0.5 oz. – dry active yeast
• 2 tsp – sugar
• 4 c- all purpose or high gluten flour
• 1 tsp – salt
• 1/4c – extra virgin olive oil
• set aside extra oil for brushing dough

5 Steps for Creating Limelight’s Pizza Dough

• Combine yeast, water, and sugar. Then mix lightly until foamy. Let this sit for 5 minutes to bloom the yeast.
• In a large bowl, add the oil, salt, and yeast water mixture. Add the flour last. Knead until a lightly sticky ball forms. The more you knead the dough, the better it will taste!
• Once you have formed the pizza dough, brush the dough ball with oil lightly and loosely wrap in plastic.
• Let the dough sit out at room temp or warmer for 1 hour to proof.
• After the dough has increased in size by roughly x2, lightly flour your work surface and stretch the dough with a rolling pin and your hands to the desired size and shape.

Building the Pizza with Personal Choices of Sauce and Toppings

Are you looking for pizza topping ideas? The Limelight staff shares some of their favorites:

Cheeses

• Mozzarella cheese
• Ricotta cheese
• Feta cheese
• sShredded fontina

Veggies

• Artichokes
• Olives
• Roasted tomato
• Mushrooms (pick a variety)
• Roasted garlic
• Caramelized onion
• Bell peppers
• Banana peppers
• Pickled hot peppers

Meats

• Chorizo
• Pepperoni
• Sausage
• Spicy salami
• Prosciutto
• Bacon

Recipe for Limelight Hotel Snowmass Brussels Sprouts 

Ingredients for Limelight’s Brussels Sprouts

• 1 pound Brussels Sprouts
• ¼ Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 3 Tablespoons Honey
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper

Steps for Preparing Limelight’s Brussels Sprouts 

• Preheat the oven to 400
• Cut the Brussel sprouts into 4 equal pieces lengthwise down the sprout. Remove the stem.
• In a large bowl mix the Brussels and oil until well coated; Season with salt and pepper
• Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
• Lay out the Brussels on top of the foil in an even layer.
• Bake the Brussel sprouts for 15 to 20 minutes until tender and crispy stirring occasionally once out of the oven mix Brussels with the honey and parmesan cheese.

Sandy’s lifestyle and travel experiences are frequently shared with international and domestic online sites and print media. She has contributed stories to Hemispheres, Destinations Magazine, KUHL’s Born in the Mountain blog, Grand Magazine, Wandering Educators, Golden Living, AARP, Hadassah magazine, Localliz, One Travel, Miles Away, Canadian Jewish News, Getting On Travel, Far and Wide, Colorado Parent, Traveler Confidential, Family Circle- Momster, and others.