More on Alton Brown's demo

If it wasn't enough to get to attend another great Alton Brown event, I have had the pleasure to meet a lot of great people at these shows. Today I would like to turn over the storytelling to a reader, Hector. Hector also has a great cooking blog called Food Time.

So here is Hector's recount of the evening:

As many of you already know, us AB freaks were given a very special treat this past weekend. Alton was gracious enough to make an appearance in Souderton, Pa. at the Calvary church. Although the highlight was actually meeting my hero the event created many lasting memories. Alton was a very kind-hearted man who claimed he would sign anything for us "even the hors d'oeuvres". On the first trip through the line I forgot everything I actually wanted to tell him, my mind just went blank. On the second trip however I was able to tell him about my acceptance to NECI(New England Culinary Institute) He quickly shot back telling me that I have no idea how bad winter can be until I've experienced a Vermont winter. This was also when I was smart enough to ask him to draw himself on my ticket.This has since become my most prized possession and I have big,big plans for this!


After the shock of the meet and greet subsided our lucky (and quite small) group quickly ran to their seats and anxiously awaited for Alton to walk out from behind the curtain. He emerged to a large round of applause and quickly began the banter he is so well known for.The theme of the night was set, all three demos would be based on time.

The first demo dealt with braising ribs. Upon being questioned of his hands hygiene Alton quickly proceeded to lick the raw rib in his wise guy sort of way. The ribs themselves were braised in an amazing one cup of liquid using the French process know as "sous vide". I amazingly became a lucky audience member when AB chose me to answer a question about how to keep a crock pot at a reliable temperate. After answering the question half right (you just fill it with water,which has an extremely high specific heat!) Alton jokingly yelled at me to sit down,I knew right then that my life was complete.

The second demo was even more mind blowing than the first. After whipping up a quick cake batter without any leavening Alton placed it in a Whipped creme dispenser. He placed the resulting foam in a cup and placed it in a microwave, 45 seconds later he had a light and delicious cupcake. While the batter was mixing he took a question from my girlfriend Amy who asked him where he learned to weigh his baking ingredients. He said that he studies under a crazy French chef who taught him that weighing is much more accurate Even though AB's assistant, Tammy Cook, was smart enough to request a plastic film to cover the church's stage which AB called "the membrane" he still managed to bounce the mixers chocolate covered whisk right off the stage and onto the church's nice clean carpet.

After a short discussion with Tammy they both agreed that the cup cake needed something. So they started the third and final demo, cashew butter ice-cream. But this wasn't just any old ice-cream.This ice-cream was made in true Alton Brown fashion using liquid nitrogen!

The evening was one of pure bliss and a true treat for all of the people in the audience. A lot of useful information was taken from the evening as well( Including the knowledge of a book tour in Oct. for The Middle Ages!) and I can honestly say that it was the best night of my life, and I can't wait to see another one of AB's great appearances!