Alice Waters
September Contest: The Best Recipe from Your Garden
Celebrity Garden Judge: Alice Waters
Prize: A full set of tools from OXO that will take you all the way from the garden to the dining room table
When we first conceptualized America’s Oldest Largest Garden Party, the idea was to inspire as many backyard gardeners as we could. We had know idea that the little monthly contests originating from the kitchen table at The Beekman Farm would reach so many people in so many different places.
Of course, this success was really dependent on two things: the amazing tips submitted by all of our readers and the white hot star power of our panel of celebrity gardening judges.
As you know, the Garden Party contests have followed the growing season. The first contest was about getting your seeds started, then getting the plants in the ground, then controlling for weeds and so forth. It seemed fitting that just as we are making final preparations for our first annual Harvest Feast (click here for ticket information), that the final contest this season was all about the best recipes you’ve created from your own garden.
How excited were we when one of the gardeners (and chefs) who inspires us the most agreed to step up to judge the contest?
One of America’s most influential chefs, Alice Waters created a revolution in 1971 when she introduced local, organic fare at her Berkeley, California restaurant, Chez Panisse. Credited for helping change the food landscape in America, Chez Panisse was named best restaurant in the United States by Gourmet Magazine in 2001. Waters has championed sustainable farms and ranches for more than three decades (our hero!), and brought her vision to public schools through the Chez Panisse Foundation (www.chezpanissefoundation.org). The Foundation operates The Edible Schoolyard at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School in Berkeley, where students plant, harvest, and prepare fresh food as part of the academic curriculum. Waters is the Founder of the Yale Sustainable Food Project, and Vice President of Slow Food International. She is the recipient of the Natural Resources Defense Council Force for Nature Award, 2004 and the Harvard Global Environmental Citizen Award alongside Kofi Annan, in 2008.
Having such a farm-to-table pioneer as a judge meant that we had to make this month’s prize extra special, so we went back to our friends at OXO and look what they provided:
Not only all of this...
...but ALSO all of this!
It’s everything you need to work the garden and whip the harvest into something amazing.
To enter the contest, all you have to do is submit your best original recipe. Alice won’t be able to prepare each and every recipe (she has a restaurant and foundation to run!), but she’ll base her decision on creativity, originality and the ingredients used.
Submit your recipe in the comments section below and be sure to tell us which ingredients you grew in your garden.
Good luck!!
Cucumber Onion Salad
To understand the beauty of this salad you must understand that I am a farmer from my heart. Growing up the daughter of Brooklynites who knew nothing of soil and found cooking to be something of a chore…when they transplanted me to the “wilds” of NJ I found joy in dirt, dew and harvesting. I can’t keep a houseplant alive – but outdoors I thrive. I shared that with my own children – in gardens of lemon balm and lavender planted within recycled tires. Grapes tomatoes hidden in pockets – squirting like a treasure on hot summer days. This recipe is one my family loves from seed to finish. We grow the cucumbers and oft make the mayonnaise too. The serving size can be adjusted by adding more or subtracting to fit the crowd you are serving.
You need:
4 large Cucumbers sliced thinly
1 large onion (Vidalia is nice) also thinly sliced
1 cp. mayonnaise (full fat please – flavor counts/cholestrol be darned!)
1/8 cp. white vinegar
1/4 cp. sugar
salt and pepper to taste
I combine all the ingredients except the salt and pepper in a sealable container – make sure the lid is on good and tight and SHAKE! (This allowed me to let children help “cook” regardless of their age. It also saved washing an extra stirring spoon.) Once everything is nice and evenly mixed use the salt and pepper to season to taste.
This salad is great when it’s unbearably hot and humid here on the East Coast which is basically June through August. And, the leftovers store well for up to a week in the fridge if you happen to have any.
Summer Solstice Pasta
Pasta that celebrates the solstice all summer long
Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil (plus 2 tablespoons for drizzling over pasta )
4-5 large Heirloom Tomatoes (or 6-7 roma also work well)
1 can cannelini beans (rinsed)
4 cloves of garlic minced or smashed (however you like it )
1 tablespoon capers (rinsed)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 pound whole wheat ziti pasta
Fresh basil,5-8 large leaves
Boil water for pasta and once pasta is added …create magic
Simmer 1/4 cup olive oil,2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar and the garlic for 5 minutes on medium heat.
Rinse cannelini beans and capers and add to the oil garlic mixture
(by now your house smells like tuscany)
turn heat down a touch to low-medium and continue to simmer
Dice the tomatoes chop half the basil and add them to the pot,let this simmer until pasta is done about 3-4 minutes
when pasta is drained add 2 tablespoons olive oil and combine with the solstice magic thats simmering on your stove
Chop the rest of the basil and sprinkle over the top serve with a crusty bread ..Magic !
recipe notes
I used tomatoes and basil from my garden
the other ingredients were organic
I like to use whole wheat ziti pasta in this recipe but if its not your preference
use a pasta like rigatoni or bow tie(they hold this sauce better)
have fun with this one,create your own summer solstice,for us we are abundant in tomatoes and basil