Report: eGullet Chocolate and Confectionary Workshop 2017

[Kerry Beal]

And so it begins...

 

My flight was quite late last night - used my airmiles to purchase a 'business class' ticket - by god I would not have wanted to be in cattle class if that was business class. The first question as I settled in the first seat on the first aisle of the left side of the plane was from the girl next to me who wanted me to trade my chosen seat with one in the middle aisle with my face against the bulkhead so her bf could sit in my seat - 'but perhaps you want to be close to the window?' she says - yeah right! Needless to say - I travelled in my chosen seat.

 

Service started with a rather parsimonious glass of water. 

 

 

 

Not a bad wine. Couldn't hear where it was from - but it wasn't chardonnay! I was distracted by the flight attendant calling me 'dear' repeatedly - didn't hear him calling anyone else that. So after about the fourth time - I pretended I didn't hear him and when he called me dear again - I looked him straight in the eye and said 'Dear?' with my most critical look on my face. 'Oh - you'd prefer I didn't call you that?' he says. 'No shit, Sherlock!'. Didn't make that mistake again. 

 

 

That lump is grits apparently! All in all - I've eaten worse on a plane. 

 

No further beverages were served - no water, no coffee, tea etc. 

 

But @Chocolot had milk in the fridge when I arrived - so I made myself a nice cuppa!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[curls]

Some of the early birds had dinner Wednesday evening at the scenic Mt. Charleston Lodge.

[RobertM]

I met Ruth at the hotel and we decided on a "quick" lunch.  I'm a big fan of In N' Out Burger but I really think that Fatburger has a slight edge...so, we headed off to Fatburger for lunch!   We are both trying to be "good" so we opted for no fries and water....

Edited May 18, 2017 by RobertM (log)

[RobertM]

Later on, I decided to take a couple of us to Mt. Charleston, just a short drive North of the city.  The Lodge is about 7,600 feet up, Giving it a totally different feel from the desert.  

 

 

[RobertM]

Donna and I had a house salad.  

 

Ruth had a Mediterranean Chicken Wrap, she said it was very good and ended up taking half back to the hotel.....midnight snack?

 

Donna selected a hot dog with chili....the bun was a little to much for the meal and she decided to just enjoy it without the bread....

 

 

I opted for the St. Louis Style Ribs...they weren't bad.  A tad to much sauce on them for my personal liking, but, they were tasty

 

 

 

 

[RobertM]

[Kerry Beal]

 

no breakfast this am - some running around to arrange lunch for the next few days 

 

dropped in to pho kinh do - same place we had dinner last workshopsame place we had dinner last workshop

[RobertM]

Breakfast this morning took us to a little hideaway place that has been rated as one of the top 10 breakfasts in Las Vegas!  Eat!  We discovered Eat on our last Workshop and I'm glad to say it's only gotten better

 

 

TikiDoc had the Huevos

 

 

I had the "special" Prime Rib Hash

 

 

 

[Kerry Beal]

 

banh xeo

 

 

grilled pork

 

 

shaking beef

 

 

 

[rotuts]

WoW

 

this doesn't look like LasVegas to me

 

Im so poorly informed.

 

I was thinking   King and Queen of Siam.

 

but , well 

 

I do see potential here.

 

reviewing a bit

 

seems close enough :

 

\

for The Siam of course

 

nice.

Edited May 18, 2017 by rotuts (log)

[Kerry Beal]

 

redneck Thai coffee at Lotus of Siam

[gfweb]

12 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

And so it begins...

 

My flight was quite late last night - used my airmiles to purchase a 'business class' ticket - by god I would not have wanted to be in cattle class if that was business class. The first question as I settled in the first seat on the first aisle of the left side of the plane was from the girl next to me who wanted me to trade my chosen seat with one in the middle aisle with my face against the bulkhead so her bf could sit in my seat - 'but perhaps you want to be close to the window?' she says - yeah right! Needless to say - I travelled in my chosen seat.

 

 

 

 

Good for you. I am always galled by folks who think that they should inconvenience somebody just so they can sit together for 4 hours.

 

If its a mom with kids...that's one thing. But it almost never is. Its usually a long -married couple who will put in their earphones and not talk for the length of the flight. Screw that.

 

I pick the 2nd row window on the shady side of the plane. That's my lucky seat. I fly better there. Haven't crashed yet. It would be irresponsible of me to switch seats and risk jinxing the flight.

[Kerry Beal]

 

garlic shrimp

 

 

papaya salad

 

 

basil chili with shrimp

 

 

crispy rice

 

 

kang hung lay

 

 

drunken noodle crispy duck

 

 

larb

 

 

rice 

 

missed crispy duck with panang 

[Kerry Beal]

 

mango sticky rice 

[curls]

We visited Jin Ju's retail store for a bit of shopping & her production kitchen for a demonstration of chocolate decor. Jin is a wonderful instructor & makes beautiful chocolates.  #JinJuchocoholic

Edited May 19, 2017 by curls
removed duplicate photo & blank lines (log)

[RobertM]

The start of a busy day begins with a veggie omelet and coffee (decaf)

[RobertM]

The time we spent with Jin (#jinjuchocoholic) was amazing!   She shared so many techniques and ideas the ideas are still swarming around in my little brain.  Then there are always those moments when you are watching her and you're thinking..."well....duh....why didn't I think of that?"  Thank you to Jin for her time, her expertise, her willingness to share and her hospitality!  

 

 

 

 

[Kerry Beal]

 

Pleased to report that leftover Garlic Shrimp is just as good (and crisp), cold out of the fridge as it was last night in the restaurant.

 

 

[Anna N]

55 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Pleased to report that leftover Garlic Shrimp is just as good (and crisp), cold out of the fridge as it was last night in the restaurant.

Ya didn't take the steam oven?  

[Kerry Beal]

 

 

in and out burger and root beer float

[curls]

All set up & ready to go for Saturday morning kitchen time.

[curls]

A few of us returned to the Vietnamese restaurant (Pho Khin Do) for dinner. Enjoyed two appetizers -- which we forgot to photograph -- and remembered to take pictures after we started on our soups!

 

[curls]

Wonderful demo & tasting with the amazing Melissa Coppel.

[curls]

Busy day today -- I'll share pictures from the beginning & the end. Hopefully some folks will share photos from the rest of the  day's adventures.

 

A donut sampling

there were two or three more boxes. Quite tasty!

 

Kerry gave a talk about the silk screening process. This is our  custom silk screen that we are going to use to make transfer sheets.

 

10 or so partcipants enjoyed dinner at Bouchon. These photos are from my table of five.

 

Deviled eggs

 

Salad with goat cheese

 

Seared foie gras

 

Onion soup

 

Chicken

 

Lobster risotto

 

Trout

 

Anyone surprised that we didn't order dessert? The dinner was wonderful. Great food & service.

Edited May 21, 2017 by curls
Removed duplicate photo. (log)

[Kerry Beal]

 

Lunch sandwiches - picture snapped just before our helper Malcolm snatched the box from in front of me on JM orders to make room - you can see the empty spot left by the 'Bobbie' sandwiches - turkey, stuffing, cranberry and mayo. Today it will make up the majority of the sandwiches - cause it is far and away the favourite!

 

@Chocolot had some running around to do so by the time we decided on dinner we felt we needed protein. The two brazilian steak houses close to the hotel were offering reservations at 8:30 and 10 pm respectively - not gonna work for us - so we we found one a little further out in Henderson. Bertolucci Brazilian Steakhouse - no crowd, no waiting and a very satisfactory dinner. Not quite the pageantry of the busy places.

 

 

One must have a Caipirinha of course.

 

 

 

We stopped taking pictures after the first skewer of picanha.