Pie Contest

Photos coming soon.  Here are the winners of KCRW's First Annual Good Food Pie Contest, held today at Westfield Topanga:

Best in Show
1st - #109 - Barbara Treves' Apple Pie

Fruit & Nut
1st - #109 - Barbara Treves' Apple Pie
2nd - #115 - Jeff Winett's Chocolate Walnut Rum Pie
3rd - #118 - Hae Jung Cho's Blueberry Hand Pie

Cream/Custard/Chiffon/Mousse
1st - #22 - Marni Landes' Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Banana Pie
2nd - #15 - Daniel Hong's Banana Cream
3rd - #5 - Marina Castle's Dulce de Leche Coffee Peanut Butter Mousse Pie

Savory
1st - #137 - Chrystal Baker & Amir Thomas' Tarragon Chicken and Grape Pie
2nd - #143 - Zoe Jarocki's Mushroom Pie
3rd - #140 - Edie Black's Veggie Pot Pie

Interpretive (Defies Categorization)
1st - #123 - Nita Larronde's Yin-Yang Pie
2nd - #131 - Sharon Treinen's Ice Box Lemon Pie
3rd - #119 - Lisa Giardino's Mystery Pie (aka Ritz Cracker Pie)

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Cranberries require a flood of water during harvest.  This week, third-generation cranberry grower Dawn Allen Gates tells us just what happens in a cranberry bog.  Farming is hard work, but it can also be therapeutic.  Michael O'Gorman explains how getting veterans out in the field can help deal with the damages of war.  Food writer Jonathan Gold takes us to a hip new street in Palms for some Indonesian food.  How about a chipa with your yerba mate?  Good Food listener Natalia Goldberg tells us what tea time in Paraguay is like.  Can pie be gender specific?  Barbara Swell shares stories about her pie competition in rural Appalachia where they had a special category for men's pies.  Still looking for WMD?  You just might find them in your fridge.  Arun Gupta explains how bacon is a weapon of mass destruction.  Laura Avery finds fresh macadamia nuts at the Santa Monica Farmers Market.

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After my interview with Scott Simon on Weekend Edition, so many people have asked for the recipe.  So, without further ado...

ESPRESSO CHOCOLATE PECAN TART

In this recipe the Cocoa Nibs, coffee extract and bittersweet chocolate cut the sweetness of the traditional filling and add a deeper flavor.

1 (9-inch) unbaked or frozen deep-dish pie crust
6 oz. Bittersweet Chocolate, broken into chunks
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup sugar
1 cup Karo® Light or Dark Corn Syrup
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 ¼  cups pecans
¼  cup Sharffen Berger Cocoa Nibs*
1 Tablespoon Trablit Coffee Extract *

Can be found at Surfas in Culver City or at www.surfasonline.com

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Scatter the chunks of chocolate over the pie crust.

In medium bowl with fork beat eggs slightly. Add sugar, Karo®, butter and coffee extract and stir until blended. Stir in pecans and Cocoa Nibs. Pour into pie crust.

Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

A lovely rich and savory side dish for a festive holiday dinner.

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This week on Good Food, I chat with a third-generation cranberry farmer about harvesting cranberries.  Here's a video explaining the process:

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What is liquid meat?  Food Network's Alton Brown explains.  Food writer Jonathan Gold is a pie-lover.  He shares some stories of what pie means to him.  A tour of the Los Angeles Times' test kitchen.   Ching Ching Ni tells us about a culture clash involving rice noodles.  A delicatessen serves ethnic food of a different sort.  David Sax explains how the deli is endangered.  Timothy Childs works for NASA and makes chocolate.  Find out what those two things have in common.  Mark Peel has us over for a family dinner.  And Stacie Hunt takes us wine tasting in Croatia.  It's the story of wines after war.  And Laura Avery takes a trip to the Santa Monica Farmers Market.

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Thank you to everyone who came out to Westfield Fashion Square yesterday for the Vinaigarette event.  I loved seeing people experiment with different flavors.  And the veggies!  Who knew that red carrots and sunchokes (also called Jerusalem artichokes) would be such a hit?  A special thanks to Rachael Narins on Chicks with Knives and Alex Weiser of Weiser Family Farms who helped explain just why the carrots are so sweet. 

After the event, a few of us gathered for some burgers at Barney's in the mall.  More photos of the event to come.

Burgers and Beer at the Mall

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I absolutely love talking to Alton Brown.  No matter what the topic, I always learn something.  He will bring out the inner food geek in anyone, foodie or not.  This week on Good Food, we chat about pie (of course), eggs and gelatin.  We ran out of time, so below are two more nuggets from our conversation: butter and pie crust:

Alton Brown on Butter

Alton Brown on Pie Crust

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Loaded with Produce

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On Monday I hosted a pie dinner with beer pairing for KCRW subscribers (it was a premium at the pledge drive).  Christina Perozzi (aka The Beer Chick) paired some incredible beer with my pies.  

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This week, Conde Naste announced it was shuttering Gourmet magazine after almost 70 years.  Food writer Jonathan Gold gives a eulogy for this highly respected publication.  And LA Times Food Editor Russ Parsons has some thoughts on what will take Gourmet's place in our diverse media landscape. 

Amanda Hesser explains how she's using the internet to write a cookbook.  Incredibly outspoken and confident Stefan Richter stops by with the scoop on being a reality show contestant.  Waiter X, Steve Dublanica, returns to Good Food with answers to your questions about how not to anger your waiter. 

Are tomatoes leaves really poisonous?  Food Scientist Harold McGee has the real deal.  Los Angeles Magazine's Ann Herold helps us with our backyard gardens.  Tara Kolla explains what is illegal about being an urban farmer in LA.  And farmer Alex Weiser shows off his onions at the Santa Monica Farmers Market.

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