RECAP – MAD CAP – The Brooklyn Chocolate Experiment

What a day! What a life. It is the day after and I feel blessed to have been a part of The Brooklyn Chocolate Experiment.  For the Beer Experiment I was inexperienced – I finished, but it was too quick. And I am not sure she had any fun, but the cigarette afterwards made me feel like a man. Wait, what the hell am I talking about?

Doling out the Goods

It was game day my friends and all the competitors brought their A-games. Normally, I look for Bonnie Suarez to be leading the pack, but she had her equals. This was easily the best food we had at any competition. There were no stinkers. No dishes that lead me to believe I would be going to the hospital. The chefs delivered.  In kind, we responded. Nick and I vowed to give something to everybody who participated.  I hope everyone loved their “Beat Me or Eat Me” T-Shirt. You can wear it anywhere from the gym to your next PTA meeting. I can’t please everyone all the time, except for my girlfriend (fat chance). Seriously, the chef’s well-being and enjoyment are very important to us.  Even though, I told Nick that people have to “Suck it Up,” I was totally referring to something else. Not weed – smart ass!

Team Peanut

I was really impressed by some dishes that were under my radar. Can you believe how good the vegetarian chili was? Team Peanut, you stole my vegetarian girlfriend’s heart. I am not joking. If you read this, can you post the recipe so this “dumbass” can know make it. I had her thinking that you could only make chili with meat. Plus, I was absolutely convinced that the last thing I want to eat at an “Experiment” was a tame old brownie – but it was great. Who knew that Attic Sugar Bakery was for real? I like the crisp top the most. I feel texture is often overlooked.

Attic Sugar Bakery and their Hazelnut Brownies

We gave the Nick and Theo prize to Rebecca Marx and Pervaiz Shallwani. I thought that their hush puppies were very good and the crunch of the cereal benefitted them tremendously. (On a side note, if you win the “Nick and Theo” prize, thank BOTH Nick and Theo.)  Alright, I have to give some space to one of my favorite competitors, Bonnie Suarez. I know she is Nick mom. I have been to her house – duh. But she can really cook. Her dish was a complete pleasure. A dish that was subtle, that still managed to stand out at a food competition.

I want to give a shout out to two of my sentimental favorites: The Righteous Burn Pirates and The Working Class Foodies!!! First, WCF’s dish was a total save. They actually had a colossal shit show trying to make marshmallows for their original idea. Yet, they still pulled off a surprisingly good dish. Alas, not a winner, but the Creme Anglaise was very well done. Second, The Pirates, the idea was great, but I think that the conditions were a challenge for the dish. With that said, I have the upmost respect for them. Their desire and sweat is hard to match.

Sara Haines from the Today Show tasting the "Burn"

I waited to talk about the big winners until the end. They got tons of good press already. ROOPA, way to go kiddo. She got married and brought the hurt. Who knew she could do it. That was some ice cream, and homemade cones… Then, the Pig in Drag was just perfect. The meat was well-cooked and the sauce was perfectly seasoned. Tremendous dish guys. I hope to see you both at the next one.

Lei Takahashi - "Pig in Drag"

yours truly

Roopa Sweeps Audience and Judges First Place

With that said, we still do not know what we are going to do next. We have some ideas. So until then, keep experimenting!!!

The Brooklyn Chocolate Experiment Results:

Judges Award

1st – Roopa Marcello – Thai Chocolate Ice Cream
2nd –  Bonnie Suarez – Chocolate Black beans with cauliflower and pork belly
3rd –  Attic Sugar Bakery – Hazelnut Brownies

Honorable Mention Sweet  -   Alyssa Lees – Deconstructed Truffles
Honorable Mention Savory  - Lei Takahashi – “Pig in Drag”

Nick and Theo Prize –  Pervaiz Shallwani + Rebecca Marx – Chocolate Hush Puppies

Audience Award

1st –  Roopa Marcello – Thai Chocolate Ice Cream
2nd –  Lei Takahashi – “Pig in Drag”
3rd –  Team Peanut – Chocolate Chipotle Chili

Recap RoundUp:

• Fork in the Road
• Raspberry Eggplant
• Time Out
• MetroMix
• Smith & President
• Foodzie
• Always Hungry
• Amy Blogs Chow
• Thin Crust Deep Dish
• Experimental Culinary Pursuits

The Brooklyn Chocolate Experiment!

I am truly excited for The Brooklyn Chocolate Experiment. I was nervous about the Beer Experiment, and I was worried about lactose intolerance for the Cheese Experiment. For the Chocolate Experiment, I am feeling energized – in a good way. It has been a hectic day as we have had some last minute contestants get in under the wire. Some contestants emailed me their final dishes, WOW, I am psyched to try them. Yes, they are experimental, but I can see them working out in a really good way. This might be the best group of dishes I have seen. I am handicapping the dishes in my head. This will be the best cook-off we have ever thrown (sorry beer and cheese).

Let me not forget, and let me give this news it’s own paragraph – The NBC Today Show is bringing a crew to film the festivities. I am finally going to  be famous, by hook or by crook! What the hell does that expression mean anyway?

Plus, we are constantly getting more great prizes to give away. We’ve got a chocolate of the month certificate from Ricard Chocolat, four copies each of La Maison du Chocolat and Jacques Torres’ A Year in Chocolate from Abrams Books, gift certificates, limited edition skateboards, more chocolaty goodness and of course, CASH. There is chocolate all over my apartment right now – all to be given away. My girlfriend had to stop me from peaking inside the sealed  deluxe chocolate pack from Taza.

I hope to see the 11 people who read this blog on Sunday at the Bell House. If you are one of those lost souls who accidentally stumble upon my blog looking for a photo of a penguin cake, welcome, and check out The Brooklyn Chocolate Experiment. It’s worth the trip.

I will see you there!!!

One Year Later…

How Am I Doin?

I realized last night (when I started this post it was “last night”) that it had been a year since I began this quixotic quest to recover.  Recover basically after I lost it all. This has been no easy task. I got so close to owning my own business that sometimes I lose sleep at night thinking about it. I have had so many restless nights that my light sleeping Girlfriend is more tired than she needs to be.

What could have been a terrible year has turned out to be surprisingly uplifting. I was just thinking about my choice of word, uplifting. I feel more positive about my future even though I do not show it for fear of ruining my reputation as a neurotic Jew. I will admit that most of it is due to my incredibly supportive, super patient Girlfriend.

the crowning of last year's king

The reason for looking back is that last night was the Casserole Crazy contest at Brooklyn Label. A year ago I was introduced to the world of competitive cooking and was anointed Casserole King. Though I did not win last night’s casserole contest, I realized later on (much later on) that I didn’t care about winning. All I had to do was look around and see how it has all changed for the better.  I was happy that my friend won the contest. A friend I did not have a year ago. I am writing about it on a blog that I did not have a year ago. A year ago I lived alone in Manhattan. Now, I am in an apartment that I share with the Girlfriend in BROOKLYN. This makes me really happy. Is this getting sappy yet? I could get a lot worse. I mean, the new apartment is filled with mosquitoes and it is October.

To be honest, I thought that I would have a clear direction by now, that I would be laser focused on a single challenge. Yet, I feel constantly pulled in different directions. I have the cooking competitions, freelance catering gigs, underground restaurant work, paté entrepreneur, consulting, etc. It might seem great to have unique challenges present themselves constantly, but the grass in always greener. The idea of one solid paycheck is tempting. It would ease my worried heart. I live in New York, not South Dakota. You need a good paycheck. How else am I going to eat well? My friends, I like to eat well….

Overall, I’m happy-ish and that is alright for now.

Kentucky Fried Casserole - yum

 

 

Happy National Chocolate Day

What an appropriate day to announce The Brooklyn Chocolate Experiment. I am excited to let everyone know that it is taking place November 15th. This is going to be the best one yet as we are collaborating with Food52’s Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs. The judges are going to be fantastic, the food, the freebies, the prizes – Simply the best.

So what is the best gift idea for the chocolate-obsessed in your household? Besides a fudge shower (whatever that is), it’s tickets to the Chocolate Experiment.

My Girlfriend loves chocolate AND cats, what am I to do?

Girlfriend Loves Cats Too Much

The Brooklyn Cheese Experiment – I am still feeling my whey…

Man o Man,

I am still recovering from The Brooklyn Cheese Experiment. I cannot believe I was jealous of Nick when I saw that beer in his hand and it was only 12:15. I asked him, “Dude where did you get that?” (despite the fact that we were standing next to a bar with two bartenders behind it). That is how it all started at The Brooklyn Cheese Experiment, the premier food sport event of the United States, quite possibly the world. If I am exaggerating, please prove me wrong.

Within an hour of asking Nick about his beer, I was already two into my day, and I was telling the cheftestants to, “Get your shit together!” Can we be serious for a moment?  I love the chefs, really, they are the great part of these events. I relate to these people who are willing to toil and sweat in their kitchen determined to make a great dish, win the adulation of the audience, take home the prizes, and achieve COOK OFF GLORY…

Sadly, not everyone can win. Nick and I first decided to do these events because we wanted to make the chefs feel appreciated. We were so happy to get the chefs their own bucket of free beers, top that with free vodka drinks, and melt on top of that a table filled with 20 pounds of cheese. Frankly, I am getting a little nauseous just thinking about it. Because by the time the event was over, I had no idea how many drinks I had. That is how you know that you have had too much to drink.

Nick and I drove to the event discussing the possible winners from the entry form submissions. It’s funny how what is on paper is ever so slightly (or vastly ) different from reality. As we pull up to The Bell House, it finally hit me.  I finally got excited. It is a great feeling to know that 350 people are about to show up ready to have a good time. From that point on, time started to move quickly.

When we entered the Bell House, Will (the General Manager) is on the machine that lifts him to the ceiling so he can change light bulbs, and all of sudden I am distracted by the desire to have one of those machines. Focus. Time started to race, the video cameras got set up, photos start to be taken, the chefs started to show up, some were late (some were very fucking late). My sweet girlfriend arrived, and all was right with the world.

My girlfriend looked fresh as a daisy in her new, “Beat Me or Eat Me” t-shirt available for ONLY $15.  Get yours today, they’re going fast.  Why wasn’t Nick wearing his? I think I need to make him a t-shirt with a tie clip on it.

Anyway, the event started to gain some traction once the judges began to arrive. This crop of judges was so friendly and nice. Andrew Knowlton was curious to know if the contestants were versed in proper food handling. I tried to reassure him that our chefs have only the finest sensibilities. I believed that to be true until… I saw a finger used as a spatula.  No need to name names here, but for the love of god – use utensils to spread out your food people!

Back to the story at hand, I watched as the judges patiently sifted through the dishes to pick their favorites. They chose Bonnie Suarez’s cold tomato ricotta soup with cheese cracker for first place. The soup was fantastic, and my personal favorite. One day, I look forward to competing against her. I think I could take her. I am scared just writing that sentence. You do not talk smack to Bonnie Suarez if you hope to survive to see another day.

Then came ‘The Walk’. This is where Will, Nick, and I try everyone’s dish to determine the scope of the contest and pick our favorite. It is one of the highlights of the event, as we all have too much fun. We chose Alyssa Lees’ puff with Blue Cheese and Fig. It was tougher than you think to pick just one.  We only have one prize to give, but there were honorable mentions:

• Anu Ogirala’s Indian Delight
• Frankie Celenza’s Vespa,
• Cathy Erway’s Homemade Ricotta,
• David and Karol’s Mini Burgers

You all deserve jars of Peck’s Paté, not yet available for retail sale (but soon god dammit).

Next, everyone on stage for the Miss America moment. I like this part. I get to speak on the mike in front of an audience who has been softened by beer for over three hours. I always hope this will make me sound funnier. People complain that I go on forever on stage, but I have to thank the sponsors. How do you think we get such great prizes?  Well, the audience voted and they chose a very enthusiastic team for first place: Righteous Burn. They made an Asian inspired shaved beef cheese steak served atop a toast mini Eggo waffle. I thought there dish was great, but I told them next time: make your own waffles…no Eggos ever again! I am such a hard ass, but I am trying to make you better. I hurt you because I love you.

Anyway, the after party was a blur of free cheese, butter, and vodka. Sounds just like college in Vermont minus the copious amounts of weed. It looked as if cheese exploded all over the front room, a yellow sock of love. Did everyone have some of the cloth bound cheddar cheese? Awesome! I hope all the contestants enjoyed themselves.

In a moment of pure joy, afterwards, my girlfriend and I joined Nick and the other Suarezes for a lazy susan meal of Chinese food at Lucky Eight. I love Lucky Eight. I have been going for years and apparently Nick’s family goes as well. It is so nice to go with people who eat meat (no offense to my favorite herbivore). Papa Suarez ordered two of everything as if we just came out of the desert, and of course we ate as if we just came out of the desert. I cannot think of a moment where I have ever turned down Chinese food. After eating and drinking all afternoon, this meal was a lot for my system. I had a shut down. I had to drive home with the windows down low.

I’ll post photos  soon, but for now you can find some on all these recaps:

• Always Hungry
• Bier Magazine
• Blondie and Brownie
• Chow
• Not Eating Out in New York
• Vermont Cheese News
• Village Voice
• Amateur Foodie Adventures
• Experimental Culinary Pursuits
• Young and Hungry

THE BROOKLYN CHEESE EXPERIMENT

Guess what photo my girlfriend found?

I had a dream last night: I came through a mist to a room full of lactose intolerant people sucking back cheese inspired dishes. It was a nightmare. It wasn’t a mist. Oh no, it was something much worse…it was the gas from their collective intolerant asses.

I just repeated that line on my very tolerant girlfriend. It got the thumbs down. But I haven’t done a post forever. I have to break through the summer malaise. (Beside my friend Ted, did you know that Jimmy Cater never actually said malaise?) It has been a summer of ups and downs. Any line would have been fine, right?

Just got home from a Maine vacation and I am excited for The Brooklyn Cheese Experiment. I know it is 15 days away, but I have so much to do for the event. If  you haven’t heard, Nick and I are doing the Brooklyn Cheese Experiment on September 13^th at the Bell House.

Also, Poster Dude from the last event, The Brooklyn Beer Experiment, has taken on the web site. It looks fucking great. Nick and I are starting to look like professional people. The new website is www.thefoodexperiments.com. We even designed some t-shirts to leave a lasting mark.

I almost forgot, Andrew Knowlton from Bon Appetite and Iron Chef America has agreed to judge the event. You could not ask for better. I am quite proud. The Beer Experiment was our baby, but I am beginning to think that The Cheese Experiment is going to be a topper.

Rain Drops Keep Falling on my Head

Well, you might assume that I have found other interests outside my blog. Not True.

I have been busy moving, painting, packing, unpacking, repeat. It has been an instructive three weeks on how to control my temper.

The reason for breaking my silence – I am competing today in a cook-off. It’s a grill-off to benefit Slow Food NYC.  Which means I need to use sustainable/local ingredients. I invite you to come and check it out at Water Taxi Beach, where it is not raining. It is a beautiful overcast day.

Instead of competing against Nick Suarez, the recent Honcho of Hot Dogs (apparently he does not like the title), we are competing together as a team. We have a dish that I think will stand out. Jerked pork belly with fava bean pesto and fried shallots.

God forbid, if we do not win…

Brooklyn Beer Experiment: The Slide Show

Look I have no frickin’ idea how to put a slideshow on my blog. My Girlfriend is asking me to figure it out. That is not right. I am happily a techtard. So now what I am going to do is use a link, but I think it would look cooler if it was on my site.  Adding a Hyperlink:  PHOTOSHOW

Thank you and have a nice day

1st Annual Brooklyn Beer Experiment: Say it ain’t over…

I am going to start this post with an apology. While on stage, I forgot to thank my girlfriend publicly for doing all the work she did to make a wonderful website for the event. I think she deserves a ‘Webby.”

Wow, what a day it was. I could not believe all these talented Chefs and Homebrewers came out of the woodwork to make this incredible event happen. They were awesome.  I also have to thank the Judges, who were knowledgeable, courteous, and sincere. I will admit, as an organizer, it was difficult not to compete. I had formulated my entry weeks ago.  I am not even sure if it would have placed, there were many killer dishes.  There were dishes that were not called out during the awards ceremony that were unique and spectacular.  I was shocked, and I organized the damn thing.

This is the first time I ever tried all the entries at a cook-off. It takes a strong stomach to manage so many flavors in a limited amount of time.

Here are some special Shout Outs to those not on the receiving end of some prizes:

Team Half Pints

The Half Pints: I thought your dish from start to finish was awesome. The beer ‘jelly’ was especially unique…Shocker…

Kim: Your ice cream was delicious, very creamy and I loved it with the pretzel topping

Funnel your pleasure: Noah, I wish we could let you fry, but I didn’t want to burn the place down with our first event. Still, they were very good and I would love to try them fresh.

Beef Jerky: Rachel, I personally love beef jerky. When I drove across the country, I ate beef jerky for days straight…yours was awesome.

J.J. Proville

JJ Proville: I know I gave you a ton of shit, but that is because you cook so well. Your meat as always was perfectly cooked.

Dulari: I will never forget your soup

Arianna: I love stew and beef jerky

Whimsy & Spice: So beautiful, so flavorful

Brewsers: You Box and Cook…If boxing doesn’t work out, consider chili bouts instead.

Ladies of tarts: Vail and Roopa…keep it up. Presentation was elegant

beastly goodness

Tobin and Ballard: Keep making cool desserts, please

Lei-Mo:  Your pork was nice and moist. I love your sign. I hope you frame it.

The day after an event always feel strange. I am left with a small sense of loss. First, I am not getting a hundred emails daily from Nick.  Second, what am I supposed to do? This was a great event to distract me from my unemployment. Actually, let me give you an insiders recap before boring you with my pity party.

Saturday, the night before the event, Nick and I  got some drinks and then went to his place to celebrate his brother’s birthday. The whole time he is counseling me to get some rest and not drink. He was reminding me to the point of distraction. I actually got paranoid. So I pulled myself away after hearing some trash talk from none other than Nick’s Mom, Bonnie. She is cool peoples, and there is nothing like a Mom trash talkin about food.   So, did Nick listen to his own advice? Did he go to bed early? NO…While he convinces me to go to bed early, he stays up until 3:30 in the AM. No Fair…I was sober way too long on Sunday.  When I arrived at The Bell House at 10 am on Sunday, even the G.M. was nursing a hangover. Like I said, I was unprepared.

Trash-talkin Mama Suarez takes Judge's Second Place

As usual, I arrived super early to set up. From my past when I used to run lounges and bars, I love setting up for an event in a large empty space. It is very Zen for me. I feel truly relaxed, just throwing tables around.  The Bell House is a large space with a capacity of 600, and still the tables are difficult to arrange for an easy cook-off. Nick and I tried to make the competitors stations set for max ease.

Nick brought a crew to help out. He doesn’t mess around. We ended up with a volunteer force 10 strong.  They were simply amazing and will not get the credit they deserve. There was Nate, Taylor, Chris, 2 brothers, 1 Dad, and others. They did everything from hand out plates to count ballots, and I would like to let them know that I have a lot of appreciation for the job they did.

I will say that I thought the event ran smoothly. I enjoyed trying all the homebrew. I am not a brewer, so this was a new experience for me. The creativity and variety were the best part.

not sure what's going on here...

For an event that took a long time to organize, it seems like it ended way too quickly.  The time from when the doors opened to the time we announced the winners raced by without introspection. I had a friend from Delaware surprise me by coming, and I saw him for five minutes.  But I cannot wait to do another Experiment.  Look out for the “Cheese Experiment” and the “Chinese Take-Out Experiment”

Final results & prize list , and plenty more coverage:

• Village Voice
• Slashfood
• Not Eating Out in New York
• Blondie and Brownie
• The NY City Dish
• Mindy’s Recipe for Disaster
• Grub Street
• Raspberry Eggplant
• The Young and Hungry
  

• Slashfood
• Recipes
• Web

Brooklyn Beer Experiment Provides Showcase For Homebrewing

THE 1st ANNUAL BROOKLYN BEER EXPERIMENT

NEED I SAY MORE….Probably and I am working on that, but for the love of god you better buy your tickets because there is a limited number available. The press has been amazing.  The judges are top notch. Here is the link to THE 1ST ANNUAL BROOKLYN BEER EXPERIMENT