Nekohime Posts

1) Since we are on the internet, and we can't very well taste each other's dishes, we will be judging by how good your food looks. Use creative plate design and presentation, make fancy knife cuts, etc. Make us want to take the first flight available to your place so we can partake of your delicious dish!

2) You must post the recipe you used, and a source/link to said recipe if available. If you create your own recipe, we give you mad props and that should be taken into account when voting, but it is not a requirement. If you made something difficult and/or time-consuming, that is also a plus. Recipes will be judged on how delicious they sound and how well they fit the theme for the month.

3) Post at least two pictures of the preparation and/or cooking process and at least one picture of the final product. Limit it to six total pictures, though. All pictures must include a sign that says Fakku, your user name, and the date. Pictures without a sign will NOT be considered.

(Addendum: must be a sign IN the picture, not added after the picture was taken, unless you are cooking for work or school. Just let me know if that is the case.)

4) Everybody can join; however, we will only accept one entry per contestant per month. You can change your entry as much as you want as long as it's before the deadline, but there can be only one!

5) Post your entry as a separate thread on Food and Cooking with the tag [Top Chef Fakku (month)] or a variation thereof, and post a link to it on this thread. You must post a link to your entry in this thread or we will NOT consider it.

6) The winner will be chosen through a public poll during the first five days of the subsequent month.

I'm totally ok with other people posting the contest thread, because heck knows I'm rather lazy about it and usually don't post it at midnight sharp. As long as it's the first of the month in your timezone, and you know the contest theme for the month, it is fine.

But please, please, DO NOT CHANGE THE RULES! This is to be fair to those who made suggestions and agreed upon the rules in the beginning, and it will also prevent confusion by keeping the wording of the rules more or less constant from month to month. Just copy-paste it into your thread from the previous month's contest thread. Do not subtract, add, or change the rules unless it's discussed with and agreed upon by everyone. The only exception to adding text to the rules is for addenda and/or clarifications. Those can be made if absolutely necessary, e.g. when people were confused about whether the sign could be drawn in with paint and I put an addendum stating that the sign must be inside the pic and not added after it is taken. But keep those to a minimum as well, since the rules are already kinda long.

Anything else about the thread is totally up to you. You can even add fancy formatting to the rules if you want, as long as you don't change the text. Be creative!

Thanks, and I hope that clarifies matters.

From TCF July
(Do you see those beauties? Yeah, I got to cook with those. OMNOMNOM.)

5-6 tomatoes, diced and seeded
1/4 red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can vegetable broth
handful leaves fresh basil plus more for garnish
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 stick unsalted butter
salt and pepper to taste (I only used pepper)
sugar to taste (optional)

1)Sautee the onions and garlic, then add in the tomatoes and sautee for a bit more, just until the tomatoes are slightly roasted. Add the vegetable broth in the pot over medium heat, and simmer for about 30min or until everything is tender.

From TCF July

2) Puree the tomato mixture along with the basil leaves, leaving some extra leaves for garnish (cut into chiffonade). If you have an immersion blender, that's great since you can do it right in the pot, but I just used a regular blender. You can also strain it after you puree, but I don't mind peel and some chunks in my soup, so I don't bother doing that.

From TCF July

3) Turn the heat down to medium low, then add in the cream and butter salt, pepper, and sugar if necessary. The tomatoes I had were a bit too acidic, so I did add about one tablespoon of sugar. Stir until butter is melted. Serve in a bowl and garnish with some of the basil chiffonade and/or whole basil leaves.