OCQ Tweet Up: Joining Local Food Forces

A new #TweetUp started to connect everyone who has an interest in supporting local food. Our first chat was held on Wednesday, February 16th and it was quite the success. It was wonderful to see folks sharing knowledge and learning. The enthusiasm made me see how passionate people are about good food. There were a lot of amazing folks who truly appreciate the efforts of their favorite farms, purveyors and restaurants.

OCQ is all about community and the local food pages below were created to share what we learned about local.

Check out the informative Q&A exchange on local food basics and thoughts on being a locavore - http://ourcookquest.blogspot.com/p/local-food-chat.html

We started a nationwide local food master list to make it easier for you find what's available your area - http://ourcookquest.blogspot.com/p/local-food-master-list.html

Future #OurCookQuest chats will be scheduled at least three days in advance. The tentative date for the next one is March 16th at 10pm EST. The focus is farmers and their plans for Spring. Please encourage your favorite farms to join the chat to tell us about their products and help spread the word on better food choices. If they're not on Twitter, swing by and be their advocate.

Food tastes so much better when it's grown by people who care about what you eat.

OCQ's "Special of the Week" Recipe Contest, A Community Supported Effort



Ingredient Guessing Game*

PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT THE CONTEST IS CLOSED.

Thank you for your interest in the community supported recipe contest.  It is community supported because:

1. The prizes are being donated by generous parties.
2. The judges are from all over (US & Canada) and have a wide range of culinary experience.
3. A large group of food enthusiasts took the time to spread the word to bring you here. 

The focus of this contest is fun and I hope everyone who is involved has some. We're glad you're here to showcase your creativity and look forward to seeing what you come up with.

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Background Story

I recently had an exchange with Lisa Waddle of  FineCooking.com.  It started with her tweet about Sustainable Sundays being the new Meatless Monday. A few tweets later, I proposed a recipe contest.

That was the easy part. The daunting task was organizing the event and I knew that I couldn't do it all myself. I decided to use the power of social media to find volunteers. I pounded the pavement and was able to find a lot of generous folks willing to spare their time and donate to the prize pool.

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What Do You Have to Do to Enter?
(See the Contest Rules page for all the requirements prior to submitting your entry.)

Come up with a recipe that has a catchy name. The use of alliteration is suggested, but not required. For example: Turmeric Tomato Turkey Tagine.

Highlight the recipe with a local/sustainable ingredient from a purveyor you support.

Snap a couple of pictures (one plated, one in process).

Email it to us.

Contest Rules Page

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What Do I Have the Opportunity to Win?

There is a prize pool that is building. Most of the contributions are recently released cookbooks from well known authors. A good portion of them are signed copies.

The current prize pool contributors are (listed in alpha order): Chef Jose Andres, Melissa Clark, @Cooks_Books, Suzanne Cope, Chef Stuart Reb Donald, Amanda Hesser, @HiddenBoston, Evan Kleiman & yours truly.

Prize Pool Donor Page

We will keep the prize pool open for donations until the end of the first judging stage. Please tweet us at ourcookquest if you know anyone who's interested.

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Who Else Wins?

One local/sustainable purveyor from each of the winning recipes will have a featured post on Local In Season to help promote their efforts.

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What's Up With the Picture?

Each of the seven ingredients above start with the same letter as each day of the week. The first fully completed entry contestant to guess the seven dry/dried ingredients will win a single prize from the pool.

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Sincere Thanks

A huge community of food enthusiasts made this happen. We couldn't have done it without your support.

I want to start by thanking all the judges on the panel for sacrificing their free time to make this all possible. I hope that we'll learn a little more about each other and share culinary knowledge as we go through the process.

Your Judges Page

A big shout out to our prize donors! We recognize that their wonderful contributions are key to gaining all the attention and excitement. Brilliant!

Last, but not least, I want to thank all of OCQ's followers for supporting our efforts and getting the word out.


* Photo inspired by Jane Ward and her daughter.

Prize Pool

Our list of generous donors and their contributions:

Amanda Hesser of the New York Times & Food52.com - Her most recent work:  The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Classic Recipes for a New Century

Evan Kleiman of KCRW's Good Food  - Three of her signed works:  Cucina Fresca, Cucina Rustica & Angeli Caffe: Pizza, Pasta, Panini

@HiddenBoston of HiddenBoston.com - Fifteen Minute Meals by Emalee Chapman

Chef Jose Andres of Think Food Group - "Made in Spain" package (signed cookbook, DVD series and CD)

Lisa Waddle of FineCooking.com - Two sets of two special recipe editions of Fine Cooking magazine

Melissa Clark of the New York Times & MelissaClark.net - Her signed work: In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite: 150 Recipes and Stories About the Food You Love

Suzanne Cope of the Locavore in the City Blog - Easy Healthy published by Love Food (no author) & Party Food by Jan Stephenson

JD of the Our Cook Quest Blog - Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking by Michael Ruhlman & Heat by Bill Buford

@Cooks_Books of CooksandBooksandRecipes.com - Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work by Aki Kamozawa & H. Alexander Talbot

Chef Stuart Reb Donald of WannabeTVChef.com - His most recent work: Third Coast Cuisine: Recipes from the Gulf of Mexico

Your Judges

In alphabetical order by first name/handle, the panel of judges. Except for me at the end.

Brian J. Geiger
@thefoodgeek
Charlottesville, VA
Freelance food writer, appearing in thefoodgeek.com and Fine Cooking
Magazine, and Kitchen Mysteries at FineCooking.com. He specializes in
the science of food.
http://thefoodgeek.com/

“Cooks_Books”
@Cooks_Books
Hot-off-the-Press Cookbooks, Straight-from-the-Oven Recipes
http://www.cooksandbooksandrecipes.com/

Eunice Montes
@Nieceymo LA & OC
Assistant Pastry Chef & Creative Design Director @CupcakesMB. With a
passion for everything in food, wine, hospitality & fashion ;)
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/nieceymo?ref=profile

Evan Kleiman

@evankleiman

Los Angeles

Culinary Multitasker

http://kcrw.com/goodfood

Jane Ward

@authorjane
Amesbury, Massachusetts
a curious and restless individual who looks for
meaning-understanding-commonality-connection through food and fiction
writing http://authorjaneward.wordpress.com/

Jen Hoffmeister
@piccantedolce
Toronto
A foodie & home cook with a passion for local eating real food made
from scratch with love. http://piccantedolce.blogspot.com/

Jon Ross-Wiley, Co-founder
@localinseason
Boston, MA
Better food is the reason http://www.localinseason.com/

Judie K
@foodiejudie
Boston, MA
Loves having food in her life :)! Cooking & baking at home to planning
& cooking for small events, I enjoy the many aspects of food (incl:
sharing + growing). http://www.foodcandy.com/AccountView.aspx?id=928

Lisa Waddle
@FC_Lisa

Newtown, Connecticut

Managing Editor of the most exciting food magazine on newsstands.

http://finecooking.com

Nareg Artinian
@TKTruck
Los Angeles County
The foundation of The TK Truck’s cuisine, The Tikkeh Kabob, is a time
honored and perfected recipe that draws from the ethnic flavors of
Armenia and Lebanon. http://www.thetktruck.com/

Suzanne Cope
@locavoreincity
Somerville/Boston, MA
Eating, reading and writing in the city. http://www.locavoreinthecity.com/

 JD
@ourcookquest
Culinary enthusiasts working together to learn from passionate people
who influence the way we think about food. Ideas and posts
welcome. /ourcookquest/p/plan.html

Contest Rules

Our Cook Quest (OCQ) Community Supported Recipe Contest Rules*:
Updated: January 31, 2011

Eligibility

Entrants must be at least 18 years of age at the time of entry. You must be a legal United States resident of the continuous 48 states. A legal name and address are required for submission; no PO boxes will be accepted. One submission allowed per person. If you know a judge or judges, please indicate his/her name(s) in your entry.


Entry Rules

Please submit your local/sustainable inspired recipe with a fun name. The use of alliteration is suggested, but not required. One well known general example is "Meatless Monday". Variations on published recipes will be accepted as long as you site your source.


Recipe Submission Rules:

1.  Emphasize the use of local/sustainable ingredients and provide "shout outs" to your purveyors. Examples: produce from a farmers' market or CSA, products sourced within reasonable driving distance, eggs found in your grocery store that were laid a couple towns away, etc. Even better, use ingredients that you grew or produced yourself. This includes indoor herb pots, root vegetables stored in your basement, backyard fruit trees, canning, cheese, wine, beer, etc.
2.  Two photographs are required: one plated and one in process.
3.  Keep the recipe simple and straightforward. Maximum time limits: one hour for preparation, two hours for cooking and one overnight set.
4.  Please do not include the use of high end ingredients like truffles, foie gras, caviar, etc.

Things to Keep in Mind:

Judges are from all over (US & Canada). Readily available ingredients in the South may not be accessible in the North. However, creative replacements are welcome. If one is not provided, judges will find the best alternative available.

Optional Fun:

Guess what the seven ingredients are in the blog post picture announcing the contest. Ingredient names start with the first letter from each day of the week. The first recipe submission contestant to guess the correct seven wins a prize from the pool. 

Submit a story on what inspired you to start cooking. Please limit it to 200 words or less.


When to Enter:

The entry period is from Monday, January 24th 3:30 PM EST to Monday, February 21st 3:30 PM EST.  


How to Submit Your Entry

Please email your recipe and two photographs to ocq.entry@gmail.com. Please use the name of your recipe as the subject line.

Upon submitting your recipe, you accept the terms and conditions of all the contest rules.


Prizes

OCQ wants to support purveyors of local and sustainable products. One establishment from each of the winners' entries will have a featured blog post highlighting the product used and their local and sustainable efforts on the Local In Season website.

See the Prize Pool page for the donated prizes. The pool will be split into two packages and the winner will choose one. The runner up will be awarded the remaining. All prizes were generously donated by multiple parties to make this a fun event. We will provide your information to donors so they can mail your prize. All prizes are subject to change and cannot be guaranteed by OCQ. The winners of the contest will be sent the prizes from multiple sources, so be understanding when it comes to delivery. Please allow six to eight weeks for delivery, but this time frame may vary. OCQ is not responsible for any issues that are involved with the transfer, delay and/or receipt of said prizes. All winners are solely responsible for any and all taxes and/or fees, and all such additional costs they may incur.


Notification

The winners will be announced on the Our Cook Quest blog once the final judging is completed. The projected announcement of the winners is 30 days after the entry period is closed. This time period may vary.


Judging Rules & Responsibilities

Judges must identify if they know a contestant and will not be allowed to vote or comment on that contestant’s submission.

Once the entry period is closed, judges will evaluate all the submissions and vote on their top five. Votes will be tallied for all the judges to see and finalists will be determined. The finalists and their recipes will be posted. 

The prize contributions will be closed following the announcement of the finalists. The prize pool will be evaluated by judges and split as evenly as possible. A single prize will be pulled for the winner of the ingredient guessing game. The winner of the recipe contest will be allowed to choose between the two packages and the runner up will receive the other. 

The judges will test all finalists' recipes and evaluate using the following point system:

100 point total: 80 – flavor, 10 – originality, 10 – use of local/sustainable ingredients

Once all the recipes are tested and graded, judges will convene and decide on the winners.


Releases

By submitting a recipe, entrants agree to be bound by these official rules and the decisions of OCQ and the judges, which shall be final in all respects. OCQ is not responsible for any issues involved with not receiving your submission, which includes any delays or incomplete transmissions. Contest entrants agree to release OCQ, judges and prize donors from any and all liability, loss or damages arising from or in connection with the contest, award, receipt, and/or use or misuse of the prizes or participation of any prize-related activities.

Upon submission of your entry, you give Our Cook Quest the rights to distribute and publish your work without any compensation.

OCQ reserves the right to alter and amend any rules of any contest at any time. The latest version of the contest rules posted always supersedes any past version or conflicting information in the blog. OCQ and participating judges are not responsible for any errors that may occur during the contest.


Miscellaneous

Void where prohibited. No purchase necessary. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply.

OCQ reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual who tampers with the entry process and to cancel, terminate, modify and/or suspend the contest in the event of tampering or other circumstances, including but not limited to acts of God or civil disturbance that render it impractical or impossible to complete or fulfill the contest as originally planned.


We appreciate your entry and hope you have fun developing your recipe.

Good Luck!


* Portions of the contest rules are influenced by Food52's, which can be found at http://www.food52.com/home/tos.