The Good Food Summer Potluck

Show us what you’re bringing!

Remember Potlucks!? What a vague and distant memory. Openly sharing food with others, no health concerns, hanging out with big groups of friends... The dish you bring says a lot about who you are and what you love. It’s an expression of YOU, but edible! Well, Good Food is hosting a (virtual) potluck, so what are you going to bring, and why that dish? Is it a childhood fave? Your own take on a classic? Something you’ve created from scratch? Make it for us, would you? Share your dish with us and your story.

 How To Enter:

Entries posted August 14 to 19 will be considered

First: Create a post on Instagram with 3 photos

  • An overhead beauty shot of your dish
  • A shot of you with the dish you made
  • A pic that represents what this dish means to you: maybe there’s a person, place, or cookbook that this dish reminds you of 

Then: Tell us your story in the caption

Finally (and important): Tag @KCRW in the photo and use the hashtag #KCRWpotluck so we can check it out.

Winners:

Thanks to everyone who made a dish and shared their stories! Winners below with some words from Evan.
Sweet:

I love everything about Clafoutis; the name, its homey sharing nature, and outdoor camaraderie which this submission celebrates.


Savory:

Seco de Carne has everything you want at a potluck. I love that the deep flavored beef and rice is accompanied with the sweet plantains and the piquant salad. There's something for everyone, including the vegetarians (also I just want to eat it.) A lovely story of mother-daughter jousting seals the deal.

View this post on Instagram

“Seco de carne” (dry beef) is a traditional Ecuadorian dish made with a cilantro beer sauce and secret South American spices. The beef is slowly cooked in this sauce (which is not spicy hot but flavorful). It is served on a bed of yellow saffron rice ,paired with sweet plantains (for traditional taste as Ecuadorians love the sweet & salty ) and also paired with a pickled avocado salad (red onion & radishes) for freshness. This dish is anything but dry and it’s name is an example of Ecuadorian humor. My mother Carmen is from Mira Flores , Guayaquil Ecuador and came here to Los Ángeles at 23 years old. I learned to make “Seco de carne “ and other wonderful dishes with love & passion by watching her saunter in the kitchen my whole life. She always played salsa music while cooking and I continue that tradition along with also listening to KCRW 😉. My mother Carmen was always the queen of the kitchen until I got older and one day cooked for her. I made something different (coconut curry shrimp & vegetables on basmati rice), curry being something she had never had or explored cooking with (she was VERY skeptical ). I kept hearing her buzz around me “hmm y que es eso ?le vas a poner eso?!” (what is that? and oh your putting that in?!) as her big green judging eyes surveyed over my shoulder. I finally said “Mami sit down , it’s my kitchen “ and she did, When she finally tasted my dish her mmms and ahhs and “Que Rico!” said it all! My heart sung! And then in a very serious tone she said the best thing ever “mija ya tienes tú sazón” (daughter you now have your sazón) sazón meaning (flavor / your own unique way of seasoning and cooking in your own style). That’s when I knew the cooking kitchen queen of our house had just given me the BEST compliment ever! I knew then I had graduated from the Carmen culinary school of hard knocks! She does not cook anymore as she has now passed on the apron to me! This is for my mami! Carmen Heidi Aguirre 🥰😘🙏🏽💪🏼🇪🇨! Thank you KCRW for the opportunity to share my dish and my story...😌☺️😊😉 #kcrwpotluck #kcrw #kcrw2020 #ecuador #nofilter #instagood #picoftheday #love #explorepage @ecuador #ecuador🇪🇨 @ecuador

A post shared by EcuaKat Lucero Aguirre (@ecuakat) on


Honorable mention:

Picking just one winner in each category was such a tough decision! So we had to include an honorable mention for @spooningwithnessa, whose Tokhm-o-tamate is elevated by the fabulous story of her mother feeding the children in the bathtub to beat the heat.

View this post on Instagram

What I’m bringing to the @kcrw virtual potluck...Tokhm-o-tamate (eggs and tomatoes)!! Cooking this dish reignites many special memories from summers past and has been a favorite of mine since childhood. Keep reading for a little story in letter form about the memories, the people, the places that come alive again! Thanks #KCRWpotluck for this beautiful and reflective activity! —————————————————— Maman joon, Do you remember those nights at the old house when baba was on-call and you would give me, Mina and Laila dinner in the bath? We would crowd into the tub, while you sat close by holding an unassuming plate of tokhm-o-tamate (eggs and tomatoes). Even after all these years, I can still remember the smell so clearly— of warm pita, cradling scrambled eggs and thick-cut fries that you cooked into a glistening tomato puree. The potatoes were lovely, fat, and fried to where they would crackle and squish beneath my teeth. As we found comfort beneath the cooling bubbles, you gave Laila the first bite, her cheeks dancing up and down with tokhm-o-tamate. Mina, with her voracious appetite, claimed the second bite and plunged her teeth into the pillowy sandwich. Lastly, it was my turn. You called my name, and as I leaned in, a potato plopped into the bath water. This was the dish you made when dad got stuck at work, as it was fast, filling and comforting. It was the same dish Zahra joon would make us on those hotter summer nights in Shiraz. And so tokhm-o-tamate has become my antidote too, for nights when I am short on resolve, missing summers in Iran, or am in need of a quick escape from the kitchen’s thick blanket of heat. #kcrwpotluck #tokhmotamate #eggsandtomatoes #friedpotatoes #pitabread #summerfood #shiraz #iran #foodmemories

A post shared by Nessa Riazi (@spooningwithnessa) on



PREMIER PARTNER