Another Monday night, another run to The Stockpot for Ramen Night! Shelby made some oatmeal at home that she fancied up by adding shrimp, bacon, and some other good stuff! She tried the new Speedy's #47 Barbados Ghost Sauce Jimmy gave us at the Old Beach Farmer's Market this past Saturday too!
Brussels Sprouts with Bacon
I never ate Brussels sprouts until I started dating Shelby. Her mother would make them when we had dinner at her house and I grew to like them and then love them. They've become a staple in our special dinners. My daughter asked me the other day if I had my recipe available for the Brussels sprouts I make at home and I discovered I didn't. I'm writing it down now.
Note: Don't throw out the bacon grease or clean the skillet you fried it in, you'll need it for this recipe. Get a pot of boiling water ready too, we'll be blanching the Brussels sprouts. We don't want to blanch or leave the sprouts in the pan too long. If they're mushy, they're ruined.
Enjoy!
Preparations
- 1 pot of boiling water
- ice bath for blanched Brussels sprouts
- Saved grease from cooked bacon
Ingredients
- 1 package or approx. or 1 1/2 lbs of Brussels Sprouts (cleaned and trimmed)
- 1/2 lb of Bacon
- 2 tbsp of Bacon Grease
- 3-4 cloves of Garlic, minced
- 1/2 Red Onion, chopped
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Directions
- Start a pot of boiling water, enough to handle the Brussels sprouts.
- Fry the bacon. We like ours a little chewy, but cook it your preferred doneness.
- Remove bacon from the pan but leave the bits and pieces.
- Put the Brussels sprouts into the boiling water, blanch for approximately 5 minutes.
- Scoop sprouts out of boiling water and place in ice bath. Take them out when cooled and place in a strainer to dry.
- Once cooled, cut Brussels sprouts in half, lengthwise.
- Heat up skillet to about medium heat.
- Add bacon grease.
- Toss in the garlic and onions, cook for 1 minute.
- Add Brussels sprouts, salt and pepper.
- Cook to desired doneness and browned on the outside.
- Remove from heat, toss in bowl with chopped bacon then serve.
Needed a Burger
Last weekend Shelby mentioned grilling burgers for dinner but we ended up making this instead. It was super tasty but for the next few days I just wanted a burger!
Yesterday I came home later than usual and Shelby was in Norfolk, I figured I'd grab a bite to eat somewhere and get my burger fix. It had been a while since I visited Home Republic at the Oceanfront and they have one of my favorite burgers in the area called the Galaxy Burger.
The Galaxy Burger has thick applewood smoked bacon, grilled onions, hop infused cheddar cream and Galaxy Sauce. All of these things makes a great burger - check out the photo, I had it in a to-go box and it still looked great!
Jeremy
Keith
When I got to the restaurant I said my hellos and chatted with Keith and Jeremy in the kitchen briefly. I ordered a Juice "Sea" Fruit IPA that Home Republic brews in the shop and sat down for a bit. It's Shark Week and one of the televisions had some knucklehead swimming around on a shark-silhouetted board mounted with cameras baiting the sharks. Real smart...
I asked for my burger to be put in a to-go box because I planned on giving Shelby half of it (mmm...maybe a little less) but I ate about three-quarters of it and all the fries.
Sorry Shel!
I finished my beer and headed out feeling satisfied and full. Grab a Galaxy if you're in town, it's a good one.
Home Republic's Juice "Sea" Fruit IPA
Virginia Bacon Festival 2014
The Virginia Bacon Festival will be at the Scope Fountain Plaza again this year in Norfolk, VA. Last year drew over 2,700 bacon lovers and included an Iron Chef-type cook-off (you can probably guess what the secret ingredient was), live music and tons of bacon laced recipes from the area's restaurants.
This year the festival will host a Bacon Bowl that Culinary Institute of Virginia and their student chefs will compete in. They will start cooking atnoon and at 2:00 PM the public can sample the the students efforts and cast a vote for their favorite. Afterwards at 3:00 PM the bacon eating contest will be held. Lucky participants will be selected from the Viginia Bacon Festival Facebook page, there is no charge for the contestants chosen. Whoever eats one pound of bacon the fastest wins!
Malbon's BBQ "The Flying Pig" will be serving up this tasty BBQ cone topped with Bacon and drizzled with honey! They call it The Wake 'N Bacon Waffle Cone!
Image courtesy of the Virginia Bacon Festival Facebook page.
Attendees will be able to purchase delicous dishes from some of the best restaurants and food trucks in Hampton Roads (and beyond.) Samples will also be available at most of the tables around the square but be prepared to stand in line for them. I'd like to mention that the restaurants put a lot of time and effort to serve the festival, please bring some cash to buy a dish--help support your food scene! Speaking of lines, there will probably be lines for drinks too, it's just how these things work. Bring some singles to tip your servers. They're going to be super busy. Here are some some of the participating restaurants: Todd Jurich's Bistro, Eat American Bistro, Belmont House Of Smoke, Cotton Southern Bistro, Bite, FM Backstage Restaurant, Public House, Gosport Tavern, Reverend Jim's Southern BBQ, Over The Moon Pizza, Pendulum Fine Meats, Rustic Roots Gourmet, Sooey's BBQ, The Coop, Mad Platters
The Food Trucks present will be: Stuft- Not Your Average Street Food, Sofrito, Twisted Sisters Cupcakes, Malbon's - "The Flying Pig", Bros Fish Tacos, Karnage Asadano Brick Grill and CXB BBQ.
Craft beer will be available too. Local favorites O'Connor Brewing, Smartmouth and the delicious Larry's Lemonade will be there. Regional brews from Hardywood Park, Lickinghole Creek, Heritage, Wild Wolf and many more will also be poured.
Live music by The Fighting Jamesons, The Killroos, The Fuzz Band and more will be on the main stage in addition to the other entertaining cooking demonstrations and competitions. Bacon inspired beverage and spirit sampling, bacon art and a kids area round out the festival. The portions of the proceeds of the event will benefit Princess Anne Hunt Club Foundation for their Agricultural Education and Animal Rescue Funds and Beyond Boobs!
Purchase your tickets online here before they sell out. If there are any left you can you can purchase them at the gate but there will probably be lines. See you there! I'll photographing the event, come up and say "Hi" if you see me.
Admission price will be $25 General, $40 VIP, $10 Kids. You can go in on a VIP table for 10 at $500. Buy tickets here.
Photos from Virginia Bacon Festival 2013:
Taste of the Region - Part 7
Taste of the Region - Part 7
Well known regional chef Patrick Evans-Hylton asked me to be one of the judges in Taste of the Region at the Parade of Homes in Cypress Creek, Smithfield, VA. We got to check out several beautiful homes and try delicious food from the Smithfield area easily accessible to those moving into the area.
Seventh stop was at Smoke BBQ with the following:
- Smoked Beef Brisket with Bleu Cheese and Bacon Mac
I took a lot of photos, so I’ll post in segments.
Taste of the Region - Part 1
Taste of the Region - Part 1
Well known regional chef Patrick Evans-Hylton asked me to be one of the judges in Taste of the Region at the Parade of Homes in Cypress Creek, Smithfield, VA. We got to check out several beautiful homes and try delicious food from the Smithfield area easily accessible to those moving into the area.
First stop was The Plaid Turnip (winner of the People’s Choice Award that night) with the following:
- Shrimp & Grits & Greens. Shrimp sauteed with onions, green peppers, mushrooms and country ham served
- Pulled Pork Barbecue with Turnip Slaw on a Cornbread Crostini
- Mini Pumpkin Waffles with homemade maple ice cream and candied bacon drizzled with maple syrup. Finished with sprinkled sugar and cinnamon
I took a lot of photos, so I’ll post in segments.
First Virginia Bacon Festival
The 1st Virginia Bacon Festival happened this weekend outside of Scope in Norfolk, VA. The festival benefited Beyond Boobs and an estimated 45,000 people attended the fest! Well-known restaurants from around the area offered bacon inspired meals, in addition to samples, to the bacon obsessed crowd.
Everything had bacon in it—chocolate covered bacon (the caramel and chocolate bacon was delicious), poppers, cocktails, cookies, you name it. The Fighting Jamesons provided live entertainment, a bacon eating contest was staged—a fella named Ryan Davis won, downing a pound of bacon faster than the rest. A “Top Chef” style competition was also conducted. You can guess what they were cooking.
Today’s secret ingredient at the Virginia Bacon Festival Iron Chef competition… #virginiabaconfestival #bacon #hrva #norfolk
1st Virginia Bacon Festival Cooking Challenge Ingredient!
Classic BLT, well I added mayonnaise. I always add mayo.
Classic BLT
Handsome Biscuit
When Handsome Biscuit opened in Norfolk, VA several months ago reports started to trickle out about these amazing sweet potato biscuits. Not just the biscuits themselves, but how they were dressed up. I finally made a trip to the tiny shop in Park Place myself; the shop was hopping and with only 4 hours in the day to grab one it looked like people wanted to make sure to get their fix. I ordered a couple to take home for me and Shelby.
We ate the Dill Na Na - Potato Onion Frittata and Arugula with Dill Mayo and the already famous Hella Fitzgerald - Fried Chicken with Bacon, Cheddar, and Red Eye Sausage Gravy. Both were delicious and I’m already planning my next trip and scouting out the menu so I’ll be ready.
Breakfast sandwich I made this morning: Bacon, sausage, egg, a slice of cheddar, lettuce, tomato, and mayo; all topped off with a dash of pepper. So good.
Breakfast Sandwich
BLT for brunch today :)
BLT
Spruced up box mac n’ cheese. Added Cabot Cheddar, bacon, white truffle oil, and topped with bread crumbs. A quick trip under the broiler and done.
Fancy Mac 'n Cheese
The Public House, Norfolk, VA
The Public House last night. Top to bottom: White Collar Mac ‘n Cheese, Bacon Wrapped Tater Tots, Blue Collar Mac ‘n Cheese, Swiss and Mushroom Burger, Snakebite, Fish and Chips.
NEXCOM Party
At Shelby’s office party last night they had these really good bacon wrapped scallops and I had the crab cakes as my entree.
Breakfast sandwich Shelby made: bacon, mushrooms, on a cheesy garden omelet.
Shelby made me breakfast for Father’s Day :) Frittata with chorizo and a side of bacon!
Public House @ Ghent, Norfolk, Va. Half Dozen Fried Oysters, Roasted Pork Tenderloin, and Bangers & Mash. Had to use the flash, nice and dark in there :)
Shelby and I drove up to Richmond today to have brunch with Marleigh. It’s her birthday tomorrow! We tried getting into Black Sheep and Cafe 821, but both places were packed. We tried Balliceaux and they had a spot open and I’m glad they did.
The food there was great and the service was friendly. I ordered the Soul (Mama Loves You). Buttermilk biscuits with country sausage gravy, there was a little bite with the gravy and the biscuits were perfect. I also had a side of Ironic, truffle cured bacon! Super good! Shelby ordered the Duck and Waffles. It was topped with a spicy maple syrup and whipped butter. I’ve heard of chicken and waffles but never tried it, this was a really good combination. Marleigh got the Proper Fry-up, a classic breakfast plate, with home fries, Surry sausage, house bacon, eggs, beans, toast, and grilled tomato.
All-in-all, we had a great time and I’m glad we had chance to try the place out.
Hubcap Grill Breakfast Wraps
The other day I visited Hubcap Grill again, this time for breakfast! I ordered a All-in-One Breakfast Sandwich and Breakfast Wrap. They were very good and hit the spot. The sandwich was made with French toast and I added a dash of hot sauce to the wrap. Good stuff!