Second Call for Recipes for Lehigh Valley Farmers' Market Cookbook: Fall!

If you've just stumbled upon this page, welcome. Thanks for stopping by. You must like good food, such as these roasted brussel sprouts from Salvaterra's Gardens.

But I digress! 

Here's the scoop about the Lehigh Valley Farmers' Market Cookbook. Laini Abraham and I are going to publish a cookbook. I'm the cooking/writing half; she's the designing/publishing half. The recipes will be original and culled from various sources: my own brain, farmers and vendors who know well what to do with their wares; food writers and chefs who shop at the markets and/or collaborate with the markets in cooking demonstrations; and finally—you, the market-shopping public. We want your delicious recipes.

To that end, we're  putting out the SECOND call for recipe submissions for dishes you would typically make from September through Thanksgiving. Now that the Easton Farmers' Market is staying open through the winter, and many other markets in the valley are doing the same, we're going to put a THIRD call out for winter recipes later in the fall. Here's what we're looking for:

•   Recipes must be complete, clearly written, and include instructions that can be easily reproduced; make sure amounts are specified, cooking temperatures, number of servings, etc. If you don't know for sure, please try to make an estimated guess.

•   Please write a short statement (a few sentences) about the genesis of the recipe: What's the story behind it? When do you make it? How and why do you make it? The stories are as important as the recipes.

•   We cannot simply reprint established, published recipes. However, if you have adapted a recipe from somewhere else, please explain to us how you adapted it, why yours is different, and please indicate where it comes from, by providing the name of the book, the cook or chef and/or the URL, depending on the source.

•   Please specify the market at which you shop and identify, in your recipe, the vendors you typically use for each item, where applicable. It’s also fine to just say “fresh spinach” or “carrots” if that's all you need, but we also would love recipes that specify particular varieties, such as a Brandywine tomato or dinosaur (lacinato) kale, or Jimmy Nardello red pepper. If the ingredients are more specialized, such as pea shoots or fresh chevre or elephant garlic, you'll want to tell us exactly from which vendor you bought them.

•   A minimum of 1/2 of the recipe ingredients should be locally sourced. We don't expect you to be able to locally source pantry staples, beans/grains/pasta, lemons, certain cheeses, and spices (salt and pepper for example), so those won't count in that total. You may of course use something you purchased at a local store and in which case (I'm thinking of Seasons in Bethlehem for oils and vinegars), please tell us. Anything that's a fruit, vegetable, wine, or animal product (even honey!) should be available at a Lehigh Valley Farmers' Market.

•   Please think seasonally! Think about what you're trying to do these days with all the remaining peaches, tomatoes, and corn, and how exciting it is to see the cooler weather crops return, such as greens, broccoli, and fall/winter squashes. What do you eat from September through November? Let that guide you.

•   Please submit no more than THREE recipes. We need to play fair; it's a big Valley with lots of people. We won't likely publish more than one recipe per individual.

•   If your recipe is selected for the book, we will contact you by the end of the market season (Winter 2013). The recipe will be printed with your name along with it and you will receive a copy of the cookbook upon publication.

•   Please submit the spring and summer recipes via email to lvfmcookbook@gmail.com no later than October 19, so as to provide ample time for me (and my squadron of testers) to test and photograph those we've selected. The sooner, the better!

You can follow the progress right here on this blog, and also on Facebook and Twitter.

And thank you!