Who should win a $250 gift certificate to MarxFoods.com?

We put out a call to our readers for comfort food and received 150 delicious comfort food recipes! The most popular submission was macaroni and cheese recipes followed by soups, desserts, vegetable side dishes, stew, chicken pot pie and chicken recipes.

We’ve narrowed the recipes down to 27 finalists (which was extremely difficult!) and now it’s up to you to decide who should win. Voting is open through Sunday to contestants and the public. Each person can only vote one time – so choose wisely!

Read the recipes below and vote for your favorite. The poll contains excerpts from each recipe, to read the recipe in full, click on the link.
 
Voting closes at midnight Pacific Time on Sunday, November 23. The winner will be announced on Monday, November 24.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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What’s your favorite comfort food recipe?

Contest Dates: November 3 - 17

UPDATE: Vote here for your favorite recipe

What’s the meal you turn to when you need cheering up, you’re celebrating, the weather turns cold, or you want to bring back memories of your childhood? Or do you have a special holiday recipe that your family and friends look forward to year after year?

With the holidays quickly approaching and Thanksgiving meals being the epitome of comfort food, we’re putting out a call for comfort food recipes.

Enter your favorite, original recipe in the comment section below. If there’s a story behind it, include that too. A delicious picture that goes with it, please send it to contest@marxfoods.com. If you’d like to share why it’s comforting, please do so. There are no limitations to what kind of recipe you can submit, although kudos if you incorporate a product from MarxFoods.com.

Enter your best recipe by midnight on November 17th. We’ll select finalists, then the recipes will be voted on by our readers and customers in a poll running from Wednesday, November 19 through Sunday, November 23.

The creator of the winning recipe will win a $250 MarxFoods.com gift certificate and a set of biodegradable plates.

Read the contest rules.

Interesting Fact: The term comfort food was added to Webster’s Dictionary in 1972.

We’ve reorganized them all, so they are easier for you to use. Check out how delicious you are!

Burger Recipe Collection
Salmon Recipe Collection
Chanterelle Mushroom Recipe Collection
Morel Mushroom Recipe Collection
Other Mushroom Recipe Collection
Oyster Recipe Collection

And, check out these recipes by Restaurant Chefs.

Wild Boar Recipe Collection
Grain-fed Veal Recipe Collection

All of the above linked collections are available through new recipe page. There, you can find our recipe indices as well as recipes that have been developed by our executive chef.

Check it out and let us know what you think.

We do a lot of cooking and photography…in fact, we do it all ourselves, before we promptly devour our creations. Yes…we eat just about everything that we photograph…it’s one of our policies.

And, we’d like to share our photography. So, go check out some of our food photography and use them. The only thing that we ask for is attribution [ we'd love a link too!;) ].

And, please let us know if you have any feedback or if there are specific photos that you’d like for us to upload to our account…we have tens of thousands and are just now starting to trickle them into our Flickr account. We’re new at Flickr…so, please do let us know if we can make this more useful for you.

Eight-year old Will and his mom Leslie Youngstrom won the oyster contest by a landslide! Leslie will receive an oyster sampler including a dozen each of Pacific oysters, Kumamoto oysters, Virginica oysters and Olympia oysters, as well as a set of biodegradable plates.

Thanks to everyone who voted! We loved all the stories and ideas and had a lot of fun letting our readers vote and leave comments.

Watch for our next contest in early November. Join our newsletter if you’d like to receive a contest announcement.

PS. Sorry for announcing the results a day late…Justin got bumped from his flight home on Sunday from Louisiana and Emily had Monday off.

*if using regular balsamic vinegar, use 2 teaspoons sucanat or 1 teaspoon honey dissolved into 2 tablespoons vinegar

Technique:
Rinse strawberries and pat dry. Cut thinly into 1/8 inch slices. Place in bowl and drizzle with balsamic vinegar; toss gently to coat. Allow to marinate at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Strawberries may be covered and refrigerated at this point for up to 4 hours. Remove from refrigerator and allow to return to room temperature 30 minutes before serving. Serve over vanilla ice cream.

Serves 2.

Original recipe by Trina Kaufman, MarxFoods.com contributor

UPDATE: Voting is now closed. Check back on Monday for the oyster contest results!

We asked our readers “What would you do with 48 free oysters?” and received 118 great ideas! We’ve narrowed the oyster plans down to 10 finalists and now it’s up to you to decide who should win. Voting is open until Friday at noon to contestants and the public.

Read the below ideas and vote for your favorite oyster idea in the poll at the bottom of this post. Here are excerpts from each idea. To read the idea in full, click on the comment number.

Marisa Baggett (#34) – Oysters three ways for Thanksgiving. Oyster’s sashimi to start, a soup course of miso chowder topped with a panko fried oyster, and a main dish of baked salmon filled with oysters and sausage

Gisele Phipps (#35) – Poetry. Succulent sea treasure, Feminine folds of tender delight, Hiding the secrets of the ocean…

Mark Peters (#36) – a trail of oysters leading my man from the front door to the bedroom…

Leslie Youngstrom (#39) - 8 year-old Will prefers them BBQ’d with wine, garlic and butter because “I can taste the yummy oyster flavor.” Will’s mom would give the prize to him as a surprise.

Langdon Cook (#44) – Oyster po’ boys and beer! Six friends, ice cold beer and shucking lessons. A slew of oyster po’ boys the Nawlins way.

Miriam (#58) – Miriam and the Bawdy Bivalves: A Short Radio Play. (knock knock) Tiny oyster voices: “Ma’am, we’re here to see about the plankton bloom.” … 

Nate (#73) – Pacific oysters on the grill, raw Kumamoto oysters (as God intended), Virginica oysters raw with horseradish and green onion, and an Olympia oyster omelet.

Harvey Weed (#74) – I would call my two best friends over for dinner. (Butter and Garlic)

Michelle Arundale (#94) – Four “marriage-survival” gift packs including; champagne, candles, massage oil, truffles, strawberries, and 12 glorious oysters. One basket for me and the other 3 for my closest friends

Anita Porterfield (#96) – A house dinner concert with grilled Oysters Rockefeller as the main entrée. We’d have a singer/songwriter to provide entertainment and our guests would bring pot luck.

Voting closes at noon Pacific Time on Friday, October 24. The winner will be announced on Monday, October 27.

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2 eggs beaten with 2 tbsps of water.
1 cup unseasoned bread crumbs
3 tbsps canola/corn oil/clarified butter or other high smoke point oil
Lemon wedges

Technique:
Mix first 11 ingredients together- salt and pepper to taste. Make into 8 equal patties- do not press too hard. Dip patties into egg/water mixture and then into remaining breadcrumbs and let stand. Heat oil almost to smoke point then add crab crakes- do not crowd pan. Cook over medium heat until golden brown- 3 to 4 minutes- then turn and cook until just done. Serve with Truffle Beurre Blanc around cake and garnish with lemon wedges.

Recipe by Paul Hughes, MarxFoods.com contributor

Simmer and reduce wine, vinegar, and shallots in a sauce pan until it is a syrupy glaze and remove from heat. Stir in cream and return to low heat reducing volume a little, then add truffle butter bit by bit stirring constantly. After all butter is stirred in, add lemon juice and salt & pepper to taste then strain. Hold at room temperature only until needed.

Recipe by Paul Hughes, MarxFoods.com contributor

Technique:
• preheat oven to 475 degrees Fº
• rinse and pat dry your fish
• insert thyme and slices of lemon into the cavity of the fish (season cavity only)
• in a large mixing bowl, mix salt and egg whites until well incorporated
• on a large sheet pan, spread half of the salt mixture and lay the fish across ensuring the salt will encompass the entire fish
• pour the remaining salt on top of the fish and pack down
• put the fish in the oven: turn down the temperature to 400 degrees Fº
• the general rule is to cook the fish for 10 minutes for every inch of thickness the fish is at it’s thickest point

Presentation:
Let the fish cool for 2 minutes and then crack the coffin with a wooden spoon. Peel away the salt and remove the fish from the coffin. Place on a serving dish and dress with a flavorful E.V.O.O.

recipe, cooking and styling by Chris Tanghe