2016 Citrus Celebration 1.4.16

Over twenty of Charleston’s best bars and restaurants are getting into the citrusy spirit as they showcase delicious drinks, dishes, and desserts as part of Limehouse Produce’s 2016 Citrus Celebration. This year, participants were asked to get a little more creative and select from just four citrus items: cara cara oranges, satsuma tangerines, pumellos, and meyer lemons when creating their items.

Limehouse Produce is once again sharing more details on these featured dishes and drinks on their website along with recipes for people to download and try on their own. Patrons can also go and ask for the respected dish or drink at the participants locations until the end of February.

A panel of judges will be visiting the top five places from each category and select a winner for the Best Citrus Dish and Best Citrus Drink. Each winner will be promoted on the website, social media outlets, and to the media. NEW THIS YEAR: The restaurant with the winning dish will be featured on the side of a Limehouse Produce truck and the winning drink will be featured in a ½ page ad in The Local Palate.

Check out the entries here.

Details for Citrus Celebration Announced! 12.14.15

Over twenty of Charleston’s best bars and restaurants are getting into the citrusy spirit as they showcase delicious drinks, dishes, and desserts as part of Limehouse Produce’s 2016 Citrus Celebration. This year, participants were asked to get a little more creative and select from just four citrus items: cara cara oranges, satsuma tangerines, pumellos, and meyer lemons when creating their items.

Restaurants and bars part of this promotion include:

2015 Fall Cornucopia Cooking Competition Winning Results 11.29.15

Limehouse Produce announced the winners of the 2015 Fall Cornucopia Cooking Competition which featured students from area high school culinary programs. Each participating school held competitions at their respected location to select a winner to compete in the overall competition. In the end, Ethan Tordoff from Fort Dorchester High School, Chloe Seay from Wando High School, and Michelle Hammock from West Ashley High School competed in the main event that was held on Friday, November 20 at the Culinary Institute of Charleston. For the competition, students were given an hour and a half to cook their dish for a panel of judges including Hanna Raskin from the Post & Courier, Jamie Vaughn from Limehouse Produce, Chef Michael Carmel from the Culinary Institute of Charleston, and Chef Michelle Weaver from Charleston Grill. The winner of the competition was Ethan Tordoff and his Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins. Ethan received $125 courtesy of Teach the Need, dinner at Charleston Grill, a behind-the-scenes tour of Charleston Grill with Chef Michelle Weaver, his winning dish featured in an upcoming issue of The Local Palate and a Limehouse Produce gift basket. The other runner ups received a cash prize from Teach the Need, a behind-the-scenes tour of Charleston Grill and Limehouse Produce gift baskets.

Video recap via Charleston County School District: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGJFltzj93I&feature=youtu.be

2015 Fall Produce Cooking Competitions for Local High Schools 9.16.15

Limehouse Produce is excited to be coordinating a special  fall produce cooking competition with Lowcountry High School Culinary Programs.

For this special competition, we are asking students to submit recipes using fall produce for consideration for the competition. Then each school will pick a winner from the school to compete on behalf of the school. The selected student will then come and cook their dish at the Culinary Institute of Charleston for a panel of judges and one will be named the overall winner. This competition was held with college culinary students last year and it was a big hit.

Limehouse Produce will  supply the produce in advance if students want to try it out before submitting. And we will supply what is needed for the competition! 

Prizes:

• First Place: $125 courtesy of Feed the Need, behind-the-scenes tour with Chef Michelle Weaver at Charleston Grill, dinner at Charleston Grill, ad in The Local Palate showcasing dish, promotion on website and social media
• Second Place: $75 courtesy of Feed the Need, behind-the-scenes tour with Chef Michelle Weaver at Charleston Grill, promotion on website and social media
• Third Place: $50 courtesy of Feed the Need, behind-the-scenes tour with Chef Michelle Weaver at Charleston Grill, promotion on website and social media
• Remaining Chefs: gift basket, promotion on website and social media

To learn more, contact Angel Postell at [email protected].

Winners Announced for 2015 Tomato Trek 8.17.15

After an exciting summer filled with amazing heirloom tomato dishes, a winner has been announced for the 2015 Tomato Trek. Chef Brannon Florie of The Granary’s dish was the overall winner of this year’s competition: Geechie Boy tomatoes, watermelon radish, Daikon radish, breakfast radish, English cucumber, pickled red onion, house mozzarella, house basil, baby arugula, white balsamic, and Watermelon, Heirloom Tomatoes, Radish, Pickled Red Onion, Basil-Arugula-Mint pest, Goats Milk Feta. The dish was selected by compiling votes from a panel of judges and online votes. Florie received a special trophy to acknowledge the honor, along with 100lbs of tomatoes.

The 2015 fan vote was presented Chef Aaron Lemieux of Michael’s on the Alley who received the most online votes for his dish: Smoked Tomato, Tomato consommé  braised farro, roof top garden basil, Rosemary & green onion flowers. Lemieux received 50lbs for the win!

The participants for the amateur competition all received gift certificates to The Veggie Bin or Boone Hall Farms for their participation, and one lucky winner was selected to receive $100 gift card to The Granary just for taking a photo and tagging it with #tomatottrek.

A big thanks to everyone’s support and we look forward to another great trek in 2016!

Tomato Trek 2015 6.19.15

As part of the campaign, restaurants, chefs and bartenders submit photos and details on their dishes or drinks featuring local/heirloom tomatoes. Patrons can then vote on their favorite posted items and the dish/drink with the most votes in each category will receive 100lbs of tomatoes from Limehouse Produce and a special tomato trophy. New this year, is a judging panel. Chef Frank Lee, food writer Eric Doksa and farmer Greg Johnsman will be selecting the top entries for the campaign, and along with the fan vote will select the overall winners.

Check out the results from out 2015 Tomato Trek here.

EVO Pizzeria and Limehouse Produce Partner on Monday, June 29 for the Second Annual “Nightshade Summer Social” 5.14.15

After a successful first year, EVO (Extra Virgin Oven) and Limehouse Produce will once again partner to organize the second annual “Nightshade Summer Social” on Monday, June 29. An event that celebrates the bounty of summertime produce, the two are excited to showcase products from area farms.

Starting at 5:30PM, EVO’s Executive Chef Blake McCormick will offer a menu featuring heavy hors d’oeuvres and made to order pizzas highlighting a variety of local summer produce. There will also be local beer by Holy City Brewery, wine and live music.

The event cost is $50 per person, kids under six are free and those ages 6-12 are $15. For more information, visit www.limehouseproduce.flywheelsites.com. For tickets, please visit http://charleston.strangertickets.com/events/24987584/second-annual-8220nightshade-summer-social8221-at-evo-pizzeria.

Limehouse Produce Announces Winners of Second Annual “Berry Creative” School Campaign 4.24.15

Several of Charleston County’s finest schools went all out for this year’s “Berry Creative Campaign” with Limehouse Produce to promote local strawberries. Students from a variety of schools submitted essays, recipes, artwork, videos, and more promoting why the loved the tasty fruit so much. It was extremely difficult to pick just one winner and all of the schools will be recognized for their involvement. The top three winners receive 100 lbs of local strawberries and every school that submitted receive 10 lbs. All of the entries will be on display at the Charleston County Library’s main branch for the month of June. Below are the participants and some highlights of the entries:

• First Place: Hursey Elementary School, Teacher: Jane Madden
• Second Place: James Simmons Elementary, Teacher: Michelle Kraft
• Third Place: Jennie Moore Elementary School, Teachers: Mary Arthur and Susan Hogeboom

Other participants (all winners!):

• Orange Grove Elementary, Teachers: Candyce Lyon, Angela Helms, and Erin Wilson
• Stiles Point Elementary, Teachers: April Davis and Lauren Sayle
• St. Andrew’s School of Math and Science, Teacher: Jenna Campbell
• Jerry Zucker Middle School of Science via Green Heart Project, Teacher Tavish Vans Koik
• Charleston Progressive Academy, Teacher: Penzola Cromwell

Congrats to all those involved in this year’s campaign and here’s to eating delicious local foods!

Eat Local Month Shines Light on Local Food 3.26.15

Lowcountry Local First (LLF) kicks-off its 4^th annual Eat Local Month April 1st. Presented by Limehouse Produce, Eat Local Month is a Lowcountry Local First initiative to raise awareness of the positive community benefits of supporting lowcountry farms and food businesses. Throughout the month, LLF will provide educational opportunities and events for the community to directly connect with local farmers, restaurants, businesses and organizations. Activities and events to include:

• Eat Local Challenge: April 1-30 – Shift at least $10 of weekly food spending toward local food and drink. Sign up now as an individual, family or team. Free.
• Plow to Chow: Sat April 4 – Celebrate the opening day of the downtown Charleston Farmers Market under the LLF tent with complimentary chef tastings by Artisan Meat Share, Cypress and The Glass Onion sourced with fresh produce from Limehouse Produce, along with a kid’s activity by The Green Hearts, and a farm-inspired photo booth. Marion Square, 8am – 2pm. Free.
• Chef’s Potluck: Sun April 26 – The biggest farmer-to-chef-to-table event in the southeast, with 15 chefs and 20+ farmers under the live oaks at Middleton Place. Music by Garage Cuban Band, live auction, and local libations. 4-7pm. Tickets are all-inclusive and on sale now.

“We have great momentum in the Charleston area around supporting our local farmers and fishermen but there is still a need to shift more dollars towards these businesses in order to see the long-term benefits,” explains LLF Executive Director Jamee Haley. “Eat Local Month provides a reminder to the community on the environmental, societal and local economic benefits we achieve each time we choose to spend our money with a local food producer.” Proceeds from Eat Local Month support Lowcountry Local First’s Growing New Farmers Program which incubates six farm businesses at Dirt Works Incubator Farm, has graduated 107 new farmer apprentices, provides training for hundreds of small to mid-sized farms, and educates the public on the importance of supporting local farms and food businesses. “Limehouse Produce is proud to sponsor Eat Local Month again for the 4th year as the kick-off to another season of South Carolina produce,” says Andrea Limehouse, Vice President of Limehouse Produce. “We support the mission of Lowcountry Local First, and it’s always exciting to honor the annual arrival of local produce after the winter months.” Eat Local Month is made possible by our generous sponsors, including presenting sponsor Limehouse Produce as well as Charleston City Paper, Charleston Magazine, Charleston Convention and Visitor Bureau, Cypress, Glass Onion, Middleton Place, Nelson Printing, Roper Saint Frances, Ruth’s House Event Rentals, Sonitrol Security Systems and Summers Corner. ABOUT: Lowcountry Local First, a nonprofit organization, cultivates local economic prosperity and quality of life by increasing community support for locally-owned, independent businesses and farmers. To learn more about Eat Local Month, visit lowcountrylocalfirst.org; find us on Twitter: @lowcountrylocal #EatLocalCHS; and Facebook: facebook.com/LowcountryLocalFirst.

Strawberries: Produce of the Month 3.24.15