Click on small photos for larger images
The first Kamado company cook-off/picnic was held on June 23, 2001. The plan is to make this annual event held the Saturday after Father's Day.
When I mentioned that I was attending, and not competing in the cook-off, I was asked to do a cooking demonstration.
My family and I arrived in Sacramento on Friday night after an airplane ride from New Jersey followed by a mere 3 hour drive from San Francisco airport (don't you just love rush hour traffic).
In my carry-on luggage was 15 lbs of prime beef ribs cut for bulgogi (korean style grilled ribs), two rib steaks that had been marinated for two days in an anchovy garlic mixture, and Lauren's apricot-garlic pasta. I also brought my tongs, knives, neoprene gloves, thermometer, and other sundry creature cooking comforts. Oh yes, I also brought some of "Hoboken Eddie's" sauces with me.
We got to the park early, offloaded the gear while the Kamado crew was setting up a flock of cookers. We had the pleasure of going to breakfast with Ken H. at a local eatery. When we got back at about 10:30 some folk started cooking, and I started prepping for my 2 p.m. demo.
I wound up demonstrating the bulgogi preparation, grilling asparagus, making some garlic shrimp, and cooking the anchovy steak. I had some of the bulgogi pre-prepared so after I showed the marinade prep, I was able to cook some of the prepped meat. It took quite a while to cook 15 lbs of this thinly sliced meat, but I must say that as fast as it would come off the grill onto a plate, the plate was emptied < s >.
Thomas handed me some cherries earlier in the day, and I tossed them on the grill towards the end of the day... people told me that they tasted like miniature, self contained, cherry pies.
The crowd was very very nice, and the weather was spectacular... cool with a nice breeze.
I did the shrimp and asparagus on a #3 Kamado (at about 375 degrees), with Louis Cohen agreeing to be my "lovely assistant", so I could demo as much as possible in the limited time. The #7 was cranked up to about 700 degrees for the bulgogi.
I got to taste some wonderful food that others cooked, but I realized that I didn't get to taste anything of what I cooked < s >
We wound up leaving at about 8 p.m. and went to a local ice cream parlor to celebrate my younger son's birthday (that was actually spent in an airplane the day before.)
My two sons kept pretty busy during the day. Joshua did some juggling, and made balloon animals. Scott showed his prestidigitation skills with a deck of cards. Lauren made some photos, and helped me prep for the demo (and made an emergency run to the market for the soy sauce that mysteriously did not turn up in the grocery bag).
I find it very peculiar and quite wonderful that his group of "strangers" got to come together at a park, and whose common bond was a strange looking cooker! It's nice to know that with all the horror stories heard about internet relationships, that there is some great good that can come out of the medium. The cook-off was a lovely, and very memorable day for me and my family.
Thanks to all those who helped make the day so special.
Four pages of photos follow:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
