A group of us came in on Saturday to prep to get ready for today. There were about 30 local chefs here in Atlanta that came in for a full day of events! There were demonstrations and a cooking "contest" and then a tasting. 
They started with a breakfast spread that we put out for them with various breakfast pastries, fruit and a Northwest Pear Breakfast Cookie that I made from a recipe given to us by the Pear Bureau Northwest!
All the chefs enjoying their breakfast before we began the demos
Executive Chef Nick Lacasse from The Drawing Room in Chicago was here to do the first demo. I assisted him in making his Bacon Squared menu item for the lunch that would take place after the 3 demonstrations. Then I assisted him with getting his ingredients together and sat in on his demo to assist him with anything else he may need.
Me and Chef Nick
His recipe was called Bacon Squared...are you ready for this...it was Pork Belly (basically uncut bacon) that was rubbed with a Tandori Spice mixture and covered with stock and braised for 4 hours. Most of the fat melts away and you are left with the more meaty portion. We then put apricots that were simmered in Verjus Rouge (unfermented grape juice) and sugar on each side of the pork belly and wrapped the whole thing in 3 slices of bacon! It was then sauteed until the bacon was crispy.
Nick discussing his recipe
Bacon Squared with Smoked Eggplant Puree, Verjus Reduction and Spiced Candied Pecans
Next was Chef/Owner Hector Santiago of Pura Vida Latino Tapas here in Atlanta was up next. He made an amazing dish!
Chef Hector talking to Chef Ward about his recipe
Then we all gathered around to get some information from him before he went to his demo
Georgia Wild Shrimp wrapped in Tocina al Pilon
Then came Executive Chef Linton Hopkins of Restaurant Eugene here in Atlanta! I was pretty excited about meeting him! He actually went on Iron Chef not too long ago where he challenged Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto! He was calm, cool and collected but he lost 45-40 to Morimoto! I have admired him but haven't been out to eat at his restaurant yet...but I will now! He is pretty brilliant! He stood and talked to us for a while and told us so much information! It was cool just listening to him! My friend Drew leaned over and said, "I think I have a man crush on him!" We got a good laugh out of that!
Chef Linton and Chef Ward talking about what else...food!
Chef Linton's demo was on Bacon Cotton Candy!
I got a lot of pictures of him spinning the cotton candy...Drew assisting him!
Me and Chef Linton
After the last demo, all the chef's were going in to eat lunch. The 3 recipes that were demoed were on the menu along with a few other items.
Drew putting the finishing touches on his soup
Chef Nick finishing up his Bacon Squared
Tomato and Cucumber Salad with a Sherry Soy Vinaigrette
Southwestern-style Turkey Club Quesadilla
Pear and Sunchoke Soup with Porcini Mushrooms and Bacon
Georgia Wild Shrimp wrapped in Tocina al Pilon
Bacon Squared
The buffet we had set up
After lunch, the chefs were split into 6 teams of 4, we each got a colored hat to show what team we were on. Each team was giving a "student" to assist them and we were assigned to a kitchen. Each team had to create 4 dishes using bacon in some form...an appetizer, a side dish, an entree and a dessert. Once assigned our groups, we escorted our team past the Market Basket...which was a display of ingredients they were able to pick from.
Justin working on the Pepper Crusted Ahi Tuna wrapped in Bacon
All 3 guys working on plating our dishes - Justin from the Last Resort Grill in Athens, Chef Robert from Aramark, Chef Leye from Peche
Appetizer: Pepper Crusted Ahi Tuna wrapped in Bacon with Panko Crusted Shrimp, Roasted Red Pepper Couli and Avocado Puree
Side Dish: Butternut Squash and Bacon Risotto with Goat Cheese
Entree: Pear wrapped in Apricot and Bacon with Lamb Belly on a bed of sauteed Portabello and Pork Belly Mushrooms with a Pomegranate Gastrique
Dessert: Mixed Dried Fruit and Bacon Creme Brulee
Here are some of the other dishes that were made
When this event was done, we were all Baconed Out!
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