Recently in Events Category

I'd made it to Memphis, now was time to check out the largest pork cooking contest in the world. I was a little anxious as this had the potential to be disappointment, kinda like when Lucas rebooted the star wars series. My campsite was a short 20 minute drive to the contest, and finding where my parking pass had  put my VIP parking was a bit of a challenge, I did however find it, put on my purple weekend pass wristband, adorn my VIP pit pass around my neck and stroll on in. I was not sure what this VIP pass would actually entitle me to, as I did not get an itinerary with the pass. First off, this contest really is HUGE, I decided to walk around the entire contest first to take in all the sights, this took almost an hour! I popped in and chatted with a few of the competitors who were all very welcoming when they saw my vip pass. For some reason I forgot to take photos this first day! I finally found the VIP area, and was greeted to my choice of draft beer or a glass of wine, I had got there just in time, as we were splitting off into groups and going to eat bbq at various competitors booths.  Over the following 2 days I we would meet and eat with 6 different teams they would give us a little talk on what they do, answer a whole lot of questions and feed us some of their award winning bbq. The coolest competitor we visited was called "the shed" They had the coolest cooker i've ever seen, they had modded a vintage truck into a well insulated cooker, they were competing in the whole hog category.  My vip pass was worth every penny, I ate amazing bbq for 3 solid days, drank my face off for free and hung out with 60 or so (vip) people that were also passionate about the craft of bbq, no rib boilers in this crowd!  On Sunday morning I packed my car, made sure I had lots of sugar free redbull and drove home.. in one 18 hour shot!

Sorry to inform everyone that we will not be cooking at the Canadian open bbq contest at the beach rib fest. The company that was organizing it sent me a nice letter (today) 1 week before the contest to tell me that they are canceling that portion of the event. I'm pretty angry and am fighting the urge to write defamatory coments about the organizers. We lined up sponsors and spent a pile of money on supplies and ingredients for this event. I've included the letter they sent me if you feel like reading the "read more" button.

Bbqblog.ca has put together a competition team to compete in the Canadian open BBQ competition on fathers day weekend. The competition is at Woodbine beach park near downtown Toronto as part of a rib fest. We're looking forward to camping out there all weekend. There's lots of vendors selling ribs, live music and other attraction. for more info visit http://www.beachribfest.com/ We'll be making bbq sauce with Cameron's Beer, and were working on throwing an after party on Saturday night at our favorite bar that sometime has my pulled pork on special, The Charlotte Room

May has been a whirlwind tour of bbq, I'm just finally getting a chance to sit down and blog my incredible experience on one of the greatest trips I've ever embarked on. I decided one evening after possibly a few too many beers at the end of April to see what the deal was with Mephis in May's Pork bbq contest, everything seem to line up just right. This was the first year that they offered something called the "VIPit Pass" which as a bit of money with a parking pass ($400!) and my first hurdle was that they would not ship the pit pass to Canada, so I jumped online and booked myself at the local KOA campground about 20 minutes from the contest and had my ticket shipped there.  I just bought my first car in about 12 years and have not driven very much in the last 10 years, and thought - hey drive 2000 miles in a week, make up for those years not driving in a hurry!  I didn't actually have my full drivers license as I'd let it expire and had to take a driving test 5 days before I embarked on this wacky trip.. if I had failed the test I would not have been able to (legally) drive to Memphis, I did pass my driving test however so that was taken care of.. next on the list - getting a car stereo with a gps, check... now for the trip!  I left on a rainy Tuesday afternoon and did a 5 hour drive to the middle of Ohio, it started raining the moment I hit Ohio and when I reached my first campsite it was very water logged and just above freezing.. not ideal for my tent, I opted to spend the extra $20 and get a cabin at the KOA campground near Toledo. I figured this would be an easy way to do a test of my  recently acquired camp gear, plus I'd have power to watch a movie on my laptop in the evening if the rain decided to come back.  I asked about good local bbq and was told to go to "chillis" there was no way I was going to go to chillis for bbq. I punched in BBQ into the gps and found a place called smokey bones, and had some really really amazing ribs, I told the bartended of my plans to make it to Memphis eating bbq as much as possible, and they comped my meal!   If you are traveling in the USA and feel like some bbq I have high praise for this place, I was astounded when I discover they were a chain. I had both wet and dry ribs and both were cooked perfectly and had lots of great flavor.  I had a great rib-filled sleep and in the morning took a crack at using my new stove top coffee maker which resulted in the possibly the worst coffee I've ever consumed, clearly there was a learning curve to this. I managed to hit the road at about 7:30 am with a belly full of bacon and eggs, and my aforementioned crappy coffee. It rained the entire drive through the remainder of Ohio, I mean crazy cant see 30 feet in front of you rain. As soon as I passed into Kentucky the rain seemed to stop, thank god!  Kentucky is one of the greatest places to drive through, the grass is better than some golf courses, and that's just on the side of the freeway, long rolling hills, everything was lush and green, the highways were not busy and everyone drives really fast! I looked down at the speedometer at one point as I followed a caddy and I was doing 155 k! I arrived at my campsite in Kentucky and quickly changed into my shorts, crocks and a t-shirt, what a difference a day of driving makes in weather! The locals down here know about REAL BBQ! I was directed to a roadside stand called Knoths BBQ which was in the middle of a "dry" county.. no booze!? how can the bbq be be good without a beer I asked myself?  This was a tiny little place that served beef and pork on wonderbread buns and there were 2 kinds of bbq sauce provided, one was yellow thin with fruit and mustard and the other red and peppery.. I ate 3 of these wonderbread sandwiches, and was amazed on the great flavour of the the pork and beef, it was moist and grandma was in the kitchen pulling the meat fresh off the pork shoulders with her bare hands and piling them on my wonderbread. So glad that I found this place! I made it back to the camp and had a few beers and my first campfire of the season, still in my shorts and t-shirt, it was hot out! I managed to get some of the sauce from knoths and had a campfire weenie with a mix of the pepper and mustard sauce on it, my spirits were high and I was looking forward to getting to Memphis the next day.  I couldn't sleep, I was too excited. The sun baked my tent and I was packed up and making much better coffee early in the morning, the campground owner came over to chat with me as told me about the "dry" county thing, she said something that made me laugh and that I will remember: back when I was a kid there were "Honky Tonk" drunks all over the place" thats why we are dry now.  My belly was full of proper coffee eggs and bacon, and I was ready for Memphis, less then 4 hours of driving to go! Driving through the remainder of Kentucky, into Arkansas was a joy, great weather. I have to mention the rest areas, there's a clean beautifully landscaped rest stop around every 100 miles. It would be a shame to not stop, as they are great break for driving and every single one I stopped in had stocked vending machines and bathrooms you could eat off the floor. I made it to the west Memphis KOA around lunchtime I was a little out of place on one of the only 3 tent sites on this large campground full of motor homes next to a busy highway I brought my BIG tent and a queen size inflatable mattress so this was enough luxury for me anyway, I'm still in disbelief that I'm wearing shorts and a t-shirt sweating like a fat kid at the fair setting up my tent, it was HOT! I had a nice cold beer and a red bull and headed off to the contest..  TBC...

Feel like coming out to see what kind of wacky bbq and other treats I can do with a great local craft beer? I'll be at Cameron's let's Drink the Cask Night on Thursday May 27th at 6pm
Cask Night is at 1165 Invicta Drive in Oakville, ON

I just booked my camping with the nice folks at the KOA Campground near Memphis, bought my "VIP Pit Pass" to the Memphis in May's World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest. I'm not competing in this event, but hopefully with my pit pass I'll be able to get some good info from some of the other pro teams. Should be a fun road trip! Wonder how many other Canadians are going down?

It's my favorite winter dinner of the year! Once a year it's fun to get a few friends together, and instead of spending what could be a month's rent in a restaurant, we buy out own ingredients and fantastic wine and cook at home... here's what on deck this year.

Course 1: (the wacky martini munchie course)
charcuterie, cheese, crackers, spicy hummus.
Paired with:  beer/cocktails -- try my garlic and herb de provence infused martini

Course 2: ( the soup and salad course )
Grilled butternut squash soup, mixed green salad, and my home made candied pork belly bacon bits
Paired with: Bollanger Champagne 

Course 3: (the i get an excuse to use my truffle slicer course)
cheese soufflé with shaved truffle, brioche with foi gras.
Paired with: 2002 vintage veuve clicot

Course 4: (the celebration of eating things with parents course)
treo of meaty: farmed venison loin chop, lamb loin chop, cherry smoked sliced duck breast  on a bed of cranberry wild rice topped with red wine reduction.
Paired with: 2007 pinot noir reserve - ontario

Dessert: (the blow you out of the water with the best ice cream ever course)
home made baked goods, 2007 Double Chocolate Cherry Stout Ice Cream.
Paired with:   double chocolate cherry stout, Peche mortal, creme brule stout, coffee, open territory on my liquor cabinet.

I'll be presenting a cooking and pairing with beer demo on the Entertaining At Home Stage at the The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair this Friday Nov 6th from 3-4 pm. The delicious beer I'll be using is from Cameron's Brewery.  I'm still figuring out what I'll be cooking but you can be sure it will have some beer in it! There should be plenty of free samples kicking around so pop by and enjoy if you happen to be at "The Royal"


http://www.royalfair.org/

I totally messed up the date, the taste patio opening is this Sunday....not Saturday

Looks like yours truly will be whipping up some more tasty vittles for the Patio opening @ Cafe Taste this Sunday May 25th from 7-11 pm, if you have an adventurious pallet and live around Toronto this is shaping up to be a great week! Visit www.cafetaste.ca for more info, or if facebook suits your fancy, check out the event page here



View Larger Map

I'll be doing the cooking this month for Cameron's "Lets Drink The Cask" night, on Thursday May 29th from 6pm to 8pm. It's an honor for me to be invited to prepare some delicious food to complement the always interesting one of a kind cask ale that the talented brewers over at Cameron's make just once a month.  For more information, visit the Cameron's website.
http://www.cameronsbrewing.com/caskNight.html