Spoonsful of duck comfit, curried chicken, smoked salmon and shrimp stayed cool slipped between blocks of ice at Mountain Institute for Culinary Arts' table.
For years now, I've read and, well, sometimes drooled about the Culinary Classic weekend at Stonewall Resort. It's a hedonistic foodies weekend held annually at the resort in Lewis County.
Chef Michael Bowe from Huntington Prime probably received my husband's vote, largely because his braised pork belly was served on a bed of smoked Gouda and roasted red pepper grits. He loves grits. They also served a flourless chocolate cake.
The Greenbrier's chef Steve Mengal offered a generous slab of peppered smoked salmon as well as decadent chocolate pots du crème. The line for at Waterfront Place was long as people lined up to dip fruit and various accoutrements in a bubbling chocolate fountain. Bridge Road Bistro's chef Robert Wong paired lamb, also local, pot stickers with a spicy ratatouille relish.
Kathy Hamrick of Good Golly Ms Molly's Salsa offered a table full of wraps and dips made with her products and Biselli pasta products.
Thomas Grant of Carver College served three cold soups in shot glasses, each with a little bit of something complementary. Avocado crab soup came with crab meat salad on a mustard cracker. A bright fuchsia clear borscht came with chevre and fennel salad and chilled cucumber soup came with shrimp salad. His students made the soups in class.
West Virginia Northern's sweet onion tartlet with feta cheese was a particularly tasty morsel. They also offered tiny cones of rolled sweet potato crepes filled with smoked chicken and barbeque froth.
The most eye-catching presentation award, had there been one, should have gone to Mountain State University's ice tree, which was a stack of ice blocks with spoon handles jammed in between the blocks. Each spoon held a mouthful of a creative combination. There was duck comfit with orange foam, curried chicken with carrot puree and shrimp with a seafood slaw.
The students also used the ice to chill shot classes of cold soup.
Ice sculpting was big at the Classic. Saturday morning breakfast diners could watch chefs and students wrestle with giant blocks of ice to create intricate carvings. The ice chips flew as they cut away big pieces, then tweaked the sculptures with more delicate carving tools.
Saturday afternoon demonstrations were on plate garnishing and on trendy desserts. The Saturday night menu's sounded fantastic, with caramelized scallops, duck confit salad, roasted lamp loin in herb pastry and chocolate and chambord mouse. I regret that we missed Saturday's events. I mean I really regret it, but I offer my compliments to all the chefs, planners and sponsors of the eighth annual Culinary Classic.
Reach Julie Robinson at jul...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1230.
ROANOKE, W.Va. -- For years now, I've read and, well, sometimes drooled about the Culinary Classic weekend at Stonewall Resort. It's a hedonistic foodies weekend held annually at the resort in Lewis County. From Friday evening through Sunday morning, attendees taste the creations of chefs from all over the state and watch ice carvers and cooking demonstrations. The weekend culminates in a four-course, wine-paired dinner Saturday night.
The Culinary Classic was this past weekend, and I was one of the lucky attendees. Lucky because the event sold out quickly. A Stonewall official told me he had a waiting list of 80. Because of a previous engagement, my husband and I could only attend Friday night's Dine-Around, and Saturday's breakfast, but we took full advantage of both.
After checking into the resort Friday evening, we wandered down to the ballroom where the party was in full swing. A fun band played at reasonable noise levels so patrons could both enjoy the music and also converse without yelling as they made their way around the ballroom.
Steven Keith, the Daily Mail's Food Guy, and John Brown, the Gazette-Mail's Wine Boy, capably hosted the Dine-Around, pointing diners toward interesting tidbits and appropriate pairings of Gallo family wines or Yuengling beer, both event sponsors.
Established chefs from Ember at Snowshoe, Huntington Prime, The Greenbrier, Bridge Road Bistro, Bridgeport Conference Center, Graceland, Stonewall Resort and Waterfront Place dished alongside chefs and students from culinary programs at Mountain Institute for Culinary Arts at Mountain State University, West Virginia Northern Community College and Carver Career and Technical Center.
Sponsor Gordon Foods offered a choice of mini soft tacos stuffed with either pork and pickled onion or chicken with poblano peppers with an enticing array of homemade salsas. The Gordon team even made its own fresh queso fresco, or fresh cheese.
The nibbles ranged from Ember's chef Brian Ball's simple spoonful of smoky pork belly and Thai pickled honeydew to Stonewall's elaborate spread of tartlets, crostinis, pinwheels, lettuce wraps and meatballs. Not just any meatballs, but meatballs made of locally raised lamp, beef and pork. Stonewall's team was led by chef Paco Aceves.
Many of the chefs supported the farm-to-table concept, and used as many locally grown and produced products as possible.
Chef Tim Goots at Bridgeport Convention Center made dumplings filled with spicy (and local) pork and drizzled with sriracha chili sauce contrasted nicely with the Asian slaw on which it sat.
Graceland Inn's chef Tim White's Maytag blue cheese tartlets topped with shaved beef tenderloin in a port wine sauce and tray of buttery English toffee were almost overshadowed by the eye-catching display of carved watermelons beside him.
Carvers from Columbus Carving Artist stacked intricately carved watermelons to create the image of a dragon. The carvers used the melon's natural green, white and red layers to add color.
Chef Michael Bowe from Huntington Prime probably received my husband's vote, largely because his braised pork belly was served on a bed of smoked Gouda and roasted red pepper grits. He loves grits. They also served a flourless chocolate cake.
The Greenbrier's chef Steve Mengal offered a generous slab of peppered smoked salmon as well as decadent chocolate pots du crème. The line for at Waterfront Place was long as people lined up to dip fruit and various accoutrements in a bubbling chocolate fountain. Bridge Road Bistro's chef Robert Wong paired lamb, also local, pot stickers with a spicy ratatouille relish.
Kathy Hamrick of Good Golly Ms Molly's Salsa offered a table full of wraps and dips made with her products and Biselli pasta products.
Thomas Grant of Carver College served three cold soups in shot glasses, each with a little bit of something complementary. Avocado crab soup came with crab meat salad on a mustard cracker. A bright fuchsia clear borscht came with chevre and fennel salad and chilled cucumber soup came with shrimp salad. His students made the soups in class.
West Virginia Northern's sweet onion tartlet with feta cheese was a particularly tasty morsel. They also offered tiny cones of rolled sweet potato crepes filled with smoked chicken and barbeque froth.
The most eye-catching presentation award, had there been one, should have gone to Mountain State University's ice tree, which was a stack of ice blocks with spoon handles jammed in between the blocks. Each spoon held a mouthful of a creative combination. There was duck comfit with orange foam, curried chicken with carrot puree and shrimp with a seafood slaw.
The students also used the ice to chill shot classes of cold soup.
Ice sculpting was big at the Classic. Saturday morning breakfast diners could watch chefs and students wrestle with giant blocks of ice to create intricate carvings. The ice chips flew as they cut away big pieces, then tweaked the sculptures with more delicate carving tools.
Saturday afternoon demonstrations were on plate garnishing and on trendy desserts. The Saturday night menu's sounded fantastic, with caramelized scallops, duck confit salad, roasted lamp loin in herb pastry and chocolate and chambord mouse. I regret that we missed Saturday's events. I mean I really regret it, but I offer my compliments to all the chefs, planners and sponsors of the eighth annual Culinary Classic.
Reach Julie Robinson at jul...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1230.
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