"RecipeContest" news and stories

An autumnal feast. Photo: Brent Ridge, Beekman 1802.

Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell are the farmers and innovators behind Beekman 1802, a 200-year-old estate and farm in upstate New York. We'll be running recipes, photos and tales from the farm as their crops come into season.

One of the true pleasures of life on the farm is walking out to the heirloom vegetable garden to decide what looks good for dinner. All summer, we've been sharing some of our own recipes, but we're not the only ones out there with a backyard garden and a little creativity. There are thousands of you!

We decided to hold a contest to see who came up with the best impromptu recipe from their garden this year.
And guess what? One of the most influential gardening chefs in the world, Alice Waters, is going to help us choose the winner. We'll even prepare the winning recipe and put it right here. You and your recipe could be famous!

To get you started on the right track, we're giving you one of our favorites this season.

If you can believe it, there's sweet potato in this tasty treat.

Slashfood had the delicious task this Wednesday of helping judge the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission's blogger recipe contest. One of the finalists was this delectable cheesecake sweetie by East Village Kitchen.

The contest asked bloggers to come up with recipes that used sweet potatoes in new ways to encourage home cooks to get them on the table after the Thanksgiving dinner season.

Get the cheesecake recipe, see the winner and learn the difference between a sweet potato and a Southern yam after the jump.

Got a Prosecco cocktail that's the life of every party? Folks begging you for your Kosher kugel secrets? Sneak a few minutes while everyone around you is slogging through their post-holiday-feast comas and submit your best recipes. At stake -- trips, cash, kitchen gear, and culinary bragging rights for the rest of 2009. Break a ladle!

Are we missing any? Post 'em in the comments below.


Pillsbury's Make America Sweeter Contest

Boboli's Great American City Tour Pizza Recipe Contest

Tutti Foodie's Chocolate Adventure Contest

Pepperidge Farms's Puff Pastry to Paris Recipe Contest

Simply Manischewitz Cook-Off Contest

Mama Mary's Official Pizza Creations Recipe Contest

Mionetto Mixology Cocktails Contest

Jose Ole Coolest Mom Recipe Contest

4th Annual Hood Holiday Recipe Contest

Taste of Home America's Best-Loved Recipes Contest

Crisco Grilling Hall of Fame (Get the skinny from Marisa's earlier post.)

Paula Deen's Treasure Hunt

The Next Hungry Man Dinner

Trader Joe's is looking for recipes that are HiiP (Highly Innovative Ingredient Pairings). The requirements are that recipes use up to four Trader Joe's products, no alcohol, and take 20 minutes or less to prepare and cook.

I'm left wondering just how innovative of a recipe they are looking for. Do they want recipes like those featured in the blog event Things that Go Really Well Together that have pairings as unique as white chocolate and caviar, or are they looking for something a bit more mainstream? I'll be very interested to see the results.

If you are in need of inspiration, check out the foodpairing site. Click any food and it will tell you what it best pairs with chemically. Read the rest of the contest details on the Trader Joe's site and enter by May 15th. Good luck!

Thanks, Alanna, for the tip!

Mambo Sprouts, a magazine dedicated to health and organic food as well as coupons for you, has put out a call for original recipes. They're looking for original recipes in four different categories, each utilizing different sponsored products.

You can enter any and all of the categories: Bake it organic, Asian exotic, chocolate craze, or salt of the earth. If you are interested, you can check out the rules and requirements here.

If you like to cook and create your own recipes, check out this contest. It could be a chance to win some useful prizes and get your creations out into the world.