Steamboat Wine Festival

Another Road trip.
Heading to Steamboat for the 6th Annual Wine Festival with 3,000 attendees, 800 wines, spirits and beers and of course the food. I headed up Wednesday night to "catch" a 7am Fly Fishing Event. Caught some trout and then got cleaned up for a TV Demo. Cooked up some Pan Roasted Halibut with Fresh Summer Vegetables and Bacon, what a great time, they didn’t even mind my ‘chops’!

Nighttime meant a gorgeous ride on the Gondola up to Thunderhead for the Wine on Mountain Kickoff.

Friday was demo day. I headed to the Grand Tent to prepare Smooth Tomato Gazpacho with Watermelon-Mint Salsa, Poached Shrimp, and Croutons for the crowd. Had a great time getting to hang out with the guests after the demo.

On Saturday I headed to some Spanish and Italian wine seminars to brush up on my skills. That afternoon was the SteelChef Competition. Goose Sorrenson (Solera) and Tyler Wiard (Elway's) cooked against me and Matt Jansen (Radda and Mateo). We got our basket of secret ingredients and had 20 minutes. We made White Cornmeal Crusted Catfish with Louisiana Dirty Rice, Grilled Eggplant, and Peach Liquor Butter Sauce and Stella Marinated Pork Loin with Anaheim Chile-Potato Hash with Blackberry-Coconut Milk Sauce and Toasted Almonds.

For more information about the Steamboat Wine Festival: http://www.steamboatwinefestival.com/

New Orleans Wine & Food Festival

Back to the place of the Top Chef Grand Finale for the 18th Annual Food & Wine Experience in New Orleans. Wednesday started with a radio interview on WGNU, ‘Good Morning New Orleans’ followed by a TV appearance on WDSU, Channel 6. The day continued with prepping for the festival and finished with an amazing dinner at John Besh’s. Thursday was the Inaugural Chef Gala. Made Seared Dayboat Scallop and Braised Pork Belly with Fennel, Ginger and Citrus. Friday, prep, media, grand tasting, VIP Party, bed. On Saturday I prepped the Grand Tasting at the SUPERDOME and then hooked up with the old motley TOP CHEF crew, Jamie, Leah and Jeff for a Seafood Cookoff. I made Chilled Avocado Cucumber Soup with Poached Shrimp and Pickled Peppers (click here for recipe) which received the Silver Medal in the Fleur de Lis Culinary Award later that evening. Fun night. On Sunday it was time to say goodbye to the Big Easy.

For more information about the New Orleans Wine and Food Feastival: http://nowfe.com/