REPORT: 2011 Heartland Gathering (Cleveland, OH)

[Marlene]

Steven, you are a shadow of your former self, and I can testify that Dave the Cook actually cooks and cooks well. (aka two pig pickin experiences). Wish I could be there with y'all, but that's not going to happen any year soon. Keep the updates coming!

[maggiethecat]

Steven, you are a shadow of your former self, and I can testify that Dave the Cook actually cooks and cooks well. (aka two pig pickin experiences). Wish I could be there with y'all, but that's not going to happen any year soon. Keep the updates coming!

Well, Marlene, Cottage Country is more "Heartland" than Philly is. Right?

[rooftop1000]

Greetings All

After I realized I would have to resize all my pictures to post them and I only know a really 'round about way of doing that I dug up my old Flicker account which will go marginally faster.

Keep checking back as this will take a while

...and by the way what is the easiest way to get alot of pictures off a Droid Global 2?

[jsmeeker]

Finnally back at home. Flight was delayed out of CLE a bit, but not too bad. I still haven't eat since brunch. And I'm really not even hungry. That was a really fantastic brunch. Best "breakfast" or brunch I have ever had. If I had to make one adjustment, I think I would have liked to have seen a piece of bread served with the salad. A way to sop up that egg yolk. Also, I'm not quite sure what I think about egg whites cooked to that temp. To me, as some who had never had a sous vide egg before, I would have said the whites where underdone a little. But again, that's a minor quibble. Everything was really good. The last three course really came on big. The chicken and waffles, the THIRD bacon and egg dish (which, IMHO, could have been served as standard menu item) and then a dessert (which again, seemed like a full sized serving.

Really stellar. Still amazed it came from an airport Marriott. Seriously, if you simply showed a random foodie the pics of the food from that brunch, I bet pretty good money anyone would not be able to guess where it came from. Truly great work Jeff Jerrett and is crew is doing there. I used to travel on business a lot. Would have killed to have a hotel restaurant like that on every trip.

[edsel]

I can't process the photos from my new camera because the software I use hasn't been updated to handle the new model yet. I'm able to upload videos from it though. Here's a glimpse of the kitchen and Pass at Greenhouse Tavern Friday night. I should have asked them how many dishes they sent out that night. The place was hopping!

Pig Face up!

[rockandroller]

Great pix and videos everyone. Sure had a good time Thurs and Fri and looks like Sat and Sunday were great as well.

[kaszeta]

Really stellar. Still amazed it came from an airport Marriott. Seriously, if you simply showed a random foodie the pics of the food from that brunch, I bet pretty good money anyone would guess where it came from. Truly great work Jeff Jerret and is crew is doing there. I used to travel on business a lot. Would have killed to have a hotel restaurant like that on every trip.

Yeah, I'm lucky enough to have to travel to NASA Glenn on a regular basis, and usually stay at that Marriott, although I haven't been there since the chef switch from Ellis Cooley to Jeff JErret. Obviously Jeff has kept a good thing going.

[threestars]

Very nice photos and food shots! Seems like really a fun party!

[tino27]

Oddly, no one has posted any photos (or maybe I just missed them) of the pre-Greenhouse Tavern cocktail hour we enjoyed at the Velvet Tango Room on Friday night. Paulius and his staff took great care of us and opened up the back room of the VTR where I got to see everyone from out of town for the first time. I've put this final set of photographs into a fourth set on Flickr, so feel free to take a look.

Here is one of those photos, Prasatrin and Torakris, engaged in some serious discussion:

[jsmeeker]

I had planned on taking photos at VTR. But when I turned on my camera to snap a pic of my first cocktail, I discovered I left the memory card in my computer, which was back in the hotel room. DOH!

But I know lots of other people took photo. Thanks for sharing yours. I am sure others will get theirs out there soon.

[prasantrin]

Here is one of those photos, Prasatrin and Torakris, engaged in some serious discussion:

I know we're cute and all that, but did you have to post that picture? Surely there are cuter ones!

Thanks to the organizers for putting the weekend together. I'm still in the process of putting my pics up on flickr, and of putting my thoughts together on the weekend, in general. Will post more when both are in place.

[ronnie_suburban]

I just want to add my thanks to all those who helped plan, organize and carry out the weekend's events. It was a lot of fun and I'm truly appreciative of the effort made by all who contributed.

Like Rona, I too am in the process of going through my pictures and organizing my thoughts about everything we experienced. I hope to be back in the next day or 2 with a more detailed post and some pictures, too.

Thanks again!

=R=

[eldereno]

Enjoying all I've seen and heard so far and looking forward to what the rest have to post. Making me think long and hard about making the trip to Philly next year!!!!!

[jsmeeker]

how much BEEF was consumed during this gathering? Aside from the bologna sliders I made for the Feast, I can't think of a single course or dish that had beef in it all weekend long. And this includes non-official meals that I had back at the hotel.

[rockandroller]

We love the pig here in cleveland, it's true.

[jsmeeker]

I had a lot of pig. I had some duck. Some rabbit. Even some chicken. Beef? not much. (though I did forget about the beef tounge in the salad at the Feast. That was tasty).

[NancyH]

how much BEEF was consumed during this gathering? Aside from the bologna sliders I made for the Feast, I can't think of a single course or dish that had beef in it all weekend long. And this includes non-official meals that I had back at the hotel.

My jao zhai (Boiled Dumplings) were made of beef.

[jsmeeker]

how much BEEF was consumed during this gathering? Aside from the bologna sliders I made for the Feast, I can't think of a single course or dish that had beef in it all weekend long. And this includes non-official meals that I had back at the hotel.

My jao zhai (Boiled Dumplings) were made of beef.

Ahhh.. That's right...

[Kerry Beal]

Just a few isolated pictures to add.

A building wall in Tremont across the street from Lolita.

Rona and her (first) chocolate malted.

While shopping in one of the asian stores I saw this little girl - one of twins - banging her head against the pen holding frogs for sale to make them jump - $5.99/lb by the way.

Anyone else see all the art rabbits around town?

[JAZ]

Thanks, everyone, for making this such a great weekend.

A couple of people asked for the recipe for the red pepper soup, so here's a link: roasted red pepper and caramelized onion soup. Because we served it with the cheese croutons, I omitted the cream.

And for anyone who wants the recipe for the lime cordial used in the gimlets, it's at the end of this article: Any Other Name.

Edited November 22, 2019 by Smithy
Repaired broken link for soup recipe (log)

[Kerry Beal]

That reminds me - Joyce wanted me to post the larb recipe

Larb

1 pound chicken thigh meat, diced in processor

1 tablespoon oil

1-2 tablespoon chicken stock

2 or 3 limes juiced

1 tablespoon palm sugar

2 or 3 tbsp fish sauce

2 or 3 cloves garlic

1 inch chunk ginger (or powdered ginger)

1 tablespoon frozen lemongrass

3 kaffir lime leaves

1 big squirt siracha sauce, or a diced thai red chili or two

1 sliced shallot

1 tablespoon toasted rice powder

Mix all the ingredients for topping together. Correct to get the right balance of sweet, salty, sour and hot.

Heat the oil and add the chicken. When the chicken starts to lose it's pink colour add the broth to prevent the meat from browning. Cook until just loses the pink colour. Top with sliced scallions. Dress with sauce. Serve on romaine or endive. Top with toasted rice powder.

[boagman]

Kerry, how many will that recipe feed (a.k.a. "What's the yield?")?

[Kerry Beal]

Kerry, how many will that recipe feed (a.k.a. "What's the yield?")?

Let's see - I made about 5 batches and fed about 30 people. One batch feeds me two or three servings - depends how low carb I'm feeling.

[boagman]

Thank you. I ask because that recipe sounds wonderful, and perhaps should be made around these parts.

[Alex]

Doh! The trouble with searching for "gathering"... I guess I missed the ones that pre-date that name. Was there one in 04?

I don't believe so == can any long-time Heartlanders recall? (For historical and sentimental reasons, is there a way the photos can be restored?)

No 2004 Gathering. I guess the GR one was so wonderful, it took two years to work up to the next one. (It actually was indeed highly wonderful, from the smoked prime rib to the incredible array of liquors and wine to my (and many others') first experience with roasted cauliflower.) Unfortunately, I think that most of the pictures (and good ones at that) got trashed when eG switched to a new server or new software or something like that. Pity. Perhaps the Wayback Machine?