2010 Aspen

At the Tales and Ales lunch in Aspen, Stella Artois master beer sommelier Marc Stroobandt led the beer tasting. I remembered the Belgian brew expert from a lamb luncheon he'd hosted the year before, where he championed a head on beer: "Don't be afraid of foam on your beer. If you're short on the foam, then you'll be short on some flavor."

This year, Stroobandt demonstrated the perfect pour. He began by holding the glass entirely vertically, rather than tipping it as so many of us do, to prevent too many suds from entering the glass. At the very end, he leaned the pilsner glass ever so slightly to fill it to the very top. Did you know you're supposed to preserve the foam on your brew?

Source: Flickr User quinn.anya

From Giada to Mario to Morimoto, there was no shortage of big food names at the Food & Wine Classic. But no one was more popular than regional Mexican expert Rick Bayless. When I attended his seminar one afternoon, I sat shoulder to shoulder with literally hundreds of attendees crowded under the cooking tent just to see the Top Chef Master in action. The affable TV host captivated the crowd by preparing ayocotes, or runner beans, in coloradito, a Oaxacan chocolate sauce. He explained that the Mexican region of Oaxaca is known as the "land of the seven molés" for its many indigenous sauces made by blending chiles with nuts or seeds. As he worked on the dish, Bayless also offered a primer on dried chiles. Learn how to better utilize them when you read on.

Of all the demos I visited at the Food & Wine Classic, the seminar hosted by Giada De Laurentiis surprised me the most. I worried that it'd be too crowded due to the Food Network star's popularity, but it wound up being one of my favorites. Although the Italian bombshell did spill her secrets for looking great, she definitely demonstrated that she isn't just a pretty face. The lady can cook, and has a sense of humor to boot! She invited three audience members to join her on stage to cook specialties such as cherry tomato pasta and cauliflower gratin, offering plenty of party advice and pasta tips along the way.

See what she had to say after the break.

Since I'm something of a home mixologist, one of the seminars I looked forward to attending at the Food & Wine Classic was Tony Abou-Ganim's Create Your Own Specialty Cocktails. While I make tons of drinks at home, I always follow a recipe, so I was curious to see what Ganim had to say.

According to him, the key to a good cocktail is balance. Also, making drinks is like cooking; once you know the basic ratio, you can build upon it. Most libations consist of a base spirit, modifier spirit, citrus, and sweetener. To demonstrate his method, Ganim made his signature cocktail, the Cable Car.

He created this drink back in 1996 at the Starlight Room in San Francisco. It's a mixture of Captain Morgan, orange curacao, and fresh lemon sour. The Cable Car is a modern classic that's perfectly balanced; it's refreshing, smooth, and not too sweet or too potent. If you're new to making cocktails at home, I suggest you start with this recipe. Get it now.

The final Aspen Food & Wine event is the Classic Quickfire, a timed cooking competition between the most recent Top Chef winner and an acclaimed chef (such as Jacques Pepin). This year, Top Chef champion Michael Voltaggio was up against stiff competition: Top Chef Masters winner Rick Bayless!

Host Sissy Biggers announced the theme was "sexy vegetables." Just like on the show, the two contenders drew knives to determine their main ingredients: Rick drew "surf," which meant whole lobsters, while Michael took "turf," which equated to rack of lamb.

They were also given leftover ingredients from previous cooking demos to work with and one sous chef each (Michael's was the fun and feisty actress Allison Janney). Rick Bayless stunned the judges with a roasted tomatillo salsa-topped lobster and potato course; meanwhile, Michael Voltaggio wowed the crowd with his frozen sangria starter and seared lamb loin and eggplant crostini with tomato seed "caviar."

See the two chefs in action — and find out the winner of the quickfire! — when you read on.

I enjoyed her seminar a couple of years ago at the Artisan Cheese Festival, so naturally when I heard that Laura Werlin, cheese expert, fabulous girl-about-town, and author of Great Grilled Cheese: 50 Innovative Recipes for Stove Top, Grill, and Sandwich Maker, was hosting a demo at the Classic in Aspen, I knew I had to go. Not only did I taste some amazing cheeses, but I also enjoyed four delectable grilled cheese sandwiches. In between bites of gooey salami and cheese on olive bread, I asked Werlin how she makes her grilled cheese. To see her four-step, no-fail method for a great grilled cheese, keep reading.

When we arrived in Aspen for the Food & Wine Classic, one of the first things we did was browse the recipes in the Tasting Notes booklet. These were the dishes that the chefs would make during their demos. While some, like Tom Colicchio's homemade lamb sausage, sounded wonderful, others, say Art Smith's egg white fritatta, seemed boring.

I had all but given up on the chef from Chicago when I realized that he would be discussing his dramatic weight loss. Since the doctor recently told my dad he should shed some pounds, I thought I would check out Smith's demo to see what he had to say. The entertaining chef, who has cooked for everyone from the Obamas to Oprah, was an inspiration. To find out how he lost 95 pounds in a little over a year, keep reading.