Get it While It’s Hot Bread Kitchen’s Cook-Off!

This Sunday, Tastebuds NYC and Hot Bread Kitchen are teaming up to host a charity cook-off like none other. I say that because I have no clue what kind of foods the contestants will come up with! The drill is this: make something using one of these two standbys of the nonprofit bakery, Hot Bread Kitchen: Organic Corn Tortillas or Nutty Granola. Bring it to Jimmy’s No. 43. Smile, serve, and see if you win prizes. But if you’re not up for being one of the bold chefs in this challenge (I’m guessing some will go savory with the tortillas, some for dessert with granola), you can still join the fun, and fundraising efforts. Come on down and see what happens on April 11th yourself!

Furthermore, I’m told from organizer Heidi Exline of Tastebuds NYC, that two chefs from Blue Hill restaurant are entered to compete in the cook-off. And of course, the kitchen at Jimmy’s No. 43 never misses making a dish of their own while hosting these events. Heidi told me that she got involved with Hot Bread Kitchen as a volunteer grant reader for Echoing Green, which funds social entrepreneurial ideas. Echoing Green had given Hot Bread Kitchen a fellowship to get off the ground. The concept behind Hot Bread Kitchen, which was founded by Jessamyn Waldman in 2007, is to provide a safe, fair and educational working environment for migrant women, who in turn share the bread-baking traditions of their cultures. Since then, Hot Bread Kitchen has employed women from Mexico, Morocco, Mali, Tibet, Chad, Afghanistan and Ecuador, and received the Best Small Business of the Year Neighborhood Achievement Award in 2009 by Mayor Bloomberg. And, the authenticity of their breads are unparalleled — certainly the handmade fresh corn tortillas.

blue corn tortillas from Hot Bread Kitchen

A $20 donation at the door to the Hot Bread Kitchen Cook-Off this Sunday will go directly to the nonprofit’s operating budget, as they enter their third year with a lot of acclaim, and expansions. Like, for example, the nutty granola, another ingredient choice in the cook-off, which I have actually never set my eyes on yet.

Meet the founders and learn more about the organization while getting a taste of the action on Sunday. There’s still time to enter, too, if you want to compete. To enter the cook-off, write to [email protected] with “Hot Bread Kitchen Cook-Off” in the subject line and await a confirmation email with more details. Be ready to bring your dish fully prepared; heated chafing dishes can be provided on-site. Best of luck!

Hot Bread Kitchen Cook-Off
with Tastebuds NYC
April 11, 2010, 4-7pm
Jimmy’s No. 43
43 East 7th St., Manhattan
write to [email protected] to enter (free)
$20 donation to attend