Posted on

CSA Smackdown 2015

Share Your Local Food Skills!

With just 30 minutes to cook in the Great CSA Smackdown, CSA members will highlight how fast and delicious our fresh, local food can be.

THE COMPETITION:

 
Just Food challenges New York City CSAs to show off their cooking talent and local food skills with the: a city-wide cooking competition for members of Just Food Network CSAs. CSA members will be pitted against each other as they prepare a delicious dish around an assortment of ingredients directly from their CSA share! With only 30 minutes to cook, competitors will need to rely on their speed, skill and creativity to make the cut. Winners will advance to the city wide final-round event to be held on November 18th at the Bell House in Brooklyn.  

Grand Street CSA will be holding its round of the Smackdown the afternoon of Sunday, October 18th at the Hester Street Fair at 1 PM. We’ll have more details soon. 

UPDATE: LES Cooks will defend their title this Saturday, October 31st at 1pm. Hope you to see you there!
 

Fall bounty

2015 Champs – LES Cooks
2012-13 Champs – Emo Eggplants

Check out more photos from last year’s event.

Find  more info, rules, and register to cook here!
Posted on

Smackdown Photos!

Our judges: Rose & David – Abrons Art Center, Melanie – Grand St. Youth Market Manager, Erik – Hester Street Fair
Kashmiri Cooks – Simi & Steve with Eggs over Kashmiri Spiced Eggplant

Emo Eggplants – Dan & Caroline with Autumn Rolls

The Schaffers – Katie & Evan with Fusion Shakshuka
LES Cooks – Julie & Stephanie with Fall Harvest Medley

Thanks for a great afternoon of cooking local food! – Shien & Deb

Posted on

Join Grand Street CSA at the Hester St. Fair for our Smackdown!

Just Food’s Great CSA Smackdown 

Round 1 – Grand Street CSA

Where: The Hester Street Flea Market

              (Essex Street at Hester)

When: Sunday, September 21st at 3pm

Who: 4 teams of Grand Street CSA members

         sharing their CSA inspiration

Why: Find out what fun and deliciousness is

         possible with ingredients you already have

         at home!

Posted on

CSA Smackdown 2014!

Share Your Local Food Skills!

With just 30 minutes to cook in the Great CSA Smackdown, CSA members will highlight how fast and delicious our fresh, local food can be.

THE COMPETITION:

 
Just Food challenges New York City CSAs to show off their cooking talent and local food skills with the: a city-wide cooking competition for members of Just Food Network CSAs. CSA members will be pitted against each other as they prepare a delicious dish around an assortment of ingredients directly from their CSA share! With only 30 minutes to cook, competitors will need to rely on their speed, skill and creativity to make the cut. Winners will advance to the city wide final-round event to be held on October 20th at Haven’s Kitchen. Chef Tom Colicchio is already lined up to be one of the judges this year!
Grand Street CSA will be holding its round of the Smackdown the afternoon of Sunday, September 21st at the Hester Street Fair at 3 PM. We’ll have more details soon. 

Find  more info, rules, and register to cook here!


Check out the recap of last year’s competition.

Email Smackdown questions to info@grandstreetcsa.org.
Posted on

CSA Smackdown 2013 Recap

Grand Street CSA’s Smackdown
at LES Flea  
        On September 15, 2013, Grand Street CSA and LES Flea presented a local food cooking competition to determine which CSA members would represent Grand Street CSA at Just Food’s Great CSA Smackdown. Fresh produce was provided by our farmers Norwich Meadows Farm. Special thanks to support from Qiana from Just Food; our Farmers, Zaid & Haifa; and our judges: Anat & Kaya of Cafe Petisco, Sanyu from LES Flea, Rose from the Abrons Art Center!
Flea Market shoppers, CSA members, and special guests joined our panel of esteemed judges to watch, as our two teams each stepped up to create a delicious dish with fresh produce from that week’s CSA distribution, a handful of staples and just 30 minutes to cook.
 
Shafar WUJS: Jenna & Lisa
The Emo Eggplants: Dan & Caroline
  VS.
Our judges support our mission of bringing local food to the neighborhood for everyone to enjoy. 
Grand Street CSA’s MC Deb introduces the competitors.

Local Produce and Staples
Ginger – a surprise ingredient from Norwich Meadows Farm

Shafar WUJS 
the runners up 
presented
Melon Cup Fruit Salad
 
1 Plum
1 Nectarine 
1 Melon
1 Apple
Cup of Husk Cherries
1 Tomato
Tablespoon Butter
1 Cup of Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 Cup of Honey
Mint

1. Cut fruit in slices.

2. Cut melon in half and scoop out insides. 
3. Combine balsamic and honey in a small pot.  Bring to a running boil on high heat. Continue on a low simmer for about 10 minutes or until mixture has a thick consistency. Take off heat and cool.
4. In a pan, heat butter over medium heat.  Add cut apples and stir until golden, about 3 minutes. 
5. Combine all fruit except melon in a bowl with balsamic reduction.

6. Neatly place fruit in melon and top with mint.

The Emo Eggplants
winners and reigning champions 
presented
 Three Mini-courses
  Course one was a salad of melon & tomato with edamame & husk cherries tossed in balsamic/honey dressing & served on a lettuce leaf.

Course two was squash pasta (zuchini cut on our mandolin to mimic fettuccine & sautéed in butter to soften) with a spicy sour tomatillo sauce.
 
Course three was turnips, apples, nectarines, plums & ginger carmelized in butter & honey & served on an apple chip.

Thanks to all our participants for a great event!

Posted on

Emo Eggplants Winning Smackdown Dishes

Grand Street CSA’s own Emo Eggplants, Dan & Caroline, cooked their way to Smackdown glory in Just Food’s first ever CSA Smackdown Final on January 5, 2013!! It was a great afternoon of local food. Thanks to Dan & Caroline for providing details on their winning dishes – innovative but simple takes on local, cold-weather vegetables. Check out Just Food’s Smackdown Page for a full recap. Scroll down to find out about Grand Street CSA’s 2013 season.

Grand Street CSA’s Top Chefs
Dan & Caroline’s winning dish at the September 30th qualifying event
    Delicata Squash Donuts with Kale and Red Cabbage Fall Slaw
  • Delicata squash was sliced into rings, dipped in egg, coated in cornmeal and fried crispy golden brown.  A small ring of onion and a small slice of poblano pepper were prepared in the same way to accompany the squash.
  • For the slaw, kale and red cabbage were sliced into thin strips and marinated and tossed in a dressing made from olive oil, apple cider vinegar, honey, diced jalapeno pepper with the seeds removed, and salt and pepper to taste.  Cauliflower florets were added for color, texture, and flavor.
 The 2013 Great CSA Smackdown Winner
Reconstructionist Latkes with Apples and Honey and Kale Salad

The two different latkes are a reconstructed take on traditional Jewish potato pancakes. 

  • Shredded potato, kohlrabi and carrot seasoned with salt and pepper and mixed with egg were fried in olive oil and topped with diced apples (with the skin on) that had been sauteed in butter and honey.
  • Shredded potato, bok choy, broccoli rabe, and garlic were mixed with egg and a liberal amount of pecorino romano cheese and fried in olive oil to form the second latke.  
  • The latkes were served with a raw kale salad dressed in olive oil, white wine vinegar, honey, siracha, salt, pepper, and pecorino romano cheese to taste.

Posted on

Smackdown Recap

Grand Street CSA’s Saturday Afternoon Smackdown at the Hester Street Fair

A fun, action-packed and delicious afternoon featuring our beautiful Provider Farm veggies!

Competitors: 
The Emo Eggplants’ (Dan Tainow & Caroline Maggi)
VS.
Ray Riga (the famous original)
 
Smackdown officials: 
Deborah Noch & Shien Chiou
Judges: 
Aaron Stoquert, co-owner and chef of Cowboy Pizza
John McGrath, father of Hester St. Fair’s own Rachel Mae Farms CSA
Nivia Mendez and Derek Baldwin of Our Lady of Sorrows Food Pantry
Special Guest:
Just Food’s CSA in NYC Program Manager Paula Lukats

20 minutes to prep …
The cooking begins – 30 minutes to go!
The Emos fry delicata rings dredged in cornmeal & egg
Ray cooks red cabbage, apples, cauliflower & onion in butter & oil.

  Our competitors both used 9 CSA ingredients each, including delicata squash, kale, onion, red cabbage, hot peppers (poblano, jalepeno, cayenne), onion, cauliflower, apple & pear (from Breezy Hill).

Finished with time on the clock
Down to the wire

   Dan and Caroline presented Delicata Doughnut with Fall Slaw inspired by a dish from Back Forty – fried delicata, red onion & poblano pepper strips over a fall salad of kale, red cabbage, apples, pears & cauliflower dressed with apple cider vinegar and olive oil.

   Ray’s fall trio included a massaged kale salad in lemon dressing, an Alsatian inspired choux rouge aux pommes (red cabbage with apples) with the addition of cauliflower, and pan seared delicata with pears that just made it onto the plate as time was called.

Our judges taste and score the two dishes.
Spectators and volunteers taste and give their own 2 cents.

Judges scored each dish on taste, presentation & creativity. While Deb tallied the scores, the judges complimented both dishes, especially Ray’s red cabbage, apple & cauliflower sauteed in butter and the Emo Eggplant’s fried delicata squash ring. Ray’s last minute delicata could have used a little more time in the pan.

Judgement time

 And the winning dish was … Delicata Doughnut with Fall Slaw!!
Congratulations to the Emo Eggplants, who took home a set of T-Fal pots courtesy of Just Food and a ticket to the Smackdown finals next month!

Many thanks to our farmers, competitors, judges, and volunteers, as well as our friends at Just Food, the Hester Street Fair and Seward Park Housing for making the Smackdown possible!