My wife and I are Food Network-aholics. Not that we cook anything we see on the shows hardly but we do watch the Food Network a lot for some reason. The shows are wholesome shows (no blood, guts, killing, and crime investigations) and they are educational. If you watch the food network at all you probably have heard of Chef Bobby Flay. He's been an Iron Chef since 2003 and has numerous show's on the Food Network including Throwdown where he shows up to various renowned local places to challenge the chef to a cook off.
Ellen's Mom (Sue) had a birthday yesterday and to surprise her Mom we took her to a Bobby Flay cooking show in Mobile, AL. We picked her up around 10:30 AM at and drove to Mobile, AL arriving around lunch time. Our first stop was to get some lunch so we stopped in at Felix's Fish Camp off of Battleship Parkway. If you are ever in the Mobile area this is one of those places you have to go. As a matter of fact when we walked in the ladies that greeted us were talking about Bobby Flay because he had eaten supper there the night before. We sat next to the window over looking the bay. I had the BBQ Shrimp (again) so I could wear the bib. After we finished eating we locked in the Mobile Civic Center address into the GPS and headed 3.3 miles to downtown Mobile. The Civic Center had a bunch of food related vendors there so we walked around. We bought Ellen's Mom a new chopping board and she bought us the Bobby Flay Mesa Grill cookbook so we could get it signed.
The show started at 3:00 and I suspect there were probably 500 - 750 people there. It was hard to judge but a lot of people just for a cooking show! He cooked two main dishes and some margaritas. One of the dishes he cooked was a salmon dish. Having recently returned from a salmon fishing trip I have to try this recipe. We were right up front for the show and it was interesting because he wanted people to ask questions as he was cooking. It was a really open format and I liked it.
The Mobile Gas company sponsored Bobby coming down so he cooked with a gas grill and a gas stove. At the end when he was taking a lot of rapid fire questions I had to do it, I just had to ask, "Bobby, when you are grilling, charcoal or gas?". Immediately people started laughing because there was this huge sign behind him with "Mobile Gas" on it. He laughed and said "Both, charcoal has more flavor but gas is quicker and evenly disperses the heat." He said he owned both grills and recommends to have both around depending on what you are cooking and how long you have.
All in all it was a fun little side trip and just reminded me why Hattiesburg, MS is such a great town to live in. We call it the Hub City because it really is the hub of a lot of places to visit. Literally within 1, 2 or 3 hours you can be anywhere from:
- Jackson, MS our state capital
- Fishing in the bayou of Louisiana for red fish
- On the beach in Florida
- At a casino in Biloxi or the beach there or fishing
- A Taledega race outside of Birmingham
- Cruising up and down Bourburn Street in New Orleans or at a Saints game
You can view pictures from the trip to Mobile here on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/keithelder/sets/72157602907666047/
posted @ Sunday, November 04, 2007 10:22 AM