The River House in Palm Beach Gardens won in two categories -- Best Romantic and Best Fine Dining. (Jennifer Cecil / Palm Beach Post)

Loyal, opinionated, food-loving readers of The Palm Beach Post, you have spoken, resoundingly so.

Two months ago, I asked you to vote for your favorite local restaurants in 13 key categories. And vote you did. By the bucketloads. Envelopes of ballots avalanched on the Food desk as online voters clicked away.

The tallies proved revealing. Yes, you do love your national chains (especially in two categories), but you are massively supportive of local, independent restaurants as well as locally based chains.

As one of the staffers who hand-counted your ballots, I’m proud to say this was one Palm Beach County election that went without a hitch.

(So glad we nixed that butterfly ballot idea.)
Read the full story

Are you the pork “Crock-Star” of your home kitchen? You could win $5,000.

From August 9 through September 27 (Monday), visit TheOtherWhiteMeat.com to submit an original slow-cooking pork recipe in the first-ever “Search for America’s Pork ‘Crock-Star” contest.

Five winners will win a trip to New York City to compete at Crocktoberfest in October. In addition to rubbing elbows with celebrity mom Candace Cameron Bure and winner of Top Chef – Season 5 Hosea Rosenberg, one lucky entrant will walk away with the $5,000 grand prize.

There are other rules, like the recipe should be original, and include eight ingredients or less. Check out the rules and enter your family’s favorite dish.

Good luck!

David Harrow’s job is on the line. If he wants to make probation with the Stuart Fire Department he has to get… a lot of votes.

Harrow (right) prepares Firehouse Penne on Live with Regis and Kelly.

Votes for his Firehouse Penne recipe. The one that has landed him a spot this morning on the Live with Regis and Kelly show.

The morning show is conducting a coast-to-coast Fire House Cook-Off and Harrow’s made the cut.

You can see Harrow and the other contestants here, watch their videos, and vote. David’s up against five other firefighters and their recipes:

Buffalo Chicken Lasagne from Chicago.
Smothered Buffalo Chicken Toes over Dirty Rice from Oviedo, Florida.
Spicy Chicken Tortilla Soup out of San Jose.
And Lemon Chicken Pasta from Miamisburg, Ohio.

And I thought a Fire House cook-off would be ripe with chili.

Nope.
Read the full story

In the spirit of Earth Day’s 40th Anniversary, Pizza Fusion (a ground-breaker in the natural and organic restaurant movement) has launched a nationwide search for the greenest, most eco-friendly pizza recipe in the country with the Pizza Fusion Earth Day Video Contest. Get involved!

This isn’t your typical contest. This contest is an online, 100% paperless competition with earth-friendly prizes, and judged by a panel including Chef Aaron McCargo Jr., star of Food Network’s Big Daddy’s House and Michael Singer of Bon Appétit Magazine. Read the full story

Browse more photos

See video of the contest

Palm Beach County firefighters, police officers go bald for charity

Photos: More St. Patrick’s celebrations

Photos: Mini Kiss on Clematis

The hot dog-eating champ is now also the corned beef-eating champ.

Joey Chestnut took first place in the TooJay’s sponsored corned-beef chow down, held this afternoon at Downtown at the Gardens. The world’s number-one competitive eater devoured 15 sandwiches in 10 minutes, easily besting 15 other contestants and taking home the $5,000 top prize.

Chestnut is best known for his three consecutive victories, starting in 2007, in the annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, held on the Fourth of July in New York’s Coney Island.

Last year, he beat his own record in the event, eating 68 hot dogs in 10 minutes.

The winner gets dinner for two at Forte restaurant in downtown West Palm Beach and more.

Send a love note to your “tweetheart” on Twitter for a chance to win a romantic Valentine’s Day package!

Post a love note on Twitter and include the hashtag #pbvday for a chance to win:

Couples spa massage by Kaffee’s Garden Spa in West Palm Beach (Details)
Limo service by Deluxe Limo (4 hours)
Dinner for two at Forte in West Palm Beach

Big thanks to sponsors! Please consider following them. @fortewpb @dayspama @deluxelimo

Entries must be received by February 11, 2010. Winner will be notified on or about February 12 via Twitter direct message. Please see the official rules for complete contest details. You need to be local, because the prize is local and not transferable.

To see the entries on Twitter, follow us @pbpost or click here. See contest rules, (link below).

See the rules here.

Linda and Tina Monaco of Lake Worth have entered and won past Post cookie contests. (Ray Graham / The Post)

Second prize: Linda and Tina Monaco, Lake Worth

The cookie: Florida ‘Snowmen’

Their story: The Monacos are sisters with a passion for baking — they’ve entered and won past Palm Beach Post holiday cookie contests. For this year’s entry, they turned to a Betty Crocker gingerbread recipe and put their own Florida spin on it — these “snowmen” are covered in “sand” (actually, turbinado sugar, but you get the point).

Judges’ comments: “The molasses, whole brown sugar and spice thing was in perfect balance,” said Christine Najac. And the cookie’s look and design? “Awesome!” said Julien Gremaud.

The recipe:
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups dark molasses
2/3 cup cold water
7 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Wilton cookie icing
Turbinado sugar

Beat sugar, shortening, molasses and water in large bowl. Stir in all other ingredients. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours until firm. Heat oven to 350° and grease a cooking sheet. Roll out 1/4 of the dough till its one-quarter-inch thick and cut with cookie cutter. Repeat with remaining dough. Place cookies 2 inches apart on cooking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes, then let cool. Decorate with Wilton cookie icing and turbinado sugar.

Recipe yields 30 cookies

Mindy Kino of Palm Beach says the art is all in the decorating. (Richard Graulich / The Post)

Third place: Mindy Kino, Palm Beach

The cookie: Almond-Flavored ‘Snowflake’ Sugar Cookies

Her story: With 7-year-old twin boys, Kino says she doesn’t have a lot of time to bake. But she got a recipe for these iced cookies a few years back from a friend and she started making them regularly for the holidays and other events. The key is in the decorating, she adds: “These cookies allow me to express my artistic side,” she said.

Judges’ comments: “Simple but elegant,” said Jennifer Reed of the design. Regarding the taste, Christine Najac, said, “It’s a great butter cookie recipe.”

For cookie:
4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup butter (room temperature)
2 cups sugar
2 eggs (room temperature)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons almond extract

For icing:
4 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons meringue powder
1 teaspoon almond extract
10-12 tablespoons water
White food coloring

Decorations:
Silver sanding sugar
Silver dragrees
White sugar crystals
White nonpareils

Sift together dry ingredients, except for sugar. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar; add eggs and extracts. Beat well. Add dry ingredients a little at a time and mix well until blended. Wrap and chill dough for at least 30 minutes before rolling. Preheat oven to 400°. Roll on lightly floured board or pastry cloth to about one-eighth-inch thick and cut with snowflake cookie cutters. Put shapes on buttered baking sheets or baking sheets covered with parchment paper. Bake for 8-9 minutes. Do not allow to brown. Cool on racks. Mix icing until smooth. Spread icing on cooled cookies in two stages. First, “flood” the entire cookie, then let dry. Second, add details and lines by piping icing through a piping bag or similar baking device. While details and lines are still wet, apply decorations, so they will set in place.

Recipe yields about 25 cookies

Since our judges are all prominent chefs, we thought we’d get a cookie recipe from each, along with thoughts about all things holiday and baking:

 JULIEN GREMAUD
Background: A French-born chef, Gremaud took over the kitchen at Pistache, a downtown West Palm Beach waterfront bistro (101 N. Clematis St., #100, 561-833-5090, pistachewpb.com), earlier this year. He has won raves from critics and customers alike.
Read the full story

Pam Nicosia

If you suffer from food allergies — or you cook for someone who does —- you know how challenging the holidays can be. That’s why we sought out Pam Nicosia of Pam’s Gluten Free Kitchen (pamsglutenfree.com, (954) 882-8265), a Weston-based baking company, for an alternative. By the way, you can find some of Nicosia’s baked goods at Delray Beach’s The Green Gourmet (The Shoppes at Addison Place, 16950 Jog Road, (561) 455-2466, thegreengourmetdelray.com), among other local retailers.

Read the full story