Report on the Niagara Ice Wine Festival

[Kerry Beal]

Anna N and I spent last weekend freezing our behinds off helping out Nick - my Big Green Egg dealer from Lakeshore Living in Stoney Creek. Nick had asked me to make some things that we could sell at the festival that made use of ice wine and the Egg.

So I cold smoked some chocolate to be used in smoked chocolate ice wine shots - we paired these with an icewine truffle in a chocolate cup - decorated with white chocolate and sugar crystals and clear flake to look like ice crystals. I cured a pork belly using Ruhlman's recipe from Charcuterie replacing the maple syrup with ice wine and used the resultant bacon bits to make bacon bark. Anna spent two freezing days stuffing dried figs with toasted walnuts and dark chocolate to be roasted on the egg.

Nick and the gang made chicken wings in this fabulous pizza oven and chestnuts on the Egg.

After a two hour drive in the snow to get there on Saturday - we started to get everything sorted out. It was the last time we were warm for two days!

All the folks were walking around with glasses - probably helped keep them warm!

The chocolate shot machine was about the only thing that kept my hands sort of warm all weekend - there were times when I couldn't feel them. Lots of times!

Cluck and Squeal is a rub produced locally - it was used on the wings - and it's originator Marc brought along a few new formulations on which to get our opinion. Brutal honesty was the name of the game.

Here are the guys dishing out the wings.

Chestnuts roasting on an open Egg.

The pizza oven used for the wings.

Figs pre roast on the Egg.

Figs - after roasting - note the nice squishy chocolate.

By day 2 we realized we needed to take a little heater plate to keep the chocolate squishy - saved reheating them if they got cold.

Big Green Egg demo on the outdoor stage.

Nick and his eggs - looking relieved at the end of day 2.

[Peter the eater]

Hey, that looks fun! The chestnuts appear to be warmer than the people.

I grew up with Stoney Creek Dairy Ice Cream ads on the radio, CHCH maybe?

The Big Green Egg needs more action out here in Eastern Canada. Paderno has one in the Halifax showroom but it just sits there and looks expensive.

[Kerry Beal]

Hey, that looks fun! The chestnuts appear to be warmer than the people.

I grew up with Stoney Creek Dairy Ice Cream ads on the radio, CHCH maybe?

The Big Green Egg needs more action out here in Eastern Canada. Paderno has one in the Halifax showroom but it just sits there and looks expensive.

They need to start cooking on it!

Ah yes, the Stoney Creek Dairy. We had one of their stores close to us - and then there was/is the mothership in Stoney Creek to which you would have to go at least a couple of times in the summer for scooped ice cream.

[GordonCooks]

Looks like you guys are set up in downtown Jordan next to Cave Springs. I always make a NOTL run the last weekend of the fest.

[Kerry Beal]

Looks like you guys are set up in downtown Jordan next to Cave Springs. I always make a NOTL run the last weekend of the fest.

Indeed - that's exactly where we were. Drop me a line if you want to head home with some bacon bark and ice wine truffles - I've got a huge quantity left over!

[GordonCooks]

A very generous offer, Thanks!

[Shelby]

That looks like so much fun!

Those figs and chocolate...YUMMMMMMM.

Did you sample any ice wine? I bought a few bottles a couple of years ago, and, sadly, I'm out. I LOVE ice wine.

[Kerry Beal]

Sadly - we didn't on the weekend - but I do have a couple of litres of the red left over from my production - and it's lovely stuff.