Latkes, the crispy, browned potato and onion pancakes beloved on Hanukkah, are widely adaptable to both toppings and pancake mixtures, it turns out. It’s also something that seems to inspire deep, somewhat spiritual, comfort, as well as fiery opinion as to how they are best made. (To echo co-judge Rachel Wharton’s question to the audience, how many swear by grating or shredding the potatoes?) As a non-Jew growing up in a heavily Jewish part of New Jersey, I didn’t eat latkes at home. But thanks to my childhood friends and neighbors — particularly Julie Stein’s family, who let me join their Passover seders — I got to eat plenty of latkes, matzoh ball soups, and gefilte fish anyway, the latter of which I actually enjoyed, contrary to my young friends.

the line wrapped around to Flatbush Avenue outside of BAM

once inside, tasters eagerly dig in

Edible Brooklyn‘s recipe contest winner with her “Double Happiness” latkes

The latkes made by 16 chefs at BAM last night were certainly not my childhood neighbor’s potato pancakes, though. They’re my new friends and neighbors’! A standout of the night was a perfectly textured cake topped with five-spice duck confit by Dori Fern, who took the first prize in Edible Brooklyn’s latke recipe contest earlier this month. Joined by her son, the home cook served up an entry that was every bit as impressive as the restaurants’ offerings alongside.

one of five latke iterations by BAMCafe

a reuben-styled latke by Mae Mae Cafe

It was nearly impossible to choose whose latke was the best. Nobody did the same thing, and all were delicious. Many restaurants made two different takes on the cakes, and one restaurant, BAM’s own Cafe, made five. I savored The Vanderbilt‘s braised oxtail and pickled pepper-topped sweet potato cake and their inventive way of stuffing aged cheddar inside a would-be traditional potato one; Mile End‘s reliably delectable charcuterie championed a schmaltz-fried cake with duck pastrami, duck cracklings and tart applesauce; and I wanted eat the umami-rich maitake and chanterelle mushrooms off of all of Kutsher‘s perfectly schmaltzy potato cakes with herbed ricotta topping.

the esteemed judges include (left to right): Mitchell Davis, Karen Brooks Hopkins, Mimi Sheraton, and Rachel Wharton

But in the end, the judges’ tastebuds collectively hovered around three favorites: Telepan‘s inventive celery root and potato latkes with a tangy and luscious green apple sour cream; Great Performances‘ hilarious duo of “The 99%” latke with a mini hot dog, and “The 1%” latke with a quail egg and caviar; and Almond‘s excellent latke topped generously with house-smoked bluefish that one of its sous chefs recently caught on Long Island. Those were the judges’ third, second, and first-place picks, respectively.

Bill Telepan (left), serving his winning latkes while NY Times’ Melissa Clark (right) chows down

The latke-loving audience got to vote, too. Once the ballots were counted, the favorite latke of the populace turned out to be third place-winning Telepan’s.

I have never eaten at Telepan but if someone asks me out there, I would not say no! From the many frenzied food festivals and benefits that I’ve haunted, I’ve enjoyed seeing this restaurant almost always show up to represent, with one of the best darn things in the room. So I was thrilled when its friendly chef/owner Bill Telepan agreed to share his celery root and potato pancake recipe for this post. Equal parts shredded celeriac (celery root) and potato, this is just what the more adventurous latke-maker was looking for, yet its taste is subtle enough to please the most die-hard latke purist. Enjoy — but there’s just one catch: Bill didn’t include a recipe for his green apple sour cream topping, saving that as a chef’s secret. Let your own latke imagination run with that one!

Bill Telepan’s Potato and Celery Root Latkes
(makes 6 servings)

3/4 lb Idaho potatoes
3/4 lb peeled celery root
1 small onion
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons salt

Using the large hold on a box grater, grate potatoes, celery root and onions into a mixing bowl. Squeeze the grated potatoes, celery root and onion and save the liquid. After the liquid has settled, pour off the water and save the starch which has settled to the bottom.

Beat the eggs and add them to the reserved starch and combine well. Add the flour and salt and combine with the shredded vegetables. Form into cakes and pan-fry in a saute pan in a generous amount of vegetable oil.

Cost Calculator, Health Factor, and Green Factor ratings respectfully omitted for guest recipes

So I’m thankful to SF Food Wars for putting on the event, and having me tag along as a volunteer. This event was created by Jeannie Choe in 2009, and over the past two years has held almost a dozen amateur cooking competitions in various foods. Pies, mac ‘n cheese, “breakfast,” and salsa have each lured some twenty cooks and their best concoctions out of their kitchens to compete. Geared with prizes from food businesses in the Bay Area, and in partnership with CUESA (The Center for Urban Education About Sustainable Agriculture), its main benefactor, SF Food Wars usually sell out to the public weeks in advance.

SF FoodWars’ creator/host, Jeannie Choe

Sound a bit familiar, Brooklynites? Dirty secret: Jeannie relocated to San Francisco four years ago from our turf. A few months later, she got “bitten by the food bug,” and put her mind to figuring out how to throw a cook-off in her new community, even calling me up for advice. Well, she did — with flying colors. Most impressive is that all of the contestants are encouraged to use local produce thanks to CUESA’s involvement, and the fact that the events are held at the historic Ferry Terminal Market Building in San Francisco, home to a farmers’ market two days of the week.

The colors, spices, and sweet tastes of summer were all proudly on display for this salsa-themed food fight, as tasters searched for that perfect combination of refreshment and heat. Although the Californians sure know a proper salsa from pico de gallo, there was still quite a variety of flavors and fruity add-ins along the tables to taste. A quick tour of some!

a salsa with julienned Gravenstein apples, a Sonoma County specialty

with peaches, cucumbers, avocado crema – oh my!

this seriously herbal salsa verde with kick took the judges’ second place

this was not the only nod to a mom’s recipe on display

a salsa god good-luck charm

I got to taste them all with the other volunteers, and we debated our favorites. Turns out, people look for a lot of different things when it comes to this dip. Some like it smoky, some like it roasty, some like it sweet-forward with fruit, some like it thick, and several liked it with bits of grilled corn on Sunday, too. It’s a totally subjective thing, and by the time I reached the end of the line, I was pretty confused about whatever it was I liked in a salsa — my tastebuds were tingling with all of these and more.

But one salsa that really struck me was perhaps one of the simplest. It was the kind of thing that I just wanted to keep dipping my chip into, and could see myself doing for hours at length at a party. It was Team Hellepenos’ “Salsa Delfina,” named after the brother-and-sister team’s great-grandmother, upon whose recipe it was based. It was just so bright-tasting with good, red tomatoes and lime, and there was enough finely chopped cilantro swimming in the juices to make it half-green (pictured at top).

Ceviche Verdura, the judges’ 1st place choice

and the winners of the people’s choice 1st place vote

I voted for this salsa, not really thinking it would be flashy enough to win. But lo and behold, when all was said and done — sponsors thanked by Jeannie, and judges introduced — Salsa Delfina won the biggest award of the day, the audience vote’s number one choice! In the judges’ category, four local food experts decided upon Team DoomBunny en Fuego’s “Ceviche Verdura,” another great red salsa topped with sharp cotija cheese and lime (no fish added; the name was a creative way of describing the vegetables’ good soak in lime juice).

For the full list of other winners from this event and photos, see the SF Food Wars’ website. As a newcomer, I’m afraid I can’t say much about the contestants and their concoctions as I’d like, but I’m taking notes on salsa-making thanks to them. One good rule of thumb that I was able to extract from both the first-place winning entries: let it marinate, at least overnight. Marry the flavors, and marinate some more. Maybe a pico de gallo will begin to look more like salsa after doing this, too.

Hosted by Kara Masi and friends, this annual cook-off will be held at Kelso Brewery, and has received a block party permit so as to close off the whole Clinton Hill, Brooklyn block. In order to spread the love, the event picks a different charity as a beneficiary each year, and we’ve just heard news that the Food Bank For NYC’s budget is in danger of being federally cut. It’s incredible that something like the proceeds of an amateur food cook-off might be able to fill the gap, but according to sources at the Food Bank, this event’s proceeds actually could. So come on down and nosh for all those in need of more of that while you’re there, every dollar of the $45 all-you-can-eat tickets will help out.

a scene from last year’s cook-off ’10

Kelly and Sonya Taylor (& family) of Kelso

I’m happy to enter for the third year as a *friendly* contestant in the Great Hot Dog Cook-Off, too. Among those who will also be sweating at the grill are a handful of returning champions from previous years’ hot dog cookoffs, and generally amazing people whom I’ve gotten to meet, like Nick Suarez (who went on to win a Throwdown with Bobby Flay for his hot dogs, Eugene Kim (a three-time competitor and place-winner), Noah Berland (of last year’s infamous ice cream dog), Erik Michielson, Laena McCarthy, and many others. Last year’s top dog winner Karol Lu will be making a special appearance, while not competing herself this year.

a crazy dog from ’07

co-host Melissa Sands tending to the grill

another good-looking bite

the “maki dog”

While I’m wondering what everyone else will make this year to top themselves from the last, I’ve got my own hot dog plan pretty much set. In the past four years (between co-hosting and competing in this event), I’ve made maki-sushi rolls with veggie dogs, “baked brie” hot dogs with buttery pastry and raspberry jam, dogs glazed with hoisin sauce and served in steamed buns, and last year’s creation, a hot dog served in a hollowed cucumber half, and smeared with green curry mayonnaise, chopped peanuts and cilantro. Clearly, I’m not a fan of using regular hot dog rolls.

My hot dog this year will be a doozy. The bun will be… a surprise that I’m not letting up until the day of. Hope to see you Saturday at the fest!

The multi-faceted event is deserving of its outdoor music festival-esque name: in a tented area of CookOut NYC, there will be a homemade kimchi contest, a cookoff with foods made with (his) kimchi (you get a free gallon to go crazy with), kimchi making demonstrations, and a possible kimchi-eating contest, perhaps. No word yet on whether Mama Oh will be making a special guest appearance, but you can count on Kheedim running the show.

This is where you guys come in: Want to enter either the homemade kimchi contest, or the cook-off where you can come up with any dish using kimchi? Time to sign up! And for that, you’ll get access to the entire fest, too.

Okay, more details. Kimchi isn’t quite as hard to make as it sounds. In fact, that and other lacto-fermented pickles, like sauerkraut, was the only way many cultures in cold, harsh climates stayed alive. It can’t be impossible! But it does take a little figuring out, and some finesse, if you’re up to impressing the judges on July 10. So, below I’ve gathered a few previous posts on my kimchi-making or cooking-with exploits, for a little reference. The rest (like, “Will I have a grill or just a table to work on at Governor’s Island?”) you can just ask Kheedim. Write to inquiries@kimchirules.com, or just check out the info on that site!

my soon-to-be kimchi

Just kim’d a head of napa cabbage yesterday, and will have at least five days to wait before checking it out!

Kimchee Roasted Potatoes (with homemade kimchee)

Kimchee, Spinach and Goat Cheese Frittata (with Mama O’s Kimchi)

and listen to Kheedim talk about Kimchipalooza on Let’s Eat In

Most meat-lovers may never come around to this determination, but stranger things have happened. In lieu of animal fat, I created a rich, dark roux as a base and peppered the whole thing with plenty of vegetables for a depth of flavor. The resulting cassoulet (yes, I’m still going to call it that) has a pleasing, sweet-savory taste and velvety mouthfeel that is quite addicting in a totally harmless way.

Is it really that non-traditional? Well, maybe not if you consider that this dish, like paella or gumbo, has very homely origins. Cassoulet, like many other types of humble, vegetable-based foods, was traditionally a repository for any scraps of meat and fat one could spare, giving the cooked beans a hearty flavor. Sausages (themselves a repository for said bits) are common to find buried among the beans, and if observing the last two years of the Greenmarket Cassoulet Cook-Off at Jimmy’s No. 43 says anything, duck fat is seen as an inseparable ingredient among modern interpreters, too.

usual suspects: carrot, celery and parsnip

I know, sounds delicious, right? But I also know (from being one of those cook-off contestants, and from talking to the others) that those ingredients can jack up the cost of your cassoulet by an egregious margin. Especially when you’re making a very large portion of it, which you might as well do even when not serving a huge room, since it takes a while to cook. And that’s one area I’m not going to cut corners on — cooking it properly. There’s little attraction to “al dente” beans.

green flageoulets, a prized bean for cassoulet

How long they need to cook and how much liquid should you add varies depending on the beans. If they aren’t tender by the time you finish the recipe below, add some more cooking liquid and give it some more time. Keep in mind that if your beans are larger than the fancy, French flageoulet beans that I’m using here (or smaller, such as with Navy beans), you might need less of both. Just don’t use canned beans here; you want the beans to soak in all the flavors of the cassoulet as they cook.

butter and flour are combined over low heat

half an hour later, as chestnut roux

Next step was developing the roux, which can be done while chopping or doing other things — just give the pot a scrape of your spatula now and then. Roux, an essential French cooking technique that gives way to all types of sauces afterwards, is just flour, butter and stirring. As the butter bubbles, the flour slightly burns, or caramelizes, to any desired depth of color (and flavor). I stopped stirring once mine had reached a deep “chestnut” brown. Its smell kind of reminds me of buttered burnt toast.

crimini mushrooms

Then, it’s a matter of building flavor upon flavor. I wanted some of the vegetables in this to stand out more than others, so I cooked down my carrot-onion-celery mirepoix for quite a while before adding the next ingredient, mushrooms. I liked the idea of having chunky vegetables strewn about, so I chopped these into sizable wedges. For about half of the cooking liquid, I poured from a mason jar of fresh tomato sauce that I’d canned over the summer; cooking down a couple fresh tomatoes right into this mixture should do instead just fine. One of the last additions before popping this big pot into the oven was a couple handfuls of big chunks of raw squash. These cooked down to incredibly delicious, loose sponges of orange when it was all served up. They’re a delight to come across, and I found myself picking them all onto my plate when it was time for seconds.

deglazed, and ready to bake

If you’re not convinced after trying this recipe that it is the most incredible vegetable cassoulet you’ve ever had (or the best cassoulet of any kind), then come down and share your recipe at the 3rd Annual Cassoulet Cook-Off, on January 22. It’s a benefit for the Greenmarket, and I’ll be one of the judges this time. Don’t worry, I’ll gladly eat your pork or duck fat, if that’s what you go with!

Incredible Vegetable Cassoulet
(makes 4-6 servings)

1 cup dry beans (preferably cannellini beans or flageoulets)
1 carrot, finely diced
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 stalks celery, finely diced and keeping the leaves, if any
1 small parsnip, peeled and finely diced
about 1/2 lb butternut, acorn, buttercup, or similar winter squash, chopped to coarse, 1-2″ pieces
about 1/4 lb crimini mushrooms, quartered
1 cup apple cider
1 cup fresh tomato sauce (or substitute 2-3 fresh tomatoes, chopped)
3 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
1/2 bunch fresh thyme
a few sage leaves, chopped (optional)
a sprig rosemary, chopped (optional)
1-2 cups fresh breadcrumbs (optional)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
for the roux:
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Soak beans overnight. Drain. Pour boiling water over beans to cover by at least 3 inches and cover. Let sit for 1 hour, and drain.

In a large, cast-iron Dutch oven (or “cassoulet”), melt the butter and add the flour. Keep heat on low and stir occasionally for about 30 minutes, until roux is a medium, reddish chestnut-brown.

Add the onion, carrot, celery and parsnip. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, on low heat. Add an extra tablespoon of butter if mixture feels very dry and is sticking too much to the bottom of the pot. Cook until all vegetables have reduced in size and released most of their juices, so that the pot is becoming dry again. Add the mushrooms, garlic, and the herbs. Once mushrooms have softened a little and garlic is fragrant, deglaze pot with the apple cider. Add the squash, bay leaves, tomato sauce, generous pinches of salt and pepper, and the drained beans.

Place cover on pot and transfer to a preheated 325-degree oven. Cook for 2 hours. Remove lid and check beans for tenderness. If beans are not soft enough and mixture is becoming too dry, add a little more tomato sauce or vegetable stock and cover again. If not, sprinkle the optional breadcrumbs across the top of the cassoulet, season with salt and pepper, and cook uncovered for another 15-20 minutes or until breadcrumbs are golden. Let cool a few minutes before serving.

Cost Calculator
(for 4-6 servings)

1 cup fancy green flageoulet beans: $2.99
1 carrot: $0.25
2 stalks celery: $0.35
1 parsnip: $0.40
1 onion: $0.40
about 1/4 acorn squash: $1.00
about 1/2 bunch thyme (from an “herb wreath” bought over Christmas): $1.00
1/4 lb crimini mushrooms: $3.00
1 cup apple cider: $0.50
1 cup homemade canned tomato sauce: $0.75
4 tablespoons butter: $0.50
flour, salt, pepper, bay leaves, garlic: $0.50

Total: $11.64

Health Factor

Three brownie points: This is the kind of meal in one pot that you can be really proud of. Buttery roux and all, most of the natural starches that lend to a rich texture come from the beans themselves, as well as the other veggies. From the beans, you’ll get protein and fiber aplenty, as it still holds a healthy majority to everything else in the dish (no pun intended). Vitamin A, C and antioxidants will power through those carrots, celery, and your fresh tomatoes. Parsnips are great sources of potassium, mushrooms are full of selenium, and the winter squash has pretty much all of the above. Cooking most of these vegetables decreases their potency of many of the vitamins mentioned, admittedly, but perhaps that’s more reason to pack this dish it with large quantities of them.

Green Factor

Six maple leaves: It’s getting grim at the Greenmarket, and for local vegetables that aren’t totally frostbitten yet. You could fill the recipe with just root vegetables, I suppose, but onions and celery really round it out well. So I got those from an average grocery store, and they’re not local nor organic. However, the tomato sauce, which really helps to add a brightness to the overall flavor, was from fresh tomatoes I put up in the summer when I got Jersey beefsteaks in bulk; and the apple cider from one too many cartons I bought in the fall. I guess this recipe is for the most part Greenmarket-friendly at this time of year — that is, easy to source locally in a pretty cold and snowy region.

Another weekend in New York, another cook-off to attend! However, this one’s for a brand-spanking new cause. Held at Jimmy’s No. 43 this Saturday, from 1-4pm, pots of chowder will be steaming up the back room in a seafood-filled fest to raise better awareness of what’s in that soup. This cook-off will be a benefit for the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance (NAMA) and its continuing efforts to bring seafood into the sustainable food discussion. A $10 donation will get you in the door to taste all the chowders, and will go right to the non-profit organization.

the little bundle of rooftop herbs that went into my simple salmon chowder

All in all, 7 people from our Fish Locally Collaborative attended Terra Madre. This included representatives from Tufts University, Penobscot East Resource Center, By Land and By Sea Project, Maine Local Foods Coalition, and Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (and NAMA of course). Our roles varied from networking at food/fish/farm related workshops, to organizing and speaking on panels, to participating in small group discussions. In general our roles were to learn and to share. We participated in a Fisher People’s conference where fishers from all over the world shared their experiences. I was able to share my experience coming from a four-generation fishing family and facing many of the same struggles shared by small-scale fishers around the world. The organizer of Slow Food International’s new campaign called Slow Fish identified four fishers (including me) to form an ad hoc committee and create language for Slow Fishes original ‘manifesto’ or campaign document. The document will be posted onto Slow Fishes website soon as a working document which ultimately will serve to guide the Slow Fish campaign. Our group of delegates also organized a By Land and By Sea Forum where farmers and fishers from around the world identified common ground and creative strategies to collaborate.

This past Monday, the 6th Annual Casserole Party was just as promised the biggest and best one yet. The casseroles were good, but what was truly golden was the giving community spirit from everyone there. This event was free and open to the public, and any donations received was purely optional. Yet between the 44 teams of chefs who entered their casseroles in the cook-off, its organizer Emily Farris, the Brooklyn Kitchen who held the event at their space, Brooklyn Brewery who donated beer, the judges, their appetites, and all the volunteers and fellow foodies who came, ate and helped out, we turned what could have been an average gluttonfest into fun, charitable mission that raised more than $1,000 for the Greenpoint Interfaith Food Team (GIFT) and their weekly soup kitchen efforts. Because everyone needs to eat!

I don’t think anyone left the event with that need wanting for the next day or so. We also managed to break a couple world records. The Universal Record Database guys were there, too, and documented two casserole-related records. If you haven’t seen them in action before, URD likes to record world records that haven’t been set yet, often before a live audience to witness the fact. (I currently hold the record for the “fewest times eating out in New York City in two years for a full-time New York City resident“.) So the first world record set at the Casserole Party was for “the most casseroles in one room,” which was forty-four. The rest of you casserole partyers out there, feel free to try and break that one at yours.

Emily Farris addresses the casserole-crazy crowd

Dan Delaney collects donations for the soup kitchen

The second was a spectacle: for the most casseroles tasted by one person in a minute. Hungry attendees were called upon to try setting this record. Two contestants raised their hands, and Noah Berland went for it first. When the clock started ticking, he went down the table of casseroles, snatching at bites of each with a pair of chopsticks until time ran out. He’d tasted twenty-five casseroles total. The next person who tried it was Rob Blatt. Rob did the same, although he used two big forks to stab and shovel the morsels down his mouth. His total was thirty casseroles tasted in one minute. It remains the world record now to date.

Video! Noah eats 25 casseroles in one minute

While those records were being recorded, everyone was getting their own tastes of these casseroles, and that included the judges. Our judges for the evening were: Universal Record Database dude Corey Henderson, host of Food Wars Camille Ford, and Greenpoint Reformed Church pastor/director of GIFT Ann Kansfield. Together, they ate, deliberated, and came up with their three top picks.

Before I reveal those winners, a quick look at other great entries we got to enjoy:

creative names were given honorable shout-outs

Karol Lu’s eggplant & macaroni bake

of course, someone made a dessert casserole

I can’t recall this one, but it sure looks good!

the judges taste their way through them all

we had live entertainment from Charlie Shaw & friends

Taylor from The Brooklyn Kitchen assists the tasting room

And now, for the moment of truth. As you already know, my cauliflower casserole didn’t make the judges’ top three. But which ones did? Here they are…

Third Place: Rob & Amber Blatt

Just a minute after eating the most casseroles in one minute, Rob and wife Amber won third place for their own! They made a cheesy, meaty, gooey and beer-y mac and cheese dish that I’m glad I got to taste. Rob and Amber together host and engineer the podcast Hey Brooklyn, so they’re no strangers to the fun local scene. I should note that Rob also pledged a dollar for every casserole he tasted in that minute to the event’s cause, and asked upon others to match it, which a few generous folks did.

Second Place: Biana Bakman

The judges loved the potent combo of crushed nachos with cheese in Biana’s “Bianaquiles,” a self-styled take on the classic Mexican breakfast dish chilaquiles. It’s one of the best types of casseroles the world has come up with, and Biana stayed true enough to it by including a homemade tomatillo sauce. All winners received various cookware donated by The Brooklyn Kitchen, by the way.

First Place: Kim and Andrew

It’s a first-time win for a first-time pair of cook-off contestants, Kim and Andrew! They entered another globally-inspired dish, which deliciously riffed on that Julia Child-made famous dish, Chicken Cordon Bleu. Inside their cheesy casserole dish (pictured at top) were chunks of chicken, ham and bread cubes congealed in a creamy pool of pure ooze. It was a real casserole lover’s casserole. And I’ve snagged the recipe for it from them, below. Dig in, and hope to see you at the next food benefit!

Chicken Cordon Bleu Bake
by Kimberly and Andrew

6 cups of your favorite stuffing recipe
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 cup milk
8 cups cubed cooked chicken (I boiled mine in a vegetable stock for about 7-10 min)
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3/4 pound sliced deli ham, cut into 1-inch strips
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese
3 cups (12 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

Prepare stuffing mixes according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large bowl,
combine soup and milk; set aside. Place chicken in a 2 quart casserole dish. Sprinkle
with pepper. Layer with ham, Swiss cheese, one cup Cheddar cheese, soup mixture and
stuffing. Sprinkle with remaining Cheddar cheese.

Cover and bake the casserole at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 10 to 15
minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Cost Calculator, Health Factor and Green Factor ratings respectfully omitted for guest recipes

It’s a simple conceit: peanut butter and jelly, America’s favorite sandwich combination, in America’s favorite dessert, pie. You could approach this in many ways, and one other person at the pie contest that I baked this for actually did, layering a peanut butter mousse with concord grape mousse in a thin crust. But the way I went about it was more in keeping with pie tradition than pb&j: I made a fresh fruit filling, and instead of just butter in the crust, added peanut butter, too.

I’m not sure why more pie crusts aren’t made with nut butters now. True, it took a lot of effort to roll out — I used about equal parts of peanut butter to cold butter chunks — but in the end, the peanutty flavor really came through, and the crust resembled the taste of a peanut butter cookie.

To be sure of this, I used a serious peanut butter made with just roasted peanuts. This is usually labeled “natural” peanut butter, and if you look at the ingredients, they should just be peanuts, and maybe salt. I had a jar of one such peanut butter called “Cream-Nut,” which I’d picked up at the Brooklyn Farmacy once (apparently their bookkeeper is from Michigan, where this longtime peanut butter company is based).

peanut butter and butter combine

And to assure the best possible “jelly” inside the crust, I used whatever fruit looked ripest from my CSA batch. In went a couple of red plums, a black plum, a peach, and an apple. It was a bit of a random assortment, I guess, and if only I hadn’t turned the concord grapes into “real” jam the night before, those might’ve gone in there, too. But it was a bright and juicy fruit medley jam as was, and to create a thicker, jam-like sauce, I added cornstarch to the sliced fruit before baking.

the fresh fruit filling: plums, peaches & apples from Red Jacket Orchards

What was my competition at the contest? I wish I’d gotten to taste them all to find out. This bake-off was a fundraiser for Greenpoint Open Studios, an event happening this weekend in Greenpoint to foster its thriving arts community. I’m not an artist nor do I live in Greenpoint, but this is a friendly cause I can get behind. Plus, I can’t resist a chance to show off a strange pie.

Neither could others, it seems. From “Margarita Pie” to a kimchee and spinach savory pie, there was a real freakshow of pies proudly on display. Not surprising that this is an artist community, huh?

bakers and tasters gather in the backyard of The Diamond bar

Veronica Chan & teammate with a jackfruit cream pie

Daniel Delaney & teammate with a shepherd’s pie

another interesting pie

who’s eating this Gilbert Grape pie?

Joann Kim, Greenpoint Open Studios organizer

I decided to get dinner before the winner was announced, but I’m told that the pie with maple-glazed bacon and pralines won first place. And rightly so, if presentation and effort are worth anything — that pie’s baker plated each bite-sized portion beautifully, making sure that every piece had a glistening slab of bacon placed on top like a slanted roof. It was artful, one could say.

“Peanut Butter Pie” with Plums, Peaches and Apples
(makes 1 9-inch pie)

for the filling
3-4 plums cut to wedges
2 peaches, cut to wedges
1 apple, cut to wedges
(or, substitute any fresh fruit you wish)
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch

for the crust
1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (preferably natural)
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2-3 tablespoons cold water
optional: sugar to sprinkle on top before baking

Make the crust: Combine the flour and salt. Using a pastry blender, your fingers or a food processor, cut the butter and peanut butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add water one tablespoon at a time and stop when the dough is malleable enough to form a ball. (If using food processor, slowly add water one tablespoon at a time to the mixture while pulsing it just until a ball is formed). Break into two balls. Cover them with plastic wrap and chill at least 30 minutes. (Crust can be made several hours beforehand.)

In a large bowl, combine the fruit with the sugar and cornstarch and mix well. Roll one pastry ball out and transfer to the bottom of a 9-inch pie pan. Fill with the fruit. Roll out top crust on a sheet of waxed or parchment paper, and carefully transfer peel off on top of the pie. Crimp edges to seal the pie shut, and poke holes throughout the top with a fork to ventilate the filling. Sprinkle the top of the pie with sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes, or until lightly browned on top.

It’s back to school time in the city, and it’s my favorite season for eating. Pumpkins and other winter squashes are fattening on the vine while heirloom tomatoes and outdoor barbecues are still going strong. It’s no wonder Just Food has chosen this time of year to hold its annual fundraiser feast, Let Us Eat Local. This year’s party is on September 16th, and it’ll be outside, at the South Street Seaport Water Taxi Beach. And it’s truly going to be the biggest, best, most delicious and inspiring one so far. I’d love for you to see in person. So once again, I’m holding a recipe contest where one food blogger will win a ticket, and more!

Last year, I called on bloggers to make a recipe focused on seasonal ingredients in order to win. This time, you’ll have a choice of which seasonal ingredient to use. Choose one veggie from the list to focus your recipe on (it can have other ingredients, too). Make it fresh and different, totally your own. And blog about it, sometime between now and September 10th. Be sure to take photos so that the judges can imagine eating the dish. Email me with the subject line “veggie tipsheets contest” to make sure that I know it’s up in the blogosphere, and I’ll pass it on to our judges (more on them below). If your recipe wins, you’ll get a general admission ticket to the Let Us Eat Local tasting event (a $175 value, tax-refundable), plus, your recipe will be included in Just Food’s upcoming Veggie Tipsheets book.

Just Food been working hard to provide home cooks like us with recipes and tips on how to use all the veggies you’ll see in season, or that’ll show up from your CSA. We realize there can be a mystery element to every batch. So they’re compiling them in a comprehensive book. Maybe you have a real flair for cooking eggplant, but are confused when it comes to okra. Pooling our ideas, we should be able to hit every ingredient in all sorts of delicious ways. The cookbook is looking for more recipes for the following fruits and veggies, so please choose one of the following to base your recipe on as your contest submission:

Plums
Blueberries
Currants
Nectarines
Elderberries
Harukei turnip (aka Japanese salad turnips)
Komatsuna
Lettuce
Orengo
Yukina savoy

There are your secret ingredients! Now, here are your honorable judges:

Jacquie Berger, Executive Director, Just Food: Jacquie is just the best. For a title with the word “executive” in it, she makes every part of her job look fun. And every member of the small staff at Just Food does every job all the time, so it won’t be a surprise to see her sitting table at a food fair or stuffing envelopes over homemade snacks at an office party.

Gabrielle Langholtz, Editor-in-Chief, Edible Manhattan & Edible Brooklyn: Gabrielle has been writing about and working for food in this city for decades. A former director for the Greenmarket and current editor of an even smaller organization than Just Food (the Edible magazines), she is a total hardworking hero. Good cook, too.

Rachel Wharton, Deputy Editor, Edible Manhattan & Edible Brooklyn: Fresh from winning a James Beard award for her “Back of the House” features in the magazine, Rachel is the spokeswoman for food in this town. She would also like to bike to Coney Island, drink vodka on the boardwalk and eat Russian food tonight.

Ben Sargent, Brooklyn Chowder Surfer & Lobster Roll Guy: Ben has been on a roll lately, with food gigs and more fun stuff in the works based on his wildly successful underground lobster roll-making circuit this past winter. He’s also the host of Heritage Radio Network’s Catch It, Cook It, Eat It, and a surfer. I’ve been a longtime fan of his adventures by land and sea.

So without further delay, let’s get blogging! Remember, the deadline to post your recipe is September 10th, and don’t forget to email me at cathy[at]noteatingoutinny.com, too. I’ll post a recap of every entry soon afterward with the winner announced.

If you’re not a blogger or simply can’t make it to the Let Us Eat Local event in NYC on the 16th, you can still partake in the good food celebration. We’ll be announcing a lineup of incredible prizes for the silent auction that will take place before, and during the fundraiser party. These will be posted to the Just Food site, and your money for winning any auction item will be donated straight to Just Food. Check out more about the festivities, and participating restaurants and sponsors here. Inside tip: Sixpoint will be brewing a beer made with Red Jacket Orchards‘ plums just for the event!

The Sixth Annual Great Hot Dog Cook-Off took place last Saturday, and what a competition we had! The little cook-off that began in Kara Masi’s backyard has blossomed into a full-blown block party in front of Kelso Brewery in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. As always, this event was a charity fundraiser for City Harvest, who received all of the proceeds from the 300 ticket sales. Kelso has been sponsoring the cook-off since the very first year, and last year held it inside (and on the streets outside) the brewery. This year, a deejay, announcer, ice cream sponsor (Adirondack) and hot dog (Hummel) sponsor were added. And there were twenty wildly different hot dogs on display from the contestants — including mine, a green curry mayo-slathered cucumber dog.

cookoff hosts Kara Masi and Kelly Taylor

I thought that a crisp, cold cucumber would be the perfect vessel for a hot, greasy grilled frankfurter in the middle of summer. They’re also abundantly in season right about now, and as it turned out, Eagle Street Rooftop Farm had a bumper crop of cukes at the very same time the cookoff was to take place. Not having any idea of my plans, its farmer Annie Novak asked if I needed cucumbers for anything: “I have too many!” she cried.

hollowed-out cukes for “hot dog buns”

It was serendipitous, and I couldn’t have guessed before receiving a whole crate full of fifty of them that the field cucumbers she’d grown were so sweet and juicy, and once halved and scooped of their seeds, would fit a grilled hot dog perfectly. I’ve never used a seeded cucumber half for stuffing anything with before, but now that I’ve tried this, I can’t see why anything else wouldn’t go well inside that pale green bowl. On top of the hot dog, I squirted a squiggle of Thai green curry-infused mayonnaise , sprinkled some crushed peanuts, and added a sprig of cilantro. A squirt of fresh lime juice, and it was served. So how did my hot dog do against everyone else’s? Let’s take a look at some of the others:

Nichelle Stephens made an “English Breakfast Dog” with bangers and bacon.

Karol Lu and teammate David Roderick made a Fried Pickle to the Slaw-ter Dog with coleslaw and a cornmeal-crusted fried pickle for garnish.

Ben Stein and Arin Kramer stuffed the insides of their hot dogs and called it a Tur-Dog-En.

Noah Berland made plum ice cream and served it on a homemade pain au chocolate (that’s a flaky, buttery chocolate croissant) “bun.” It had no hot dog to speak of!

Laena McCarthy made the Farm Dog with produce from Brooklyn Grange rooftop farm, and her own jam

Erik Michelson (not pictured) made a Swahili Dog inspired by his recent charity mission in East Africa, with spicy pickled lime sauce and homemade flatbread.

Two-time winner Eugene Kim made something excellent that was all gobbled up by the time I got to it.

Lots of people made hot dogs involving guacamole this year. I think about five folks had this idea!

brave contestants before a hungry line

the judges (six people chosen at random at the beginning of the event) taste and deliberate

That was a very quick run-through of the other dogs, as I was too steeped in my own grilling/cucumber assembly operations to get a full survey. As with previous years, contestants grill their hot dogs on location, and garnish them up and cut into bite-size pieces on the spot. Each entry is made before the attendant’s eyes, creating a fun spectacle, and lots of sweat. There are two rounds of this, with ten contestants in each one, so never a dull moment at the event. I had the misfortune of inheriting the same station that Noah and teammate Shunya had used in the first round, which was utterly trashed with melted ice cream and chocolate. Thanks to the many kind volunteers who cleaned up all this crap befrore I got started.

In the end, my cucumber dog didn’t receive honors from the judges, as did any of my friends’ dogs, except…

Karol and David, who won the grand prize for best dog in show! Congrats to the winners of the other categories, too — I couldn’t hear the explanations behind these awards too well above the crowd, but here they are:

BEST IN SHOW: Karol Lu & David Roderick

BETA DOG: Tailgate Joe

BEST WORKING DOG: Eric Friedman & Emily Rubenstein

BEST TOY DOG: Annie Conway

A three-year veteran of this cook-off, Karol finally got her revenge. This is one of the hot dogs that I actually got to taste, and Karol’s vinegary red cabbage coleslaw is just killer. The Southern-style fried pickle is totally David’s latest obsession. Combined, a perfect pairing, and a winning team. Congrats, guys. And let’s host another Food Obstructions soon — one of the five rules: must have a hot dog?

In the meantime, here’s my recipe for that cuke dog. Go crazy with it!

Green Curry Cucumber Dog
(makes 6 hot dogs)

6 hot dogs (preferably pork and beef blend)
6 6-inch cucumbers (or the length of your hot dogs)
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Thai green curry paste (can be found at most Asian markets)
6 long sprigs fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon crushed salted peanuts
juice of 1 lime

Halve the cucumbers lengthwise. Using a spoon, scoop out the seed pocket completely. Chill until use.

Combine the mayonnaise and green curry paste and about half the juice of the lime.

Assemble dog: place hot dog inside the cucumber. Squeeze the cury mayo on top as you would ketchup or mustard. Sprinkle with crushed peanuts, add the cilantro sprig, and squeeze a squirt of the lime. Enjoy!

Cost Calculator
(for 6 hot dogs)

6 cucumbers (at $1.80/lb from Eagle Street Rooftop Farm): $3.25
6 hot dogs (donated free at this event, but guesstimating): $5.00
1 tablespoon green curry paste (from a can for $2.99): $1.00
6 cilantro sprigs (at $1.29/bunch): $0.25
1 tablespoon crushed peanuts: $0.20
1 lime: $0.33

Total: $10.03

Health Factor

Five brownie points: The lone vegetarian in the crowd that I knew of was looking around asking, where’s the veggie dogs? Who made a veggie dog? No one at the cook-off did. But there was an ice cream dog, and there was mine, which certainly had a vegetable. You could say this is also a low-carb hot dog, since there’s no starchy bun to speak of. I just thought it was yummy.

Green Factor

Five maple leaves: Half and half. I used Annie Novak’s Brooklyn rooftop-grown cucumbers for this, which are pesticide-free as well as grown with love. She even delivered them to my door while making other errands. The hot dogs were donated by Hummel, and we can’t thank them enough for their generosity. But they were conventional hot dogs.

From the archives: Previous’ years hot dog creations and recaps

The Baked Brie Dog
The Maki Dog
The 2008 Great Hot Dog Cook-Off
The 2009 Great Hot Dog Cook-Off/The Hapa Dog