Ever since Fire, Flour, & Fork was announced, I have been struggling to choose a schedule from the culinary and cultural tracks.  With so many great choices, the task of narrowing down each time slot to a single talk became very overwhelming.  If you look at my printout of the schedule, there are several check marks all over the place.  Finally, I came up with a selection method that I thought would work that would satisfy my desire to learn new stuff and be in line with the goals of the event.

First I needed some rules:

1. As much as I love our local dining talent, I will look for speakers coming from out of town.
2. The topic needs to be of personal interest to me, in that maybe I could learn techniques to put into practice in my own kitchen.
3. No beer. Yep, I said it. Yes, I could listen to our local breweries talk about beer all day long and sometimes I do.

Today, we will look to navigate a schedule for Friday October 31st.

10AM

My Pick
Relish Fork — I’ve always wanted to learn more about pickling and possibly get into canning so I thought this demo from Paul Virant of Vie would be a great choice.

Runner-up
Budino with Bereika — Do you have any idea how much I hate choosing against learning from Tim Bereika?!

11:15AM

My Pick
Pie for Breakfast — Um…I like pie! I like making them and eating them.  Maybe Christina Tosi of Momofuku Milk Bar will share her secrets for making Crack Pie. I hear it’s addictive.

Runners-up

• Chocolate Packing Heat — Yes, I could eat chocolate all day but somehow pies won out.  Maybe because my favorite pie is a Kentucky Pecan Pie with chocolate and bourbon.
• Meat Fork — Jason Alley will teach you how ham is made. Have you had the ham cured ribs at Pasture? Delicious!

2PM

My Pick
Professor Pitmaster — I have been working on my barbecue skills but still have a long way to go before I’m ready for competition.  Help me Tuffy Stone, you’re my only hope.

Runners-up

• Rise of Richmond Brewing — Did you really think beer wouldn’t be mentioned here? Mike Gorman will make you love the history behind our growing beer town.
• Oyster Fork —  Did you hear about the Virginia Oyster Trail? Now is the time to fall in love with them.
• Pickle Fork — Who knew you could pickle things other than cucumbers?  David Schulz of Pickled Silly, that’s who.

3:15PM

My Pick
From Farm to Fork — Ok, I might be breaking rule #1 with this one. Nicole Lang is local but Craig Rogers of Border Springs Farm is not. Lamb is also one of my favorite things to cook.

Runners-up

• Charred Ordinary — Yes, Richmond has a local cidery!
• Fork Tender — Kendra Bailey Morris will change your perception of the slow cooker.  I have used my slow cooker a lot more since buying her book.

That’s one possible plan for get through Friday’s culinary tracks for Fire, Flour & Fork. Use my plan or make your own rules then pick out a schedule.  Tickets are $70 for one-day Friday or Saturday tracks or $130 for both Friday and Saturday tracks. Get your tickets here.

Come back later this week to see what I pick for Saturday.