Alton Brown demos quicker cooking methods

The final part of the most recent Alton Brown event was the cooking demo. AB put on a great show, as he always does, telling attendees about cooking quicker through using unusual items in the kitchen.

The first topic for discussion, making ribs using the sous vide method of cooking in a vacuum sealed bag placed in heated liquid, allows to cook the tougher cut without overcooking and drying out meat.

Before starting the demo of the sous vide method for ribs, AB asked the audience about braising. He wanted to know who in the audience could tell him about this technique.

Without hesitation my arm flew up. I saw Alton spot my hand waggling in the air, I was three rows back. He stopped pacing the stage and pointed toward me. He paused for a moment before calling out, "I'm not picking you, I know you know the answer."

Everyone in the audience laughed, so did I. But then I thought... what the heck just happened? He didn't want me to answer the question because I knew the answer?! Alton?! I suppose that was something good... maybe.

After not getting to answer the question, AB turned away from me and scanned the thousand other people in the auditorium, selecting a man from the crowd to talk about braising. Alton made ribs similar to the ones he did at Opryland a few years ago, flanken style in the sous vide and very little liquid then cooked in an immersion circulator.

He did tell us a crockpot with water produces a similar effect for the at home cook without the expensive equipment. However, he did say some used equipment is often on eBay... hmmm, tempting. Once he finished cooking the ribs, about 20 hours, he sampled them on stage getting down on the floor and eating them in front of the crowd.

A quick chocolate cake, he said that took about three minutes total times from mixing to cooking, became the next item. After making his batter, Alton asked the crowd what as missing. I raised my hand and shouted leavening to no avail. It was leavening that he left out of the batter. To get lift into the cake he turned to whipped cream dispenser. Then microwaved the cupcakes to "bake" them.


The last item Alton made was cashew butter ice cream. He said it use to be peanut butter ice cream because he loves PB, but since his daughter has a peanut allergy he changed it to cashews. And as almost normal for Alton, he added liquid nitrogen to the mixer and froze the ice cream without using an ice cream churn.


The demo was very good and informative. Of course there were lots and lots of laughs. One great story he told was about being asked and asked about trying the Walleye (fish) while in Erie, Pa filming a Welch's grape juice commercial. Apparently the fish used in many, many dishes in that part of the country and folks there wanted him to try it .

For all of the photos from the evening, check out my Flickr site.

We interrupt our regularly scheduled tales from AB's event...

...so that I bring everyone exciting news that makes me acts like a four-year-old. If I had some little ones at home and their cute kids beds around me, I'd be jumping up and down on them right now because I've been given the opportunity to do a product review.

The generous folks at CSN Stores, who have a lot of cool online stores, offered up one of their products for review. I found a nice looking panini press to try from their cookware.com site. Ever since I heard Alton Brown talk about using his panini press to make spatchcocked Cornish game hens and other things with it, I've been drooling and yearning for one. So this opportunity is beyond exciting!

Besides a good site for cookware, there's a nice site for children's furniture. If I weren't currently sans kiddos, I would be interested some of the products on that site too www.allchildrensfurniture.com. There's a just too adorable Let's Play Restaurant set
that I know my hypothetical, imaginary kid would love... who am I kidding, I love it! ;)

Anyway, I'm champing at the bit to try out this panini press and AB's technique on the little chickens and other stuff.

Stay tuned for the result!

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!

The Alton Brown Experience v 8.0

In all honesty I don't know where to start in recounting the most recent meeting with Alton Brown. As usual, I sprang for the meet and greet tickets. My brain justifies it by saying, "If I'm going all that way, why not?" Why not indeed? And, just like every other time, that part of the experience was fantastic. And, just like every other time, the demo was a blast. So where to start?

The best, and most logical, place would be the meet and greet. That's how the evening kicked off. AB appeared for the meet and greet ready to spend a few minutes with his adoring public. And as per usual, he was warm and gracious to everyone who attended.

On my first trip to see Alton (yes, I said first trip, there were several trips to see him during the evening), I followed after my friend Anne. She went first to talk with AB then told him that she came with me. So, Alton turns toward me and says, "I know her."

Of course with that comment we started in on our first round of conversation, talking about a so many different things; however, I was denied yet another handshake! We must be past that stage. ;)

Nevertheless, Alton and I spent a lot time (or seemed that way) talking about a variety of topics. Right away he told me about the next book coming out in October. Then I showed him that my ticket to the event was the first ticket. Not sure what he made of that, but he was nice enough to sign it for me.


As is now a tradition, I brought AB some gifts. The first thing was a can of sardines from Cannery Row Sardine Company. The owner, Daren, contacted me through the site and I offered to bring a can to Alton the next time I attended an event. It was very funny to watch Alton's reaction to the gift. He was excited to get it, saying "Oh, sardines!" when I handed it to him. Then said he had a snack for the flight home that evening.

The next gift was a Cessna airplane ornament I found at Christmas and thought it would be something nice to bring the next time I saw him. When I gave AB the gift he told me, "You don't have to bring gifts every time you see me." That was hysterical.

Because this meet and greet was well limited in size, many was us had the opportunity to go back through the line and talk with him several times. While many of the other people made return visits to chat with AB, I hung around near head of table and snapped photos. It did surprise me that no one shooed me away. As a result, I got many, many candid shots of Alton signing and talking with his fans.

At one point during the evening, AB looks up at me and says that he was going to the back of the room to sign a cast for a young woman. I guess, he thought I was the next person in line or something. He walked back there and spent several minutes at the table with the people.

It was extremely interesting to stay up there and watch AB interact with all of the fans who came out to see him. He still gives everyone his undivided attention. Talks and spends time sharing with each person. It is not a sign the book and move on kind of thing at all. It is marvelous that he treats us all so nice and appreciates that we come to see him. Even me at eight times now!

Alton is the epitome of class and graciousness.

News and notes from Alton Brown's event

I have so much to share with everyone about the latest, and quite possibly the greatest, event with Alton Brown. As I work to write up the events, and more importantly remember everything that happened, I did want to pass along several items of note.

First thing, when I brought the book for AB to sign up to the table he immediately blurts out the the next book is out in October. Thanks for the tip Alton, I know your fans want to know when the next installment will be available.

AB hasn't had a Diet Coke since Thanksgiving, he said during an involved conversation with me and my friend Anne at the meet and greet. He said the first three weeks were difficult.

During the demo AB talked about having a fear of scorpions from a childhood encounter and a trick his, then five-year-old, daughter played on him with a plastic scorpion in his shoe.

Here are a couple of photos from the demo to hold everyone over until I can get some more detailed posts up.

Quick debrief from seeing Alton Brown

I can honestly say this was the BEST time I had meeting and talking with Alton Brown and the demo might have been the best too! I'm so happy to meet readers at these things as well!

I will share a few photos until I have the time to write up the super, fabulous time!

Goin' to see Alton Brown on Friday!

I'm very excited to attend another one of Alton Brown's demos/book signings this week. I will be traipsing through the snow to head up to PA for the the Indian Creek Foundation event on Friday!

So, this my first AB event for '10 and it will interesting if he remembers me. The last time, in DC, he gave me a ribbing about coming to yet another event.

The meet and greet tickets are sold out but not certain about the tickets to the demo itself. Information on AB's demo is available here.

Watch Alton Brown on Best Thing I Ever Ate -- Chocolate

Reminder that Alton Brown will be on the new episode of Best Thing I Ever Ate on Friday, February 12 at 10 p.m. He will talk about chocolate. Interesting if this will be what he use to eat since his diet is sans sweets. ;)

What Alton Brown plans for new episodes

According to his website, Alton Brown has a a slate of new Good Eats episodes ready to work on in the coming months. The list is extremely exciting.

Asparagus
Banana Pudding
Tacos
Porterhouse
BBQ Chicken
Grilled Pizza
Pumpkin
Eggs Benedict

I am very curious about the grilled pizza because wasn't that my question for Dear Food Network: Grilling that was rejected? Oh yeah, that's what I asked Alton to help me with. Nice to see he is going to address it.

Asparagus topic is great too because I've wanted AB to talk about the green stick veggie for years. I have an awesome method for grilling it I would love to share with him too. Maybe when he invites my down to Atlanta for the grilled pizza lesson I can share it then. ;)

Alton Brown's favorite cookbooks

Alton has shared his top five favorite cookbooks over at the Wall Street Journal.
1. The Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer
2. The Frugal Gourmet by Jeff Smith
3. Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan
4. Outlaw Cook by John Thorne
5. Ratio By Michael Ruhlman

I own Joy and the Frugal Gourmet. In fact, Jeff Smith was my first real culinary instructor and the first recipe I attempted from a TV cooking show was his blueberry muffins. I'm trying to find that recipe, if any one has it. I'm also planning on getting a copy of Ratio because a fan of Mr Ruhlman's work.

Head over to the WSJ for AB's complete reasons for selecting each book

More Alton Brown Good Eats videos on FN YouTube

Big thanks to reader Hector for infoming me that more of Alton Brown's Good Eats shorts are available on Food Network's YouTube channel. Here are some of the newest additions:

By the way, don't you just love the title references in these.

Bringing Home the Fish


Looking for Mr. Goodfish


Brine Me a Dinner


How Brown was my Onion