What food would you like - vote for up to five choices, no guaranties.
- Oxymoron sandwiches - smoked pulled pork on a challah roll with choice of creamy or vinegar slaw
- Smoked brisket with caramelized onions
- Ratatouille (suitable for vegans)
- Mushroom risotto (suitable for vegetarians)
- Dry aged red meat (TBD - steak or roast) (suitable for meatatarians)
- Make your own pizza on the Big Green Egg with assorted fixings
- Deep fried Cajun brined turkey
- Home made citrus cured graavlax (suitable for pescatarians. or whatever they call themselves)
- Brett Favre’s Mother’s (really!) Recipe Jambalaya
- Seafood paella
- Fresh ground Moroccan spices lamb sliders with Tzatziki Sauce
- Spicy Ma Po Tofu with ground pig
- Spicy Ma Po Tofu with ground turkey (you can only choose one of these two Ma Po choices)
- Fettuccine Alfredo (taught to me by the chef who introduced it to Jackie Kennedy) with optional spicy Italian Sausage for the non-vegetarian
- Assorted beef and pork ribs - smoked, grilled, dry rubbed, sauced, etc.
- Fresh roasted vegetables - peppers, onions, eggplant, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, whatever.
- Sous Vide jumbo carrots in butter with herbal infusion. The only thing I have made that is worth the sous vide trouble.
- Tomatoes and onions and fresh mozzarella (if I can replicate the fresh mozz they taught me to make at the CIA AND I can get real fresh tomatoes not injected with helium to ripen them)
- Belgian fries in duck fat (!)
- Potato Latkes in duck fat
- Deep fried matzoh balls - a side dish I invented for the Long Island Kosher BBQ championship.
- Chicken marinated in oil and spices and then fire grilled - a jerk chicken version ONLY if Salil comes!
- Rolled stuffed whole pork loin roast stuffed with mushrooms, truffle if I can get it, cheese and assorted herbs and other stuff then grilled or maybe spit roasted if I can work that out - see my Facebook page for photo.
- Other. Describe below. But only if I know how to make it. I have discarded spit roasted whole lamb and roast suckling pig because they are beyond my current skill set.
0 voters
For decades, people will be talking about and reminiscing about this event so DO NOT miss it. The last time we had a smaller group, so there were only 61 bottles.
Berserkerfest 10.2 FAQs
Where? – My house
When? – July 27, 2019 starting at noon and going until after dark. Come whenever you want. There will be plenty of food and wine all day.
I’m new, what is a Berserkerfest? Berserkers from all across the country come together for comradery, food and . . . to share great wine.
Why 10.2? The original naming convention, developed by The Toddster, was sequential. However, somewhere around #7, which was years ago, we lost track, so Todd decided that Berserkerfests should be numbered with the Berserkeryear (this is year #10), followed by the sequential fest during the year (DiFaras was 10.1 so this must be 10.2).
Have you done this before? Yes. Berserkerfests 2.5, 7.0 and 1000 (like I said, we lost track so I restarted with 1000) were at my house. The threads are here:
Recycling for BF 2.5 the following Wednesday - NOTE - this excludes the 30-ish partially completed bottles we used for the best Beef Bourguignone ever made.:
A smaller group, so we only had 61 bottles:
Are you crazy? Yes, but that is another issue. I will be almost 68 years old by the time of the event. I figure I have one more over the top event left before I am too old, so I might as well share it with friends.
What are the important rules?
- You must bring at least one wine that you think is really good and that you want to share with friends.
- Immediately upon opening your wine, you must offer a short pour to the host (me) because when we cleaned up after 2.5, I found some really great bottles that I had never seen before. I will probably taste your offering, so the pour will be short, except for the wines expressly mentioned below.
- You may not drive after the event if you are even slightly inebriated. I have taken keys away from people more than once. When Amy Locane of Melrose Place got drunk and T-boned a car in New Jersey and killed someone, that someone was the wife of a colleague of mine who I had appeared with as co-counsel only a few weeks earlier, so I am very serious. I will pay for cabs to the White Plains train station and you can come back and get your car on Sunday.
Food? I will provide lots of food. For 2.5, the menu was five full dinners, one every two hours – (a) choice of wild mushroom or saffron risotto; followed by (ii) oxymoron sandwiches (smoked pulled pork on a challah roll with choice of cream or vinegar slaw); followed by (iii) deep fried Cajun turkey; (iv) followed by smoked brisket with homemade mole sauce and caramelized onions; followed by (v) Flannery hangar steaks, generously provided by BF himself, who was unable to attend due to an alleged USDA inspection that weekend. For dessert, I rented a chocolate fountain, giving rise to the photos of Todd eating fresh chocolate dipped bacon. If you absolutely positively want to bring food, IT SHOULD BE FLANNERY BEEF, LOBELL’S, LaFREIDA or something comparable to grill, but please advise in advance so we can plan.
I’m a Vegan. What can I do? I’m very sorry for your bad taste, but we will accommodate if warned in advance. We will have fire roasted vegetables, cole slaw and if you tell me in advance, I will make something else appropriate. I make a wicked Ratatouille or I can make risotto with no cheese or cream. I am also perfecting vegetarian Ma Po Tofu with Pixian fermented flat beans and shitake mushrooms, which might make an appearance. However, you may have more fun as your evil twin from the alternate universe. I won’t tell if you won’t tell.
Kids? Your choice, BUT, only if they are vaccinated. I expect my grandson to be here and although you may want to expose yourself to the lawsuit your kids bring against you for negligent parenting, I prefer to protect my grandson from bad decisions by others. There is a swimming pool in the back yard and by late July, the solar heater should have it toasty warm, so the kids can swim. You may also swim in it if you want to.
Stems? TBD. We have a lot, so it all depends on how many people come. If you can, PLEASE bring one of those charms to put around the stem of your glass so you can keep track of it. We only have a few dozen of those.
Berserkers only? No. Anyone who understands the idea of “A really good bottle of wine to share with friends” qualifies.
Cost? I will ask a VOLUNTARY charitable contribution to a charity I will select and add to this post – in an amount you can determine. I wanted to have an event similar to Falltacular for the East Coast, but the ASSHOLES at the New York State Liquor Authority will not give me a license waiver and will not sell me a one day permit because they are available only for hard liquor. They won’t even talk to me about it and don’t get me started on my opinion about our governor, whose stupidity I have been dealing with for over 30 years since he was a really bad lawyer. I will select a charity and post it here BUT the contribution is 100% voluntary and I will not match up attendees with contributors.
Why no event on Friday night like in the past? Leo moved out to Walla Walla because he elected to follow his wonderful wife Connie instead of staying here with his FKALBTG friends in New York and Abooboo, who also occasionally organized the other day, is God knows where. If anyone wants to step up for a Friday night or Sunday event, let me know.
Can you define, “really good bottle?” Any wine that you think is really good and that you want to share with friends will qualify. If you bring anything from DRC or Petrus, that will unquestionably qualify, as I’ve never had either of those. Anything vinified before 1840 will also qualify, because that’s the oldest Madeira I’ve had. BUT there are thousands of other great wines that will also qualify and there is no need to try to bring something you think I will like. I own enough of that already.
Hey, you idiot! “My house” is not a good enough description. Can you do better? If your Google-fu is that weak, I’ll give you a hint. 52 Sammis Lane.
House gifts? NO WAY! I AM BEGGING YOU. I certainly don’t need more wine and I am in a de-accessioning mode, so please be sure to leave with everything you come with except for food or wine that we consume.
How about members of other wine discussion groups, like the WS Forum, E-Bob, CT Forum, FTLOP and The Port Forum? All I will say is that if you post something about this event on E-Bob, it will come out as *********fest because they can’t take a joke and they still hold a grudge against Saxon, but you are welcome to try.
What should I do now? List your attendance and +1s and +2s, etc. below. You can list your wine(s), or not, at your option.
Attendance list, through post 72
Jonathan Sirot + 1
Jacqueline Stewart + Some guy she made the mistake of marrying
Dan Hammer +1 +?
Jay Miller +1 + 2 dogs
Tantina Allaire +2
Daniel Cohen +1 + Jenga
Brent Clayton
Chris Savino
Clifton Dong maybe
Merrill Lyndquist
Brig Campbell - maybe
Steve Gelman - maybe
Hip Hip Jorge Henriquez +1
Phil Lukeman
T. Melloni +1
Greg Kahn +1
Carlos Delpin
Chris Landoin
Josh Scribner - Will bring Port since he thinks it’s a shanda that we had no port at BF 1000
Mike Reff
Matt Citrang and Judy
The Count, the Countess, and Zachary
Francis Jay Facciolo +1
Gil Bauer +1
M. Grammer (maybe)
M. Mahle +1
P. Panzika +1
Clifton + his much better half
Chris Kravitz +1
Hugh Sauer +1
Chris Koyster +1
Professor V + 1, 2 or 3
Matt Billet +1