[Recap] The Fort Value Meals + Wine Competition Wraps Up With Spectacular Ring of Hearth

The Fort Value Meals + Wine Competition wrapped up its comeback edition Sunday afternoon with what many take into account to be the pageant’s finest occasion: Ring of Hearth. Held open air on the Coronary heart of the Ranch at Clearfork, the occasion featured greater than a dozen native and regional barbecue pitmasters and cooks, all grilling or smoking, or each, creating what may presumably be town’s largest cookout.  

Yearly, the barbecue occasion turns into extra fascinating, with contributors utilizing it to check new recipes, stretch their legs creatively or simply have enjoyable. Attendees aren’t paying $65 for bite-size samples of simply plain ol’ brisket, ribs and sausage anymore, fortunately; they’re going to get one thing totally different.   

Perched proper in entrance of the pageant’s entrance, Heim BBQ, little question town’s hottest craft ‘cue spot, set the tone by pairing its signature bacon burnt ends with a welcome shock: a superb strawberry and goat cheese salad – a cool, refreshing chunk on what turned out to be a toasty day.  

Brix BBQ supplied a sneak preview of its forthcoming brick-and-mortar, providing tacos full of pulled pork, chimichurri and a implausible finisher you don’t usually see at ‘cue joints: housemade kimchi. 

Elsewhere, Arlington’s Hurtado Barbecue served a silky and smoky lengua taco (pray that goes on their everlasting menu); Panther Metropolis BBQ handed out chunks of barbacoa wrapped in collard greens; and Cousin’s Bar-B-Q whipped up whiskey-infused lemonade garnished with a piece of brisket. Yr after 12 months, Cousin’s at all times comes up with stuff that’s as loopy as it’s good. 

Somebody at all times does dessert and this 12 months it was Smoke-a-holics, whose bourbon banana pudding was the proper technique to wash down their fundamental providing: an enormous plate of piping scorching cheddar and parmesan grits topped with hearty slices of wagyu brisket. Smoke-a-holics principally served a complete meal.  

Newcomers to the occasion included Guess Household Barbecue, a Waco-based barbecue joint recognized for forward-thinking takes on ‘cue. Their one-bite providing was a memorable one: a little bit piece of completely cooked flank steak draped in an orange fennel chimichurri. Different contributors included Dayne’s Craft BBQ, Flores Tortillas and Weatherford newbies Firefly Grilling, all of whom turned in nice dishes. 

Ring of Hearth introduced an finish to this 12 months’s pageant, which returned after a two-year hiatus resulting from COVID. 

That includes six occasions unfold out over 4 days, the pageant kicked off on Thursday with Tacos + Tequila. Friday was a double-header with The Foremost Occasion, a showcase occasion for town’s high cooks, adopted by the dessert-heavy Night time Bites. Saturday was one other two-fer: the brunch impressed Culinary Corral, adopted by Burgers, Brews + Blues, a burger, beer and music match-up that doubles as a contest: Attendees and a panel of judges voted for his or her fave burgers. This 12 months, Kincaids gained the judges over whereas Gigi Howell – repping her forthcoming new restaurant, JD’s Hamburgers – gained folks’s alternative.  

Proceeds from the pageant go to the Fort Value Meals + Wine Basis, a nonprofit group that raises funds for native grant packages and culinary scholarships.