Bacon Take-down!

Last week it was chowder, this week it's BACON! Matt Timm's brought "meaty" back with another wild Take-down, this time at a bigger venue and with a limited number of tickets sold - still a staggering 300. The line at Radegast Hall & Biergarten in Williamsburg wrapped around the corner and was sold out 10 minutes into the event.

Here's a quick interview I did before the event for urban culture mag BOMBIN's blog: link

Matt's Take-downs have been garnering quite a bit of buzz lately. I don't know which little birdie tipped them off, but Good Morning, America was there to film a segment that aired Monday morning. Check it out here. (My interview didn't make it onto the air, but my entry made it to the studio, where Diane Sawyer and her co-hosts were enticed into tasting super-meaty samples from the Take-down.)

Making enough food for 300 people was a really daunting task. I knew that there would be a crispness factor to consider as well as transporting all that pork product. I decided to riff on my latest favorite combo of bacon and chocolate and made bacon turtles. Turtles are a candy that uses 3 or 4 pecan halves as the turtle feet with caramel to hold them together and chocolate on top. I re-imagined them as a smaller, layered bite. I started by filling a foil cup half way with chocolate then a drop of caramel, a few pieces of spicy, candied bacon and more chocolate on top to seal it up like a truffle. Then I stuck a toasted pecan half on the very top. This turned out to be a really challenging project. The quantity, technique and required assembly put it over the top. But on the plus side, I now know how to temper chocolate, make candied bacon, and boss around an assistant when I'm in the weeds. (Sorry, Krystal - you rock!)

Once again, the competition was fierce! My neighbors at spot #13 also brought the bacon chocolate in the form of spicy chocolate truffles rolled in salty crispy bacon pieces. They were like hot shots in their tiny little clear cups. Our station was pretty exciting and action packed. (note: this is the only photo that has my turtles in it - oops. They're in the bottom left corner)

There were so many creative dishes:

Bacon Tamales!

Bacon Cupcakes!

Bacon....Um...chunks?

But who is #1 according to the 300 votes cast at the end of the meaty buffet line?
Mike O'Neill!


Mike made a heavenly Bacon Bourbon Ice Cream that knocked my socks off. He was planning to serve this amazing creation on top of candied bacon waffles, but electricity problems meant ice cream only - and that's all he needed to impress the crowd. I've heard rumors that there are waffle making parties going on in his neighborhood this whole week...

Of course, no competition would be complete without this guy taking home a prize.
Nick Suarez did it again, tying for 2nd place with Theodore Peck - who also seems to dominate the winner's circle in the world of local competitive cooking. These two have raised the bar for all of us - both with their delicious food and their creative presentations!

It was the most exhausting take-down for me, but well worth it for the fun and food and, of course, the reward:



For a complete list of winners and future Take-down news, check out Matt Timms' blog.

Chowder - SLAMMED!

How much fun was had at Jimmy's 43 in the East Village this past Saturday? Gallons & gallons! A fundraiser for the New Amsterdam Market, the event offered each paying customer the chance to sample and vote on a dozen or so chowders made by local cheftestants. The chowders were also judged by a panel of experts including Jimmy himself, along with two lovely ladies from the Martha Stewart food empire. Turnout was great and the back room was hopping by mid-afternoon.

The man behind the Market, Robert LaValva, serves chowder to the masses:

My entry was a traditional creamy chowder base with smoked salmon instead of clams. The salmon came from my Aunt Charlotte who sent it from Juneau, Alaska. If I may say so myself, it turned out awesome. I didn't win any prizes, but I definitely have a great new recipe that I'll make again (see below.)

Update: according to NEOINY, my chowder was the favorite of Village Voice food critic Robert Sietsema. That's cool.

Other entries included Karol Lu's Happy as a Yam chowder, made with three types of yams, apples and shrimp, and Shana Wright's vegetarian chowder that had a surprising seafood flavor - the secret was a broth made from "sea vegetables," whatever those are!

And the winners are:

Land Chowder - Silence of the Clams by Theodore Peck:

Sea Chowder - Scallop Chowder (not sure of the name of the name of this one..?) by Rachel Graville:

Finally, the People's Choice, (sigh,) goes to (yet again) Nick Suarez for his "Pigs Can Swim" chowder made with duck fat, bacon, corn and lobster.
This guy wins a lot. But his stuff is pretty tasty. And he's very nice. Plus, he'll be bringing more bacon to the take-down this Saturday.

My chowder was very good, people. Here's the set up before the madness began:

Recipe: Sockeye It To Me Salmon Chowder
Note: you can't use a cold smoked "Nova" style salmon here. It must be hot smoked, ie. cooked and flaky like they do it in the Pacific Northwest.
10 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, chopped small
1 cup celery, chopped small
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons brandy
2 cups clam juice or fish stock
1 lb red potatoes, diced medium
1/2 cup flour
3 cups half & half
1 8-10 oz package smoked salmon, flaked into pieces
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
1/8 teaspoon cayenne powder
1 cup heavy cream
salt & pepper to tastegarnish: finely diced chives, oyster crackers, hot sauce.

Melt 6 oz. of the butter in a large heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Add onions, celery & garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8 minutes. Increase heat to medium high, add brandy and cook 2-3 minutes. Add clam juice and potatoes. Simmer until just tender, 6-7 minutes.

To make the roux in a separate pan, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter over medium. Add flour and whisk until incorporated. Cook for 3-6 minutes, whisking frequently, until the roux has browned slightly and is smooth. Add some liquid from the other pot into the roux and stir until smooth. Pour roux into soup and stir until soup thickens.

Add half & half, dill, cayenne and salmon. Bring to a bare simmer over medium heat. Add cream, heat only enough to warm through. Taste and add salt & pepper as needed. Serve with chives, crackers and hot sauce.

Chowder will be best the next day! Reheat gently without boiling.

All gone!

Chowder Slam - Saturday

If you love soup like me, you'll love this Saturday's fundraiser for the New Amsterdam Market at Jimmy's #43. Or if you love me, you'll love to see me ladling my heart and soul into every creamy bowl from my giant kettle of chowder. That's right - there's love in every spoonful.

I heard that there will be beer there, too!

Check it out:

$20

Date:	Saturday, March 21, 2009
Time:	12:00pm - 5:00pm
Location:	Jimmy's No. 43
Street:	43 East 7th Street
	New York, NY

New Amsterdam Market is a local organization promoting our region's agriculture and building a new community of purveyors, whose common goal is to pioneer environmentally and socially responsible food production.


Update: Quoted by Cathy Erway in her post about the Chowder Slam - link

Twizzlers vs. Red Vines

Not since Pepsi challenged Coke, Big Mac squared off against The Whopper, or Almond Joy went nuts about Mounds has there been such a frenzy to compete for sweet domination in the world of snacking and fast food related products. Ok, maybe not a frenzy, but people do get pretty passionate about it. At the "fork this" day job, the office is divided - some prefer chewier, longer-lasting Red Vines while others lean towards softer, sweeter Twizzlers. Is this a regional thing? A matter of personal taste or die-hard loyalty to youthful memories? Let me know in the comments where your vote goes. And maybe you can answer the age-old question: which is "waxier?"

vs.

Winter Is Not Over Yet - Purple Potato & Parsnip Soup

As I sit to write this, the wind is whining against the windows and forcing a chill through my poorly insulated A/C unit and into my room. It's soup weather for sure. As I mentioned in the previous post, the selection of vegetables available at the farmer's market in February is very limited. There are an abundance of apples and potatoes and the regular baked goods, meats and dairy products, but not much else. On a side note, I picked up one of the lovely deep red tomatoes available from a hydroponic farmer and was very surprised to smell an actual rich tomato smell. Has anyone tried these? Are they any good at all? I haven't bought a fresh tomato since September and I'm a skeptic...

On my last trip to the Union Square Greenmarket, I impulsively picked up some parsnips and thought to myself, "Self, what would go nicely in a soup with these?" The bins of potatoes beckoned. Waxy fingerlings, thin-skinned reds and round Yukon Golds spilled out of their wooden crates. The purple beauties were plump and long, and I pictured a lovely lavender puree with the white parsnips.



When I paid for the parsnips and potatoes, I noticed a woman with much smaller parsnips that I hadn't seen. When I got home and looked up some info on them, I found out that smaller is better because they grow a fairly woody core when they get large. So be sure to cut it out. I also read that parsnips can get soggy when boiled so I solved that by filling a steamer basket first with the cubed potatoes and enough water to almost cover them, then I placed the 'snips on top of the taters. That way they steamed while the taters simmered. Probably not really necessary, since I was making soup, but I wanted to try it out. A final cooks note: I used three potatoes to the 4 parsnips pictured above.

Pureed Purple Potato and Parsnip Soup
4 large or 8 small parsnips, peeled and cored (if necessary) and cut into chunks
3 large purple potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1" piece of ginger, peeled and chopped (Or 1 teaspoon dry ground ginger)
1 onion, diced
3-4 cups chicken stock
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup half-n-half or whole milk
salt to taste

garnish:
8 oz. sour cream
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley leaves

As mentioned above, fill a steamer basket in a pot with cubed potatoes, fill with enough water to almost cover and top with parsnips. Cover and cook until parsnips and potatoes are soft. Meanwhile, in a large pot, heat olive oil over medium high. Add garlic, ginger and onion and cook until softened. When pots & snips are ready, drain them well and add to the big pot. Add enough chicken stock to cover by about a half inch or so. Add cayenne & white pepper. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer until veggies are very soft. Use an immersion blender to puree soup. (Or puree in batches in a regular blender - be careful with hot liquids, only fill half way.)

Add milk or half-n-half slowly, stirring as you go, until you have reached the desired creaminess. If the soup is too thick, add a bit more chicken stock. Reheat over medium low and add salt to taste.

For the garnish: puree sour cream and parsley in a food processor until well blended. Drizzle over soup for a striking color combo!