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Food & Wine Festival shopping list ’12

October 21st, 2012

Whether you’re in search of some good food or need ideas for the holiday shopping season, here’s a list of items I purchased or will purchase from the Isthmus Food & Wine Festival held last weekend:

Mrs. Chippy’s Caramel Corn from Chippy’s Kettle Corn. I also enjoyed the Yumchata Oatmeal Cookie flavor and the Buffalo Wine & Bleu Cheese Dressing flavor.
Old Fashioned Malted Milk Powder Malt from CTL Foods. If you like Whoppers, you’ll love this. Try adding it to coffee.
Strawbanero jam from Blue Collar Cafe & Jams. Excellent combination of sweet and spicy. Loved the Bluebanero, too.
The garlic beefsticks and Teriyaki beefsticks from Otter Creek Organic Farm. These make a great snack!
The goat salami and Tuscan salami from Underground Meats. Makes me regret not signing up for its meat-CSA last year.
Plain 9-12 Gouda from Holland Family Farms. I had always ignored Gouda … until now.
Brick spread from Widmer Cheese Cellar. Why waste a cracker? I could eat this straight from the container.
Rob Abuelo 12-Year Rum. I doubt I’ve had a better rum. “Smooth” would be underselling it.
Dark Amber Organic Maple Syrup from Kickapoo Gold. You’ll never use Aunt Jemima again.

Tags: Food & Wine Show
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The Food & Wine Show 2.0

October 14th, 2012

Madison Magazine was the longtime organizer of the annual Food & Wine Show until this year, when it instead played host to a week-long series of events called the Festival of Foods, held Oct. 8-14. Just like Hollywood rebooted Batman, Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk, the Isthmus took over the renamed Food & Wine Festival, which takes place Oct. 19-20 at Exhibition Hall, and added its own spin.

“We have refocused the event stressing local products and flavors,” Chris Majchrzak, Marketing & Events Manager at Isthmus Publishing Company, Inc., said. “And (we’ve added) more food, especially local food.”

I’m especially happy with the latter statement, as over the years I’ve noticed fewer and fewer food stands. But more on that in a moment.

Apparently, folks at the Alliant Energy Center didn’t want to see the show go away, so they contacted the Isthmus about taking over. The Isthmus also runs the Beer & Cheese Fest each January at Exhibition Hall, so it was a natural fit.

Majchrzak went on to explain that they hope to “slow down the pace of the event and emphasize the informational and education aspect as well.” That’s good for the exhibitors, because as with any food/wine-type show, there’s always a lot of drive-by eating that occurs.

But back to the food. I looked at the list of exhibitors, and it does appear to sport more food vendors than previous year. Examples include Osteria Papavero, Roman Candle Pizzeria, Old Feed Mill, AJ Bombers and Sprecher’s Restaurant.

And of course, I look forward to sampling endless wine and finding out what’s currently “in”–last year, Moscato was all the rage. Here’s a list of items I bought last year.

One-day passes cost $40, or you can get a two-day pass for $65. I’ve been given a discount code to save $10 on tickets, so please feel free to use it: foodwineblog

Tags: Food & Wine Show
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The Free House Pub

October 7th, 2012

The last time I was inside Forrestal’s in Middleton, which was about four years ago, I was the best man in a wedding. Now the space has been transformed into The Free House Pub, which opened this summer and specializes in ale, whiskey and pub food.

The entrance has been moved from Parmenter Street to Elmood Avenue, and because it’s set back, it can be hard to find. Once inside, you’ll see a long bar and flat panel TVs on the wall, and you’ll instantly feel the venue’s rebirth.

Like most new establishments these days, the menu here is pretty limited, with the requisite apps, sandwiches and burgers found in most bar and grills. From the first category, I tried the cheese curds ($6.50). For the price, I thought I would get a lot more. In fact, a lot of the appetizers are comparable in price to the sandwiches, meaning that they are too expensive (e.g. $8.50 for loaded fries).

The sandwiches and burgers are served with a side of tossed greens or fries. I paid another $1.50 to substitute the fries for garlic parmesan fries (you also can choose sweet potato fries) with my BBQ jalapeno burger ($8.50). This delicious burger was topped generously with jalapenos, and I enjoyed the cheddar cheese and spicy BBQ sauce. I also paid 50 cents to replace the bun with a Cybros whole sprouted grain bun, which was unfortunately really cold, like the cooking staff didn’t fully defrost it.

Those garlic parmesan fries, by the way, are not worth ordering. Neither the chunks of garlic nor the big pieces of parmesan stuck to the fries, so you had to use a fork to keep it all together to get it into your mouth. (Look at the photo to see what I mean.)

The Big Tex ($8.50) also was tasty, with its sauteed onions, cream cheese and BBQ sauce sitting comfortably on a juicy patty. The only other item on the menu that interested me was the buffalo chicken wrap ($8.50), which features a buffalo garlic sauce.

From the cocktail menu I tried the Bulleit Rye Old Fashioned ($5.50) and the All Wisconsin Iced Tea ($7), made of Yahara Bay Vodka and Lemoncello, Death’s Door Gin and Old Sugar Distillery Freshwater Rum. I loved the former and would order it again; it seems like it would go well with a fish fry. The latter was very potent, and unfortunately the gin was the dominant flavor (I like gin, but it overwhelmed the other spirits).

I probably won’t eat here again, but The Free House Pub is a decent place to get a drink, especially when the second bar–located in the dining room–opens. The restaurant serves dinner every day and lunch Tuesday-Sunday.