When Chef Al Paris of Heirloom requested entries for a family recipe contest, the response may have been much more than he anticipated. However, after many days at his desk, cluttered with various potential winners, the rightful champion has been chosen. Between all the Xeroxes, torn sheets of paper, and handwritten accounts of every recipe you can dream of Chef Al Paris found the particular entry by Nancy Pugh to be a notch or two above the rest.
Nancy Pugh of nearby Erdenheim, PA, brought Chef Paris a recipe that she had been making for over 25 years of family summers in Ocean City, NJ. “Mrs. Pugh’s Summer Lobster Pot” was Paris’ choice as winner of the 2012 HEIRLOOM Fine American Cookery Recipe Contest. He chose it for the splendid showcase of fresh summer ingredients and admits it’s a basic recipe he’ll barely have to tweak.
As part of the contest’s guidelines, beginning June 20, Paris will adapt Pugh’s recipe for HEIRLOOM and serve up a large bowl of lobster, smoked chicken, clams, mussels, roasted fingerling potatoes and summer corn in a buttery, Old Bay broth. Pugh’s winning recipe wins her dinner at HEIRLOOM for up to 8 people and a place on the restaurant’s Summer Menu.Chef Al Paris was humbled by the amount of entries he received (over 50!) and intrigued by every story behind them, mostly because HEIRLOOM has been about shared food traditions since they opened their doors for the very first time.
HEIRLOOM is located at 8705 Germantown Ave., in the Top Of The Hill Plaza, and serves Dinner from 5:00-10:00PM Tuesday-Thursday; from 5:00-11:00 PM Friday; from 4:00-11:00 PM, Saturday, from 4:00-9:00 PM Sunday. Sunday Brunch is served from 10:30AM-2:30PM. Reservations can be made at (215)242-2700.
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