PatioDaddio
Babbling Farker
Kingsford University 2011 - Part Two
I'm continuing where I left off in part one. In this installment I'll cover the
rest of day two, which included a bunch of demonstrations and food.
Next on the agenda was a demonstration of beef cuts from Alan Turner,
Executive Chef for Snake River Farms.
As I mentioned in the previous post, Snake River Farms produces American
Wagyu beef, which is arguably the best beef in America. They use highly-
sustainable methodologies and their cattle are raised from the finest stock
in the best environment. In short, they do old-school beef.
Photo courtesy of Meathead, AmazingRibs.com
Just look at the marbling on this stuff, it's insane!
Photo courtesy of Meathead, AmazingRibs.com
Lunch started with a "Cook Once, Eat Twice" demonstration from Chris
Lilly. The idea is to find creative ways to use leftovers from a barbecue
cook. For this demo Chris showed us a great loaf pan chicken recipe. It's a
whole chicken that is slathered with a mixture of 3/4 cup applesauce and
three tablespoons Worcestershire sauce. It's then coated with a rub and
cooked in a loaf pan indirect (breast-side up) for about two hours.
You then eat the chicken straight off the cooker and use the leftovers in a
salad, or in our case, in chicken soft tacos with grilled veggies.
For sides, we were served a great Coal-fired Pico de Gallo, and Pit-Stop
Guacamole where the ingredients are straight off the grill. Oh, and Chris'
Grilled Sweet and Spicy Pickles were addicting. I think I ate a whole jar.
Next we had a very intersting pork butchery demonstration from Stephen
Gerike, Director of Food Service Marketing National Pork Board.
To say that Stephen know his hog is an understatement. "Meathead"
Goldwyn (of AmazingRibs.com) and I picked his brain about pork for a good
thirty minutes leading up to the demonstration. In addition to being a
representative of the National Pork Board, he also raises his own heritage
breed hogs.
He masterfully broke down an entire half-hog into the various market cuts.
The most practical takeaway from this demo is to look for pork that is
darker in color. I won't go into the details, but darker reddish pork
translates to a more tender and flavorful product. It may be "The Other
White Meat", but pale pork is not your friend.
Our 'Cued Cocktail Hour was kicked off with a presentation from Dan
Gardner, of Four Roses Bourbon. Four Roses is big is making a huge
resurgence with their return to their distillery roots dating back to 1888.
Next, Josh Perry, mixologist at Picán Restaurant in Oakland, California
demonstrated what goes into a great cocktail. One process that was
intriguing is called "fat washing". This basically entails mixing meat fat into
a liquor, chilling it to solidify the fat, then skimming the fat off and filtering
the liquor. He used this process to create some bacon-infused bourbon for
the event.
Marcus Wang, senior scientist with Kingsford demonstrated a great grilled
lemonade. It consists of lemons that are halved, dipped in sugar then
grilled for just a few minutes.
Photo courtesy of Meathead, AmazingRibs.com
In the mean time, a simple syrup made with a mixture of sugar, honey and
a few sprigs of rosemary are heated on the grill.
The lemons are then squeezed into a pitcher and sweetened with the
syrup. He then added a little bourbon to kick things up a notch or two.
After cocktail hour we were served a "light snack" of chicken wings and
ribs. Later we were served an outstanding dinner of the brisket that had
been cooking all day, twice-baked potatoes, and grilled ratatouille.
As with any big event there are unsung heros that just do their thing
behind the scenes.
That guy on the right is Ken Hess. He's Chris Lilly's sous chef and the man
is an incredible cookin' machine! He's also a very smart, nice, and humble
guy. You'd never in a million years guess that he's a CIA-trained chef from
Brooklyn. Dude is the real deal, and he worked like a madman for us! I think
Chris would agree that Ken is the guy who that makes it all look easy.
In part three I'll recap day three at the NASCAR race and dinner Sunday
night.
-----
John
I'm continuing where I left off in part one. In this installment I'll cover the
rest of day two, which included a bunch of demonstrations and food.
Next on the agenda was a demonstration of beef cuts from Alan Turner,
Executive Chef for Snake River Farms.
As I mentioned in the previous post, Snake River Farms produces American
Wagyu beef, which is arguably the best beef in America. They use highly-
sustainable methodologies and their cattle are raised from the finest stock
in the best environment. In short, they do old-school beef.
Photo courtesy of Meathead, AmazingRibs.com
Just look at the marbling on this stuff, it's insane!
Photo courtesy of Meathead, AmazingRibs.com
Lunch started with a "Cook Once, Eat Twice" demonstration from Chris
Lilly. The idea is to find creative ways to use leftovers from a barbecue
cook. For this demo Chris showed us a great loaf pan chicken recipe. It's a
whole chicken that is slathered with a mixture of 3/4 cup applesauce and
three tablespoons Worcestershire sauce. It's then coated with a rub and
cooked in a loaf pan indirect (breast-side up) for about two hours.
You then eat the chicken straight off the cooker and use the leftovers in a
salad, or in our case, in chicken soft tacos with grilled veggies.
For sides, we were served a great Coal-fired Pico de Gallo, and Pit-Stop
Guacamole where the ingredients are straight off the grill. Oh, and Chris'
Grilled Sweet and Spicy Pickles were addicting. I think I ate a whole jar.
Next we had a very intersting pork butchery demonstration from Stephen
Gerike, Director of Food Service Marketing National Pork Board.
To say that Stephen know his hog is an understatement. "Meathead"
Goldwyn (of AmazingRibs.com) and I picked his brain about pork for a good
thirty minutes leading up to the demonstration. In addition to being a
representative of the National Pork Board, he also raises his own heritage
breed hogs.
He masterfully broke down an entire half-hog into the various market cuts.
The most practical takeaway from this demo is to look for pork that is
darker in color. I won't go into the details, but darker reddish pork
translates to a more tender and flavorful product. It may be "The Other
White Meat", but pale pork is not your friend.
Our 'Cued Cocktail Hour was kicked off with a presentation from Dan
Gardner, of Four Roses Bourbon. Four Roses is big is making a huge
resurgence with their return to their distillery roots dating back to 1888.
Next, Josh Perry, mixologist at Picán Restaurant in Oakland, California
demonstrated what goes into a great cocktail. One process that was
intriguing is called "fat washing". This basically entails mixing meat fat into
a liquor, chilling it to solidify the fat, then skimming the fat off and filtering
the liquor. He used this process to create some bacon-infused bourbon for
the event.
Marcus Wang, senior scientist with Kingsford demonstrated a great grilled
lemonade. It consists of lemons that are halved, dipped in sugar then
grilled for just a few minutes.
Photo courtesy of Meathead, AmazingRibs.com
In the mean time, a simple syrup made with a mixture of sugar, honey and
a few sprigs of rosemary are heated on the grill.
The lemons are then squeezed into a pitcher and sweetened with the
syrup. He then added a little bourbon to kick things up a notch or two.
After cocktail hour we were served a "light snack" of chicken wings and
ribs. Later we were served an outstanding dinner of the brisket that had
been cooking all day, twice-baked potatoes, and grilled ratatouille.
As with any big event there are unsung heros that just do their thing
behind the scenes.
That guy on the right is Ken Hess. He's Chris Lilly's sous chef and the man
is an incredible cookin' machine! He's also a very smart, nice, and humble
guy. You'd never in a million years guess that he's a CIA-trained chef from
Brooklyn. Dude is the real deal, and he worked like a madman for us! I think
Chris would agree that Ken is the guy who that makes it all look easy.
In part three I'll recap day three at the NASCAR race and dinner Sunday
night.
-----
John
