BRATTLEBORO — Strolling of the Heifers announces its 2013 keynote culinary event: The Great New England Quiche Cookoff.
Quiche is defined as a baked, open-faced savory tart, comprised of a crust filled with a mixture of eggs, cream, cheese, and a variety of other ingredients.
This year's event will showcase quiche as an easy meal. For presentation to the judges and exhibition to the public, entries will be paired with a slice of buttered bread and a salad of dressed, local greens, all donated by sponsors.
“Strolling of the Heifers helps the public understand where their food comes from. Sustainable, local food is not just healthy and delicious, but it is also easy to use to provide meals for our families. This contest is another way we make that point,” said Orly Munzing, the Stroll's founder and executive director.
In addition to their recipes, contestants will be asked to tell the story of their entry: If they created it, what inspired them? Or is it a family dish? Was it a secret pried from a relative? Do they serve it on any special occasions?
New this year will be two separate judging circles. The traditional local celebrity “foodie” judges from Brattleboro's extensive farm, food, and culinary community will select the first, second and third prize winners.
The first interested 150 people to arrive at the River Garden on Friday, June 7 at 5 p.m. will make up the community judging panel for the “People's Choice Award.”
All awards will be announced on the evening of Friday, June 7 during Gallery Walk. During the monthly Street Festival, which coincides with Strolling of the Heifers Weekend, the public will have a tasting opportunity at the Robert H. Gibson River Garden.
Both professional and amateur chefs are invited to enter and encouraged to use cheese, eggs, and other dairy products from New England. Ingredients should be as fresh and local as possible, contest organizers encourage.
All entries should be for a family-sized portion of quiche. By definition, the quiche must have a crust, be open-faced, contain eggs, cheese, and cream or milk.
Recipes should specify the type of cheese to be used. Each recipe should specify how many servings, of what size, it will produce.
All entries must not duplicate a copyrighted recipe.
For both the selection of finalists and the final judging, recipes and quiches will be judged based on creative use of ingredients, appearance, taste and relative ease and clarity of preparation method, as well as adaptability to quantity preparation. All decisions of the judges are final.
Recipes will be collected and published at the discretion of Strolling of the Heifers. Prize winners grant to Strolling of the Heifers and all sponsors the right to use their name, photo and (for professional entries) business affiliation in any publicity. All entrants retain copyright to recipes but grant Strolling of the Heifers and all competition sponsors non-exclusive unlimited and perpetual publication rights in any medium for their submitted recipes.
All entries must be submitted online or they may be mailed to Strolling of the Heifers, 105 Partridge Rd., East Dummerston VT 05354. Entries must be received no later than midnight, Friday, May 17.
Only one entry per person will be accepted. Each entry must contain the complete recipe, in standard recipe format - title, exact ingredients, and step-by-step cooking instructions, as well as the entrant's “story” about the entry.
Up to 10 finalists will be notified by May 22.
Finalists will be asked to prepare their quiche and bring it to the judging, which will take place on Thursday evening, May 29. The judging is not open to the public.
Finalist recipes will be adapted for preparation in commercial kitchens and will be cooked in quantity by several partnering institutional kitchens - those at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, Thompson House, and the Brattleboro Retreat.
These quiches will be brought to the River Garden for the community to judge.
Governor Peter Shumlin is scheduled to announce the winners at about 7:30 p.m. from the entertainment stage on Main Street. Finalists are encouraged to attend.
Prizes will be awarded as follows:
• First prize - $300 to spend at King Arthur Flour, plus a King Arthur gift basket and a Stroll cookbook.
• Second prize - $150 to spend at King Arthur Flour, plus a gift basket from Grafton Village Cheese Company and a Stroll cookbook.
• Third prize - $50 to spend at King Arthur Flour, plus a gift basket from Cabot Cheese and a Stroll cookbook.
• People's Choice Award - a $75 gift certificate to The Marina restaurant.
King Arthur Flour prizes may be redeemed online or at the company's retail store in Norwich.