I'm sitting in downtown Nashville on an unseasonably warm October Friday evening overlooking a tranquil pool.
The pool is tranquil but nothing else
is. Six floors down the sidewalks and streets are alive with
boisterous folks, bustling cars, and the occasional siren.
Funny but true fact....we are staying
in room #666. They changed the outdoor room # to 668 but it is right
next door to room 664 and the interior sign on the door clearly
shows.....
I told Alexis, quit worrying, it's not
like it's room 237 at the Overlook Hotel.
Excuse the lack of photos in this post but I left my SD card AND my back up SD cards in the hotel room. I blame that on room 666.
So yeah, I'm at the Nashville Food Blog
Forum. A bunch of my BBQ buds might laugh and picture me at a
seminar about how to take the best picture of a cupcake with frills
and ribbons and stuff.
I could understand why someone who
focuses on grilling and BBQ like I do might seem out of place here.
But I actually found a lot of smoke here on the first night. So all
you smokers out there, quit knocking cupcakes, truffles, and latest
food trend....because you are becoming a food trend. Smoke is the
new black.
A Beer Named Sue
Local Yazoo Brewery has added a kick
butt brew to their line up. Meet Sue, a dark deep bodied beer that
uses malt smoked with cherry wood. Any bbqr that reads my blog knows
my love for cherry wood. It brings a nice color to smoked meats
while giving a light smoke flavor. The flavor of this beer delivers
and I can't wait for it to arrive here in Knoxville shortly. I have
several ideas in mind for using it as an ingredient.
Are You Kidding Me Smoked Chocolate?
Southern artisan chocolate magicians
Olive and Sinclair Chocolate Company sampled their products including a smoked chocolate
brittle that was specfreakingtacular. This company already grinds
their own cocoa for their chocolates but for this one, they have
Benton....YES the famous East TN bacon folks....smoke the “nibs”
first. I don't like sweets and was skeptical but dayum, this stuff
was off the charts good. I won't tell you how many times Alexis went
back to their table.
Triple Smoked Whiskey
Corsair Artisan was on site with their
micro brewed spirits and I sampled the Triple Smoked Whiskey. The
mellow charcoal flavor comes through and I asked if they sold their
used barrels for smoking wood. Not yet but you can buy the whole
barrel (a mini costs $70). I am going to buy one to convert to be my
cold smoker.
Hickory Salt
Top Chef contestant Arnold Myint gave a
cooking demo for us tonight and we bought a jar of hickory smoked salt
from him. Yeah, I smoke my own during the winter but I'm out right
now.
Bathtub Gin TN Whiskey & Tomato Jam
This specialty jam maker makes
“prohibition era jams” and this was one she incorporated into a
mini tart with caramelized onion, roasted tomato, the jam, and some
artisan cheese that was very good. But my immediate thought was how
great this would be used in a BBQ sauce for pork.
Tomorrow the actual forum begins and I
have a lot to learn from some incredibly successful and wicked smart
people.
I might leave a light on in room
666......just in case :)
