WEEK 35
Your Best Porridge
Like Goldilocks, we're looking for a porridge that's just right. So send in your best oatmeal, grits, polenta, farina or congee. It can be sweet or savory, thick or thin, short or long cooking. We've got our wooden spoons, ready to stir.
Your Best Movie Snack
We're looking for Oscar-worthy movie snacks -- flavored popcorns, homemade candy bars, roasted nuts, hand-cut potato chips, or even something vaguely healthy. Your snack can be salty, sweet or both at once!
WEEK 34
Your Best Beef Stew
With winter in full swing, hearty, comforting meals are a necessity. And what's more hearty and comforting than beef stew? No matter if it's made with plenty of red wine, or rich with gravy and veggies -- as long as it features tender chunks of meat that render a knife irrelevant, we're happy.
Your Best Mashed Potatoes
As with chocolate chip cookies, many of us have strong feelings about how to make mashed potatoes. Do you use milk, or just butter alone? Sour cream or roasted garlic? Do you prefer Idaho potatoes or Yukon Gold? Skins or no? This week, it's your chance to make a case for what you think is the best way to make mashed potatoes.
WEEK 33
Your Best Chocolate Cake
With Valentine's Day right around the corner, we're thinking about chocolate. (When aren't we thinking about chocolate, really?) This week, give us your most decadent chocolate cake -- you know, the one that has the power to seduce man, woman and child.
Finalists
Your Best Way to Prepare Oysters
Some call them an aphrodisiac -- we call them just plain good. Whether you have a fantastic mignonette or know a great way to roast oysters, we want to hear about it. And make sure to tell us which are your favorite varieties!
Finalists
WEEK 32
Your Best Nose to Tail Recipe
You asked for it, and you got it. This week we're looking for your best recipe featuring the "other" parts of the beast -- we're open to anything from liver to sweetbreads to tripe to cockscombs. This is your opportunity to celebrate the entire animal, nose to tail!
Winner
Your Best Baked Pasta
If it's got noodles and it goes in the oven, this is the week to submit it. Somehow managed to wrangle the recipe for your grandmother's legendary lasagne? Got a great new twist on macaroni and cheese? Or do you have a completely original baked pasta recipe to share? If so, this is the contest for you.
Winner
Winner
WEEK 31
Your Best Home Alone Dinner
It can be hard to find the motivation to whip up something other than a bowl of pasta or scrambled eggs when you're home alone, but we think some of the best dishes happen when you're cooking just for one. What do you cook when you're on your own and in the mood for a treat? Do you like to keep it simple and pure, or do you pull out the dried porcini and truffle oil and go wild?
Winner
Your Best Broccoli/Broccoli Rabe Dish
George Bush may not have been a fan, but we love broccoli for it's leafy, emerald green stalks and its ability to stand up to a panoply of strong flavors -- garlic, ginger, soy, lemon, cheese. Aside from all those antioxidants, broccoli and broccoli rabe are a great winter option when fresh, crunchy greens are scarce. This week, we'd like to hear about your favorite way to make broccoli shine.
Winner
Winner
WEEK 30
Your Best Way to Cook a Whole Fish
Like roasting a chicken, cooking a fish whole is a great way to preserving flavor and moisture. Whether you like to roast it with aromatics, bake it en papillote or steam it with fresh ginger and garlic, we want to hear about your preferred method for getting the most out of your fish. And don't forget to include any great presentation ideas!
Winner
Your Best Couscous Dish
We love the impromptu ease of couscous, and we also appreciate its versatility and refined texture. Great as an accompaniment for a stew or a braise, or as a base for a hearty salad, couscous can be delicate and fine -- or, in the case of Israeli couscous, plump, tender and slightly nutty. This week, we're looking for your favorite ways to highlight the many faces of couscous.
Winner
Winner
WEEK 29
Your Best New Year's Resolution Dish
Whether they heed them or not, everyone makes New Year's resolutions, and they're often about food. This week, we're looking for recipes that reflect your resolutions in some way. Your submission doesn't necessarily have to be "healthy" (although it can be); it could be something you've wanted to make but never have, or a dish you've been trying to perfect. It's up to you!
Winner
Your Best Recipe for Beans
Maybe you cook beans or lentils on New Year's for good luck. Maybe you have a great baked beans dish that the world doesn't yet know about. Or maybe you've been hooked on braised white beans Provencal-style. We're ready for any great bean dish -- and we're hungry!
Winner
WEEK 28
Amanda and Merrill's Best Rice Pudding
This week, we'll submit our best recipes for Rice Pudding, and then you'll vote on which you like better. If you'd like to add your favorite rice pudding recipes to the site over the coming week, that would be great -- we'll still post Editors' Picks!
Winner
Winner
Roasted Cauliflower Soup with Chimichurri and Poblano Creme Fraiche
by ChezSuzanne, 12/08/2009
by ChezSuzanne, 12/08/2009
1 like
WEEK 27
Your Best Baked Ham
During the holidays, we like the ease of a baked ham. All you have to do is put it in the oven and baste it a few times while you get the rest of the meal ready. But not all basting sauces are created equal -- send us the best one you have. And if you have any ham baking tricks, tell us those, too!
Winner
Smoked Ham with Pomegranate Molasses, Black Pepper and Mustard Glaze
by TasteFood, 12/16/2009
by TasteFood, 12/16/2009
1 like
Your Best Holiday Cookie
If you ask us, the prospect of the holidays without cookies is a sad one indeed. Whether you pack them into tins for friends or leave them out with a glass of milk for Santa, this is your chance to share your favorite holiday cookie recipe.
Winner
WEEK 26
Your Best Holiday Punch
This week we want to bring on the holiday cheer, and what better way than with a big bowl of punch! Let us know if you favor Champagne or prosecco -- or is your punch based on Rum or eau de vie? Do you believe in the flavored ice ring, or do you like to load up your punch bowl with blood oranges and cranberries? We're at the ready, ladles in hand!
Winner
Your Best Edible Gift
One of the easiest ways to spread cheer during the holidays is to ply friends and family with homemade goodies. Whether you make killer rum balls or spiced nuts, brandied cherries or chocolate bark, now's the time to submit your favorite edible gift ideas -- with a recipe, of course!
Winner
WEEK 25
Your Best Broiled Steak
For those of us working out of small city kitchens, steak can be a challenge -- hence the beauty of broiled steak, which gets the job done in a hurry and keeps the smoke contained. This week, tell us how you make broiled steak stand out. Do you have a signature dry rub or marinade? Do you serve it with a pan sauce or homemade condiment? What cut do you prefer? We must know!
Winner
Your Best Polenta Recipe
We think polenta done the classic way with butter and cheese is swell and all, but we bet you've come up with more creative versions. Do you blend in herbs or top it with mushrooms? Do you fry it or bake it? Also, let us know what brand of polenta you prefer.
Winner
WEEK 24
Your Best Recipe for Turkey Leftovers
After we've all had a good night's sleep and emerged from the Thanksgiving food coma, one question stands: what to do with the all that remains? Leftovers are one of the best things about Thanksgiving, and this week we're looking for your favorite ways of refashioning them into something delicious. Sandwiches, soups, stews, salads -- any idea is welcome!
Winner
Your Best Savory Rice Dish
Apparently, a few of you have been wondering when we'd post a rice theme. This week, we're looking for savory rice preparations that stand out from the ordinary. Is there a fabulous pilaf that your grandmother used to make? Perhaps you make a killer congee, or jambalaya fit for a queen. If so, it's time to throw your hat in the ring! NO RISOTTOS, PLEASE. (They'll come later.)
Winner
WEEK 23
Your Best Pork with Cider
Pork and cider are a natural pairing, and one that we think is perfect for fall. The juicy tang of apple provides a great counterpoint to the salty robustness of pork, whether it's used to braise a lesser cut or glaze a tenderloin. For this contest, feel free to choose either regular or hard cider -- or both!
Winner
Your Best Pancakes
One of the many things we like about making pancakes is how tiny shifts in the ingredients or your technique can create a wildly different pancake. Choose buckwheat flour and you get a steely flavor; fold in egg whites and you achieve a feathery texture; or thin out the batter to produce a lacier Swedish-style cake. Tell us your secret to excellent pancakes!
Winner
WEEK 22
Your Best Sweet Potato Recipe
Sweet potatoes are not only rich and satisfying -- they're also nutritional powerhouses, great to have around when green veggies are scarce. We like sweet potatoes roasted, mashed, fried and puréed. We like them with herbs and cheese, and as part of a salad. We like them candied, in pies, and baked with brown sugar or maple syrup. Tell us how you like them!
Winner
Southwestern Spiced Sweet Potato Fries with Chili-Cilantro Sour Cream
by TasteFood, 11/13/2009
by TasteFood, 11/13/2009
4 likes
Your Best Autumn Salad
You know what we love to eat after Thanksgiving? A great, big autumn salad. Not a repentant salad, but one that's flush with autumn flavors -- sturdy greens, roasted beets or squash, some nuts, perhaps a little cheese -- and one that's flavorful and robust and doesn't remind us of turkey or candied sweet potatoes! We're betting you've got a great one up your sleeve.
Winner
WEEK 21
Your Best Thanksgiving Stuffing
With Thanksgiving fast approaching, we want to know how you make this, the most crucial of side dishes. Do you use mushrooms, herbs, sausage or oysters? How about cornbread or dried fruit? Do you employ butter or stock (or both) to keep it from drying out? Share your secrets for great stuffing with us!
Winner
Your Best Cranberry Sauce
You can play up the berry's tartness or mellow it out with sugar. You can add booze, citrus and any spice you like; reduce it to a jam or keep it crisp and bright like a fruit salad. You can call it a chutney, extract or sauce. As long as it belongs on the Thanksgiving table, we'd love to see your recipe!
Winner
WEEK 20
Best Beer Cocktail
Researching beer cocktail names, we found some doozies: Porch Crawler, Russian Eyebrow, and the Beerita. We love using beer as the base for something more festive, so this week give us your best beer cocktail!
Winner
Best Brussel Sprouts
The latest polarizing vegetable to really catch on, Brussels sprouts are fantastic when their preparation is given some thought -- shredded or left whole, left raw or deep fried, dressed with butter or walnut oil. In anticipation of Thanksgiving, share your favorite Brussels sprouts recipe with us!
Winner
WEEK 19
Your Best "Ham and Cheese"
There are so many iterations of this classic combo, and this week we want your favorites. Do you turn to prosciutto and a nutty, aged cheese? Do you grill your sandwich, or perhaps dress it up with a silky bechamel or a soft fried egg? What's your version of the perfect ham and cheese?
Winner
Your Best Chocolate Cookie
We figured everyone already has a chocolate chip cookie recipe they love, but how about a cookie whose dough is made with chocolate or cocoa? Think sable to biscotti, salt-flecked to rosemary-infused. (This is a special contest in conjunction with the Brooklyn Chocolate Experiment in NYC on Nov. 15 -- we'll have more details soon!)
Winner
Winner
WEEK 18
Your Best Chicken with Mustard
With these two ingredients, the possibilities are endless: you can combine them in stews, spreads, salads, even a pot pie. And any type of mustard is fair game, whether it's Dijon, grainy, brown or herb-infused. Your assignment? Wow us!
Winner
Your Best Autumn Vegetable Puree
One of the best ways to capture the pure flavor of autumn's bounty -- squashes, beets, carrots, celery root, etc. -- is in purees. But then there are so many ways to puree! You can roast the vegetable or braise it with aromatics; use a food processor or a blender; beat in cream or olive oil. Tell us how you do it.
Winner
WEEK 17
Your Best Fig Recipe
Figs have a long and illustrious history (legend has it they were Cleopatra's favorite delicacy). We're looking for your best way to prepare this diminutive yet bewitching fruit -- whether it be a salad, a sauce (savory or sweet), a tart, a cake, a jam, or something we haven't thought of!
Winner
Your Best Stew with Olives
We've never met an olive we didn't like. And we especially like olives in stews, to which they contribute nuttiness and brine. You can go Italian or Moroccan, Lucques or Sicilian, beef, lamb or chicken. Even a fish and olive stew is fine, as long as it's delicious.
Winner
WEEK 16
Your Best Mushroom Soup
This week, we noticed the first few brown leaves swirling at our feet and thought: it's time for soup. Everyone has a tried-and-true mushroom soup recipe -- be it delicate and creamy, brothy and fragrant, or an earthy stew. This week, we hope you'll share yours!
Winner
Your Best Recipe with Paprika
We think of paprika as the dark horse of the spice world. It can be sweet, spicy or smoky, and can come from Hungary or Spain. Tell us how you cook with it: do you use it in goulash and paprikash, as part of a spice rub for a roast, or does it figure into a great hors d'oeuvres (no deviled eggs please!)?
Winner
WEEK 15
Your Best Apple Cake
Apples are just coming into season here in the Northeast, and we think nothing ushers in the fall better than a moist, fragrant apple cake. Whether you use applesauce, whole pieces of fruit or both, this week we're asking for your favorite recipe for apple cake.
Winner
Your Best Potato Gratin
There are many ways to prepare an excellent potato gratin, and we'd like to know how you do it. Do you soak the potatoes in advance, cook them in milk before layering, use just cream or a blend of milk and cheese (what kind?!) -- and how do you keep the potatoes moist while getting a great crust on the gratin?
Winner
Individual Sweet Potato Gratins with Creme Fraiche, Onions, and Bacon
by apartmentcooker, 09/24/2009
by apartmentcooker, 09/24/2009
1 like
WEEK 14
Your Best Brunch Eggs
If you've got a showstopping egg dish up your sleeve, this is the week for you. Over-easy and poached eggs are delicious for everyday, but we're looking for something you'd serve to make an impression: a frittata, a strata, baked eggs, a killer omelet, or something completely different. Surprise us!
Winner
Your Best Way to Cook Greens
Do you braise or oven-dry kale? Make spinach with pine nuts and raisins? Prepare chard ravioli? Or have a trick for sauteing mustard greens? We'd love to know your favorite way to cook the bounty of fall greens: kale, mustard, collards, escarole, spinach and Swiss chard.
Winner
WEEK 13
Your Best Beef Salad
Maybe it's just us, but we love beef salads -- cold beef is delicious with strong, mustardy vinaigrettes; salsa verde; and, of course, Asian dressings. Tell us what you like to make, and also, what cut of beef you like to use.
Winner
Your Best Fruit Tart
The transition from summer to fall brings a delicious glut of fresh fruit: blackberries, plums, figs, apples, and pears. We think one of the best ways to use fresh fruit is in a tart. This week, we look forward to your best fruit tarts -- whether they be end of summer fruits or beginning of fall.
Winner
Winner
WEEK 12
Your Best Fried Chicken
Yes, our photo is of a roasted chicken (it was good!) but we're looking for a fried chicken recipe that produces exceptionally crisp, salty skin, and delicious meat. What's your technique: do you brine, use a beer batter, oven-fry? Do you fry the chicken whole or in pieces? Use an iron skillet? Fill us in!
Winner
Your Best Eggplant Recipe
Do you have a recipe for eggplant parmesan or caponata that's been passed down in your family for years? Or maybe babaganoush or bhurtha? Eggplant is integral to many cultures, and right now it's at its prime. So share your recipes with us -- whether they come from near or far.
Winner
Winner
WEEK 11
Your Best Preserves
Believe it or not, summer is nearing its end -- which means that it's time to start canning! This week, we're looking for all things preserved: jams and jellies, chutneys, pickles, and canned fruit and veggies. And if you have already uploaded a recipe for preserves, now's your chance to submit!
Winner
Your Best End of Summer Cocktail
We'd like to make a toast to summer's exit. Let us know what you're serving on Labor Day. Does it involve peaches or Pimms? Tomatoes or gin? Bitters or sugar? (And aren't all end-of-summer cocktails a little bittersweet?)
Winner
WEEK 10
Your Best Tomato Recipe
Tomato season is finally here! Blight or no blight, there have been piles and piles of them at the greenmarket. This week, share with us your favorite way to eat tomatoes -- be it something plain and simple like a tomato sandwich or salad or more complex like a sauce or preserves.
Winner
Your Best Frozen Dessert
Inspired by last week's Wildcard Winner, we thought we'd put out a call for any frozen dessert that can not be classified as an ice cream. We're thinking about granitas, sorbets, frozen mousses -- even shaved ice. Let us know your favorite way to cool off at the end of a summer meal.
Winner
WEEK 9
Your Best Grilled Pork Recipe
Go in whatever direction you like -- pulled pork, brined pork chops, spareribs, tenderloin -- as long as it ends up on the grill and it tastes great, we're interested!
Winner
Your Best Watermelon Recipe
We really got into the watermelon-and-feta and watermelon-and-tomato salads that became popular a few years ago, and it made us think that a watermelon theme could result in some excellent recipes. Send us your salads, your popsicles, your cocktails, however you like to use watermelon.
Winner
WEEK 8
Your Best Peach Recipe
There's nothing quite like a ripe peach, with its lightly floral sweetness, yielding flesh and sticky juice that drips down your chin. Peaches are great in both desserts and savory dishes. So bring us your pies, your sorbets and fruit salads, your salsas and chutneys. Bring on the peaches!
Winner
Your Best Summer Fish Recipe
When we cook fish in the summer, we like to keep it simple. A quick pass on the grill or in the oven, with lots of fresh herbs, a rustic soup or a garlicky pasta with fish and shellfish. Do you have a great technique or combination of flavors? Tell us -- we'd love to try it!
Winner
Winner
WEEK 7
Your Best Zucchini or Summer Squash Recipe
We love zucchini and summer squash's propensity for absorbing other flavors -- like garlic, herbs and spices -- so this week, we're looking for recipes that highlight this great quality. Think a quick sauté, an egg dish, a pasta or risotto, or even a soup.
Winner
Your Best Cold Soup
To us, cold soup means two things: a quick recipe and no turning on your stove. It's great to start a meal with something bright and refreshing. So bring on the gazpachos, the chilled vegetable purees and fruit soups.
Winner
WEEK 6
Your Best "First Corn of the Season" Recipe
Like tomatoes, peaches and watermelon, sweet corn is one of the true harbingers of summer. This week, we'd like to know how you like to prepare those first ears of the season. It's time for the recipe that to you represents the sheer essence of corn.
Winner
Your Best Shrimp Recipe
No other shellfish is quite as versatile as shrimp, and everyone seems to have a favorite way to cook it. So we're looking for your best effort -- whether it's a simple pan-fry, a pasta or risotto, a salad, cooked on the grill, or not cooked at all (as in ceviche or crudo).
Winner
WEEK 5
Your Best Salad Dressing
Salad greens are at their peak, compelling us to adorn them with more than just an everyday vinaigrette. So we're calling for your best dressing. You can use vinegar or citrus for tartness, stay traditional or explore unusual flavors. The bottom line? Your dressing should make the greens sing.
Winner
Your Best Cherry Recipe
Cherry season is brief, so we like to make the most of it. Although we love them fresh and on their own, cherries also lend themselves beautifully to jams, pies, cakes, fruit salads and even savory dishes (think game). Show us how you like to eat them!
Winner
WEEK 4
Your Best Summer Cocktail
What better way to celebrate the recent emergence of the sun than with a summer cocktail? It's time to unleash that inner mixologist and share your best recipes for a drink befitting the season -- think "adult" lemonades, other fruit-based drinks or something savory, à la a Bloody Mary.
Winner
Your Best Muffin
On Seinfeld, Elaine insisted that the muffin top is the only part worth eating. We like the whole darn thing. This week we'd like to hear about your favorite muffin. It can be savory or sweet, fruit-based or not, light and cakey or dense and rich.
Winner
WEEK 3
Your Best Green and/or Wax Bean Dish
This week brought the first wave of beans at the market. The towering piles of yellow and green reminded us how much we like them together. We'd love to know your favorite way to prepare beans. Hot or cold? Tangy with vinaigrette or lush with butter? As part of a composed salad? Share with us!
Winner
Your Best Grilled Lamb
We're big fans of lamb blade, rib and shoulder chops -- the cheaper cuts that aren't as pretty as a lamb loin chop but just as delicious. This week, we'd love to learn new ways to grill (or broil) them. Send us your best marinade, rub or sauce, and don't forget to tell us your grilling tips, too!
Winner
WEEK 2
Your Best Strawberry Recipe
Strawberry season is in full swing, and we'd love for you to share your favorite way to prepare them. It could be a dessert, it could be a salad - think trifles, sorbets, shortcakes, frozen desserts, even drinks.
Winner
Your Best Burger
It's the rainiest June in history, and yet we soldier on at the grill. We're looking for your most extraordinary burger - set apart by the spices you use (worcestershire, chipotle), by the type of meat (lamb, short rib, pork) or an unusual cooking method.
Winner
WEEK 1
Your Best Layer Cake
There are icing people, and there are cake people, but there's nothing like a great layer cake to unite them. So give us your go-to, showstopping layer cake. This is the recipe you find yourself sharing over and over again.
Winner
Your Best Chowder
It's been rainy and cool here in New York, so we've been thinking about chowder. This contest is open to anything you consider to be a chowder. It can be red, white, seafood, chicken, vegetarian, or a combination.
Winner
