Lexington Trip, Part 1: The Incredible Food Show

I hit the road early last Saturday morning for the Incredible Food Show 75 miles south in Lexington, Kentucky, so early the Ohio River was swathed in fog as I headed south. But once out of the river valley, it was all blue skies and sunshine. The show opened at 9:00 a.m., and my ticket ($13 with the $2 off coupon I found online) promised free breakfast to the first 300 paying attendees. This was the first year I’d heard of this event, and I had no idea if lines would form outside the Kentucky Center/Rupp Arena venue before the doors opened – after all, the Voltaggio brothers, who placed 1st and 2nd in Season 6 of Top Chef, were headlining.

I managed to park and wend my way through the massive convention center to the Incredible Food Show on the bottom floor before 9:30, and yes, breakfast was still available, prepared and served by students of Sullivan University’s Culinary Program in Lexington (there is also one in Louisville). I was grateful to have something to take the edge off my morning hunger. The smiling Sullivan students and this festive arrangement on the breakfast buffet table set the tone of Southern hospitality I would find throughout the show.

One of the things that sets this event apart from other “fancy food” shows is its emphasis on local foods. Now in its third year, the Incredible Food Show is sponsored by Kentucky Proud, which promotes farmers, wineries, farmers markets, and local food retailers across the state. Under the auspices of the state’s agriculture department, the program also offers incentives to Kentucky restaurants for using Kentucky Proud products, and its outreach efforts include getting local food into schools. Kentucky State Parks also participate in the program by offering local produce and meats in their restaurants.

The 100+ Kentucky businesses with booths at this year’s Incredible Food Show showcased a wide range of locally raised and produced foods, and nearly all were giving out free samples.

There was a quite a line for the goetta sliders from Glier’s, based in Covington, Kentucky, just across the bridge from downtown Cincinnati.

The applewood-smoked bacon and country ham freshly fried up by Browning’s (from Dry Ridge, Kentucky) were so delicious I bought some to bring home.

Not surprisingly, bourbon and barbecue were big themes. There were lots of purveyors of rubs and sauces, including Hillbilly Specialties, whose stall took “Best Decorated Booth” honors. Although based in the city of Lexington, Hillbilly Specialties isn’t afraid to flaunt its country side.

They served up their Moonshine Marinade on chicken and mushrooms fresh off this rig, and it was mighty tasty, y’all.

Louisville-based Bourbon Barrel Brewing does something a little different in the bourbon vein. It micro-brews soy sauce made with non-GMO soybeans from a farmer in southern Kentucky, letting it naturally ferment in bourbon barrels. Its Bluegrass Soy Sauce and Bourbon Barrel Smoked Salt would also be used in the Voltaggio brothers’ demonstrations inside Rupp Arena.

Several booths featured local honey, and there were a number of candy makers in attendance. Lexington Chocolate Company, which earned an Honorable Mention in the show’s Best Sweet category, offered its Bourbon Barrel Fudge (semi-sweet chocolate infused with premium Kentucky bourbon and toffee pieces).

The Sweet Shoppe, which also specializes in fudge and sets up at lots of festivals throughout Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana, brought an astounding array of caramel apples from its Hodgenville, KY shop.

I’ve seen Weisenberger grits mentioned on menus of a number of restaurants in Kentucky, and was pleased to find they had a booth at the show.

Turns out Weisenberger Mills, in Midway, Kentucky, also makes mixes for yellow corn muffins, white cornbread, buttermilk biscuits, spoonbread, and more.

With both white and yellow grits available, I asked about the difference. Yellow grits have a more distinctive corn taste, I learned, and white are more commonly used in dishes (especially at restaurants) where they’re combined with other ingredients and flavors. Itching to experiment at home, I bought a package of the white.

I didn’t realize beer cheese was such a big thing in Kentucky, but five different vendors offered it. Other surprises included a bubble-tea booth from Lexington’s Honnah-Lee Bubble Tea . . .

. . . and flavored teas from Elmwood Inn Fine Teas of Perryville, KY, which somehow publishes books too. The chocolate mint variety smelled heavenly.

One of the busiest aisles was dedicated to Kentucky wineries. Tastes were free or at a nominal charge (25 cents); you could also sample a glass or buy a bottle to take home.

If you've been following this blog, you know how much I love cheese. Bluegrass Dairy and Boone Creek Creamery were just two of the cheesemakers present at the Incredible Food Show.

With production facilities in Springfield and Glasgow, KY, Bluegrass Dairy’s cheeses have won awards, at the KY State Fair and the World Championship Cheese Contest. Their smoked cheddar took Best of Show in the Savory category at last year’s Incredible Food Show.

Boone Creek Creamery debuted a new cheese called the Sassy Redhead (a spicy Old English Cheddar) at the show, adding to its impressive line-up of artisan cheeses. The company also offers monthly cheese-making classes (which may provide the perfect excuse for my next trip to Lexington).

In addition to hosting a booth, Good Shepherd Cheese, home of Kentucky’s first sheep’s milk dairy, in Owingsville, KY put on one of the culinary seminars, sharing a slide show of its farm and animals and explaining the process it uses to makes sheep’s milk cheese. I couldn’t resist buying a chunk to bring home.

Other seminars, in a smaller break-out room, covered rubs and marinades, sauce techniques, the basics of home brewing, and jam making without pectin.

More to come from the Incredible Food Show, and about the Voltaggio brothers. Stay tuned.

Man v. Food Nation Viewing Party at Tom + Chee

I declared Wednesday my official Tom + Chee day, picking up this Armagoetta sandwich for lunch from their Court Street shop in anticipation of its appearance on Wednesday night’s Man v. Food Nation Cincinnati show. A great combination of pickled cherry peppers, crispy fried onions (yep, like those atop a traditional green bean casserole), hot mustard, and goetta. I thought MvF host Adam Richman did a good job of explaining our regional specialty, goetta, as: “where patty sausage meets meat loaf meets scrapple."

I had hoped to try T+C’s other sandwich featured on MvF for dinner, the Blueberry Bleu (mozzarella, blue cheese, and homemade blueberry compote on an inside-out grilled glazed donut), but arrived at their Newport on the Levee location later than planned. Co-owners Corey Ward and Trew Quackenbush and their wives wanted the “friends and family only” viewing party to be a treat for all the staff too. So by the time I arrived, the kitchen was closed and they’d ordered in pizza. It was fun to see staff I’ve come to know, most of whom were present the day of filming, this time in street clothes and with children and significant others in tow for the big night.

There was both excitement and nervousness in the air as 9:00 p.m. approached. The Travel Channel's Man v. Food Nation film crew was in town for more than four days in August to shoot its Cincinnati episode. They spent the better part of their Saturday at T+C and host Adam Richman himself was there for more than three hours. What footage would make the cut for the half-hour episode T+C shared with Camp Washington Chili and Izzy’s?

The room went quiet for the intro, and all eyes were on the restaurant’s two TV screens for the first segment, featuring Tom + Chee.

Actually, I was surprised at how much of what I saw filmed ended up being packed into those 5-6 minutes. Although the Armagoetta and Blueberry Bleu were the two sandwiches that got the most attention the day of the shoot, I didn’t expect both of them to make air. Yet they did – including Trew’s solid demos at the cooktop, and Adam Richman’s rhapsodies about both. A whoop went up from the crowd when Richman used the word “melt-aphysical” to describe T+C’s grilled cheese, and we all applauded at the end of the segment. The food looked good on camera, the restaurant was well represented as being fun, fresh, and innovative, and Adam Richman’s enthusiasm for it was unmistakable.

The program included some gorgeous shots of the Ohio River and the bridges between downtown Cincinnati and our sister cities in Northern Kentucky, and it did justice to two other venerable Cincy restaurants as well. Izzy's is a place I've been going to since I was a kid and have written about before. Camp Washington Chili is one of the best independent Cincinnati-style chili parlors in town.

To be honest, once the T+C segment was over, we weren’t quite as glued to the TV. If you missed all or part of the Cincinnati episode of Man v. Food Nation or want to watch again, here are some upcoming air times on the Travel Channel:

Saturday, October 15 11:00 AM
Wednesday, October 19 9:30 PM
Thursday, October 20 12:30 AM
Saturday, October 22 11:30 AM

You can also find online video from the Cincy show on the Travel Channel website here, and here. And here is a terrific segment from my beloved Findlay Market that, alas, didn't make it into the show's half-hour time-slot. At about the 1:33 mark of you can see an actual "eggplant to go" from Daisy Mae's, which offers produce year-round at Findlay Market and convenient delivery - thanks, Barb :)

Tom + Chee's facebook page is the best source of info about their locations, hours, and the always evolving specials at both of their current locations, Court Street in Cincinnati and Newport on the Levee (near the Aquarium). Unfortunately, Tom + Chee no longer has their spot on Fountain Square since 3CDC banned food tents from the Square. I am keeping fingers crossed that could somehow change.

If you agree, here's a thought. The Enquirer/Metromix is running its 2011 Readers Choice dining poll. Tom + Chee isn't named as a nominee in any of the categories. However, "Most Buzz-Worthy" is a write-in/"essay question" category where you could voice your support for T+C (and, if you choose, how much you miss having them, and other food vendors, on the Square).

So . . . what do you do if you’re the owners of a small food business open less than two years and suddenly receiving this kind of national exposure? Breathe a sigh of relief at finally seeing it air. Thank your dedicated, hard-working crew and the rest of your support system. Enjoy a few moments of the high. Tend to your phone as it blows up. And brace yourself for what may come next. At least that’s what Mr. and Mrs. Tom and Mr. and Mrs. Chee are doing.

I was honored to be invited to share this milestone with the T+C crew. And I thank Adam Richman and his gang for making my city look so good and tasty on TV.

Le Bon Vivant Does Third Friday Choucroute Garnie Tasting and Man v. Food Does Cincinnati Wed. Night

How many kids volunteer to go to summer school? I confess I did. After attending Walnut Hills in 7th and 8th grades (where Latin is required of all students), I had some fitting in to do when my family moved to a new school district. To switch languages and catch up with the students at my new high school, I spent mornings that summer taking French. While memorizing the genders of common French nouns and learning to conjugate French verbs in le passé compose et le subjonctif (verb tenses weren't even taught in my English classes during that era, and they sound so much more compelling en francais), I learned a bit about French geography and culture, and was smitten. As much as I enjoyed my local branch library, I dreamed of stepping inside a Parisian bibliothèque, a book stall on the Left Bank, and more.

A trip to France is still on my bucket list, and although at one point in my life I actually managed to read Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex in the original, what little I've retained of the language leans (no surprise) toward culinary terms. But my Francophile inclinations remain. And they led me to Le Bon Vivant, a lovely new shop on Woodburn Avenue, just south of De Sales Corner and just north of Josh Campbell's restaurant, The Skinny Pig. The neighborhood has changed a lot, not only since the days I rode the bus home from Walnut Hills High School but more recently.

The streetscape outside is inviting (there's also a free, well-lit public parking lot across the street from Le Bon Vivant), and once I stepped inside, I was charmed by the simple elegance of the high-ceilinged space.

Le Bon Vivant offers a mix of French table linens, dishes, and serving ware, as well as bath and body products.

And then there are the French food items, which of course were my focus.

In addition to imported packaged items, Le Bon Vivant carries baguettes, cheeses, duck fat(!), and wines. Among the specialties Cindie and I purchased were Fleur de Sel, Piment d'Espelette, and truffle butter. You can also find the amazing locally made chocolates from Chocolats Latour here.

Le Bon Vivant has embarked on a series of Third Friday "wine and cheese explorations" spotlighting different regions of France. This month, on Friday, Oct. 21, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., you can taste Alsatian wines and sample two different recipes for choucroute garnie for $30. Space is limited to 30 people and is not open to the general public, so call or email owner Catherine Meguire at (513) 221-2921 or cmeguire@cinci.rr.com to reserve your spot. I was so bummed when I realized I'd missed the first one, featuring the Loire, that I RSVP'd immediately for this one. To stay up on news of Le Bon Vivant's products, events, and all-around cool France-related links, like their active facebook page or subscribe to their e-newsletter.

Meanwhile, a quick reminder that this Wed. night (10/12) at 9:00 p.m. on the Travel Channel, Man v. Food Nation airs its Cincinnati show. I was lucky to be present for the portion filmed at Tom + Chee, and am crazy curious to see how the show's 4 days of filming in my city get squeezed into this half-hour episode. Local food blogger Kitty of Cincinnati Nomerati has a great new post up about her friend who actually tried to eat the ginormous meal at Izzy's for MvF.

I'll be watching with friends Wed. night and back later with more from my Lexington trip.

Lexington Road Trip - Amuse Bouche

Candy corn and M+M caramel apples from The Sweet Shoppe

I hit the road this weekend for a quick trip south to Lexington. The weather was warm, the leaves were turning, and I wanted to check out the Incredible Food Show 2011 sponsored by Kentucky Proud. So glad I did.

More than 100 Kentucky food vendors displayed their wares, with samples available in abundance.

I also got to indulge my inner food nerd by attending demos like the Heritage Meats Master Class, featuring this Katahdin lamb.

At the last minute I decided to stay overnight in Lexington and treat myself to dinner.

Sea Scallop Hot Browns from Jonathan's at Gratz Park

And this morning I meandered into nearby Bluegrass horse country for brunch.

Jean Farris Winery's duck liver pate and blackberry gelee

Oh, and I got to meet these boys, too.

Michael and Bryan Voltaggio

More reports to come. Meanwhile, hope your weekend was as inspiring as mine was.

Megan Ketover: Top Chef, Class Act

Megan Ketover’s Malted Chocolate Bavarian with Roasted Bananas, Peanut Streusel and Dolce de Leche

I’ve been rooting for my hometown pastry chef, Megan Ketover, all season on Top Chef: Just Desserts and was saddened to see her eliminated in this week’s episode. The good news, however, is that (contractually speaking) she can now speak more openly about her experience on the show. Check out the terrific exit interview podcast she did with my blogging partner on All Top Chef, Laura Kluvo, if you’re craving more Megan.

I had the opportunity to meet Chef Ketover and taste her creations before the show premiered (my report here). The proof is on the fork, or spoon, and there’s no question in mind her skills are impressive. But I think there’s more to Megan than that. She's a genuine team player, and a professional through and through. She exhibits poise under pressure, has a profound passion for her work, loves to tackle new challenges, and maintains an even keel, reasoned perspective, sense of humor, and infectious enthusiasm no matter what comes her way.

In other words, she’s not just a fine baker, she’s an inspiration. During her turn on Top Chef: Just Desserts – where she made it to the 7th of 10 episodes, no small accomplishment! – I’ve come to realize how much respect and admiration she’s earned from many of her colleagues in the Cincinnati culinary world, including her former teachers and students at the Midwest Culinary Academy. She also clearly earned the respect of her competitors on the show. How great was it when they stood up for her at Judges Table in the Willy Wonka episode!

Although she’s off the show, I think Megan is just getting started on a remarkable career. I can’t wait to see where it goes – and I can’t wait to taste more of her food!

October Culinary Smackdown Announced + More October Food Events

Our September Smackdown winner, Jen from Our Good (Food) Life, has announced the October theme, Battle: Winter Squash! Details at Jen's place here. It would be great to welcome back previous participants who have been otherwise occupied with moving into new digs, crazy work demands, epic swims around Alcatraz, travels that make me jealous, or on blogging hiatus (you know who you are). It would be swell to welcome more newcomers to this friendly little virtual cook-off too - all are welcome! Deadline is October 31, and you can find the link to this month's details anytime by clicking the image on my sidebar (designed by my talented friend Chickory) below the thingie that says: "Where in the world is this month's Culinary Smackdown?"

Jen mentioned she was originally leaning toward pumpkin as this month's theme. If you're in the Cincinnati area and have a hankering to try out a pumpkin preparation, Marvin's Organic Gardens, in Lebanon, OH, is hosting its 2nd Annual Fall Harvest Family Festival Saturday, October 15, from noon to 5:00, complete with a pumpkin cook-off/bake-off in both sweet and savory categories. You can do the required pre-registration thing up until noon on the day of the festival.

ETA: 1st and 2nd place winners in each category (sweet and savory) will receive $100 and $50 gift certificates to Marvin’s. You can register either online or at the event. Full details on how to enter here on Marvin’s website, and more about the event on Marvin’s facebook page here.

Wherever you reside, Sunday, October 16, is Blog Action Day (BAD), an international opportunity for bloggers to make their voices heard. Since this year's BAD coincides with World Food Day, the theme is food. If you're a blogger and choose to participate, you can register your blog here. If you care about food and its local and global implications, you'll no doubt find lots of thought-provoking posts from around the blogosphere that day as a reader too.

As conflicted as I am about using the word "foodie" to describe myself, I believe there is an important flip side to my obsession. You can contribute canned foods to one of my favorite organizations, the Cincinnati Freestore Food Bank, at lunchtime this Friday on the Square, as a kick-off to the evening's events celebrating the 140th birthday of the Tyler Davidson Fountain.

And if you just want to have fun, how about the Cincinnati Chocolate Festival October 23 at Xavier's Cintas Center? Among others, three fine local female "celebrity" pastry chefs - Summer Genetti, Pam Sturkey, and Megan Ketover (who I continue to root for on Top Chef: Just Desserts - aired Wednesday nights at 10:00 Eastern on Bravo, ahem, not Food TV). Another of my local favorites, Chocolats Latour, will also be participating. Proceeds from the event go to a number of worthy organizations via Isaac M. Wise Temple's Sisterhood project.

ETA: There will also be an amateur chocolate cooking competition. Details and entry form here. Plus, tickets, which can be redeemed for chocolate tastings, raffle baskets, children's activities, chef demonstrations, etc., are available at Kroger at $5 for 10 (at the door, they’ll be 7 for $10). Items such as raffle baskets, most samples and activities such as demonstrations and Kids Zone will be 1 ticket. Wine and chocolate pairings will be 2 tickets and concession items will vary, according to the Festival’s facebook page. Wine and chocolate pairings? I’m in!

What's on your October agenda?

Culinary Smackdown – My Part of Our Entry for Battle: Oktoberfest

As I mentioned in yesterday's installment, Cindie and I had originally planned to make sauerbraten for this month's Smackdown, then switched to sausages. One of things I like best about a sauerbraten dinner is potato pancakes topped with the gravy that's made by adding sour cream to the boiled sauerbraten marinade. When we changed our main dish to sausages, Cindie suggested hot German potato salad as a side. It would have made an excellent pair, but I'm glad I stuck to my guns about going the pancake route with our potatoes. I thereby avoided blogger jinx, as Jen from Our Good (Food) Life has the German potato salad covered with her Battle: Oktoberfest entry :)

I adapted the Joy of Cooking recipe for potato pancakes a bit, primarily by doubling it (because these go like, er, hotcakes) and adding a little more onion. At Cindie's suggestion, I also threw in some baking powder (unmeasured) in the hopes it would help them puff up a little more. Turned out I didn't add enough to make much difference. Joy says its smaller recipe yields about twelve 3-inch cakes; some of mine were larger and I'd guess we ended up with maybe 20.

Aside to Cincinnatians accustomed to ginormous potato pancakes like Izzy's makes: These are much smaller and thinner, but very tasty nonetheless, and practical to make in a home kitchen :)

4 cups coarsely grated/shredded peeled Idaho potatoes (Instead of grating them on a box grater as I have always done, we used a food processor with the large shredding blade, and it worked like a charm. The size it produced was produced was perfect, and it saved a lot of hassle – and time – which is especially good since you don't want the potatoes to oxidize and turn brown.)

1 small onion, grated (This I did use a box grater for, although you could use the small shredding blade on a food processor. You want the onion to end up pretty small, and the onion juice produced when you grate rather than chop it helps the onion flavor permeate the pancakes.)

some lemon juice (to forestall oxidation)
5 eggs
1/4 cup flour
salt
pepper
some baking powder (optional)

1/3-1/2 cup vegetable oil and/or butter

The shredded potatoes are going to give off a lot of liquid. So you want to roll them up in a clean dish towel and wring them out to get rid of as much moisture as possible. You may want to do this in batches. I would not recommend trying this with paper towels – they won't stand up to the amount of moisture you're trying to remove. What my mom always referred to as a "tea towel" (not a fuzzy towel) works best.

Spritz potatoes with lemon juice after you wring them out, then combine in a bowl with the flour, eggs, salt and pepper, and eggs. You'll have better results if you beat the eggs lightly to combine the whites and yolks before adding them to the potato mixture.

Heat the oil or butter (we used a combination of oil and lard, because we had some!) in a large skillet to medium-high heat and drop the potato mixture by spoonfuls into the skillet. You may want to flatten them a bit with the back of your spatula.

Fry until the bottoms are crisp and golden brown, about 3 to 5 minutes, then flip once and cook until the other side is browned and the pancakes are cooked through.

If you'd prefer to bake rather than fry, check out this post from my friend Sam over at My Carolina Kitchen. I love the smoked salmon, crème fraiche, and caviar her husband topped them with too!

I had one more side dish up my sleeve: caramelized onions. While Cindie loves kraut with her wursts, onions reduced to melty sweetness are my favorite accompaniment. There are basically two things you need to make caramelized onions: a lot of onions, and a lot of patience.

Start by thinly slicing way more onions than you can imagine you'll need (I used 5 or 6). Add them to a large skillet with some oil, butter, or bacon grease. Stir to coat the raw onions, and I find it helps to get them softened if you put a lid on the skillet at the beginning of cooking. Add salt and pepper (thyme is a great addition too).

Remove the lid and cook over medium to high heat to let the moisture evaporate, turning every few minutes. Do not be afraid to let them get brown. That's what you're going for!

During this process you will find that even if you started with so many onions they practically toppled out of your skillet, they will shrink dramatically (not quite as much as spinach, but close). It's all good. Keep turning, reducing, and tending to your lovelies. (You can always add some beer, wine, broth or water if they seem to be getting too dry.) Let them go darker and darker until you end up with a gooey jam-like onion essence. You may be surprised at how sweet they become when concentrated.

Aside to Jen: I liked the onions with Lobsta Bakes' seadog even better than with the kraut, because I thought they let the smokiness of the seafood sausage shine. But kraut with my cheddarwurst made me happy, too :)

All in all, despite our now-expected Smackdown spillage (the most memorable of which was when Cindie dumped our platter of Lobster Thermidor on the floor); this time the hot slaw casserole tipped over in the oven) . . .

. . . and two tired cooks, plus one grumpy husband, we ended up with a satisfying meal.

We filled our plates, everybody had seconds on the potato pancakes, we cleaned up, and then everybody crashed, which is what I'm ready to do now.

Thanks again to Stephie for hosting this month's Culinary Smackdown, and to Jen for joining in the fun. Off to Stephie's place to see if there are any other entries even later than mine :)

P.S. to the usual Smackdown peeps, I know a lot of you have been traveling, swimming, hiatus-ing, or otherwise occupied, but if you have any suggestions for future Smackdown themes/ingredients, please share your ideas in the comments.

Thanks!
eggy