Competitions: The Cookie Take Down

My buddy Matt Timms is hosting another one of his fantastic takedowns.. The Cookie Take Down. I've competed in few of the Take Downs and have been taken down each time, but Lord almighty, I always go down with a smile. (Easy now!) I'm not going down this time. Sorry Matt!

Check out the 411 and get your ass to The Bell House on December 19th!

Oh phew! The Cookie Takedown is finally here to defend the holidays from Giant Spiders!!! December 19th 6PM at The Bell House, so watch out ! The Takedown is always so awesome,you guys! 30 different cookies, all with seriously bad attitudes! If you think you need to dance now, go for it, dance!!! I understand! This is the happiest takedown that was EVER.

THERE ARE NO COMPETITOR SLOTS LEFT! But email Matt to get on his mailing list, so you never get shut out again!

For $15, try all the cookies and vote on your most favorite! And oo, I hope you like eggnog, because for the first hour, Bulleit Bourbon is spiking the FREE NOG FOR ALL!!! Also, I will be giving away a 5-piece Anolon Bakeware set to one super lucky attendee in a free raffle!

TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE! Buy now, before they sell out! Eeek!!!

BBQ Recipes: Owensboro Barbecued Mutton

Ladies and Gents, children of all ages, here is the amazing losing recipe that produced such spectacular results at The Lamb Takedown on Sunday April 18! This recipe lost, not due to any lacking on its part - this will produce spectacular lamb. It lost due to my incompetence as a presentation chef. I highly recommend this recipe and believe me, I will be cooking this again.

I've added some comments of my own which are in parenthesis to reflect my cooking methods and style.

Owensboro Barbecued Mutton from the book BBQ USA by Steven Raichlen. Published by Workman Publishing Company708 Broadway, New York, New York. This recipe serves 8 to 10.

Method: Indirect Grilling (aka barbeque)

For the Mutton (or Lamb):

• 1 piece of mutton (or lamb) shoulder or leg. (About 5lbs) I used 5 lamb shoulders that averaged about 2.7 lbs each.
• Coarse salt (Kosher or sea - I used Kosher) and freshly ground black pepper

For the Basting Sauce:

• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 2/3 cup Worcestershire sauce (I used Lea & Perrins, which in my mind is the only Worcestershire sauce to use. I've never tasted a better one.)
• 5 tablespoons course salt (Kosher or sea - in this case I used sea due to the fact that I was low on Kosher salt after salting all 5 shoulders)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.

For the Dipping Sauce:

• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce (see comment above)
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar (I used Sugar in the Raw instead, which is a natural cane turbinado sugar. For some reason my brown sugar had been mixed with cinnamon and that wasn't the flavor I wanted.)
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt (Kosher or sea)
• 1/2 teaspoon onion salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon MSG (optional) (I didn't use this. I don't have any MSG in the house)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

10 t0 12 hamburger buns or 20 to 24 slices white bread. (I used tortillas)

You'll also need:

• 4 cups wood chips or chunks, preferably hickory, soaked for 1 hour in water to cover, then drained. (Soaking wood is such a fallacy. I'll address that in another post! - I used a mixture of apple and hickory woods with charcoal.)

Cooking Instructions:

1. Generously season the mutton (or lamb) with about 1 tablespoon of each salt and pepper. Set aside
2. Make the basting sauce: Combine the vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, salt, lemon juice and pepper with 1 1/2 cups water in a non-reactive saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. (Water? Where did that come from? Why isn't it in the list of ingredients?)
3. Make the dipping sauce: Combine the Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, lemon juice, brown sugar, pepper, coarse and onion salts, garlic powder, MSG (if using), allspice and 2 cups water in a non-reactive saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat and cook until richly flavored and slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Transfer the sauce to a nonreactive serving bowl to cool.
4. Set up the grill or smoker. (Now I'm going to vary from Steven's instructions here. This should have been your FIRST step. Setup your smoker and bring it to a temperature of 225 - 250 for at least one hour before placing your meat on the cooker. If you want to know how Steven does it - buy the book. This blog focuses on charcoal and wood grilling and barbecuing. I'll do some posts on setting up the various grills later in the spring)
5. When your cooker has locked in on its temperature, place the mutton (or lamb) fat side up in the center of the cooking grate over a drip pan and away from the heat. Cover the grill. Cook the mutton (or lamb) until it is fall off the bone tender, 4 to 6 hours. (Mine cooked for 8 hours! Barbecue does not tell time.) To test for doneness, insert an instant read thermometer into the thickest part of the meat, being sure not to touch the bone. The internal temperature of the meat should be about 190 degrees. (When the meat is ready, the thermometer should enter the meat as if going into warm butter - there should be almost no resistance.)
6. Baste the mutton (or lamb) with the basting sauce every half hour (after the bark has set on the meat) If the meat starts to burn, cover it loosely with aluminum foil. Keep your temperature steady, refueling your cooker as needed. (Steven has some instructions on refueling a charcoal grill, but I find them to be off)
7. Transfer the cooked mutton (or lamb) to a cutting board and let rest for at least 5 minutes. (I'd recommend at least an hour) Slice the meat thinly across the grain or finely chop it with a cleaver.
8. Spoon half of the dipping sauce over the meat.
9. Serve the mutton (or lamb) on toasted or grilled hamburger buns or slices of white bread, or all by itself, passing the remaining dipping sauce on the side.

So, there you have it. Owensboro Barbecued Mutton. Damn good if I do say so myself.

Since I was making 5 times the amount of meat that this recipe called for, I increased the size of all the ingredients, except the salt. Be careful when doubling or tripling seasonings. Some, like salt and pepper don't double precisely. Doubling the salt may cause it to overpower a recipe. I've got to find some good charts on that.

Please try this recipe at home. I'm sure you'll love it.

Ewe Don't Get It! Or At Least We Didn't.

We didn't win squat! After smoking for 8 hours over apple and hickory, mopping with a Moonlight mop, wrapping and resting in a heated cooler for an hour, shredding and pulling and removing all fat, we didn't win squat.

I really liked the lamb. It tasted like an outstanding smoked/barbeque lamb. It was tender, moist and flavorful. I'll post the losing recipe later in the week, but damn, I'm cooking this lamb again. To me - this was a winner.

Here's a list of the contestants for this year's Lamb Takedown. All worthy opponents. We didn't get to try most of the entries unfortunately. The crowd was too large and many of the teams ran out of food. I hope when Matt Timms does this again, he sets up a competitors choice award where all of the cooks get to taste the competition.

1. Robert and Johanna Fernandez - Blue Moon of Kentucky Lamb
2. Sara Morrisson - Lamb Sliders
3. Blondie and Brownie - Rock the Casbah Lamb
4. Emily Hanhan - Lambda Eata Thai meatballs
5. Jen De La Vega - Wham Bam Thank You Lamb
6. Trish Tchume - Indian Pizza
7. Ross Hutchison + Joanna Cybulski - Team Redneck caviar
8. Mike O’Neil and Christine Schmitd - Lambs in a blanket
9. Jordan Goldstein - Harissa Explained it All
10. Jules Acampora - Lamb Stew
11. Melissa Sands - Hoi Tomato Lamb Noodle Soup
12. Ben Conniff and Henry Chan - Baa Baa Bruschetta
13. Keavy Landreth - Lamb Cupcakes
14. Ben Sargent - Cocoa Loco Lamb Chowder
15. Cody Burke - Rogan Josh
16. Sarah Howland - Mini Greek Gyros
17. Tony Santoro - Grape Leaves of War
18. Greg Erskine - Gyro Pita OPA!
19. Carol Pitts - Vietnamese Lamb Stew
20. Barbara Warnock Morgan - Baa-BQ

The judge's winners (who received fancy cookware and knives) were: Wham Bam Thank You Lamb, a Filipino-style braised lamb stew, Harissa Explains It All, oroccan spiced lamb with carrot salad and minted lebne and Lamb on Goat, smoked lamb shoulder braised in bacon marmalade atop a round of goat cheese polenta all took home honors.

The people's choice winners were...

• 1st Greg Erskine - Gyro Pita OPA!!!!
• 2nd Ross Hutchison + Joanna Cybulski - Redneck Caviar
• 3rd Jordan Goldstein - Harissa Explained It ALL
• 4th Cody Burke - Rogan Josh
• 5th Sara Morrisson - Lamb Sliders
• 6th Ben Conniff and Henry Chan - Baa Baa Bruschetta

I learned a lot from this experience. The first thing I learned was that presentation matters. When I decided what to cook - I gave it no thought on how to serve it or present it. We decided to serve the lamb on tortilla bread with a slice of dill pickle. Sounds good right? Well, it looked like shit and was extremely messy to eat. And it was almost impossible to pick up.

Also, 13.5 lbs of uncooked lamb shoulder, which was provided by the American Lamb Board, is no where near enough for 250 people to sample! We ran out of meat long before this was over and when the picture above was taken we were no longer making lamb sandwiches but placing a few strands of lamb on 1/6 of a tortilla with the slice of pickle.

We almost made it to the end. When I do this again, I will seriously look for ways to supplement the meat, as all the winners did either with toppings, fillers or serving containers like bread or crackers. Something to take down the flavor of the meat. We, my wife and I, tasted most of the winners and we both thought that the flavor of the lamb was masked by the other ingredients. Sometimes so much, that the lamb flavor was completely lost. Our lamb was front and center. There was no mistaking it for anything but lamb. Maybe that wasn't a good thing.

And finally, I've learned that the rules of the barbeque competition circuit don't apply in the Takedown world. In the barbecue world, it's a meat contest. End of story. Here in the Takedown world - its all about presentation, combinations, creativity, degree of difficulty and familiarity.

A gyro wins? Seriously? Now I didn't taste the gyro - but look at what it was up against. The sliders were served on home made potato buns. Lamb shoulder braised in bacon marmalade atop a round of goat cheese polenta. Moroccan spiced lamb with carrot salad and minted lebne - hell I don't even know what lebne is.

I can't wait for the next one! I will whip you yet, Takedown! Just you wait!

Photo courtesy of Metromix

I'm Cooking! Yup - Finally!

Brooklyn Lamb Takedown - LAMB Overdrive

Yes it's back - And I'm cooking it! From Matt Tims - the organizer.....

The Lamb Takedown is BACK in NYC, 4PM April 18th at The Bell House!!!! Entrants wanted! (There’s three spots left!) Each contestant gets 15lbs of lamb- shoulder/shank/leg or ground to play with… Spots fill up FAST!

Truly the LAMB-orghini Countach Quartravore of all Takedowns… Yes! I just said that! Count on Emily Fleischaker from Bon Appetit to judge you sternly. So much lamb- the funnest meat there ever was!

Food Wars hit Brooklyn

Are you ready to rumble? This week brings two food competitions to Brooklyn that sadly, I'll have to miss. But just because I have to abstain, that doesn't mean I want you to miss out on all the fun.

First up is The Best Wings In Brooklyn contest being held tomorrow night at the Red Star Bar. 17 of the best bars and culinary establishments, from all over the Borough, notorious for their wings are set to cook-off at 3PM on Saturday, February 13.

One of my favorite local bars, and I think the only participant that doesn't come from the land of the hipsters, Wheeler's of Sheepshead Bay is competing. I want to see South Brooklyn kick some hipster ass! Go Wheeler's!

Brooklyn journalists and culinary editors Nick D'Arienzo of the Brooklyn Star-Queens Ledger Newspaper Group, Gersh Kuntzman, Editor, The Brooklyn Paper and Annaliese Griffin, Senior Editor, Brooklyn Based will put their expert taste buds to the test and select the Best Wing in Brooklyn. The community has a say, too.

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz will hand out awards for the Best Wing in Brooklyn, 2 Best Wing Runners-up, and a People’s Choice Award.

And what’s a Brooklyn wing competition without the best beer in Brooklyn? Brooklyn Brewery will be featuring 6 of their finest beers on tap, including Brooklyn Lager, Winter Ale, East India Pale Ale, and their Brewmaster Reserves, Blast, Back Breaker and Cookie Jar Porter, a new addition to the Brewmaster roster.

Free wings; no cover. FREE WINGS! Free wings! Do you hear me? Damn, and I have to miss this. RSVP on their Facebook page.

Red Star Bar 37 Greenpoint Avenue Brooklyn, NY

And on Thursday is The Crostini Cook-off being thrown by Cathy Erway in honor of the launch of her new book, The Art of Eating In. Cathy is joined by Matt Timms, organizer of the long running Chili (and other assorted food stuffs) Takedowns and takes place at The Bell House. Matt does a great job with these Takedowns and this looks like a real blast.

The Bell House 149 7th Street between 2nd & 3rd Aves, Brooklyn, close to Smith/9th Street and 4th/9th on the F and G trains.

Advance tickets recommended, on sale now!$10 admission includes tastes from crostini cook-off entries, appetizers from Hapa Kitchen and A Razor A Shiny Knife, beer specials, music all night. All guests must present ID to gain entry.

The Brooklyn Chili Takedown Rides Again

There will be blood. And chili! Oo! November 22 at The Bell House - The BROOKLYN CHILI TAKEDOWN shall transpire. Mitten Prichard* hosts the takedown that started it all , 5 years ago in Brooklyn - and invites all the cooks in NYC to prostitute their best chili concoction. The masses will love you for it, because everybody loves chili. And even Texans admit, Brooklyn chili just so happens to be the best in the world… they said that yesterday, at a bar. They’d been drinkin’, but I’ll count it.

CALL FOR ENTRIES! If you’d like to ENTER, email me, and also check out the FAQ page to answer your most pressing questions!

Bell House
149 7th St
Brooklyn, NY 11215
(718) 643-6510

Nov 22

Buy tickets here!

*first pet + first street - you know the deal…

Now This is Truly Disgusting

The latest news from my buddy, Matt Timms...

Tofu Takedown!!! Finally!!!!

You begged for it!!! For too long, vegetarians have been unhappily doggy paddling in a sea of comfort food. NO MORE.The most audacious takedown to date features TOFU, meat of the soy gods.

Some may interpret this as a BRUTAL answer to the bacon takedown!!! All it is, is another takedown!!! We expect to see brilliant and innovative renditions of this malleable fruit! Tofu chili! Tofu brownies! Tofu ice cream!

Email Matt Timms to enter!!!! We need cooks to sign up now!!!!

May 10th at Highline Ballroom!!! 4PM!!!

Photo of the lovely little tofu with attitude courtesy of Button Arcade

The Bacon Take Down

The Bacon Takedown. A Brooklyn first. 30 different type of bacon. C'mon out and taste the goodness. Come watch as I get my ass kicked by the hipsters!