If you love good food, you're in luck this weekend. There's a busy slate of tasty events on tap.
In case you missed our preview and the schedule in Sunday's paper, the West Virginia Cast Iron Cook-Off and Winter Food Festival both come to Charleston this weekend, bringing lots of opportunities to sip and savor great Mountain State flavors.
Festivities kick off Friday afternoon with a Junior Cast Iron Cook-Off from 1 to 3:30 p.m. in the Charleston Marriott ballroom, followed by a "Tastes from the Mountains Dine Around" later that night.
As part of that event from 7:30 to 9 p.m., guests can enjoy a multi-station buffet dinner in the hotel's pavilion featuring a "New Appalachian Cuisine" theme and products sourced from farms around the state. (If you can't make it, no worries. I'll be on hand to share all the delicious details on The Food Guy blog and social channels!)
Saturday's cast iron team cooking competition runs from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. back in the Marriott ballroom, where guests can wander from station to station as chef-led volunteer teams create impressive three-course menus featuring Appalachian ingredients and cooking techniques.
At roughly the same time, from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., the Winter Food Festival in the Marriott mezzanine will showcase vendors sampling and selling specialty local food products. There will also be West Virginia craft beer and wine samples for sale, a gourmet small plates luncheon, several cooking demonstrations and more.
Although the junior cook-off, team competition and many food festival activities are free, tickets are required for the Friday night dine around and Saturday afternoon lunch. For more information or tickets, visit www.castironcookoff.com.
A project of the Collaborative for the 21st Century Appalachia, the annual Cast Iron Cook-off and related events are designed to help preserve Appalachian cooking traditions and celebrate the state's food and farms.
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After getting my fill at Friday night's dine around in Charleston, I'll be heading up I-79 North Saturday to partake in more culinary delights at Stonewall Resort for the first of three great food events the property has planned this month.
The first one this weekend is the fourth annual "Taste of the Spanish Coast" tapas feast with a bounty of gourmet plates paired with award-winning wines and a Spanish guitar performance.
I adore tapas and will tell you all about the mouthwatering experience in next Wednesday's paper, but here's a sneak peek at what I've penciled in on my (lengthy) culinary hit list that night:
n Tuna tartare with olive salad and garlic toast
n Queso blanco-stuffed cherry peppers
n Composed salad of roasted artichokes, charred grape tomatoes and grilled scallions
n Manchego cheese with quince paste, olives and Marcona almonds
n "Pipirrana," a Spanish potato salad
n Almond-crusted chevre with fig compote
n Garlicky roasted mushrooms and grilled bread
n Beet-pickled deviled eggs, saffron and pickled radish
n Bacon-wrapped scallops with salsa verde and lime
n Fried oysters and Romesco sauce
n "Papas con Crema"(Yukon Golds potatoes, Manchego, green chile and cream)
n "Fabada Asturiana" (slow-simmered white beans and pork belly with tomatoes and chilies)
n Crispy calamari with saffron aioli
n "Churrasco con Chimichurri" (grilled steak and garlic-herb sauce)
n Not to mention carved whole smoked hog leg "adobado," a full-blown paella station and a host of Spanish desserts.
In addition to this weekend's Spanish-fest, Stonewall is offering a "Romantic Rendezvous" Feb. 12-14 (featuring one night's lodging, dinner, drinks, entertainment, a room-delivered chocolate dessert plate with Champagne, plus breakfast for two) and the "Brew-Ha-Ha" craft beer and comedy night (offering more than 15 local and regional brews paired with pub food and improve comedy) on Feb. 27.
Packages are available for each event, but reservations fill up fast. For more information, call 304-269-7400 or visit www.stonewallresort.com.
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Also Saturday, Unity of Kanawha Valley will host a "Soup'er Bowl Saturday Sale" from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the church located on the corner of Myrtle and Bridge roads, just down from the South Hills Shops.
That day, the public is invited to come purchase homemade soups, breads and baked goods either to enjoy on site or take home for Sunday's big game. There are usually upwards of 20 different ones to choose from.
Even better, local cook, potter and Gazette-Mail Metro contributor Susan Maslowski also will be on hand selling her ceramic bowls and kitchen-related items. So you can not only get great soup, but also gorgeous bowls to put it in.
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And closing out the weekend, of course, is Super Bowl Sunday, now officially the second-highest food consumption day in America, trailing only (gulp) Thanksgiving.
Be sure to enjoy it, friends, but be careful out there. That's a LOT of chips, chicken wings, nachos and beer.
Steven Keith writes a weekly food column for the Charleston Gazette-Mail. He can be reached at 304-380-6096 or by email at dailymailfoodguy@aol.com. You can also follow him on Facebook and Pinterest as "DailyMail FoodGuy," on Twitter as "DMFoodGuy" and read his blog at blogs.wvgazettemail.com/foodguy.