Kimcheez Queso Selected “Best In Show” at Quesoff V

 

I am happy to report that Brisket and Bagels took Best in Show at the fifth annual Quesoff  this past weekend. The event took place at the Mohawk and featured over 25 teams from around the city including home cooks and well-known local restaurants like Tacodeli, Frank, Top Golf, Freedmen’s and Mighty Bird. There were four queso categories including meaty, veggie, spicy, and wild card. This year the organizers also added a Guacoff (guacamole) to the competition. Thousands RSVP’d on Facebook prior to the event and a line formed around the block before the doors opened. The Mohawk quickly reached its capacity of 1000 but people came and went throughout the afternoon.

I named our submission to the Quesoff Kimcheez Queso. It contained roasted pork, kimchi and was garnished with a duo of Asian sauces and fresh cilantro.

Mathew Odom of the Ausin-American Statesman, Brandon Watson of The Austin Chronicle, Casie Wiginton of Antonelli’s Cheese, Zach Davis of Henri’s and Michael Sanders of drink.well. were on hand to judge the entries.

About half-way through the afternoon the judges announced top honors for the Guacoff and meaty categories. I was slightly disappointed when Frank was awarded the win for the meaty category. While I was hopeful we would do well, I wasn’t surprised we didn’t place considering our competition. The judges did recognize Brisket and Bagels for making a delicious queso even though we didn’t win the category.

We ended up running out of our 12 quarts of Kimcheez Queso with only a few minutes left in the event. It was a family affair as Mrs. B & B, Big B and Little B were all on hand to help out. The kids were quite tired, and after packing up I was ready to go too. Mrs B & B however insisted that we wait until the winners were announced. Since our team didn’t win the meaty category I would have never considered that we’d be eligible to win Best in Show. I couldn’t have been more surprised when Brisket and Bagels was called up to the stage to receive the award for best queso of Quesoff V.  When I collected the trophy the judges told me they loved the flavor of the Kimcheez Queso, but didn’t think it there was enough meat to win the meaty category.

Quesoff V was a blast and I couldn’t be more thrilled by our victory especially considering how amazing our competitors were. While there were some great restaurants competing, many of the teams featuring home cooks like Queso Beso, The Cream Team and Austin Facial Hair Club have won multiple Quesoff trophies and make amazing queso.

While I normally share my recipes, the recipe for Kimcheez Queso is going to remain top-secret as I prepare to defend my title at Quesoff VI.

I guess this is one time when it’s ok to be called the cheesiest.