Tag Archives: LAND ROVER FARMINGTON VALLEY

2016 Judging Revisions

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2016 Muddy Chef Challenge Judging Revisions

Housewife cooking on the kitchen with big fire

To put it mildly, the judging at the MCC4 was “challenging”.  Too many judges, judges that wandered off during the contest and my personal favorite – a smartphone app that we tested extensively prior to the event, stopped working half way though the judging.

It seemed that every time we tried to correct the course of the judging we encountered more and more problems.

So, to that end we are implementing the following changes in advance of the event.  We believe these changes will address the majority of issues. As always, your comments and ideas are welcome.

Judges Routes through the Campsite during the MCC:

The judges will follow a pre-defined route through the campsite.  They will not deviate from that route.  That way participants will always know the approximate location and timing of the judges.  This will hopefully eliminate problems with locating the judges and assist competitors with timing their food.

Also, we are reducing the judges significantly.  We are keeping each category to five judges in total for each course.  Wherever possible we are seeking highly qualified food experts to anchor each judges panel.

Appetizer:

Five Judges

Main Course:

Five Judges

Desert:

Five Judges

 Judging Categories:

  • Presentation
  • Taste
  • Aroma
  • Creativity
  • Locally Sourced Ingredients
  • Pairing

 Local Ingredient Use:

One judge will verify this information.   This judge will go from campsite to campsite to verity your use of local ingredients.  Participants should post receipts in an easy to verify location.

Those are the changes we see making for 2016.  If you have ideas let us know.  We look forward to seeing you at the Muddy Chef Challenge and our other regional events next year!

 

Land Rover Farmington Valley News – The Muddy Chef Challenge

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LAND ROVER FARMINGTON VALLEY

 

Join Us for the Muddy Chef Challenge

We are thrilled to be a title sponsor for the 4th annual “Muddy Chef Challenge” which is a three-day off-roading, gourmet cooking competition, Land Rover enthusiast gathering and much, much more. (Think “The Great Race” meets “Top Chef”!) Don’t miss the fun from July 30 – August 2.

First, a little history…

In 2008, a large group of like minded Land Rover owners got together in Stowe, Vermont for the first Muddy Chef Challenge. A three day event that combines off-roading and a vehicle based gourmet cooking challenge (think Top Gear meets Top Chef).

In 2014, the event was moved to Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, CT. The new location offered a perfect combination of space – the event has grown significantly, beautiful scenery (the northwest corner of Connecticut is breathtaking), access to sporting events (sporting clay shooting and fly fishing at Orvis, etc.) and challenging off-road driving – all while surrounded by Lime Rock Park’s 53 year history of automotive culture. In short – if you like off-road driving, cooking, expedition style camping, motor sports, shooting, vintage cars, fine cigars, craft spirits, and Land Rover – this is the perfect place to be.

For 2015, The Muddy Chef Challenge will return to Lime Rock. We had such a great time last year it made sense to come back for more fun. Lime Rock has undergone several million dollars in infrastructure upgrades including new paddock bathrooms and showers. Also, sections of the grounds have been reconfigured. This should make for an excellent camping experience. This year there will be a Land Rover only parade lap around the track and like last year MCC competitors will be offered rides in high performance racing vehicles on the road course. We will have a dedicated vendor village and even a whiskey and cigar lounge courtesy of WhistlePig Rye.

Also new this year is the IRON MUDDY CHEF CHALLENGE. This competition will be held on Friday July 31, 2015 in the afternoon. The IMCC brings back the original focus on the Muddy Chef by having participants cook in the field, away from base camp, and using only what they can carry in their Land Rover. In the style of the Food Network’s “Chopped TV show, participants will be presented with a mystery basket of food (sourced locally at the Sharon Farm Market). As on Chopped, there will be a community pantry of basic food ingredients to pick from. It is up to the skill and creativity of the chef to create an amazing dish. Contestants will be given 50 minutes for this task!

For more information on this fun event, please visit http://muddychef.com/

Whistle Pig Rye Whiskey Review from Mouth.com

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STRAIGHT RYE WHISKEY

MADE BY WHISTLEPIG IN SHOREHAM, VERMONT

MOUTH SAYS…

100% rye. 100 proof. Aged for 10 years in New American oak barrels. Oh yeah, WhistlePig is a seriously strong, seriously good rye.

It’s full-bodied with great hints of wintery spice wrapped around a black pepper center. The long aging tames some of the heat and brings along the vanilla and a touch of dark chocolate.

WhistlePigStraightRyeDetail2900_grande

It’s got a pretty good story, too: Dave Pickerell, longtime Master Distiller for Maker’s Mark, believed that rye was going to be the next big thing, so he went on a quest to find the best rye possible. He fell in love with an unusual 100% rye (rumor has it, it was made by our neighbors to the North, but he’s not telling). He teamed up with WhistlePig founder Raj Bhakta, who bought a 200-year-old working dairy farm in Shoreham where they began hand-bottling the whiskey. Today, they’ve built a distillery, are growing their own organic rye and are working towards distilling and aging their own rye whiskey.

Until then, we’ll just have to settle for drinking this powerfully delicious spirit of top-secret origin that has garnered rave reviews since it hit the market. How’s that for American pluck?

TIP OF THE TONGUE

While whiskey at this price is usually too precious to mix, we love this rye splashed into warm apple cider for a restorative winter warmer.

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Hemmings Motor News covers The Muddy Chef Challenge!

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Get Your Vintage Mud On!

at 8:00 am   |   3 comments

Muddy Chef Challenge

Photo courtesy The Muddy Chef Challenge.

Owners of classic cars have more vintage race, rally and touring events to choose from than ever before these days. But what about owners of old-school, 4 x 4 off-road machines?

Fortunately, the crowd that loves to get dirty now has some options of their own.

The Muddy Chef Challenge, first contested at Vermont’s Mount Stowe in 2008, returns to Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut for the second year in a row and its fourth iteration overall from July 30 through August 2.

The organizers of the Copperstate 1000 vintage rally—now in its 25th year—have added an off-road event, the Copperstate Overland, with its inaugural running happening from October 18-21 in Arizona.

The Muddy Chef Challenge, which is open exclusively to Land Rover owners, combines camping, off-road challenges and a cooking challenge along with sporting clays target shooting and even a chance to get dolled up for a white linen cocktail party. The cost of registration is $75, plus $25 per night to camp at Lime Rock. But participants need to bring their own food, cigars and whatever other party supplies they might need for three days of hanging out with like-minded Land Rover enthusiasts.

The Muddy Chef Challenge seems not to take itself too seriously. Making friends, sharing food and playing around getting Land Rovers muddy—the way they should be—seem to be the goals of the organizers and participants alike.

The Copperstate Overland is open to more than just Land Rover owners (though we suspect that plenty of Rover owners will be involved), but anyone wishing to enter will need an off-road vehicle from the 1979 model year or older. At $6,850, the cost of the Copperstate Overland is quite a bit steeper than the Muddy Chef Challenge, but that price includes all meals and double-occupancy lodging for the driver and co-driver/navigator, including a final night’s stay after the rally and awards dinner the final night.  A portion of every entry fee goes to benefit the Men’s Art Council of the Phoenix Art Museum.

In addition to not staying in tents for that significant entry fee, the Copperstate Overland will feature a mix of off-road and on-road rallying amid some very beautiful Arizona countryside that is a contrast to the potentially very muddy Lime Rock experience.

Different events for different tastes—and budgets, but both guaranteed to get your car dirty.

LAND ROVER FARMINGTON VALLEY / OFFICIAL SPONSOR

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CONNECTICUT’S CENTRAL SOURCE FOR ALL THINGS ROVER

At Land Rover Farmington Valley, our commitment to uphold the Land Rover standard of excellence allows our Connecticut Land Rover customers access to our unsurpassed industry knowledge and expertise. We’re proud to offer Waterbury, Torrington, Hartford, Bristol, West Hartford and Avon, Connecticut Land Rover drivers with a fully stocked inventory of new luxurious Range Rover SUVs, as well as high quality certified pre-owned Land Rovers and other used vehicles.

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We strive for the highest customer satisfaction possible at our Connecticut Land Rover dealership, and will go the distance to ensure you are satisfied whether you’re buying a new or used Land Rover, getting your model repaired at our service center or just picking up genuine Range Rover parts.

Our Connecticut Land Rover finance experts are available to assist by helping you receive a great Land Rover loan or lease, and our expert Land Rover and Range Rover service and parts technicians are standing by to help you with any car repair or parts replacements you may require. Visit us today at 95 Albany Turnpike in Canton and experience our passion firsthand, or call us at 888-773-9479. We look forward to serving you.

Our Mission and Promise

Our mission here at Land Rover Farmington Valley is to provide our customers with the safest and most reliable luxury vehicles available in the market, and do so by way of sales and service experiences that assures total satisfaction. We promise that we will only deliver you a vehicle after:

  • All features of the vehicle have been explained.
  • The vehicle is clean, inside and out.
  • You’ve met our Service staff, and know their location and hours.
  • We’ve gone through all the details of your warranty, owner’s manual, and maintenance schedule.
  • You’ve asked us every question that you might have, and know how to reach us by phone or online with questions that come up later.

We further promise to be there for you for as long as you own your vehicle. Your satisfaction isn’t “total” unless it lasts for the life of the car.

2015 Land Rover LR4 HSE Luxury in Loire Blue
Real People, Real Experience

From our expert technicians in the service bays, to the sales guides in the showroom, to our courtesy shuttle drivers out on the roads of Connecticut, everyone here at Land Rover Farmington Valley is a devotee to the “Above and Beyond” brand.  A large number of us are Rover owners and drivers ourselves, and we’re not ashamed to break from the ‘talking business’ to reminisce over the Defender we drove years ago, or share our thoughts about the future of the new models and design changes, if that’s what interests you. (It interests us, too.)

Our sales staff has over 25 years of combined automotive experience with Land Rover, and along with the Mitchell Auto Group, we just celebrated our 90th anniversary here in Canton this past year.  We work to further appreciation of these great vehicles though our New Owner Open Houses, model unveilings, and other events that allow us to celebrate the strong sophistication and rugged beauty of the Land Rover line.Supporting Our Community

Back in 1922, Robert Pringle, fresh from Scotland, started a small automotive garage on Canal Street in Weatogue, Connecticut. From that humble beginning, the Mitchell Auto Group has grown to become one of Connecticut’s premier dealers for seven automotive brands in their Farmington Valley area stores, along with a state-of-the-art body shop and detail centers.

Here at Land Rover Farmington Valley, our connections with the people of Canton, the businesses and organizations that operate here are of great importance. These are not only our customers, but our neighbors and friends, and we owe our decades of growth and success to each and every one of them.
As such, we always look to be involved in local and regional events that share, support and benefit these groups, and we highlight them on our social networks (Facebook, Twitter and Google+), and our dedicated community outreach site, MitchellAutoCares.com. We invite you to see what’s on the community calendar, and get involved!

CONTACT INFO

Land Rover Farmington Valley

95 Albany Turnpike
Route 44
Canton, CT 06019

  • Sales: (888) 773-9479
  • Service: (888) 896-2838
  • Parts: (888) 697-9238

HOURS

  • Monday:8:30-6:00
  • Tuesday:8:30-6:00
  • Wednesday:8:30-6:00
  • Thursday:8:30-6:00
  • Friday:8:30-6:00
  • Saturday:8:30-5:00
  • Sunday:Closed