Tailgaters and tea-timers will gobble recipes demoed at the Ray’s at Killer Creek Big Green Egg cooking class and tasting on Saturday, October 15 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Chef Mike Fuller’s BGE tasting menu touches down on smoked turkey and cucumber tea sandwiches with toasted pecan dijonnaise; five-spice duck salad with Georgia Gala apples, Marcona almonds, sweet peppers and ginger vinaigrette; Berkshire pork rack, smoky collards and baked mac and cheese; and cranberry cobbler with cinnamon whipped cream and Coca-Cola jam. $45 per person (excluding tax and gratuity) for cooking demo, tasting menu, coffee, iced tea or soda, and a choice of bloody mary, mimosa or 16-ounce draught beer. Reservations held with a credit card are required; call 770-649-0064.
We grilled Atlanta chefs about a topic near and dear to their flame-kissed hearts and very pertinent to a succulent gridiron season. Fire up the charcoal, but stop playing with your patties, advises Ray’s at Killer Creek executive chef Mike Fuller. Translation, for a juicy, tender burger, patty super-fresh ground beef until it just holds together.
Garrett Teckmyer, executive chef of Buckhead’s The Big Ketch, relies on planning and prep, soaking wood chips overnight then mixing them into the hot coals to add a nice smoky flavor to burgers. Teckmyer encourages branching out and grilling something different. He suggests wrapping crab legs in a wet paper towel, enfolding them in an aluminum foil packet and tossing the packet on the grill for five minutes.
Aria’s executive chef/owner Gerry Klaskala divulges that his Big Green Egg is his secret weapon. He rebels against lighter fluid, suggesting food tastes better when grillers use a chimney fire starter.
Gypsy Kitchen executive chef Matthew Ridgway advises using wood-based charcoal, pointing out that even though it’s pricier, less charcoal is needed.
Naturally, celebrity chef/owner of Gunshow and Revival and “Pure Pork Awesomeness” cookbook author Kevin Gillespie’s favorite thing to grill is pig. He even has a simplified Korean barbecue recipe in the book for the ever versatile meat, using thinly sliced pork shoulder and “whatever condiments you have.”
When it comes to ingredients, our chefs agree: buy the best you can find. As a huge Penn State and NASCAR infield tailgater, Marlow’s Tavern executive chef/co-founder John Metz always urges using quality steak, ribs or brisket, and he implores grillers not to compromise. Fuller prefers turning to a trusted butcher for hand-cut steaks that are at least an inch thick and choosing a rib-eye or a New York strip that has a 1/4-inch fat cap, which will melt and baste the steak as it cooks. Ridgway advises letting your grilled masterpiece rest for 10 minutes and pouring those delicious salty, meaty juices into your baked potatoes.
High proof that bourbon has a spirited life outside the glass – the bourbon-cured salmon starter at Drift Fish House & Oyster Bar served with benne cracker, jalapeño, apple and radish ($12).
Atlanta chefs astutely follow the seasons when creating dishes for their locally sourced menus. Rake in some of their best fall harvest recipes from the pages of the newly released Community Farmers Market Fall Cookbook. Chef Kathryn King of Aria shares her recipe for orecchiette pasta and butternut squash with balsamic, fig and caramelized onion banner butter. Chef Kevin Gillespie, of Gunshow and Revival, clocks in with a well-grounded root vegetable soup, and Revival’s Andreas Müller tosses in his kale salad with boiled dressing. Add Gypsy Kitchen chef Matthew Ridgway’s green tomato chutney to your harvest table and save room for sweet potato pie from chef Kamal Grant of Sublime Doughnuts. Purchase the seasonal cookbooks, $12 each, at Community Farmers Market information booths, Cover Books and Preserving Place.
Diners savoring Gypsy Kitchen’s second anniversary celebration on Sunday, October 9, will unpack a sumptuous evening that could end with winning a VIP viewing package for the 2017 Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain! Celebration guests will feel like they’re caravanning through the lush Spanish countryside, dining on executive chef Matthew Ridgway’s rendition of paella on the patio ($10) backed by Basque guitar music. Complimentary gin and tonics await from 4-5 p.m., courtesy of sponsor Tanqueray. Keep on toasting to drink specials such as half-price select bottles of wine, $4 tintos de verano and $6 Tanqueray and tonics. One lucky diner and guest attending the event will receive the VIP viewing treatment during the 2017 Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain. Start by completing the entry form or submitting a business card that night for the 8:30 p.m. drawing. Must be present to win, so stick around for more tintos de verano or visit the photo booth to capture picture-perfect memories with a complimentary photo.
No one cooks like an Italian nonna, who learned from the best, her nonna. Club delle Orecchiette and Storico Fresco Alimentari e Ristorante are devoted to carrying the nonnas’ Italian culinary traditions forward, preparing Italian dishes as they’ve been prepared for generations and passing along the skills and recipes so they’ll not be lost.
Established in 1998 in the town of Altamura in southern Italy, the Orecchiette Club promotes Apulian orecchiette art; valuing indigenous raw ingredients, such as durum wheat, and the use of these ingredients in homemade pasta, bread and traditional bakery products. Club delle Orecchiette will share this luscious legacy through upcoming classes and dinners at Storico Fresco, Buckhead’s all-in-one Italian grocery store and restaurant, during the week of October 6-11. Learn how to make two different types of pasta -- orecchiette and capunti -- in the Club delle Orecchiette Pasta Class offered on Thursday, October 6 at 6 or 8 p.m. and Tuesday, October 11 at 6 or 8 p.m. Each hour-and-a-half class includes wine, small finger foods and instruction, and students take home their handcrafted pasta. Tap this link and select a date to book seats at an Orecchiette Club pasta class; $80 per person plus $4.99 service fee. Experience an authentic Italian five-course meal created by “the nonnas” at Club delle Orecchiette pop-up dinners on Saturday, October 8 at 7:30 p.m. and Wednesday, October 12 at 7:30 p.m. Dinners celebrate the food of Puglia and wine pairings accompany each course. Select a date and buy tickets online, $150 per person plus $8.84 service fee. Leave class or dinner fully content, pasta in hand or nonna-prepared dinner and wine in belly, and happy knowing a portion of ticket proceeds goes to Club delle Orecchiette and its quest to educate the public about these culinary riches and the culture of healthy and natural food.
Let’s talk epicurean economics. Prices for the various Taste of Atlanta admission tickets rise on Friday, October 7. Buy now and have more moolah left over to load extra Taste Points onto your RFID wristband and to enjoy even more of the Southeast’s best foods and spirited bevvies. Plus, your wristband(s) will be delivered in the mail in time for easy, breezy festival entrance. Follow this link to savings: Freshtix.com/TasteofAtlanta. Currently, single-day general admission tickets for October 21, 22 or 23 are $25 each and the VIP Grand Tasting Experience is $75. Tickets to the all-inclusive Friday night kickoff party are $65 general admission and $80 VIP.
Let's Taco 'Bout It – if you can fold a tortilla around it, you can make a taco out of it. No wonder, in our DIY nation, October 4 wraps up recognition as National Taco Day. Our board sizzles with easy-to-grasp recipes including grilled filet mignon street tacos, caramelized pork tacos with pineapple salsa, fish tacos with Sriracha aїoli slaw and Buffalo chicken tacos. Please the crowd by setting out a slow cooker full of tender Mexican barbacoa short ribs or chili-lime shredded beef or by pulling out a pan of crispy, easy oven-baked spicy chicken tacos. Does taco dip count? If so, dive in!
Tonight, chef Tom Catherall and his Virginia-Highland restaurant Tom Tom play host to a five-course tasting menu paired with wine and cocktails as part of the Tuesday Dinner series paving the way to Taste of Atlanta. Over the weekend of October 21-23, the can’t miss food and wine fest will populate the streets of Midtown with chefs doling out samples, mixologists pouring sips and foodies reveling in all of the delicious fun. The Tuesday Dinner at Tom Tom gives a gourmet glimpse of tastes to come. Catherall’s menu features Trailer Park taco with house margarita or craft beer; scallop with field peas served with Sancerre; shrimp and grits paired with chardonnay; Springer Mountain Farms fried chicken with pinot noir; and a dessert medley and Champagne pairing. Buy tickets online for the 7 p.m. event; $85 per person (plus $5.24 service fee; includes tax and tip). After tonight, only one dinner remains in this series, sponsored by Springer Mountain Farms, and takes place October 18 at White Oak Kitchen & Cocktails.
We’re seeing double, eyeing two terrific reasons to pop into your favorite Tin Lizzy’s Cantina today. October 4 (that would be today) is National Taco Day, and there’s no better way to celebrate than over baskets of $2 Tacos on Tuesdays after 2 p.m. at all Tin Lizzy’s locations. Mouthwatering $2 selections include grilled chicken, chicken con queso, fried chicken, Buffalo chicken, chicken club or fried fish. Propose toasts to tacos with pitchers of Blue Moon beer for only $14 each. Cannot be combined with other offers or discounts.
Pick a bushel of Apples for Every Appetite recipes for National Apple Month. Honor October’s fruit by making mini caramel apples, bourbon apple butter, apple crisp, butternut squash apple soup, salad with walnuts and cranberries, apple fries and fried pies. Make your own apple cider vinegar then put it to work in apple cider chicken with caramelized apples. Summer’s coppery Moscow Mule cups are equally adept at holding apple cider mules for fall.
Careful, this art is highly caffeinated. On a trip? Snap a shot of your own sipper and submit it to Coffee Cups of the World. Prevent fuzzy photos by shooting first, then sipping the strong stuff…or order decaf.
