Incredible Food Show 2014

One of Lexington foodie's (me for one) highly anticipated event was the Incredible Food Show last Saturday. To be honest, I was not all too excited about the Deen Brothers as the special guests of the event. That was until a few weeks before the event, the show producer asked me to one of the judges for the show. I was delighted and accepted the challenge as a judge for the savory category. With 37 booths on my list to judge, I thought I was in foodie heaven...until I was sampling the 11th beer cheese and cracker.

Here are some of my favorites from the show:

Kenny's Farmhouse Cheese from Barren County, Kentucky has handmade artisan cheese. It got the Honorable Mention of Savory category at the show. My favorite product of all the samples was their Wheel of Awesome which was a Brie cheese. It was an awesomely and creamy soft cheese that melted in my mouth.

Started by Sylviana Herrin in early 2013, La Petite Sucre is a handcraft macaroon boutique that only cater customs orders for private events. This booth won the Best Booth Display of the show. I think Herrin has not only delivered beautiful presentation, but also perfected these small and colorful French desserts. When I tasted the blackberry macaroon (not knowing this at the time), it was no doubt the ingredients used were the top notch, as well as the painstaking efforts put into making these delicate sweets.

My favorite Kentucky Proud producer, Sadistic Mistress. Her hot sauces are one of a kind. Sadistic Mistress knows her peppers, with a line of 13 hot sauces, each pairs well with various food items. We got "The Safe Word Is" and "She Ain't Pretty; She's Hot". Creative names and spicier than hot sauce, that's Sadistic Mistress for you.

I have a secret. Instead of tasting First Fresh Extra Virgin Olive Oil with a piece of bread, I drank it. I would drink a cup of this olive oil if I could. It's California blend was named "One of the World's Best Olive Oils" at the 2013 New York International Olive Oil Competition. Their olive oil has a fruity aroma and buttery taste, yet without the overwhelming "greasy" flavor. I can't believe it took me this long to find this.

Nevertheless, I skipped the Dean Brother's presentation..twice. But I was super excited to meet one of my favorite chefs from Bravo's Top Chef, Chef Edward Lee. His new cookbook "Smoke and Pickles"  blends in Lee's Korean background and a twist of Southern cuisine. From making Korean style pickled vegetables to Kentucky's distinct bourbon and Southern cooking, as well as Lee's stories of growing up and becoming a Chef, the cookbook is worth every penny. Instead of asking him intelligent questions like "How did being on Top Chef help you start your restaurant", I started talking endlessly about Kenny's Farmhouse Cheese. Cheese? Really?

Being a judge at the Kentucky Proud Incredible Food show was a great experience in learning and tasting what Kentucky has to offer. I love talking to the food makers to find how they come about making their products. Although I think it comes to a point when too much beer cheese just starts to taste the same. Even though each beer producer has his/her distinct spin on the cheese, I think Dad's Favorites has the most unique and distinct beer cheese of all.

Besides beer cheese, bourbon this and bourbon that was another trend of the show. Bourbon hot sauce, bourbon barbecue sauce, bourbon salsa... Let's see what else we can add bourbon to and make it more "Kentucky". What's wrong with a good ol' fashion straight bourbon?

I enjoyed this year's Incredible Food Show, I met lots of enthusiastic Kentucky food producers as well as another fellow Kentucky Food Blogger  Rona Roberts of Savoring Kentucky (check out her blog, Rona is an excellent food writer). Till next year, for another stuffed belly.

KYFB Monthly Cooking Challenge: Lemon Cranberry Scones

The Kentucky Food Bloggers are starting a monthly cooking challenge, and for January we are starting off with citrus. I have always hated when recipes call for one tablespoon of lemon juice, what am I supposed to do with the rest of the lemon? Keep in the fridge until the next time another recipe calls for lemon juice/peel then discover that months-old lemon is already moldy? I went for the cheap way, those 99 cents yellow and green squeeze bottles sure come in handy. But this means artificial flavored lemon juice = weird and fake taste.

"A splash of lemon juice can enhance the natural flavor of any ingredients, just as a dash of salt does."
- Joy of Cooking

My favorite citrus to use is Meyer lemons, a lemon-tangerine cross, are less tart and pungent and often used in dessert, salads, and fruit salads. I love the pungent citrus scent of the Meyer lemons.  Sometimes I wish I live in California, so I can plant lemon trees and have lemons whenever I please. Perhaps I can convince Jake to buy me a dwarf Meyer lemon plan. These scones are perfect with a cup of hot tea, and for those who stocked up fresh cranberries after Thanksgiving (I might have 3 or 4 bags somewhere in the freezer...).

Lemon Cranberry Scones
Recipe from Gourmet

2 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest (from about 3 lemons; preferably Meyer)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar plus 3 tablespoons additional if using fresh cranberries
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
1 1/4 cups fresh cranberries, chopped coarse, or 1 1/4 cups dried cranberries or dried cherries
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 cup heavy cream

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. With a vegetable peeler or a zester remove the zest from lemons and chop fine, reserving lemons for another use.

3. In a food processor pulse flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, butter and zest until mixture resembles coarse meal and transfer to a large bowl.

4. In a small bowl toss together fresh cranberries and 3 tablespoons sugar and stir into flour mixture. If using dried fruit, add to flour mixture.

5. In another small bowl lightly beat egg and yolk and stir in cream. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir until just combined.

6. On a well-floured surface with floured hands pat dough into a 1-inch-thick round (about 8 inches in diameter) and with a 2-inch round cutter or rim of a glass dipped in flour cut out as many rounds as possible, rerolling scraps as necessary. Arrange rounds about 1 inch apart on baking sheet and bake in middle of oven 15 to 20 minutes, or until pale golden.*The dough was too sticky for my to work with, I used a large cookie scope to measure out dough directly onto baking sheet.

Kentucky Food Blogger Dinner Party

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You know when you are at a food blogger event when they...
A) Talk about their favorite foods and best restaurants in town.
B) Must take several pictures before, during, and after a dish is served (with one or more form of digital equipment)
C) Talk about their recently discovery on the best recipe of___________
D) All of the above.


I attended my first Kentucky Food Bloggers get-together this past Saturday. The dinner party was hosted by Kate Horning of Simply Nutritious by Kate and Chef Bryan at Kitchen Concept. Throughout the night, Kate and Bryan made dishes inspired by their worldly travels and love for ethnic cuisine. Wildside Winery from Versailles, Kentucky was also at the event to do wine pairing.

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The evening started off with Seared Tofu with Kale. All fresh ingredients were locally grown and/or made. At one point in the evening, Kate asked us what is our favorite vegetable. A question in which I have not thought of, but somehow I knew I dislike raw celery.

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The second dish was Shrimp and Grits, a dish that is hardly heard of up north in Wisconsin. The only grits experience I had before moving to Kentucky was the "grits" served in college dorm cafeteria. After first bite of cheesy and garlic-ful grits at Billy's BBQ, I am in love. Although I was a bit embarrassed to admitted that I never made grits before when the discussion on how to make grits was going on. Using traditional Southern style of making shrimp and grits, and combining with Japanese seasoning, this dish was my favorite of all.

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Then using a fall classic ingredient, butternut squash, along with some Jamaican curry, came this Curry Squash Soup Shooters. The soup was thick and spicy with a hint of sweetness from the butternut squash, while the sour cream "cools" off the heat.

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The night finished off with Creole Veggie Burger made from red kidney beans, rosemary, chipotle perppers, and Creole spice. The patties were served over whole wheat baguette and drizzled with honey-based sauce to balance the flavorful spice. Then Hot Banana over Vanilla Ice Cream, a simple banana foster-like dessert with ginger and red pepper flakes.

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I had an awesome time at the dinner party. Besides the delicious food, it was great finally meeting some Kentucky food bloggers in person, and learning what made them become interested in food and blogging. I got to share my passion for food and restaurant anecdotes. It was the one place I did not felt awkward having my camera and taking pictures before every bite because that was expected.

This is how food bloggers roll.

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