F00D P0RN

[moqui]

Just arrived in Aspen for the Food & Wine festival. This is a bucket list event for me. I'll try to get pics if I ever have an empty hand.

I'll post more pics when I get a chance, but this is the best thing I ate all weekend. The ribs were OK, but the star of the plate is the fried jalapeno & cheddar bologna in the middle. The "bologna" is a 70/30 mixture of pulled pork & brisket, add jalapeno & cheddar, then re-smoked. Then they cut it into patties & fry it. Absolutely delicious; I'm going to try and make my own at some point this summer. Paired well with the Perennial Saison de Lis, which is very similar to a Belgian Wheat Bier. On the sweet side, but that's the way I like my beer (having been weaned on Genny Cream).

 

[OburgOrange]

Trying a 6 hour rib recipe on my new Traeger tomorrow. I'm not much of a chef , but I'm pretty excited to give it a go. I'll post some pics if successful

 

[moqui]

was fortunate to be able to participate in a Top Chef challenge as a diner, but signed a confidentiality agreement so that is all I am able to say about that.

Had a special dinner served at the top of Aspen Snowmass cooked by the Voltaggio Brothers. Top Chef talks about them like they are the best thing going, but this dinner was not memorable at all. Not bad, but not in the top 50 of meals I have had.

That being said, &W Classic is fantastic and I hope to do it again - soon. I didn't get a lot of pics because both hands were usually full, but I'll put some more up over the next few days.

 

[OburgOrange]

Trying a 6 hour rib recipe on my new Traeger tomorrow. I'm not much of a chef , but I'm pretty excited to give it a go. I'll post some pics if successful

The machine, and the result

 

[moqui]

The next four pics are from the Tequila Madness dinner, hosted by several liquor distributors to highlight tequila pairings. The night began with a tasting of 6 tequilas and 2 Mezcals. Then, with dinner, we were paired a total of 18 tequilas with the various courses!

Corvina Ceviche: Crispy calamari, paiche, corn, onions

 

[moqui]

Pork belly tacos: blue corn crepe, peanut butter mole, blue corn juice

 

[moqui]

Chipotle bbq beef short ribs: pumpkin seed slaw, elote corn on the cob

 

[moqui]

Pinata: coconut merengue, papaya & ly pear "confetti," pineapple sorbet; tequila crema apertif

 

[ssbriefcase]

was fortunate to be able to participate in a Top Chef challenge as a diner, but signed a confidentiality agreement so that is all I am able to say about that.

Had a special dinner served at the top of Aspen Snowmass cooked by the Voltaggio Brothers. Top Chef talks about them like they are the best thing going, but this dinner was not memorable at all. Not bad, but not in the top 50 of meals I have had.

That being said, &W Classic is fantastic and I hope to do it again - soon. I didn't get a lot of pics because both hands were usually full, but I'll put some more up over the next few days.

Nice, I was thinking of you being there, at the same time on that Saturday, I was at the Frisco bbq challenge in the mountains. Johnny Trig and a lot of the people you see on those shows are in it every year. Good times, and helps to avoid what was crazy heat (to me) down in Denver.

 

[moqui]

Nice, I was thinking of you being there, at the same time on that Saturday, I was at the Frisco bbq challenge in the mountains. Johnny Trig and a lot of the people you see on those shows are in it every year. Good times, and helps to avoid what was crazy heat (to me) down in Denver.

cool. We also attended the Heritage Fire event, which is held in Aspen in conjunction w/ &W but is a separate ticket event. Major bbq competition event, leading up to the national championship in Chicago. Here's a few pics from there.

edit: weird. apparently, the letterF standing alone is banned, so the initials for Food & Wine read just &W

 

[moqui]

 

[moqui]

 

[moqui]

Heritage Fire was a challenge because the first things you see upon entrance are the booze tents. We ran into one of the tequila distributors from Tequila Madness and he generously allowed us a couple of full shots of his $300 per bottle extra anejo tequila . . . then my wife found the gin & tonic snow cones and bourbon and rye party punches from Breckenridge Distillery. I did a pretty good job of pacing myself, but she was trashed before we got a bite of food into our mouths.

 

[ssbriefcase]

Wow, after seeing those pics, I feel like at my event I went to 7-11 to stare at 3 day rollers. Nice. I'll have to remember that one and make it a food/fishing weekend next time.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

This is shrimp and grits from Harper's Table in Suffolk, VA. I'm not a grits guy, but these are fantastic. I travel there frequently for work and this is my true indulgence of each trip. The andouille sausage in this bad boy is out of this world. I paired this with one of the better Baltic Porters I've ever had called Komes from Brewer Fortuna, a Polish brewer. RateBeer

 

[SoBeCuse]

The next four pics are from the Tequila Madness dinner, hosted by several liquor distributors to highlight tequila pairings. The night began with a tasting of 6 tequilas and 2 Mezcals. Then, with dinner, we were paired a total of 18 tequilas with the various courses!

Corvina Ceviche: Crispy calamari, paiche, corn, onions

How did you like mezcals? I’ve really become quite obsessed with them. Love the smoke. I have a couple of really nice Del Maguey bottles at home...Chichicapa, Minero, Santa Domingo.

I recently was in Chicago and popped into a mezcal bar (also amazing food) called Masa Azul. Great selection! Ugh, fail again trying to post pics on here.

 

[SoBeCuse]

This is shrimp and grits from Harper's Table in Suffolk, VA. I'm not a grits guy, but these are fantastic. I travel there frequently for work and this is my true indulgence of each trip. The andouille sausage in this bad boy is out of this world. I paired this with one of the better Baltic Porters I've ever had called Komes from Brewer Fortuna, a Polish brewer. RateBeer


View attachment 125915

Andouille is great. Usually some good heat in those!

 

[moqui]

best pizza i've ever eaten: oyster mushroom with garlic from hogstone wood oven, orcas island, washington

 

[moqui]

best pizza i've ever eaten: oyster mushroom with garlic from hogstone wood oven, orcas island, washington

same chef, from his sister restaurant aelder:
mangolitza pork belly. mangolitza pork is considered the kobe beef of pork. the chef raises & butchers the hogs himself.

this is the bite of pork i have been chasing my entire life. it tasted so good i found myself gripping the table with both hands to keep myself stable.

 

[moqui]

ok, so this is anti-p0rn. i had one of the worst restaurant meals in my life last night.

neal fraser's redbird is one of the most critically acclaimed restaurants in los angeles. but, to be honest, i've never really liked it. but my wife had a good meal there a couple of weeks ago and we needed to find a place before seeing "come from away"last night, so i said ok, i'll give it another shot.

i ordered the meatloaf - usually a bulletproof choice. hard to ruin meatloaf. but i didn't realize that fraser was using "beyond meat," a plant-based meat substitute.

it was horrible. dry. mealy, not tasty plus a vaguely chemical aftertaste. i have had vegetarian meat substitutes before - there is a vegetarian hamburger at akasha in culver city that i love - but this was uniquely awful.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Ugh. Have quite a few Michelin * meals to share but, still, cannot upload photos from my iPad or iPhone onto here. File size too large. I’ve tried everything.

 

[moqui]

How did you like mezcals? I’ve really become quite obsessed with them. Love the smoke. I have a couple of really nice Del Maguey bottles at home...Chichicapa, Minero, Santa Domingo.

I recently was in Chicago and popped into a mezcal bar (also amazing food) called Masa Azul. Great selection! Ugh, fail again trying to post pics on here.

i like it on occasion; my wife is a bigger mezcal fan than i. i like the smokey taste, but when i'm in the mood for something smokey i usually go for scotch

 

[SoBeCuse]

i like it on occasion; my wife is a bigger mezcal fan than i. i like the smokey taste, but when i'm in the mood for something smokey i usually go for scotch

I noticed the pork belly pic. Wunderbar. Have you been to the newer David Chang spot in LA? Majordomo. Had some wonderful pork belly there in August. There is also a Filipino rice bowl spot in Grand Central Market serving really delicious pork belly bowls. The one in your pic might not be topped but these two were quite outstanding.

 

[orange79]

Ugh. Have quite a few Michelin * meals to share but, still, cannot upload photos from my iPad or iPhone onto here. File size too large. I’ve tried everything.

Try one of these to compress the size of the photos (I would make a copy first). I can't vouch for any of them since I have never used them,but they all seem legit.

Compress JPEG Images Online

TinyJPG – Compress JPEG images intelligently

Free Image Optimizer - Compress and resize photos

 

[SoBeCuse]

Try one of these to compress the size of the photos (I would make a copy first). I can't vouch for any of them since I have never used them,but they all seem legit.

Compress JPEG Images Online

TinyJPG – Compress JPEG images intelligently

Free Image Optimizer - Compress and resize photos

Thanks. A last resort to use one of these but looks like it must be done. Much obliged.