The taping of the showdown took place last night at the LES bar The Delancey and both deli’s brought crowds and energy to cheer for their teams. I of course, was on Team 2nd Ave Deli, proudly wearing my t-shirt. There were six tasters (including the Village Voice food critic, a linebacker from the Jets, and long time customers of each prospective deli) and an appearance by Times Square’s Naked Cowboy! I can’t tell you who won this showdown of course, but stay tuned for the episode which will air this Spring!

Here are some pics of the activities:

The Naked Cowboy sang a little opening ceremony deli tune.

The 2nd Ave Deli t-shirt, complete with a listing of its delicacies.

Camera crew.

The cheering crowd!

Team 2nd Ave representing.

Katz’s fans, with a sign of the famous line from When Harry Met Sally (filmed at Katz’s of course).

To the left, 2nd Ave Deli owner Jack Lebwohl, and to the right is Katz’s owner Alan Dell.

Pastrami A (2nd Ave)

Pastrami B (Katz’s)

And there I am, with Food Wars host Camille Ford

The episode will air sometime in April, stay tuned for details and the WINNER!

First I put the potatoes on to boil, since they take at least 20 minutes to soften. I kept the peel on, because once cooked, the peels just slide right off. Side note, never put cold potatoes in already boiled water because the skin will crack; cover potatoes with water and bring to a boil together.

Once the potatoes were in, I started on my sauce. I sliced up a package of button mushrooms and sauteed them in about 3 tablespoons or so of butter. Let them get nice and brown, about 5-7 minutes.

Next comes the white wine (I had Pinot Grigio). One cup for the pan, one cup for me. Make that two cups for me. (Yes, I measured it out in my lovely new Sur La Tabla red measuring cup).

The one needs to reduce down to about half the amount, give or take another five minutes. After that, I added half and half (whole cream probably works better but I didn’t have).

While the shroom sauce was cooking down, the potatoes got soft enough, so I drained, peeled, and started mashing them up for the gnocchi.

Make sure you mash up the potatoes really well so there are no lumps – remember, this will be a dough. I added to the potatoes about a cup of flour (which I realized later was not nearly enough), an egg, a bunch of grated Parmesan, salt & pepper, some thyme (had it) and about half a tsp of nutmeg. It was lots of fun grating the whole nutmeg; I love the smell of fresh nutmeg (I keep my nutmeg in the freezer and they keep for a loooooong time).

The next step – and here’s the huge pain in my arse, which took a lot of time, used a lot of flour, and made a huge mess: knead the potato “dough”, roll them between your hands, and cut them up into bite size pieces.

Next, you gotta cook those little suckers in boiling water for a couple minutes – you will know they are done because they will float. And I promise you they WILL float (I was nervous that they would all stick together to the bottom of the pot, but alas).

And last but not least, I removed them from the water and added them to my mushroom sauce.

And an hour and half later….

They were very delicious, I have to say. Don’t let my sloppy gloopy presentation fool you; these came out very tasty and the gnocchi were surprisingly light.  However, the moral of the story kids: next time Chef Monsta tells you that cooking something is not worth the time, and to buy it pre-made, you LISTEN. Do not be stubborn like me. 1.5 hours cooking + .5 hours cleaning + 10 minutes eating = NOT WORTH IT.

Hence, my blog post, dear sister, so I don’t feel like I completely wasted my time tonight. Love you. All hail the great Chef Monsta.

]]> http://www.chefmonsta.com/2010/02/home-made-gnocchi-with-mushroom-cream-sauce/feed/ 3 http://www.chefmonsta.com/2010/02/steak-and-arugula-salad/ http://www.chefmonsta.com/2010/02/steak-and-arugula-salad/#comments Sat, 20 Feb 2010 18:32:06 +0000 admin http://www.chefmonsta.com/?p=1591 This steak salad is so easy to prepare and is a great for any meal and any season.

Steak Marinade:
1/2 c soy sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
fresh black pepper
2 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp red pepper flakes

Salad:
1/2 lb mushrooms
2 scallions, chopped
2 c arugula
1 Israeli cucumber, chopped
1 Roma tomato, chopped
2 tbsp toasted pine nuts
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper

In a bowl, marinade the steak in the soy sauce, oil, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, and pepper. Set aside for half hour to absorb flavors.

Chop the tomato, cuke, and toss into bowl of arugula.

In a pan, saute scallion and mushrooms for about 4 minutes (until mushrooms become golden). Add minute steak and sautee about 3 minutes each side. Set aside.

While the steak sits, add the sauteed mushrooms, scallions, and toasted pine nuts.

Chop the steak into thin slices.

Season with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Enjoy!

1 can (15 oz) chickpeas (rinsed)
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
5 sun-dried tomatoes
1/3 c olive oil
3 tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Pulse sun-dried tomatoes, then chickpeas, then feta and liquids in a food processor. Blend on high until smooth.

Pretty good. Pretty, pretty good. <—funny stuff.

Firstly, preheat oven to 350 F degrees.

Dough:

5 cups of flour
1 cup of sugar
2 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1/3 c orange juice

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and mix by hand.

See? I said BY HAND.

Roll out dough with a rolling pin until large flat sheet of about 1/4 inch thick.

Using a glass, cut out your hamantaschen circles.

Lemon Custard Filling:

1 cup granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
juice and zest of two large lemons
2 tablespoons all purpose flour

In your electric mixer/ hand mixer, beat the sugar and eggs until nice and smooth. Add the lemon juice and zest and stir to combine. Fold in the flour.

Simmer on low flame for 10 minutes, mixing continually until custard thickens. As you can see below, the heat changes the texture from a batter like consistency to a jelly, right before your very eyes.

Here is a snapshot of a proper custard (damn straight).

And now for the assembly….

Spoon your fillings into the middle of the dough circles, pinch the sides to close.

Bake at 350 F degrees for 30 minutes and voila!