I had to laugh watching Bobby cook. He's a very good showman, definitely kept us all entertained. He told us a bit about his upcoming throw down versus The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond. I had to laugh, as a dessert blogger, at a few of his quotes:
"Food bloggers definetely have a big influence right now...but some are just haters. Who needs that?"
"The problem is if I say butter too loud, Paula Dean is gonna show up. She thinks she invented butter."
"I HATE making desserts. I don't have the patience for them, ya know, because you have to measure."
"I always plan my vacations around where I am going to eat." --hint for all you stalkers out there, he'll be in Argentina for New Years! ;-)So before I get around to giving out the incredibly unspecific instructions from the man who hates to measure, I simply have to tell you about a few of my other favorite things I found at the convention!
First love? S.A.L.T. Sisters! I've been wanting to do a bit of taste testing on some of the more gourmet salts around the world and they had a fantastic booth with a fairly decent selection! I probably spent far too much of the co-founder Charmane Skillen's time. She sprinkled out more than twelve types of salt for me to taste and smell! I fell madly in love with Cyprus Black Lava Mediterranean Salt, Hawaiian Red Alaea Sea Salt, and Murray River Pink Salt.
But oh yes! This led me to the second love: The Spice Lab! They let me test out some Citrus Cyprus Flake Salt! That was one I actually didn't know existed! And they sell small travel size packets of Himalayan Sea Salt which is perfect for a foodie on the fly! And after visiting their site I am learning so much about the varieties of salt that are out there! Impressive stock! Downside? No taste test. Might be better for me. After that much salt I was dying for a glass of water.
Okay, I know it's a little crazy that a dessert girl like me fell so head over heels for salts! But fear not, I fell in love with two other booths of a dessert variety too!
Cookie Zen and their "cookies & corks" collection! They are setting guidelines for cookie and wine pairings! I tasted a few and was highly impressed with the Parmesan Thyme Cookies, Sea Salt Chocolate Oatmeal, and White Cheddar Rosemary Cookies. Delicious! And such a fresh flavor combination for a cookie. I have to admit that I am planning to try my hand at a knock off recipe of these when I get home from London. It's too delicious to not have in my arsenal.
And last but certainly not least: Surprenant's Berry Farm! I had a nice LONG chat with Bruce Suprenant. And I do mean LONG. We were chatting and tasting jams for nearly half an hour! He has nearly 250 recipes backing him up from Watermelon Jelly to Balsamic Green Bell Pepper Cheese Jelly. Yes. Cheese Jelly. I was impressed too. Bruce was telling me that in four hours he can put out about 600 jars! I'm still in shock. I can't find the Cheese Jelly on his site. Sad! But you can email him and ask about it. I really loved the watermelon as well. Excellent jam. I must have tried at least ten types of jam! All were wonderful!
Talk about a full day! Full of food and full of fun! I may not be able to eat jam or salt for a while though. It was like a kid on Halloween candy!
Want some for yourself? Here's the Bobby Flay recipes! With, um, no attempts at measurements.......no really. He hates measuring.
1 whole chicken
chipotles
honey
dijon mustard
salt
pepper
olive oil
Alright, ready for this mess of instructions? Good luck! First off, butterfly a chicken and remove the breast bone (why yes, Bobby did forget what a breast bone was called for about two minutes). Rub with olive oil and a liberal amount of kosher salt.
Heat a large cast iron pan. HOT! Roast each side till it has a deep seared color. Then, bake in the oven at 400 for about 30 minutes. But as Bobby says, his kitchen only has ovens on 500. Gotta move fast to feed hundreds of people!
Combine chipotles, honey, and dijon mustard to taste, adding salt and pepper per your taste. With ten minutes left. spread some glaze on the chicken. Continues baking and repeat this process five minutes later. Pour remaining glaze on when the chicken comes out of the oven.
Bobby Flay's Roasted Vegetables:
carrots
butternut squash
poblano chiles
shallot
salt
pepper
olive oil
Pick your own measurements here, but throw them together in a cast iron skillet and bake that along side your chicken. Best of luck. For a cooking demo there sure wasn't a clear set of instructions! Sorry!
Bobby Flay's Mashed Potatoes with a Monterey Jack & Roasted Poblano Queso
yukon gold potatoes
cream
butter
flour
scalded milk
monterey jack cheese
green chilies
roasted poblanos
salt
pepper
Boil potatoes and put through a food mill or potato ricer. Mix in cream and butter.
In a sauce pan create a bechamel sauce. Add in Monterey Jack cheese, chilies, and poblanos, salt and pepper to taste. Use queso as a gravy for mashed potatoes.
Yep. Horrid instructions. But hey, measurements are for bakers only right? So all you chefs out there should do just fine with that! :) Besides, at 11:30 he was ripping into the margaritas! So who knows how good the instructions would have been after that! HA! He was hilarious. I'm not judging either! I'm no hater! Good showman, and since I got to taste the food, I can also tell you, first hand, a good cook!
I really enjoyed the queso sauce for the mashed potatoes! It's definitely Arizona girl approved! It was so fun to watch him actually cook the food that I got to taste! Usually I just get some executive chef at his restaurants! And they're good too, but still, I'm just saying, they aren't Bobby!