Chef Spike Mendelsohn & Heinz

My favorite show on TV is Top Chef. I’m not much of a cook myself, though I do love to cook- I just like watching the competition and getting to know each of the contestants. The one problem my husband I have with the show is that we always want to try the food!

A little bit back I was asked to attend a Heinz event at The Kitchen NYC to check out some of their new products. Their guest that day was none other than Spike Mendelsohn, Top Chef Season 4 and winner of the Heinz Best Dressed Burger Award. Spike also has two restaurants: one in Washington D.C. called Good Stuff Eatery and We, The Pizza in New York City. He’s just as charismatic and funny (with a bit of an edge) as he was on the show. I was immediately called out for saying that my kid’s wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the ketchup flavors-lesson learned.

It was exciting to watch him throw together super moist turkey burgers, crab cakes, and even tomato salsa made with the new Balsamic Ketchup.

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Some info about Heinz’s new products:

Heinz Dip & Squeeze Ketchup –The ketchup bottle-shaped package can be used as either a dip cup or squeezed directly onto foods.

PlantBottle Packaging – Made with up to 30 percent renewable material and is still fully recyclable. The plant material is produced through an innovative process that turns sugars found in plants into a key component for PET plastic.

In honor of Thanksgiving, which is right around the corner believe it or not, I have posted Chef Spike’s Carmel Apple (Secret Ingredient) pie that I plan to make next week with all of the apples from our adventure this past weekend! This pie- as odd as it sounds- is SO good. I could’ve had more than one piece, happily.

Spike’s Secret Ingredient Apple Carmel Pie

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Ingredients:
Crumble Top
1 cup flour 1⁄2 cup brown sugar 1⁄2 cup butter
Crust

1 unbaked pie crust

Pie Filling
8 cups apples, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice 1⁄3 cup Heinz Ketchup Blended with Balsamic Vinegar
12 caramels, chopped 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1⁄2 teaspoon nutmeg 1⁄2 teaspoon cardamom 1⁄4 teaspoon cloves
1⁄4 cup granulated sugar 1⁄4 cup brown sugar 2 1⁄2 tablespoons flour

Preparation:

For the Crumble:
Combine the flour and brown sugar.
Incorporate the butter slowly into flour and sugar mixture.
Mix with a pastry blender until crumbly.

For the Pie Filling:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Mix together all of the pie filling ingredients in a large bowl.
Pour the pie filling into the pie crust.
Add the crumble topping to the pie.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake 7 minutes more.
Cool before serving.

It was so great to finally be able to actually feel-even a little bit- like I was a guest being served on Top Chef. And yes, each dish was really fantastic. I have the crab cake and salsa/eggplant chip recipes as well if you’d like them.

Heinz’s new Balsamic Ketchup can only be purchased through their Facebook page starting November 14th.

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